What do you think about how guys act like little pussys in harem anime?

1lastfall said:
Does the following idea not sound kind of amusing though?:

So think of a harem anime where the main character was just playing all the girls that want him, getting with all of them, pissing off all the other ones that are in love with him.

There would be fierce emotions.

The end could be break-through. For example, the MC actually picks and marries one. Or even better, the girls never talk to the MC again after realizing he's a douchebag and group kick his ass while the credits roll. hahaha

1lastfall said:
That's interesting to bring up. It makes me wonder how many manga/anime creators are closet-foreveralones. I wonder if the creators of fan service heavy ones are the cream of that crop.

I never thought of it in this way cuz I always just blindly revere them. I still would even if they're losers.

SpaghettiSpike said:
I still got no idea why anyone would consciously watch any anime of that kind. On the other hand it makes total sense that a person with this level of awareness would rant about things that are quite obvious from the cover alone hence the reason we are getting so many threads like these.

PAW___ said:
so what do u think if main character in harem act like itou makoto.

flannan said:

I've heard Ken Akamatsu, author of ecchi harem works like Love Hina and Negima, has a hot cosplaying wife.

flannan said:
I find serial rapist protagonists like Makoto from School Days, Hagure Yuusha or Rance to be unrelatable.
Most other types of harem MC are way more relatable in comparison.
But I find the MC from Okusama ga Seitokaichou to be the most realistic - he might resist at first, but if the girl pushes through that, he will go on the offensive.

In many cases, harem MCs actually have reasons for behaving like that.
Sometimes, they're in position where they should not do anything to the girls. Like their teacher or father-figure. Or brother.
Sometimes, the MC has reasons to suspect the girls aren't sincere. Usually because of past history, but being an mighty demigod suspecting all the girls are gold diggers is a reason too.
Sometimes, the MC already knows whom he loves, and doesn't want to accept love from other people. (but these other people often keep getting in the way of progress of his main interest)
Sometimes, the MC has goals that aren't romance, and doesn't want to accept love because that will just get in the way. Haganai's MC did it particularly impressively.
Sometimes, the girls are just bad at attempting to seduce. Really, what makes them think they can just skip the whole building relationship, going on a date, creating the mood and stuff step? What they're doing is just sexual harassment.
And finally, building a relationship with a volatile tsundere who isn't actually capable of giving what she offers (without going on a rampage in the middle) is often a major element in harems. Even non-tsundere girls often can't handle much affection. Cause they're young teenagers.

In other cases, the MC isn't actually like that, but it's censored when adapting a game to anime.

pgmhecateii said:
What about Masamune-kun no Revenge? Not your typical harem protagonist, at least.

You guys are saying that so people can relate to the main character, but is it actually possible to have a harem in irl?

FRamzy said:
yeah there are a lot of harem protagonist who act that way and it's kinda annoying to watch, but there are some harem mc that i actually like, for example : Kazami Yuuji from Grisaia, Keima from TWGOK, Issei from Highschool DxD.

Chandela said:
I think it's fine, because that's the catch.
Y'all have some jaded perspectives on this topic lol

It reminds me of a similar thing people note in romance series - 'Why is the kiss scene the end result, I want to see more afterward' - because quite frankly it's not interesting and there's hardly anything to work off of. If you apply that process to harem series, there isn't a definite interest in one guy bouncing between all these different girls whimsically, it's stale as hell. Imagine if that was the norm, people would think it's ridiculous.

And HELL YEAH there are people like that IRL
That's not even a perplexing thought to me.

baellistA said:
Why? Because if they weren't, it would turn into a hentai.

GreySelkie said:
First of all, comparing somebody to vagina shouldn't mean compering somebody to something weak. Having vagina doesn't make you weak. Period (pun intended, but I guess it's not funny).
Now, to answer your question - I watched only one or two harems, and that was back in the day, when I first heard the term "anime", wanted to see it for myself and clicked on a random show on some website where you could watch anime. It happened to be harem, I don't even remember what anime it was, but I remember that I didn't like it and I didn't like any character.
So I guess that I don't like stereotypical harem male characters.

