Non-Romance Anime where love wins out?

Cafe Society
1

I was just wondering…how many anime movies or series’ feature a romantic or “unrequited love” subplot that actually ends with love winning out?

But, again, this is NOT counting anime that’s purely a romance or a romantic-comedy. That’d skew the outcome.

But, aside from those, in a lot of the anime I end up seeing, we either have…

a) A “relationship” never gets past the “wistful glance across a crowded room” phase. Or the “eternally yet inexplicably platonic friends” phase. (Aka “Scully-Mulder Syndrome.”)
b) One of the (would be) lovers dies.

And sometimes A, followed by B. Sometimes A caused by B. (The latter tends to involve screaming in anguish.)

Not to mention c) …Similar to a), but caused by one of the (would be) lovers hooking up with a love interest who’s been introduced to the story straight out of left field. You usually see evidence of this in “epilogue” scenes, showing a character settled down with a new spouse and kids.

As for anime works with a romantic subplot that don’t end like that, I can think of…

(Caution: Spoilers from HELL below.)

•Armitage III, and it’s sequel. I don’t know how, but they did it.

•Outlaw Star. (Gene and Melfina do hook up in the end.)

•Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040. (Things at least looked fairly optimistic for Nigel/Syllia and Priss/Leon romantic “hookups.”)

So…what else am I missing?
Ranchoth
(Next, I’ll start a thread about “Anime Works with Happy Endings.” I can think of about five.)

3

Excel Saga, in a sense. Of course, that’s not counting the very last episode.

4

Spoilers ahead for all mediums of Utena. Yes I know I mention this anime a lot, but it really is my favorite series. Among others I’ve seen, most don’t have much in the way of romantic subplots, or it’s more tragic.

In the Utena movie, the two characters are most definately together in the end, and it’s shown in a very much “love conquers all” fashion, though not exactly what you’d expect. During the series, the ending is more ambigious, but it is reasonably clear that the love has and will win out here. Both have a somewhat happy ending, though not a standard one.

Also, in Rose of the Versailles, another favorite of mine…

The love wins out in the last few episodes, and it’s definately not a romance anime. Of course, both of the protaganists die anyhow, but it definately gets finalized and set in stone before they do.

Finally, one of the romantic episode of Galaxy Angel ends when the protaganist’s love doll tragically explodes.

5

Argh, how dare you beat me to Utena?!

It depends on the love in question. Did Touga end up happy? I doubt Saionji wants to feel “settled for”, the poor tragic dear.

6

I think he did somewhat. Since Anthy’s gone, Akio’s going to have to find someone else, and he and Touga already had a thing. At the very least, he has Nanami. ;).

7

I think its meant to imply that Excel and Ilpalazzo were going to “hook up”

I wasn’t entirely certain about that. It was pretty vague to me.

8

I think poor Nanami isn’t getting off her medication for quite some time. :slight_smile: I just always felt sick for Saionji and how he keeps coming back to these twisted, exploitative relationships. I’m not sure there’s a healthy relationship that can be built between him and Touga at this point. Not that it wouldn’t make an extremely attractive bit of porn.

There’s a fantastic anime music video by somebody named Kestrel set to “This Was Never Meant to Be” out there about those two - it’s everything I just tried to say about them. :slight_smile: She’s got a good one on Nanami too, to the October Project’s “Bury My Lovely”.

9

I’ll nominate part I of “Private Psycho Nurse” a hentai about a beautiful female psychologist who hypnotizes her patients by twirling her very large breasts at them. OK, seriously, it SEEMS like a typical hentai but it turns into a heartwarming story of how the private psycho nurse helps a young student/prostitute reconcile herself to the loss of her mother at a very young age.

I am not kidding.

10

Well, I hope we’re out of examples and I didn’t just kill the thread.

11

Um, Macross isn’t a romance anime although it’s a heavy suplot, and Hikaru and Misa (or Rick and Lisa, if you prefer) end up together.

12

I’m really not trying to think of another one, but there it is: Bondage Queen Kate.

OK, it’s an adult anime. Kate is a young space lieutenant in the Galaxy Patrol sent to the planet Dune to investigate the kidnapping of all the hot young babes on the planet. Her job is to act as bait for the slavers who are suspected of doing the kidnapping, and very good bait she is. She’s soon kidnapped and hauled off to the slaver’s base for slave training. Much sexy stuff ensues. then the good guys invade and there’s an invasion of the bad guy’s hideout by the Galaxy Patrol. Big battle, much running and shooting. Some of the slavers escape and Kate seems to be on her way to a career in the Space Patrol, but at the last minute she is united with her one true love – the slaver who kidnapped and raped her a lot, and they live happily ever after as master and slavegirl.

So, ya see … it DOES happen.

13

It’s funny, most of the hentai I can think of (actually, all of the examples that come to mind) end up with a “romantic” happy ending, although sometimes it’s “happily ever after as master and slavegirl” or whatever. There’s often a relationship by the end, even in things that aren’t really “couples’ porn”.

14

I can think of quite a few hentai that don’t end well. In Stepmother’s Sin, about an incestuous relationship, everybody dies.

In the Isaku/Shusaku series, a nasty old janitor at a toney girl’s boarding school blackmails the students into being his sexual playthings. There’s no happy ending, Isaku just keeps blackmailing the girls, the end. Isaku, I think, is sort of a sexual Jason or Freddy – just keeps doing one terrible thing after another.

In the Kirei ep of Cool Devices, vacationing women are captured, raped and killed by natives. The end. It don’t get much grimmer than that.

The entire Imma Youjo series – there are five of them – deal with men who are destroyed by their lust for a woman (OK, in at least one instance, a robot) named Maia.

With the exception of the Imma Youjo series, which has some excellent writing, these are among my least favorite hentai. In fact, Kirei is my least favorite.