IndigoBangarang said: TheBrainintheJar said: Your problem is then not with the popularity (that's external, and a logical fallacy. Popularity doesn't prove quality) but with the escapist nature of them. I agree. I don't think it's in the genre's blood. A talented creator can use the harem genre for a fun satire, or just to create a cast of quirky, odd characters that do fun stuff. Pretty often, the harem/romcom school anime just add forced craziness or panty shots (Rosario + Vampire, Kemeko DX, Akikan) and stops being fun. I agree on some points that mimiiria said and pretty much all things that TheBrainintheJar said. I think what makes a harem anime good is when it can be seen as a fun story about the MC. Like Haganai was a story about a guy discovering the meanings of friendship or Date a Live, where the guy suddenly has to prevent world destruction by dating girls or even Clannad,that wasn't really a harem,but basically the stories about several girls were told trough a guy narrator. I think the MC needs to have some sort of purpose in the anime,he doesn't need to be super special,but written in a way where you can't simply replace him by a fucking potato. I'm sorry if that doesn't make any sense,I can't really explain it better heh. I guess I don't want the MC to be too forced? Like escapism and some self-insert are okay,but really a lot of these newer Fantasy world harems just use the same premise of MC being some "reincarnated demon lord" or some superhero special type of guy, its like yeaaaah okay.... I wish they would keep it a bit more subtle. Like the MC should earn his status and actually do something to get girls rather than just be reincarnated like that lol. TL;DR : I am fine with harem anime being wish fulfillment , but it should have some more qualities than that, (like good comedy or characters that have other qualities than self insert/wish fulfillment value,for example) and It kind of turns me off when the wish fulfillment aspects are waaay to blatantly obvious. (like the "I used to be a loser,but I became the number 1 demon slayer in this world and now all the girls want to fuck me" type) Haganai and Date A Live are both examples of well-made harem anime. Both suffer from dull MC's (Haganai less so, but DAL's Shido walks around and does what the plot requires). The rest of their cast is colorful, odd and funny. They would probably be better if you remove the harem element, but it's not a reason to write them off. These are series where the characters and the premise come first. In Rosario + Vampire, I felt the harem aspect came even before showing me who these characters are. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
TheBrainintheJar said: mimiiria said: As a female, my biggest problem with harem series isn't the ecchi or even the Gary-Stu self-insert protagonists. Reverse harems are just as bad, sometimes even worse (Try sitting through an episode of Fushigi Yuugi. I dare you.) My biggest problem with these harem/reverse harem shows is their incredible POPULARITY. It eats away my faith in humanity. Who can seriously relate to the average harem protagonist that always is more or less a loser yet still ends up with all these amazing bishoujo/bishounen craving for their love? I know it's sometimes fun to fantasize about things that can never happen, but isn't it also twice as painful to return to the real world afterwards? Don't stories with somewhat realistic goals sell in Japan? Is it that they simply don't bother writing better stories for the fans, since the repetitive wish-fulfillment crap sells better nevertheless? Your problem is then not with the popularity (that's external, and a logical fallacy. Popularity doesn't prove quality) but with the escapist nature of them. I agree. I don't think it's in the genre's blood. A talented creator can use the harem genre for a fun satire, or just to create a cast of quirky, odd characters that do fun stuff. Pretty often, the harem/romcom school anime just add forced craziness or panty shots (Rosario + Vampire, Kemeko DX, Akikan) and stops being fun. Oh, that reminds me, the Rosario+Vampire anime abandoned the darker main plot of the manga completely in favor of more "harem fanservice". |
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| I mainly come to dislike the main character for not making up his mind on choosing one of the females. It's even worse when the main obviously likes one girl but is too scared to ask her out. (Also the boob sizes in most harems are exaggerated) |
| Well it kind of depends on how the girls are represented, I mean if they're sweet and cute that's a big yes for me. But if they act all annoying it gets boring. |
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| i prefer reverse harems because i'm straight but they're pretty cheesy and enjoyable! |
| cool |
| Are there any ecchi anime's targeted towards women? |
 Fuck yeah anime and video game arts[/url] |
