15 Best Unrequited Love Manga Recommendations

Unrequited love can be a painful thing. Loving someone while knowing very well that the other person doesn’t feel the same way can break your heart. There are many good manga that portray a one-sided love very well.

In this article, I’m going to share with you the best unrequited love manga and manhwa. The characters in these manga have an unrequited love for someone, and they may or may not get together later on in the story.

1. The Shape of Your Love

Yohan saw what his brother went through because of his unrequited love and swore to never make the same mistakes as he did. Years later, he still feels the same way about love.

One day, he notices his senior Kyung Park looking at his classmate Junso. He can tell that Kyung is in love with Junso, but he knows that nothing good ever comes from one-sided love. So, he wants to help his senior and save him from going through the same misery his brother suffered.

But, things aren’t going as smoothly as he had hoped.

2. Koimonogatari: Love Stories

Yuiji overhears his handsome classmate Yoshinaga telling his friend that he’s not into girls. Ever since that day, he notices Yoshinaga sneakily looking at his best friend Kyousuke.

Yoshinaga is hopelessly in love with Kyousuke knowing full well that he likes girls. His one-sided love interests Yuiji in a way he didn’t expect, and after they end up together in a study group, their friendship deepens. Yuiji starts to care a lot about his new friend and just wants Yoshinaga to be happy.

3. Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

After turning thirty while still being a virgin, Adachi realized he had gained the magical ability to read people’s minds simply by touching them. He finds it lame and useless since he can’t touch anyone without reading their thoughts.

One day, he intentionally reads his colleague Kurosawa’s mind and finds out that the handsome man is hopelessly in love with none other than him.

This is a super cute manga with a slow but fluffy plotline, focusing on two couples. Also, don’t expect much smut.

4. Last Game

Coming from a rich family, Yanagi has everything. He’s the best at everything from studies to athletics, no one can beat him. Until a transfer student named Kujou joined his class.

Poor and a failure, that was his first impression of her, but then, she performed better than him in everything he was proud of. He couldn’t just let her get away with it, so, he made it his mission to make her fall in love with him and then mercilessly reject her.

After entering the same college as her, will he finally be able to win her affection?

5. The Shape of Sympathy

This is by the same author as The Shape of Your Love and is a prequel to it.

Yuri has been in love with Heeju but now, she’s marrying someone else. On her wedding day, he sees his former teacher Seonwoo, drunk and crying.

He thought Seonwoo was crying because he was also in love with Heeju, but he was not in love with the bride…

6. Go For It, Nakamura!

Nakamura fell in love with his classmate Hirose at first sight, but he’s really shy and not really good with words, so, he just spends most of his time looking at Hirose. Will he be able to gather enough courage to even talk to Hirose much less confess his feelings?

Go For It, Nakamura is primarily a comedy manga focusing on Nakamura’s day-to-day life trying to get closer to Hirose, but of course, there’s romance as well. It uses the old style of manga and is only 11 chapters.

7. Happily Ever Afterwards

Happily Ever Afterwards has one of the most beautiful arts you will ever see in a manhwa. It uses colors and textures very well.

A reader of the novel “The Song of Askar” gets reincarnated into the novel as Princess Peony, but the story is already past the ending, so, she doesn’t have to worry about ruining the plot. So, what now?

She just wants to marry her favorite character Richt, the former prince of the Fairspren Empire, who was banished because of his crime. Will she be able to win his affection despite him still being madly in love with the heroine?

8. Alter Ego

Noel has been in love with her best friend Elena for 6 years but she was never able to confess her feelings. Then one day, Elena got a boyfriend, and she lost the last hope of ever being with her.

While crying, she ends up confessing her feelings for Elena to a complete stranger. The stranger turns out to be June, another one of Elena’s friends whom she’s never met. June is in love with Elena as well and now, she knows about Noeal’s feelings as well.

I strongly recommend Alter Ego, it’s a sweet enemies-to-lovers manga with only 6 chapters you can binge-read. If you want more similar manga then check out my article, 10 Best Enemies to Lovers Webtoon.

9. Breathless

Bin He is in love with his friend Hai who already has a girlfriend. One day, Hai challenges Bin He to see who can dive deeper into the ocean. While diving deep, he witnesses a man chained to a sunken ship and the man opens his eyes.

There’s a legend that 400 years ago a vampire was chained at the bottom of the sea after the woman he loved betrayed him. But, now he’s free once again.

Here are some more Vampire BL Manhwa Recommendations you should check out.

10. Tsukiattenai no ni Fuufu Yattemasu.

Ryuu takes on the responsibility of raising his niece Maki after all of their relatives rejected her. But, it’s tough raising a kid alone and when he passes out from exhaustion, his friend Amakasu offers to help him.

Amakasu has been in love with Ryuu for a long time but never told him. While raising Maki, he slowly starts to feel like he has a family with the two, but for her sake, he planned to keep his feelings to himself.

One day, after getting drunk he ends up making a mistake…

11. The Second Sales Division!!

Sakisaka is one of the best employees at his company, but, no one knows that he’s actually in love with his direct superior Tojo-san, an extremely handsome and confident boss trusted by everyone working under him.

He planned to keep his feelings to himself and never tell anyone, but, after Tojo starts acting extremely close and physically with him, he might just have a chance.

12. Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu

With his handsome face and friendly personality, Minegishi has charmed everyone in his office regardless of gender. But, there’s one person he hasn’t been able to charm, Otsu-san, his grumpy and chubby co-worker.

Otsu has a sweet tooth and Minegishi is always bringing different kinds of sweets for him and the entire office. Otsu might be taking the food, but he has no intention of taking the bait like everyone else has.

Will the sweets break through his hard shell? The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and Minegishi is ready to feed him as much as possible.

13. No Secrets Between Us

Ji-Ho has been friends with Youngji since childhood and one day, he accidentally sees Youngji masturbating while saying his brother Eunho’s name.

What’s he going to do about his best friend being in love with his brother? And does he also have feelings for his friend?

14. Short Circuit Love

Jaeha loves his childhood friend, Hyun, who always spends time with him. One day, a new transfer student named Kim Doyoung starts to get extremely close to Hyun and gives Jaeha strange glares.

Hyun starts spending more time with Doyoung, leaving no time for Jaeha. But, he won’t let Doyoung just steal Hyun from him.

Doyoung misunderstands Jaeha’s flirting as bullying and he wants to protect Hyun, his new friend. With a cycle of misunderstanding, Jaeha and Doyoung start butting heads.

15. After the Rain

Akira’s life took a depressing turn after she was injured and sidelined from her track and field team. One rainy day, she enters a restaurant to wait for the rain to stop.

The 45-year-old manager serves her coffee and she immediately falls for his calm and nice personality. She starts working part-time at the restaurant just to be closer to the manager. Will he ever love her as she loves him?

---