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Do you consider an anime a harem if not all the girls like/are interested in the protagonist?

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Oct 9, 2016 5:20 PM
#1
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Nov 2013
193
I've always thought that any anime where a guy is surrounded by girls is a harem anime. People always respond saying "But only like two of them really like him so it's not a harem" But really? I mean do the girls really have to like him for it to be looked at as a harem? Or do you think that if he is surrounded by girls it's a harem, regardless of their feelings toward him?

What do you think?
Oct 9, 2016 5:22 PM
#2

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Feb 2013
17583
harem is just like onionns works in levels

haremest harem: all girls want the d

lowest harem: 1 guy and a ton of girls not really want the d

even below that: the guy is not even main character

and everything in between

because mal taggingn , you can be sure mal tagged harem is tends to be the haremest haremest kind
Oct 9, 2016 5:29 PM
#3

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Jul 2012
4467
Harem by definition usually states "3+ members of the opposite gender who are romantically attracted to a single character".
So yes if not all of the girls are interested in the MC romantically and it's less than 3 it's not a harem.
Edit: I mean if you were to change the definition simply to "Notably more females than males" then something like say Lucky Star, Non Non Biyori or Flying Witch would be harem despite having no romantic elements whatsoever because there's only 1-2 guys and 3+ females.
GamerDLMOct 9, 2016 5:43 PM
Oct 9, 2016 5:34 PM
#4
fanservice<3

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Mar 2012
13187
no, if theres a bunch of girls but they don't really care about the guy i don't consider it a harem
Oct 9, 2016 5:38 PM
#5

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Aug 2013
2694
Fuck no. I don't even consider it an anime. Either all the cute babes want the D, or im walkin'
Oct 9, 2016 5:39 PM
#6

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Jun 2015
6888
Harem requires romantic/physical attraction. Simple as that.
Oct 9, 2016 5:44 PM
#7

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Feb 2013
17583
BRB-kun said:
Harem requires romantic/physical attraction. Simple as that.
is there a harem with physical but not ramatnic atraction>??
Oct 9, 2016 5:47 PM
#8

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Jun 2015
6888
romagia said:
BRB-kun said:
Harem requires romantic/physical attraction. Simple as that.
is there a harem with physical but not ramatnic atraction>??

There are in hentai and doujins, haven't seen one in tv anime though.
Oct 9, 2016 5:47 PM
#9
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Jun 2015
1949
Harem is when more than two characters hold romantic feelings for a single character. People usually deny an anime is a harem because the label "harem" has a negative connotation for being responsible for terrible anime.
Oct 9, 2016 6:04 PM

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Dec 2012
489
Well if you go by that then almost any anime could be a harem, there definitely do have to be at least three characters that are romantically interested in one character for it to be one
Oct 9, 2016 6:13 PM

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Dec 2012
195
I hate harem anime because no matter how decent the plot is, the ending is always a lackluster, or even completely disappointing sometimes ( me is looking at you sora no otoshimono ). I can't remember any good harem anime that was good from the start to the end off the top of my head. I only worth notice is the world god only knows but even that turned horrible though out the end of the manga. Words cannot describe how immensely disappointed I was towards that series.
I'm never wrong. I once thought I was wrong, turns out, I was mistaken.
Oct 9, 2016 6:16 PM
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Jul 2018
561867
I don't really care much for the official definition. If it looks like a harem, and sounds like a harem... it's a harem.

Like Re:Zero.
Oct 9, 2016 6:19 PM

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Sep 2016
107
Yeah, if there's only one guy and a lot of girls it's a Harem.
Since: 2016 x 09 x 20
Oct 9, 2016 6:44 PM

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Feb 2015
13871
Yes, I do consider them my harem, except for dense MC-kun... Got a problem with that?!
Oct 9, 2016 7:39 PM
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Dec 2015
428
Yes, because the girls that usually do not like the protagonists are either tsundere, kuudere, or ojou-sama type characters. And at some point these types of characters end up warming up to the protagonist, therefore fueling the harem.
Oct 9, 2016 7:43 PM
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Aug 2015
807
Yes the girls have to like him for it to count as a harem series
Oct 9, 2016 7:58 PM

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Aug 2016
3869
Then...would Your Lie In April be counted as a mild-ish harem?

Oct 9, 2016 10:42 PM
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Oct 2014
697
My personal definition of a harem is this: there must be 3 or more girls who are at least partially defined by their relationship to the main character.

This includes the obvious cases where multiple women want to be his girlfriend/wife/lover, but you can also have what I like to call "platonic harems." The perfect example is Walkure Romanze. Despite the title, the girls only want the MC to be their teammate, not their lover.

It can also include cases where the girls aren't even pursuing the main character. That's why I consider something like Love Hina a harem despite the fact that most of the girls don't even want him for themselves. The fact that the character development mostly occurs through their interactions with him is enough.
Oct 9, 2016 10:50 PM

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Dec 2015
10632
This thread was already made....its called love triangle is not a harem or something
Oct 9, 2016 11:08 PM

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Oct 2014
15752
Yes OP, Acchi Kocchi, Chuunibyou, Sakurasou, Non Non Biyori, Saki, Amagi Brilliant Part, and Nanatsu no Taizai are all harems. This makes total logical sense because after all a harem doesn't have to be about a bunch of girls who all love the same guy, as long as there's at least one male character and at least three female characters then it's automatically a harem, no questions asked. After all, it's not like this tag is supposed to indicate anything about the plot, right?
Oct 9, 2016 11:13 PM

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Aug 2014
1425
yes, any and all story with +3 female characters are harems, OP
Oct 9, 2016 11:37 PM

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Feb 2010
34616
The issue is more that sometimes people don't see that girls are interested in the guy when they don't literally shove their genitals in his face multiple times each episode.

So yes, there need to be 3 girls or more interested in the MC, but that interest doesn't need to be super explicit and completely sexualized. But often people who like an anime with harem aspect are afraid to admit that these aspects are present so they will convince themselves that the girls aren't interested although to me it's pretty clear they are in one way or the other.

Steins;Gate and the Monogatari Series both clearly have harem aspects in my perception (which doesn't prevent me from liking them a lot) but I've encountered a bunch of people who get really salty about it when you dare to think like that. Idk, they probably think saying something has harem aspects means dissing it which is totally not the case.

For me to call something 'a harem' and not just 'a show with harem aspects' the harem needs to be the main focus by far though which isn't really the case in either of these shows I mentioned. Small difference, but a significant one imo. I don't mind harem aspects if the rest of the show is good but I don't think I can ever really enjoy a show that is built around a harem and doesn't have much else going on.
I probably regret this post by now.
Oct 10, 2016 12:57 AM

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Apr 2015
3567
Okay... so I had a harem back then right, two younger sisters and my mom

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