The Media Man: My 10 Favourite Love Couples

Happy Valentine's Day readers!

I'm the Media Man and I'm here to celebrate the day of love with a countdown in which I list my personal Top 10 Favourite Love Couples from the media. How appropriate, wouldn't you agree? XD

When it comes to the media, we've been exposed to all kinds of romances and pairings and love scenarios given that romance is one of the most popular genres in all of fiction. Some romances are great and some romances are bad but in the end, romance is one of those things that can make a story for us and a well-written romance can add more to what makes a story so great.

So what are my 10 Favourite Love Couples? What are the romances that appeal the most to me? What are the pairings that make me feel the love they have for one another? Let's dive in. Whether you're single or in a relationship this Valentine's Day, it doesn't matter. Let's all feel the love as we count down my 10 Favourite Love Couples...

Important Note: This list is in no particular order.

1: Tails and Cosmo

For anyone who knows me in terms of Sonic the Hedgehog, you all know that I've always been a lifelong Tails and Cosmo shipper. The amount of fanart I drew of those two back in my DeviantArt days is proof of that. XD

Every Sonic fan has that one couple they love to ship so dearly and for me, it's this one. Why is that? Why this weird romance between a twin-tailed fox cub and an alien plant girl? Very simple: because it's so adorable and wholesome. Tails and Cosmo are one of the few Sonic couples where they actually had proper development into their romance. They start off as friends at first but as Season 3 went on, they slowly but surely start to develop feelings for one another with the hints starting "An Underground Odyssey" and would further continue in other episodes with "A Cosmic Conspiracy" being the couple's peak moment in where Tails spends the whole episode just trying to protect Cosmo from a murderous Shadow the Hedgehog. If that's not true love, I don't know WHAT is!

Throughout the season, we see the two spending time together, helping one another out and lifting each other's spirits during their low moments. Standout moments for me include Cosmo bandaging Tails's head up after he banged it, the two working together to make a surprise party, their romantic moment in "Planet of Misfortune", Cosmo motivating Tails to keep up the battle when the pressure started getting to him and of course, Tails doing everything he could to stop Shadow from killing her. This is a couple I adore for not only how sweet it is, but how much the two clearly mean to one another whilst also being an example of a true love couple. True love is about doing everything in your power to make someone happy, keep them safe and lift them up when they're down and these two do just that. Their love is what made Season 3 of Sonic X for me and we get to enjoy it for all its adorably wholesomeness that lasts throughout the whole season...

Oh right, that happened. Thanks a lot writers!

Even if the romance ended in tragedy, the love these two kids had for one another will never die. Tails and Cosmo: proof that even the strangest romances can work so well.

2: Luz and Amity

I'd be doing the world of media a HUUUUUUUUUUGE disservice if I didn't put these two on the list. I mean how can I possibly make a Valentine's Day countdown and NOT include Luz and Amity on the list?!

These two are big balls of adorkable fun together, and funny enough it didn't start off that way. When we first meet Amity in "I Was A Teenage Abomination", she's a complete jerk and she and Luz don't exactly hit it off well. But then over time, the more Luz and Amity interact with one another and spend time together, the closer they become. The seeds of their romance started in "Lost in Language" where Luz sees there's more to Amity than she initially believed and Amity comes to learn that Luz isn't the bully she mistook her to be. Then come "Understanding Willow" and "Enchanting Grom Fright", they continue to grow ever closer to the point we get the utterly fabulous dance fight that has already become one of the show's most signature scenes. And then by the time of "Wing It Like Witches", Amity's practically a gay disaster around Luz and it's hilarious. Come on, you agree with me, you know you do. XD

And as of now, we have Season 2 where they're now officially dating and calling each other "awesome girlfriends". Luz and Amity's relationship works so well because of the development that went into it. Dana Terrace and her writing team clearly wanted this romance to hit a home run and hit a home run it sure did as practically every Owl House fan on the planet just adores these two. Seeing them grow from enemies to friends and eventually lovers was just such a great progression of relationships and seeing how love and kindness changed Amity for the better shows another example of what makes love so special: how it can change you for the better. If these two can get together and Luz effects Amity so positively that she not only changes for her and her former friend Willow, but for herself too and even prefers to be this way, then you know you have a well-written romance that is worth supporting. This is real love right here.

