A good romance manga is not about the confession. It is about everything before it: the wrong words at the wrong time, the friend who notices first, the two people who are obviously in love while the whole class waits for them to figure it out.
Here are four romance manga I think every manga reader should try, from a gentle first love to a full war of schemes. After each one there is a small tip for reading it on your iPhone with ComicFlow, the manga reader I build. It is $2.99 once, with an optional $6.99 one-time Pro unlock, and nothing in these tips needs Pro.
Disclosure: I make ComicFlow at Applestan. The series facts below were checked against Wikipedia's entries and the publisher listings they cite, on November 13, 2026.
Quick Reference #
| # | Series | By | Kind of romance | Volumes in Japan | Status | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi ni Todoke | Karuho Shiina | Slow first love | 30 | Completed (2017) | A long, gentle read |
| 2 | Horimiya | Hero, Daisuke Hagiwara | Secret selves, real couple | 16 + bonus 17th | Completed (2021) | Couples who actually date |
| 3 | Kaguya-sama: Love Is War | Aka Akasaka | Battle of wits | 28 | Completed (2022) | Laughing out loud |
| 4 | Skip and Loafer | Misaki Takamatsu | Friendship first | 13 | Ongoing | Reading as it comes out |
If you only try one, start with Horimiya. It gets to the good part fast and then stays there.
1. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You #
By: Karuho Shiina | Volumes: 30 (completed, 2005 to 2017) | Genre: Romance / coming of age / slice of life
Sawako Kuronuma is fifteen, and her classmates call her "Sadako", after the girl from The Ring. There are rumors that she can see ghosts and curse people. In truth she is sweet, shy and only wants to be useful to someone. Then Shota Kazehaya, the most popular boy in her class, starts talking to her as if none of the rumors exist, and her whole school life slowly opens up.
This is the slowest burn on the list, and that is the point. Every small step, like a first real friend or a first honest conversation, feels huge. It ran in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret, won the Kodansha Manga Award for shojo in 2008, and has more than 33 million copies in print. Viz Media publishes it in English, and a third anime season came to Netflix in 2024.
Why it hooks you: you cheer for Sawako so hard that a single honest sentence feels like a plot twist.
How to read it: 30 volumes is a lot of files. If yours come as one ZIP or RAR with every volume inside, ComicFlow 3.8 imports a ZIP or RAR with several comics and adds each volume as its own book. The Continue Reading card at the top of the library then always shows the book and page you stopped on, so you can pick it up again with one tap on Resume.
The Continue Reading card shows the book and page you stopped on. Tap Resume to jump back in.
2. Horimiya #
By: Hero (story), Daisuke Hagiwara (art) | Volumes: 16, plus a bonus 17th in 2023 (completed, 2011 to 2021) | Genre: Romantic comedy
At school, Kyouko Hori is popular, pretty and good at everything. At home she wears plain clothes, cooks and looks after her little brother. Izumi Miyamura looks like a gloomy, bookish loner in class. Outside school he has piercings and tattoos. One day Miyamura brings Hori's brother home, and the two see each other's hidden side for the first time.
Most romance manga end when the couple gets together. Horimiya is different, because the couple gets together early and the story is about what comes after: jealousy, family, friends who have their own crushes. It started as Hero's webcomic Hori-san to Miyamura-kun, ran in Square Enix's Monthly GFantasy, and Yen Press publishes it in English. The anime aired in 2021, and Horimiya: The Missing Pieces followed in 2023.
Why it hooks you: it is a romance where the two leads actually talk to each other.
How to read it: Horimiya is full of small scenes you will want to see again. Tap the page to show the controls and tap Bookmark. Once a volume has a bookmark, a small badge at the top of the reader opens the Bookmarks list, so you can jump straight back to that page. Bookmark manga pages on iPhone has the details.
3. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War #
By: Aka Akasaka | Volumes: 28 (completed, 2015 to 2022) | Genre: Romantic comedy / psychological
At the elite Shuchiin Academy, student council president Miyuki Shirogane and vice president Kaguya Shinomiya look like the perfect couple. She is the daughter of a huge conglomerate, and he is the top student in the prefecture. They like each other. But both are too proud to confess, because whoever confesses first "loses". So every day becomes a battle of schemes to make the other one say it.
It is a very funny manga that treats every tiny decision, like who speaks first, as a high-stakes battle. Halfway through, the story turns warmer and more serious, and the side characters get real arcs of their own. It ran in Shueisha's Miracle Jump and then Weekly Young Jump, won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2020, and Viz Media publishes it in English. The anime started in 2019, and a final anime film has been announced.
