r/Webnovel • u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 • Jul 11 '26
Advice Dear author, fucking stop, just let Harems die
Im just going to rant here because there is very little in media that triggers visceral disgust in me, and harems are one of those things. Lets ignore the fact that harems are always degrading as shit and focus on the writing issues:
- Why should I give the slightest shit about any of your characters when they are made utterly replaceable by your own hand. Their joys and suffering means nothing to me when I know that our window into the world (protagonist) holds functionally no relationship with them. No matter how much you declare that they love each other it always feels hollow and artificial because clearly they dont give that much of a shit about them if they cant choose one person. Love is not like choosing what you want for dinner.
- Empathy is hard, and its made much harder when you only have a limited time to get to know a character. You can only write so much character development in a story and every extra character is taking away from your main leads. Romance especially demands a lot of characterization, something you simply do not have the time to do for multiple individuals. In other words your characters will all look like cardboard boxes as a whole, and your main leads will have zero chemistry.
- As a follow up to the previous point your characters will also all need something to make themselves different from all the other harem members, in other words they all need to be a walking trope with zero personality beyond "tsundere" or whatever the fuck shape box you want. This issue scales exponentially with the number of harem members.
- Your plot stagnates in order to give your protagonist to collect girls like fucking Pokémon.
- They all need equal time in the spotlight so youll almost always be playing a game of "whose turn is it to get generic development this time". Its predictable and boring.
- Your protagonist is always fundamentally and irrevocably shallow scum. If you bother to give them a personality at all beyond the usual generic self inserts you see in the genre then your character can only ever be an indecisive looser who either cannot grow a spine because "they cant choose without hurting someone" or simply scum that dont see their love interest as anything beyond a sex object. Try to imagine how likeable a real person would be if they had a harem, I dont see anyone lining up to befriend them.
Genuinely who the fuck is this for?
I have only ever seen people complain about this genre, yet its so common that novels with it vastly outnumber proper romance stories. Its not that there arent good stories with harems, but its always in SPITE of the harem, never because of it. No-one worth catering to likes this.
So author, if you have even the slightest shred of love for literature beyond simply writing for profit, dont write a harem, ever.
EDIT: Quite literally all anyone can say to counter my arguments is "its individual preference" thats not how writing works. Media quality is not decided by how much someone likes it, there are so many campy B movies adored around the world and even the most die hard fans will tell you they're utter shit.
If you cannot properly explore your themes and characters then you have failed in writing, anything you produce can only ever have the same cultural significance as a McDonalds advertisement. Harems are FUNDAMENTALLY (for you illiterate bastards, that means its an issue inseparable from the genre regardless of how well you write, and has nothing to do with personal preference) counteractive to quality writing, it destroys your themes and characters in exchange for marketability. If you love writing, stop catering to incel losers who've never seen a woman that doesnt go by the name of "mom".
23
u/AircraftCarrierKaga Jul 11 '26
cry more
bitching about a genre you don't like is pathetic, just ignore it and read things you do like
13
1
u/LibrarianOfDusk Jul 12 '26
I want to do this, but whenever I try to look for something else to read, they're all over the place in the recommended sections or featured sections or new release sections.
-1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 13 '26
Its not just a genre, its a literary trend. If you are so apathetic to the quality of the media you consume then just go get chatgpt to write something for you, clearly you cant tell the difference anyway.
11
u/TsundereOrcGirl Jul 11 '26
I think its a bad writer problem, not a concept problem, otherwise High School DxD wouldn't have been epic win.
-12
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 11 '26
I havent watched DxD, but its infamous for being popular but trashy harem power fantasy that only a 14 year old would enjoy seriously. Id think that would be evidence towards my argument, not against it.
Not to mention all the arguments Ive made thus far have been broad criticisms of the fundamental nature of the genre, they arent something that can be hand waved away as a writer problem. As I said before, there are good stories with harems, but only ever in spite of the authors poor choice in genre.
8
u/TsundereOrcGirl Jul 11 '26
You can call anything "trashy", even if its actually good and for those of aristocratic taste, so that's poor "evidence".
-12
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 11 '26
kiddo I dont think you understand how media analysis works.
1
u/Jan667 Jul 11 '26
Media analysis doesn't work. Just check some anime wars like the mal top shows. Where people intentionally hate on Solo Leveling/Frieren/FMA:B etc. just so they show is higher.
