Best Romance Manga of 1996

Kagome Higurashi's ordinary life comes to an abrupt halt when a demon drags her deep into a well, transporting her five hundred years into the past. In this era, Kagome quickly learns two things: demons walk amongst humans and she has unknowingly brought a dangerous object from her world—a marble-sized sphere known as the Shikon Jewel. This unusual orb brings tremendous power to any demon who has it in their possession, and Kagome is an easy target for anyone determined enough to steal it. While in a fight with a demon, a hasty attempt to fend it off causes Kagome to accidentally shatter the jewel, sending countless pieces of it all over feudal Japan. She soon learns the grave consequences of her actions when she must work with the half-demon Inuyasha to collect all the pieces of the jewel before they fall into the wrong hands.

"Herein lie the Clow Cards—if their seal is broken, disaster shall befall this world..." Sakura Kinomoto is an energetic and sweet 10-year-old girl attending Tomoeda Elementary School. One day not long after entering the fourth grade, Sakura finds a mysterious book titled The Clow hidden within her father's bookshelves. Upon opening it, a small, winged creature with an Osakan accent comes out of the book and introduces itself as Keroberos, the Creature of the Seal who guards magical cards known as the Clow Cards and keeps them from escaping the book. Unfortunately for the plushy guardian, it seems that the Clow Cards have already escaped—and now Sakura is tasked with capturing them before the cards unleash their powers and cause havoc all over Tomoeda! With the support of the tiny guardian who she nicknames "Kero" and her best friend, Tomoyo Daidouji, Sakura must wield a magical bird-shaped key and use her new powers as the Cardcaptor to maintain peace and ensure that everything is alright.

After seeing Izumi Sano at a high jump competition, Mizuki Ashiya became completely enamored by him—even moving from the United States to Japan and enrolling in the same institute as him. However, Sano's academy is an all-boys school! Due to her bright personality, Mizuki quickly befriends her class without drawing suspension to her gender. To her surprise, she ends up being not only Sano's classmate but also his roommate. Though she is now able to admire Sano in close proximity, she learns that Sano has quit high jumping and refuses to pick up the sport ever again for unknown reasons. Moreover, the academy's doctor, Hokuto Umeda, might be onto Mizuki's facade. Now, Mizuki has to find a way to reignite Sano's passion—all without revealing her secret.Included one-shots: Volume 1: Natsu no Ori (The Cage of Summer) Volume 4: Kawaki no Tsuki (The Thirsty Moon)

Timid 16-year-old Kira Asou prefers to be alone drawing than stand out. At a park, she is approached by her schoolmate Rei Kashino—notorious for being a womanizer—who asks for directions. Distrustful of Rei's intentions, Kira quickly chalks a map for him and runs away. Little does she know that Rei finds one of her sketches on the back of the map and becomes captivated by her artistic skills. Much to Kira's chagrin, Rei immediately recognizes her at school, but she ignores his attempts at striking up a conversation. However, Rei's sincere praise about her drawing leads Kira to see the violent rebel in a better light. After watching him kiss a statue of the god Mars, Kira feels so moved that she instantly requests him to model for her. As Kira and Rei's chance encounter begins to develop into a flourishing relationship, what is to become of these two polar personalities?

Life in the year 2020 in Tokyo is tough, as crime rates are high, and crimes against women rank second only to murders. To prevent their daughter from being exposed to these crimes, Tsukasa's parents raised her to be a male. Tsukasa aspires to be a policeman fighting against the yakuza, just like her parents. However, her parents died in the line of work, leaving behind Tsukasa and her 3 brothers to fend for themselves. Tsukasa must thus work as a bodyguard for her classmate, Ryuji, who happens to be the leader of the most powerful yakuza group in Tokyo, to pay off the family's debts.

Crest of the Stars follows Ghintec Linn (aka Jinto Lynn), a young count whose world is taken over by the space-dwelling race of the Abh. When Ghintec was a young boy, his father, Rock Lynn, under threat of invasion, handed over their world, Martine, to the Abh in exchange for a position within Abh society. Young Ghintec is sent off to school to learn the ways of Abh nobility and the story of Crest of the Stars picks up as he meets the young Abh princess, Lamhirh (aka Lafiel) as they are about to travel to military school for Ghintec's further training. However, in the midst of their travels, Lamhirh and Ghintec (along with the Abh ship Gothlauth, aka Gosroth) find themselves at the very beginnings of a war between the Abh Empire and the Four Nations Alliance of humankind—an anti-Abh alliance of the democratic nations of the United Mankind, the Federation of Hania, the Republic of Greater Alcont, and the People's Sovereign Union of Planets.

Tatsumi Hōjyō is a 17 year old dreamcatcher (yumegari) from the Houjyo clan who has to investigate the dreams of others and sometimes participate in them. A yumegari is bound by fate to a yumemori, one who watches the dreams of a Yumegari and prevents them from falling into an eternal sleep. When Tatsumi's mother and father, the preceding yumegari and yumemori, die in the execution of their duties, Tatsumi inherits the job. At the risk of being caught in the dreams, as happened with her parents, the yumegari Tatsumi is helped by a dreamseer (yumemori), called Kyosuke Kaga, a 28 year old novelist with whom she'll have to share a new life in Tokyo to try to understand more about her extraordinary powers and control them. However, their relation becomes more personal, despite the warnings of the Houjyo clan about the yumemori.