cokeofcola said: yes, it is. but reverse.I watched one too many terrible ones so I promised myself I would never watch anything of that genre again. Like Diabolik Lovers, for example is absolutely terrible I couldn't even finish it. Ouran is an exception though I liked that one. Does that even really count as a harem? |
 "If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| I do like harem anime as long as they don't go overboard by making woman into brainless fools who jump one guy at the same time while rubbing their oversized boobs in his face. KendiKong said: So, do girls not like World God Only Knows? I don't know about other girls but I like it :P Chocoloverx said: Depends on the characters, yes.. But I prefer watching reverse harems (: |
Grey-Zone said: TheBrainintheJar said: Your problem is then not with the popularity (that's external, and a logical fallacy. Popularity doesn't prove quality) but with the escapist nature of them. I agree. I don't think it's in the genre's blood. A talented creator can use the harem genre for a fun satire, or just to create a cast of quirky, odd characters that do fun stuff. Pretty often, the harem/romcom school anime just add forced craziness or panty shots (Rosario + Vampire, Kemeko DX, Akikan) and stops being fun. Oh, that reminds me, the Rosario+Vampire anime abandoned the darker main plot of the manga completely in favor of more "harem fanservice". Is the manga worth reading? I really enjoyed the art style and character design. There were moments when it reached Date A Live's level of fun before sinking back to more fanservice. I felt that if it focused more on a story and characters it'd work. So your take on it? |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
| if you think all Harem is bad you clearly have not seen fruit of grasisa |
| "among monsters and humans, there are only two types. Those who undergo suffering and spread it to others. And those who undergo suffering and avoid giving it to others." -Alice “Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.” David Hume “Evil is created when someone gives up on someone else. It appears when everyone gives up on someone as a lost cause and removes their path to salvation. Once they are cut off from everyone else, they become evil.” -Othinus  |
| They can be interesting if they have good characters/environment/situations But I don't usually watch that type of stuff |
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NK_500 said: What do you guys think about Reverse Harem anime? Very shitty and Ouran Manwhore Brothel is top of that shit-fest! I'm a guy, and i've watched a few reverse harems: Ouran Host Club, Pretear and Arcana Famiglia come to mind. They were okay, but the reverse-harem aspect didn't do much for my enjoyment (as expected). In case of Arcana Famiglia I didn't know (or notice) it is a reverse-harem until somebody pointed that out to me after i finished watching. That's when I understood why the whole thing seemed so unfamiliar. |
Imaishi said: And since when do you need to relate to a character to enjoy the show? Harems can be fun because of the comedy and fanservice, you don't need to 'insert yourself' to enjoy them. If you remove the MC from a harem, you get one of those "cute girls doing cute things" anime. Or something like Strike Witches. Anyway, it might become a lot better like this. |
flannan said: Imaishi said: And since when do you need to relate to a character to enjoy the show? Harems can be fun because of the comedy and fanservice, you don't need to 'insert yourself' to enjoy them. If you remove the MC from a harem, you get one of those "cute girls doing cute things" anime. Or something like Strike Witches. Anyway, it might become a lot better like this. Bamboo Blade and Galaxy Angel feel like a harme anime with the harem plot cut off. The characters of Haganai would be a lot more fun to much outside the harem trap. |
| WEAPONS - My blog, for reviews of music, anime, books, and other things |
| I used to watch them fine when I started to watch anime, but I can't anymore. You watched two, you know all. Harem itself is boring, the most fun thing about it is, probably, the flaming war about the best waifu that starts among the fanboys sometimes. But to enjoy their butthurt you need to care enough to know the names of the haremmettes. I mean, the harem itself rarely goes anywhere - the mc doesn't choose. Each haremmette only gets so much time, and they usually fall under certain tropes each (they also should be equal levels of moe, so they're also rather bland). There's a ton of asspulls to explain why they're interested in the MC. And after some time you can't help but wonder what makes all of them battle so hard for the mcs dick, especially since there's one favourite. Like, isn't there some better things to do for them and to look at for us? As for reverse harem - it's equally silly. Even in Yona's case, when there's no multiple romances, the male cast is a ridiculous collection of bishounen. And when there're nultiple romances it starts to resemble a bird mating ritual. Even if I try to read it for guilty pleasure, the tropes often kill all the enjoyment. |
