Anime Recommendation and Suggestion Query

[shinta|hikari]

I am not sure how heavy you want the romance to be. I find that the best romance stories are also part of a larger story that makes it less tedious to watch, like Clannad with it's alternation between comedy and drama.

Anyway, here are some of my suggestions:

Anime:
Ef - A tale of memories and Ef - A tale of melodies
Honey and Clover I and II
Ano hi mita hana no namae wa mada shiranai
Cross Game (but this has heavy focus on sports too)
Kannazuki no Miko (has yuri)
Kanon 2006 (if you liked Clannad)
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (if you like soap operas)
Sakamichi no Apollon (if you like Jazz)

Movies:
Bungaku Shoujo
5 Centimeters per Second

I think the first two titles in the Anime list are must watches even if they don't fit in your 4 per genre limit.

Bokura ga Ita is pretty good if you are fine with lots of crying (not you, the characters) and relationship drama. It is pretty realistic though. It is one of the most realistically voiced (as in real people talk that way) anime I have seen.