I dislike Harems though I've read an insane amount. Only one I love and have re-read many times is Love Hina. Humor in that manga is amazing, and I love the happy ending 🙂

By the way, is Negima considered a Harem? He's got...um...10 girls at his disposal? Though he can't really do anything since he IS 10 years old.

Quote from metamike

By the way, is Negima considered a Harem? He's got...um...10 girls at his disposal? Though he can't really do anything since he IS 10 years old.

Uh? For now, he did far more than your typical average harem male lead.

What I like in Trivial Pursuit style. Pick your category:[img]http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo233/Reid4891/Manga/trivia-1.jpg[/img]

Harem Manga is Teh Awesome

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The problem with harem manga or anime is that they are way too formulaic and predictable. All you have to do is look at the cast list and go by the rule of 'first girl wins'. Unless of course you want to do something unexpected and rebellious and pull a Shuffle! ending.

I don't even know why fans got disappointed when Kyou and Tomoyo got pushed aside. Mangaka/Anime studios would rather go for something people will expect rather than break the mold. I'm still waiting for a story where the leading girl almost has the guy when suddenly at the very end a new contender appears who snatches his attention and ultimately wins.

Hmm...

Quote from Wererat42

The problem with harem manga or anime is that they are way too formulaic and predictable. All you have to do is look at the cast list and go by the rule of 'first girl wins'. Unless of course you want to do something unexpected and rebellious and pull a Shuffle! ending.

I don't even know why fans got disappointed when Kyou and Tomoyo got pushed aside. Mangaka/Anime studios would rather go for something people will expect rather than break the mold. I'm still waiting for a story where the leading girl almost has the guy when suddenly at the very end a new contender appears who snatches his attention and ultimately wins.

Hmm...

That would be interesting.

But it's also why I like stuff like Kanon, Air, and School Days. Clannad is a bit odd, to say the least.

There is a lot you can do with a harem, it's just that people don't do it.

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I didn't like Love Hina and Negima!, proabably cuz I don't like that mangaka. Since I like to fangirl over boys I don't really like harems, although stuff like To-Love-Ru are fine I guess since they actually can make me laugh o_O.

Forever lurking...

Quote from Wererat42

I'm still waiting for a story where the leading girl almost has the guy when suddenly at the very end a new contender appears who snatches his attention and ultimately wins.

That almost impossible, because a mangaka will never disappoint the fans of a girl letting her lose against the first one who comes up. It could happen that a mangaka will change his/her mind during the making of the story (like Kawashita did, 'cause there were many hints in the first volumes that Aya and Manaka will get together) but not in that way.

What I like in Trivial Pursuit style. Pick your category:[img]http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo233/Reid4891/Manga/trivia-1.jpg[/img]

Harem can be predictable? Yes, so what. I have fun with it and if the girls have big breasts and asses, that is only a candy for the eyes. What really matters in this kind of manga/anime is the story. Let me tell you an example Love Hina is a great manga the story is good and the girls were all interesting, but the anime had not plot so you can only watch the girls and hope the plot will get better. Shame it didn't happen. Others Harem-like series are fun to read and to watch so never let first impressions you might find a new kind of manga/anime that will surprise you with several ways of telling you a similar story. You might say that will make it very predictable but I would like to ask how many Manga /anime was really unexpected. romantic ones revolve around the same thing, there might be twists, clever ones, but the deep plot its kinda always the same. Fighting ones are always about the lead being kind of different from the rest and striking to be the best whether he wants or not. And to finish this post all other genres have to respect some rules to be considered from this genre, they might have more space for plot twist, some interesting mythical explanation for some issues, cool never-before-seen movements, but they all revolve around the same "laws" and I will continue read/watch them and enjoy the new twist.

The cat was here,
and left the building.

i like harems a lot.

Quote from ahoaho

That would be interesting.

But it's also why I like stuff like Kanon, Air, and School Days. Clannad is a bit odd, to say the least.

There is a lot you can do with a harem, it's just that people don't do it.

what's the air manga or light novel or w/e like? cuz the anime didn't have the same feeling as kanon, school days, or clannad. didn't have that pedophile harem feeling you get despite the situation.

summertime waterfront living experience-ish for the po' folks to get a glimpse of for free. had me a grinch moment by the time it ended.

"Hip-hop was set out in the dark. They used to do it out in the park"

I'm not a huge harem fan though its usually more cause of me not really caring for the whole ecchi fanservice thing. I really don't like it when the mangaka takes time out of the story to shoot out some fan service which is rather annoying though most people here don't mind it or like it. Course me being the hypocrite I am my favorite manga is Ichigo 100% which is a harem and has its share of fan service scenes. Don't really understand why it is my favorite but meh (maybe just the feeling from the ending?)

