Harem (genre)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harem is a term to describe Japanese works wherein one, average, male character is surrounded by numerous, attractive, female characters, most of which are romantically interested in the main character.[1] The term 'harem' is usually not used by itself, but as an adjective to the medium, such as harem anime or harem manga.
The definitive origin of the term comes from the Arabic word 'harem' meaning "forbidden seduction" and is the exact context in which it is used in the case of the genre.
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[edit] Design
The prototypical harem anime features a number of characters, usually with a minimum of one boy and three girls whose personalities are often stock characters popular in moe fandom. The term does not necessarily imply sexual connotations. Most members of the "harem" have some level of emotional attachment to the lead, ranging from romantic interest to casual friend to a sibling figure.
Some harem, such as Ai Yori Aoshi, are designed to where the main character focuses only on one of the girls, with the others being mostly just temptation that the character rarely seriously considers, while others, such as the anime and manga adaptations of Shuffle!, remain unspecific as to which girl the main character is most interested in until near the end. The latter is especially true of harem anime and manga based off of visual novels, as the original work would let the player choose which girl to pursue
[edit] Reverse harem
The opposite of the standard harem genre, in which one girl is surrounded by numerous males, occurs more rarely and is sometimes referred to as reverse harem. An example of this would be Fushigi Yūgi.[2]
