Best Romance Anime of 2002

When computers begin to resemble humans, does the concept of love remain unchanged? Hideki Motosuwa is a young boy from the countryside working hard to pass his college entrance exams. Coming from a poor family, he can barely afford his everyday expenses, let alone the latest trend: Persocoms—personal computers that look exactly like human beings. One evening on his way home, he stumbles upon an abandoned Persocom. After taking her home and successfully turning her on, she appears to be faulty, able to say only one word: "Chii," which becomes her name. Unlike other Persocoms, Chii cannot download data onto her hard drive, forcing Hideki to teach her about the world the old-fashioned way while simultaneously studying for his college exams. Together with his friends, Hideki attempts to solve the mystery behind Chii, who might be a "Chobit"—an urban legend about special units capable of genuine human emotions and thoughts, along with love for their owner. But can a romance truly develop between a Persocom and a human?

One day, Kei Kusanagi spots a strange glowing woman by the lake. He learns that the woman is actually an alien officer from the Galaxy Federation named Mizuho Kazami, and what's even more surprising—she's also his teacher! Despite this complication, he and his teacher gradually become closer, and a romance develops between them. However, before long, the school principal discovers their relationship. The solution? Get married! Now, the newlyweds must conceal their marriage from both Kei's high school friends and the Galaxy Federation. Onegai☆Teacher is the fragile yet comedic love story of an alien and her student.

In the year Cosmic Era 0071, the space colony Heliopolis maintains neutrality amid the vast war unfolding across the galaxy between Coordinators—humans genetically enhanced before birth—and Naturals, unmodified people who reside on Earth. The Naturals' intense animosity toward Coordinators forced these advanced beings into space, where they took refuge in man-made colonies. Kira Yamato, a Coordinator and university student on Heliopolis, sees his life upended when ZAFT, the military force of rebellious Coordinators, attacks the colony to steal five cutting-edge military mobile suits called Gundams. Although ZAFT successfully escapes with four of the mobile suits, Kira seizes control of the remaining Gundam, the Strike. After surviving the clash, Kira and his college friends board the Archangel, a vessel operated by the Earth Alliance, and the young soldiers endure the horrors of war and the grief it brings.

Within a living fairy tale, the clumsy, kind-hearted Ahiru appears an unlikely heroine. But Ahiru is just as magical as the talking cats and crocodiles around her—she is actually a duck! Transformed into a human girl by the enigmatic Drosselmeyer, Ahiru soon discovers her true purpose. Using a magical egg-shaped pendant, she can become Princess Tutu, a graceful ballet dancer whose performances soothe the sorrows in others' hearts. With this power, Ahiru takes on the quest to gather the lost fragments of her prince's heart, which he shattered long ago to imprison an evil raven for eternity. Princess Tutu is a story of heroes defying destiny. Their beliefs, emotions, and choices will decide whether this fairy tale can achieve its "happily ever after."

Ichigo Momomiya thought her date with her crush, Masaya Aoyama, would end more romantically than her passing out after seeing a vision of a cat slipping into her body. The next day, things get weirder as she starts acting like a cat, including a sudden urge for fish. When a monster attacks Masaya, she realizes she can transform into the cat-eared magical girl Mew Ichigo. After saving Masaya, two researchers named Ryou Shirogane and Keiichiro Akasaka approach her, explaining they injected her with Iriomote Cat DNA to create a magical girl capable of saving Earth from aliens. Ichigo is assigned to fight these monsters, but handling the world's rescue alone is too much for her. Luckily, she discovers four other girls like her, and Ichigo must locate them quickly before the aliens fully conquer the planet.

Ayato Kamina's peaceful life as a high school student is thrown into turmoil when futuristic fighter jets suddenly attack Tokyo. In the chaos, he meets a woman named Haruka Shitow, who claims to be from a government organization called TERRA. She reveals that Ayato has been living inside a time bubble called Tokyo Jupiter, created by the Mulians—humanoids from another dimension—to isolate and conquer Tokyo. TERRA has been trying to break through the city's barrier ever since. Overwhelmed by this revelation, Ayato panics and flees. He runs into his classmate Reika Mishima, who leads him to the Shrine of Xephon, where a large egg slumbers. She begins to sing, and an unknown power awakens within Ayato, connecting him to a being called RahXephon that breaks out of the egg. Haruka soon finds him again and urges him to join her cause of fighting the Mulians. Caught between the crosshairs of the Mulians and TERRA, Ayato begins to question his purpose, grappling with altered memories and ultimately his very identity in this chaotic new world.

