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The List - 7 Harem Anime Where All the Choices Are Insane


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MrTerrorist



Joined: 20 Oct 2010
Posts: 1348
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 11:20 am Reply with quote
A clarification. The Mental Models of Arpeggio of Blue Steel are not personifications of famous WW2 ships but mysterious AIs who controlled technologically advanced ships that look and are based on WW2 ships who later created Mental Models, human Avatars, to overcome their lack of creative thinking when they first fought with humanity which later gave them their own personalities. Furthermore, except for Takao, none of the mentals models of the Blue Steel fleet are romantically interested with Gunzo.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2153
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 11:24 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The new poll: Which anime hot springs episode is your favorite?

Wasn't this a month ago?
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 11:30 am Reply with quote
As for Tenchi, it's only in date-sim based rom-coms that a character is presumably OBLIGATED to choose one over risking the jealousy of the other--
Tenchi is a nice guy about it (even though our early 90's frustration thought he was supposed to choose one, and we called him a "dim spud" for not getting around to it after three series), maybe too nice, and he affectionately thinks of them as family, but in the end he's constantly scared off by the collateral damage caused by his main two prospects over him.

That's the main central point of Tenchi in Tokyo--for those who got more than three or four episodes in--that Tenchi does finally find a seemingly "normal" (but more on that later...) average smitten non-violent girlfriend his own age at school, and, as per the villain's plot, drifts away from his insanity at home.
In the episode where the gang follows him to his school-festival date and causes chaos, when Tenchi finally snaps and shouts at them to "Go home!" , they're shocked, and well, we're shocked--He wouldn't, like, do that! Shocked
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2855
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 11:59 am Reply with quote
the higurashi exceprt is wrong, it's giving the doll what triggers the murderous intent.

spoiler[
since seeing "mion" all exceited over receiving a gift from the boy she likes triggers "shion"'s jeaulosy over the fact that her beloved is gone and she can't feel like that.
]
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 12:01 pm Reply with quote
Nice to see the runner-up of the topic poll get a column too, though it would be a waste to just use one.

Just when I thought the male oriented harems were a bit weak compared to the reverse-harem entries (aside from Higurashi which is more horror than harem, but arguably the latter) I read that the Girls Bravo protag was forced to fondle a girl at gunpoint Shocked Yeah that is in the same ballpark of crazy as the reverse harems.

The currently airing Armed Girls Machiavellism seems like a good candidate for this topic. He has to fight all the girls, the leaders of whom are armed with swords, who subsequently join his harem, while still trying to violently "correct" him. It's practically an all tsundere harem, with a little yandere mixed in. One of the leaders, Satori, who constantly has a wide eyed stare on her face and speaks very deliberately, seems to have a few screws loose. She was unfazed fighting the protag buck naked, less out of anger than deliberate strategy. I can't hold it against the writer for not including it though.
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Northlander



Joined: 10 Feb 2009
Posts: 900
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 12:11 pm Reply with quote
MrTerrorist wrote:
A clarification. The Mental Models of Arpeggio of Blue Steel are not personifications of famous WW2 ships but mysterious AIs who controlled technologically advanced ships that look and are based on WW2 ships who later created Mental Models, human Avatars, to overcome their lack of creative thinking when they first fought with humanity which later gave them their own personalities. Furthermore, except for Takao, none of the mentals models of the Blue Steel fleet are romantically interested with Gunzo.

I think their "real" forms are those weird... balloon(animal)-ish shapes that you see with at least that one who was put into a teddy bear for the sake of little genius girl Makie. The ships and the human bodies they sort of materialized from there. (The show isn't being very clear on how that works. ^^;; )

Anyway, not sure why that show was on the list, as the girls were more like a variety of otaku-affectionate types in a millitary setting of sorts instead of outright psychotic.

Girls Bravo, though.... urhg! Also, I watched this little something called "Da Capo III" -- which I would replace Arpeggio with if I had any say in it (which I don't; I know) -- wherein almost all of the girls were... less than admirable, the only positive thing you could say being that they were at least not violent. Controlling and possessive, sure, but never in a physical way. I think.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 12:13 pm Reply with quote
Let's not forget Sister Princess as well there was Harem that had no winner
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CrownKlown



Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 1762
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 12:17 pm Reply with quote
What about fruits of Grisa? Its about a guy going to a school with a bunch of damaged girls, all of who have major issues.


Or how do you not have school days? You know the one where the guy gets killed. Nobody in this show was normal.

Aki sora is another one, where its debatable about being a harem, but the MC has odd relationship with 2 blood related sister, and sleeps with the lesbian lover of his sister. Everyone is nuts here.

And if you are going to put on Tenchi, which I honestly dont think makes sense I would replace it with Shuffle. Kaede, Sia, Neerin, and Primula all have major issues, and thats before throwing characters from all the sequels.

Also if we were including manga, I think there is one harem that takes the crown, I forgot its name right now, but its about a guy whose harem includes - a serial killer childhood friend, another one who is a yandere to the point she booby traps him 24/7 and stalks him all the time, a masochist who wants him to physically beat her, and I guess the two normal ones are a vampire and a girl who sleeps due to a condition.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4064
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Parsifal24 wrote:
Let's not forget Sister Princess as well there was Harem that had no winner


Funny story... it's based on a game where the girl you get to know "the best" turns out not to be blood related. So... logically... yeah, the game has no sisters while the anime has nothing but.

My own picks:

Where's Oreimo? That really should be here at number one. Look, the best girl thinks spoiler[the guy is better off with his sister than remaining her boyfriend.] How is that not insane?

