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These ended up dividing neatly into some specific subgenres. I really have been mostly into m/m romance lately, huh...

Non-romance Anime:
Bocci the Rock
Play it cool guys

m/f romance manga and webtoon:
Sweat and Soap
Busu ni Hanataba wo
Everyone wants to get married
Another Typical Fantasy Romance

m/m but not romance manga:
The Summer Hikaru Died

f/f romantic fantasy novel:
Earthcast
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I was having a high pain, low brain day so decided to just scroll through the top rated romance webcomics on a random scanlation site. I ended up half-reading two Korean m/f comics, giving up on one because it didn't inspire enough feelings, and on the other because it inspired too many. But they filled in the time until I felt better!

Thirsty Thirty: A career-focussed woman on the verge of hitting thirty feels listless and depressed after her boyfriend cheats on her. But then it turns out her quiet, competent manager has recognised how hard working and talented she is and they grow closer. I don't mind boss/employee romance if it wallows in the Forbidden-ness but this was just kinda bland wish fulfilment, and while it hit some standard romance beats and they weren't totally shallow or unlikeable I didn't care about either of them enough to get much of a kick out of them getting together, or care enough to see what obstacles the story would throw in their way to keep reading past that point. The story did seem to support her right to care about her career, but also uncritically supported overwork, and while I believed she was excited about creating pretty lighting setups for people, I was not.

The Blood of Madam Giselle: A Victorian noblewoman decides to spite her abusive husband by exploring the Forbidden Basement, where she encounters and bonds with a weird sad pretty vampire boy locked half-naked and starving in a cage. Definitely not bland wish-fulfilment and I absolutely cared about the main couple enough to keep going past the point where they got together, but the story is the kind of porny romantic melodrama that wallows in Angst and Sex and Shock where there's a good chance they not only won't end up happily but might be the cause of each other's downfall due to mutual violent obsession etc. Plus it hit some other buttons for me and I eventually listened to my brain's STOP READING messages. Not until I'd encountered an unexpected but definitely not unwelcome sexy f/f topless blood drinking scene involving two side characters, if I could just read about whatever is going on with those two I'd have kept going a while longer.

More thoughts and content notes under the cut, I kinda feel like I need a vague content note for the content notes. Note: There's sure some CONTENT.
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I really enjoyed the Chinese fantasy m/f romance visual novel My Vow To My Liege, historical RPF set in the 5th Century BC Kingdom of Ng/Wu about various real and mythical people. The protagonist is King Fuchai, a woman cross-dressing for Reasons (to do with Evil Dragons)

It's well made, with good art, UI, music, and (Mandarin) voice acting. The writing is pretty good, too, a little repetitive in parts and with some pacing issues but made with a lot of heart. The English translation was done by one of the writers and is a little clunky and in need of proof-reading but has some moments of real poetry. And the game is LONG, you get a ridiculous amount of story for the low price.

Content notes for the game: suicide, violence, incest (not a love interest), rape (not from a love interest), age gap ships, slavery, fatphobia, hurtful gender reveal, master-slave relationship, major character death, violence between love interests

Here's the masterlist of my reaction posts and a character guide.

More thoughts, no spoilers:
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Anime: Comic Girls, Blend-S, Jingai-san no Yome

Western Animation: Centaurworld

Books: They All Say I’ve Met a Ghost, Artificial Condition

Webcomic: Survive as the Hero's Wife/This Villainess Wants a Divorce!

Games: GardenPaws, Calico

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No Content Notes for this section.

m/f: Horimiya, 7'Scarlet, Hibi Chouchou

f/f: Sayonara Rose Garden, Adachi and Shimamura

m/m: My Underachieving Seatmate Doesn’t Need Any Comforting

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Given: the Movie
** Content note: sexual assault **
( Content note: sexual assault )

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Female General, Eldest Princess, The Queen and the Tailor, Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating, I ship my Adversary and Me, A Good Day to Be a Dog, Lovely Complex

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