Two years prior, Mitsuki Kouyama's childhood friend Eichi Sakurai moved to America before she could confess her feelings to him. Although she cannot contact him, they made a promise to pursue their dreams: Mitsuki aims to become a professional singer, while Eichi wants to be an astronomer. She hopes that one day her music will reach him across the world, shining as brilliantly as the full moon. However, there is a complication: Mitsuki has throat cancer, which leaves her voice quiet and makes singing difficult. Her grandmother despises music and insists Mitsuki undergo surgery to remove the cancer, but Mitsuki refuses because it risks losing her voice entirely. One day, two shinigami—Meroko Yui and Takuto Kira—appear and inform her that she has only one year left to live. This shocking news spurs Mitsuki into action, and she decides that with Meroko and Takuto's assistance, she will become a professional singer within the time she has remaining. Full Moon wo Sagashite follows the emotional journey of Mitsuki and her shinigami companions as they learn what it truly means to sing—and ultimately, what it means to live.

Kaoru Hanabishi, a college student living by himself, encountered a lovely yet confused girl in a kimono at a train station. He offered to help her find the address she was looking for, which turned out to be near his own place, but the location was an empty lot. Unsure of what to do next, Kaoru brought the distressed girl to his apartment and asked for more clues about her destination. She showed him a photograph of two children, which Kaoru immediately recognized as himself and his childhood friend Aoi Sakuraba. It became clear that the girl before him was indeed Aoi Sakuraba, his betrothed fiancée who had traveled to Tokyo to marry him. This revelation not only shocked him but also stirred deep memories of why he had left the Hanabishi family in the first place.

Chise is an ordinary schoolgirl—small, frail, and not particularly bright. Her greatest happiness comes from her budding romance with Shuuji, her classmate and childhood friend. They both live in a small military town in Hokkaido, where high school students have few concerns beyond who is dating whom and complaining about the steep climb up "Hell Hill" each morning before school. One day, Shuuji and his friends take a trip to Sapporo to buy gifts for their girlfriends. A massive air raid on Sapporo that day kills thousands, including one of Shuuji's friends, and marks the beginning of a war. Fleeing from the carnage, Shuuji spots Chise—but now she has steel wings and a massive gun where her right arm used to be. Against her will, she has been transformed into the ultimate cyborg weapon, capable of leveling entire cities. As the war draws closer and closer to their hometown, Chise and Shuuji's relationship is strained by her transformation, and they are left to wonder whether she is even still human.

Seven years have passed since Yuuichi Aizawa last saw his aunt Akiko, but with his parents heading to Africa for their careers, he now returns to the small northern town. Yuuichi isn't thrilled about living there, as all his memories of the place and its inhabitants have mysteriously disappeared. Even his cousin Nayuki, with whom he used to play as a child, feels like a stranger. While unpacking on moving day, Yuuichi discovers a red headband that nobody seems to recognize. This becomes one of the first clues leading him to wander through the snow-covered town and begin recalling fragments of his past—broken promises and hidden secrets. Soon, Yuuichi realizes something supernatural is happening, and each of his new female acquaintances appears connected to his forgotten history.

As Mahoro, Suguru, and his classmates deepen their bonds, another android girl appears and grows attached to Mahoro. Meanwhile, the days remaining before Mahoro is scheduled to shut down continue to dwindle.

Beneath Tokyo, Japan's capital, lies a vast, hidden world called Underground. Its inhabitants are Elemental Users—individuals who wield powers over forces like fire, water, lightning, magnetism, or ice. The story follows Rumina Asagi and his best friend Ginnosuke Isuzu, two ordinary high school freshmen living in Tokyo. Their lives are turned upside down when they encounter Chelsea Rorec, a Gravity User, and Ruri Sarasa, the Miko of Life, setting them on a grand adventure.

Hitotose Chitose had always been solitary and wary of others, but when five female teachers moved into his family home and began living with him as his mothers, his life started to shift and liven up. Alongside Hazuki-nee and Minazuki, his two sisters, every day offers a new lesson.