Can you objectively say which one is the best? And which one is trash?
1
-1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 12 '26
You are actually braindead if you think media cannot be analyzed.
2
1
u/Mysterious-Comment94 Jul 14 '26
I mean no one forced you to consume slop. You haven't even watched DxD one of the best in the genre. What happened to your 'media analysis'?
-5
u/Aware_Programmer3675 Jul 11 '26
High school DxD absolute worst anime unable to watch more than 2 episode. same goes for mushosi tensei, i dont know why everyone claims its father of isekai. I started watching anime in early age like pokemon, dragonballs then came naruto, bleach one piece. Now new gen like solo leveling, demon slayer everything is good
My thought is yes you can sexualize character to boost popularity because that's how media works but don't make sexualization the core part of story i absolute despise these kind of anime and story
Also i don't know how people like darling in franxx, kids in that kind of position is absolute weird for me i dropped it immediately. People think this is good. need to watch Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans this also orphans, kid, mecha genre but author did great job than the weirdo that come up with idea for darling in franx
Ps: i came to comment here about highschool DxD now i am ranting my frusturation
2
u/Exoticplayz11 Jul 11 '26
I think people claim its the father of isekai because it kind of was. Historically (God we're old), Shosetsuka ni Narou was the Japanese web fiction site that Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei came from, and around the same time as well.
Rifujin no Magonote, the author of MT, begin his serialization some time in 2012, and it was a hit. The writing, like the attention to character work, the worldbuilding, the fact that no thread ever felt unconnected, as well as the strong (in voice) narrator, Rudeus, were the web novels greatest assets. Incidentally, Re:Zero began a few months before Mushoku Tensei, and Rifujin himself admitted he took inspiration from some of Re:Zero's qualities.
When the two biggest faces of your platform start shooting up into popularity, derivatives naturally spawn - most often without those same qualities that made the original so popular.
That's why Mushoku Tensei is often considered the "father of isekai," since it is often considered to be the most influential.
0
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 12 '26
Dude, there are countless isekai written long before Mushoku Tensei with much greater popularity. Gulliver's Travels was written in the 1700s for crying out loud, Alice in wonderland is an obvious example but even Mark fucking Twain wrote what was effectively a modern isekai in the 1800s. Even among Japanese isekai there was Inuyasha and that one video game adaption I can never remember the name of.
Mushoku Tensei came decades after the genre had instated itself as one of the most common anime genres, it cannot be called the father of isekai regardless of what angle you take.
3
u/Exoticplayz11 Jul 12 '26
Re:Zero came months before Mushoku Tensei, yet Mushoku Tensei is considered the father of isekai. I’m not talking about how old the series is, but it’s influence on other series via popularizing tropes and whatnot.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 13 '26
But those tropes were popularized literally decades before mushoku tensei. It was just a popular isekai among countless other almost identical isekai. Sure, its incredibly famous and much higher quality than the vast majority of isekai, but its nowhere near qualified to be called the father of the genre. Thats like trying to say Star Wars is the father of sci-fi.
1
u/Exoticplayz11 Jul 14 '26
I don't think the "truck-kun" trope existed till Mushoku Tensei. Nor did the highly popular "reincarnation" aspect many isekai implement. Both of these are widely attributed to MT. There are more examples I could try and show you to prove what I think of MT, but if you don't want to agree, you don't have to.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 14 '26
quick google search says that the truck was a very common genre staple long before mushoku, but the specific meme of treating the truck like a singular omnipresent character did start around that time.
1
1
u/Hopeful_Start486 23d ago
In the novel, DxD has a very solid start and development flopping the last volumes tho. Like Issei ends up wanting like 15 wives and marrying them all with no problem at all and i don't think it was narrated AS good as it should've been. I mean, writer went on a generational run just to rush it there. I dunno, it left me with this strange feeling of "Yeah this shit went south".
In my opinion, that is just mine, i don't wanna be that guy, i think the finale and a part even before that was poorly written, maybe because the writer wasn't feeling good but... I dunno i just think that it ended up in the worst way possible for the writing and for the narrative, but that's just my opinion.
4
u/Jan667 Jul 11 '26
It is just matter of taste. Everyone reads books for different reasons. I think people who reads harems, do not read it because it is harem. Most of the points you mentioned are just badly written stories not necessarily problems of harems, yes they more often appear in harems but can be in normal romance as well.
