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If there was one thing that is quintessential to every good romantic drama anime/manga, it would be the inevitable love triangle. No matter how well or how terribly a romantic couple is going, you just know that someone else is going to pop up to stir up some trouble. It’s a tried and true method to bring a couple closer together in the long run. And being a formula that works, that means that there is a plethora of examples of the love triangle at work. Here are a few of my favorite examples from anime and manga I’ve seen/read.

Ao Haru Ride

So I do have to distinguish this as the manga and not the anime, because the anime never quite gets to the juiciest love triangle. This love triangle is between the main character Futuba, her longtime love interest Kou, and Toma–who falls hard for Futaba. What makes this triangle spectacular is that it starts almost doomed to fail. From the beginning of the story, we know that Futaba and Kou are both in love with each other but kept apart by circumstance it seems. Their drama, is honestly a little BS. Toma meanwhile, is someone seemingly unrelated to their drama and friends and actually doesn’t like Futaba at first. But the more they interact, the more he falls for her and he ends up asking her out to which she agrees since he says he’ll make her fall for him. Which as the audience, we know is a losing bet. But Touma treats her so well and fairly that he actually ends up being the one, I at least, wanted her to be with. He never really did anything selfishly—even when he rightfully should. This just made the love triangle super effective. The boy she should be with or the boy she was destined to? Honestly such a well-done triangle.

Nosatsu Junkie

Another manga that I think did their love triangle well was this fashion and model-oriented storyline from Nosatsu Junkie. Unlike the last manga, this one well solidified the main couple of the two models Naka and Umi by the time the love triangle popped up. Fans were very loyal to them and thought that the story was on a clear track for them to just be together. Which is why the love triangle introduced was unwelcome but also necessary. As a model, Naka was relying on Umi to help her create beautiful photos as a model. But then comes along fashion photographer Ikue who starts catching all the best sides of Naka and thoroughly confusing her feelings for Umi. Was she in love with Umi? Or just in love with the fact that he helped her create beautiful photos? Likewise her hesitance caused Umi have to reflect on his own feelings. The love triangle, though brief, was entirely necessary for them to be able to untangle their feelings from their work so they could look at the whole picture (so to speak). And at the end of the day? They did end up together.

Fruits Basket

I can’t talk about love triangles without talking about one of the greatest love triangles of all time. The quintessential love triangle, the team Jacob vs team Edward of anime, there is no better triangle than Kyo x Tohru x Yuki.  This classic triangle starts practically from the beginning of the series, with Kyo and Yuki having an already-rivalry before Tohru comes into the picture. Naturally with the two treating her vastly different but each caring about her in their own way, sides were immediately drawn for the viewer on whether Yuki or Kyo would be a better match for her. I think what makes this triangle the best though, is that Yuki and Kyo both deeply think about their feelings for Tohru and what she means to them and how. They don’t simply say they love her romantically and want to be with her, they really do take a lot of time knowing they simply “love” her and discovering what that means to them (and to her). At the end of the day, this love triangle ends up on great terms—better terms than they started as Tohru helps Kyo and Yuki discover/think a lot about themselves and their relationship with each other and other people.

While there’s still a plethora of love triangles that we could talk about from both romantic and non romantic anime, these are the three that mean a lot to me personally. They are so well written in my opinion and really do more than just cause pointless drama in the story. They act as a means to better the characters, and often without bitter feelings left over afterwards.
Thanks for sticking around for day 2 of Doki Doki Days! We look forward to seeing you for day 3!

xoxo
Luna