Harem that's not really a harem

[BWTraveller]

Basically, I was looking for some good series where a guy is surrounded by girls, maybe there's even some fanservice involved, but none of them are actually in love with or crushing on him. The girls may recognize him as attractive, enough so that they wouldn't say he's not boyfriend material, but they don't have any real feelings beyond "he's kinda good-looking" toward him; their relationships are pretty much platonic. And note, I'm talking about stories where most if not all of the girls show no romantic desire toward him, not stories where they suppress their feelings to maintain their existing relationships, only exhibiting it from time to time in bits of jealousy or slips of the tongue like in GJ Club. I've got plenty of stories like that; I'm looking for ones where they really aren't thinking about what it'd be like to go out with him and don't get jealous if he shows interest in another girl.

[coded321]

Netoge no Yome wa Onna no Ko Janai to Omotta?(you thought your online game wife wasn't a girl?)
In summary, mc learns that his all his guild mates and in game wife are girls in real life. quite a bit of fanservice, but the mc is only dating one of the girls, while for the rest, it is mutually platonic.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
mc dates a girl who is a chuunibyou(believes she has super powers).

engaged to the supernatural
with the exception of the male mc, the main cast is entirely female, but the only romantic relationship is between the male and female mcs

[Kurohane]

Gate is an example of a harem that's no really a harem. The MC is an adult male, and only one of the girls is interested in him. And he'd be in trouble if the 15 year old started liking him.

Aokana is another example. I'd even say the MC is not really the MC, but one of the girls. I'm halfway through and so far none of the girls have developed romantic feelings for him, focusing all the attention on the sport they play.

[arachni42]

Hmm, tricky; in most stories there is at least *one* romantic interest. Does the Steins;Gate anime count? How about Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei? It's a guy surrounded by girls that's not a harem... but it's a teacher and students, not peers. It's more of a dark satire rather than a harem-style plot.

There is one I saw years ago that may fit: Saber Marionette J. You could say the girls "love" the guy as a matter of default when they first meet him, in an immature way. But they grow past that. I don't think there's an actual romance in there. (There's a guy who has feelings for him, but you didn't ask about guys...) They bond more like a family.

[coded321]

didn't SZS have a harem ending where he married all his students?

[arachni42]

I guess I misspoke about SZS; I haven't seen the last season, but the girls do have crushes on the teacher. I just remembered it differently because it's satirical and somewhat abstract.

[IceHism]

Mondaiji fits that criteria pretty much.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by Kurohane

Gate is an example of a harem that's no really a harem. The MC is an adult male, and only one of the girls is interested in him. And he'd be in trouble if the 15 year old started liking him.

Have you actually watched Gate? The demigoddess who looks 13 tries to jump his bones every chance she gets, the elf has progressively become more direct in her feelings toward him, and actually 15-year-old Lelei reveals in the second season that by her understanding of her culture's law she's already married to him, and she makes it clear when she informs him of this that she has no intention of backing down on this point.

And yes, while I haven't watched SZS yet I do remember reading that

Spoiler:

he marries the main girl, who's actually a ghost who possesses all the different girls at different times. He makes this work by some sort of understanding with the girls: he marries whichever girl is possessed, and after a few years when she moves on to a new host he has an amicable divorce and marries the new host.

Mondaiji on the other hand fits like a glove.

[Kurohane]

Girls Beyond the Wasteland, I thought would be another typical harem, but I was genuinely surprised how the relation between MC in the girls was pretty tame and not exaggerated. While the MC and main girl get some ship tease, it's very subtle. His childhood friends starts realizing feelings for him too. However, she's the only one with confirmed feelings for him, and nothing ever comes from it. The rest of the girls never go beyond platonic. The main focus is on how these high school students get together and "master up" a low budget visual novel, and all the work, processes and difficulties that lie in it.

Oh, and there's Yozakura Quartet. The main guy is platonic with his co workers, though the main girl and the younger oni sibling both like him. I'd avoid the first anime adaptation, and go straight to the second TV series that more faithfully adapts the manga. The story is about a town where humans and youkai coexist. The main characters jobs are to keep the town peaceful, confronting any threats that attempt to disrupt. As the story goes on though, it gets much deeper.

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Have you actually watched Gate? The demigoddess who looks 13 tries to jump his bones every chance she gets, the elf has progressively become more direct in her feelings toward him, and actually 15-year-old Lelei reveals in the second season that by her understanding of her culture's law she's already married to him, and she makes it clear when she informs him of this that she has no intention of backing down on this point.

Granted, I'm about halfway through the second season, after they beat the dragon. Rory was obvious, but I didn't see the other two display feelings for him up to this point.

[AntonKutovoi]

How about this season's Flying Witch? Although male character isn't really a main character there.

[Jack]

Akame ga Kill! comes to mind; there's no way you haven't heard of that one already, though. And it's not a romance-centric story even if it does fit your description perfectly.

[pervypig]

Does Working! count? The main works part-time at the café of crazies. No one actually interested in him (I actually thinks his sis got her hots for him tho).

[SeijiSensei]

Kurenai has the trappings of a harem as the OP makes clear. But it's all a sham. The person closest to sixteen-year-old Shinkarou is seven-year-old Murasaki. Their relationship is more sibling-like than romantic, at least within the terms of the anime. There's one childhood friend who clearly wants to make him her boyfriend, and another who is jealous of those attempts. Still neither get very far with Shinkarou, and the other women in the show are older and more teasing than romantically interested.

Here's the OP: http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Watch...13/Extra/jp/en

[Ulin]

Originally Posted by pervypig

Does Working! count? The main works part-time at the café of crazies. No one actually interested in him (I actually thinks his sis got her hots for him tho).

Correction - Only one of the workers is in love with him

[kitten320]

The Idolm@ster could work.

Bakuretsu Tenshi if my memory does not deceive me.

[frubam]

I have no doubts you've watched this great anime, but Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufu def deserves a mention =03.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by frubam

I have no doubts you've watched this great anime, but Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufu def deserves a mention =03.

Most definitely. Also, concerning "Working!", I loved the series but I don't believe it quite fits here. It never really resembled a harem to me, since it's five girls and three guys, with one girl (or woman) showing absolutely no sexual interest in anyone or anything, and the others varying a lot in their relationship with all three. In other words, in all but one character's eyes, the hero was just one of the male coworkers, and the other males were just as big and close to everyone. If those other two guys weren't there it'd fit great. One developing love interest is OK, since that's not really "harem", it's just romance with backup; I just want one where all or all but one of the girls see him as a friend or toy, but not as a romantic interest.

[Kurohane]

Higurashi no Naka Koro ni - More of a psychological horror, but the main character is surrounded by girls. Only one girl likes him, but the focus is more on true companions between the group.