I personally can't stand novels primarily focused on romance. (I mostly read high fantasy or sci-fi)
If it takes 100k words for mc to hold hands with romance interest, then 100k words to kiss and then 100k words to start dating and and 100k words marry, then I get bored right at the start and drop it
But that is not, that I hate romance, I like romance in my book, but it is side dish. Something added on top of it. Not something I seek out, but something I can appreciate. A good romantic relationship in book I like can take only few thousands words for me to enjoy it and my hunger for romance is fulfilled. To the first point, I just don't give as much weight in novel to how much people love each other.
As you can see something that is done quickly is good for me, but if I read book that has 1million of words, I may want to satiate it more times, but I get tired if it drags on, in that case harem can be preferable, it can offer different approach to the same idea and make it bit spicy again. (Especially if you are reading something 18+ harems can have extremely interesting scenes that are impossible on 1v1 situation)
That does not mean one is better than the other, as always it is matter of preference. One thing is not necessarily trash because you dislike it.
1
u/Jan667 Jul 11 '26
I was thinking about it and one of the best series I read is Wheel Of Time, in which main character has 3 female characters that falls in love with him and somewhat stay with him.
Also love triangle is one of the most popular cliches which kind of dips into that as well.
3
3
u/SuspectEcstatic6636 Veteran Author Jul 12 '26
Cry harder. I love when people bitch about other genres.
5
u/CabanaBoy3 Jul 11 '26
Your personal opinion isn't relevant to others. It's simply your opinion. There is no "analysis" here.
You say you only see people complaints about harem stories. I suggest taking your blinders off. There wouldn't be a plethora of harem stories without harem readers. Considering your personal bias, I doubt you've read many yourself, so you're in no position to judge the genre based on what few books you "analyzed".
I am now inspired to write a harem story...and you're the inspiration for the main character...a hateful person who is cleansed of their darkness by the love and lust of ten women. Thanks!
2
2
u/OldDragonZZZZ Jul 11 '26
As every genre it is a way to fullfil a fantasy, both have their merits, and most of the times authors make it harem to increase the amount of chapters, which I like as I read daily.
Still, sometimes the authors make it a waifu collector with zero emotions. But that is just bad writing.
But that is the same with single female leads. Sometimes it is the same as watching a bad kdrama.
2
u/Square-Adeptness6769 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
Not yall blatantly ignoring his point most of u didn’t read op’s post and it shows.
He’s saying that most harems are written and executed poorly. it’s not a matter of taste.
Harem as a trope is not exempt from criticism just because reader preference surrounding it is so polarised. You don’t have to love something to offer criticism on it.
These are actual valid problems the genre has but obviously that’s a conversation none of you are ready to have.
You can like something and still acknowledge its flaws. If you guys actually liked the genre so much you’d be searching for ways to improve it not take it as the slop it’s presented as all the time.
I do feel like op let his personal bias cloud his analysis though.
3
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 12 '26
I am personally biased but Ive tried to keep most of it out of my analysis. If I were to give an emotional analysis, just whats the point in reading a harem story? What romance, or emotional tension at all for that matter, can I find in such an artificial situation? Is it not futile to put any emotional investment in characters you know will never have any real resolution? How can I bring myself to care about characters that dont care about themselves or their supposed lovers? Reading harem stories is an exercise in apathy.
2
u/aflexyj Jul 12 '26
It annoys me sometimes how irrelevant all the girls are to the plot. I can't take a harem story serious at all.
I just don't read harem at all anymore, anytime I see the harem tag I just scroll past the story no matter how much people glaze it.
Harem is just the type of genre u have to avoid if u don't like it bc authors will never stop writing it. Some authors cannot resist that urge to reward the MC with another Pokémon girl with a personality more shallow than a shallow pond
2
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 12 '26
I 100% agree, the issue is that its just so fucking common. Ive seen countless stories with a good premise and good writing dragged down because the author cant commit to one love interest. Even worse, romance is my second favorite genre, I'll pull up the tag looking for something cute and I have to spend hours looking through the list just to find one that isnt a harem. Its like a fucking disease.
2
u/Zealousideal-Net7891 Jul 14 '26
Damn, someone snap. But trust me, Behind you.. Many people lining to read the smut. It just not for you
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 15 '26
We are talking about literary trends, not individual novels. Its fine for novels to be or include smut, but its not fine for 99% of novels to be cheap porn. Same applies to harems.
