Harem in anime

There was a time I actually used to like harem(when I first started watching anime) but now whenever I see a harem tag, I just skip it. Harem is literally one of the most used tropes in anime and I just got sick of it. But before we get to why I hate harem let’s take a look at some good harem anime(or just my favorites).

Nisekoi

The world god only knows

Yamada-Kun And The Seven Witches

Another honorable mentions are Ouran High School Host Club, Masamune-kun no Revenge, Rosario to Vampire and Kiss Him, Not Me!. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying harem is a bad thing, it’s just not meant for me. So why are harem anime popular.

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Why are harem anime so popular

Heaven’s lost property

Harem anime allow these men to project themselves into the story and to sympathize with the main man. The stories explore the various problems and ways to express attraction. Of course, the stories use comedy to blunt the discomfort they may feel when a scene cuts too close to their own experiences.

Harem relies heavily on fan service and without it the anime is just plain boring. Harem anime’s popularity will continue to grow because of the immense following it has. Harem anime allow these men to project themselves into the story and to sympathize with the main man. The stories explore the various problems and ways to express attraction.

Read here for more.

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Reasons why I dislike harem

Dumb MC’s

Renai boukun

Name one harem anime where the MC is actually smart(or normal for that fact). In literally every harem anime the MC is the least popular in school, no stand out qualities and at end of the day somehow he gets all the girls.

No plot

Highschool D x D

Nowadays a plot is created for the harem and not the opposite. It’s either the same old boring plot where the MC falls in love with one girl and somehow all the girls fall in love with him. And because of the excessive fan service I can’t even watch it in public. In every harem anime there’s this one episode where the plot goes nowhere, the episode is just about hanging out in the beach, water park, some festival or somehow the MC got stuck somewhere with a girl alone.

Too predictable

Date a live

Animes with a unique plot are hard to find nowadays. Every harem starts in a high school or in another world(isekai). Falling over each other out of nowhere, waking up in other’s bed somehow, wind blowing over and of course water.

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Enough of the disliking harem. I’m sure there are people who like it and I’m not going to judge them. I probably saw a few before realizing how much I dislike it. I actually watched a couple of episodes of Rent a girlfriend because of it’s different plot but at the end it ended up like every other harem anime.

To love ru

To love ru is one of the very first mangas I’ve read and I’ll never read it again. If you look my rating for it in anilist I’ve given it a 5/5 because that’s how I’ve felt when reading it. I’ve never read anything like it and it was exciting to continue the story because I had no experience in reading harem but now no just no. I really can’t handle it.

There’s very little chance I would ever watch another harem anime but if I were to watch it again, I would want it to be unique. Even if the best girl doesn’t win I would watch it if the anime is unique Kinda like domestic girlfriend. Domestic girlfriend reminds me of the worst type of anime. Harem + NTR. Well let’s keep that for another post.

Tell me if you like harem or not in the comments.

Thank you for reading.