symbv said:Takana_no_Hana said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem_%28genre%29
You need to learn the definition of harem i think.
Pretty much of these guys here said are true, 2 girls share a love interest with a guy = triangle love, 3 and above = harem whether a guy sets his eyes on only 1 girl.
Clannad is a harem anime ( not clannad AS), SAO has harem as a sub-genre ( later on you will find kirito standing in between a bunch of girls who likes him), etc.
Many people misunderstand the definition of harem:
Indecisive main character, end up with many girls called
harem ending (normally the case) --> so everyone thinks this way: if a guy only likes 1 girl, even though there are many girls in the show like him. --> harem, true, put
only a part of it.
Or mc can chose from his harem stock a girl he likes.
About Harem, basically what Takananohana said above. And one thing I would like to say to those who claim they don't watch harems: By the broad definition above, you have probably watched a bunch of "harem" anime without realizing it.
For example, in Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2 we definitely see 3 (or more) girls showed love interest with the MC. But how many people think they are "harem anime"?
This brings into the issue of the ambiguity of the term "harem anime". Apparently we can have a certain level of "harem-ness" in an anme without thinking it is a "harem anime". This may depend on how much focus is put on the love relationships between the MC and the various girls. I believe this is where the disagreements may arise. For anime like Infinite Stratos the focus is clearly on the hub-like relationship between the MC and the girls, so everyone agrees it is a "harem anime". For anime like Ranma 1/2 or Maison Ikkoku, the focus is disproportionately between the MC and the main heroine. And for Ranma 1/2 and Hayate, the main genre is comedy that is often not a romantic kind, and this weakens the case for them to be a "harem anime" in many viewer's eyes. SAO and Nobuna are similar because the focus in both anime is not the hub-like relationship between the MC and the many girls around him.
Personally I only call anime like Infinite Stratos, ToLoveRu or NakaImo, where the girls clearly loves the MC and have their associated behavior like jealousy, acting lovey-dovey, embarrassed, daydreaming or active approach etc heavily focused, "harem anime" while anime like SAO or Nobuna I hesitate to call them "harem anime" even though a certain harem relationship is formed surrounding the MC. SAO and Nobuna are anime with harem element but not "harem anime" to me.
And I notice some people say they don't like harem because the MC is indecisive. What I want to say is that by nature a "harem anime" demands the MC not to make decision early so that we can have a story for the whole length of the series, but it is not as if the MC in every "harem anime" does not make a decision at the end - Mashiroiro Symphony has a clear ending which is non-harem for example. That said I would agree that most of the time the MC needs to be indecisive in a "harem anime". MC in an anime that is not "harem anime" but with certain level of harem element, like SAO or Nobuna, is quite often not indecisive.