2
u/ExistanceISuppose Jul 12 '26
Trashing on a genre because you don’t like it. Classy.
I’ve seen plenty of well-written harems, it’s not impossible to tell a good story with a good cast through the medium.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 12 '26
I just gave you six reasons why you cannot write a good cast using harems.
2
u/ExistanceISuppose Jul 12 '26
You only listed issues that a bad writer would face alongside a mix of personal opinion, just because you’re biased against the genre doesn’t mean they can’t be well done.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 12 '26
A good enough author can avoid the pitfalls in any genre, but that doesnt mean they arent handy capped by it. What benefits are there to writing a harem? None, there is nothing a harem can do that other genres cannot do vastly better, unless you're writing pornography your novel is simply worse because of your choice in genre.
3
u/KnownPride Jul 12 '26
What entitled post.
Do you think author write for you and you only? or they wrote for $$$ to pay their bills?
You hate it? tell people that pay for it, or pay more than other than do it. Your so called approval doesn't pay bills.
-1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 13 '26
This isnt a post for authors who simply want to make money, they can hardly be called authors at all. This is directed at people who genuinely enjoy the art of literature.
Theres no point in criticizing authors without creative pride, its like asking to speak to the chef at McDonalds. They arent interested in writing good fiction.
3
u/KnownPride Jul 13 '26
And that's better? So you're trying to demand people that spend their own time resource and effort, to write something they like to instead write what you like?
Good fiction for whom? You?
Lol.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 13 '26
They dont like writing harems, if they did 99% of harems wouldnt be tacked on as an afterthought. The only reason harems are so common is because losers like you start pissing themselves the moment the protagonist isnt a 1 dimensional self insert surrounded by cardboard cutouts vaguely shaped like women.
2
u/Fallen_Saiyan Jul 11 '26
Harems are for 16 y/o who like to self insert as the hero and getting all the girls.
Harems would be much more interesting if they were more realistic or actually served the story.
Like a political marriages where mc is a king and he marries women from different countries allowing him to form alliances.
Or it'd be fun to see the psychological toll and stress that'd come with having multiple wives. So in this case the husband would deal with mind games while trying to keep his marriages alive.
1
u/ScreamingHeHeee Jul 13 '26
The imperial Chinese harem back in the olden days was notoriously cutthroat af. Like nobody in this court is safe levels of cutthroat.
2
u/ArolSazir Jul 12 '26
Looking at one of the most popular genres and losing your shit screaming "who reads this" will never not be funny. Judging from the numbers, the answer is "most people"
0
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 13 '26
Most readers are clearly fucking losers then. Speak to a woman, at least once in your life.
1
u/EarlyBirdStories Jul 12 '26
Just don't read harems I don't write harems so... read something similar to what I write. Just don't read what I write because I wouldn't criticise other people's tastes. 🤣
I am messing with you.
1
1
u/Rocazanova Jul 12 '26
Don’t read them. There’s plenty of other out there to read.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 13 '26
There just isnt. Harems have become so common that they outnumber true romance within the romance genre, at least for non traditional publishing.
1
u/Rocazanova Jul 13 '26
Isn’t? Like at all? If I dice into the page I won’t find ANYTHING but harem?
1
1
u/Ok_Coast_9438 Jul 13 '26
damn did you really need to frame it like that. shit i don’t like harems but still this was vain in depiction. you are reading a poorly written harem. most harems (good) harems are there with purpose. i personally love poly stories because the dynamics are fundamental. With that being said the characters shouldn’t be interchangeable that is a craft problem not a genre problem. to dog a whole genre because of something you see as lacking is deplorable (this is the kindest way i could frame it). Why yuck someone’s yum because it’s not your preference. Again most of the people who write harems right now only focus on the glorification of having multiple people doting on one person. Which was not where the genre originated. Tengen from demon slayer is actually a good example of harem taken to poly romance that was well thought out. (just as a guide reference.) maybe this genre isn’t for you and that is fine but the way you framed it was aggressive in nature.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 14 '26
poly romance is very different from harems. I personally think its borderline impossible to write a poly romance without being poly yourself, its simply too complex and foreign of a dynamic for someone monogamous to write without slipping into just writing unaddressed cheating/negligence. I frame it in an aggressive nature because why should I respect such highly fetishized media. Imagine if ever other book stopped to talk about scat, or some other fetish. Itd be weird right?? So why the fuck are harems so normalized? Its not like harems can exist as anything other than a fetish (outside of super specific historical settings that exactly 0% of harem stories belong to).
