All-Purpose Harem Fanfiction Discussion Thread

You're making the mistake of assuming that something without units is not measurable. Of course it is; it's by comparison. Are you angry? Are you more or less angry than some other time?

Hell the entire discussion has been about comparatives.

Nous restons ici.

"Comparable" doesn't always coincide with "measurable", unless you're using different definitions of the words.

O_O That was not what I meant. At all.

You're right, I really should've phrased it better.

That said, I refer you to early Muslim society for a subversion of the usual "women are property" attitude that permeated that era's many polygynous societies. And then there's this one polyandrous matriarchy somewhere in central Asia, I believe.

Already did.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Don't make the harem huge and by this I mean don't add every single female in the series. I've read too many to count Naruto fics that do this for no reason...

Negima has possibly the largest harem (albeit an unofficial one) I've seen and it only works because the girls go to class, live together, and the male lead is their teacher. They're basically stuck interacting with one another so one of the key elements to the Harem Genre is SETTING: Most harem series I've read have that the Harem either live together or they go to school together (such as in the case of Negima). Which allows for all members of the Harem to frequently interact. The larger the harem is the more difficult it is to give everyone equal focus. Even Negima suffered this.

edited 19th Jul '13 5:59:11 PM by WorldTurtle

I use Akane Tendo as my unit of measurement.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

Out of curiosity, how many of her equal a Yuno in this imaginary scale?

edited 19th Jul '13 4:37:35 PM by Crinias

I take it you're using anime!Akane in this case?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

As I recall, manga Akane was still prone to violent fits of jealousy at the slightest provocation, she just didn't do it as frequently.

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

It's Monday!

To start the week off right, can we organize a list of the various harem anime/mangas? If nothing else, it will be a starting point for discussion.

Madman with a box? I'm a madman with a semi, a pretzel bender and a Heart of Gold!

• Milky Holmes
• Hayate X Blade
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vivid
• The World God Only Knows
• Neptunia
• To Aru Kagaku No Railgun
• Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger
• My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic
• Pokemon
• Strike Witches
• Girls und Panzer

Very harem, all of them. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:22:06 AM by SCMof2814

Hayate claims members of her harem with kitties.

PM box is always open.

Magey! I am appalled that you forgot to mention Negima!

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

And Love Hina. And AI Love You. And other stuff I've heard of but not actually read/seen yet, like To Love Ru, The World God Only Knows, and Ah My Goddess. And arguably Tsukihime, Fate Stay Night, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Note my emphasis on "arguably".

On the other hand, not one of the shows he mentioned (among the ones I've seen, meaning Akibaranger and Pokemon) actually are harem. Although I will admit that Akiba Red, Nobuo Akagi, is pretty much The One Guy in his series.

-_-

edited 23rd Jul '13 9:52:46 AM by EvaUnit01

They are TOTALLY harem! You just don't understand the subtext!

So trapping six living beings in balls and making them follow your commands isn't a harem now?

PM box is always open.

Not unless there are sexual or romantic relations involved. Which there...usually aren't. I think.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

You're looking for Pokegirls, not Pokemon... unless it's a fanfic where human-pokemon relationships are not depicted as inherently abhorrent.

Fanfics exist where the human trainer gets into a romantic/sexual relationship with his/her pokemon.

edited 23rd Jul '13 5:10:09 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I'm pretty sure I'd understand more of the subtext than you, Magey, from GuP. Because I'll get more of the references. It's not a harem show; at best it's one on one.

edited 23rd Jul '13 9:02:03 PM by Night

Nous restons ici.

And these may qualify as harem fics, if the harem dynamic exists. However, Pokemon the canon, in which the possibility of such relationships is never even mentioned, really does not count as a harem show.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

Huh, I just realized. This means Hayate literally gives them pussy...

edited 23rd Jul '13 10:45:55 PM by SCMof2814

That's true. But then there's the steadfast shippers who insist on claiming that Ash has managed to unwittingly snare the hearts of Misty, May, Dawn, and every other main-girl-of-the-season, plus an increasing number of supporting females like Casey and Duplica (not saying that it's impossible, mind you; romantic subtext is there with at least some of them).

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to say this: (@Eva Unit 01) I was more concerned with the fact that as a member of Ala Iridia, Negima should've been the first thing to come to his mind when he thinks "harem show".

edited 24th Jul '13 9:04:41 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Yes, but then there's the people who ship Naruto with every girl in the series, despite the canon having, like, two romantic relationships ever even alluded to, neither of which go anywhere.

I would have to qualify a 'harem series' as being one in which, in the canon, multiple girls have romantic feelings for one guy, and this has a significant effect on the plot. (I guess something like Maoyuu might count, even though it's entirely peripheral to what's really going on; that's a bit of a fuzzy case.)

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

At least Naruto has the possibility of the protagonist and his recurring companions falling in love with another character in a "long-lasting love" sense; in Pokemon, barring the subtle and not-definite Ship Tease and Brock's Running Gag of developing an instant crush on any pretty woman he meets that doesn't make herself Obviously Evil from the get go (e.g. Jesse and Cassidy of Team Rocket), especially if it's a Nurse Joy or an Office Jenny, the only thing we'd get is the rare occasion when Ash or his female companion gets temporarily enamored by the episode's Hello Nurse / Chick Magnet (e.g. Giselle and Rudy), after which it gets completely dropped off.

edited 24th Jul '13 9:29:45 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Naruto has filler and movie girls after his ass too.

also, Rosario To Vampire is a harem turned shonen series (Rather similar to Negima, actually, but with a monthly format instead of a weekly/ Bi-weekly format) except it becomes far darker.

Watch Symphogear

Someone found where the top 50 harem "masters" was posted as voted on by Japanese online fans.

Seems suspect to me. Thoughts?

Madman with a box? I'm a madman with a semi, a pretzel bender and a Heart of Gold!

Japanese online fans are most often young and with little sense of the genre's history, so they most often will vote for what their fancy tells them is 'cool' at the time.

I'd post a retort to Night's reply to my comment last page (which I had forgotten for months, really), now I've noticed it, and on how I still think my comparison is valid, but I've decided it'd take neither of us anywhere. Let's just agree to disagree.