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Hey, Answerman! - Harem Harumph


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Sylontack



Joined: 09 Apr 2011
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:31 am Reply with quote
Not really a genre.
But a popular theme in characters is Tsundere.
I cannot stand it.

Tsundere to me, is another word for b***h. Tsundere personality traits have little to no redeeming qualities unless you are masochistic. I do understand the whole idea of how they lower their shields in situations "I-It's not like I put those notes out for you or anything" (See: Slender).

But oh my god I do not get it. Why is it so adorable to get beaten up by a girl with a temper worth an intervention? (Adding on to that, I hate it when a male character is put into a bad situation, and it's so clear he did it by accident but lolno let's send him flying from a punch from a girl. It's kinda... sexist).

That being said I do like some Tsundere characters and I most certainly won't watch a show due to a Tsundere character (As it is not a genre). I really like Shana (Shakugan no Shana) for one. Rather than just being a bitter person she has a shield put up because she is mostly alone (excluding mahou shoujo necklace) and is in a... profession(?) that has her being alone and not being able to trust people and has to be cold. So can't really trust someone so easily. The same goes for Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night) for some of the above, if I had to describe her as a Tsundere.


Besides.
Yandere is where it's at.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1790
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:46 am Reply with quote
^ I used to feel the same way as the poster above (well except for the like of yanderes, they simply scare me) but oddly enough I seemed to have mellowed out towards them overtime.

One series in particular has my favorite tsundere; Misaka Mikoto of A ceritan magical Index. While Shana clearly had a reason to be tsundere, I didn't find myself liking her the same way I did biribiri, and it was rather odd because, well she basically electrocutes the guy(touma almost on impulse) I guess through their interactions was when I got the appeal of tsunderes; which I basically sum up as a giant 'play hard to get' game. Alright so while we all know most characters paired with them are herbavoirs I knda noticed how much I enjoy seeing seeing Misaka in dere dere mode and how she was despratly trying to hide it from touma, and it wasn't even like her regular self annoyed me so it was all in good fun, and now while I don't like every tsundere I don't exactly have that hostility anymore.

Now as for full on genres I never really got it's the Mecha and Magical genre for me. Even though I think madoka magica is a wonderfully written show, you can not PAY me to watch any other magical girl show out there, because the glitterly girly nature of it all just isn't for me (its also a similar reason why I didn't get much into shoujos, but my little monster may be my gateway for that) As for Mecha's, well I just never found giant robots to be that cool, and through all the shounen action I've watched, I have the prefrence of seeing the characters I like do their own battles. I do like the rebuild Eva series and Gurren Lagann though, but those are on such opposite extremes I'm not exactly sure of what I'll think of anything else and to be honest I'm not quite interested either way.
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TheTheory



Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: Central PA
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:13 am Reply with quote
I can't do Mecha. I do not identify with hunks of metal, I do not get pleasure out of watching them in action.

The exception to the rule is Gad Guard--and it's telling that mecha fans don't really like it.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:41 am Reply with quote
Well, one of the mecha shows I like is Gravion, a mecha/harem series {Oh yeah. There's one problem right there}. The first season was pretty mediocre but that was more to set up the second season which knocked down the basic set-up. Well, except for the notion that the hot blooded hero was resigned to piloting a leg, I really liked that one. It's so much better than the "I'm an ace pilot/master robot controller right from the start!" premise like so many others.

I also liked Linebarrels of Iron too so maybe I don't actually like Mecha shows. Anyways, it shows what happens when a teenage boy gains control of a giant robot and yeah, it's not as pretty as it should be. Heroism, meet puberty! Unlike Envangelion which is only realistic if Shinji was neutered {That would explain a lot if it was true though}

A genre I'm not a fan of is romance shoujo; It's something a matter of why the jerk is the lead guy. Ouran Host Club, Wallflower, Peach Girl, Maid-Sama; I know thse shows aren't ment to be aimed at me but it's hard not to take some of the sexism personally. Kadocha's fine but that's more a shoujo series told from the POV of the boy; Not to forget that they're grade schoolers.

Lovely Complex? Aside from the shounen romance habit of adding more girls in order to stretch out the plot {in shoujo? So strange} and the fact that most of the drama is from the two leads overcoming simple physical differences {and emotional trouble stemming from them. Uh, simple "complexes"...} rather than actual obstacles...

Right, I actually like Peach Girl more than that one. Sae on her own can make a series.

Fushigi Yugi. Wait, that's a reverse harem. Invalid right from the start.
Seven of Nana. Shoujo romance/shounen harem comprised of herself. I think.

If I don't like the genre, I wonder why I've seen more than one of them.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2434
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:56 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The facts are that, outside of us silly anime nerds, no one really knows about, or cares about, visual novels. Us Westerners haven't had them presented to us in any real way since the multimedia boom of the 1990's, when Philips was trying to convince us to spend 800 dollars on a CD-i to watch grainy FMV footage to go along with a Sherlock Holmes story.

A CD-i reference, damn. Although, as an inexplicably enthusiastic CD-i owner back in the day, I might have gone for lampooning the system as "having narrator Patrick Stewart account for which lifeboats from the Titanic were successfully deployed, one-by-one, while watching endless Ken Burns effects over paintings of the scene."
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Hopeless Wanderer



Joined: 09 Oct 2012
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:03 pm Reply with quote
I'm not big fan of the moe genre at all (okay it's not so much as genre as it's more an art-style) I don't hate it, but for me, a good chunk of it are the same thing over and over again. However, when they use the art style in shows like Madoka, I can enjoy it. I mean, I'll have to get used to the really wide faces that the character designs had, but after awhile, I stopped caring and just got engulfed in the story. I don't want mean to people who like moe, it's just not my cup of tea is all.

