I know there's a lot of "friends first" romance threads,
but they usually rush into the romance right away. : (
Or they start out with one friend who's already in love with the other.
I don't want that.

I would like a series where the two are actually close friends, no secret crushes attached, until much, much later on. Or at least have one volume where their friendship is innocent.

I also really enjoy "intimate" friendships xD, as in not friends with benefits, but just a very innocent touchy-feely friendship because they're /that/ close with each other. :3

Thanks in advance. All genres are welcomed!

the only manga that comes to mind is Kimi ni todoke

Akagami no Shirayukihime
I don't know if this is the type of manga you want, but it definitely fits your requirements. They start out as strangers, become close friends, and only after they have an intimate, platonic, friendship do they become something more.

Um Beauty Pop?
I mean they were more like frenemies,but the guy didn't realize he liked the girl until about the 8th volume (of 10)...and the girl was never actually stated she liked the guy until the very last volume....
So their relationship went from nothingness-frenemies-comrades-friends-lovers....

Fruits Basket....most of the romances went on forever and ever, till being resolved around volume 22-23

Cardcaptor Sakura....
Earthian (This is shonen-ai though)
After school nightmare (kinda,the main romance didn't really happen till about volume 7, out of 10)
1001 Nights (Also shonen-ai)

Um GE

and then Girl Friends and Aoi Hana, those are shôjo-ai though.

[img]http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/1420/signa3.jpg[/img]

Quote from catandmouse

Um Beauty Pop?
I mean they were more like frenemies,but the guy didn't realize he liked the girl until about the 8th volume (of 10)...and the girl was never actually stated she liked the guy until the very last volume....
So their relationship went from nothingness-frenemies-comrades-friends-lovers....

Fruits Basket....most of the romances went on forever and ever, till being resolved around volume 22-23

Cardcaptor Sakura....
Earthian (This is shonen-ai though)
After school nightmare (kinda,the main romance didn't really happen till about volume 7, out of 10)
1001 Nights (Also shonen-ai)

I disagree with Fruits Basket. The guy likes her from pretty much the beginning, even if they don't become more until later.

Excellent thread! A topic I myself have often wondered about!

Do you mind BL/GL recs? 'Cause I've got a few that spring to mind in that category...

Kimi ni Todoke works.

Maybe Cat Street? She's friends with him for a long time and has other relationships before she falls in love with him.

lovely complex

best shonen manga couples :

shinichi X ran
natsu X erza
ippo X kumi
naruto X gaara

Yeah! This thread is great! And doesn't anybody know about anything where the following romance is even surprising for them? (That's what I like but cannot find among books or manga :///)

Haven't read it yet, but this might suit: Tonari no Megane-kun. It seems that Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and Warau Kanoko-sama are also heading in that direction. And Nanaco Robin, of course... Neither has feelings for the other to begin with; they start off as enemies, become friends and only near the end do they develop romantic feelings. Oh, and if gender-bending doesn't phase you, try Return or My Barbaric Girlfriend.

Another personal favorite is Hotaru no Hikari - the main couple starts off with a purely professional relationship that soon evolves into a close friendship (albeit with the older man in a more advisory role). The female lead even has another relationship in the interim, and only much later, after she ends that relationship, do she and her older male boss/friend become lovers. Ashita no Ousama follows a similarly slow development from friendship to romance, albeit without an interim relationship with someone else.

And in the BL/GL/trans category:

Ichigenme wa Yaruki no Minpou
Hourou Musuko
Hands Off My Girl
Sweet Blue Flowers
Sunflower
Soda-Pop Love
Mossore
Awakening Puberty
50x50 (HILARIOUS - two adult male frenemies slowly become... more)
Heart-Pounding Excitement at Mononoke Girls' Academy
Rakka Sokudo (friendly colleagues become more)

There are many, many more BL/GL titles in this vein, probably because it's more common to have best friends of the same sex... Would you welcome more recs of this sort? Or I could stick to straight manga! 😀

Quote from unusuallove

Akagami no Shirayukihime
I don't know if this is the type of manga you want, but it definitely fits your requirements. They start out as strangers, become close friends, and only after they have an intimate, platonic, friendship do they become something more.

But in one of the more recently translated chapters didn't the Prince say to one of his servants that he had actually fallen in with the girl at first sight?

Pinky Promise
Ginen Shounen
Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume

Quote from devioustrevor

Quote from unusuallove

Akagami no Shirayukihime
I don't know if this is the type of manga you want, but it definitely fits your requirements. They start out as strangers, become close friends, and only after they have an intimate, platonic, friendship do they become something more.

But in one of the more recently translated chapters didn't the Prince say to one of his servants that he had actually fallen in with the girl at first sight?

Maybe, I don't know. But he doesn't act like it.