What do you people recommend for a good grown up romance anime that doesn't make you feel like crap?
Most of the romance anime I've seen are based on a high school setting or something similar.
They were good and all but all have this typical format with the usual shenanigans like Love triangle, beach and fireworks festival episodes, useless love interests that have a shelf life of a hamburger... Etc.
And the memorable ones have me feeling nostalgia for memories I've never even had. And in some cases its almost like waking up after a fever dream but with chest pain.
P.S - From the top of my head- the only grown up romance setting I can think of is Wotakoi. Maybe it's time I venture more into K-dramas for the romance, I remember seeing one named "Twentyfive twentyone" which was absolutely amazing.
Other than Wotakoi, the only ones I can think of, and are worthwhile imo, are 'Science Fell In Love, So I Tried To Prove It', 'Astro Note' and 'Recovery Of An MMO Junkie' though the latter 2 aren't really full on romances.
I can think of a few manga though, if that's okay with you:
Manga by Yamada Kintetsu (Sweat and Soap, Telework Yotabanashi, Kasane to Subaru)
More Than Lovers, Less Than Friends
She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat
I Have A Crush At Work (currently also being adapted into an anime, but only 1 ep is out, so...)
Oregairu was really well executed. I really liked it. I kinda feel bad for the second girl with the pink hair ( I think her name was Yuigahama? ).
Oh man I feel old now.... Its been what? 4 or 5 years since it got it's final season anime adaptation huh.. I was watching it while it was still airing.
On a completely unrelated note,
I think it was last year when I watched an anime called "The terrors in my heart" it was one of the memorable ones I've seen as of late. I just remembered it when you mentioned Oregairu for some reason.
The Ancient Magus's Bride is a nice slow-burn romance/adventure series that skips a lot of tropes and isn't in any kind of rush.
The setup is pretty uncomfortable, though.
I think Bloom Into You is good. However, you'll need to switch to the manga halfway through since the anime is incomplete (and will probably never be finished).
You might like Servant x Service, it's not explicitly a romance anime, more of a comedy but it has some romance sprinkled in from what I remember. It focuses on a a few employees working for the local government at a DMV style office where they deal with customers all day. Light hearted and definitely relatable if you've ever worked a service job.
Golden Time was pretty good when I saw it 12 years ago. It's a college setting so a lot of high school tropes are gone and the characters act more like young adults. I wouldn't say you need to watch it, but it's not bad.
Ore Monogatari or "My Love Story" is a favorite for me and my partner. It is a high school setting, but the characters and the pacing make it worth it. If you give it a shot just make it to episode 3 before writing it off.
You probably wouldn't like Toradora but it's highly regarded. High school setting again with a lot of clichés, but the clichés are used really well, and make up for the fact that you've probably already seen the stereotypes play out before.