Best One-Shot Romance Manga

Key Takeaways

• One-shot romance manga provide accessible and heartwarming romantic content without drawn-out storylines.
• Short and sweet one-shots like “A Story About Spending a Little More Time With an Eccentric Girl” can wrap up in just 5 pages.
• “Henshin Ganbou!” offers a cute and straightforward romance story that is perfect for getting over heartbreak.

“Love transcends dimensions of time and space” or, in this case, it transcends all forms of media. With the big screens being so open and engaging with their romantic content, others are also following suit. Who cares about being single when one can get the full-rounded experience from watching or reading cute romantic interactions between two people? It’s a win for everyone involved.

With that said, romance movies and novels aren’t always the most accessible or sought-after ways to consume romantic content. Anime and manga have consistently held strong in that realm. But the true game-changers come in the form of one-shot romance manga, with their mini-stories and their inherent wholesomeness that just leave everyone feeling giddy and warm on the inside. No plot twists, no main characters losing their memories — just a pure, straightforward romance with a pure, straightforward ending.

Updated on October 15, 2024, by Fatima Naeem: The appeal of one-shots largely comes down to their accessibility. Not everyone has the time — or the mental and emotional bandwidth — to commit to long, intricate plots that span years. This becomes even more true when it comes to romance, a genre that’s meant to leave readers feeling warm and happy. One-shots are perfect for those who want to avoid the pitfalls of overly drawn-out storylines and get right to the heart of the romance. They skip the filler and dive straight into the good stuff.

11 A Story About Spending a Little More Time With an Eccentric Girl

MyAnimeList Score: N/A

One-shots are like a quick snack — easy to go through without losing interest or overconsuming anything. However, with this particular one-shot, A Story About Spending a Little More Time With an Eccentric Girl, the ‘conciseness’ goes to another level. It’s the shortest, sweetest, most all-rounded one-shot that literally wraps itself up in just 5 pages.

The story starts off with a girl coming across a guy who’s not doing very well mentally because of being treated badly by his classmates. The guy’s essentially a pushover and is dragged through the mud by his peers because of his inability to say no to them. But things start to change when she demands he be her bodyguard and join her on her little adventures around town, and through all this, he begins to heal.

10 Akuma To Tsuki No Yoru

MyAnimeList Score: 6.84/10

Akuma to Tsuki no Yoru is a 2009 one-shot romance manga that plays with almost every late teen romance cliché ever to exist and surprisingly ends up making it work.

Kamiya Kyouko, a lonely high school girl, experienced her latest L when she was rejected by her crush, Ishii-kun. This rejection made her a hot subject among her classmates and led to her being isolated and mocked by them. Things take an even stranger turn for her when she accidentally stumbles upon a boy passed out on the side of the road. Acting as any normal person would, she decides to help him but gets herself in a predicament that screams stranger danger from miles away. The boy introduces himself as Lucifer, the prince and son of the Overlord of the Underworld, and Kyouko’s future husband?!

9 I Still Haven’t Experienced A Kiss

MyAnimeList Score: 7.05/10

Slow-burn romance is a romance trope that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s a bit hard to grasp and, if not constructed correctly, loses its plot points and direction very quickly. But keeping things short and sweet can help, and that’s exactly what I Still Haven’t Experienced a Kiss does as a one-shot.

It follows the story of a popular high-school gyaru who lets everyone believe that she’s hardcore, experienced, and very much a social butterfly with a lot of secret admirers. The reality, however, is very different. Fukase may be popular and charming, but she has zero experience in love and has not even had her first kiss. She knows her inexperience can’t be found out and plans on taking this secret of hers to the grave — until a guy from the basketball club finds out about it and puts her entire plan into jeopardy.

8 Kimi To Aruku

MyAnimeList Score: 7.21/10

With the surge in popularity of adult Yaoi and BL manga and manhwa, it’s becoming increasingly tough to find some that are short and sweet and focus more on the romantic aspect rather than the explicit content. This is why the 2012 romance manga, Kimi to Aruku, is the ace of spades when it comes to shounen-ai/ BL.

It follows two childhood friends, Ken and Yuu, who are worlds apart in terms of personality but have managed to remain close throughout the years. Ken is — well, he’s the more serious type. He’s their high school’s soccer ace and is the “cool, popular guy” with tons of gushing fangirls. On the other hand, Yuu is the more bubbly, outgoing one with a knack for art and sculpting. No one can deny the bond they share, but recently, Yuu cannot help but wonder if Ken is hiding something from him.

7 Oujisama No Yume Utsutsu

MyAnimeList Score: 7.25/10

Oujisama no Yume Utsutsu or The Prince’s Waking Dream is a remarkably unconventional retelling of Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent centering around a prince rather than a princess. It’s one of the older entries here and was released way back in 2006.

