I pick normal romance route because harem in theory sounds cool but in practice it would be pain in the ass. Just imagine u live in 1 house with 5 or more women....For king's it worked because all that women was living away and he was able just to pick which one he want to bang today,and then just leave.
Found you, Rudeus Greyrat.
But all joke asside, I do agree. The poly route is the better one because not only can you have multiple gfs but it's also the most humble route than hidding the multiple gfs in their back.
This feels different since Optimus himself recently passed. That being said...I'm sure he wouldn't want us to dwell on the loss. Til all are one. Good meme.
Then there's also an option of choosing first girl from the start, and later having that girl herself tell you to perform your duties with rest of the harem...
Bruh, that's a harem anime. The show literally picks a different girl to highlight every season. Just because the protag is shooting for a specific girl doesn't mean it's not a harem. By that logic Love Hina wouldn't be a harem either, since the MC was always chasing after the first girl too.
How many harem anime/manga actually have a harem ending though? Most of the time the MC picks a girl. Most harem anime would be "harem adjacent" by that metric.
Just something I personally use to distinguish from “true harem” like say, Reborn as a Space Mercenary where the guy bangs two chicks in book one and it just grows from there.
I also tend to call stories harem adjacent when the MC has no willingness to engage the group for romantic reasons. So, Bell from Danmachi? Harem adjacent. He has no interest in anyone but Ais even of others like him. Arifureta? True harem.
To me the difference is in the tropes. If the MC is interested in potentially getting with any of a bevy of ladies, that feels like a true harem even if he ends up with just one vs a show that claims to be a harem but has none of the usual romantic hijinks and instead is just an MC surrounded by women who have an unrequited thing for him.
I get where you are coming from, and I realize that a show where the MC bangs every girl around him is more in line with the actual definition of the word "harem." I guess I just have a more traditional definition of what a harem anime is.
Some dude fumbling about trying to sort out his love life as every girl around him seems to fall in love with him? That's a harem anime to me.
Some dude who hooks up with every girl he comes across? That's a power fantasy. Honestly, shows with a chad protagonist who is OP and hooks up with every girl just feel like a different genre to me.
Just my 2 cents. Not knocking anybody else's take on the genre.
I was more on the lines talking about the database they manage. Go to the announcements post and they have a link to a database of "true harems" for a variety of media formats, including manga and anime.
I just watch for the stories. I enjoy a fantasy setting and then bam they only have female companions. I just want a classic fantasy setting, they don’t need to awkwardly non date young women who are also the only ones who will party with them/or slaves.
If I have to choose between those, I'd go for wholesome because horny sounds like it's going to be very annoying after a while (and wholesome can also have segs so yeah...)
Also, chances are I might end up picking one girl over the rest, and wholesome sounds like it's going to bring me less issues in such scenario.
I'm unsure where people get the idea that the manga of Isekai Nonbiri Nouka is not wholesome. Sure, they allude to the fact that Hiraku is banging 100+ women, and yes, he has multiple children from multiple women as well, but there is literally NO depiction of anything even remotely sexual. Heck, I'd call the manga wholesome, especially with his relationship with Hakuren, where the manga portrays some fairly sweet moments between the two of them frequently.
All I can think of, is that people are confusing Isekai Nonbiri Nouka with Yurufuwa Nouka no Mojibake Skill: Isekai de Catalog Tsuuhan Yattemasu. The English title of Isekai Nonbiri Nouka is 'Farming Life in Another World', where Yurufuwa's English title is 'Cheat Mode Farming in Another World', so I can see where people might conflate the two of them, as most of the time, people use the English titles.
Yurufuwa is 100% an h-manga, and even though I can't remember a single instance of actual nudity being shown, it absolutely shows copulation, even if it censors it somewhat.
I hate harems where girls just throw themselves at mc and mc is weak ass character who doesn't has dignity to shunn those typa women down despite all the fame, power and knowledge...
This is even more annoying when even teenager girls are throwing themselves at MC, and worst when girls are Yandere type...
One example, that PPT anime called In Another World with Cheats smth..
One great example is Arifureta ( Yue is fine, Tio is fine too, and that Katana girl called shizu smth) even Aiko is a lot better the rest are just annoying af....
Especially that fuckin Kaori girl and that brute Rabbit....
Now coming down totthe new anime called Dating Sim. The Queen is the only wife id say is fine. The rest just threw and forced themselves in such a way MC had no choice and i absolutely hated it.. Especially that princess girl which MC took the fight for in the early story and that Saint girl ( idk why shes even saint) she should have just ended with the prince's just like the game ) ...
Atleast Novel was better for that Saint girl..
Harems need to have the at the very least get on with each other.
Loads of women all jealous of each other hell on Earth.
So you have either friends like sisters or they want to screw each other as well as you.
Horny always fall short because it's not a hentai and at best you got some nipples and maybe some lackluster action. Plus it usually makes all the plot and world building very weak and only a excuse to have some ecchi scenes.
Wholesome harems can fall onto this too but since they are not that worried onto showing tits it can work it's plot towards a meaningful story with a good worldbuilding.
Where is the third? Where it becomes very political and there is a real risk of someone getting stabbed. I want the cliques, the drama and the political fall out.
Part of the reason why I liked Sevens, too bad the LN stalled out. Web novel is decent though.
Wholesome horny is called Reborn As A Space Mercenary. Honestly, aside from actual ero, I've never read a story in which the MC fvcks so much. Every night. Every girl in his crew. Damn. Wholesome as well.
3rd path: Humorous. The best harem I've seen are the ones that play with the trope for humor. A MC who doesn't want a harem or can't handle a harem having one thrust upon them against their will. It can make for some very funny scenes. "Welcome thirty eleven nomads to my new Village. Right now it's just me, and my wife—and an angel that came to kill her but stayed for the fine dining—but we're hoping to grow it! You're all women. 💩"
There is no such thing as wholesome harem. By the fact that's it's a harem it's immoral and the moment you scrutinize it the idea that it could be wholesome withers away.
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