I honestly don't understand why people keep suggesting that "relating to the protagonist" is terribly relevant for these sorts of shows. In my experience, people who watch these sorts of shows pretty much
never relate to the protagonist because they're almost always way more partisan than the indecisive lead is forced by the plot to be. The only reasons I can imagine that people make this sort of statement is either a) because, for some reason I can't understand, they can only watch shows by pretending that they are the protagonist (and so assume every show must be watched that way), or b) because they believe the "harem anime protagonists are losers because the audience are losers" theory that seems to have probably been invented by people who don't like that style of anime and wanted to defend their tastes (more like, put down other fans).
In the end, I can only reiterate what I said before: the personality of the protagonist is the way it is to support the sort of story that is being told. "Adaptable" and "neutral" protagonists are favoured in order to keep the "candidates" as the true stars of the show. "Indecisive" and/or "clumsy" protagonists are favoured in order to keep the indecision and misunderstandings going for as long as possible. And I think these sorts of requirements are what keep the protagonists "uninteresting". I don't think it has anything to do with the need to be able to "relate" to the protagonist, which I think is optional at best for many of these sorts of shows. Rather, it's what keeps the wheels turning, even if spinning in circles.
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Originally Posted by Triple_R
I do think that a lot of "Harem as the Primary Genre" shows are built around the "Placeholder" concept, yes. In other words, the goal is for the male viewer to feel like he can live vicariously through the male lead.
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I think there's a difference between being envious of the sorts of situations that the protagonist gets him or herself into, and "living vicariously through the lead". I don't think that the protagonist is truly supposed to be a representation or placeholder for the audience, except if it's a story where the audience is given choices (as in a visual novel). Otherwise, it's an exercise in frustration because the protagonist will often make decisions (or non-decisions) you don't agree with. So in the end, the audience goes along for the ride, at once envious of the protagonist and also frustrated by him or her for not acting the way they would act. The reward/frustration balance is what prolongs the story. The engagement the audience has is with the "candidates", and the protagonist merely is the available conduit -- not typically someone to aspire to or to "live vicariously through". At the very least I would say they're often a poor unenviable vessel, even if they're a necessary one. I can't typically "relate" to them very much, nor do I necessarily try to.