[anime] what are your thoughts on the harem genre

[Achaman]

not sure about starting this thread but oh well..

so i just finished watching the To LOVE-Ru first season and started the ova series right after it but after getting a bit distracted i decided to check the wiki for this and that and basically spoil the latest episode to the point where it "could" endup with an actual harem ending over the ending most anime in the harem genre seem to end with which is main character plus true love rather than every girl shown/introduced.. which after thinking about it even with the lack of true harem endings i kinda prefer the only one girl over multiple girl ending as i guess id imagine it to be a chore rather than something exciting (?) but anyway

[Gracin]

I personally enjoy harem and ecchi anime more than any other genre. I prefer them because they tend to have the funniest bits of comedy, and I find it amusing to watch the male lead constantly get chased after, or abused by all the girls that become infatuated with him.

[Trubo]

Easy money for the publishers.

[Radio]

I like heaps of anime with harems included but the harem/ecchi genre itself doesn't appeal to me much. Basically I prefer if the anime has substance beyond the harem factor.

[Arewn]

I've watched and enjoyed plenty of anime that have "harem" as a genre, but generally find the harem aspect to be the weakest part. I guess their strong point is variety? you get to see a bunch of different scenarios with different potential romantic interests for the protag. I think I prefer it when there's simply multiple couples in the series though.
It makes the anime appeal to a wider audience though, since you can basically "cheer for" or "follow" which ever coupling you prefer for the protagonist.

[Shinzai]

99% of harem anime is absolutely shit. There are a few gems hidden away, though they're mostly derived from Visual Novels, where even though a Harem exists, the focus is normally on 1 girl after the standard route is over. The worst offenders of the harem genre are the ones where even a vague plot gets eschewed in favour of having the girls fawn over and accidentally get into R-15 situations with the main character that no one likes anyway.

[Gallahadd]

It's an abomination that must be stopped, it gives Anime a bad name and confirms all the worst fears non-Anime fans have about Anime.

I know it's a fairly popular genre, but for the life of me I can't see why.

[Revik]

Haren animes are a guilty pleasure of mine. While I will agree that the story in most of these are thin to almost damn near invisible there are some that aren't bad. I find it interesting people coming up with crazy ideas on how the situation such as these come to be. The better ones are how believable those situations are.

Some harem animes that I've liked:
Clannad and Clannad:After Story
El Hazard
Highschool of the Dead
Sekirei
Oh My Goddess!!
Ouran Host Club
Fuushigi Yuugi

[Digglett]

It can be done really well or done so fucking poorly. Monogatari would be an example of harem done more than right.

I typically don't really get into harem that much.

[Achaman]

Haren animes are a guilty pleasure of mine. While I will agree that the story in most of these are thin to almost damn near invisible there are some that aren't bad. I find it interesting people coming up with crazy ideas on how the situation such as these come to be. The better ones are how believable those situations are.

Some harem animes that I've liked:
Clannad and Clannad:After Story
El Hazard
Highschool of the Dead
Sekirei
Oh My Goddess!!
Ouran Host Club
Fuushigi Yuugi

i watched love hina, ah my goddess (and a possibly lesser known anime called Nyaruko) before To LOVE-Ru and i can see some similiarities between them all infact i get deja vu alot of the time while watching To LOVE-Ru

- - - Updated - - -

It can be done really well or done so fucking poorly. Monogatari would be an example of harem done more than right.

I typically don't really get into harem that much.

i tried watching nicegatari or w.e but didnt like the artstyle so i didnt even finish the first episode

[Radio]

Some harem animes that I've liked:
Clannad and Clannad:After Story

B-but Clannad isn't even a harem. o_o

[Sam the Wiser]

To Love-Ru sure knows how to make money. The series and manga have tons of wish fulfillment done tastefully. However, must shows can't pull this off. Most recent example is Black Bullet loli-harm failure.

[Deleted]

To Love-Ru sure knows how to make money. The series and manga have tons of wish fulfillment done tastefully. However, must shows can't pull this off. Most recent example is Black Bullet loli-harm failure.

"tasteful", uwotm8?
http://i.imgur.com/4wNqZyd.gif
http://www.suyongso.com/files/attach...b2e6abb810.gif
http://i99.beon.ru/25.media.tumblr.c...hkjdo3_500.gif
http://animemania.hu/wp-content/uplo...mjjzo1_500.gif
http://s.cyrill.lilect.net/uploader/...1825330000.gif

Linked for rather obvious reasons. Now To Love Ru is technically ecchi so it can get away with this but it's a pretty bad example (it's accurate, but still bad) of harem genre.

[NuLogic]

They are my guilty pleasure. I can already see my two favorite loli's.

[CasCrow]

Harem makes me sad. Not only will I never have a cute girl after me but I certainly won't have 3-12 after me.

[dontknowdoya]

Voluptuous women running around in skimpy outfits fighting monsters of various types... Yep sounds fine to me...

Honestly though, I will go for just about any kind of anime. Cowboy Bebop being at the top of the list.

[Sam the Wiser]

"tasteful", uwotm8?
http://i.imgur.com/4wNqZyd.gif
http://www.suyongso.com/files/attach...b2e6abb810.gif
http://i99.beon.ru/25.media.tumblr.c...hkjdo3_500.gif
http://animemania.hu/wp-content/uplo...mjjzo1_500.gif
http://s.cyrill.lilect.net/uploader/...1825330000.gif

Linked for rather obvious reasons. Now To Love Ru is technically ecchi so it can get away with this but it's a pretty bad example (it's accurate, but still bad) of harem genre.

You're telling me that popsicle isn't tasteful? I have the WebM of this scene, but I don't think that will work on here. I've gotten people to watch TLR just off this scene alone.

[Deleted]

I like harem anime for the most part, though it always gets on my nerves when there's never a proper ending. If the main protagonist doesn't pick a girl or there isn't a proper harem ending, it just makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time.

It's kinda hard to escape harems nowadays. Most shows that aren't even based around romance tend to have some kind of harem aspect, ala Black Bullet. That being said, I don't mind it, in fact I often prefer it when the harem is just the side story rather than the main focus. Though I can understand it being annoying to some.

[Deleted]

You're telling me that popsicle isn't tasteful? I have the WebM of this scene, but I don't think that will work on here. I've gotten people to watch TLR just off this scene alone.

I mean it probably tastes wonderful but that scene is far from tasteful. Ecchi harems have never done tasteful.

[mercychan]

If the plot sucks then I just can't bother myself to watch it. But Slice of Life has a gigantic audience. It's true - people like animes where there is little to no plot and the bra size is the only sense of character development.

Cage of Eden (manga) was a giant harem and it had a really good plot IMO.
Brynhildar (I think that's how you spell it) is a borderline harem and I'm enjoying it.

"Harem" as at category doesn't really mean anything, I consider it a subcategory to other genres.