Brian, this question kinda goes back to the one you just answered about the Gundam one earlier. I like to some new Detective Conan episodes (this includes the Kaito Kid specials) and the Code Geass OVAs that Sunrise has been doing (the show is a guilty pleasure, please don't judge me Embarassed Laughing ) however, I would like to watch them legally. Is there any chance that either Bandai or TMS Entertainment would be able to subbed them and put them on legal streaming like Hulu?
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1255
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:08 pm Reply with quote
It's not quite a genre, but visual novel adaptations are my kryptonite. I've attempted many, and only ever liked Higurashi (and even that I'll probably never revisit). I just can't seem to click with them.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:53 pm Reply with quote
For me,at least,I have little problem with the harem genre. There have some that have been good ("Tenchi Muyo!,""Rosario + Vampire") and the not-so-good (I haven't read the bad ones). I agree that most of the harem genre male leads can be weaklings. I wish that they could get improve it by making the male lead a little stronger,but not less of a nice guy.
Both "Tenchi" and "Rosario" work is because the male lead cares about the girls who now surround him even though they drive him crazy. He earns their respect and loyalty by defending them. I tend not to like jerks in the male lead role. What's wrong with having a nice guy in the role?

While I agree that the harem genre has had it's share of junk,it also has it's share of gems. What we as manga readers should do is support the gems and disregard the junk. That way,we get more gems than junk.
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Ojamajo LimePie



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 762
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:08 pm Reply with quote
Go and watch Heartcatch Precure, then tell me Precure is just a "toy commercial." I'd hardly call magical girl anime overrated or undeserving of the praise it gets. It's not exactly a popular genre over here. Even admitting that you like magical girl anime can get you called a pedophile. Rolling Eyes

As for a genre I don't get, I'd have to go with T&A shows. I really don't see the appeal of giant amounts of fanservice, especially when it's the main point of the series. Over-sized breasts also freak me out. With that said, I did enjoy Cat Planet Cuties. Beneath the fanservice, it was clever and self-aware. And it never felt "nasty" like a lot of T&A shows do.
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:44 pm Reply with quote
Ojamajo LimePie wrote:
As for a genre I don't get, I'd have to go with T&A shows. I really don't see the appeal of giant amounts of fanservice, especially when it's the main point of the series.
T&A has never drawn me in either - I can love the humour that tends to go with, but if I'm looking for titillation I'm looking for porn.
Quote:
Over-sized breasts also freak me out.
I'm fine if they're just unrealistically big, but they need to have a sense of proportion to them. Case in point, the blonde pairgirl on the Horizon covers is completely unattractive.
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TitanXL



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 4036
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:55 pm Reply with quote
Ojamajo LimePie wrote:
Go and watch Heartcatch Precure, then tell me Precure is just a "toy commercial." I'd hardly call magical girl anime overrated or undeserving of the praise it gets. It's not exactly a popular genre over here. Even admitting that you like magical girl anime can get you called a pedophile. Rolling Eyes


Precure is a toy commercial. The problem stems form close-minded ignorant people who think 'toy commercial' makes a show automatically bad or something. They seem to forget that a lot of the 'best series evar' are toy commercials, like Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Kamen Rider W, Zeta Gundam (pretty much any mecha anime), and so forth. This is to say nothing of all the otaku anime which lives or dies by it's sales and merchandise. Complaining about 'commercials' in anime is like complaining about the ocean at the beach, it's the entire point of it's existence at the end of the day.
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Imperial_Commander



Joined: 18 Jan 2009
Posts: 44
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:05 pm Reply with quote
I liked today's Answerman, especially his answer to the last question. Really inspiring.

Umm...that is all.
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potatochobit



Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 1373
Location: TEXAS
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:43 pm Reply with quote
was tylor really a harem? hmmm... Question
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Altorrin



Joined: 24 Dec 2007
Posts: 312
Location: Florida, United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:00 pm Reply with quote
Sorry but... I feel like Brian fundamentally misunderstood the harem question. Considering the introduction (to summarize, "Harem anime has a bad reputation but there are some good harem shows. Here are some of them."), I interpreted the question as meaning "Which genre gets a lot of undeserved hate and what show from that genre would you recommend to people?" Emphasis on undeserved hate, not love. In other words, he was not asking about which genre is overrated, although Brian seemed to take it as an opportunity to rant about people saying things are overrated (again?).
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:24 pm Reply with quote
TitanXL wrote:
Precure is a toy commercial. The problem stems form close-minded ignorant people who think 'toy commercial' makes a show automatically bad or something. They seem to forget that a lot of the 'best series evar' are toy commercials, like Evangelion, Sailor Moon, Kamen Rider W, Zeta Gundam (pretty much any mecha anime), and so forth. This is to say nothing of all the otaku anime which lives or dies by it's sales and merchandise. Complaining about 'commercials' in anime is like complaining about the ocean at the beach, it's the entire point of it's existence at the end of the day.


You have to understand the cultural context behind it. In the 80's, there was a TON of cartoons in the US that were glorified toy commercials. And they sucked. And a lot of really bad cartoons still are made solely for th purpose of pushing toys. So that's why "toy commercial" is a four-letter word to some westerners.

If a show exists to sell toys, how can I trust it to have artistic integrity?
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