 If you liked
Yawara!
|
 ...then you might like
Maison Ikkoku
|
The love triangle Matsuda-Yawara-Kazamatsuri is quite similar to the triangle Godai-Kyoko-Mitaka. The art style as well as the flow of the story are similar, too.
A romance with obstacles was a very common theme in the '80s and these two anime are examples of such.
In Yawara it's a romance between a judo prodigy girl Yawara and a third-rated sport news reporter Matsuda.
In Maison Ikkoku it's between Godai, a tenant at Maison Ikkoku, and Kyoko, the new manager.
In both anime the romance progresses nicely, but with way too many obstacles.
I second this recommendation. For those Maison Ikkoku fans, don't be fooled by the appearance of Yawara!, it is actually more of a romance drama than sports. Judo is mainly used to drive the plot forward, but Judo competition itself is never a focus of the story.
Both series involve seinen romance (the later part of Yawara!) between multiple people and there are multiple love triangles. More importantly, there are lots of difficulties involved in the primary romance; thus, it took the entirety of both series for the romance to blossom in the grand finale (7 years in the settings of the original mangas). (PS: for
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Recommended by Manganatic
The romantic developments in both anime follow similar dynamics. Yawara is a must for those who like pre-90s romance anime.