One of the best tropes in anime is the romance that blossoms out of childhood friendship. In these anime, two childhood best friends reach adolescence or young adulthood and realize that their feelings have changed for the romantic. Naturally, this premise comes with enough tension, high emotion, and comedic antics to propel an entire show. This type of love story is so prevalent in anime that it's difficult to pin down which series was the first to do it, but its popularity has endured even as trends in romance anime come and go.
The best uses of the storyline draw on the intimacy that comes from growing up together, with characters who often can't even a time without one another. These characters know each other inside and out, making the prospect of the relationship change somewhat complicated. If done correctly, these shows feature some of the best anime couples of all time.
Naruto Uzumaki & Hinata Hyuuga - Naruto
Because of the nature of Naruto Shippuden’s ending, which paired up the kids of Naruto’s generation as adults, most of its official couples can be considered childhood friend romances. However, the pairing of Naruto and Hinata is a special case. They not only one another the most but are also built up from the beginning of the series.
Both Hinata and Naruto were children discarded by people they should have been able to rely on to protect them: Hinata by her father and clan, and Naruto by most of the village. Hinata was inspired by Naruto’s determination to prove himself, and despite several years of little success, she adopted his ninja way as her own and never gave up, to his awe and iration. By the end of the show, Naruto and Hinata build a relationship that offers a lot to Naruto fans.
Natsuki Enomoto & Yu Setoguchi - I’ve Always Liked You (2016)
Natsuki attempts to confess her feelings to her childhood friend, Yu, but backs out, afraid. Yu, who loves her as well, is also staying quiet about it. Both must build up their courage to confess for real.
While the movie I’ve Always Liked You features several hesitant couples, Natsuki and Yu's story gets most of the spotlight. It highlights the fear of ruining a good friendship and the tension of hanging in the in-between place of knowing they’re in love but unable to spit it out. Their fight about something unrelated to vent their buried feelings about their relationship is heartbreaking but realistic.
Yusuke Urameshi & Keiko Yukimura - Yu Yu Hakusho (1992 - 1994)
Yusuke Urameshi and Keiko Yukimura seem like a terrible match in Yu Yu Hakusho, one of the best martial arts anime, or at least, at first. Yusuke is a rude delinquent, Keiko is a stickler for the rules, and the two of them argue constantly. However, their bickering hides a deep affection they’ve held for each other since childhood.
Childhood friend romances create compelling intimacy between two characters. The time they’ve spent together means that they know each other better than anyone else. Keiko gives Yusuke a hard time, but she is one of the few people in his life to have recognized his good heart before he became a Spirit Detective. Yusuke, for his part, isn’t great at showing it, but he does very much care about Keiko’s feelings, and a big motivator for his choosing to fight to come back to life was seeing her grief over his death.
Yona & Hak - Yona Of The Dawn (2014 - 2015)
In Yona Of The Dawn, Princess Yona, her cousin Su-won, and her bodyguard Hak, one of the most loyal anime sidekicks, grew up together in the palace. But their peaceful life ends when they reach adulthood. Su-won murders his uncle and usurps the throne, forcing Hak to take Yona and flee for their lives.
The joy Yona and Hak had being together back then doesn’t fade when life gets tough. Even as Yona becomes stronger and relies less on Hak, they only grow closer. The mutual respect and trust between them deepen and the more they go through, the closer Yona gets to realizing that Hak isn’t just her best friend: she’s in love with him.
Raku Ichijou & Chitoge Kirisaki - Nisekoi (2014 - 2015)
As heirs to rival crime families, Raku and Chitoge both had rough, isolated childhoods. Their fathers hold themselves back from fighting because their kids are in love. The catch? They're faking their romance: Raku and Chitoge actually hate each other.