What do you girls think about Harem anime? They don't mind doing orgy? |
#CHEXIT |
mimiiria said: Imaishi said: How is popularity a problem for you, does it affect your experience in any way? And since when do you need to relate to a character to enjoy the show? Harems can be fun because of the comedy and fanservice, you don't need to 'insert yourself' to enjoy them. The fact that such a large amount of anime is pandering to the escapism-yearning people with these harem shows means that a smaller percentage of anime is anything actually interesting and creative. The least studios could do is focus more on escapism akin to Code Geass where the director clearly tries to pander both girls and boys with it's fan service. But when it comes to the average harem shows, no matter how hard I try I cannot make myself lust after Rias Gremory or Asuna Yuuki. I don't think many other girls can either, just like straight guys are unlikely to drool after characters like Gintoki or Hijikata. Panty shots, tsundere violence and the generic ecchi harem humor just doesn't crack me up. Dunno if my sense of humor is just broken, but 'comedy' like that is just not worth my time. hoopla123 said: I know and I understand that there will always be a certain amount of wish-fulfillment shows airing. I just wish people didn't go so easily for such cheap escapism instead of watching something better. It's the same with books like 50 Shades of Grey, which is 100% sexual/'romantic' wish-fulfillment. The fact that such a crummy piece of fiction is a best-seller fills me with despair.Wish-fufillment and escapism is a huge reason why people turn to fictional work anyways. Same applies for gaming (especially MMOs). It's sad that we can shit harem anime but when you look at Infinite Stratos sales, there is no stopping it. |
| I'm a girl and whenever i watch a harem i have to force myself to finish it. i REALLY have a problem with harems, or even when two girls are fighting over one guy. It's stopping me from watching great animes that i've been planning to watch for a VERY long time. It's really annoying because when i try to watch it, the whole show becomes crap in my eyes and every episode is torture (Clannad for example). I also have a ship problem, I.e. when the male character shows signs of affection for another girl that i don't ship him with, everything goes downhill, and what used to be a good anime just becomes shit. Like Angel beats (which i haven't finished because of my ship problem), Anohana (Haven't finished because of my ship problem) and Amagi Brilliant Park to list a few These only apply when the main character is a male. It's very different when it's a female, in fact, I absolutely LOVE reverse harems, even though some of them are cliche having the typical male character and the typical dense female character(one part i hate about RHs) I still like to watch it |
AsuranaruSep 1, 2015 1:32 PM
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| The only good harem anime is School Days. |
| As a guy I watched quite a lot of them since they're often paired with ecchi. But in general I could do without them. |
| I'm a connoisseur. If an anime has a harem and/or ecchi tag, I'll watch it. I find more fun in it majority of the time. As for girls, I do think that the fact that reverse harem shows also get quite popular outside Japan is a testament that they don't mind it if it is aimed at them. It's really nothing different with my statement above. |
ethotFeb 1, 2016 7:06 AM
| Gotten immune to the fanservice so when i watch harem shows it's for the comedy. But harem shows are not my first priority when picking out shows to watch. |
ihateeveryone said: They're not really my cup of tea. Most of them are generally predictable with a brainless make lead and a bunch of stereotyped girls. There are some rare gems in them. I don't like all the fanservice and naive minds that all the characters have though. They're less enjoyable for me probably because they usually rely on fanservice, which being a girl irritates, not entertains me. ^This I can bare it sometimes, but I'm like 90% straight and I don't want to see a bunch of bouncy boobs in the main characters face! |
mimiiria said: As a female, my biggest problem with harem series isn't the ecchi or even the Gary-Stu self-insert protagonists. Reverse harems are just as bad, sometimes even worse (Try sitting through an episode of Fushigi Yuugi. I dare you.) My biggest problem with these harem/reverse harem shows is their incredible POPULARITY. It eats away my faith in humanity. Who can seriously relate to the average harem protagonist that always is more or less a loser yet still ends up with all these amazing bishoujo/bishounen craving for their love? Well, most people can relate to the protagonist who is more or less a loser. This is a sad world we live in, and this is the reason harems are popular. I can retell a few theories about why this is so, in case you're still listening. My favorite is that the modern western world is ruled by extroverts, and introverts are the oppressed underclass. |
