Television series
Love Lab
- Romantic comedy
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
Love Lab is a comedy anime about five girls at an all-girls school who secretly study romance through increasingly absurd practical experiments. It's light, silly, and genuinely affectionate about its characters' nervousness around relationships. Perfect if you want something that makes you laugh without demanding much emotional labour.
If you liked this
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War?2019
Two genius students engage in elaborate psychological games to make the other confess their love first. Shares Love Lab's comedic energy around romance and attraction, but with sharper writing and higher stakes that'll keep you invested across multiple seasons.
But The mind-games premise can feel repetitive if you binge too fast, and the humour occasionally relies on specific anime references that don't always land.
Ouran High School Host Club2006
A girl infiltrates an elite school's host club and gets caught up in their schemes. Has that same anarchic energy, character warmth, and willingness to be ridiculous while still making you care about the cast.
But It's fifteen years old and the animation shows it. The pacing drags in the middle stretch, and some jokes haven't aged brilliantly.
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv9992023
A genuinely sweet romance anime where two people actually like each other from early on, then figure out how to be together. Love Lab's earnestness about romantic feelings finds its perfect counterpart here—it's sincere without being saccharine.
But If you need plot twists and conflict, this delivers straightforward sweetness instead. Some viewers find it too earnest, even by shoujo standards.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Love Lab
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!2012
Both centre on girls doing elaborate, slightly delusional rehearsals for romance—one with pillows, one with full fantasy scenarios. Both are ultimately about the vulnerability underneath the performance.
A girl with 'eighth grader syndrome'—she lives in a fantasy world of her own making—meets a boy trying to leave that phase behind. KyoAni at their warmest: absurdist comedy grounded in real affection and the terror of being genuinely seen by someone.
But The show's tone whiplashes between silly and earnest. If you're not on board with magical-girl fantasy sequences in a romantic comedy, you'll find it jarring.
More like this (7)
Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto2016
A comedic series about a perfect student and the chaos that follows him. Similar structure of absurdist humour built from character relationships, with genuinely inventive gags that subvert school anime tropes.
But The repetitive format—each episode is basically the same premise—wears thin fast. The jokes can feel more conceptual than laugh-out-loud funny.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun2014
A girl discovers the popular boy at school is secretly a manga artist, and gets roped into his world. Perfectly balanced between romance, comedy, and character work. The ensemble is as charming as Love Lab's cast.
But Ends on an incomplete note and never got a second season, so you'll be left hanging if you want more story development.
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku2020
Four adult otaku navigate work, friendship, and romance without pretense. More mature and grounded than Love Lab, but shares that joy in watching people be genuinely themselves around the people they care about.
But The animation is sparse and sometimes feels phoned in. If you want visual spectacle, this isn't it.
Place to Place2012
A couple who are clearly into each other spend the series not quite admitting it, surrounded by a weird and lovable friend group. Quieter than Love Lab but similarly focused on the small, funny moments of developing relationships.
But Very low stakes and almost no plot momentum. If you need something to actually happen, this will feel like static cuteness.
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to The Animation2014
A manga author and his assistant orbit each other romantically while making comics. Silly, meta, and comfortable being lightweight—similar rhythm to Love Lab, just in a slightly different setting.
But The humour is very much of its moment, with references that have dated. At only 13 minutes per episode, it feels slight even by short-form standards.
Carole & Tuesday2019
Both are fundamentally about girls discovering who they are through connection with other girls, using performance (romance practice vs. music) as the vehicle for that self-discovery. Both treat female friendship as the real love story.
Two girls meet on Mars and form a music duo while falling for each other in ways that surprise them both. Gorgeous sci-fi romance that's optimistic without being naive. The soundtrack is genuinely excellent and essential to the mood.
But It's 50 minutes per episode across 24 episodes—a serious time commitment. The plot takes forever to develop, and some viewers find the pacing glacial.
Nana2006
Where Love Lab is girls learning to want romance through nervous rehearsal, Nana is girls learning that they already want and need each other in ways they didn't have language for. Same subject—female desire—in completely different key.
Two girls named Nana meet by chance and become everything to each other—romantic, sexual, platonic, all at once. A josei anime (aimed at adult women) that takes female desire and friendship with complete seriousness. Utterly different register from Love Lab, but the emotional core is related.
But It's genuinely dark in places—addiction, abuse, complicated sexuality. The tonal shift from comedy to grief is severe. Also incomplete, cut off mid-story.
