I hate harems. Well 99,9% of them, as no genre only trash. Still, it´s the prime example of self-defeating storytelling. Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei should have been the last word on all of this. The weirdly complex ending was genius. One could easily make a full series about the premise of the last chapters. A shame there was no final OVA to adapt it.

MC ends up with Best Girl™, of course. Dunno why that isn't an option.

What an easy choice this was! I hate harem 🤣

The best end to a harem is in the beginning of Harem End.

Back when I read harems, I used to just hope they'd get with SOMEONE, ANYONE because 9 times outta 10, they would end up with no one and it was the most frustrating thing. Oblivious MC's are the worst, even more so in a harem where their obliviousness is ramped up to 10.

Now I hate harems. Don't read them anymore. Bad genre, idk why I ever liked them.

I don't hate harems, but I feel that most of the time, they are done badly. I really don't care who the main character goes for as long as its not too predictable and it has good story telling.

On the other hand, I think I grew up. Some of the normal tropes in the genre disgust me now. Therefore, I read them less. I dont want a pervert MC and I really don't want some completely dense and idiotic MC.

Hah... I have a problem answering this poll because I don't hate harem series, but I don't (at all) take them seriously from a romance point of view.

So yeah, don't much care at all cuz I wasn't taking the "romance" part seriously to begin with, I read "straight" romance stories for that. Harem's are for comedy/just plain old entertainment as far as I'm concerned, if it's a series that's actually trying to seriously present romantic relationships with a harem-size group of significant others........yeah, I'm probably just gonna dump it, too far to stretch suspension of disbelief right there.

How about an option for "I hope he's bangin' everybody along with their sisters and mothers too"? I could get behind that, he'd be my hero then 😀

To me, harems are just another kind of romance. While monogamy focuses on the relationship of the two persons and their gradual build-up to love, harems(polygamy) are, to me, more about the relationship between all of them, how they balance things out and accept eachother and less on a focused, in-depth love. Usually the adventure they go through together through thick and thin tends to be the attracting force there, at least for me. It's not really about one being better than the other, like chocolate and vanilla both are nice tasting on their own.

Also, since I feel this way, I don't really like any "harems" where the MC doesn't end up with the relevant girls because that's kind of like a part of the package for me. There are also different types of harems and not all of them apply to my thoughts here. I'm more thinking of isekai harems and fantasy harems, not school life or modern day stuff where they always end up with one person.

By the way, I refuse to accept anything where the mc ends up with one girl as a "harem". The very idea of a harem is several girls getting into a properly romantic(in one way or another) relationship with the mc. For it to be a harem in my mind, the mc has to choose at least 2 girls, preferably 3 or more, otherwise it will forever be nothing but a fake harem. Just because some girls are swooning over the mc doesn't make it a harem in my mind. Hell, the "harem" thing is way too vague since people likes to call it a harem even if the girls doesn't even like the mc in that way at all as long as they're close by and accompany him for whatever reason. As soon as another girl is introduced, people scream "harem" as if 2+ girls = harem no matter what happens. I really find that to be a bit ridiculous.

Another sad thing about harems is that it's very easy to do wrong and it doesn't surprise me that so many people hate them for it.

Well, that's my two cents on the matter. 😉

in matters of the heart, people don't like to share
I like slice of life stuff so harem is pretty alien to me.
I don't pretend to have everything figured out
I wouldn't think a series would ever end, it would just rinse & repeat, a new hair style or different tragic back story

Tenchi did it right. He banged everybody, but he gave the first and arguably best girl a baby first HOWEVER not before he lost his virginity to the klutziest/funniest girl.

I first voted "ends up with no one" but unfortunately later realized that the option includes those stupid storylines where the MC "just can't choose". should have voted that I hate harems....

when I used to be able to tolerate harems, my ideal that I really wanted but never found was one where all the characters wanted the MC, but the MC didn't want any of them and thought they all needed jesus. I thought for sure I had found that in Ouran Host Club, but alas, I was naive to expect anything of that caliber from a shoujo manga.

MC ends up with everybody is my main choice for harems now.
The reason is ive gotta SO tired of the MCs choosing the lamest girls just cause they the main heroine girl. There are lot of the times The other options are way better than the main one like For:
Even if the main girl isnt the worst one there are still times where the other options are really good and i rather see them all work out than one or none.
So yea i rather it be a Tenchi Muyo Type ending where they get every girl. That way every girl gets a good ending. Plus the point of a Harem is to have a fantasy situation where you get multiple girls for yourself.

I can't think of normal harems because I don't like them and have only been reading the reverse ones for years.
The best are the ones in which MC gets the best boy (who usually is her love interest).
As for anime versions I'm open to the main girl ends up with everyone ending, .
What I will never accept are endings in which MC ends up with a side love interest because the romantic development those couples get tends to be weak. .

Honestly, I would be happy if the MC ends up with at least someone or everyone except there sister/brother/mother/father/aunts/uncles and maybe cousins just to be safe.