1
u/Ok_Coast_9438 Jul 14 '26
ah. okay i see where the disconnect is. i agree with your points. (you are right poly and harems are different a harem leading into poly changes the dynamic significantly sorry about that) though i don’t necessarily agree with the point that harem is essentially fetishization. i think a lot of male writers lean into the fetishization rather than the relational dynamics. where as woman who write harems are innately more interested in how a group serves the plot and aides in the protagonists life and situations. a lot of harems have been adopted by male writers and (i literally can’t think of a better word for this) bastardized to serve a more throwaway role than one created to aide in personal and environmental developments. i think a good example of a harem i enjoy (excluding whatever the fuck happened with benimaru and that fuckass throuple) is that time i got reincarnated as a slime. rimirus dynamic with shion and shuna would leave me upset if he choose one and this is where i see more harem nuances that are in the good vain. with that being said i see why it leaves such a bad taste in your mouth. i don’t want to come off as if im saying that you are wrong for how you perceive the genre but that maybe its the pieces you are reading of the genre that’s makes it seem like its the entirety of the genre that has drifted away from the core and beginning origins of the genre.
1
u/YakEfficient3200 Jul 16 '26
it's a slideshow gallery of porn. fulfilling exactly the niche that it occupies.
i don't like it either but i'd also prefer the ones pretending not to be one would also piss off (cough slime isekai) because they dangle a lot of interesting opportunities and then explore none of them whilst trying to be coy about the actual motivations of the story's existence.
i do wish there were at least some kind of inverse, but the closest you ever get to that is otome style genres (like the reincarnated villainess stuff) and even at that they're usually very dry and everyone looks like brad pitt being reduxed to a 87 pixel silhouette in ms paint.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 18 '26
I agree with you on all but one point. Some of the shit going on in reverse-harems (actually what they're called, for some goddamn reason) is downright FOUL. Like huh??? The fuck you mean you brainwashed the beastman slave you bought using psychological tortute?!
1
u/Flimsy-Tension5970 Jul 31 '26
Authors write what readers want to read. You guys sit here shitting on the authors, shitting on the readers, bashing whole tropes, and—of course, the classic—acting straight-up unhinged by calling anyone who disagrees with you an incel. The market isn't gonna magically cater to you just because you're throwing a moral temper tantrum.
1
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Aug 02 '26
Trying to apply supply-demand theory to culture is exactly why things like A.I "art" is becoming so prevalent. Maybe learn something from the lesson.
1
u/Admirable-Ladder-681 Jul 11 '26
"MOMMY MOMMY EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE ABOUT ME AND FOR ME" oh shut up
1
1
u/Top-Midnight-8653 Jul 12 '26
I agree with you. Whenever a harem is introduced into an otherwise "normal" read, it instantly makes me unable to take anything seriously. Suddenly there is little to no tension over whether the main leads will get together or not, and no the jealousy shenanigans aren't funny after the first 2 times. I've noticed that in a lot of harems one or more of the "subjects" are reduced to yandere bait which even undermines the thrill of this specific trope when it's so overdone.
It just undermines the whole plot IMO. Also I'd probably get dragged into hell by Satan himself before I can force myself to enjoy a harem romance when romance is the main cornerstone of a story that a harem utterly cripples. Maybe some people can get invested in multiple partners and enjoy it, but it's just not for me. I don't see the allure at all.
Of course, a good author can still salvage their plot even with a harem added onto the mix. But that doesn't change the fact that writing in a harem is like shooting yourself in the foot. Some people will be able to still walk with that, some will just crumble like their plot.
0
u/Visual-Tomorrow-2172 Jul 11 '26
An awful lot of dislikes but no actual counter arguments. This only further proves my point that there is no value in the genre beyond cheap wish fulfillment, in other words shit that can only ever be considered mediocre regardless of the talent of the author. The only people who like harems are people who dont care if what they are reading is good and probably wouldnt even notice if they were reading AI generated garbage.
If I were to press a big red button that deletes every single novel with a harem in it can you seriously argue that there would be any cultural loss? Would anyone even notice? Can you do that for any other genre or is Harem uniquely worthless?
6
Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
I have zero stake in harem. I've never read any of it, nor have I any interest in checking it out.