Megumi-chan carries a hidden history: once a boy, they encountered someone they believed to be a magic user. That individual gave them a mysterious book—when blood touches it, a genie emerges to fulfill one wish. Megumi wished to become a man in a man's body, but the genie works in reverse, transforming nine-year-old Megumi-kun into Megumi-chan. Years later, Megumi enters high school and immediately defeats the school bully, who, of course, falls in love with her. Now she searches for the book again, hoping to undo the spell.

Iwaki Tomonori is an ordinary 15-year-old boy with a preference for older women. He harbors a crush on his teacher, only to discover she has just become engaged. Heartbroken, he returns home and finds a 12-year-old girl named Rizel waiting for him. He soon learns that the Japanese government has forcibly married him to her against his will. Moreover, Rizel is no ordinary girl—she is a biochemically engineered human. Her creators, referred to as her "papa"s, promise to cover several of Iwaki's parents' bills in exchange for allowing them to stay at the house. Thus, Iwaki's life with Rizel begins.

Kotarou is an ordinary boy who worries about school pressures and enjoys a simple life with his friends. To his dismay, one day the overly cheerful Misha appears at his door, wanting to be friends out of the blue. Even more surprising is that Misha is an apprentice angel, yet she causes more harm than good. Along with Kotarou's schoolmates Takashi and Koboshi, and the so-called devil Shia (who likewise does more good than bad), the group of friends spend their days getting into all sorts of adventures and troubles.

Kaede, an upbeat eighth-grader, is completely timid when it comes to romance. After purchasing a vibrant cocoa mug at a strange shop, she finds an inscription revealing that reading a wish aloud while adding hot cocoa summons a love fairy, or muglox, to fulfill desires. Skeptical yet intrigued, Kaede wishes to date Yuuki, the popular boy at school, and the tiny blue Mirumo instantly appears. However, Mirumo is more interested in eating sweets and causing chaos than helping her. As the prince of the muglox world, Mirumo fled his realm to avoid an arranged marriage with Princess Rirumu. Now, Rirumu, bounty hunter Yashichi, and a chaotic army of muglox are in pursuit, turning Kaede’s everyday school life into a whirlwind of adorable trouble.

Five supernatural factions have been locked in conflict for countless centuries, always keeping the arrival of the Aquarian Age in mind. Kyouta begins having visions of mystical girls battling, and soon discovers they are real. He and his girlfriend Yoriko are drawn into the struggle, and the fate of Earth and the Aquarian Age rests in their hands.

Ai Shiomi, burdened by self-doubt, enrolls at the prestigious Psychic Academy—a school for students with psychic powers—hoping to live up to the legacy of his legendary older brother.

Wataru, after a long time, has made the choice to move out of his family home and live by himself. The girls have also opted to go their separate ways, with most of them residing apart. However, none of them have forgotten their brother, and they continue to band together to visit him.

When Miu was little, she was captivated by the piano and started taking lessons. The story begins with Miu in middle school. She is timid and speaks softly, lacking much self-confidence. Her friends would call her "sweet" and "quiet." By this point, Miu has been studying piano for a while, and although people tell her she has improved greatly over the years, Miu herself feels she isn't truly good at anything—not even the piano. Her teacher, Mr. Shirakawa, often grows frustrated with her playing. She hits every note perfectly, but her heart isn't in it... At the same time, Miu has reached an age where she starts noticing boys, and this shy girl has taken an interest in the handsome Kazuya Takahashi—even though he hasn't noticed her. This is Miu's story. The tale of a young girl on a journey to find the melody inside her own heart and the courage to let it out.

On the final Valentine's Day before her high school entrance exams, Nana Suzuki struggles to muster the courage to confess her feelings to her longtime crush. When her chocolates are accidentally destroyed, she dashes home to make more—unaware that her grandfather has turned the microwave into a peculiar invention. Suddenly, six extra versions of Nana appear, each with their own extreme personality and a crystal that gives them magical powers! With her original plan ruined, Nana vows to confess to her crush during her first year of high school. The catch is that her crush is top student Yuuichi Kamichika, and following him to his elite high school means she must study hard. With six new allies by her side, Nana gets ready to face anything the exam season might throw at her.