30-DAY ANIME CHALLENGE! (DAY 8): Favorite Anime Couple

Day 8:  Favorite Anime Couple

Honestly?

 

 

 

 

Why did the “favorite couple” question had to be the question on my birthday?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couldn’t it have been something better and NOT romance-related?

 

 

 

 

 

Sigh…….

 

 

 

 

Oh well……guess I have to answer this……………

 

 

 

 

 

So, I’ll make it quick

 

 

 

 

My favorite anime couple will obviously have to be Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi, from Mahou SHoujo Madoka Magica, just because they TRANSCENDED ALL CONCEIVABLE FORMS OF LOGIC IN THE THIRD MADOKA MOVIE JUST TO BE WITH EACH OTHER ISN’T THAT SWEET.

PLUS THOSE TWO ARE THE LEGIT OTP.

 

 

 

Oh…..

 

 

 

…….oh………

 

 

 

 

…..are we not including fan-based relationships?

 

 

 

 

 

Aw…..

 

 

 

 

Sorry guys.

 

Guess we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way:

Tomoya and Nagisa Okazaki, from Clannad & After Story

 

I can already feel the tears forming.

Welp, a good chunk of you guys probably saw this one coming from 5700 miles away.

I wasn’t expecting this couple to be my favorite either, as I was perusing through my anime list to see worthy candidates, and to be fair, there were a couple of honorable mentions that would’ve easily been placed instead, such as Taiga and Ryuji from Toradora, or Araragi and Senjougahara from Bakemonogatari, or even Jintan and Menma from Anohana.  There were tons of choices, to be quite honest with you guys.

However, none of them had the same impact as these two lovers.  The whole story arc of the couple AFTER their marriage is, in essence, dedicated to developing a stronger bond between these two, and as far as I can dictate, the anime did a good job in portraying how much these two love each other.  They effectively illustrated how Tomoya and Nagisa’s relationship grew as a married couple, something that A LOT of anime are either scared to do so or avoid as a whole.  After Story does this to the point where we’re not only attached to the characters individually, but we also feel a connection in terms of their relationship.

This is especially evident when that moment that we wish did not happen……..happened.  We, as the viewer, sympathize with our characters because of the build-up of trust and the witness of their growth as a couple being apparently all for naught because of…….whatever it is that happened (spoilers, ssshhhh).

Insert more crying noises here.

It is because of this unfortunate circumstance that we see a CONTINUED development of their love for one another, in addition to the assurance that the characters are trying their best to piece these broken fragments together, even though in essence it is quite unlikely that things will be the same anymore.

This trend continues on until the ending, which is an amalgamation of all the dramatic build-up, giving the viewer an extreme sense of catharsis after watching these two grow together as a couple, even though, initially, it didn’t last too long.  We are given a sense of just how much these two love each other through the portrayal of the characters, and how one can never live without the other.

Which, ultimately, makes this couple my favorite, as they were characterized beautifully throughout the show as an actual family, which you don’t see much in anime:  not a lot of focus on the gushy teenage angst, but instead After Story focuses on the actual challenges of how a family forms and develops. Rarely do you see anime tackle that sort of topic, and even on the off-set chance that some anime does, it won’t be as centralized as how Clannad did it.

Just keep crying….

See how I over-analyze love?  That’s why you never make me do an article about the essences of human companionship.  Hopefully I won’t have to make something like this in a couple of years.

Honestly though, who’s your favorite anime couple?  Comment down below and I may reconsider my on-a-whim decision.

See you guys in Day 9!

One Comment

  1. Can’t argue with your pick. Most anime couples just revolve on teasing the viewer on whether they will hook up. Clannad showed that their pair were perfect for each other.