Our favorite unexpected romantic gestures in anime

It’s Valentine’s Day. Aside from being a “card manufacturer’s holiday,” Valentine’s is about more than just love; it’s about yearning. That deep ache for love and compassion that stirs inside us not just from flowers and candy and gifts, but from genuine thoughtfulness born of devotion, those little moments that speak volumes and make our stomachs into noodles. You can turn to many places in fiction to indulge this fantasy — particularly anime, where the limit on these sorts of gestures truly knows no bounds. They go big and bold (we’re talking saving the world from total destruction) or small and grounded (hands touch, time slows, the light starts to glow, and cheeks get all blushy).

Still, for as much as a classically swoony moment can drive us all wild (and even propel a whole show’s worth of will-they-won’t-they hair pulling), we all have some off-the-beaten-path options that just delight each of us, personally. In light of that, we’ve gathered some of our favorite unexpected romantic gestures in anime. They could be grand or grounded, canon or no. The only condition? It makes your heart melt a little.

Have your own unexpected favorite romantic moment? Tell us in the comments.

Riza and Roy’s lethal promise (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Throughout the course of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, we slowly learn more about Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye and just how deep their relationship runs. In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’s 30th episode, we get some flashbacks to their time in the Ishvalan War of Extermination and their subsequent quest to reform the government from the inside out. Roy asks Riza to watch his back — and kill him if he ever strays from his path. She promises that she will.

“Will you follow me?” Roy asks her.

“Into hell, if you so desire,” Riza responds.

I am going to claw my eyes out.

One of my ultimate favorite romance dynamics is someone with a dedicated mission in a position of power, and their infallibly loyal right-hand person, who will do anything they ask… including turning on them if they begin to compromise their morals. It’s about the devotion — not just to one another, but to the cause. It’s about the idea that they’re both united by a drive for something bigger than themselves, and that’s exactly what made them fall for each other, but it’s also the thing that means a truly happy ending will forever be out of their grasp till that goal is achieved (and even then, will it be enough?).

Roy and Riza have all that and the bonus of being childhood friends, since Roy trained under Riza’s father! Ah! —Petrana Radulovic

Tohru chasing Kyo’s monster form (Fruits Basket)

There are a lot of iconic romantic gestures in Fruits Basket, but the scene where Tohru pursues Kyo in his monster form really takes the cake. After being an outcast for most of his life, Kyo finally finds a sense of comfort in somebody. His adoptive father comes to visit, and activates Kyo’s curse, turning him into a lizardlike beast. In shame, Kyo flees into the forest, thinking that Tohru will recoil in disgust and abandon him the same way everyone else does… but she chases after him.

Tohru pushes through the literal storm to find Kyo — despite the fact that the stench makes her want to vomit, despite how he claws at her to push her away, and despite him shouting obscenities at her to hurt her. In the end, she says that she’s not going anywhere, and they return to the Sohma household with Kyo snuggled in Tohru’s arms in his cat form. Mind you, this happens nearly 100 chapters before the manga ends, but it cemented Kyo and Tohru as the couple. —Julia Lee

Love on a roll (Adolescence of Utena)

Utena fans are used to their show (or more accurately, its movie adaptation) being known as “the one where she turns into a car.” But the car is a metaphor.

In order to survive high school, the teens of Revolutionary Girl Utena have self-imprisoned within the expectations of others — none more so than Anthy, who is the object of Utena’s affection and is her vehicle (aha!) for actualizing her own identity as a protective “prince.” So when a car wash appears and transforms Utena into a dope-ass drag racer with which Anthy can escape their high school, it’s merely a visualization of Utena finally setting her own self-actualization aside to help Anthy achieve hers. The car. Is. A metaphor! —Susana Polo

Finding your voice (From Me to You)

What is the most romantic gesture that someone in love could possibly do for another person? Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You) has the answer: It’s overcoming severe social anxiety and shyness. In this series, a teenage girl named Sawako Kuronuma likes a boy so much that she works through years of personal turmoil in order to speak to him and other classmates. Sometimes the most romantic thing you can do is just tell someone exactly what you feel! —Ana Diaz

Marcille resurrecting Falin’s digested body with dark magic (Delicious in Dungeon)

Haha, what if I trekked into the deepest, darkest dungeon to rescue you from a dragon’s stomach and concocted a dangerous plan to kill said dragon, only to learn that you’ve been digested by said dragon, so I painstakingly combed through the dragon’s blood, guts, and half-digested intestines to reassemble your bones and resurrect you via a dark magic ritual that’s basically banned everywhere? And when you were resurrected, we took a long bath together, where I gently washed your body to make sure your skin was resurrected properly, because I know your skin so well? And whilst in the bath, you leaned forward and intertwined your fingers with mine because you sensed I was weak and you wanted to share your magic with me? And we were both girls? Ha ha… just kidding… unless? 👀 —PR

Batou giving the Major his coat (Ghost in the Shell)

Batou never says the words “I love you” in Ghost in the Shell. But there are a lot of ways that love can be expressed and shown beyond the shape of words. Case in point: the way Batou treats the film’s protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi.

