Junjo Romantica 3
純情ロマンチカ 3 (Junjou Romantica 3)
- Boys Love
- Comedy
- Drama
- Adult Cast
- Episodes
- 12
- Duration
- 24 min per ep
- Aired
- Jul 9, 2015 to Sep 24, 2015
- Status
- Finished Airing
Synopsis
After three years under the same roof, Misaki Takahashi and Akihiko “Usagi” Usami have settled into a comfortable rhythm—until a new rival stirs up uncertainty. Usagi, usually confident, finds himself questioning where Misaki’s feelings truly stand as their relationship faces its first serious strain.
Elsewhere, Ryuuichirou Isaka may enjoy meddling in Misaki and Usagi’s affairs, but his own romance is far from simple. Though he and his secretary, Kaoru Asahina, have been together for years, Asahina’s insistence on keeping work and private life strictly separate repeatedly puts them at odds. At the same time, rising careers leave Nowaki Kusama and Hiroki Kamijou with less time together, letting doubts creep in, while Shinobu Takatsuki and You Miyagi continue to navigate the weight of their 17-year age gap as growing understanding eases their self-consciousness. Familiar arcs—Junjou Romantica, Junjou Egoist, and Junjou Terrorist—return alongside the addition of Junjou Mistake.
Otaku Consensus
Junjou Romantica 3 lands as the franchise’s most assured TV season: Chiaki Kon’s direction keeps the 12-episode run brisk, the multi-couple structure gives the drama more pressure points than a single-romance BL, and the addition of Junjou Mistake gives longtime viewers a fresh axis of conflict. Fan reception remained strong, with a 7.58 MAL score from 66,394 votes and frequent praise for its edge-of-the-seat melodrama, humor, and soothing OST. Its persistent weakness is the franchise’s dated handling of power imbalance and romantic boundaries, a criticism even sympathetic viewers often carry over from earlier seasons.
Why You Should Watch
Watch Junjou Romantica 3 if you want BL romance that behaves like high-emotion shoujo drama: declarations delayed by pride, work stress leaking into intimacy, and comedy used as pressure release rather than filler. It is especially rewarding for viewers who like ensemble romance but do not want the reset-button feel of anthology dating stories; the returning Junjou Romantica, Egoist, and Terrorist threads let years of baggage matter, while Junjou Mistake adds a veteran-couple perspective rarely centered in TV BL. Compared with softer school romances, this season leans into adult schedules, publishing-world tension, and insecurity after commitment. It also has historical value: for many fans, Junjou Romantica functioned as a go-to BL anime at a time when full-length TV adaptations in the genre were still scarce.
Key Characters
- MMisaki Takahashi
Misaki remains the audience’s most visible pressure gauge, interesting less for naïveté than for how season three forces him to examine what commitment actually means after the honeymoon rhythm has faded.
- AAkihiko Usami
Akihiko’s appeal comes from the gap between his usual confidence and the rare moments where uncertainty makes him emotionally readable.
- RRyuuichirou Isaka
Isaka stands out because Junjou Mistake lets the series turn its meddling adult insider into the center of a romance defined by boundaries, routine, and professional restraint.
- KKaoru Asahina
Asahina gives the season one of its sharpest adult-cast tensions, treating the separation of work and private life as a principle rather than a convenient misunderstanding.
What Makes It Stand Out
- 1
The season formally expands the franchise’s rotating-arc structure by adding Junjou Mistake alongside Junjou Romantica, Junjou Egoist, and Junjou Terrorist, broadening the show from three signature couples to a fuller adult BL ensemble.
- 2
Studio Deen handles the 2015 production as a compact 12-episode TV season, preserving the franchise’s familiar character-driven staging rather than reworking it into a new visual identity.
- 3
Chiaki Kon directs the season and personally handles episode 1 direction, giving the premiere the job of re-establishing the franchise’s comic timing, romantic friction, and multi-arc rhythm after the long gap since the earlier TV run.
- 4
The sound package is a documented part of the show’s fan appeal: Hozumi Gouda is credited as sound director, Yukio Kondou provides the music, and contemporary viewer commentary specifically singles out the OST as soothing despite the heightened drama.
- 5
The theme-song lineup pairs Fo'xTails on the opening with Luck Life on the ending, giving the third season a distinctly mid-2010s TV-anime presentation separate from the 2008 start of the franchise.
Fun Facts & Trivia
- Fun fact 1
- Junjou Romantica 3 aired from July 9 to September 24, 2015, making it the installment that brought the TV anime’s 2008–2015 screen run to a close.
- Fun fact 2
- The season’s AniList tag profile is unusually explicit about its identity: Boys' Love sits at 100%, while Primarily Adult Cast and LGBTQ+ Themes both register at 73%, matching the season’s workplace-heavy relationship focus.
- Fun fact 3
- On MyAnimeList, the season holds a 7.58 score from 66,394 votes, with a rank of #1850 and popularity of #2023, reflecting a title that is more enduring within BL fandom than broadly mainstream.
- Fun fact 4
- Shungiku Nakamura is credited as the original creator, while Youko Kikuchi is credited for character design, connecting the anime’s recognizable look directly back to a manga-origin romance franchise rather than an anime-original BL concept.
- Fun fact 5
- A 2015 episode 9 review highlighted Misaki being pushed to confront his own feelings as a notable moment, which aligns with the broader fan view that season three improves when it interrogates established relationships instead of simply repeating pursuit-and-rejection beats.
Studios
- Studio Deen
