Most romantic *non-romance* Anime series?

[DarkNozomi]

I'm not a fan of romance anime; ie. where romance, or pursuing someone etc. is the main goal of the series. But I LOVE series that are about something else where love still happens. So, does anyone know/recommend any series that have really decent romantic subplots while still being about something cool?

I'll mention Gosick because man oh man, for a detective/mystery series, it was quite powerful. You WILL shed a tear on the last episode

[Davidizer13]

G Gundam. Sure, it's Street Fighter with giant robots, but over the course of the show there's this understated romance between Domon, the main character, and Rain, his mechanic. For most of the show, it doesn't seem like Domon even notices how much Rain likes him, but it's really because he's been so focused on the tournament to do anything about it. But when the tide turns in the end and he's finally able to admit his feelings for her...wow.

[rocklobster]

Full Metal Alchemist had some pretty romantic scenes between Ed and Winry and so did Eureka 7 with Renton and Eureka.

[Falx]

Eureka 7.

Edit: you win this time crustacean

[MangaRocks!]

Steins;Gate.

[SakuraChan73]

Gundam Wing in a sense it was more of a hinted at then an actual romance at least that what I felt.

[Vii]

Agreeing with:
Eureka Seven
Fullmetal Alchemist

Adding:
Hyouka
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Princess Mononoke
Spice and Wolf
Durarara (It's twisted, though.)

[Neane]

I'm just going to agree with G Gundam and Steins;Gate.

[Atria35]

Steins;Gate, Ginban Kaleidoscope, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann... soooo many! ^.^

[skreyola]

Hmm... Time for a contest?

[the_wolfs_howl]

FMA: Brotherhood, definitely. It's an epic fantasy adventure story with oodles of suspense and heroism...and it also has the most beautiful, understated romance I've ever encountered: Royai <3 This story taught me how to handle romance in my own stories without making it annoying.

Baccano! is a very weird, gory, amazing story that you have to piece together as you go along. It has really strong characters who are all trying to achieve their own ends and obviously running into each other and causing problems when their goals interfere. It's definitely not the focus of the story, but there are a few romances scattered throughout the large cast of characters - even a few that aren't completely messed up like all the ones in Durarara!!

Chrno Crusade, if you can handle the demons and misunderstanding of Christianity, is another good adventure story that includes a romance between the main characters that is prominent, but not the central point of the plot. I was actually hoping for a brother-sister relationship, and it worked remarkably well for the first half of the story or so, but then it became clear that it was actually a romance. Oh well, at least it turned into a really good romance.

Most of the Miyazaki movies are good examples of stories with prominent romance that don't completely take over the plot. My personal favorite is Howl's Moving Castle.

Trigun is very much a shonen, with major focus on the fighting, but there are a couple romances of main characters hiding in the wings

[SierraLea]

I totally agree with
Howl's moving castle
Spice and Wolf
FMA and FMA Brotherhood

I add
Kekkaishi
D.Gray Man

[Yamamaya]

I'll add Haruhi Suzumiya to the list.

Although the romance in that light novel series and the anime series is definitely unconventional considering you can never really tell what the sarcastic narrator Kyon and the crazed Haruhi are really thinking.

[LastLfan]

Just throwing out yoh and anna in shaman king, no spoilers though only seen ep 1-5

[SierraLea]

I'll add Spice and Wolf to my previous list. It's not blatently romantic, although it does have a lot of romantic elements.

[Bobtheduck]

{troll}Akira. Tetsuo and Kaori = most romantic evar. {/troll}

Nadesico has romantic elements... In that it's basically a Harem show SPOILER: Highlight text to read: even though the harem has a conclusion, unlike most of them. He actually, officially, permanently ends up with a girl at the end, and it is, indeed, the most obvious, though not the most interesting, one.

School Rumble also has romantic elements, though it's a love polyhedron. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: All of the wonky, urequited love connections are solved at the end, leaving only one main character alone... Poor Yakumo. Unless you're of, ahem, THAT persuasion, but those kind see signs in everything. "OMG He's eating a hotdog, you know what THAT means!"

[minakichan]

*coughSwordArtOnlinecough*

I mean, something completely different that's also extremely classy.

[SierraLea]

There's two titles that I recently came across that are half romance, half other story. These are Crimson Hero and THe Story of Saiunkoku. Crimson Hero takes turns with its romance arcs and other arcs, which I think is a good motif so you don't get sick of either. The romance in Saiunkoku drives the story and also takes breaks.

[KnightOfFive]

I totally agree with
Howl's moving castle
Spice and Wolf
FMA and FMA Brotherhood

I add
Kekkaishi
D.Gray Man

'
These.

[LastLfan]

I agree with sword art online, and to go with knightoffives profile pic, minmea and rick from robotech

[Mullet Death]

To be honest there aren't that many titles I've seen that DIDN'T have a decent romance sub-plot.

[ClaecElric4God]

I'd have to disagree with Kekkaishi. I just didn't feel like their relationship was romantic at all. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Tokine was always obnoxious and condescending, while Yoshi was futilely trying to gain her affection by making cake for her. It never developed into anything (though I can't complain there, I'm not big on romance), and in the end their relationship went back to the way it was. If anything, Tokine acted a little less like an evil witch and a little more like a big sister. I didn't really sense anything romantic in it.

[ForeverInspired]

Some would be Sword Art Online, Hyouka, Full Metal Panic!, and Howl's Moving Castle. Code Geass had some romantic elements amidst the constant destruction- but they pretty much disappeared right after they were put in there.