Nisekoi is one of the rare anime about the mafia to be largely comical rather than dark and bloody. This gives Raku and Chitoge room to figure out their actual feelings for one another without legitimately high stakes. Their journey to discovering that when they don’t have the pressure of their families’ expectations weighing on them, they actually do like each other, is both funny and heartfelt. The romantic gestures that start out as showy and goofy gradually become truly meaningful as they get to know and love each other.
Edward Elric & Winry Rockbell - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009 - 2010)
Growing up together in the rural town of Resembool, Winry and the Elric brothers were always the best of friends. Even after Ed and Al leave town in order to restore their bodies, they can still rest assured that they’ll always have a home in the Rockbell household. There’s plenty of reasons why Ed and Winry are the most popular ship in Fullmetal Alchemist.
Unlike some other childhood friend romances, their love for one another doesn’t so much bloom as mature and solidify. There has always been deep trust and affection between them that the show highlights every chance it gets. Winry does everything she can as a mechanic to make sure Ed, who relies on her automail, is safe on his journey, and Ed has the utmost iration for Winry’s skills and her kind heart. After so many years of living in danger and worrying about one another, it's a huge relief for both of them to finally get married and enjoy a peaceful life together.
Takaki Touno & Akari Shinohara - 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)
Takaki and Akari have known and cared for each other since childhood. But, in 5 Centimeters Per Second, one of director Makoto Shinkai’s best anime, their budding relationship is marred by Akari’s family moving away. Though they attempt to keep in touch and never quite stop loving one another, being together seems impossible.
Often, when a character with feelings for their childhood friend ends up unlucky in love, they’re a side character who steps aside for the main romance. Takaki and Akari’s tragedy is unique in that their unfulfilled childhood romance is the entire plot. The distance between them, the ambiguity of their feelings, and the yearning for what could have been affects them into their adult lives.
Goku & Chi-Chi - Dragon Ball (1986 - 2019)
Childhood marriage promises are a very common trope in these sorts of romances. In Dragon Ball, despite Goku not understanding what marriage was, once he’s told what he actually agreed to, he’s happy to marry Chi-Chi anyway. Neither of them has once been interested in anyone else, and they have two of the Dragon Ball.
Though they have their problems, such as Chi-Chi’s controlling tendencies and Goku repeatedly dying and leaving his family alone, they stay married for decades. They care deeply for one another and want the best for their sons, doing what they can to strike the balance between honing their Saiyan powers and setting them up for life otherwise. In Dragon Ball Super, they are still living a content domestic life, even welcoming grandchildren into the world.
Hatsuharu & Rin Sohma - Fruits Basket (2019 - 2021)
Because of the generational curse they’re bound by, the Zodiac of the Sohma clan in makes the Forgers from Spy x Family look average is hard enough, but shockingly, it’s sometimes even harder to be with someone they’ve loved since childhood.
As little kids, Hatsuharu and Rin played together often, with Rin notably never ing in everyone else’s teasing Haru for being the Ox of the Zodiac. As young adults, things are more complicated. Rin is deeply traumatized by the abuse at the hands of her parents and Akito, and her intense guilt complex leads her to bury her feelings and try to solve their family’s problems on her own. Haru is equally determined to be someone she can trust and feel safe with and becomes the source of stability on which Rin relies.
Renji Abarai & Rukia Kuchiki - Bleach (2004 - )
Growing up in one of the roughest districts of Soul Society turns out to be a fairly good bonding experience. At the beginning of some of Bleach’s best character arcs, Renji and Rukia routinely fight together, watching each other’s backs and acting as bright spots in the other’s life. When they reunite as adults, they not only fall easily into their childhood dynamic but start to fall in love, as well.
Rukia and Renji don’t take their bond lightly, especially after they were separated for years during Soul Reaper training, with Renji even telling Ichigo that much of his loyalty to him is gratitude for reuniting him with Rukia. They continue to fight together and respect each other highly as Soul Reapers and know each other’s hidden depths better than anyone else. On top of all that, it’s also very cute to see tough brawler Renji blush when Rukia tells him genuinely how much he means to her.