Why it hooks you: every chapter is a small heist where the prize is "I like you".
How to read it: the gags often land on the page turn. In ComicFlow 3.8, open a volume, tap the gear for Reader Settings, and switch on Page curl in the Display section. Each page or spread then curls like paper, and in right-to-left manga mode the curl follows the manga direction. Manga page curl on iPhone has the details. If your copy is a scan with wide white borders, Trim Margins sits right below it and crops the border as each page is shown, without changing your file.
4. Skip and Loafer #
By: Misaki Takamatsu | Volumes: 13 in Japan (ongoing, since 2018) | Genre: Romantic comedy / coming of age / slice of life
Mitsumi Iwakura grew up in a tiny town in Ishikawa, with eight students in her whole class. She was top of her year and moves to Tokyo for high school with a detailed life plan. On the first day she gets lost in the morning rush, and a tall, handsome boy from the same school helps her run there. His name is Sousuke Shima, he used to be a child actor, and he is in her class.
Skip and Loafer is romance with friendship first. Mitsumi's honesty changes the people around her, and the story cares as much about her friends as about her and Shima. It runs in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon, won the Kodansha Manga Award in 2023, and Seven Seas publishes it in English. A 14th volume is listed for November 20, 2026 in Japan, and the anime's second season is set for April 2027.
Why it hooks you: it feels like real high school, awkward and kind at the same time.
How to read it: set Right to Left (Manga) once, and if your files carry the series name, ComicFlow remembers that direction for every volume in the series. When a new volume arrives, it opens the right way round.
The reader in right-to-left mode. Bookmark sits in the bar at the bottom, and the gear for Reader Settings is at the top.
Getting these series as files you can read #
ComicFlow reads files you own: CBZ, CBR, ZIP, RAR and PDF. It does not open EPUB, and books bought inside store apps such as Kindle or BookWalker stay in those apps. Two routes work:
- Buy DRM-free where you can. Where to buy DRM-free manga lists the stores I could confirm and what format they sell.
- Scan volumes you already own. How to scan manga you own covers it.
To get the files onto your phone, Wi-Fi Upload lets you drag them onto a page in any browser on your computer. Once a book is in ComicFlow's library it opens with no connection at all.
What is included without Pro #
Everything above is in the $2.99 app: offline reading, importing a ZIP or RAR with several volumes, Wi-Fi Upload, right-to-left reading saved per book and per series, page curl, Trim Margins, the Continue Reading card and bookmarks. There are no ads or ad tracking.
ComicFlow Pro is an optional $6.99 one-time unlock, not a subscription. It adds Komga, Kavita and OPDS server libraries, saved reader presets, Face ID-locked collections and EPUB export for Kobo, Boox, reMarkable and PocketBook e-readers.
Related reading #
- 4 sports manga that make you want to play: more series with great friendships
- 4 cozy manga for winter nights: calm reads for a cold evening
- Manga page curl on iPhone: turn pages like paper, new in ComicFlow 3.8
- Import a manga series from one ZIP or RAR: also new in 3.8
- Bookmark manga pages on iPhone: keep the pages you love
ComicFlow sends anonymous usage analytics to help improve the app, and you can switch that off in Settings, then Privacy, then Share Usage Data. Your manga files stay on your device. The privacy policy has the full list.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best romance manga to start with?
Four good places to start are Kimi ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina (30 volumes, finished), Horimiya by Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara (16 volumes plus a bonus 17th, finished), Kaguya-sama: Love Is War by Aka Akasaka (28 volumes, finished) and Skip and Loafer by Misaki Takamatsu (13 volumes in Japan and ongoing).
Which romance manga is the funniest?
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. Two student council geniuses like each other but refuse to confess first, so every chapter is a battle of schemes to make the other one admit it. It won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2020.
Which romance manga on this list is still running?
Skip and Loafer. It has run in Monthly Afternoon since 2018, 13 volumes are out in Japan, a 14th is listed for November 20, 2026, and the second season of the anime is set for April 2027.
How do I keep my favorite romance moments in a manga?
In ComicFlow, tap the page to show the controls and tap Bookmark. Once a book has a bookmark, a small badge at the top of the reader opens the Bookmarks list, so you can jump straight back to that page.
Do I need a subscription to read manga on iPhone with ComicFlow?
No. ComicFlow costs $2.99 once, with no subscription and no ads. Offline reading, right-to-left mode, page curl, Trim Margins, importing a ZIP or RAR with several comics, the Continue Reading card and bookmarks are all included. An optional $6.99 one-time Pro unlock adds comic server libraries, reader presets, Face ID-locked collections and EPUB export for e-readers.
