^
In regards to the last quoted quote... I personally don't care how bad the couple are together, as long as they're childhood friends I will most probably will ship them together. I just can't help it as it's my absolute moe element, and me trying to explain that would be like me trying to explain why I like RPGs the best. That is, I would ship NaruXKeitaro (early divorce if I've ever seen one
) over any other couple other than MutsuhimeXKeitaro, just on the strength of the two being friends in childhood. Thankfully, that's the only example I can think of looking down my Big List of Shows Where Osana-Najimi Appeared (TM), as usually is the case the vast majority of the time, the childhood friend IS the one most suited for the protagonist IMO.
Also, shipping is not the act of liking a character the best, but the act of rooting (or just wanting to happen) for a
certain couple to be together. For example, 'I ship KotomiXTomoya in Clannad' makes sense. 'I ship Kotomi in Clannad' does not. While at least one (if not both) of the characters are usually the favourites of a person and thus is the most common reason why a particular person ships they way they do, there are times when that isn't the case. An example would be me, as I like Youhei and Kyou the best in Clannad, but my only ship there is KotomiXTomoya. So yeah, it doesn't necessarily mean that if you ship a certain way, that you actually like the characters in question the best (or even if at all).
In regards to Shinichiro's indecisiveness, I neither like it nor dislike it, nor do I think it should be detrimental to the judgement of a character if he/she ever was one. I'm not even frustrated by it, nor do I think I ever was in any show. It's a fact of most anime romances, and the exceptions are rare to be seen. As such, I've learned to live with it since I would be very frequently dealing with it. My only beef with it (as small as it is) is that it's overused and as such leads to many unoriginal characters, but if originality was so commonplace, nothing would be original at all lol. XD
Don't let me get started again.
Actually, maybe I will, since this will be short. First off, definition of harem greatly varies from person to person (if the Clannad debate is of any indication), so let's take a third party database that actually lists harem as a genre in order to avoid arguements on that end. First one that comes to mind is anidb.net, but I'm willing to use another database as I don't think the results will change.
Spoiler for big big spoilers for the shows listed:
Ai Yori Aoshi
w wish
Gift
Soul Link
Love Hina
Da Capo
Futakoi
Kage Kara Mamoru
Sumomo*
Kenichi*
Kanon*
School Rumble* (lol forgot this in the original list, as the flute faction is going strong in the manga last time I heard)
Comic Party Revolution*
ONE*
Umishou*
x- Ichigo 100%
x- shuffle
x- Clannad(don't shoot the messenger, as anidb DOES list is as such
)
x- seto no hanayome*
x- Magikano*
x- I''s pure*
x- Canvas 2*
Ones marked in * are in the general harem list of anidb but don't have the harem label in their own respective general information page of that series.
9/12 (15/22 if you use the general list), or 75% (68%), which is close to the total average of 70% from 2000-2007 and as such within statistical error. So yeah, harem shows are nothing special when it comes to usual childhood friends win rate... it's just that particular show with THAT yandere has forever tainted the archetype with the illusion that they usually lose, as their few losses are so much more spectacular than the flashiness of their wins combined in any genre.
Not that anything of the above has to do with the win chance of Hiromi right now...