Also, this couple deserves a spot for being one of the best examples of LGBT couples in the media as it's written no differently to any other romance. It's just "here's two girls falling in love", no need to make it anymore than that. And the fact they were able to be girlfriends while the show is still going is another big victory for the LGBT community as they can see the lesbian witch couple BE a lesbian witch couple instead of it just happening right at the end like in other shows!

Luz and Amity: their love is so strong that you'd think it's like magic.

3: Beast Boy and Raven

Now it's time we talk about probably one of DC's most famous and well-known couples alongside Superman & Lois and Batman & Catwoman. If you're a Teen Titans fan, then you probably ship either Robin & Starfire or Beast Boy & Raven, or even both (like I do). For this list, I picked Beast Boy and Raven in particular. Why is that? I'll tell you:

As sweet as Robin and Starfire's romance was, Beast Boy and Raven are just in a league of their own in terms of engaging romances, be it the show or the comics. They're one of the biggest examples of the opposites attract approach in how one's a goofy comic relief and the other's a sardonic shut-in. Two VERY opposite and contrasting personalities, and yet their love for one another couldn't be stronger, weirdly enough. I think the thing that engages me the most about Beast Boy and Raven is how they play off of one another. Both are superheroes who have troubled pasts so they can at least relate to one another in that regard and although their personalities couldn't be more different to one another, they ultimately stand by one another through thick and thin. I know for many people the one standout moment for them regarding these two was when Beast Boy became that huge monster solely out of a desire to protect Raven from Adonis, who had also become a monster. If not even a monstrous transformation can keep you from protecting those you love, then it shows how strong love really is. And then there's the episode with Malchior where Beast Boy tells her she's not alone and she hugs him in thanks. That too is one of the couple's big standout moments that shows how surprisingly sweet they are together.

And that's just from the Teen Titans show. While I'm not a big comics reader, I have a friend who is and he shared with me some of the two's most romantic moments from DC comics history. Around the time of the 80's, Beast Boy had a big crush on Raven but events that occurred kept them from getting together until the early 2000s in which Beast Boy had matured in that time and after saving Raven from Brother Blood and giving her a new lease on life, she began to fall in love with him. Despite some hardships, their relationship would continue before Flashpoint and as of now, they're officially back together in the comics universe despite a lot of other attempts to ship them with other characters (including the confusingly idiotic decision to try pairing Raven with Damian Wayne of all characters!) Given this is comic books, they might end up apart again, but it really shows how strong the love between them is when no matter what happens in the comics, they just keep getting back together against all odds.

This is another couple where the two people in love bring out the best in each other and gel surprisingly well together in spite of their opposite personalities. These Teen Titans are superheroes with a love that's as super as they are.

4: Aang and Katara

This is something that'll shock you guys but...I didn't grow up watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. While you recover from the shock of hearing that, I'll just say that I finally watched the show for the first time last year during another lockdown period and all I can ask is...WHY DIDN'T I WATCH IT SOONER?!?! A full review will come in the future but for now, I'm going to talk about one of the things that made me love the series: the romance between Aang and Katara.

Right from the first episode, I immediately thought "Those two are gonna be the big couple of this show, aren't they?" and lo and behold, they were. XD As predictable as that romance may have been, it didn't make it any less engaging to watch develop throughout the show. We have Aang and Katara, both generally nice kids who can kick ass with their bending abilities and despite their mostly kind natures, do have their limits and won't hesitate to beat you into the dirt if you mess with them. While Katara's the more hot-headed of the two and Aang is the more pacifistic one, the two have really wonderful chemistry together that continues to grow over the course of the series. I know I couldn't help but smirk at any time the two blushed around one another at several points in the show. We even get a lot of hints that they maybe into each other with "The Fortunetellers" really laying it on and "The Cave of Two Lovers" possibly even having their first kiss which we don't see because the torch goes out before we do. I know for many people, the couple's signature scene is the famous dance scene in Season 3 that may have come off hotter than the creators probably intended...

Aang and Katara go through many hardships throughout the show and over that time, they only grow ever closer with plenty of moral support to lift each other up when they're down and saving one another from certain death during battles with the Fire Nation and any hardships their relationship gets doesn't slow them down any as they still finish the series by officially becoming a couple and as we learn in The Legend of Korra, even got married and had kids together. I imagine many Kataang shippers practically squealed with joy to hear that. XD

Aang and Katara: These two are the Avatar of great love couples.

