Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken
I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying

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If you've had enough life and love experience to have a decent understanding of how things actually work (and how they don't), you realize that the way manga and anime typically portray romance is lacking, to say the least. And also generally horrible, if I'm being honest. But some are clearly written by people who know what's up—and you should check them out.

This is a list of printed works featuring characters who:
* exhibit authentic romantic chemistry with each other;
* have charisma and/or sex appeal and aren't afraid to use it;
* are able to hold mutually engaging conversations on different subjects;
* have three-dimensional personalities that are interesting and relatable outside the context of their relationships;
* go above and beyond the stale tropes in their relationship;
* otherwise behave like people tend to in non-imaginary relationships.

Includes well-written same-sex/LGBTI romance that complies with the principles above.

Includes stories that explore toxic/unhealthy relationships and relationships that don't end well but are still true to the real-world experience.

Includes stories that aren't completely focused on romance but have it as one of the core elements of the storytelling and character progression.

More entries will be added in the future. Existing entries are subject to revision.

This list constitutes my personal views and stances. Feel free to shoot me suggestions via DMs but make sure you have a convincing argument if it's not something that's already on my main manga/anime list. I don't promise it'll end up here but I will consider all suggestions.

This list is printed-works-only because many of these don't have an anime equivalent and I don't want to multiply effort. Entries that have anime adaptations may be experienced better as such (I have noted it in the descriptions where applicable).

Honorable anime-only and anime-original mentions: Mind Game, Furiko, Steins;Gate.

Mangas featuring otakus as main characters

Cool-kyou Shinja manga collection for you and me to read.

These are manga where the main couple is already dating from the start, or they get together within just a few chapters of the story!

Manga dealing with the lives of married couples and individuals, or those in a domestic partnership.

I'm surprised that MAL doesn't have a way to search for 4 komas, so here's a stack of them. If I'm mistaken on one of them, make sure to let me know!

Manga with titles that say "X can't do Y" where X is a female character.