flannan said: mimiiria said: As a female, my biggest problem with harem series isn't the ecchi or even the Gary-Stu self-insert protagonists. Reverse harems are just as bad, sometimes even worse (Try sitting through an episode of Fushigi Yuugi. I dare you.) My biggest problem with these harem/reverse harem shows is their incredible POPULARITY. It eats away my faith in humanity. Who can seriously relate to the average harem protagonist that always is more or less a loser yet still ends up with all these amazing bishoujo/bishounen craving for their love? Well, most people can relate to the protagonist who is more or less a loser. This is a sad world we live in, and this is the reason harems are popular. I can retell a few theories about why this is so, in case you're still listening. My favorite is that the modern western world is ruled by extroverts, and introverts are the oppressed underclass. Lol what? If you look up harem anime and sort by them, Yamada and the 7 witches, Taimadou, Shinmai, Highschool DXD, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Fruit of Grisaia, Madan No Ou and the like, the protagonists are anything but boring. Whether or not a protagonist is boring is independent of whether or not the anime's harem or not. None of them are losers. If you're talking back in the Love Hina, Dears days when all romance anime including harems had wimpy protagonists then yeah you might have a point. But starting around the year Mayo Chiki came out, protagonists have been good mixes of boring and exciting. I mean look at Nyan Koi's protagonist. His romantic life is interesting as hell and he's a great guy. |
xxLittleCr0w said: what is sexium?.depapepe112 said: As a guy, I think reverse harem is okay as long as its not exaggerated to a terrible state. HUGE harem/ecchi fan not a fan of reverse harem cause of the sexium against male characters it's not like harem not sexist to femele either, lOl. |
"If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| They are cheap, male-pandering garbage for the most part, like most other anime that are produced recently. |
Waiting patiently for springtime to return! n_n Join the Social Justice Club now! Everyone dedicated to spreading feminism on MAL is welcome to join! Link to my interview! |
CherryLover said: okay, what with this new buzzword??male-pandering garbage |
"If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
CherryLover said: They are cheap, male-pandering garbage for the most part, like most other anime that are produced recently. Aaaaaaaaand you conveniently ignore the topic of reverse harems. Kuma said: CherryLover said: okay, what with this new buzzword??male-pandering garbage Apparently things that males are 'supposed to' enjoy. |
4blaze2it0 said: so, shounen and seinen in general? that's extreamly wide.CherryLover said: They are cheap, male-pandering garbage for the most part, like most other anime that are produced recently. Aaaaaaaaand you conveniently ignore the topic of reverse harems. Kuma said: okay, what with this new buzzword?? Apparently things that males are 'supposed to' enjoy. |
"If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| I personally find them pathetic and aggravating. Especially when the male MC has absolutely zero redeeming qualities. |
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| I really don't like harems but I really do like reverse harems. Imo, brothers conflicts was shit I should change the rating to 4. |
TitanAnteus said: flannan said: Well, most people can relate to the protagonist who is more or less a loser. This is a sad world we live in, and this is the reason harems are popular. I can retell a few theories about why this is so, in case you're still listening. My favorite is that the modern western world is ruled by extroverts, and introverts are the oppressed underclass. Lol what? If you look up harem anime and sort by them, Yamada and the 7 witches, Taimadou, Shinmai, Highschool DXD, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Fruit of Grisaia, Madan No Ou and the like, the protagonists are anything but boring. Whether or not a protagonist is boring is independent of whether or not the anime's harem or not. None of them are losers. If you're talking back in the Love Hina, Dears days when all romance anime including harems had wimpy protagonists then yeah you might have a point. But starting around the year Mayo Chiki came out, protagonists have been good mixes of boring and exciting. I mean look at Nyan Koi's protagonist. His romantic life is interesting as hell and he's a great guy. Uhm, I didn't say that the protagonist is boring. And neither did mimiiria. Haganai's Kodaka can be quite fun with his attempts to get along with his classmates which always end up being seen as extortions, he's got an unique personality (which includes being really hard to actually form a serious relationship with) and he's probably good in a fight, but he's still more or less a loser. |