My thoughts on School Days:
Was actually a pretty good manga and not nearly as extreme as the anime. I never played the game but was warned not to watch the anime (yeah I goofed up watchin that one). I find I didn't hate the main guy in the manga nearly as much in the anime. In thought though the manga is less of a harem and more of a love triangle where the anime turns into a full blown harem where the main guy fully exploits it and he pays for it in the end. I was still scarred for life at the end of it though more so from the anime XD.

Harems usually do have the potential to do so much but too many of them pick the first girl the main male lead runs into which leads to the predictability of the story. Being that I enjoy romance manga harem is one that I tend to run into a lot when I start rummaging through the shounen section. Unfortunately I don't have a taste for Shojou/Josei (with the exception of Mars XD) so this usually limits my choices. I do have this thing about finishing a manga though so unless it truly repels me I will finish it to the dismay of a friend of mine at times since I didn't like Double Arts and could not bring myself to keep going with it after a few chapters 😀

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i like harems when the main female character has a personality that is done right and there isn't too much ecchi (man i can't stand that 1/2 of the time)

True tears is an example of a love story done right

but for harem... its kinda hard to say

Love hina, reading it for the first time was brilliant the way it was done

Ranma 1/2--not really harem (more than that actually) was more comedy (and my favorite overall tho)

School Days i have to say i watched for kotohona (sorry for spelling) and the art i actually liked but i have to say the main character, like people said, was worse than shinji from evangelion (my favorite series) or touka from touka gettan (i watched that too) when he cheated soo badly

Ai kora is an example of a harem that is good because the main character is honest to his feelings and isn't a boy a person can walk over

negima -- an example of a HUGE harem but again with one main character attracted to the main.. and tooo much ecchi...

Ichigo 100% --a haremish that i personally hated for the ending but i have to say, too much ecchi and the guy's personality actually got stronger later on, which was a good thing cuz he actually noticed his feelings (but a little dense)

I's i liked a lot (again the ending was in my favor) and too much ecchi and stuff... but great series overall

Hayate no gotoku!-whats more to say about this>>man its awesome for its extreme comedy!--there is a harem, but the main is as usual apparent

Vampire to R ---i thought --tooo much ecchi and the plot was lacking and the main character was terrible...

Urusei yatsura--by takahashi rumiko, its a manga mostly for laughs and is quite fun as a romance because the main character isn't completely dense about his feelings, he is strong and has a will, and the main female of course completely loves him but, like everyone says, has feelings, especially jealously

---in most harems, its obvious who the main will end up with (in series like Ichigo--the author did a flip-flop with up and got us surprised) but its fun to see how the series goes and such so ya like harems, but mostly for comedy like Ranma 1/2 or hayate

for real romance--i go with love triangles ...

i love harems for the fact that they choose the first girl they see or introduce cuz that alllllllways happens with me (i tend to root for the first girl that is introduced) like i was disappointed when nayuki lost to ayu in kanon because i liked her character the most when she was introduced first

"But one day she realized her beloved boxing rejected her...The day she clearly realized she was a girl... However much she wanted it, she couldn't have it. So she had to give it up. And the fastest way to give it up is to hate it, right?"

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Quote from ahoaho

Quote from Wererat42

The problem with harem manga or anime is that they are way too formulaic and predictable. All you have to do is look at the cast list and go by the rule of 'first girl wins'. Unless of course you want to do something unexpected and rebellious and pull a Shuffle! ending.

I don't even know why fans got disappointed when Kyou and Tomoyo got pushed aside. Mangaka/Anime studios would rather go for something people will expect rather than break the mold. I'm still waiting for a story where the leading girl almost has the guy when suddenly at the very end a new contender appears who snatches his attention and ultimately wins.

Hmm...

That would be interesting.

But it's also why I like stuff like Kanon, Air, and School Days. Clannad is a bit odd, to say the least.

There is a lot you can do with a harem, it's just that people don't do it.

All those series were great and different from normal harems. You know what's weird? All of those are adaptions of visual novels. I wonder if that says anything.

Quote from reid1

Quote from Wererat42

I'm still waiting for a story where the leading girl almost has the guy when suddenly at the very end a new contender appears who snatches his attention and ultimately wins.

That almost impossible, because a mangaka will never disappoint the fans of a girl letting her lose against the first one who comes up. It could happen that a mangaka will change his/her mind during the making of the story (like Kawashita did, 'cause there were many hints in the first volumes that Aya and Manaka will get together) but not in that way.

Yep, that's basically social suicide. That, and it's moronic. The mangaka would basically create a crappy ending for the simplistic sake of going against norm. Why do such a horrible thing? Just end the manga happily so that at least half the readers are satisfied.

One where the guy switches over to a new girl later wouldn't be so bad if the story lasts long enough that it doesn't feel sudden.

In Ichigo 100% it would have been interesting if he actually did go for Satsuki Kitaouji or even Kozue Mukai if the creator made the major changes happen in say volume fifteen.