Love is in the Anime

Ah, valentine's day. A special day to celebrate love between man and woman (feel free to break this rule). A special day that commemorates endless whinings from single guys (ahem).

And it's also a day of extreme consumerism! You might know this already, but in Japan and Korea, only the girls give chocolates and flowers to guys on Valentine's day, not the other way around. A month from now, they will have yet another power-marketing celebration called White Day, where the guys give chocolates to the ladies.

As you guys give that special someone half a dozen stalks of roses, I too shall give my lovely readers half a dozen of anime recommendations that turns love into a many splendid thing.



Aishiteruze Baby is a show full of love. Kippei has to take care of his abandoned 5-year-old cousin Yuzuyu, and at the same time give lots of love to his girlfriend Kokoro. Brotherly love, romantic love, platonic love, it has it all. Duly underrated, but rated high among those who watched it, this is still my number one anime of all time! LOVE this show! ^^



Everything about Honey and Clover is poetic. The narration, their story, even the art. It is a simple show about five art college students struggling through passion and love. If you have already watched the anime, make sure you watch the drama. A very deserving second spot in my all-time anime chart.



A 90s classic, Marmalade Boy is a romantic teenage soap opera in anime form. It takes you back to how foolish and beautiful young love can be. Even Lee Ling, a non-anime lover, enjoyed this series a lot! In her own words, "It is bittersweet, I just can't stop watching it." I'm a BIG sucker for shoujo-anime like this, so it became my number 4 fave anime.



If you think only Ghibli makes great anime movies, you're DEAD WRONG! To sum it up, Millenium Actress is a masterpiece. It tells the story of an actress who took 1000 years to pursue the love of her life (don't worry, not as supernatural as you think it is!). The creator is none other than Satoshi Kon, who was also the genius behind Perfect Blue (best anime movie ever!), Paranoia Agent and Paprika. Brilliant use of colours, editing, script and animation, this is a must watch, for anime and non-anime fans alike.



2005 gave birth to a Shogakukan award-winning shoujo manga, and 2006 followed suit with its wonderful anime counterpart. Bokura ga Ita is a story of a boy who couldn't get over his dead ex-girlfriend, and a girl that falls in love with him. As they break and mend, they realise that supporting each other is the only way for them to be together. All in all, it is a touching story that has a matching backdrop of superb art, voice acting and soundtrack.



Don't tell me you forgot about this right? I recommended it for the new year! Tokyo Marble Chocolate is a two-part OVA, one in the viewpoint of a guy, and the other of a girl. You can watch it in any order you want. If you appreciate a truly simple love story, watch this. If you don't, then I hope you don't mind missing all the wonderful art and music that comes with it. Part Japanese, part French, all Production I.G. You better not miss this!


And with that, I would like to wish a heartful happy valentine's day to all! To all you singles out there, still got next year mah. hahahahaha *weak laughter*