Television series
Tonikaku Kawaii: Fly Me to the Moon
A boy obsessed with going to the moon accidentally marries a strange, otherworldly girl who may or may not be human, and the show settles into married-couple domesticity almost instantly, using the mystery of her nature as a slow-burn hook rather than the point. It's warm, gently funny, occasionally strange, and unfussed about pacing — comfort food with a UFO parked in the yard.
If you liked this
Nisekoi2014
Same engine of a forced, mysterious relationship played for laughs, with a childhood-promise mystery instead of an alien one, and the same gentle, low-stakes comic rhythm.
But It's a harem structure with several love interests, which dilutes the central couple focus this show leans so hard into.
Seto no Hanayome2007no page yet
A supernatural spouse, a domestic setup that refuses to explain itself too quickly, and comedy that gets genuinely unhinged — the yakuza mermaid family alone is worth the runtime.
But Much louder and more slapstick; if you liked the quiet fondness of the original, this will feel like a different show entirely.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War?2019
For the banter-as-affection energy — two people who like each other and would rather die than say so, rendered as absurd tactical warfare. Sharper, faster, funnier.
But No mystery, no fantasy element, and the leads aren't married — it's a will-they, not a domestic comedy.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Urusei Yatsura1981no page yet
It's the direct genre progenitor — Rumiko Takahashi essentially invented the 'alien girl marries/moves in with earthling boy' premise this show is quietly running on, decades before it became a comfortable trope.
The 1981 original: an alien girl attaches herself to an ordinary, unworthy boy and moves in, and the entire modern genre of 'mysterious not-quite-human girl disrupts a guy's life' descends from it.
But Older, rougher animation, more episodic slapstick, and Lum is a genuinely chaotic presence rather than a gentle one — this is the wild ancestor, not a cosy cousin.
More like this (6)
Toradora!2008
Strips away the sci-fi trapping and gives you the emotional core straight: two mismatched people building something real, with comedy that knows when to stop being funny.
But Considerably more melancholy and character-driven; it earns its laughs through pain in a way this show mostly avoids.
Hataraku Maou-sama!2013
A fantastical being trying to live an ordinary human life, mined for comedy rather than dread — same premise, demon lord instead of moon goddess, minimum wage instead of marriage.
But More overtly episodic and joke-forward; the will-they-won't-they simmer of the original is barely present here.
Ore Monogatari!!2015no page yet
If what you actually wanted was the sweetness — a big, sincere, unselfconscious romance with almost no cynicism in it, and a lead who is delightfully un-anime-hero-shaped.
But Zero mystery, zero fantasy — this is pure earnest romantic comedy with nothing supernatural to chew on.
Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo2015no page yet
Body-swap mechanics stand in for the moon-goddess mystery, but the tone — silly, warm, unbothered by logic — will feel like home.
But Ensemble-heavy and plot-mechanical in a way that can crowd out the central couple you're actually there for.
Starman1984
Same bones — an unearthly being adapts to human intimacy and marriage-adjacent domesticity — but told as a hushed, melancholic Hollywood drama instead of a bright teen comedy, showing how differently the exact same idea can land.
John Carpenter's alien-falls-to-earth romance plays the exact same premise straight and adult: a being not of this world learns to love a human, and the film trusts silence and tenderness over jokes.
But It's slow, sincere, and largely humourless by comparison — a road movie about grief and wonder, not a comedy at all.
The Shape of Water2017
It shares the central moral question underneath the fluff — what does it mean to love someone whose nature you can't fully verify — but answers it in the register of serious adult cinema instead of gentle comedy.
Guillermo del Toro takes 'loving something that might not be human' and pushes it into adult, unsettling, gorgeously shot territory, asking the identity question this show only teases with real weight and cost.
But It's an R-rated arthouse fable with body horror and explicit content — about as far from a cute rom-com tone as the premise can travel.
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Recommended by
Komi Can't Communicate, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War?, Horimiya, My Dress-Up Darling