Top 10 Underrated Award Winning Romance Anime You Must Watch – Kick away those bad anime because it’s time to see what underrated romance anime won Oscars—or at least what Japanese people give instead of Oscars. Here are 10 underrated award winning romance anime you must watch. Let’s go!
10. Eden of The East
What a way to kick things off with a mystery anime. Secret agents usually have secret pasts, but what if the secret is even from themselves? That’s exactly what happens to Akira Takizawa.
He wakes up with no memory and has to figure out how he’s connected to all the strange things going on around him. And he meets this young woman called Saki Morimi, and the two should figure out how Akira lost his memory and somehow has 8 billion yen in his bank account.
A lot of the time, mystery and romance don’t work. Either the romance becomes too generic or the mystery becomes too bland. But Eden of the East is an exception. Right from the get-go, you already have a mystery, and from there onwards the anime is fast-paced, action-filled, strong enough to keep you hooked.
9. Planetes
Remember Sunrise—the guys who made Code Geass? Code Geass won a ton of awards and got its fair share of publicity. But there’s another anime that got awards but never got the popularity it deserved.
Planetes takes place in the future where flying to and from the Moon is just part of everyday life. The story follows a team that works in Technora’s debris collection section, where their job is to clean up broken pieces of spaceships and satellites floating in space.
Right from the beginning, this anime feels unique. It puts a lot of focus on the world and how space travel has changed people’s lives. The characters look a bit more Western, and the story often throws in little mysteries to keep things interesting.
And yes, it has romance—not the dumb high school romance, but the romance that develops slowly and nicely. Trust me, we need more romance like that.
8. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
There’s always something interesting to tell when it comes to tales of soldiers. But the most interesting stories come when a soldier has to decide between what is right and what is wrong.
This story is really about a man trying to balance being human and being a beast. It’s war. Bad things happen. And soldiers have to follow orders they don’t always agree with. Constable Kazuki Fuse gets stuck in a mess of government lies, and he’s trying hard to escape that world. Things get extra bad when he meets a girl named Kei Amemiya.
If I can explain this anime, it’s like watching the anime version of Game of Thrones, but the time you only focus on one character. The romance is also subtle but very realistic. This is a very old anime—something that came out in the early 2000s—but the writing of the show stands out to this day.
7. Macross Frontier
This anime is probably the pinnacle of all love triangles. This happens when us humans, as usual, get scared of aliens and flee into space. Several years later, we meet a student called Alto who is performing at a concert when aliens attack. He jumps straight into the action, helped by a girl called Ranka Lee, and then joins a skull squadron called SMS.
Yes, it follows the same plot structure in shows like Attack on Titan or the recent Kaiju No. 8—have a guy fight some alien or monster, then make him join a squad that fights aliens or monsters.
But what makes this stand out is how it mixes the mecha, space, and even the romance genres—and still delivers something amazing. And even if you don’t like the show, you’re going to still like the music.
6. From Up on Poppy Hill
You know it’s going to be a masterpiece if it’s animated by Studio Ghibli. This is about a girl called Umi and a guy called Shun, who start off as friends trying to save their old clubhouse before a slow romance blossoms between them. And the more they dig into the clubhouse’s past, the more secrets they uncover about it.
The movie has a peaceful vibe with beautiful hand-drawn animation and a relaxing soundtrack. It’s more about feelings, memories, and small moments than big action. If you like slow heartfelt stories, this one’s worth watching.
Don’t expect wild twists—just a sweet, touching slice of life. Since this is done by Studio Ghibli, it’s got that Ghibli touch—from the animation, to the character development, to the amazing soundtracks.
5. The Wind Rises
Right after one Ghibli masterpiece, we have another Ghibli masterpiece. The Wind Rises isn’t about wild storms—it’s about planes, pilots, and World War II. It follows a guy who dreams of becoming a pilot. But since this all goes down during World War II, don’t expect sunrays and rainbows.
The Wind Rises starts off calm, like a light breeze, but slowly turns into a full-on anime storm that’ll hit you right in the feels. The animation might look old school—kind of like a classic anime film—but once the emotions kick in, you realize this is way more than just a love story.
Just like From Up on Poppy Hill, this has all those elements which make Ghibli movies timeless masterpieces. So give this one a go.
4. The Tatami Galaxy
If you love the bizarre part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, then I’ve got one heck of a bizarre romance anime for you. The story is about a guy who spends his first two years of college trying to ruin other people’s relationships. Karma hits back hard, because two years later, he’s still single.
But everything changes when he meets a strange man with an eggplant-shaped head. After that moment, he suddenly gets sent back in time to his first year of college.
Now he has a chance to do things over and live a better college life. Maybe this time he’ll find love. If he stops messing with other people’s relationships and focuses on his own, maybe he’ll get there.
The anime tells the story in a really unique way and shows how our choices really matter. Also, the main character never even gets a name—but honestly, I didn’t mind because the story was still really good.
3. The Great Passage
I know the cover and the first few moments of this anime would look boring to anyone who wants some fast-paced action or drama. But if you stick around, you’re going to watch one of the best drama romance anime of all time.
So here’s the deal—there’s a guy in the dictionary division who’s ready to quit. But before he goes, he has to hand off his project to someone new. That someone ends up being Mitsuya Majime, an awkward and antisocial dude. Now he’s stuck working with a bunch of loud, outgoing people and has to figure out how to fit in.
The Great Passage doesn’t throw romance in your face but instead lets it grow slowly—just like our main guy’s personal growth. If you’re into quick, high-energy, high school romance shows, this might not be your thing. But if you’re down for a slow burn love story with some solid drama, you should totally check this one out.
2. Millennium Actress
Sometimes, all you need is a unique touch and a direction to take an anime from a biography to one of the best drama anime ever created. This anime is about a famous actress who’s retired, but two well-known filmmakers bring her back into the spotlight to interview her.
But don’t think it’s just two guys sitting in chairs asking boring questions. Nope—this interview is full of action and creativity. The way the story is told and the scenes are directed really stand out.
Millennium Actress is super unique—and yeah, that might confuse some people at first. But if you stick with it until the end, the journey totally pays off. It’s not your usual fantasy romance anime, but that’s what makes it special. Trust me, it’s worth the time. The way it blends her memories with movie scenes feels like you’re jumping between dreams and reality.
1. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
We finish off with a good old time travel—the trope every creator uses once in a while to either fumble their story so badly or to make it a great success. And this time—it was a success. How many times did Steins;Gate nearly give you a heart attack? Because The Girl Who Leapt Through Time hits even harder than Steins;Gate.
Makoto Konno, our main girl, quickly finds out that jumping through time isn’t as easy as it looks in storybooks. The more she leaps, the worse the consequences get.
This movie won a bunch of awards when it came out, and that alone shows how great it is. In the end, the big message is all about living in the moment and taking responsibility for your actions.
Sure, squeezing a time travel story into a short anime movie sounds like a bad idea—but somehow they pulled it off perfectly. And it just had the right amount of drama and romance in it.
That is it from today’s post on Top 10 Underrated Award Winning Romance Anime You Must Watch. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below. Keep visiting Animesoulking for more information about Anime and Manga.
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