Anime History Association

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Welcome to the A.H.A., the place where you get to say AHA! a lot. This is a group made of, by, and for persons interested in the history of anime and manga, as well as the cultural evolution and other factors related to it.

One need not be a historian to join (though if you are, that means you should join!). Anyone with a relative interest is welcome to come in and add to a discussion.

Have a question about the origin of some genre, plot device, or character? Not sure what that ultra-obscure anime you saw when you were a kid was called? Curious about why anime characters don't look Japanese and have outrageous hair styles?

This is the place for you.

We currently have an open membership. This is to promote the expansion of the community and to allow anyone with even the slightest interest in the discussion and exchange related to this group to be included. After all, history is for the masses.

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Club Discussion

	Sticky: -Anime History Question Guide- Mr_Panda	5 replies	by Mr_Panda »» 10-31-09, 3:53 PM
	Sticky: Add Related Anime/Manga Mr_Panda	2 replies	by Mr_Panda »» 01-31-09, 9:44 PM

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Club Comments

Misa_Ryuuguu | 05-27-09, 7:44 AM

That's because Takahashi has a habit for making the main characters of her cast reappear again and again in every one of her subsequent works. Lum and what's-his-name; Ranma and Akane; Inu-Yasha and Kagome.....if you ask me, they're all essentially carbon copies thrust into different circumstances. Well....Lum might have a different personality, but it's still the same sort of relationship. I don't know enough about Maison Ikkoku to add their leading pair into the bunch, but...I'm guessing they're not too far off.

After Ranma I kinda lost interest in Takahashi's works...I think that had something to do with it.

Mr_Panda | 05-26-09, 5:47 PM

That's another point I would like to bring up, actually. Yatsura's creator--R. Takahashi--is well-known for four large series. All of these series except one (Inu Yasha, which I have very little experience with; so if someone can attest to harem elements let me know) contain obvious harem elements. Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku (which seems like an inspiration for Love Hina in many ways), and Ranma all have the classic markings.

So again, I would reaffirm my statement that Yatsura should be considerd the first harem anime.

Misa_Ryuuguu | 05-26-09, 12:31 PM

Hmm....I have to go with Panda on that one, in having to determine what excatly constitutes a harem. I would definately consider Tenchi Muyo a harem, but then, I would also consider Ranma 1/2 to be a harem, and that was released first (and was easily just as popular in its day, if not moreso).

Ranma could be argued if you really want to get technical, by saying that all the girls that were after the main male character weren't all living with him, but still...I think more than enough is there to call it a harem show. Most of the female cast have an inexplicable crush on the main male, and this becomes a constant issue throughout the series.

Spiddler | 05-22-09, 1:33 AM

haha that's interesting I was already watching ursei yatsura, I'm not sure if it qualifies as a harem, but its still awesome, I'll have to check out Tenchi Muyo.

tsukimoon | 05-16-09, 1:18 AM

Hi! This sounds like a wonderful club. I'm all for preserving the history of anime and such. I'm not sure how much help I can be, but yay for letting me join!

Also, Yatsura seems like it could be the beginning of harem, but I've only viewed one episode so far.

Tenchi is what I consider to be the first effective harem type. It's a grand series too. Loved it growing up and still love it.

Mr_Panda | 05-14-09, 9:34 PM

Sorry for not replying sooner. :p
Glad you like the club.

To answer your question... hmm... I think this would be a tricky question. I ran some quick background research to be sure, and I'm not the only one that sees some ambiguity on the point.

Tenchi Muyo, by many popular accounts, is the effective first harem anime. Several people also credit Love Hina for kicking-off the genre to intensity.

However, my educated guess would be Urusei Yatsura. The main problem is the quesiton of what constitutes a harem. To be specific, I think some people question whether most, if not all, of the involved harem members must be centralized characters (at least enough to fit the 3 or more rule of thumb). Yatsura, if I recall, has many one-shot and recuring characters playing in a role that is harem-like.

That being said, in my view it's Urusei Yatsura. I'll do some additional research sometime soon to see if I can verify that further.

Spiddler | 05-09-09, 8:29 PM

Anyone know what the first harem themed anime was?

I'm curious to see if the harem genre started off good before it turned into an excuse for maximum fan service to sell DVDs.

Misa_Ryuuguu | 05-06-09, 12:13 PM

I never pay much attention to the "recommendations" on MAL. Most of them seem to state nothing more than things like, "They both have a girl with green hair!" or "This is the second seriies, so of course you should watch it!"

So...yeah. No help there.