Unpopular opinion on harems

[Deleted member 20302]

Looking at the entirety of this thread, your opinion is pretty popular.

In fact, across the internet, people seem to dislike it more than liking it. The moment they know its a harem, people shun it and state that it's a dealbreaker. This is only from the perspectives of an anime watcher since I don't like reading manga.

I actually wish more people like it instead, since it's so rare for someone to say they liked it, as far I've seen comments and forums such as this go.

 

[lJeDl]

Read Divine Emperor of Death

That one has a pretty good harem where the Mc is pretty loyal to Main girl, but you know... the Mc is a natural p*ssy magnet so girls go after him, to which the Mc would have actually declined... well... before he meets people who has harems, which of course can lead to jealousy which is pretty common on all humans. also the girls in the harem are actually pretty fleshed out.

Though the main girl kinda annoys me a bit with her inferiority complex which shows up basically every time even though the Mc promised he will never forget about her. but overall it's a 8.5/10 novel

 

[ForestDweller]

Read Divine Emperor of Death

That one has a pretty good harem where the Mc is pretty loyal to Main girl, but you know... the Mc is a natural p*ssy magnet so girls go after him, to which the Mc would have actually declined... well... before he meets people who has harems, which of course can lead to jealousy which is pretty common on all humans. also the girls in the harem are actually pretty fleshed out.

Though the main girl kinda annoys me a bit with her inferiority complex which shows up basically every time even though the Mc promised he will never forget about her. but overall it's a 8.5/10 novel

Oh hey, that sounds like my novel.

 

[Basiun]

This is like 6-month late reply but...
Those types of stories TYPICALLY reach a point where they just die. Death in terms of "Zzzzlow plot progression*massive harem"
You're balancing so many extra "important" characters that all need to be relevant in their own way. On top of this, you need to strike a balance where the plot progression isn't really hindered by your other genres, while still somewhat including them.

They're just bloody hard to write I guess? There ARE good stories with that genre, a typical approach that seems to work according to me takes a comedic undertone and a somewhat light-hearted approach around the genre.
Another important detail is whether "Harem" means "Adult-novel-harem" or "Hero has mostly female companions".
Leaving out probably 90% out of memory, some good examples from me would be Road to Kingdom(R), Sinful life of the emperor(R), The Legendary mechanic, 2nd return of gluttony, Summoned Again? and as I said, 90% not listed
It can work, but 90% of the novels are indeed just pure utter garbage, even worse - most of them are further ruined by the harem tag.

 

[Kenjona]

Funny enough, as the "harem" tag has changed from an actual Harem. Which was a domestic space that was reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. This private space has been traditionally understood as serving the purposes of maintaining the modesty, privilege, and seclusion of women from other men. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem

To:
A bunch of people chasing/pining after one person, in pursuit of having romance with that person.

Funny enough: In real life you can see that in Middle School on up through College and even past that at certain workspaces with a lot of one sex and one "Looker" of the opposite sex.

Mind you the chasers do not <usually> want to share the chased with others, but might end up doing so if he/she is the cheater type until caught.

For me I love the concept of Harems, but usually dump the story after a bit once it jumps to becomes a new girl of the day/week/month club.

 

[LuoirM]

I love this thread *wipe em tears*

 

[Alkareel]

I'm tired of nonsensical harems where girls thirsty for the mc just keep nonsensically adding to the group. Take Arifureta for example. I loved how it began, but felt disgusted with how girls kept getting introduced into his group. I had enough when a whole chapter consisted of nothing but dialogue between the girls fighting over him.
Now, take how the harem in A Will Eternal formed. The three girls played an integral part in the story with how the mc, Bai Xiaochun, integrated with conflicting different groups and allowed them conciliation. And all that didn't happen within 100 chapters. The three appeared in intervals within a few hundred chapters. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
I'm good with harems as long as they contribute to a good plot and story.
If they only serve to tickle one's manhood/womanhood, that's where I draw the line.
Just sharing my opinion~ I don't wanna fight please~ look at my pfp.

 

[witch_sorrowful]

I'm good with harems as long as they contribute to a good plot and story.
If the only serve to tickle one's manhood/womanhood, that's where I draw the line.

I agree with you. Although, the context of the story matters. For example, if the story is a murder mystery and suddenly the protagonist is up for some Harem action: it will more often than not alienate the readers.

However, if the story is erotica designed specifically to tickle the fancies of readers, then I think that's cool. To-Love-Ru is well-known popular manga, and 50 Shades is the well-known popular book. Is it for me? Probably not, but I don't judge the ones who wanna read it.

 

[DarkGodEM]

As part of my clickbaityness...
Most of my novels are harems LOL
But in each I play them out in a different way.