Romance, BL & Historical Chinese Anime Recommendations

Open almost any general "best anime" list and you'll find the same handful of genres on repeat. These three get real, focused picks instead — because "just watch something with a good rating" isn't a recommendation if it's not even the genre you're after.

Romance anime recommendations

Your Name is the one to start with if you want a single, complete story — a body-swap romance that turns into something much bigger, in under two hours. For a series commitment,Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You is the softest possible version of "married at first sight," and The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignityis 2025's best answer for two leads who are secretly just awkward honor students pretending to be delinquents.

BL anime recommendations

Heaven Official's Blessing is the biggest one right now — a Chinese danmei epic with a disgraced god and a mysterious ghost-king suitor, and it doubles as a historical Chinese pick too. For something set in an ordinary office instead of a mythological court,Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity is a genuinely funny slow burn. And if you want the BL that gets recommended most often to people who've never watched one,Sasaki and Miyano is still the answer.

Historical Chinese anime recommendations

Mo Dao Zu Shi is the wuxia fantasy that built a cult following almost entirely by word of mouth. The Apothecary Diaries trades sword fights for palace intrigue — a poison-obsessed maid solving mysteries no one asked her to. AndLink Click proves Chinese sci-fi mystery deserves the same attention as its historical-fantasy counterparts, with photographs that work as time machines and a genuine price for using them.

Best anime for kids

A different kind of recommendation problem: something the whole family can watch without you pre-screening it first. My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyoare the gentlest possible introduction to anime for a kid, full stop. Pui Pui Molcar is three minutes of stop-motion guinea-pig cars per episode — genuinely built for short attention spans. And Pokémon Horizons is the franchise's current era, still built for a family movie night the way the original series was decades ago.