YuriCarrier said:
When I see Harem in which the male never makes a move. I question the purpose of even having a harem in the show to begin with. If the harem is for wish fulfillment then I wonder what guy in real life fantasizes about being surrounded by group of eagar attractive women and never making a move.

1lastfall said:
Like Tenchi from Tenchi Muyo! for a solid example.

I mean I know for the sake of the anime not being a hentai it should be like that to some degree, but you know what I mean.

Is anyone actually like this in real life?
Don't get me wrong though, I love the Tenchi series' and other harem anime. xD

YuriCarrier said:
When I see Harem in which the male never makes a move. I question the purpose of even having a harem in the show to begin with. If the harem is for wish fulfillment then I wonder what guy in real life fantasizes about being surrounded by group of eagar attractive women and never making a move.

CodeBlazeFate said:
They don't even deserve to be called beta males. There's shy around hot women and then there are these guys, who are real dense mother fuckers sometimes. I mean, I'm shy around hot women and a dense dense mother fucker myself but these guys are just a new level that isn't even socially acceptable. If you don't want sex with hot women yet, justify yourself instead of deserting them or unintentionally dragging them through the mud when you want someone or absolutely no one. Ayato is one such example.

SuperRed said:


Since when does someone need to justify not wanting sex with a hot girl, huh? Have you ever thought about uncomfortable it might be to have someone you barely know approach you sexually and entice you to make a big decision that changes relationships? Maybe...you should tell those harem girls to stop sexually harassing MC and respect his personal space!

I haven't seen Asterisk so idk what I'm even talking about tbh.

CodeBlazeFate said:
Because in the situation shown in these shows, they know hem well enough. If someone you're sort of attracted to is a attracted to you and is coming onto you and you know this (especially if they are doing so without harassing you and/or you like this), there should be some reason for not reciprocating to her other than "it will break the harem". Abstinence, waiting until you and her form a stronger relationship, something other than narrative convenience.

Manaban said:

But what if that reason being unexplored isn't of particular importance to the viewer in question, and if anything, they feel like narrative convenience simply makes way for more of the type of content that they're watching the product for in lieu of burdening itself with unnecessary exposition to provide reason to the rhyme of the product?

CodeBlazeFate said:
It takes like no effort or time unless it's a major plot point for the show or an episode, and it actually makes it more relatable for those trying to insert themselves into the Protagonist like "Hey, I practice abstinence or would only have sex after a stable relationship too; I identify with him even more now and am even more invested", as well as making potential naysayers day "oh hey, he's actually pretty reasonable so now I like this guy a bit more". You know, that way it conveniences the viewer even more while also conveniencing even more viewers. It caters to more crowds that way rather than saying "people who already like this kind of entertainment only".

scruffs said:


Or he could be put off by a girl acting thirsty.

CodeBlazeFate said:
It takes like no effort or time unless it's a major plot point for the show or an episode, and it actually makes it more relatable for those trying to insert themselves into the Protagonist like "Hey, I practice abstinence or would only have sex after a stable relationship too; I identify with him even more now and am even more invested", as well as making potential naysayers day "oh hey, he's actually pretty reasonable so now I like this guy a bit more". You know, that way it conveniences the viewer even more while also conveniencing even more viewers. It caters to more crowds that way rather than saying "people who already like this kind of entertainment only".

It takes like no effort or time unless it's a major plot point for the show or an episode

"Hey, I practice abstinence or would only have sex after a stable relationship too; I identify with him even more now and am even more invested"

as well as making potential naysayers day "oh hey, he's actually pretty reasonable so now I like this guy a bit more". You know, that way it conveniences the viewer even more while also conveniencing even more viewers. It caters to more crowds that way rather than saying "people who already like this kind of entertainment only".

CodeBlazeFate said:
That too. Just something, please? Stuff like this is why I can't have fun with these things.