A vilified witch, Sayla, and her familiar, Tajiru — a crow, naturally — set out to the royal castle to wake up the eternally sleeping crown prince of the country, Prince Lulnavul. The country’s king promised the prince’s hand in marriage to the one who could break his endless sleep. However, Sayla is not there for matrimony but for the coveted royal crown’s sapphire. She intends to take the jewel back to her town (from which she was thrown out) to pacify her townspeople and strengthen her position as a witch.

6 The Gates of Judgement

MyAnimeList Score: 7.29/10

Sabaki No Mon is a 2011 one-shot romance that packs quite the punch with its heavy themes like death and morality, even though it has a ‘cartoony’ and ‘shoujo’ art style. It’s a relatively longer entry that delves into the symbolism behind demons, angels, and human neutrality — it’s also a very adorable romance that just warms the heart up.

Lance, a demon who’s managed to anger God, is banished from the overworld for what feels like an eternity. To reclaim his former position, he’s given a mission: guard the gates of heaven and hell and convince countless souls to choose the path to hell — but only through lying. Everything changes when the love of his life appears before the gates, forcing Lance into either choosing his own redemption or his beloved’s chance to ascend to heaven.

5 Henshin Ganbou!

MyAnimeList Score: 7.30/10

Henshin Ganbou! is what one would read to get over a heartbreak. It’s a short, sweet, straight-to-the-point one-shot that does not play around with complicated storylines, love triangles, or plot twists. It simply follows two teenagers as they slowly, but surely, fall in love with each other. It’s all very cute and was published in 2014.

Sunaki is a geeky, “uncool,” overlooked high school student whose only achievement in his high school life was getting on the baseball team as a backup. Because of his almost invisible persona, he gets rejected by the school’s most popular girl after confessing his love for her in a letter. Adding insult to injury, she doesn’t even personally turn him down. Instead, she sends her friend to do it for her. Ouch!

4 Kowareta Bokura No Senryaku Renai

MyAnimeList Score: 7.49/10

Grab some tissues, because Kowareta Bokura no Senryaku Renai is a certified tearjerker. It’s a 2022 one-shot that starts with a mild, almost comedic, premise but gradually shifts to a much darker, psychological story with some very somber topics.

Furuya, a high school student who simply wants to live his life in peace, has his whole world turned upside down when the most popular girl in school kisses him in front of the main building. To make matters worse, she publicly announces on the school intercom that she and Furuya are in love and in a relationship. This sets off a chain of events that, against all odds, draws this unlikely couple closer together.

3 Ao No Hako

MyAnimeList Score: 7.57/10

Ao no Hako, or Blue Box, is a one-shot turned full-length manga that would essentially give its readers a sugar rush with how sweet and fluffy it is. Its premise is just as simple as any other slice-of-life romance manga/anime — a normal guy falls in love with a normal girl.

Inomata Taiki is a hot-headed, zesty, and loud sports fanatic who is in love with Kano Chinatsu from the girls’ basketball team. His little crush started when he began noticing that Chinatsu was the only member of the team who would come to the school gymnasium early in the morning to practice her shots. In other words, he simply fell in love with her determination and love for basketball. Now, desperate to confess his feelings, it turns out that Taiki’s usual hotheadedness disappears when it comes to matters of the heart.

2 Kon No Ki Konoha

MyAnimeList Score: 7.79/10

If Kowareta Bokura no Senryaku Renai had readers reaching for tissues, buckle up for Kon no Ki Konoha, the undisputed final boss of tearjerker one-shot manga. With a premise so beautifully bittersweet, this 2007 one-shot is set to make everyone shed a tear or two (or many).

Akino can’t let go of the memory of that one autumn trip with her dad to the mountains when she was a kid. It’s the one where she met Konoha, the spirit of the blue tree and the love of her life. Now, as a high schooler, she’s determined to let Konoha know how she really feels about him.

1 Tokidoki

MyAnimeList Score: 8.02/10

Kon no Ki Konoha claiming the title of the most dramatically painful entry here was a bluff. Enter Tokidoki, a 2016 one-shot that ticks all the boxes and then some for what might be considered the most gut-wrenching, soul-crushing story the world has ever seen.

Hato Iijima finds himself intrigued by his class’s newest transfer student, Hatsu Takagi. Takagi is a reserved and timid girl with gorgeous long black locks and a certain secret that he’s bent on finding out. As he befriends her, Iijima discovers that she suffers from a rare heart disease that has cut her lifespan short. He promises to give her the best time of her life before the inevitable unfolds.