Now I'm curious. What do you guys think are good examples of romance in fiction?
(http://a.imagehost.org/t/0436/2958455.jpg) (http://a.imagehost.org/0436/2958455.jpg)
I tried for about 10 minutes but could think of no other fictional romances that I've genuinely found compelling before. It's amazing how trite/uninspired many of them seem upon reflection.
As for why, it's primarily because it's such an unconventional and exciting relationship that I couldn't help but be fascinated by it. [WARNING! A HUGE SPOILER "MIRAI NIKKI" IS APPROACHING FAST!] From the outset, Yuno holds such an absurd emotional dependency upon Yuki that her few remaining fragments of sanity require his presence in order to persist. He, in contrast, has no romantic feelings for her at all and only maintains a pretence of caring for her because he needs her to survive. The result is a ridiculously unstable relationship that encompasses, amongst other things, stalking, threats, hostage taking, abduction, forced imprisonment, attempted murder, joint suicide, murder of oneself in alternate dimensions and a Dynasty Warrior-esque body count.
There's also a reoccurring question mark over whether Yuno is actually someone to be trusted, what her true motives are and whether she's genuinely in love with Yuki. It serves to keep the relationship fresh and interesting right up until the closing chapters.
Oh yeah, and the two also look and act fantastic when they're working together to slaughter people en masse.
In all honestly, I'm sure not sure whether this would be considered an objectively good example of romance in fiction, but from a subjective perspective it's fucking brilliant.