Best Romance Sequel Manga

Key Takeaways

• Writing romance sequels is challenging as they explore life after the “happily ever after” ending.
• Popular manga like Fruits Basket, Spice & Wolf, and Cardcaptor Sakura have successful romance sequel manga.
• Sequels like UQ Holder and Teasing Master (Former) Takagi-san explore new storylines with familiar characters.

Writing romance stories can be tricky, as writers have to make two leads fall for each other in newer, more interesting ways while keeping things relatable and engaging enough until the end. But eventually, its love interests will usually get together and live happily ever after. So, how do they write a sequel to that?

Not every romantic tale gets a sequel, as they’re mostly about the pursuit of love rather than what happens once it’s caught. But it has been done, including in manga. Whether they’re following the genre’s biggest hits or their cult classics, these are some of the best romance sequel manga.

10 Hana Nochi Hare: HanDan Next Season

MyAnimeList Score: 7.13

• Creator: Yoko Kamio
• 15 Volumes, 113 Chapters
• Available in English via Viz Media’s Shojo Beat

The story of ordinary girl Tsukushi overcoming the elite Flower Four made Hana Yori Dango an iconic romance manga. It caught on throughout Asia, receiving multiple adaptations across the continent, like Taiwan’s Meteor Garden and India’s Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan. Yet it took eleven years after its end for it to receive an official sequel.

Hana Nochi Hare, aka Boys Over Flowers Season 2, follows Eitoku Academy’s new set of bullies in the Correct 5, who push poorer students around. Their leader, Haruto, would’ve done the same to Oto if she hadn’t discovered his own secret: he buys gimmicky self-help tat to try and be less scrawny. The two agree to keep each other’s secrets, while gradually warming to each other.

9 Fruits Basket: Another

MyAnimeList Score: 7.14

• Creator: Natsuki Takaya
• 4 Volumes, 23 Chapters
• Available in English via Yen Press

The original Fruits Basket was a reverse harem akin to Ranma ½ with its transformations and romance. Only instead of a gender-swapping lead, it had a shape-shifting supporting cast. The Soma Clan’s male members suffer from a curse that transforms them into animals from the Chinese Zodiac when they’re hugged by girls. Something their new addition, Toru, found out firsthand.

The manga saw two different anime adaptations and an in-print sequel, Fruits Basket: Another. This time, new school student Sawa keeps getting things wrong and getting on people’s bad sides. Depressed and down & out, it takes Soma Clan members Mutsuki and Hajime to help her out. It’s an alright strip, if somewhat uninspired, as it was made for a collector’s edition rather than as an actual sequel.

8 Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf

MyAnimeList Score: 7.21

• Creators: Isuna Hasekura (writer), Hidori (art)
• 2+ Volumes, 14+ Chapters
• Available in English via Yen Press

Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf is kind of a sequel to Spice & Wolf. It takes place after the events of the original manga and light novel but follows different characters. This time, Tote Col drives the plot as he leaves the Spice & Wolf Bathhouse to reform the dwindling church in the Winfiel Kingdom, at their request.

It seems simple at first, as he says his goodbyes and sets off, only to find someone stowed away in his luggage. Myuri, the daughter of S&W leads Lawrence and Holo, wanted to go with Col too and, when he said no, decided to take matters into her own hands. Unable to send her back, Col reluctantly takes her on his journey, where the two go on new adventures.

7 Showa Otome Otogibanashi

MyAnimeList Score: 7.32

• Creator: Sana Kirioka
• 5 Volumes, 48 Chapters
• Fan translations only

Taishou Otome Otogibanashi (Taishou Maiden Fairytale) saw Tamahiko, a rich boy brought down by his mother’s death and his disabled arm, rediscover meaning in his life through Yuzuki, a woman arranged to be his bride by his father. The “Taishou” part of the title refers to its setting during the reign of Emperor Yoshihito (1912-1926).

So, it’s only fitting the sequel would take place in the era of his successor, Hirohito, in Shouwa Otome Otogibanashi. It follows a new couple, Tokoyo and Jintaro, who promise each other as kids to stick together until the end. Reunited years later, their burgeoning romance is threatened by their abusive families, their past traumas, and complicated deals involving the family of Taisho‘s Tamahiko.

6 UQ Holder!

MyAnimeList Score: 7.46

• Creator: Ken Akamatsu
• 28 Volumes, 193 Chapters
• Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA

Negima! Magister Negi Magi was a popular magical romcom that saw its child magician Negi seeking his lost father while trying to protect Mahora Academy’s many students from magical threats, like the vampire Evangeline. So, at first, UQ Holder doesn’t seem like a direct sequel, as it’s set generations later, and follows Negi’s (possible) grandson and his dream to see space from Shin-Tokyo’s great tower.

