Forum - View topicHarem Recommendation Thread.
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Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
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I don't think Kimikiss is a harem though. It has two love triangles. |
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getchman
 Space CowboyPosts: 9120 Location: Bedford, NH |
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good point
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13224 |
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It would be far too long. I'll just post the one show you should avoid. Even I dropped it in disgust after a few episodes: Kanokon. The protagonist is the biggest wuss ever and even when it looks like he's going to grow a spine and tell the girl to stop molesting him, he immediately gets manipulated into spanking her. In regards to childhood friends, growing up closely together can lead to the Westermarck effect in one or both parties involved. When their status as friends has been cemented for so long it takes a lot more effort to change how they view each other. It usually requires something drastic, like learning a hidden secret or developing a strange power. Having a long lost childhood friend lets the characters have a shared history while also avoiding the above problem. It usually goes that some new (and often mysterious) girl comes onto the scene and grabs the guy's attention, leaving the childhood friend in the dust. It's often the case in reality as well that something novel and exotic is preferred over something old and reliable. Later in the future that new thing loses its appeal and stability is preferred, but anime rarely goes that far. |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I do not consider Kanokon to be a harem show, even though it is listed as such in the encyclopedia. There are only two girls with a romantic interest in Kota, most of the other girls just laugh at him. There are some who appear to be interested but they always have ulterior motives and do not really care about Kota. I like Kanokon and am actually watching it now for the third time, and I have read all of the manga twice (Well, since I am watching the anime for the third time I decided to start reading the manga for the third time also). I would recommend it as a romantic comedy, but not as a harem show. Here are some harem shows that I do recommend, but I do not think that any of them avoid the tropes that the OP finds so distasteful: Girls Bravo. Has a girlfriend from another world, a childhood friend and a tsundere, and the male character suffers from severe gynophobia. It is also one of the funniest shows that I have seen. Hanaukyo Maid Team. The boy actually has a real harem of maids to serve his every need, if he wants them to. The variety of girls probably includes just about every character type. Love Hina. Most people probably know at least as much about this show as I could tell you here. I really enjoyed it and I like Naru more than many people seem to, possibly because I do not take any of it seriously. Maburaho. The magical girlfriends include a tsundere, possibly yandere, childhood friend. I give this only a mild recommendation because it has been so long since I watched it that I do not really remember much about it. Magikano. More magical girlfriends. There are no childhood friends, but there is an incestuous sister. I really enjoy this show and find it to be very funny, and the character designs for the girls suit my tastes perfectly. It might be another that I like more than most people do because I never take it seriously. Rosario + Vampire Capu2. Magical girlfriends and monster girlfriends this time. I enjoy this as much for the ecchi fanservice as for the comedy. Also has some decent action at times. Sekirei. We have super-powered girlfriends this time, though some of their powers might seem magical. There are no childhood friends, but there is a tsundere, and enough large bare breasts to satisfy most people. Even if you do not enjoy the comedy and fanservice as much as I do you still might like Sekirei as an action tournament fighting show. Yumeria. More magical (or are they super-powered?) girlfriends. There is a childhood friend, but no tsundere that I can think of. This is another that gets only a mild recommendation because I do not remember it very well, even though I have watched it at least twice. Last edited by Touma on Sun Oct 11, 2015 3:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Night fox
 Posts: 561 Location: Sweden |
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I'd also like to see a distinction between "serious" harem shows that feature actual romantic drama, and those that mostly focus on parodic fanservice. |
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Lili-Hime
 Posts: 569 |
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Urusei Yatsura. Began in 1980 well before harem became cliche and actually avoids or somehow deconstructs a lot of these cliches in spite of being so old. The main guy (Ataru) is not a blank slate but justifies the harem concept because he's an insanely pervy guy who's basically in love with every woman. Avoiding a harem cliche, not every girl in the series loves him back either. More of the women are drawn to his rival, the handsome and rich Shuutaru Mendou. A lot of common sense issues that are typically ignored in harem are actually addressed here. Ataru tries to get away from his fiancee Lum so he can be free to be with as many women as he pleases, and there's a group of nerds that tell him he's a moron for ignoring such a beautiful, bikini-clad girl. Most of the comedy stems from Ataru having no self control and everyone pretty much hating him. Even his own parents bemoan the fact they ever gave birth to him. Great stuff. I usually don't like harem but it's basically my favorite 80's show. Watch beautiful dreamer first and if you like it try the TV series
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I am going to add Mayo Chiki! to my list of recommendations.