5: Aladdin and Jasmine

And now we reach one of the most classic love couples of all time, and possibly a lot of people's first love couple they experienced. If you're a Disney fan who grew up during the 90's, chances are you grew up watching Aladdin and the romance between Aladdin and Jasmine was one of your first love couples you ever got into. And what a good place to start out in terms of romances too.

Aladdin and Jasmine are a classic couple for a reason and that's down to just how well written their romance was. During the Disney Renaissance, we began to see the rise of stronger and better written female protagonists from Disney and also better written romances and I think Aladdin and Jasmine was where they began to hit their stride. They first meet each other when Jasmine's in disguise to get out of the palace for a bit and during their first time together, Aladdin stops an apple seller from slicing Jasmine's arm off, cons her way out of trouble and then the two have a conversation together where both voice their troubles like Aladdin's poor state and Jasmine being forced into marriage. I like to think Aladdin being the first guy to sympathise with Jasmine over her situation instead of being onboard with it was when Jasmine knew Aladdin was like no other guy she met.

Although things get testy when Aladdin tries to pass himself off as Prince Ali Abubu...I mean Ababwa, he manages to win Jasmine over with a romantic carpet ride through the world in which we get the ever famous "A Whole New World" scene that to this day remains as one of Disney's most romantic scenes of all time. Aladdin would then go on to save Jasmine's life during the battle with Jafar and come clean about his lies and deceit, acknowledging that it was wrong. This couple works so well thanks to the development between them and how Aladdin strives to be a better man in order to win over the girl of his dreams, but in the end it's the man he is that Jasmine loves and they're able to get their happy ending in the end. It's a sweet romance that forever stands among one of Disney's best and most romantic.

Aladdin and Jasmine: their love took us through a whole new world...

6: WALL.E and EVE

Who knew robots could have cute romances too? If any studio could prove this, it was easily Pixar in their 2008 masterpiece, WALL.E. This movie remains one of my favourite movies of all time and easily among my favourite Pixar movies. One of the reasons why I love it so much is because of the romance between these two.

We start off with WALL.E who is alone on an empty planet Earth and is just going about day after day trying to clean up all the rubbish he can until one day, a probe lands on the planet and drops off EVE, who is there to find any signs of life on the planet to prove it's safe for the humans to come back. WALL.E takes an instant liking to this stranger while EVE...decidedly is in no mood for him. Seriously, if a girl hears you make a noise and instantly opens fire on you, she's probably best avoided! XD But the two eventually meet and interact with one another and their relationship only continues to blossom from there. When EVE scans WALL.E's plant and goes into stasis while waiting for the probe to bring her back, WALL.E spends that time looking after her and when the probe brings her back to Axiom, WALL.E stows away so he doesn't lose sight of her. If someone is willing to travel through space just to make sure you're in no danger, that's a sign of true love right there.

During their time on the Axiom, EVE struggles to put up with WALL.E getting in the way of things while trying to fulfil her mission but then when WALL.E saves the plant from being jettisoned into space, EVE starts to show gratitude towards him and even "kisses" him in thanks. Then things truly come to a head when EVE sees her memories being played out before her, thus getting a firsthand look at how attentive, caring and devoted WALL.E was towards her while she was in stasis. That moment changes everything and EVE fully becomes interested in WALL.E, and even protective too as she does what she can to keep him safe throughout the climax and is even on hand to fix him once they get back to Earth. This is one of those cases where a kind act inspires another and a great example on what true love is. Love is all about helping one another and being kind and devoted to your love, which we see plenty of with WALL.E and EVE. They help one another, go to great lengths for each other's safety and their kind acts only bring them closer.

WALL.E and EVE: proof that love is so strong that even machines can experience it.

7: Tarzan and Jane

Once again, we move onto another favourite of mine. Tarzan is one of my favourite Disney movies, not just from the Renaissance, but of the entire Disney canon. It's up there with The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Pinocchio and more as one of my all-time favourites. And like WALL.E before it, part of that reason is down to the romance between Tarzan and Jane.