Smooched said: because the guys were acting like girls. And that's also one of the reasons no one likes them that much.. |
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| Most reverse harems are such bullshit. Anime like Free, and the shitty music school one, can't even remember the name. I liked Ouran though because I thought (some of) the characters were very well developed like Kyouka, Hikaru and Kaoru, and of course Tamaki. I don't mind harems if the comedy is good. For example, I enjoyed Highschool DxD because the jokes and banter in the dub are pretty hilarious IMO, and because Issei isn't an annoying pussy guy who just lets the girls fawn over him. He'll go for it if he wants it, even if he is nervous or whatever. But harems like Infitite Stratos and Love Hina are the reasons I murder college kids and kick their bodies down a freeway layby. |
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| Straight-up harem anime are basically guaranteed to be trash right from their very inception, and anime that incorporate harem elements also have a highly-increased chance of sucking total ass. Basically, the harem is the worst thing to happen to anime since...ever. |
 This glorious signature image was created by @Mayumi! I am the Arbiter of Absolute Truth, and here is my wisdom: "Anime was always influenced by the West. This is not news. Shoujo is the superior genre primarily aimed at young people. Harem/isekai are lazy genres that refuse any meaningful innovation. There is no 'Golden Age.' There will always be top-shelf anime. You should be watching Carole & Tuesday." |
Rei said: I mainly come to dislike the main character for not making up his mind on choosing one of the females. It's even worse when the main obviously likes one girl but is too scared to ask her out. (Also the boob sizes in most harems are exaggerated) Agree 100%. I can't stand indecisive characters. I'd also rather have an MC that purposefully goes after a girl(s) and gets rejected or fails in some way, than a ton of girls falling for a completely normal guy for no reason. But not only with regular harems, I hate reverse harems as well because most of the time the girl comes off as a complete air-head. |
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| occasionally I find harems to not be too bad, but the fanservice usually ends up annoying me because panty shots just aren't my thing. And, as stated in other comments, the MCs often lack any real personality, or never choose a girl which is really frustrating. The other problem can come with the girls in the show. Because I'm not really attracted to their appearance, their personalities and other characteristics need to be interesting. This frequently becomes a problem in shows that make almost every girl fit into an archetype, without anything to differentiate them from every other girl of that same type. the same problem can happen with reverse harems in terms of characters, but at least occasionally I'll find one of the boys cute which will help with my enjoyment of the show. |
snapeftwJun 5, 2016 4:46 PM
Rainbowfootsteps said: My prerequisite for watching harems is if the girls actually have personalities instead of neatly fitting into -dere achetypes. This is the part where Mamster-P would say, "How dare you demand that characters act like human beings instead of developmentally-challenged aliens?! You must be some kind of elitist snob!! D:<" Only, y'know, with a bunch of spelling errors and missing capitalization. |
This glorious signature image was created by @Mayumi! I am the Arbiter of Absolute Truth, and here is my wisdom: "Anime was always influenced by the West. This is not news. Shoujo is the superior genre primarily aimed at young people. Harem/isekai are lazy genres that refuse any meaningful innovation. There is no 'Golden Age.' There will always be top-shelf anime. You should be watching Carole & Tuesday." |
| i avoid harem anime like the plague. the whole pathetic guy gets a bunch of hot girls rly irks me lmao. the fan service is just a major waste of time too. and with reverse, the main girl is always so cringe. like previous comments, if the mc is a rly complex & interesting character and the side hoes are interesting as well, i'd be down. it'd be kinda cool actually, to watch a show where the lead is /actually/ worth the romantic attention that even the audience goes 'yeah, i'm in love w them too' |
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