Romance stories are hands down my favorite type of media. I remember being ten years old, sitting in my grandparent’s living room, giggling and blushing while the characters in whatever my current favorite Disney show was at the time were flirting. Or being a teen and sitting with my older girl cousins in their rooms eating sweets and watching romcoms. The genre has always been near and dear to my heart, and in recent years that dearness has very quickly developed into a love of romance manga, or shōjo manga. Admittedly, the genre is aimed mostly at teenage girls and young women, so being a twenty year old man with the dream of collecting the entirety of the Fruits Basket is a little out of the norm. Seriously though, who has the money to spend $160 on a used box set!? However, not all shōjo are created equally, so without further ado, here is my mostly-spoiler-free top five romance manga that I’ve read this year.

5. My Dear Agent

Starting off with a banger we have “My Dear Agent” by Ebino Bisue. “My Dear Agent” is an adorable BL of “boys love” manga about a professional bodyguard named Riichi who is tasked with training a new—and quite unprofessional—bodyguard. I’m a big fan of the overly serious, stern main character x big goofy himbo pairings, so this two volume manga instantly caught my attention. It’s a cute story with a good mix of awkward flirting, character development and pretty badass action scenes.

4. A Sign of Affection

“A Sign of Affection” by Suu Morishita is popular in the shōjo genre for a reason. Between the anime, and the current 11 volumes of the manga that have been released, “A Sign of Affection” shows how falling in love and creating new relationships can open up your world in ways you never imagined before. The story follows Yuki Itose, a deaf university student who’s world consists of classes, her love of fashion and her best friend. For the most part, she has fallen into the same routines as she’s had her whole life. 

This is until a multi-lingual stranger on the train helps her through an awkward encounter with a foreigner. She later meets the stranger—Itsuomi Nagi—again at school, and their relationship grows from there. The story is incredible for the way it shows Itsuomi and Yuki’s relationship, and the casual and everyday nature of how it show’s Yuki communicating in her daily life. This is another story that is all around just so cute and sweet. While I haven’t fully caught up on the manga, I’m so excited to see where it goes.

3. How I Met My Soulmate

I’m about halfway through “How I Met My Soulmate” by Anashin, and it’s definitely sucked me in. The story follows college sophomore Yuuki Honda, a girl who loves romance manga but since middle school has had absolutely no love life. That changes when her best friend takes her out to a club for the first time, and she meets the slightly scary Iori Souma. But first impressions don’t always last. If you love a main character with a heart of gold, and a love interest who is absolutely loyal and dedicated to her—with a hint of drama on the side—then this is the story for you.

2. The Moon on a Rainy Night

Non-sexualized yuri story with disability representation? Sign me up! “The Moon on a Rainy Night” by Kuzushiro is about Kindaichi Saki, a lonely first year high school student trying to reach out to and make friends with her distant and cold classmate, Oikawa Kanon, who is deaf. In my opinion, this story is just genuinely so sweet, but also does a fantastic job of showing how Oikawa’s hearing impairment affects her life, but doesn’t completely consume who she is as a character and her role in the story. The pacing of Kindaichi and Oikawa’s relationship is done really well, and the story has a pretty stellar supporting cast of characters as it goes on. I generally stray away from stories about high school students, especially romance stories, but this manga is super wholesome. “The Moon on a Rainy Night” has seven volumes, and an anime television series adaptation has been announced!

1. Snow Fairy

Words cannot describe how much I love this story, but words are kind of my job, so I guess I’ll give it a shot. “Snow Fairy” by Tomo Serizawa follows wildlife photographer, Akihito Narumi, who finds himself completely stuck in Hokkaido after getting caught in a storm while looking for the elusive “snow fairies.” He’s taken in by a local farmer named Haruki Homura, and while the two are polar opposites, they find it just means they have a lot to learn from each other. Haruki quickly becomes the inspiration and subject for much of Narumi’s photography. With Narumi snowed in, the two spend the winter together. This one volume manga is absolutely visually stunning, and takes great care in showing how the two characters’ relationship builds slowly and beautifully as the season changes. I won’t even lie to you, I did cry when I finished it.