These two are. FRIGGIN'. ADORABLE together and I always have a big smile on my face watching these two interact! Things start off rocky between them given one is a wild man raised by gorillas and the other is a proper lady from London in an unfamiliar environment and thus both are unfamiliar with one another's way of life. But Jane takes an interest in Tarzan as the ape man takes an equal interest in her what with her being the first human he's seen since being adopted by Kala. It's this interest in one another that starts their relationship together with Tarzan teaching Jane the ways of the jungle and its beauty and wonder it has on offer and Jane teaching Tarzan the ways of the human world from reading to dancing and so much more. As they teach each other more about the very different societies they inhabit, it only brings them closer and closer to the point that Tarzan wants Jane to stay forever and Jane finds it hard to leave. It's that good kind of drama that adds extra investment into their relationship and makes us want them to make things work out in the end.

And of course, they do the good things that show what real love is by helping one another and showing true devotion. Tarzan's first time meeting Jane literally involves him saving her life from a bunch of angry baboons for starters! If someone's first instinct upon seeing you in danger is to risk their life for you, you know you've found a truly a good person to love. Then of course there's the whole teaching one another thing I mentioned earlier and Jane even helps Tarzan out in rescuing his family during the climax. I think one of the crowning moments of their love is when Tarzan went against Kerchak's wishes and risked everything just so Jane and her father could see the gorillas. Going through all that just to make someone happy and fulfil a lifelong dream of theirs is just sweet and I love it so much.

Oh and the two have a kickass Phil Collins song to go with their romance too. You can't get more romantic than that! XD

Tarzan and Jane: A love so wild and yet so romantic at the same time.

8: Belle and the Beast

And now we reach yet another iconic Disney couple and one of their best. Jokes about Stockholm Syndrome aside (and they're stupid jokes that are just wrong anyway), this was probably THE Disney couple for many a 90's kid and was probably used as the example to follow when writing romance for many Disney movies going forward. And for good reason, because it's a really sweet romance!

Belle and the Beast starts off how you expect it to: not very well. I mean the circumstances that bring them together is that the Beast imprisons her father for perceived trespassing and he puts her in an ultimatum where he keeps Maurice prisoner or she takes his place and promises to stay forever. Not what I'd say romantic if you ask me! XD Heck the Beast acts rather...well, beastly at first. But it all makes sense considering the Beast's past and that he's allowed the animal he's become to rule over his life. And yet it's with Belle where he slowly begins to make a change for the better what with clearly feeling sorry for her over the situation he's put her in and providing her her own room to stay in instead of the tower. And then when Belle runs away after he frightened her, he comes to her rescue when she's attacked by a pack of wolves, to which Belle returns the favour by bringing him back to the castle to tend to his wounds. It's those acts of kindness to one another that change everything between them. From here on out, Belle becomes more open and willing to give the Beast a chance and the Beast becomes much nicer and kinder towards Belle. He even goes so far as to surprise her with the castle library, which appeals to her love of reading. If someone did that for me, I know I'd be grateful.

All of this accumulates into another iconic moment that everyone remembers from the movie, the ballroom dance. That moment solidifies the relationship between them as they're at that point they trust one another enough to have dinner together and have a romantic waltz through the ballroom. Then when Belle expresses how much she misses her father, the Beast gives her his magic mirror so she can see him and when she sees he's in bad shape, the Beast allows her to leave so she can save him. The fact he went from making her promise to stay forever to allowing her to leave for her father's sake shows just how much he's become more human as a result of the time he's spent with Belle. This is what makes their romance so compelling and endearing to watch, the fact that this one woman was able to tame the beast he'd become and bring out his lost humanity which restores his faith and hope in himself that he may become human again. The fact Belle fell in love with the Beast after he changed for the better only makes it sweeter too.

Belle and the Beast: A couple that started out beastly but in the end, brought out its true beauty for all to see...

9: Superboy and Miss Martian

I imagine for many Young Justice fans, this couple might be their OTP. There's plenty of other big ships like Wally and Artemis of course, but these two stand as among the show's most noteworthy couples for the sheer amount of time the plot is devoted to them. I easily class myself as a M'gann/Conner shipper and for good reason, because their romance was really sweet and enjoyable to watch.

