2006-01-10, 22:07 | Link #1 |
Myelements
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Female-oriented Harem
We always see harem anime focus on males alone, such as Shuffle!, Happy Lesson, etc.. but there aren't many female-oriented harem around.. a couple would be like Fruits Basket and Fushigi Yuugi. That's all I can think of. There aren't many around, huh? So, why is it this way? Why won't anime producers focus on females being the lead in harem anime? Well. Fruits Basket and Fushigi Yuugi are pretty good anime, too.
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2006-01-10, 22:50 | Link #2 |
Sexy Tornado
Artist
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The European Bunion
Age: 45
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Uh, because it's mostly males that watch anime, and producers tend to cater to the majority in order to make money? Sure, there are a lot of females that watch anime, but compared to the male numbers, it's not much of a percentage of the whole I'd imagine.
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2006-01-11, 00:24 | Link #4 |
Snobby Gentleman
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Monterrey, México
Age: 43
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Also I believe that male-oriented harem shows tend to focus essentially into romance-slapstick/comedy themes.
Prime example is nonetheless than Love Hina. Besides, the producers take advantage to introduce gratuitious fanservice and sometimes some ecchi to reel the male viewers in. An arguably example of this would be Amanaideyo! In female-oriented harem shows, however, the stories delve into the drama and shoujo elements, exploring in-depth the main cast or the plot is driven by the characters. Another common standard is that the cast's main males are all bishounen, which caters the taste of some female viewers to make their own doujinshi stories using those characters and putting them into a yaoi story. A recent addition to this genre is Harukanaru Toki no Naka de ~Hachiyoushou~ Finally, in female harem, the bishounen look after the girl protagonist like a dear and cute small sister that wants to be listened to, have someone on whom can tell her tribulations and anguish, confide in, or looking for support. These bishounen may act as either a fraternal or paternal figures to the protagonistic girl. In male harem, however, the sexy appealing bishoujo normally beats the crap out of the main male when he commits a mistake, as the main male is portrayed to be a hopeless loser with a weak will to confront the big issues and immature, although possess the only redeeming point in being generous and committed to his promises. |
2006-01-11, 00:30 | Link #5 |
Knowledge is the solution
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: St. Louis, MO
Age: 39
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Hmm... well if you dont mind old series (well... not really old) you could give a try to Hana Yori Dango ... though it is more of a romantic series rather than harem, but yes, with more men than women
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2006-01-11, 01:09 | Link #6 | |
The Last Visible Dog
Join Date: Aug 2004
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It's this kind of thinking that really does a disservice to those who create anime. Just like how it was once thought that women didn't like video games, and then FF7 came out, and half of the people who bought it were female. Why aren't there more comics/video games/anime/movies/etc. that cater toward women's tastes? Because women don't like comics/video games/anime/movies/etc. Why don't they? Because there aren't any comics/video games/anime/movies/etc. that interest them. It's an unfortunate cycle, but one we've seen before.
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2006-01-11, 08:29 | Link #7 |
Resident devil
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Philippines
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Though I haven't seen, I think Kyou Kara Mao, Sukisyo, Meine Leibe, Cluster Edge qualify as female harem. I don't think there necessarily needs to be a female harem-builder protagonist, nor do the males need to be heterosexual.
Honey & Clover and Paradise Kiss to an extent has a large number of bishounens, though they don't go even close to the definition of a harem. The percentages of female-oriented harem anime (or even shows for that matter) versus male-oriented go along the lines of female: male hardcore otaku ratio. Think Genshiken club...1 female otaku:4-5 male otaku. Thus breakdown of harem anime is at most 20% female-oriented, 80% male-oriented, which does seem the case. Also, women have j-dramas / live-action, and these suffice in fulfilling the more serious romance needs. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on perspective), live action does not bode well for the severe violence and pantsu requirements of male-oriented romantic comedy. It could be just me, but it seems as though many girls would be content to have a story in any medium (even remain as manga), and not too keen to actually have it animated. Last edited by DaFool; 2006-01-11 at 08:41. |
2006-01-11, 16:29 | Link #9 |
Schwing!
