Harem Anime

Paragon Fury

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Jan 23, 2009
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So, in my quest to further provide more content for the forums, today I start the next Big(TM) topic; the HAREM ANIME THREAD.

So, Harems.



The noblest of anime - the kind of situation every man dreams of. But which ones do you prefer? Or do you think truly stand out above the rest?

Personally, I liked Sekirei and now Monster Musume the best.

Monster Musume



Sekirei


But even though I like them the most (currently), I must pay my respects at the throne of the one True Harem King.



Tenchi. The man who has encountered more Tits and Ass than Genghis Khan, and he didn't even have to conquer the known world to do it. Probably the first "naughty" anime I ever saw, and its still awesome even to this day.
 

Zontar

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I'm ok with the genre. There are some I like and some I don't like (you brought up ones which are all on my "like" list save for Love Hina which is on my "hate" list).

Since everyone is probably going to bring up ones which aren't this one, I'll bring this on up: Host Club.

That one is interesting in that it is one girl who has a bunch of guys fall for her instead of the typical one guy gets a munch of girls.
 

briankoontz

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May 17, 2010
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This is the one anime genre that offends me. I wonder how things would go if the genders were reversed, just to hopefully allow people some self-enlightenment.
 

Zontar

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briankoontz said:
This is the one anime genre that offends me. I wonder how things would go if the genders were reversed, just to hopefully allow people some self-enlightenment.
I posted 5 minutes a series I quite enjoyed that was exactly that. They aren't as popular or as many of them, but there is a sub-genre within the genre which are "woman has a bunch of guys fall for her".
 

Scarim Coral

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Discussion?

Honestly it a gerne I don't like/ don't watch alot of per say. I mean I had watched the first episode but just loose interest easily (To Love RU and Girl Bravo to named a couple althought does Airbats count as harem?). Heck the only reason that I started watching Monster Musune in the first place was the monster hybrid twist to it.

In saying so, the Tenchi series is the only Harem series that I truely loved. Monster Musune is second place as the flaw at the moment I find the protagonist to be bland compared to Tenchi since we kinda know little of him. I mean where are his parent/ family and what is his job as he does go out when the girls are indoor and the only reason why they loved him is simply cos he treat them as normal girls which I feel many guys may act the same or try not to make their monster traits as a big deal.

Also the gerne itself seen kinda a double edged sword to me when it come to femisim or whatever controversial as there only a few manga/ anime out there when the gerne is reverse (all the guy fighting each over for a girl). Ok sure as far as I know harem anime tend to be playful or rather make light of the situation (don't mention hentai to me) but I know not everyone will see it as that.
 

Fappy

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I got tired of the genre back when Tenchi was first airing on Toonami in the 90's. Kind of annoying how much the industry relies on this tripe these days. Otaku's are paying the bills though, so I suppose they have no choice but to pander.
 

Colour Scientist

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Jul 15, 2009
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Fappy said:
I got tired of the genre back when Tenchi was first airing on Toonami in the 90's. Kind of annoying how much the industry relies on this tripe these days. Otaku's are paying the bills though, so I suppose they have no choice but to pander.
I wish otakus would pay my bills.
 

Smooth Operator

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Well they make this stuff primarily for Japanese kids, that is why it's all highschool, tits and incomprehensible characters.

I absolutely do not like any of that shit, I watch anime for the crazy storylines and fights, all else is usually useless. But then I'm not a teenager, I'm sure I would put those sexual tension filled moments to good use otherwise...
 

[Kira Must Die]

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Sep 30, 2009
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Well, Monogatari is a harem series, and it's one of my favorite anime, so that I guess.

I was also a big Ranma 1/2 fan as a kid, and it was the first manga series I've read (although I never actually watched the anime.) I did recently read through a few volumes I still had and I still enjoy them.

Harem anime isn't usually my thing, but from time to time I'll sit down to watch one and I would probably enjoy it, and here and there participate in the usual "waifu war."
 

Redryhno

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Damn, people take Harem and Comedy Anime way too serious around here...

I enjoy some of it, I dislike some of it, I'll watch most of the rest of the genre because much like alot of other things targeted at a younger age group, it's simple to digest and normally has some kind of interesting world based around it because there's alot in the genre and there's gotta be something that differentiates it and gives it some kind of hook.

Sekirei and Ranma have great fight scenes and wonderful bullshit-fu(I haven't done my bi-annual reading of Ranma, but I'm relatively sure there actually is bullshit-fu in it at some point), Love Hina has some interesting aspects when it comes to the hotel management and a couple heart-warming moments on par with GTO, Highschool DxD actually created a nice little world, Rogue Hero's interesting in that most of it is the main guy trying to avoid any sort of fight because he's done with that, Daimao is just an interesting idea with the exception of the WTF ending, Zombie is slightly terrifying when you start thinking about the world around it.

And Haganai's fucking amazing, it subverts alot of the typical tropes in the genre and I'd argue it's one of the better anime in the last few years. Hell, Vandread is STILL considered one of the better anime of the last decade, and it's nearly a full-blown tropey harem. Anyone that writes off all the shows is doing themselves a terrible disservice. Heck, judging by some of the responses here, people are writing off Ore Monogatari and Shimoneta, and that's just disappointing in the least.
 

Sniper Team 4

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Hm...I enjoy a few good harem manga stories. Negima was great--up until the end, when the author decided to throw everything out the window because of laws trying to screw authors over. Really enjoying Monster Musume, both the manga and the anime, as well as Mayo Chiki manga. Haganai manga is great too. And I am loving Nisekoi. Tsugumi is the best.

