Saturday, August 7, 2010

Harem vs Reverse Harem

First of all, let me tell you what I mean when I say "harem" and "reverse harem" because different people seem to have varying definitions of these two terms which are frequently used in the world of anime and manga.

Harem - is a subgenre of anime and manga characterized by one male protagonist surrounded by three or more women who at one point or other start to develop feelings of love for him. The love may or may not be reciprocated as long as the element of romance or sexual tension is there. Animes I've seen that I would classify as harem are Clannad and Kanon.

Reverse harem - is the reverse of a harem in the sense of there being one female protagonist surrounded by three of more men who at one point or other start to develop feelings of love for her. And just like in a harem, all that's needed is a hint of romance or sexual tension between the guys and the girl. Animes I've seen that I would classify as reverse harem are Ouran High School Host Club, The Story of Saiunkoku, and Fushigi Yuugi.

Personally, I like reverse harems better than harems mainly because I like my anime and manga with lots of hot guys in it. And I find the notion of three or more guys fighting over the same girl quite exciting and romantic. On the other hand, I hate watching anime with lots of stupid, frivolous-minded girls fawning over one guy. In the case of Clannad and Kanon, however, I was able to tolerate the girls because the main male characters are hot anime guys.

In conclusion, there is really no contest between harems and reverse harems in my book. I would choose a reverse harem any day simply because there are more hot anime guys in it. Hehe... ;)

8 comments:

  1. I also like reverse harem where the female lead is strong or calm.

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  2. Hi, Kencana. So you probably like Ouran High School Host Club, huh? :) Me, too! :D Haruhi Fujioka sure is strong and calm. :)

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  3. i suggest la corda d'oro primmo passo for hot anime guys and reverse harem. :)

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  4. I've been wanting to watch La Corda D'Oro but haven't been able to find an English dub. I don't think it even has an English dub at the moment. But I will definitely watch that sometime, thanks. :)

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  5. For reverse harem anime .. My favorites are definitely Ouran High School Host Club and The Wall Flower/Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. I love the female characters from both. Haruhi Fujioka (OHSHC) and Sunako (The Wallflower). They are strong, calm, kind warmhearted but yet seemingly apathetic and both can be funny as well. Most important is that they are not whiny annoying selfish weak damsel in distress brats .. I am not a fan of this kind of female lead characters

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  6. Amen! I especially hate stupid whiny female characters. They're so annoying. I like strong spunky girls like Haruhi Fujioka and Makoto Konno (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time 2006). :)

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  7. HECK YES to spunky/smart and HECK NO to stupid/bothersome whiny female characters. They are super annoying! I haven't seen The Girl Who Leapt Through Time yet.. If the female protagonist is similar to Haruhi Fujioka, I will definitely like her. I will check it out for sure. Thanks for the info :)

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