10 best anime to watch if you like Blue Spring Ride

Blue Spring Ride resonates with viewers thanks to its thoughtful depiction of young romance and the personal growth that relationships can spark. It follows Futaba Yoshioka, a high school girl who unexpectedly reconnects with her middle school crush after years apart due to a misunderstanding.

As Futaba and Kou navigate renewed feelings, they bond through understanding each other’s past pains and regrets. Ultimately, Futaba helps Kou heal emotional wounds, while Kou gives Futaba the acceptance she always longed for. Their bond shows how first love and friendship spark self-discovery in adolescence.

For fans looking for more anime that capture that same poignant essence of youthful bonds, self-acceptance, and emotional healing, here are 10 series that brilliantly deliver. From tearjerkers to lighthearted moments, these anime capture the heartfelt bonds central to Blue Spring Ride.

10 best anime for fans of Blue Spring Ride

1. Your Lie in April

Your Lie in April (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Your Lie in April instantly draws in fans of Blue Spring Ride thanks to its emotional depth and focus on how human connections can lead to transformation. The series follows former piano prodigy Kousei Arima, who loses his ability to play music after his mother’s death.

Kousei’s colorless world gets turned upside down when he meets Kaori Miyazono, an audaciously free-spirited violinist. Through Kaori’s warmth and musical passion, Kousei rediscovers the joy of performance. However, Kaori hides secrets about her health struggles, which are slowly revealed throughout the story.

As musical companions, Kaori and Kousei push each other to evolve past their personal traumas and embrace living fully, despite inevitable loss. With its poignant narrative about grief and healing, plus a gorgeous classical score, Your Lie in April offers an incredibly resonant, cathartic story for fans.

2. My Little Monster

My Little Monster (Image via Brain's Base)

My Little Monster centers on Shizuku Mizutani, an academically driven girl focused solely on her grades and career path. However, her orderly life gets shaken up radically when she befriends Haru Yoshida, a troubled teen who struggles with social interactions and is often misunderstood by others.

Despite seeming opposite, Shizuku discovers hidden sides of herself through Haru’s unpredictable affection and innocence toward human connections. Like Futaba, Shizuku's time with an unexpected companion pushes her out of her comfort zone, leading to much-needed self-discovery and acceptance.

With tons of comedic moments coupled with sincere bonding, My Little Monster mirrors the meaningful theme in Blue Spring Ride of how even the most unlikely people can enter our world and change its entire color. The anime shows that the most growth often comes from unexpected relationships.

3. Say "I Love You"

Say "I Love You" follows Mei, an introverted girl who struggles with trust and making friends due to repeated bullying and betrayal in her past. She slowly opens up again thanks to Yamato, the most popular boy in school, and discovers self-acceptance and her first love along the way.

This series also highlights the insecurities teenagers often feel while navigating relationships and fitting in—key themes in Blue Spring Ride as well. The main couple also helps each other grow in heartwarming ways, leading to an emotional and rewarding viewing experience.

4. Kimi ni Todoke

Kimi ni Todoke (Image via Production I.G)

Kimi ni Todoke focuses on Sawako, a sweet yet isolated girl, who finds herself the center of attention after Kazehaya, the popular boy at school, begins talking with her. Fans of Blue Spring Ride’s focus on misunderstandings and missed connections will find a similar story here.

Like Futaba and Kou, the central couple goes through ups and downs but ultimately learns to understand each other on a deeper level. With endearing characters and a nostalgic atmosphere, Kimi ni Todoke captures many of the same school romance vibes as Blue Spring Ride.

5. Orange

Orange (Image via Telecom Animation Film)

Where Blue Spring Ride plays with second chances in love, Orange explores the concept through time travel and regret.

Naho mysteriously receives letters from herself, 10 years in the future, expressing regrets over Kakeru, a new transfer student she falls in love with. Present Naho must decide whether to follow her future self’s instructions and prevent Kakeru from experiencing deep sadness.

