The best enemies to lovers anime excel at portraying one of the most beloved tropes among audiences. Not all couples begin with love at first sight – any of them feel nothing but anger toward their future partner at first, until becoming closer makes them both realize that they’re more than what they appear.
Enemies to lovers stories, more than anything, adore love that’s based on intense and passionate feelings and, eventually, fully cemented by deep trust and understanding. In some cases, the couples overcome years of bad blood to be with one another. Sometimes, no one knows you more intimately than your closest enemy.
10 Nisekoi Turns Fake Love Into Real Love
Based on the manga by Naoshi Kami
Raku and Chitoge’s fathers are gang leaders on the verge of an all-out war. The only thing keeping the war at bay is the fact that their heirs are hopelessly in love. The catch, though, is that Raku and Chitoge actually can’t stand each other, and are faking their relationship to trick their dads.
Nisekoi combines the fake dating trope with the enemies to lovers trope perfectly. Despite being one of the best anime about the mafia, it stays lighthearted and fun throughout. Raku and Chitoge go from constantly bickering to realizing that they’ve genuinely come to enjoy being around one another all the time.
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9 Princess Mononoke Pits Humans Against Spirits
Originall anime movie by Studio Ghibli
Technically, Ashitaka insists upon not being anyone’s enemy: one of the most charming princes in anime is determined to help both the humans of Iron Town and the spirits of the forest. As far as San, the vengeful daughter of the wolf god is concerned, this makes him just as much her enemy as any other human.
However, as they both discover, life is more complicated and more beautiful than that. Both of them save each other’s lives repeatedly over the course of the movie as the stakes climb higher. By the end, though San still can’t forgive humans for their crimes against spirit-kind, she decides that she can and will return Ashitaka’s love.
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8 The Devil Is A Part-Timer! Plays With Hero-Villain Archetypes
Based on the light novels by Satoshi Wagahara
The Devil King and the Hero of Justice are enemies by nature. The Hero, Emilia, follows Sadao Maou through an interdimensional portal he escaped through intending on vanquishing him for real. Instead, she winds up just as powerless as he is, befriending him instead as they both learn how to build a life on Earth.
The deepening romantic relationship between Maou and Emilia is expanded upon more in the light novels. However, the seeds of it are very clearly planted in the current anime. Forced to live normal lives and think for the first time about what they want for themselves, the two quickly learn that they work much better as partners than as opponents.
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7 Space Patrol Luluco Is All About Dysfunction
Original anime by Studio Trigger
Space Patrol Luluco is all about high-energy space shenanigans. Perhaps naturally, not one, but two of the central relationships of the show are enemies to lovers. These include Luluco’s parents, Keiji and Lalaco, and Luluco’s romance with her beau, Nova.
Part of Luluco’s exposition in the first episode is how Lalaco ran out on them after a fight with Keiji and stole all their stuff, and it’s still unclear where any kind of settled family life fit into the passions of a space cop and space pirate. However, they will chase each other all over the galaxy out of love. Similarly, it’s Luluco’s love that gives the Nothingling Nova emotions, and when he is lost, Luluco swears to search forever until she finds him, despite how he has betrayed her in the past.
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6 Maoyu Pairs A Hero And Demon Queen
Based on the light novels by Mamare Touno
In many of the best fantasy anime, the forces of evil and good battle one another to the death. But here, the sworn enemies – a human Hero and the reigning Demon Queen – agree that not only are things not that black and white, but their war is doing neither side any good. They must work out a way to find true peace while keeping their relationship a secret.
The longer the Demon Queen and Hero work together, the more they learn from each other. Hero fully accepts the way his people take advantage of his outrageous strength, and must learn guile to make them listen to him. Demon Queen is perpetually threatened by warlike fellow demons and her own ancestors, and relies on the strength of her promise with Hero to keep confident.
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5 Whisper Of The Heart Tells A Heartfelt Love Story
Original anime movie by Studio Ghibli
Shizuku Tsukishima and Seiji Amasawa are one of the best Studio Ghibli couples, and also one of the few that are explicitly romantic. However, it takes them the full movie to admit it. After reading Seiji’s name in the check-out cards of all her library books, Shizuku has a romantic fantasy of who he is, which is promptly shattered when they actually meet.
Seiji and Shizuku have a knack for getting on each other’s nerves. But the more time they spend together, the clearer it becomes that they are also one another’s greatest support. Their deepening love and admiration gives them the courage they need to take risks and pursue their dreams, no matter how frightening or difficult the journey is.
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4 Romeo X Juliet Tells The Classic Enemies To Lovers Story
Written by Reiko Yoshida and based on the play by William Shakespeare
Juliet Fiammata Ars de Capulet has lived her whole life in hiding, until her true identity is revealed to her on her sixteenth birthday. After Lord Montague usurped the throne in a bloody coup, Juliet was left as the sole survivor of the royal family. Now, she’s determined to end the oppression of Neo Verona.
One of the best anime based on classic literature – quite loosely, in this case – centers around the most famous star-crossed lovers in history. In this production, both clans are more explicitly antagonistic, with the Montagues massacring the Capulets and Juliet attacking them in disguise for revenge. Nevertheless, Juliet finds herself falling for Romeo Montague, her sworn enemy, and the polar opposite of his father.
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3 Love After World Domination Shows Love Between Superheroes & Supervillains
Based on the manga by Hiroshi Noda and Takahiro Wakamatsu
The title says it all, really. Fudou Aikawa, leader of the superhero team defending the world from villains, and Desumi Magahara, top general of the world’s most dangerous villains, are secretly in love. They must keep their relationship secret as they and their loved ones continue to battle it out.
Fudou is characterized by his strict adherence to justice and self-discipline, making his instant head-over-heels love for Desumi particularly meaningful. Desumi herself was raised to be a powerful villain, and her relationship with Fudou is her first step towards deciding how her own life will go.
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2 Toradora! Starts As A Ploy, & Ends In True Love
Based on the light novels by Yuyuko Takemiya and Yasu
Ryuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka definitely got off on the wrong foot on their first day of school. After an extended comedy of errors that involves home invasion and attempted murder, they agree to help one another win the other’s best friend, who they have crushes on. But in the process, they realize that the person they might really belong with is each other.
In all the best episodes of Toradora!, Ryuji and Taiga’s clashing personalities drive the show’s screwball comedy. Both of them struggle with how others perceive them versus who they really are. What makes Toradora! really excel is that it pulls off its most sincere moments just as well as its goofiest ones.
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1 Food Wars! Heroes Fight Over The Right Way To Cook
Based on the manga by Yuuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki
The main concept of this anime is elite (and often extreme) cooking, and a major theme is the clash between what is considered high- and low-class dining and the “correct” method of cooking and culinary education. Nowhere is this more evident than in the central relationship between Souma Yukihira and Erina Nakiri.
In everything he does at Tootsuki Academy, diner chef Souma is determined to prove the worth of his cooking, which Erina is horrified to discover she finds amazing. As they constantly compete against and try to impress one another, both of them realize they have a lot to learn about their chosen art and their rival. Some of the wildest dishes ever cooked on Food Wars! symbolize the growth of their relationship and highlight the heavy implications of their feelings for one another.
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