It's not the destination that's important, it's the journey. As long as the secondary heroines play their role as supporting cast well, and do not constantly outshine the main, it's all perfectly fine. It's basically the same as a plain single-target romance with more opportunities for comedy and a bit more variety in characters on screen.
Now if the secondaries are constantly played up as serious candidates and we don't see the actual heroine for long stretches of time because of this, I'd say we have a problem. Goddammit, Nisekoi.
edited 4th Nov '13 12:09:06 AM by Kayeka
Characters falling for the lead for no reason except to add to the harem is what I hate most. Feels like wish-fulfillment and typically derails characters that could have been interesting
There's nothing wrong with a little wish-fulfillment if it's done right.
Much like harem itself, I'd prefer not to make generalisations too broad about what I like. Harem doesn't sound good in concept, but harem series can tend to excel at characterisation, humorous character interactions and character dynamics almost inadvertently as part of every character being part of the story. That's when it's done right.
In short I would just look at the intent and pervasiveness of the harem elements as well as the quality of characterization.
The only series I'd shun out of hand are those that have no intention of ending at all.
edited 4th Nov '13 3:36:35 AM by UltimatelySubjective
The Crowing... caw, caw
There are plenty of good Harems out there... Steins Gate, Haruhi if you can consider it that. There are more that I can't think of off the top of my head.
But most of them 'ARE' kind of... eugh...
I've only really written one fanfic... but you can find it here http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8476612/1/After-the-Fall
Steins Gate?
@ Sabbo It's always been more about the journey for me, so yes, I do enjoy harems with a clear winner, even if you don't include series like Rosario Vampire that make good use of the "clear winner" schtick.
@ Kayeka I actually prefer Nisekoi's approach. I get to see the girls I prefer a lot more.
Honestly, harem is more enjoyable as a subgenre. It's very rare for me to like a purely romcom harem work.
Well, there's a reason that the Tenchi Muyo series are the go-to harem anime: because there (usually) isn't "a female lead." (Tenchi In Tokyo was terrible for precisely this reason.) Also, because Tenchi is a Science Fantasy anime series with Multiple Demographic Appeal.
I think balanced harems can work so long as the dynamics are made clear from the beginning and the writers are willing to make their decision and stick to it. Endless harem antics can work with a Supporting Harem because the outcome isn't in doubt and everything beyond the alpha couple is Played for Laughs and Fanservice, but a Balanced Harem really can't stand on its own unless it's building towards a conclusion (which will, unless they decide to Marry Them All, piss off the fans of every choice not picked).
Also, a Balanced Harem requires more work on the dynamics between the characters other than the leads. Mahou Sensei Negima, of course, does that despite most of the characters being in side positions anyway, but it's vital for a Balanced Harem. Infinite Stratos is kinda weak for this reason, because while there's at least three strong candidates, everything focuses on Ichika being a dumbass and several of the characters are either one-note love interests or are just straight-up unpleasant. Compare that with Tenchi, where all the characters are developed beyond cookie-cutter harem archetypes (though to be fair, this is before the harem archetypes solidified) and actually have dynamics between each other as well as with Tenchi. They're all developed characters and it shows.
No, the other one.
Infinite Stratos pretty much got everything right for a harem...except that it was put in an extremely sexist setting (more than usual for a harem series). It's just...no. I've ranted about that before, I'm not gonna do it again here. Just saying: Great harem series, very interesting setting, they shouldn't have been mixed. That's my only problem with it.
Oh, and Cecilia. Her characterization was botched.
Taller than Zim
I'd refer to Nostalgia Chick's comment about boy bands: It's about picking a side. About competition.
It's about choosing the girl you want to win and rooting for her.
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent
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A good portion of harems seem to either go with a designated winner (i.e. you know who it is all along), or some form of Marry Them All, so I'm not sure that is really the case. I'm with Duck here. I think it's more about having a bunch of highly varied characters and having a way to keep them all together.
edited 14th Nov '13 3:33:27 AM by kiukiuclk
Taller than Zim
I'm not talking about from inside the story, I'm talking about from the audience's POV. Any discussion of a harem show inevitably dissolves into a discussion of the "best girl" (even if there is no ending, a designated winner, or an actual harem ending)
No, the other one.
Why would you use the word dissolve for that?
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Maybe he meant 'devolves'?
No, the other one.
Yeah, but "intelligent designs into" is just awkward to say. 
I had been thinking about it, and I noticed that I like series in which there is only one candidate (so therefore not aharem, but that's not my point), and I like Balanced Harem series (so long as they have a decent ending), but it's harder to be so general about the other option. Thusly, I was wondering whether there was anybody here who actually likes the sort of series where there's a harem despite it being obvious from the start who's going to win.