Orange shares Blue Spring Ride’s poignant themes of learning from past regrets and making different choices given another opportunity with someone important. Both anime highlight the fragility and importance of human connections.

6. Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket (Image via TMS Entertainment)

After tragically losing her mother, kind-spirited Tohru Honda secretly camps on property owned by the mysterious Sohma family in this series. She soon discovers the Sohmas are cursed—fourteen family members transform into animals from the Chinese Zodiac when embraced by someone of the opposite sex.

Initially, their dark family secrets intimidate Tohru. However, through her trademark empathy and nurturing soul, Tohru persists in supporting members like short-tempered Kyo Sohma when others dismiss them. She helps the Sohmas confront their traumas, guiding them toward self-acceptance and openness.

Like Futaba in Blue Spring Ride, Tohru’s unconditional compassion has ripple effects—as her presence gently nudges those around her toward healing. Her connections vividly remind viewers how even the loneliest hearts can learn to trust and transform when shown basic human kindness.

7. Clannad: After Story

Clannad: After Story (Image via Kyoto Animation)

While more mature in tone, Clannad: After Story, shares Blue Spring Ride’s emotional core, focused on personal struggles, trauma, and the redeeming power of relationships. It continues from Clannad and follows the central couple, Tomoya and Nagisa, as they transition into adulthood together.

Tomoya must come to terms with the loss he has experienced in life, while Nagisa’s longstanding health complications create additional challenges. Despite the hurdles, they find strength in their continued love, support for each other, and bonds with friends.

Like Blue Spring Ride, Clannad: After Story highlights how even the most difficult chapters in life can nurture growth when shared with someone special.

8. Lovely★Complex

Lovely★Complex (Image via Toei Animation)

For a lighter and comedy-focused alternative, fans can watch Lovely★Complex. It revolves around the friendship between Risa and Otani—the tallest girl and shortest boy in their high school class. After bonding over their mutual romantic struggles and insecurities, they form a friendship based on mutual support and humor about their height.

What starts as a friendship arrangement turns much more complex over time. Lovely★Complex also highlights relational misunderstandings and insecurities. But it keeps things upbeat with lots of over-the-top humor, energetic characters, and an endearing odd-couple dynamic reminiscent of moments in Blue Spring Ride.

9. Honey and Clover

For older viewers, Honey and Clover is an acclaimed coming-of-age drama featuring college-age characters and early adults, rather than high school students. It focuses on the lives and relationships of a group of art school friends, some of whom share a living space in Tokyo.

They experience difficulties with love, school, family issues, career goals, and other uncertainties about the future. Despite the older characters, many of the same thoughtful themes around life transitions and emotional bonds are found in Honey and Clover and Blue Spring Ride.

The romantic relationships are also messy and layered in ways reminiscent of Futaba and Kou’s connections across time. For viewers who connected with the tone and depth of Blue Spring Ride, this critically praised drama delivers a similarly poignant impact.

10. Toradora!

This romantic comedy-drama follows an unlikely high school pair—Ryuji and Taiga, a gentle boy often mistaken for a delinquent due to his intense gaze, and a small but fiery 'palmtop tiger'—who agree to help each other get closer to their crushes on each other’s best friends.

Like other anime here, Toradora! shares Blue Spring Ride’s central theme of falling for someone unexpected. It also captures the excitement, misunderstandings, and warm fuzzy feelings of teenage relationships in hilarious yet touching ways.

For an emotional rollercoaster ride that leaves you smiling and believing in true love again, Toradora! is a must-see recommendation for fans.

Conclusion

If you enjoyed the familiar high school setting, emotional depth, and nuanced romantic relationships in Blue Spring Ride, all ten anime on this list deliver more of what fans love.

From funny and sweet love stories like Toradora! and Lovely★Complex to poignant, emotionally driven tales of connection and healing like Your Lie in April and Orange, there are plenty of rewarding series to fill the void after finishing Futaba and Kou’s journey.