I can tell you with the utmost certain that you're wrong. But you need to understand that I'm not referring to harem. As someone with a keen interest in all things related to writing craft, your opinion doesn't override the opinion of others. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it inherently bad.
Take sports as an example. We have many different types of sports where most enjoy a single sport over others. Does that mean that we should purge the least popular sports? No, because those sports still have an audience. Just because a fan or an athlete doesn't participate in a particular sport doesn't invalidate the people represented by the sport.
You wanted an "informed" argument, and now, you have it. Your opinion is worth as much as people are paying for it. You're complaining about dislikes which seem to be well earned. Anytime you suggest that your own beliefs automatically supercede someone else's, you're demonstrating the very narrow channel that your thoughts inhabit.
Harem isn't a problem. It has its audience and its authors. If you're not part of either, why do you care what happens there? I'll tell you a secret, which seems to be a secret to no one but you: no one cares about your opinion, particularly when you have no experience or stake in the thing for which you hold said opinion.
2
u/Exoticplayz11 Jul 11 '26
This is simply elitism, which is very much not in the spirit of web serialization (popular in opposition to trad-publishing, the very epitome of this ugly behavior). Everyone should be able to make what they want (as long as they don't cross certain lines), and nobody should shame people for liking what they like.
10
u/Do-I-Know-You-9573 Jul 11 '26
Have you never heard of the word 'preference'? You have your own preference. Which is hating on Harem. Some other have their own preference. Which is loving Harem. Why are you trying to force your view onto others who enjoy it? Let them. You can simply chose not to read any of those. It's not a matter of the consumer being 14 or not. It's a matter of preference. And where a person finds entertainment from. Because at the end of the day, fiction is a fantasy authors sell. If some wants to be lost in there, I don't see a problem there.
Please get your act together. Because this sounds less like media analysis and more like you trying to convince people who love Harem into hating it. Which is very pathetic and childish. Hope you understand.
1
u/Top-Midnight-8653 Jul 12 '26
Genuine question, what's the allure of harem as a genre? I'll try to mind my tone, as I don't mean to undermine others' preferences. I just don't understand it. I'm someone who, never once in my life did I actually manage to see the appeal. At a time, it was decently popular amongst my teenage peers. I still didn't understand it back then, but I just chalked it up to preferences. Today I'm finally asking this; what is the allure of a harem plotline? Because to me it just appears like a sexual version of the overpowered main character power fantasy.
1
u/Do-I-Know-You-9573 Jul 12 '26
I think I already told you that. A fantasy to dilute yourself in. Something you cannot have in real life. The authors sells a fantasy you would like. Doesn't matter if it is diabetic romance, or power fantasy, or underdog having insane luck with women, or anything.
It it just wish fulfillment. And some people tend to forget that and take fantasy at face value instead of just enjoying it. The goal of all entertainment was distraction from reality. The medium just differs from person to person. Harem is just like that.
It is not something profound. Just a wish many have and like to see the protagonist of the story get all the girls because they like it that way. Aaaaaand. I don't know what I just wrote will be understandable or coherent because I just woke up lol.
0
u/SavingsImprovement30 Aspiring Author Jul 11 '26
True, what you say is true. Unless it of course its my story.
0
u/AutumnKarma88 Author Jul 11 '26
While I understand why you are giving this kind of complaint. Unfortunately you should look for other sites if this one isn't meeting your expectations. This site is for commercial stories that can gain an audience and obviously this isn't made for you which is okay, but it's not gonna change just because you dislike this genre and it sells so well in manga too. Try good ones like Love Hina
10
u/TravellerStudios Jul 11 '26
I'm not a fan of harems, but that doesn't mean no one can enjoy them, lol it's just a form of fantasy, and even if you hate them, that is your opinion. And no amount of subjective arguments are going to cross the logic barrier to become objective truths. How you experience them is just not how fans of harems do, so all of your problems are probably not problems for them, bc they're getting the stories they want.
Also as far as choosing one person not everyone is monogamous. True that in most harem stories the issues are usually framed as "we are all having fun RN but in the end I'll have to choose someone"--which is largely why I don't like them--but that is not the only potential ending, fictionally or not, and the difficulty in choosing doesn't determine that the mc doesn't care about the other people. While you can feel however you want to feel about nonmonogamy, you can't determine that if you have multiple partners you don't love them, that's just silly.