Mine’s Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Honorable mention to Clannad’s Tomoyo OVA/VN route + Tomoyo After
In addition to the already mentioned Sakuta from Bunny Girl and Rentaro from 100GF, there are a couple others that I like:
- Bravern - This one is two guys that are both strong-willed. Not really sure you can call this strictly a romance though considering all the robots and apocalypse.
- Endo and Kobayashi - This is actually two romances in one. One of them (in the game world) has an assertive male character. The other (in our world) a bit less so, but it was a great series that got majorly overlooked.
- Girlfriend, Girlfriend - You can call Naoya many things, but timid is not one of them.
- Love After World Domination - A criminally underwatched series that features the Red Ranger character falling in love at first sight, and he will strive to overcome all obstacles to make it happen.
- Tomo-chan Is a Girl - Jun might be dense, but he is a man of action.
Now that you mention it, I’m not sure whether to call Bravern a romance either. Romance is kind of the focus, but it kind of isn’t. Either way it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.
Absolutely! I was completely blown away by Bravern. One of the most fun series out there.
Hmm… if it has to have an assertive male character I’d probably have to say Toradora or Horimiya.
It is interesting how much romance doesn’t have an assertive male lead. Like my absolute favorite romance is My Dress Up Darling but I wouldn’t call the male lead in that one assertive. And a lot of romance have the male lead completely panic any time a girl is on the same planet as them, lol.
If by being assertive you mean knowing what they want, then I’d say Wotakoi. One of my favourites in general.
I briefly considered listing Wotakoi in my comment, but then
Wotakoi spoiler
like you said, Hirotaka was assertive only when it comes to games. After the first episode, he just went with the flow and as such, Narumi was taking the lead 90% of the time.
True, it depends on where you want them to be assertive.
The best one that comes to mind for me is:
Ouran High School Host ClubRascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a good choice
best romance animes with an assertive male protagonist
Since the question used “animes” (though I’ve heard plural of anime is “anime”), looks like it’s fine to list multiple shows😈 In no particular order:
- Cherry Magic! - Adachi can be assertive sometimes; Kurosawa is pretty assertive.
- Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai - Azusagawa is simply great throughout.
- Skip and Loafer - Not very romantic just yet and can’t remember it well at the moment but I believe Shima is assertive.
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You - Rentarou is pretty assertive.
In fact, my top favourite romance anime tend to have an assertive male protagonist. I can’t stand wimpy, indecisive, weak-willed male protagonists.
Rentarou is really the best answer to this question.