As of now, Young Justice is on its fourth season and over the course of those four seasons, the two have many ups and downs but the ups are ultimately what win out in the end. Come Season 1, Conner has a lot of anger issues due to his origins and M'gann is one of the ones that makes most of the effort to try and help him out and quell those anger issues. It's a slow process but over time, they become closer to one another and gradually, Superboy becomes more mellow as a result. One of the ultimate signs of their romance was easily the moment in "Usual Suspects" where we learn Conner knew of M'gann's true identity for a while and yet it didn't change how he felt towards her, even saying he was waiting for her to come out and admit it. It's always sweet when your love learns of your true self and still loves you regardless.

Things would get more complicated come the time-skip between Seasons 1 and 2 in where we see they've broken up due to Conner not liking how M'gann's gotten a bit drunk on power with her abilities and she's now dating Lagoon Boy. It was clear that the two were still into each other and Lagoon Boy even acknowledged that he was just M'gann's "rebound guy" and in the end, M'gann and Conner made up to one another and started a new, which came to a head in Season 3 when he proposed marriage to her. We would then see the wedding in all its romantic glory come Season 4 when the two come to Mars to get married. We get many romantic and sweet moments between the two as the wedding approaches and everyone watching gets to see their OTP finally get together in one glorious marriage...

Oh right, that happened. Dammit writers, just let our love couples be happy for once! And you can quit trying to convince me Superboy's dead too because I ain't buying it. Nuh-uh, no way.

The two have had their struggles together but in the end, M'gann and Conner only grew closer as a result. It's a romance where they bring out the best in each other and both are willing to make changes to make one another happy from Superboy's anger issues being mellowed out to M'gann learning to be more honest and open with her love.

Superboy and Miss Martian: it doesn't take a Martian's telepathy to tell you how super their love is...

10: Callum and Rayla

As of now, we're still waiting for The Dragon Prince Season 4 to come out, and all I can say is "WHEN ARE WE GETTING OUR SEASON FOUR, DAMMIT?!" Jokes aside, this show has been of a level of quality that few others have matched, helped by the fact it was created by the head writer of Avatar, and is easily among Netflix's best original content they have. It's great for many reasons, one of them being the romance between Callum and Rayla.

Some have criticized this romance for feeling "rushed", a criticism I don't really understand because if you actually watch the show, it really isn't rushed at all. Their romance develops over the course of three seasons, each at nine episodes. I think that's a steady enough pace to develop a romance. It's better than making each season the usual 26 episodes and dragging it out to fill the episode quota if you ask me. Anyway, the development between these two is wonderful. When they first meet, Rayla is part of a Moonshadow Elf mission to assassinate the Prince Ezran and his father, King Harrow and Callum tries to get in the way by pretending he's the prince so Rayla will target him instead of Ezran. Imagine getting to tell your future kids that when you first met, your wife was trying to kill you. XD During this attempt to kill Ezran, Rayla ends up finding the fabled Dragon Egg that contains the Dragon Prince itself and after that, Rayla forgoes trying to kill Ezran and goes with Callum and Ezran to try returning the Dragon Egg to its rightful place. During this journey, things change between them with Rayla befriending the step-brothers and especially coming closer to Callum as they talk to one another, share their stories and insecurities and teach each other things.

Season 3 is when their romance really comes to a head with the two carrying on the mission and continuing to grow closer to each other. It even shows how much Callum cares for Rayla when he scolds her people for ghosting her in response to her failed mission. Sticking up for someone like that is a sign of just how far you've come in growing close to your love. It then comes full circle when the two finally share their first kiss together which Rayla was none-too-happy about but the second time was much sweeter. And then comes the climax of Season 3 in where Callum's love and desire to save Rayla from plummeting to her death causes him to finally master the flying spell so he can save her and the two finally confess their love to each other as they have an adorable kiss through the sky together in one of the show's most iconic moments. Seeing these two grow closer to each other over the course of the series was one of the most compelling and endearing moments of the show. They have brilliant chemistry together and a lot of moments that are funny, heartfelt, thoughtful and even sad at times. It's a couple that has all the good stuff you want in a romance and it's so charming to watch.

Callum and Rayla: their love is as strong and as magical as the Dragon Prince himself...

And that's everything I have for my 10 Favourite Love Couples. I hope you enjoyed the countdown and as usual, feel free to list your favourite couples and give your thoughts on my choices in the comments below. Whether you're together or alone this Valentine's Day, I hope you have a sweet one regardless.

Tune in again this week as I review Star Wars's latest spin-off media, The Book of Boba Fett...