Not all anime pairings are loved because of their convincing love story. Often they’re liked because they’re like a disaster fans can’t look away from, or audiences feel sympathy toward one or both characters as individuals and want to see them happy. Some couples are thrown together in a Happily Ever After at the conclusion of a well-beloved series, but their ride into the sunset feels more forced than organic.
Often there is so much going on in an epic shonen or a dark gothic series that it can be difficult to balance the internal journeys with the external. Sometimes this comes at the cost of a convincing romance arc.
10 Kimihito & Miia (Monster Musume)
Monster Musume leans more into rom-com territory. It will always be difficult to believe a romance where the guy has dozens of besotted girl love interests – especially when they all live in the same house, like with Kimihito and his bevy of monstrous girlfriends.
Though, to be fair, Monster Musume isn’t trying to show a very convincing love story. Even though the main romance of the why-choose anime isn’t very convincing, fans love it. Miia wants to be Kimihito’s one and only despite his many suitoresses, and her goal doesn’t seem like it will come to fruition, no matter how much Kimihito likes her.
9 Kenshiro & Yuria (Fist Of The North Star)
Fist of the North Star is a classic anime movie, and it’s understandable why the love for the movie would extend to the plot’s central romance. But most of Kenshiro and Yuria’s romantic tensions are fueled by a damsel-in-distress plot line.
Their romance is steeped in Odyssean metaphor which is interesting, but mostly serves to show how interesting and tough Kenshiro is. Yuria is a sympathetic character who deserves a happy ending, yes, but she feels more like a plot device than a well-rounded character. At least Yuria has a bit more agency and action in the final parts of North Star.
8 Esdeath & Tatsumi (Akame Ga Kill)
Fans held out hope for as long as they could that Esdeath would have more of a character arc in Akame ga Kill! But she is a warmongering sadist through and through.
Some hoped for more from Esdeath, and they felt bad for her because she’s so love-starved, but that’s a paltry excuse for her motives and pattern of behavior. And though she loves Tatsumi, that love is questionable because she doesn’t demonstrably care about what he wants and needs. There are much better pairings out there for Tatsumi, no matter how gorgeous Esdeath is.
7 Naruto & Hinata (Naruto)
The central couple of Naruto are an interesting case of what-could-have been. While they do end up together, it somehow feels rushed. There’s actually nothing fundamentally wrong with Naruto and Hinata together that would make them ill-suited for each other. They just needed more development.
That conclusion could sound strange since the relationship took a glacial pace to come to fruition, but not enough was done to develop their romance in those passing years, especially on Naruto’s part. Audiences that enjoy their romance aren’t barking up the wrong tree by any means, it’s just that the relationship would have worked so much better with more building and romantic tension.
6 Juvia & Gray (Fairy Tail)
Gray is plainly written as a tsundere in Fairy Tail, but that popular romance dynamic and his relationship with Juvia still falls flat. Juvia is obsessive about Gray, but that doesn’t stop fans from seeing the merits in their better moments together.
Just because Juvia may be more of a palatable yandere than Naruto’s Sakura doesn’t mean that the pairing works well and is convincing. Their history is a long one with plenty of development, but the fandom is still somewhat divided on whether they’re a good couple. It’s tricky to get past Juvia’s vacillating obsessiveness and Gray’s constant rejection.
5 Chizuru & Kazuya (Rent-A-Girlfriend)
The journey of a guy going from a misogynistic coward to being a lover boy isn’t exactly a compelling story arc, which is why Kazuya’s relationship with Chizuru is so frustrating in Rent-A-Girlfriend. Coincidence rather than genuine interest seems to be the engine that continues the relationship onward.
Rent-A-Girlfriend still has plenty of likable moments, though. The art style is adorable, the rom-com moments are truly funny. But the central romance isn’t that cute. Fake dating can be done well, but not at the cost of the girl’s pride in the relationship. A relationship based on disrespect from the get-go is a hard sell.
4 Goku & Chi-Chi (Dragon Ball Z)
There’s very little to no frisson of attraction or chemistry between Goku and Chi-Chi in Dragon Ball Z. They do have their sweet moments as a couple, but largely, there isn’t much that brings them together aside from the story dictating that they’re together. It doesn’t quite feel natural – maybe because Goku literally didn’t know what the word “marriage” meant for far too long.
It doesn’t help that he will abandon his family to train. Chi-Chi and Goku’s constant bickering, which is often played for laughs, doesn’t exactly reflect a cohesive, functional relationship. But both characters are likable on their own, and their kids are adorable, so they’re easy for fans to root for as a couple.
3 Misa & Light (Death Note)
Light has no true love for Misa in Death Note, but fans love them both individually and as a couple. The only real thing that unites them poetically is that they both have a warped sense of justice, and they can be dastardly smart–often to their own detriment.
Their relationship is incredibly one-sided, and no amount of obsession and compromised boundaries will make Misa the girl for Light. Though, to be fair, their pairing is not written to be likable. They may be compelling as individual characters, but they make no sense as a couple.
2 Ichigo & Rukia (Bleach)
A romance between Ichigo and Rukia was teased for a while in Bleach, and though they were never meant to be, many fans seem to prefer them together over Ichigo and Orihime. But Ichigo and Rukia don’t have half the tension and connection that Rukia has with Renji.
Both Ichigo and Renji would do anything to save Rukia, and both have charged interactions with her, but the storytelling wouldn’t be as strong for Ichigo and Rukia as a final pairing. It seems as though fans want Rukia and Ichigo to be together mainly because they would be more interesting than Ichigo with Orihime.
1 Yuki & Zero (Vampire Knight)
Vampire Knight is one of the shojo classics, with one of anime’s most notorious love triangles. Yuki’s heart is torn between the vampire Kaname and Zero, a vampire hunter. It’s baffling that that love triangle would end with Yuki marrying Zero.
Kaname is more like a gentlemanly bishonen character type, while Zero is a yandere riddled with lovelorn angst. A yandere chracter works well with Vampire Knight’s pulpy vampire romance plot, but there’s no getting past Zero and Yuki being related. The odd writing choice really adds a dose of gross-out to an already questionable relationship.