Manaban said:


First off, drawing attention to my edit:




"Let's just toss it in there to give a reason for something being like this and keep on rolling like normal."

Can't say I think that people wouldn't pick up on that. It'd just get lambasted as being lazy and tossed in there for the sake of maintaining a harem if it would proceed as normal, and if it didn't then like I illustrated above, the only way to do so without bastardizing a character for no good reason is to make a change that I feel would negatively impact the product for the most part.

Right now I'm treating it like you're trying to sell me on this idea moreso than anything, since I am a fan of the type of product in question and I see no good coming from it for somebody like myself from my own perspective, only potential negatives for the sake of appealing to a broader audience.


Yeah. Being a bit of a prude and practicing abstinence is totally going to make the average harem fan like the MC more and relate to them.

I know I'm being a bit of a dick here, but I just can't think of an earnest response to that one because it seems so absurd to me ._.



Well, why should I even care about other people liking the type of product I like to begin with? I'm not as thin-skinned as to be hurt by people hating it, and in most cases I only argue in defense of it as a matter of principle because I don't like people (who usually don't tend to be fans of the type of product in question themselves) trying to argue in favor of ideas that I think will actively work against my enjoyment of what I like for their own sake rather than anything else.

Since I quite frankly don't care about criticisms and opinions of non-fans to begin with, what other benefits would I gain by pushing to making the product more accessible to many that would compensate the (probably hurtful) changes that may come alongside it? What does this do for me and why should I even factor it into account when taking into consideration ways to improve the general quality of the product?

CodeBlazeFate said:
Is it a crime to ask for even one show to do that? I mean, I wanna join the fun sometimes too ;~;

Manaban said:

Shomin Sample does that in a way that adds to the comedy because the MC has to act like he's gay, even though he's not. Doesn't do much else in the way of making the MC more memorable and he'd probably just be another beta without it, but it's still present nonetheless.

CodeBlazeFate said:
They would fefinitely pick up on that, but they'd say that it makes the main character much more bearable for them as while it keeps its harem, it does so in a way that actually keeps them on their toes and feels at least somewhat more fresh than MC leaving because harem didctates that he just ditch her for no other reason.

I am trying to sell this idea. I mean, that's partly why Chivalry of a Failed Knight was much more widely accepted than day, The Asterisk War. It took more risks and tried to feel more human while either keeping or playing around with the typical elements it has at its disposal.

Dude, they're selling this to 14-17 year old teen boys who are fresh to the whole sex and romance scene. Of course we're often prudes about this. This target demographic often does practice abstinence or at least only wishes to have sex after establishing a strong relationship. It's part of the dream for us. They're not just selling it to adult harem lovers, they're mostly selling it to people like me.

Not saying you should care about what critics of the work have to say about it. Just that we wanna join in on the fun sometimes too and that shows that actually allow that of us are incredibly cathartic and rewarding. These are minute additions that wouldn't really hurt the product, especially if it wants to branch out and do more interesting things (hence why they'd take such a risk). It could potentially attract some more viewers, therefore make some more money, as we all know studios are all about that cash.

Adi-Buddha said:
I'd assume that the characters writer is trying to make the MC more relatable to the average Japanese male. Seems like Japanese guys like anime more when they see themselves in the main character.

So simply what I'm trying to say is, Japanese guys can relate to the MC because they are pussies that can't pick up women... I'm pretty sure I've read a couple of studies that back this up too. The studies talk about how the average Japanese male is genuinely afraid to talk to women. It's pretty pathetic.

Edit: that's also why you see a lot of MCs who have messy black hair and their eye color is black.

1lastfall said:
Yeah yeah, but it still hurts my soul a little. I can't be the only one lol.

@Ainosense

That reminds me of the last time a girl was that forward with me.
Randomly was in my house, came out back and I was smokin a cig. She looks at me and says "you're really attractive" and sat on my lap.
What did I do?
Called her hot also, put my arm around her, and a few days later had meaningless sex.
That was a pretty alright experience.