Stance on Harems and what do you think make them bad? Also if you were to write a Harem, how much do you think would be the number limit of members.

[Indicterra]

I do write a harem, and will write more in the future. The number does not matter.

What makes them bad? Lack of actual drama and realistic interactions. Lack of infighting, ulterior motives, and lack of chemistry between characters. Lack of a freaking harem ending, seriously what's the point of making a harem if MC is going to choose one? Over reliance on dere types and tropes.

Ohhh I Wana try my hands on Harem, any advice?

 

[Sovrign]

I really hate that use and throw style that most new authors use. They introduce a new character, the Mc conquers and bam, done deal. And the cycle starts.

I would like it if the Harem members also developed with the Main character.

 

[SailusGebel]

Ohhh I Wana try my hands on Harem, any advice?

Don't be afraid that readers will dislike your decisions. That's the best advice I can give to you. If a harem member should leave the harem forever, you write it. If harem memebers should fight, you write it. If a harem member doesn't actually love MC, you write it. And so on.

Every other advice is situational, and depends on what you write. For example, you shouldn't rely on dere archetypes. However, if your focus more on a comedy rather than romance part, like "The 100 Girlfriends," you can use dere types to your advantage. Infighting will add realism, but if your goal is vanilla wish fulfillment, perhaps you should achieve it the other way.

 

[RiaCorvidiva]

I am fine reading about polyamorous relationships. I do not like harems. I especially do not like reading LN-style pseudoharems where there's no actual relationship development.

 

[crbrearley]

I became pretty biased in favor of female characters a long,long time ago--and so harems appeal to me provided the women in the harem are interesting and fun. Also, I'd prefer a very logical harem. Probably the best I saw in anime was Campione! where the MC was the grandson of an infamous ladies' man. So the implication was that he had the same vibe going for him. Also, because he was a Campione, Japanese mages and foreign mages were throwing pretty girls his way, hoping young hormones would then take over. I really liked the way the writer cemented the harem in both those ways and then also provided the usual reasons that the girls actually fall in love with the boys that you see in anime. You probably can't have too many good reasons for the girls since being in a harem would be pretty lousy. Unless all the girls are bisexual, which yes I do plan to do, but to be fair, my characters are immortals and I'm fairly sure just about everyone would swing both ways after a thousand years. You'd just try everything.

So my advice would be to make the boy good looking--the opposite thing Japanese LN generally do since they want the character to be "relatable." Look, if your character has magic, he or she will probably use magic and make themselves look good. Go "ugly to beautiful."

 

[QuercusMalus]

Most harem works have a painfully generic mc where it seems like if the world's population was less that 8 billion + they would struggle to find one person(man/woman/girl/boy/furry/sexbot or other) who would want them, let alone a plurality.
The next issue is a quality vs quantity. You have the other party fall in love with the mc at the drop of a hat... that may be believable once, but a second? Or seventh time? Not buying it.
So it usually comes down to bad writting-they haven't convinced me that one, yet alone multiples would want this person.

 

[CrimsonGenius]

Harem anime makes it look like the guy does not have any bros other than the women. So no I don’t like harem. He’s a loser and the girls suddenly like him because he is nice to him?

 

[QuercusMalus]

I myself would never write a harem story because I don’t think I could do a harem ending better than Rosario To Vampire.

That’s my two cents

I feel like Rosario is a well done example of an unwanted harem. Does he like them as friends? Yes. Would he take a blow/bullet/blade for them? Yes. Would he do almost anything to make them happy? Yes.
However, the only one he seems to really want is Outer-Moka. The others block and interfere with them advancing their relationship at all. He is just too wishy-washy to tell them to back off.

 

[SailusGebel]

I feel like Rosario is a well done example of an unwanted harem.

What do you mean by well done example? I'm not picking a fight, I am stupid.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I feel like Rosario is a well done example of an unwanted harem. Does he like them as friends? Yes. Would he take a blow/bullet/blade for them? Yes. Would he do almost anything to make them happy? Yes.
However, the only one he seems to really want is Outer-Moka. The others block and interfere with them advancing their relationship at all. He is just too wishy-washy to tell them to back off.

What do you mean by well done example? I'm not picking a fight, I am stupid.

That’s why it’s so good. Harem genre is notorious for first girl wins. First girl wins in this to, but first girl also dies. You get a satisfying conclusion where the mc actually picks someone, but you also get an open ended conclusion where the reader can speculate with their own biases. It’s an ending that doesn’t leave any of the romance interests scorned and bitter, but at the same time is still decisive

Author basically got to have his cake and eat it too

 

[SailusGebel]

That’s why it’s so good. Harem genre is notorious for first girl wins. First girl wins in this to, but first girl also dies. You get a satisfying conclusion where the mc actually picks someone, but you also get an open ended conclusion where the reader can speculate with their own biases. It’s an ending that doesn’t leave any of the romance interests scorned and bitter, but at the same time is still decisive

Author basically got to have his cake and eat it too

My question was, is this a really good example, or is this an example of a really good unwanted harem? There is more than one manga with unwanted harem, hence my question.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

My question was, is this a really good example, or is this an example of a really good unwanted harem? There is more than one manga with unwanted harem, hence my question.

Is unwanted harem not just harem? I think most harem stories could fall under that category so I don’t really see it any differently.

 

[SailusGebel]

Is unwanted harem not just harem? I think most harem stories could fall under that category so I don’t really see it any differently.

I don't know. It is a subgenre? If there is unwanted harem, there should be a wanted harem.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I don't know. It is a subgenre? If there is unwanted harem, there should be a wanted harem.

Yeah I’ve never heard of it. I feel like wanted harem stories are a small minority

 

[MintiLime]

I hate harems because writers don’t do them well. They end up adding more and more characters into it and neglect the ones already in the dynamic. They are often more of a trope to check out than an actual important set of relationships.

Agree, and then after a point it feels like the MC is just cheating on the older members. It’s hard to have realistic love between many characters- eventually I start feeling that the MC is just trying to start a brothel…

 

[QuercusMalus]

What do you mean by well done example? I'm not picking a fight, I am stupid.

No worries, Didn't think you were picking a fight.
Each of the female characters that compromises the harem is well done. For each of them you can understand why they are attracted to the MC.
But, well you are also shown that well the MC likes them, loves them, cares about them, the one he truly loves is Outer Moka.
You also are shown many examples, some more blatant than others, of how the presence of the other girls actually harms or hinders the progression of his relationship with Outer Moka, as well as how the other girls Sabotage each other in pursuit of his affections.
If he was less wishy-washy with them and set his boundaries, he would have gotten farther in his relationship with the girl he actually wants, and he gets called out a couple times for being indecisive.
Overall, it's a really well done story and I recommend reading it.

 

[SailusGebel]

No worries, Didn't think you were picking a fight.
Each of the female characters that compromises the harem is well done. For each of them you can understand why they are attracted to the MC.
But, well you are also shown that well the MC likes them, loves them, cares about them, the one he truly loves is Outer Moka.
You also are shown many examples, some more blatant than others, of how the presence of the other girls actually harms or hinders the progression of his relationship with Outer Moka, as well as how the other girls Sabotage each other in pursuit of his affections.
If he was less wishy-washy with them and set his boundaries, he would have gotten farther in his relationship with the girl he actually wants, and he gets called out a couple times for being indecisive.
Overall, it's a really well done story and I recommend reading it.

My question was a bit different, and you answered it with this reply. Also, I've read it.