But as for anime harem, I've actually only ever watched Sekirei and Highschool DXD. Sekirei was okay for me. I didn't like that every single girl is packing a rack bigger than her head--except for the girl/guy one.

Highschool DXD was almost too much for me at first. There's a line, and that show crossed it big time for me in the first episode. I was like, "Um...okay, this is dirty, even for me." But I gave it a bit more of a chance, and suddenly I found that I couldn't stop watching it. Once that story with Asia started, the show really hit the right tone and I just couldn't stop. I do wish that Reis hadn't fallen for the main guy so quickly because she seems like a bit of a weaker character now, but I do enjoy that series.

I'm currently trying to decide if Trinity Seven and Magika Swordsman and Summoner are worth my time. Both first volumes were extremely dull, and I swear Magika just picked pieces from tons of other mangas/anime and just threw it all together. Trinity Seven's second volume was a bit of a step up, but if Magika is still nothing but stolen ideas and cliches when the next volume drops, I think I'm done with that one.
 

Asita

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briankoontz said:
This is the one anime genre that offends me. I wonder how things would go if the genders were reversed, just to hopefully allow people some self-enlightenment.
You mean like Ouran High School Host Club? Because that was pretty well received.
 

Hochmeister

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The harem genre is essentially the anime equivalent of the soap opera. Like any other story format or cliche it's not intrinsically good or bad, but I would argue that it does tend to lead poor quality works. Many shows nowadays seem to try harder to fill out their quota of fetishes rather than to actually develop characters, setting, or the main plot. At the moment Anime is kinda oversaturated with harems that re-use near identical characters and plots, which makes the shows at the bottom of the harem heap appear even worse than they probably are objectively.

Personally I think harems go rather well with ecchi and comedy; the three tend to reinforce each other nicely, especially when the show goes full absurdity in the way only Anime can. Monster Musume and Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu are recent examples that I enjoyed, which also benefit from their rather apt underlying metaphors about interracial dating and otaku obsessiveness respectively. Previously I also liked Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and Kore wa Zombie desu ka? for their similar absurdity. Theoretically harems should go well with drama, but since most of the time the relationships between and behaviors of the characters in a harem are incredibly unrealistic to start with, in practice they usually don't mix together well. The only time harems really annoy me is when an otherwise interesting work squanders time that could be spent developing its setting or plot to focus on harem antics, such as Madan no ou to Vanadis, the second season of Knights of Sidonia, or Akatsuki no Yona (a reverse harem, that by the way was received quite well by most).
 

direkiller

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briankoontz said:
This is the one anime genre that offends me. I wonder how things would go if the genders were reversed, just to hopefully allow people some self-enlightenment.
Happens a lot more then you think.
The well written ones are rather well revived.
Porn ones don't make it very far outside of there respective audience.
 

Redryhno

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Asita said:
briankoontz said:
This is the one anime genre that offends me. I wonder how things would go if the genders were reversed, just to hopefully allow people some self-enlightenment.
You mean like Ouran High School Host Club? Because that was pretty well received.
Or hell, half of Shoujo in general. And to be fair, not every guy fell for her, only like three, the rest just see her as family. So it doesn't hit every harem trope.

Hochmeister said:
The harem genre is essentially the anime equivalent of the soap opera. Like any other story format or cliche it's not intrinsically good or bad, but I would argue that it does tend to lead poor quality works. Many shows nowadays seem to try harder to fill out their quota of fetishes rather than to actually develop characters, setting, or the main plot. At the moment Anime is kinda oversaturated with harems that re-use near identical characters and plots, which makes the shows at the bottom of the harem heap appear even worse than they probably are objectively.
Eh, I'd argue there's more bad in drama personally. Harem as a whole is very much full of camp and cheese, two things that sorta make it easy to overlook the less than stellar parts(at least for me), as opposed to shows that take themselves completely seriously. I mean, for every Monster or Perfect Blue, there's something like three RaphXeon or Blood-C(or +, there's alot of Blood dash random symbol titles in anime)

Like with alot of things, people see what they wanna see, and I really think people are severely limiting themselves if harems are an instant turn-off. Especially with the last six or so years have a resurgence of them with a plethora of subversion and deconstructions mixed in.
 

Fox12

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briankoontz said:
This is the one anime genre that offends me. I wonder how things would go if the genders were reversed, just to hopefully allow people some self-enlightenment.
I despise this genre. It just reeks of wish fulfillment for lonely men.

But I'll ignore the moral implications of the genre for the moment, in favor of the quality. It's uniformly terrible. Bad writing, paper thin characters, and Ill advised attempts at humor. It's pandering in its worst form. It's television by commitee, where a bunch of men in suits check off a list of cliches. The tsundere, the yandere, ect. And the otaku buy it hook, line, and sinker. The saddest part is that it's strangling a medium I otherwise respect.

So I'll choose the anti-harem. Neon Genesis Evangelion.
 

Shoggoth2588

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...I'm gonna have to give Sekirei a watch.

When it comes to Harem anime, I like them as I watch them but usually hate the ending. It seems like no series can have a definitive ending but perhaps I'm just watching the wrong shows. My favorite harem-anime have been these two;



I've seen the first episode of Monster Musume but it hasn't quite gripped me yet. I'll end up marathoning it eventually I think. I'm really just a sucker when it comes to anime that involves monsters, yokai, etc...especially large-chested Yuki-Onna or pseudo Spider-Girls who wind up in Shibari...just sayin'...[sub][sub]not nearly enough shibari in any of these...[/sub][/sub]