Kusanagi and Batou are both members of Public Security Section 9, a fictional information and security task force that specializes in high-profile hostage rescue and domestic counterterrorism. Almost every member of Section 9 is outfitted with a cybernetic prosthetic body featuring proprietary combat technology, essentially indenturing them to the government. Kusanagi’s body is fitted with thermoptic camouflage, which requires her to disrobe in order to work effectively. I know what you’re thinking: “typical anime fetishistic nonsense,” right? Allow me to make a case for why this is important.

Throughout the course of the film, we witness Kusanagi going through an existential crisis: She’s no longer wholly certain of either her identity or her humanity as a post-human cybernetic individual. To Kusanagi, her body is not so much her own as it is a tool of the state. She feels roughly as self-conscious about disrobing as a soldier would about unsheathing a knife or withdrawing a pistol from its holster. Which is to say, not at all.

That’s not how Batou sees her, though. She’s not a weapon or tool of the state, but a person and a friend who he commiserates with and cares about. After Kusanagi defeats a knife-wielding thug using her thermoptic camouflage, Batou walks up behind her and drapes his coat over her shoulders without being asked. Later, while scuba diving in the bay off of New Port City, Batou averts his eyes when Kusanagi begins taking off her diving suit. You could be forgiven for dismissing these scenes; the film never calls attention to them. But they’re fundamental to establishing the dynamic between these two characters, with the former gesture even being echoed in the penultimate scene of the sequel, 2004’s Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Like I said, when it comes to saying “I love you,” actions often speak louder than words. —Toussaint Egan

The little in-jokes (Dan Da Dan)

At the center of Dan Da Dan’s psychosexual comedy are two awkward teenagers, Momo and Okarun, who are not very good at maintaining deep friendships, much less good romantic relationships. When these two will-they-won’t-they friends say goodbye at the end of the day, the other has to respond “see you tomorrow,” which just goes to show that the best romantic gestures aren’t necessarily big ones. Sometimes, they’re the littlest rituals that just remind the other person that you want to hang around. —SP

San’s caretaking (Princess Mononoke)

Everyone talks about the Princess Mononoke scene where San pins Ashitaka to the ground and raises a dagger to his throat, only for him to look up at her and say she’s beautiful. And I’m not denying that scene. It’s a very good scene, and I adore it.

But in the interest of discussing some “unexpected” moments, I’m going to mention a better one: the bit where Ashitaka is passed out, and San is slowly nursing him back to health by chewing up food and putting it into his mouth like a mama bird. It’s incredibly intimate, and it shows the level of trust she has in him, as their relationship has evolved. As someone raised by animals, San would obviously show that trust in a primal way. It’s a little gross, but it’s also deeply nurturing and kind. —PR

He never let go (Ranma ½)

Ranma ½ — the manga, the original anime, and the 2024 remake on Netflix — is filled with instances of Akane and Ranma being cute for a second, only to undercut it. Usually it’s Ranma who breaks the moment with an ill-timed joke or jab, but Akane has also delighted in catching Ranma off guard only to douse him in cold water. The more rare beats are the sweet ones, where both of them have to let a gesture land.

As a sucker for a good, combative will-they-won’t-they, the moment I always return to is the one in the ice skating competition. It doesn’t matter that Akane could handle herself with the opposing team (whether the amorous male partner, or the female partner who stole her pet pig). It’s about how Ranma won’t let go, and even when he’s talking like a lunkhead he’s thinking of her safety — so much so that he whips her around to lessen the impact. True love is getting hugged while some weirdo throws you and your fiancé at a wall. —Zosha Millman

Grand gestures — like jumping off a building (Sakamoto Days)

Fiction shouldn’t restrict itself to realistic romantic gestures. Giving your loved one a clear understanding of how they’ve crossed your boundaries and what reasonable steps they can take to make up for it is the height of romance. It shows that you value your relationship enough to work hard to preserve it.

That’s all to say that when Aoi throws herself off of a building to show Sakamoto how devastated he would be to lose her, so he can understand the pain he causes when he assassinates people, so he can understand why she will break up with him if he doesn’t stop doing it — that’s romance, baby. —SP