But it doesn’t take long to reveal its connections as, in trying to earn the privilege to go to the city from his guardian Yukihime, he’s left mortally wounded by a bounty hunter. He’s rescued from death by Yukihime, who reveals herself to be Evangeline and takes Touta to join the UQ Holder organization. There he learns to protect humanity with the other immortals and work out his complicated relationship with Evangeline.

5 Life So Happy

MyAnimeList Score: 7.74

• Creator: Kaede Koichi
• 4 Volumes, 22 Chapters
• Fan Translations only

Love So Life was a unique romance as it saw two toddlers bringing two people together. Though she always aspired to look after children, Shiharu didn’t expect babysitting for the Matsunaga twins would see her become a part of their family, as she’d soon find herself being more than a sitter to their single father, Seiji.

Though before she’d officially become their stepmom, Life So Happy follows things from the twins’ perspective as 5th graders, living with their dad and their grandmother from their late mom’s side of the family. While Shiharu is finishing off her studies, the twins put what they learned from her into practice as they face new encounters and experiences in life.

4 To-Love-Ru: Darkness

MyAnimeList Score: 7.82

• Creators: Saki Hasemi (writer), Kentaro Yabuki (art)
• 18 Volumes, 100 Chapters
• Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment

Alien girls interfering in relationships have been a thing in manga since Urusei Yatsura. To-Love-Ru is just one of the more popular ones, as Rito ends up becoming the cover partner for Lala Satalin, an alien princess from Planet Deviluke. Unable to confess to his crush, Haruna, he must now teach Lala Earth customs, lest he incur the wrath of Lala’s father and his galactic empire.

To-Love-Ru: Darkness sees him fall victim to his indecision, as his heart is split between Lala and Haruna, with Lala’s sister Momo also vying for his affections. She aims to set up an official harem for Rito in a bid to secure a spot for herself. This only gets more difficult when the space assassin Yami falls for him too, much to the annoyance of her sister Mea. If only Rito had made his choice sooner.

3 Rascal Does Not Dream Of Petite Devil Kouhai

MyAnimeList Score: 7.85

• Creators: Hajime Kamoshida (writer), Tsukumo Asakusa (art)
• 2 Volumes, 12 Chapters
• Available in English via Yen Press

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai was an unusual strip that saw Sakuta try to help his upper classmate Mai recover from “Adolescence Syndrome.” It’s a strange, magical condition that affects teens in different ways. In Mai’s case, it makes her look like a bunny girl. It wasn’t the end of Sakuta’s troubles either.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Petite Devil Kouhai sees Sakuta convince the cured Mai to date him, only for the day to repeat Groundhog Day-style and reset his progress. The only way out for him is to pretend to be the boyfriend of Tomoe, another girl with Adolescence Syndrome. It’s just the first of many sequels where the “rascal” ends up confronting different mysterious girls.

2 Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card

MyAnimeList Score: 8.05

• Creators: CLAMP
• 16 Volumes, 86 Chapters
• Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA

The original Cardcaptor Sakura was an old-school shojo classic that saw Sakura try to track down all the missing Clow Cards before they could wreak havoc across the city of Tomoeda. So, what happens when all the cards are picked up? One would think it would lead straight into Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, where Syaoran and other CLAMP characters join forces to help Sakura recover her memories.

But there was a more direct sequel to Sakura’s adventures. Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card sees Sakura completing her job as Cardcaptor. All seemed to be going well until she saw a dark figure in her dreams. When she woke up, she found out her cards had been rendered transparent. Now she has to become a Cardcaptor again to restore their power and discover who the dark figure in her dreams is.

1 Teasing Master (Former) Takagi-san

MyAnimeList Score: 8.08

• Creator: Mifumi Inaba
• 23 Volumes, 319 Chapters
• Fan Translations only

Teasing Master Takagi-san became one of the more popular romance manga out there, where schoolboy Nishikata tried his best to overcome his classmate Takagi’s teasing, only to be outdone by her at each turn. It’s also one of the few series to try and continue the series after its happy ending.

Teasing Master (Former) Takagi-san now sees the two grown up and married, complete with a daughter called Chii. Unfortunately for Nishikata, the little girl takes after her mother in her love of pranks, with him often on their receiving end, as her mother is still too sharp to get out-pranked by their daughter. Still, he puts up with it as they ultimately make his family life all the happier.