The male character, Jiro, has gynophobia but he is not a wimp and at least tries to endure his condition so that he can interact with girls. Subaru is adorably cute both when just being a girl and when cross-dressing as a boy. Kanade is adorably sadistic as Subaru's mistress, and she can be very sexy. Does she like Jiro? Kureha is adorably violent as Jiro's little sister who uses him as a practice dummy for her martial arts training. She has a crush on Subaru and thinks that she is a boy. Usami is adorably tsundere as Kureha's friend who also has a crush on Subaru. She may be developing an interest in Jiro. Nakuru is adorably well-endowed as a slash fan-fiction writer with a glasses fetish. She is obsessed with writing about Subaru, who she thinks is a boy, and Jiro. The anime has an open ending in terms of the relationships. I have no doubt that Jiro will end up with spoiler[Subaru], but it is possible that he could go for spoiler[Kanade], or even spoiler[Usami]. I have not read the novels or manga so I do not know if he ever does make a definite decision. I first watched Mayo Chiki! subtitled and enjoyed it enough that I bought it for a second time when it was released as a dubbed Blu-ray. After listening to the dub I doubt that I will ever watch it subbed again. The dub voices and the script work very well for me. I really enjoy it. I just finished watching the dub for the second time, which is what inspired me to write this, but I recommend it either dubbed or subbed. Take your pick. |
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I am adding Cat Planet Cuties to my list of harem Recommendations.
It is comedy with a lot of nudity. Cat Planet Cuties is not extremely ecchi but Eris' first mating season is a story element, and there is some accidental boob groping. Kio, the male character, is too clueless for me. The joke is that nobody could possibly be that unaware and oblivious, but that is one part of the humor that does not really work for me. I consider that to be a minor point though and it does not really bother me because he is otherwise a decent character, for a boy. Eris is the cat-girl alien who comes to Earth as the representative of the Catians, who are the title characters. I thought that she was intelligent and sensible enough to be believable as the representative of an alien race, but females of her species can be a bit irrational when they are in heat. And, of course, she falls in love with Kio. She also has very large breasts. Manami is a rather typical tsundere childhood friend who denies her feelings for Kio. She is also a martial arts expert and gun nut who is training to be an agent for the CIA, or the Japanese equivalent, even though she is still in high school. Remember, this is a comedy. She also has large breasts, but not as big as Eris. Aoi is a girl who is hard for me to categorize. She has tiny breasts but she is not a loli character. She is also a martial artist and firearms expert with the ability to teleport weapons. She apparently has been a mercenary and assassin for years. Comedy, remember? The show also has a girls-with-guns element with Aoi and Manami. Those are the only girls in the harem, but there are many other girls, and some grown women, in the show. It seems that the entire crew of the Catian ship is female. The only time that we see a Catian male is in a very brief flashback. This is not a complaint. The story has secret conflicts and open warfare involving at least two competing government agencies, a religious cult that worships cats and thinks that Eris is a god, alien dogs, and some radical militant science fiction fanatics who want to eliminate the Catians and suppress all knowledge of them because they are not alien enough to be our first contact. Cat Planet Cuties has cameo appearances by characters from other shows, including Sacred Blacksmith, Familiar of Zero, and Kampfer (which I have never seen). I think that one entire episode is a tribute to Captain Future, which I have also not seen. I like Cat Planet Cuties a lot. I like the comedy and nudity. I also like it for the action sequences and science fiction elements. Even though the show is primarily a comedy it seemed to me that the writers put a lot of thought into the alien culture and technology. Some of the fighting scenes and space battles looked very impressive to me. I also like the songs. In addition to the opening song there are also six different ending songs, and I like all of them. One episode has an insert song that is sung by all of the girls, and Kio. It is translated for the dub and sung by the English voice actors. I think that it sounds great. |
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GeminiDS85
Posts: 391 |
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Shuffle!
