>>27314
I am going to catch some flack for this, but I don't care too much.

There is not a lot of good in the genre. It really just doesn't have the right stuff. it is mostly appealing to a fantasy - having a lot of girls who admire you, think the MC is God's gift to them, ect. I think this by it's very nature makes it almost impossible for it to be good. A good protagonist has to be a realistic one. He should have flaws that are recognized as such by characters in the plot. This is why I fully support deconstructions of the genre - because they often turn the formula on it's head.

I'd recommend Infinite Stratos. I hated it at first but quickly grew to love it. It was good honest silly fun.

In their respective sui generis way: Monogatari series and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

In a more conventional way: School Days, Oreimo, Yosuga no sora, Canvas 2 and maybe True tears. Nisekoi is good too.

Post edited on 7th Nov 2016, 1:11am

>>27318
IS is pretty good for a harem series. Just stay away from IS stuff beyond S1 for your own good I guess.

My personal favorite is Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari. It's just about everything I'd want from a harem.

Aside from those two I liked Hayate S1, Zettai Karen Children if it counts (oh come on, you know it does), Outbreak Company, SYD is kinda harem too.
I don't dislike the core concept of the genre but most harem shows are executed so awfully it's almost offending.

I think reverse harem is a way better genre, between Akatsuki no Yona, Kiniro Corda, Ouran, Shugo Chara, YumePati and some other great shows. Then again shit reverse harem are as shit as normal shit harems, or maybe even worse.

>>27322
I second Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari, being a fantastic example of what harem anime should strive to be more like. I can't say I agree on Zettai Karen Children being a harem however, it just feels wrong to call it one.
Outbreak Company seemed like it had a mostly straight forward romance between MC and that maid, the princess just couldn't take a hint. I don't even remember a third girl really chasing after MC, and it takes three+ to have a harem, two is just a love triangle.

Good harem anime are those how don't look like harem on first sight or when the MC has a good excuse for not taking all of the girls.

Watching Love Hina atm and it's kinda shit but I like some of the characters like Motoko.
It's always that way. There is one or two characters I like and I hate it that the character has to be in love with the MC.

>>27323
>Outbreak Company seemed like it had a mostly straight forward romance between MC and that maid, the princess just couldn't take a hint. I don't even remember a third girl really chasing after MC, and it takes three+ to have a harem, two is just a love triangle.
I would definitely count Elbia as part of the 'harem'.

>I can't say I agree on Zettai Karen Children being a harem however, it just feels wrong to call it one.
Well, it's not straight forward and Minamoto genuinely has 0 interest in the girls early on. Their crushes on him can't be taken seriously either and are just a result of the circumstances, with him being a bit of a father figure to them and the guy who sort of protects them, or at least tries to, considering the girls are all stronger than him.
That being said I think the series was purposely set up in a way that makes the 10 year age gap less and less of an issue as the time skips keep piling up. By the time they end up in high school it turns borderline acceptable.

But I'm not following the manga. The 'harem' parts of ZKC that I liked overlap with Isekai Seikishi, and most other good examples of harem series - the crushes can't be taken very seriously. It's more of a casual interest because of some circumstances, with sensible amount of interaction that indicates that. The worst kind of harems are set up so that the girls are genuinely in love with the MC and totally heads over heels for him. That's no good, though. By setting it up this way the author already ensures this can only end in tears and drama. Many a harem series has turned shit because of this. In a good harem if there's a canon ending where MC picks one of the girls (or a non canon in a VN setting I guess) the others should feel a mix of disappointment and frustration, but on the level where they can shrug it off and still feel kinda happy for MC and his girlfriend (since in most harems all the girls know each other and are usually friends anyway). I don't just wanna feel bad for all the girls who 'lost' at the end of the series.

Which is why a strictly romance harem that would actually be good is borderline unachievable, in my opinion. All the examples I mentioned - Isekai Seikishi, IS, Zettai Karen Children, Outbreak Company - have a different setting behind them and that's the main focus. The harem bits are stuffed between the plot points and serve as interludes. You get some plot, some romcom interaction with one (or not) of the love interests, and then it's back to plot. It doesn't get stale thanks to that and the relationships are kept relatively shallow and casual, and yet you get to learn more about the girls either way.

>>27322
>Just stay away from IS stuff beyond S1 for your own good I guess.
I feel like this has become true through everyone thinking it's true.
I quite enjoyed season 2 of Infinite Stratos. I did watch season 1 ages before season 2 so I might have to watch season 1 again, but still, regardless of that I still enjoyed S2.

>>27329
Not in my case. I didn't know it was a consensus opinion at the time I watched the show and formed mine. S1 is good fun, S2 was simply awful. To each his own of course.

>>27317
>deconstructions of the genre

i don't mean to shit on your post, but deconstruction should wordfilter to pretentiousification
It might have been something new decades ago, but shitting on a popular genre when you don't have any creative ideas of your own isn't really anything groundbreaking or all that interesting anymore. Woody Allen & Mel Brooks did it to death in the 60s & 70s. Not that I don't like a spoof of a spoof of a spoof if its done well, but mocking this genre (or any other one) isn't inherently more interesting than someone making an earnest effort at genre anime.

This should have been good but quickly became extremely bland. The only memorable thing about was Risa-chan.

>>27335
Yet you, just like everyone else around (pro and against it), keep using the term incorrectly...

(Derrida's) Deconstruction is not a destruction, but an investigation on the construction of a given conceptual dichotomy, to reveal how defining its positive side (presence) involved the acceptance of the negative one (absence), leading to a fundamental contradiction. It is neither a mere reversal of values, but a destabilization of the value system itself. Its intial purpose is to offer a radical critique of dialectic/dychotomic thought in western philosophy; its ultimate purpose is to open novel layers of meaning within a concept, not to void it.

>>27335
>shitting on a popular genre when you don't have any creative ideas of your own isn't really anything groundbreaking or all that interesting anymore.
Thank god I'm not the only person around here who thinks this.

I dislike harem anime. If I ever feel the need to watch one that isn't shit, I'll just watch an H anime.

Post edited on 8th Nov 2016, 12:00pm

>>27342
That comparison really doesn't make sense at all.
There aren't too many harems which would make a legit substitute for the pornography you prefer. Harem shows have the characters interacting socially, while H-amine is mainly just uses low quality artwork to depict cold mechanical sex with the same "OMG I'm cuming in a echo chamber" sound effect repeated every 20 seconds.

>>27342
You know where else they also hate harem anime? Practically every other anime forum.

>>27314
Matantei Loki Ragnarok has the best harem...

I don't think Haruhi is considered a harem anime? Oreimo probably, although at least the first season isn't that strong in this.

As one of the other anons here said, harem anime is in a weird place because in order for something to be a harem anime there necessarily needs to be non-trivial interaction with lots of different people (otherwise it's just a romance or side-gag), but doing so doesn't really lend itself to depth of interaction. So it's a bit of an odd island, even most shows that may start off as harem anime usually temper it down as things progress.

I'll also throw in what I perceive to be popular shows I'd class as harem anime after watching several episodes, although I'm sure others would disagree:

* kanojo okarishimasu
* oregairu