Harem stories are a subgenre of romance that is fairly unique to anime and manga, with the concept of a single male protagonist surrounded by numerous love interests acting as a sort of wish fulfillment for many anime fans. Harem romance anime are fairly common, and some are quite popular as well.
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While many harem anime tend to focus on the idiosyncratic personalities of the heroines,the personality of the male protagonists are also important to consider. Many times, male protagonists in harem series are portrayed as blandly as possible to make it easier for viewers to self-insert, but some series try to give the protagonists more personality.
8Kaoru Hanabishi – Ai Yori Aoshi
The illegitimate son of a head of a major corporation, Kaoru Hanabishi lives a tortured and lonely life. Exiling himself from his family after the death of his mother, Kaoru drifts aimlessly until he meets Aoi Sakuraba, his one-time fiancée. While their marriage was arranged, Aoi’s love was real, and the two decide to live together and free themselves from the obligations of their families.
However, the world isn’t that simple. While Kaoru and Aoi are allowed to live together, they must keep their relationship a secret, and their home eventually becomes a girls' dormitory that invites all kinds of girls that come to stay for various reasons. While many of these girls end up falling for Kaoru, he stays loyal to Aoi throughout the series.
7Minato Sahashi – Sekirei
A ronin who has failed his college exams twice in a row, Minato Sahashi is constantly down on his luck. His fate changes when he stumbles onto Musubi,a “Sekirei” from outer space. As an “Ashikabi,” Minato is able to unlock a Sekirei’s true power with a kiss, binding their fates together.
Minato makes a contract with six Sekirei over the course of the series, building himself a superpowered harem. Despite this, he is a caring and protective Ashikabi that wishes to protect his Sekirei as much as they wish to protect him.
6Nariyuki Yuiga – We Never Learn
Nariyuki Yuiga isan extremely studious high school studentwith a poor background. Hoping to ease the financial problems of his family, Nariyuki aims for his school’s VIP nomination so that he can go to college without worrying about tuition fees. However, things aren’t so simple. If Nariyuki wants the nomination, he’ll have to help tutor three female geniuses so they can get into their desired universities.
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As a harem anime, it doesn’t take long for the three girls to quickly fall in love with Nariyuki. A couple of other girls outside of the study group also fall for Nariyuki, but his obliviousness causes him to miss many of these signals.
5Rito Yuuki – To Love-Ru
Clumsy, shy, and in love with Haruna Sairenji, Rito Yuuki lives a rather mundane high school life that is abruptly interrupted by Lala Satalin Deviluke, an alien girl running away from an arranged marriage. After a series of misunderstandings, Lala falls in love with Rito and declares him her fiancé, turning his normal life upside down.
As Rito adjusts to his new life with Lala, he continues to interact with his fellow classmates as aliens come from outer space to interfere. Many of these characters end up falling in love with him despite hisbizarre tendency to cause perverted incidents. Considering the popularity ofTo Love-Ru, Rito is a classic example of a standard harem protagonist.
4Kogarashi Fuyuzora – Yuuna And The Haunted Hot Springs
Homeless high school exorcist Kogarashi Fuyuzora searches for a place to stay, eventually landing at the Yuragi Inn, a place that is cheap due to it being haunted by a ghost. Kogarashi plans to exorcise the ghost until he discovers its identity: a beautiful young woman named Yuuna with a kind personality. Kogarashi decides to help Yuuna clear up her regrets so that she can pass on properly rather than forcefully.
Yuuna isn’t the only one living at Yuragi Inn,as a number of girls with a variety of supernatural backgroundsend up staying at the inn as tenants. A number of them end up falling for Kogarashi due to his surprising reliability and gregarious personality.
3Futaro Uesugi – The Quintessential Quintuplets
Futaro Uesugi is friendless, poor, and incredibly academically gifted. When he is offered a job as a tutor by the rich Nakano family, he quickly accepts. However, he soon discovers that his students, a set of quintuplet sisters, are all abysmal students who have no interest in studying.
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The girls initially dislike having Futaro around and scheme constantly to kick him out of their house. However, Futaro perseveres and soon manages to win them all over to his side. Eventually, the girls start falling in love with him as well, sparking a competition between sisters to win his heart.
2Tenchi Masaki
While exploring his grandfather’s shrine, Tenchi Masaki accidentally releases the space pirate Ryoko upon the world. Her release spurs the arrival of several visitors from the planet Jurai, an officer from the Galaxy Police, and more. Chaos ensues.
Tenchi Masaki is one of the original harem protagonists,with his story having started in the 90s. TheTenchi Muyo!franchise has had a number of continuities that change little things here and there, but one thing remains the same: Tenchi’s uncanny ability to attract women of all kinds.
1Keima Katsuragi
Keima Katsuragi is a game-loving otaku who has no interest in the real worldbut doggedly pursues romance in his visual novels and dating sims. When Elsie arrives from Hell and forces him into a contract to hunt escaped spirits who have possessed young girls, Keima is forced to make his romantic strategies work on real girls this time around.
Keima is an interesting harem protagonist in that while he does gather several romantic interests, he isn’t particularly interested in pursuing them for real, only for the sake of capturing escaped spirits. In turn, most of the girls forget about their time with him after they are cured of possession, but some remember and continue to view him romantically.