Heaven's Lost Property but only once you learn the whole story. It's just not a healthy world, you see...

School Rumble... I'll try to explain it. The first OVA has new animation made to its ending theme, showing a reverse harem for each of the main girls and "just Harima" for Yakumo. These are the guys they're interested in, right, but apart from Makoto and Hanai... and Harima and [blank], of course... most of the possible pairings enter the realm of impossibility.

Especially Tenma... she just has no taste in men. And then there's Harima's harem. Tenma, Eri, the nurse Tae, Yakumo... and his male homeroom teacher. Have to list him, he's the only one Harima takes out on dates...

No wonder the franchise never had any romantic resolution.

Tenchi Muyo? Sasami/Tsunami. It's weird... plus there's some waiting involved... but not insane. Also, that Kiyone doesn't exist, she's just a figment of Mihoshi's imagination.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4367
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 1:47 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Parsifal24 wrote:
Let's not forget Sister Princess as well there was Harem that had no winner


Funny story... it's based on a game where the girl you get to know "the best" turns out not to be blood related. So... logically... yeah, the game has no sisters while the anime has nothing but.

My own picks:

Where's Oreimo? That really should be here at number one. Look, the best girl thinks spoiler[the guy is better off with his sister than remaining her boyfriend.] How is that not insane?

Heaven's Lost Property but only once you learn the whole story. It's just not a healthy world, you see...



not all of them. shuffle for one did have the MC make a choice and actually choosing one person. of course then the fans of the ero series complained and the result was the shuffle memories OVA sequel where he goes the poly route ala GXP's ending.

also no one should be surprised oreimo isnt on this list cause its technically not a harem series. though if you really want a series that should have been on this list, then negima definitely is one cause to be frank, the choices the MC after the tournament arc is completely insane. not to mention on who he chooses.


Last edited by jr240483 on Sat May 27, 2017 3:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Takkun4343



Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 1491
Location: Englewood, Ohio
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 1:50 pm Reply with quote
Infinite Stratos, full stop. None of Ichika's main love interests are the right choice because not only are they extremely jealous types, but they all try to murder Ichika on a near-regular basis, sometimes for no reason at all.

Hence why I don't think Ichika is as dense as everyone else claims he is, and why I think Kanzashi is best girl.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 3:01 pm Reply with quote
CrownKlown wrote:
Or how do you not have school days? You know the one where the guy gets killed. Nobody in this show was normal.

That was my initial thought, but then I remembered that the main character is an INCREDIBLY, MASSIVE douche canoe who earned his ending there, so I can't really blame the girls. Heck, you could argue that any one of them would be an "ok" choice if he went with just ONE instead of being a philandering ass.
Animegomaniac wrote:
Where's Oreimo? That really should be here at number one. Look, the best girl thinks spoiler[the guy is better off with his sister than remaining her boyfriend.] How is that not insane?

That's weird phrasing for spoiler[beats the crap out of his sister]. Razz
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slau783



Joined: 04 Feb 2004
Posts: 40
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 3:30 pm Reply with quote
I find it weird to see Arppegio of Blue Steel in this. It's not really a harem, not even romance. Takao is the only one who shows any romantic interest in the main guy. Sasami is a relatively normal choice for Tenchi, she's definitely not insane. Just have to wait a bit so she grows up, but that is acceptable.

I second adding Busou Shoujo (Armed Girls) Machiavellism as it is current and they are all pretty nuts. Also from this season, Renai Bouken (Love Tyrant) fits the bill for this list pretty well. People have brought up some other real good ones that fit like School Days and Grisaia. Others mentioned like Infinite Stratos (Charlotte Dunois), Shuffle (Shigure Asa), and Oreimo (Tamura Manami), all have at least one character I would consider normal. What is normal is subjective though so I can't really say they shouldn't be on this list.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4367
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 3:43 pm Reply with quote
Takkun4343 wrote:
Infinite Stratos, full stop. None of Ichika's main love interests are the right choice because not only are they extremely jealous types, but they all try to murder Ichika on a near-regular basis, sometimes for no reason at all.

Hence why I don't think Ichika is as dense as everyone else claims he is, and why I think Kanzashi is best girl.


i was thinking about that same thing as well. i mean touma kamajo is dense, but ichika is either have to be the most girl phobic boy ever or he's pretending to be that dense because 1) he clearly have a thing for his older blood related sister chifuyu , 2) he blames himself for what happened to her in the 2nd mondo groso, or 3) doesnt want to be put in a situation where he have to be with a girl and disappointing the others (ala rin from shuffle!). in some ways , he kinda reminds me of ayato amagiri from the asterisk war. the only difference is that the girls in his harem arent the psychotic jealous types. even if it ends up turning out after all that he does have a thing for his older blood related sister haruka, just like with ichika.

at least there is one thing for sure. thank god ichika and ayato is NOT like makoto ito from school days whose probably both the most hated & the most despised MC EVER in any harem series!!! hell even touma let alone tenchi , his brother kenchi and seina yamada will never do to the girls in their lives what that bastard did to his.
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gridsleep





PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 5:19 pm Reply with quote
What about Sasami? She is the most sensible, cheerful, and capable of all of Tenchi's girls. She cooks, cleans, sings, and holds hair out of the toilet. In another five or six years she would be the perfect girlfriend, able to love and help Tenchi in any way while not putting up with any BS all the while making it look as if she is not not putting up with any BS if you see what I mean. The perfect partner in life. I always thought Tenchi would end up with Sasami in the end.
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