Top 10 Romance/Slice of Life Anime of The Year (2021)

2021 has been an absolutely fantastic year in Anime.

It's been especially fantastic in the realm of romance and slice of life anime.

As clearly shown by my seasonal anime reviews, every season this year was infused with a healthy dose of slice of life and romance; relieving genres that balance out all the action and intensity of each season.

And today I'm here to pick among the multitude, the 10 I see as the most amazing and impactful among Romance and Slice of Life anime this year.

Of course in this list I'll only be considering New Anime Series and not including Sequels or Anime Movies. However if I were to make it an all-round list, The Top entry with sequels included would be none other than the completely phenomenal Fruits Basket Final Season, which through its own beauty, has achieved the feat of maintaining the Number 5 spot among highest rated anime titles of all time on Myanimelist.

If Movies were to be considered, at the top of the Romance-Slice of Life Movies list would be the perfect Violet Evergarden: Love and the amazing Josee: Tiger and Fish.

But this list isn't about Sequels or Movies, it's about the most amazing new slice of life/romance anime we got this year, which were mostly integrated with other relevant genres such as drama, comedy, shounen or even fantasy.

Since I've already talked about pretty much all anime on this list in detail in my seasonal reviews, I'll neither be narrating nor giving compact reviews of them.

It'll be a ranking list with short statements to clarify what makes each entry worth their position on the list.

Let's get into it.

TOP 10 BEST NEW ROMANCE/SLICE OF LIFE ANIME OF 2021

10) MY SENPAI IS ANNOYING

(Romance, Slice of Life, Comedy)

My Senpai is Annoying in its run is an excellent and refreshing office Romcom that delivers great comedy while establishing proper character dynamics and romantic relationships in an adult setting.

9) THE DUKE OF DEATH AND HIS MAID

(Romance, Ecchi, Drama)

The Duke of Death and His Maid, while facing considerable controversy due to the use of CGI and Ecchi scenes, still managed to deliver a powerful tragic romance with many emotionally resonant backdrops balanced with light-hearted comedy, with its most radiant factor being it's use of great music.

8) TAISHO MAIDEN FAIRYTALE

(Romance, Drama, Slice of Life)

Taisho Maiden Fairytale, while bearing a tragic background for the main character, told a comforting romantic story dazzled with many wholesome scenes and a slow and steady pacing of its heartfelt developments, proving itself to be the epitome of a well-narrated love story.

7) DON'T TOY WITH ME MISS NAGATORO

(Romance, Comedy, Ecchi)

Don't Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro proved itself to be a bombshell of a Romantic-comedy with the perfectly  arousing dynamic between the main couple, leading to many irresistible romantic and comedic sequences dazzled with a bit of erotic spice in every episode.

6) KAGEKI SHOUJO

(Drama, Shoujo, Slice of Life)

Kageki Shoujo, while being massively underrated and underwatched, tells an emotionally resonant story filled with perfectly executed moments of passion and frustration as a school of young girls chase their dreams of being stars on the grand stage.

5) REMAKE OUR LIFE!

(Drama, Slice of Life, Romance)

Remake Our Life explores the intricacies of youthful ambitions. Facing a main character who failed at life and was given a second chance to chase his dreams, this is a time-travel story which exposes you to the world of visual art while delivering great moments of inspiration, romance and drama.

4) HIGEHIRO

(Drama, Romance, Slice of Life)

Higehiro, while facing major controversy due to the age-gap between the main ship and it's premise, subverts the typical romantic direction to tell a heart-gripping story facing many themes, primarily themes of Rejection and Acceptance. 

It established a proper non-sexual relationship between the two main characters which helped them both find salvation as it grew further.

3) KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE

(Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life)

Komi Can't Communicate, the everly popular and successful Romcom adaptation creates a fantastic weekly episodic experience by combining the splendid humor made possible by it's wild characterization, with the charming moments of development for the main characters while significantly representing the difficulty of highschool life with communication disorder.

2) HORIMIYA

(Romance, Drama, Comedy)

Horimiya proved itself to be a masterclass authentic romance story, as it utilized it's top quality characterization to establish a web of characters bearing several feelings towards eachother and develops these relationships in an appreciable way, masterfully highlighting not only the main couple's love story but the side characters' as well. 

1) BLUE PERIOD

(Drama, Slice of Life, Shounen)

Blue Period is a masterfully written and executed tale that explores the themes of self-realization and perseverance in chasing one's dreams, while giving an insightful look into the beautiful and tedious world of Art.

It's an inspiring and immersive story that's made irresistible through its properly developed characters and well executed scenes of thematic significance.

It's an excellent anime with so many great moments and a smoothly enthralling tone that makes it the most valuable slice of life anime this year.

Well that's my list of Best Romance and Slice of Life Anime of the year 2021.

It should be important to note that I see every single entry on this list to be amazing animes and I highly recommend them to fans of the genre.

I reserve the urge to give an honourable mentions list as the other worthwhile SOL anime are already listed in my seasonal reviews, but make sure you've seen every entry on this list if you haven't.

Expect more lists like this from me before the year ends; especially a list for Isekai and Action animes of the year.

Leave a comment of your thoughts on this list

I love you all

See you next time guys.