Nothing takes your mind off of stressful things like a good romance story, and thankfully, shojo and josei manga has some of the best. While a lot of the titles on this list have anime titles as well, reading the manga offers up more story and in some cases deeper relationships than what’s shown in the traditional 12-episode format that most of these titles get. Romance manga offers up a variety of experiences for readers. From a demon bound to a house, office romances, to overcoming a large age gap, awkward living situations, and more, here is a list of some of my favorite romance manga to get you through the stress of self-isolating and social-distancing.

Don’t worry, I know some of these premises may seem problematic – age gaps for one – but in the world of romance anime that tends to fall away with great story and character development. While I haven’t included some of the steamier titles in the romance manga world, I have included age ratings since a couple include sexually explicit scenes. Overall, each of these offers up the cuteness and relationship dynamics that make you equally root for them. While some of these have more volumes available in the original Japanese, I’ve only included the count of English volumes currently available in the US market.

Ahhh one of my favorite manga series and it didn't disappoint! I've been reading this for a couple of years now and I just adore it more and more every time I pick it up again. Totally would recommend to anyone, since it's all my favorite tropes and hilarious and flustering and heart-warming all at once!

New elements to the series: We finally get Takane's tragic backstory (sorta)! I feared Towako was going to be a typical angry mother-in-law type, but luckily, she wasn't. I hope to see more from her character in the future, especially if it means she gets to have her own closure with the rest of Takane's family.

Old elements: I continue to love how much effort the mangaka puts into making sure that our main couple keep their relationship G rated. The age difference is seen as the barrier it is and addressed with the utmost care rather than a hurdle that true love can jump.