What sets Shuffle! apart from countless other harem anime is that it actually delivers what it promises – a romance story revolving around one protagonist having to select one love interest out of three or more potential candidates. It does sound kind of silly that having this one component really makes a show special as the most obvious component of what constitutes a harem anime should be the foundation on which the show is built, but, the thing is, a majority of harem anime do not deliver on this promise. One of the biggest issues with a lot of harem anime is that they fall into the category of “true-route” harems. A “true-route” harem is basically any harem where the viewer knows from very early on, often times by the end of the first episode, who the main romantic interest is for the protagonist; while occasionally this formula can be effective, more often than not it destroys most of the romantic tension from the viewer’s perspective as we already know who the protagonist is going to select and, therefore, makes the harem elements of the show feel completely superfluous. The rest of harem anime fall into the category of “pure-harem” anime, which means from the viewer’s perspective there is real uncertainty over who the protagonist is going to select by the end. However, most harem anime in this category either never end up providing a concrete or even a semi-concrete resolution to the romantic melodrama or it quickly becomes a two-horse race almost immediately where the 3rd, 4th, or 5th romantic interests become irrelevant. This is where Shuffle! truly shines as a “pure-harem” anime as it actually does an excellent job of obscuring the eventual winner until later on in the show and really gives the viewer time to experience the protagonist’s dilemma of having to select one love interest out of four potential candidates. This show is actually quite infamous for the amount of rage-quits during its later episodes when it becomes apparent who the winner is, but this is a testament to how well the show presents the dilemma of trying to pick one favorite out of many suitable candidates. Besides for the structural aspects of the series, the series is a mix of comedy (some ecchi fanservice) and melodrama with bubbly music and a bright color palette for the sillier parts as well as darker hues and a more somber tone for the melodramatic bits. Character designers are also worthy of mention as they are certainly easy upon the eyes. On the negative side, there are a handful of episodes that really drag during the middle, but the show certainly makes up for it later on. If you are a fan of harem anime or just want some more familiarity with this type of show, I would recommend giving Shuffle! a try as I think it is one of the better examples of harem anime out there and you will probably enjoy the experience, that or you will rage-quit when your favorite girl doesn’t win. |
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I will never be able to watch Shuffle again because it got much to serious for my taste. I actually consider it to be a tragedy for a while near the end, though it does recover from that, and I have a very low tolerance for tragedy.
But it probably would be a good recommendation for somebody who wants a harem show that is more serious than most. I did enjoy the show and thought that it had a good ending, except for that one aspect. I do agree with the positive things that were said about it. |
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Touma
Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I was wondering if anybody could offer an opinion on OniAi or Heaven's Lost Property?
I am especially interested in OniAi right now because I can get the S.A.V.E. Blu-ray at Amazon for $14. Since I am going to be ordering some other anime I am thinking about adding that. I have read the review and the Talkback thread for the review, and I skimmed through the discussion thread here. Despite the many negative comments I am still interested in OniAi mostly because the director also did Mayo Chiki, which I really like (please see my recommendation post above this). Can anybody make a comparison between OniAi and Mayo Chiki? The lack of a dub is definitely a strike against OniAi but I have enjoyed other shows, including Mayo Chiki, without a dub. The first season of Heaven's Lost Property is $21 for the DVD/Blu-ray combo, which seems like a good deal, so I am thinking of adding it too. I am rather surprised that the show does not have a discussion thread here. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3644 |
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Sorry that this is a bit late, but I only just found this thread...
Heaven's Lost Property is a pretty funny ecchi show, so I'd recommend it if you like that type of comedy. I'd like to add the recommendations The World God Only Knows. I'm pretty sure the Anime completes the story, but I'm don't recall 100% as I read the manga first and that is what is firmly in my mind when I picture the ending. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of weren't happy with the choice in the end, but I was =) On the topic of the childhood friend, I always feel sad for them. They (almost?) never get the guy :/ |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9836 Location: Virginia |
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@Covnam
Realistically, a childhood friend has the same problem a sibling does. Since you grew up with them you see them as a person and not as an object of romance or sex. Of course anime and manga have ignored this reality with regard to siblings, but that is likely due to the taboo that doesn't apply to childhood friends. I suspect that the childhood friend is seen as the equivalent of comfortable old clothing. Comforting but not at all exciting. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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You can find the full list of recommendation threads here. |
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Vaisaga
Posts: 13224 |
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While the Westermarck effect is seen between non-relatives, it's not a 100% certainty. It's more simply a matter of being so used to something being a certain way that it takes a lot more effort to change that perspective. That person had been your friend for so many years that it's a natural as breathing. You have little reason to think of them otherwise where as a girl you've just recently met is a blank slate. |
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