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Central Texas
Age: 39
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besides Sailor Moon and Fushigi Yugi...can't really think of any other anime's that had a female lead...though the whole think w/ yelling each other names got really annoying and redundant SAILOR MOON!!, DARIAN!!, SERENA!, TUXEDO MASK!! SUPER SAILOR MOON! MIAKA!!! TAMAHOMI!!
lol, my roommate absolutely hates Fushigi Yugi because of Miaka and Tamahomi. |
2006-01-11, 18:17 | Link #10 | |
Snobby Gentleman
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Monterrey, México
Age: 43
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There's another anime that features a female lead and is combination of both magical girl surrounded by a group of bishounen guys. Pretear The anime tends to focus more about the inner tribulations, anguish, and fears of the characters of Himeno, Hayate, Sasame, and Mawata. Although it does contains the usual pun of the main male calling the main female by an unpleasurable nickname, Hayate and Himeno are never shown to display their feelings in lovey-dovey and corny manners. In fact, they do not openly disclose to admit they have a relationship in public, until the very end of the series. |
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2006-01-11, 18:18 | Link #11 |
Vampie Walrus. Big fangs
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Angelique is another good example, although I'm only really familiar with the games.
And Da Fool, you make a lot of sense. I'm not much for Japanese live action (actually, I'd rather give birth to a fullgrown yak than watch some) and a lot of that has been because of restrictions to the camerawork, motion style and effects which make up most of the shows I love (from giant robots to comedic harem) so it makes sense to me that what I'd look for in a harem anime (well, loaded with girls instead of guys of course) would be vastly different from what a girl would look for in her harem anime. Then of course there's the best of both worlds. Oddly enough, Trinity Blood comes to mind. My girlfriend at the time and I watched that and we were both in agreement that the guys were to her taste and the girls were to my taste. So it sits on a throne of having good content for both sexes. Tho most of these shows fit into gendres other than harem. |
2006-01-11, 19:20 | Link #12 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
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I always thought that there were more male oriented harem anime because Japan, the wonderful land of oppurtunity and gender equality that it is *cough*sarcasm*cough* has more males than females in it's big anime production companies. They won't let women have harems anyways, since MEN are so much more superior that each and every dumb little main male character deserves his own harem of mindless clutzes. |
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2006-01-11, 21:13 | Link #13 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Shows featuring one female with multiple love interests do exist - you folks just aren't looking hard enough.
These are NOT shoujo but they do feature a female with multiple love interests: Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl Yawara! A fashionable judo girl These are somewhat different (you'll know what I mean when you watch them): Steel Angel Kurumi 2 Devil Lady This is shoujo but I cannot recommend this horrid Fushigi Yugi rip-off: Harukanaru Toki no Nakade - Hachiyosho - |
2006-01-11, 21:14 | Link #14 | |
Resident devil
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Philippines
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...and how could I forget to mention Weiss Kreuz and Weiss Kreuz Gluhen. And Pretear = good choice. |
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2006-01-11, 21:21 | Link #15 | |
I have returned
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2006-01-11, 22:15 | Link #16 | |
Snobby Gentleman
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Monterrey, México
Age: 43
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I beg of you, please, don't speak on behalf of everybody else about this show. For those who are fond of stories like FY, I highly recommend Harukanaru. On-Topic Another show that I could think of for the genre could be of Vision of Escaflowne, but I seriously doubt it. Allen and Van are the only male protagonist that revolve around Hitomi, and that mostly would be represented as a love triangle of sorts. |
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2006-01-12, 00:55 | Link #17 | |
I'm a sucker for Harem
Join Date: Aug 2004
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A more appropriate Female Harem would be Angelic Layer. Misaki has 3 after her until the very end. Boys over flowers is probably the most obvious Female harem. |
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2006-01-12, 06:56 | Link #19 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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2006-01-12, 07:28 | Link #20 | |
Vampie Walrus. Big fangs
Join Date: Oct 2004
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