Chaste Teens

Anime series set in high school will usually avoid including romance unless it is the point of the show. This leads to the odd situation of seemingly attractive, outgoing high school students not getting any attention from the opposite sex. This applies to both sexes, but is particularly noticeable when the show centers around a group of girls.

Often this is done to maintain the Fundamentally Female Cast: having the main characters engaged in romance would require actually creating male characters (most of the time). It's also done to appeal to the Moe demographic: a major aspect of moe is purity, which extends to sexual purity, so the girls are kept single to preserve the fantasy of innocence. Even so, seeing a bunch of attractive girls sitting around lamenting the lack of romance in their lives is odd to say the least. Maybe the Generic Cuteness hides the fact that they are all ugly.

For the equally unrealistic opposite, compare Hormone-Addled Teenager.

Anime and Manga
"Osaka: Don't you all have boyfriends to show off your style to?
 * This was lampshaded in a scene in Lucky Star: Konata explains that girls in Dating Sims can't have boyfriends because they must seem available to the player. Of course, the main characters suffer from this too: Konata laments the lack of romance in their lives, and though the pretty, shapely, well-mannered Miyuki (who is also the daughter of a rather wealthy family) is said to be popular with the boys, nothing comes of it. Admittedly, the Satellite Character Ayano is said to have a boyfriend, but nothing is shown on-screen in her few appearances.
 * Word of God: Romance does not exist in Lucky Star.
 * Subverted in the manga. Ever wonder why Ayano is almost always with Misao? Because.
 * In Azumanga Daioh, none of the girls have any romantic entanglements whatsoever. This becomes especially silly when Yomi is teased about not having a boyfriend by Tomo, who doesn't have one either. Admittedly, Chiyo is too young, and most of the rest could be considered too quirky, shy or obnoxious to attract males, but you'd think the extroverted, energetic and shapely Kagura would get some offers.
 * Of course, considering the amount of time Kagura spends around Sakaki/Tomo, they boys might think that she's already taken.
 * Then there is, of course, Kaorin, whose sexuality Osaka, of all people, lampshadingly inquires about in the 10 year anniversary special.
 * Osaka also lampshades the fact that they are Chaste Teens in one episode.
 * Awkward silence*"


 * Handwaved in Suzumiya Haruhi: Haruhi is said to have accepted offers from a number of boys while in middle school, only to dump them in short order. Her abrasiveness and overwhelming personality became infamous and most boys now know better than to even try; the nubile Mikuru is described as being an "untouchable flower on the mountain" by the male student body; looking on the outside, Yuki, while having many secret admirers, is unsocial; and Kyon himself seems mostly uninterested; no matter what he says.
 * None of the main characters in Umisho are engaged in romance at the beginning of the series, and the only pair that develops is Kaname/Amuro. Rather odd considering that Shizuoka both has a killer body and is rather preoccupied with lustful thoughts - you'd think she'd want a boyfriend to try out things with.
 * In Mariasama ga Miteru, one girl had a brief lesbian affair and another was interested in romance with a handsome teacher from the nearby boy's school. None of the others show any overt interest in full-blown romance, committing their attention to their sisterly relationships with other girls.
 * Although there's some lesbian subtext, none of the characters in Pani Poni Dash! seem to have much interest in romance. And there's a lot of them.
 * The girls from Hidamari Sketch seem to stay away from romance as well. It is strongly hinted that Sae and Hiro are interested in each other, but they never show any incentive to take it beyond occasional teasing. Miyako also sometimes flirts with Yuno, but there never is any follow-through.
 * Of all the young girls in Aria, only Aika appears to have an interest in an actual relationship with a boy--after spending most of the time crushing on Alicia, who herself gets married to someone off-screen. Even though the other relationships between the girls tend to reach romantic levels, not much happens aside from occasional blushes.
 * Though Akatsuki does show many typical signs of interest in Akari and is probably the most obvious male pairing for her. Maybe something will come out of it.
 * Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Good lord, the entire series is composed of a huge harem of amazingly good looking men, and guess what? The babies are the ones that have more luck with women. Even in their mid-twenties, most of the men in it aren't shown to have female love interests, and spend their time having incredible amounts of Foe Yay and Ho Yay.
 * Subverted a bit when you look back, all the way to the beginning of the series, and remember that the fangirls of the school were dying to give Gokudera and Yamamoto chocolates. Gokudera, of course, considered it an Unwanted Harem, and told them to "Stop following [him] around!"
 * Seeing how pretty and popular the girls from K-On! are supposed to be, it's rather strange they never get chased by boys--or girls, for that matter. There are some slightly romantic moments between the girls, but those are only played for laughs, and they never show any interest in anybody else.
 * Although Ritsu does show some interest in the supposed love letter in the final episode of the first season, it's well implied that the girls are only interested in their music, which is, after all, the entire focus of the series.
 * Someone clearly is not playing this trope straight during the first concert. When Mio trips, there is the flash of a picture being taken.
 * It is somewhat justified by the fact that they're going to all girls school.
 * Slam Dunk: Not one basketball player is shown to have a girlfriend. While it makes perfect sense for some of the players (some being really ugly or former delinquents), it is a little strange that the pleasant and good looking players like Fujima, Sendoh, and Sawakita don't have one.
 * In Idol no Akahon, Reiko tells the girls that they can't be dating people since they have to appear avaliable for their audience.
 * In Shinryaku! Ika Musume, nobody of the main cast seems all that interested in romance, aside from Sanae and Goro.