Harem Genre: Difference between revisions

'''Harem''' is a genre/plot frame that is mostly present in the Japanese media of Anime, Manga, [[Light Novels]], [[Visual Novel|Visual Novels]]s, and [[Video Games]].

It normally takes place in a [[High School]] setting, with one male lead, and at least three, often a lot more girls, who are romantically interested in him. ( [[Gender Inverted Example|Gender Inverted Examples]]s also [[Reverse Harem|exist]]). Usually, each girl personifies a single classic characterization archetype.

Works where a [['''Harem Genre]]''' set-up is put in front of other relationship dynamics, and the plot is written with the intention to keep the "race" for the male protagonist's heart as tied as possible, are known as the [[Balanced Harem]] subgenre. If it is reversed it is known as [[Cast Full of Pretty Boys]].

== '''Common character types for the [[Harem]] members: =='''

* ''[[ShuffleSHUFFLE!]]!'' sets up a contest of sorts for the lead's heart. There's remarkably little hostility between the competitors.

* ''[[To Love Ru (Manga)|To Love LOVE-Ru]]''

* [[Dating Sim]] ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'', as it can't fit in [[Visual Novel]] catagorycategory because you actually need to build stats and managing dates on multiple girls at times to get one of [[Loads and Loads of Characters|loads and loads of girls]] without angering the rest and ruin your game.

* ''[[Code Geass]]'': It seems like everyone in the series is in love with Lelouch. In the first season, Lelouch/Zero accumulates a rather large group of girls who have feelings for him, including [[Mysterious Waif|C.C.]], [[Tsundere|Kallen]], [[Naive Everygirl|Shirley]], [[Cool Big Sis|Milly]], [[Genki Girl|Kaguya]], and even his half-sister [[Rebellious Princess|Euphemia]]. He just doesn't do anything about it, since for the most part he's too busy trying to overthrow the government [[Celibate Hero|to pursue romance]]. The staff has said that the second season will deal more with his romantic entanglements (and note that all this is ignoring the [[Brother -Sister Incest]] and [[Ho Yay]]-slash-[[Foe Yay]] ships with Nunnally and Suzaku, respectively, and a combination of both those tropes (though a downplayed one that doesn't get as much focus) with Schneizel, who refers to Lelouch as the "one he loved and feared the most").

** The second season seems to poke fun at this; as a result of his [[Ninja Maid]] running around in a [[Latex Perfection|Lelouch disguise]] and being generally nicer, Lelouch ends up scheduled to go on dates with no less than ''[[One Hundred and Eight108]]'' girls. And there's Kaguya fantasizing about a [[Tenchi Solution]]...

* [[Infinite Stratos (Light Novel)|Infinite Stratos]]: Slight variance on it in that there's some [[Powered Armor]] that only girls can use, but for some reason, one guy is able to use it as well, and they promptly put him in the all girls school to learn how to use those things. Naturally, being the only guy in an all girl school...note that it was played up in the anime. In the light novels, its just a few harem elements here and there, but in the anime its a standard harem series with a [[Powered Armor]] twist.

* ''[[Kämpfer (Light Novel)|Kämpfer]]'': Here the main guy turns into a girl thanks to a magical [[MacGuffin]]. Who's probably hotter than the rest of the main girls. Like [[Infinite Stratos]], above, the anime is a much more traditional harem series than the original novels.

* ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', a strange combination of the guy being [[Chaste Hero|even more clueless than usual]] and the girls mostly being knowledgeable about and completely alright with competing for his affection between them. Several of them actually work very hard to get one of the other girls to win!

* ''[[Asobi Nini Iku Yo (Light Novel)yo!|Asobi Ni Iku Yo]]''.

* [[Riviera: theThe Promised Land]] pits you with [[Four -Girl Ensemble|4 girls,]] each with their own ending, and the game provides another special ending [[Guide Dang It|that's really hard to get.]] Since this is a linear RPG, romance paths aren't really obvious.

* [[RPG Shooter Starwish]] is [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|a hybrid RPG shooter]] where the harem consists of 4 girls {{spoiler|(not a [[Four -Girl Ensemble]] since only 3 are available at a time)}} and [[Heterosexual Life Partners|2 guys]], with a special ending if you can get all of the individual endings (and another one - featuring a fifth girl who was not previously in the story {{spoiler|except for a few lines at the beginning, which the protagonist assumed was [[All Just a Dream]]}} - if you don't).

* [[Ar Tonelicotonelico]] series is a RPG hybrid with [[Visual Novel]] element in the form of Cosmos Sphere, focusing on romance developments between [[The Hero]] and two (later three) heroines. [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] Cocona not included.

* In ''[[Bully (Videovideo Gamegame)|Bully]]'', the main character amasses himself a nice harem.

* ''[[Agarest Senki (Video Game)|Agarest Senki]]'' requires you to pick one girl out of three in each generation after you've spent some time with them. The system works similarly to [[Phantasy Star III]]'s syetem. Rex, the final hero, however, can end up with one of ''any'' girl you've gotten in your party so far of the maximum number of ''nine'' in the [[Golden Ending]].

* In [[The Bible (Literature)|the Book of Genesis]], Jacob agrees to work for 7 years in order to marry Rachel but on the night they are supposed to consummate the union, Rachel's father Laban sends his older daughter Leah instead. Jacob "knows" Leah and therefore has to work for another 7 years in order to marry Rachel. After Leah knocks out 4 kids, Rachel becomes jealous because she has yet to become pregnant and offers her slave-girl Bilhah to be impregnated instead. She knocks out another 2 kids. Now Leah becomes jealous and offers her slave-girl Zilpah to Jacob as well. She knocks out two more kids. Then Leah's oldest son Reuben gives his mom some flowers, which Rachel sees and demands Leah give some to her as well. So they make a deal where Leah gives Rachel some of the flowers in exchange for a night with Jacob. Leah then has another 3 kids. Finally, after all this, Rachel gets pregnant and has a son.

== [[Playing Withwith a Trope|Subverted genre]] ==

* ''[[School Days (Visual Novel)|School Days]]'' is known for being one of the most brutal [[Deconstruction|deconstructionsdeconstruction]]s this trope has ever known, especially in the anime and several endings of the visual novel. It seems like your average harem series at first, where the main character has an [[Ojou]] (Kotonoha), a [[Shorttank]] (Sekai), an [[Alpha Bitch]] who doubles as the [[Patient Childhood Love Interest]] (Otome), a [[Girl Next Door]] with [[Anime Hair]] (Hikari), and the [[Alpha Bitch]]'s [[Girl Posse]] (Natsumi, Kumi and Minami) after him. Makoto, however, has become known as one of the biggest jerks of any male lead in the history of [[Harem]] stories, starting off more or less okay but soon beginning to screw any girl he can get and, unlike most of the above anime and mangas, we see [[It Got Worse|the realistic consequences of this situation happening]]. [[Serial Escalation|And then go beyond it.]]

* This genre also exists among modern Chinese [[Live Action TV]], but is certainly [[Deconstructed]] and [[Played for Drama]] -- those—those shows centers on the harem members, [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|backstabbing each other]] to vye the monarch.

* The webcomic ''[[Ow My Sanity (Webcomic)|Ow, My Sanity]]'' has one made entirely of [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s.

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