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While some series throw twists into the mix to keep things interesting, most rely on a basic formula, and there’s a reason it works: young people are still learning who they are and how to navigate the world. Everything is still new and exciting, not to mention scary. Even for viewers who never went to an all-boys school, it’s easy to be swept up by the drama and chaos of it all. Here are some of the best the genre has to offer.
8 Cluster Edge
After war leaves the people of earth coping with the artificial soldiers in their midst, Agate Flourite transfers to the prestigious all-boys school Cluster Edge Academy, a place where students are supposed to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Naive and optimistic as only anime protagonists can be, Agate also has a special power: the ability to bring about miracles. Intermingling high school drama with a growing rebellion against the military and the thorny question of what it means to be an artificial life, Cluster Edge is pulled in many directions at once yet still manages to come together satisfyingly.
7 Gakuen Heaven
Receiving an invitation to join a prestigious school can have its downsides. Keita Itou learns what one of those potential downsides is when he enrolls at Bell Liberty High Academy and learns that every boy there wants to hook up with him.
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Everyone at the school is a prodigy of some kind, whether specializing in art, athletics, or academics, and Keita doesn’t think he’s capable of keeping up in a school full of brilliant and talented peers. The show is charming, and despite the occasional plot hole the further one gets in the series, there’s a lot to love in Gakuen Heaven. A tasteful and interesting mix of slice-of-life and yaoi, Gakuen Heaven shouldn’t be missed by fans of either genre.
6 Cromartie High School
It’s hard to accurately describe the absolute bundle of weirdness that is Cromartie High School. This series is perfect for fans of non-sequiturs and random humor, and those that find off-the-wall, intentionally absurd moments funny will likely consider Cromartie High School one of the funniest anime they’ve ever seen.
Those looking for more realistic or coherent narratives will want to look elsewhere. Delinquent characters, frozen facial expressions, awkward animation, and a dozen other elements of this series cleanly divide its potential audience: there are those who will get the joke, and those who will not. Cromartie High School is the king of the funny and weird in all-boys school anime, even if its characters aren’t exactly honorable.
5 Marginal Prince
Marginal Prince is based on a cellphone dating sim, which should be enough to tell most potential viewers whether the show is for them. Here, cute boys and paper-thin plots are the whole point. Marginal Prince is not an animated odyssey into deep themes or a cinematic foray into the eternal questions of the human spirit. It’s about who wants to kiss who.
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Yuuta wants to attend St. Alphonse Academy, which means leaving his little sister behind, but that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make. It’s a slice-of-life school anime, and the students at St. Alphonse are all attractive but less than distinct prodigies-in-the-making. There’s also a great number of original songs. So many so, in fact, that the series almost qualifies as music anime on top of everything else. The timing of some of the performances can be unintentionally surreal, but for some viewers, that’s just part of what makes Marginal Prince unique.
4 Kenka Banchou Otome: Girl Beats Boys
Kenka Banchou Otome: Girl Beats Boys has an offbeat premise: a girl infiltrates an all-boys school of delinquents and fighters in the name of beating all of them and rising to the top. Hinako grew up as an orphan, only later learning of her twin brother Hikaru, a member of the Yakuza.
Shishiku Academy is overrun with tough guys, and Hikaru wants no part of it,asking his sister to attend the school in his stead. The plot could use some fleshing out, but what’s here is enough to drive the action, and given that it’s a series about whether a girl can beat up a bunch of boys at her brother’s school, it’s hard to ask for much more.
3 Doukyuusei: Classmates
Another series that chooses efficient simplicity over elaborate worldbuilding, Doukyuusei: Classmates is about two boys in love. Hikaru and Rihito meet in chorus. The former is an extrovert trying to cope with his academic struggles, and the latter is an honor student but too introverted to build relationships. The balance between them is obvious.
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Rihito needs a hand with his vocals for class, and Hikaru offers the assistance he needs, which is all it takes to kickstart romance between the two. This BL anime is straightforward and great at what it does, which is show the developing bond between Hikaru and Rihito. The pair is worth rooting for, which is what matters most, and seeing them grow more comfortable together is fantastic.
2 Daily Lives Of High School Boys
Like its counterpart, Daily Lives of High School Girls, Daily Lives of High School Boys is an enjoyable, straightforward series about a group of friends. Slice-of-life is one of the few anime genres that can get away with very little actually happening in terms of plot. Slap together some jokes, some tears, some misunderstandings, and somehow it all just comes together.
Daily Lives of High School Boys is one of those series. There’s not much here in terms of an overarching plot. Instead, the focus here is on the jokes, and fortunately, that’s something the series does well. The adventures of Tadakuni, Hidenori, and Yoshitake are consistently funny, and that counts for a lot, producing an anime that’s altogether great.
1 Sasaki And Miyano
Sasaki and Miyano was a runaway hit of the 2022 winter release season, and for excellent reason. Despite being yet another slice-of-life romance, the series does a great deal to distinguish itself from other shows. Miyano loves BL manga, a fact that school senior Sasaki notices.
Aiming for realism in lieu of exaggeration, the series devotes a great deal of time to character growth, letting the two boys develop a friendship and then more than that, without awkwardly forcing them together through contrived circumstances in the name of hurrying things up. The two are sweet together, and the atmosphere is charming. Sasaki and Miyano earns the top spot in every way.
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