Does Grand Blue have romance?

Grand Blue is considered by many to be among the funniest series ever made. It follows Iori Kitahara, a college student who starts living with his uncle and cousins at a scuba diving shop before starting college.

Though initially hoping for a regular university experience, chaos is soon brought into Iori’s life as he is forced into partaking in the activities of the heavy-drinking and eccentric local Diving Club. Given the large female cast and recurring jokes about relationships, fans may wonder if the series ever starts to seriously focus on romance.

Yes, Grand Blue does have romance, with themes of unspoken feelings and blooming love becoming more apparent in the latter half of the series. In particular, Iori’s positive and accepting personality starts attracting various women around him, though the protagonist remains blissfully unaware.

Iori’s love interests in Grand Blue

Grand Blue is a beloved anime and manga not just because of its hilarious comedy, but also because of its slice-of-life themes and motivational message of chasing one’s dreams and being accepting of one another. The biggest embodiment of these elements is none other than the protagonist, Iori Kitahara.

At first glance, Iori may seem to be a crass individual influenced by the Diving Club into drinking and partying every day, but he is a very respectful and helpful man who approaches everyone with honesty and empathy. However, to see this side of his personality, one needs to spend a lot of time with him and learn to appreciate what lies beyond his exterior.

Throughout Grand Blue, while the members of the Diving Club all get close to Iori, cracking jokes about love frequently, three people have grown to have serious feelings about the protagonist: Aina Yoshiwara, Sakurako Busujima, and Chisa Kotegawa.

Aina was the first person to realize her feelings toward Iori. While she was initially self-conscious and suffered from low self-esteem, Iori greatly helped build her confidence. As a result, she fell for him, but failed to act on her feelings due to her shyness.

Despite discussing love frequently with her friends and trying out various schemes to get closer to him, she failed. Surprisingly, after realizing that she couldn’t force her feelings onto Iori and giving up on him, Aina got a confession from Kohei and started dating him.

Iori’s next and most proactive love interest in Grand Blue is Sakurako Busujima. While she was originally an unlikeable girl who constantly fought and bullied Iori, his ability to see beyond people’s external appearance and judge their hearts attracted her, too. Ever since then, Sakurako has been on the offensive, even being the first one to kiss Iori.

However, the two are yet to officially become a couple because of Iori’s third love interest, Chisa Kotegawa. Iori and Chisa’s relationship has been a fan favorite since the show's start. In the first half of Grand Blue, the pair were known for their hilarious misunderstandings, with Chisa constantly being disgusted by Iori.

Nevertheless, she showed consideration for him in her own way and helped him get interested in diving. The two even started pretending to be a couple so that Chisa wouldn’t be approached by other men.

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However, while Chisa did not take Iori seriously for a long time, she gradually started getting confused about her feelings toward him. Particularly, when the other girls revealed their crushes on him, Chisa experienced internal turmoil and even stopped Sakurako from making a move on Iori. However, Chisa is yet to sort her feelings out and accept that she loves Iori.

Hence, for fans who enjoy Grand Blue but are hoping for romantic developments, the series features plenty of it, even stepping into the realm of becoming a harem manga. However, it treats each relationship with intricacy, delivering both fan service and consistent writing. Since Iori is yet to choose a partner, viewers will have their eyes peeled to see which girl ultimately wins.

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