Many classic romance anime titles still hold up today. Some vintage titles are hidden gems that may have a devoted cult following but have slipped through the cracks and haven’t gained a larger modern audience. Titles like Vampire Princess Miyu are out of print, so fans will struggle to revisit the manga in its entirety, as well.
Remaking classic shows may renew interest in their source material and garner a new audience who will enjoy the timeless couples and romance tropes. Revisiting older titles also gives creators a chance to produce adaptations that are close to the source material. Reboots like the new Fruits Basket and Sailor Moon Crystal prove that even popular classics can be redone with more justice given to the original manga events.
10 Vampire Princess Miyu
Vampire Princess Miyu was adapted first from the manga as an OVA and then adapted into a 1997 series. The anime creators improved Miyu’s character for the series adaptation. But both the series and the OVA have yet to lean as much into Larva’s romance as much as the manga.
There are times when deviating from manga characterization actually works and times when good source material meets the cutting room floor. Vampires are as likable today as they were in the ’90s; it’s worth revisiting an old vampire classic and fully leaning into the parts of the Vampire Princess Miyu manga that didn’t make it into the anime series.
9 Mermaid Forest
Mermaid Forest unfortunately didn’t catch up to its manga series, Mermaid Saga, by the amazing Rumiko Takahashi. Her previous works are action-packed and romance-heavy shonen, but Mermaid Forest was something completely different.
There is a central romance between Yuta and Mana, who are incredibly interesting and sympathetic characters, but their relationship is quiet and free of conflict. They have a quiet kind of romance that isn’t explored much in anime titles. Mermaid Forest would be a great piece to reboot and adapt right up to the manga’s end.
8 Hakuoki: Demon Of The Fleeting Blossom
There’s still an audience that will enjoy a moody, romantic historical with plenty of action and conflict like Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom has. The original adaptation is wonderful, but remaking it wouldn’t take away from the original.
Hakuoki is adapted from an otome game rather than a manga; using an otome game as a jumping point allows for a lot of plot creativity and character development in future renditions. It would also give creators a chance to fulfill the promise of the historical battle premise. One complaint sometimes leveled at the anime adaptation is that there aren’t enough battles and action.
7 The Wallflower
The Wallflower may seem like a sexist nightmare, but it’s actually wholesome in an off-beat way. Four handsome guys rent a mansion together and the landlady presents them with a deal: teach her niece how to be beautiful, and they can live there for free.
Though the boys make much of Sunako’s otherworldly appearance, they really do respect her feelings and history. It takes a while for them to understand Sunako, but they don’t pass up new opportunities to understand her. The My Fair Lady premise doesn’t reduce Sunako to her looks but rather works in a way to help her find herself when she’d retreated from the social world as a trauma response. Audiences today would still appreciate (and giggle with) Sunako and her himbo roommates’ story.
6 Swan Lake
Swan Lake is a hidden gem with a beautiful atmosphere and an ethereal yet dramatic soundtrack that adapts much of the original Tchaikovsky score. The anime film was made by Toei in 1981, and the animation is beautiful if a bit dated. A remake that retained the dreamy, and at times eerie, fairytale aesthetic of the original and added in some smoother graphics would be excellent.
Swan Lake is a timeless story, and Toei added some elements that work well for an extended film. The relationship between the central lovers, Odette and Siegfried, gets more development. A remake would also hopefully attract more of an audience to this underrated gem of a romance.
5 Rosario + Vampire
Shows like The Vampire Next Door highlight that audiences still love a kitschy Halloween aesthetic, and a reboot of Rosario + Vampire would do well. It would be an opportunity not just to update the visuals but also to skip over all the over-the-top fan service.
The original Rosario + Vampire diverges a lot from the manga source material, much to fans’ chagrin. There are repetitive transformation sequences and a brutish sort of comedy that maybe should have met the cutting room floor. The show was many ’90s fans’ intro to anime — a remake in 2023 would be timely.
4 Magic-Kyun: Renaissance
Magic-Kyun: Renaissance has all the ingredients for a great why-choose romance: a sweet deredere lady protagonist, elegant visuals, and a veritable cove of bishonen love interests. It seems like the show should feel uninspired, but there’s a charm to the comedy and characters that make it adorably tongue-in-cheek.
Though Magic-Kyun Renaissance is a beautiful anime, today’s graphics could make an already beautiful anime gorgeous. Shows like this and Uta no Prince-sama will never go out of fashion. Fans generally liked the music in the idol-adjacent anime, but it would be great to see a reboot with more updated music.
3 Ouran High School Host Club
Fans adore Ouran High School Host Club; it was unabashedly written for a shojo audience, and it shows in every over-the-top romance-indulgent scene whether the plot’s advancing or characters are getting into scrapes and acting the fool. The fervent fandom has waited patiently for another season, but it’s been nearly 20 years with no movement on another season release.
Unfortunately, it’s safe to say that there will be no more seasons for the current Ouran series, but if it were rereleased from scratch today, it would no doubt have a ready audience. It would be a great chance to catch the series up to the manga.
2 Fushigi Yugi
Magical girl series and historicals are just as popular today as they were in the 1990s, and Fushigi Yugi combines both those subgenres and throws in a hefty dose of epic romance. Miaka is a spunky protagonist that a modern audience would root for, and her love interest is a complex yet dramatic character.
The continued respect for shows like Yona of the Dawn highlights how audiences enjoy an epic love story with plenty of battles and an ensemble cast. Fans would no doubt love the dose of ’90s aesthetic that would inherently come with a remake. And no doubt, fans of the original would enjoy an updated English dub.
1 Princess Tutu
Shows about dance and ballet are doing just as well today as they were over 20 years ago — perhaps even better. Princess Tutu is a mix and match of several classical ballet stories and characters, including Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling.
The magical girl classic starring Duck combines fairytale elements with a magical girl premise. It’s such a classic that it’s still talked about today. Fans of the original and more contemporary shows like Dance Dance Danseur and Yuri!!! on ICE would love a reboot of the old magical ballet series.