Ten harem leads – Lame and shame list
After reading Hinano and Shirukii's thoughts on DCII 11, I sobbed uncontrollably for 3 hours... okay 2..... alright alright, teared up a little for a couple of minutes. Even though DCII didn't play out the choicest of its game routes, this Koko-Minatsu collaboration need not be a catastrophe. As Sixten has mentioned, there are clearly ways to make the love-tale intriguing despite the sub-par premise/characters. There is only dehabilitating factor why the DCII boat has its sails in tatters and sinking fast to the bottom of the 2007 anime keg - Yoshiyuki.
I mentioned time and again; the weakest link in any harem show is the male lead. Too many studios focus on the bishoujos, their backstory and the overarching romance but neglect the one person who tie all these together - the all important harem lead. How many unworthy harem leads have ravaged otherwise enjoyable bishoujo shows? How many great romances deflowered? Looks like Yoshiyuki is adding another to the long list. Anyhow, here's a shame list of harem leads, as inspired by Yoshiyuki. May you be cleansed in anime purgatory til your mistress Suzumiya Haruhi-sama lets you out to be subdued in one of her enclosed spaces.
List preamble - This list is by no mean exhaustive. There are 2 major criteria for their inclusion. 1) There are a least 3 or more ladies after their vile heart. 2) They ruined the series for me. Note that lame harem show does not equate with lame harem lead. Here's presenting 10 harem leads, in ascending order of hate.
10. Kusanagi Kei (Onegai Teacher)
Mizuhi over Herikawa? Oh Haruhi forbid!
09. Harima Kenji (School Rumble)
Objection of affection from some of the hottest 2D girls in all anime history while having a singular braincell? Die for Darwin's sake!
08. Emiya Shirou (Fate/Stay night)
As my good bro says, "Too stupid for too long".
07. Asakura Junichi (DCSS)
What? You thought Kotori was lesbian?
06. Urashima Keitaro (Love Hina)
I'd turn lesbian if he was the only man in the world. Yay to Shinobu X Naru hawt yuri action
05. Shikimori Kazuki (Maburaho)
Banishment instead of resurrection would have saved the series.
04. Kono Takaaki (ToHeart 2)
Better off as Tama-nee's pet hamster.
03. Sasaki Yukinari (Girls Bravo)
"I'm allergic to girls". *Ah choo! Sorry, myself, I'm allergic to stupidity.
02. Sakurai Yoshiyuki (DCII)
If I were Koko, I'd shove sakura petals down his throat
01. Itou Makoto (School Days)
Someone should have long swapped his viagra pills for cyanide capsules.
Some day I'm going to write that worthy harem lead post that includes Takayuki and Tsutsumi Rin as shining examples of harem manliness.
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December 11th, 2007 - 02:29
wait what? did i hear you correctly when you put “Takayuki” and “harem manliness” in the same sentence?!
December 11th, 2007 - 02:38
Kei fails because he’s a lowly clone of Kusanagi Kei :>
or.. perhaps.. of kei-chan from ef. :>
fail
But.. poor keitaro, he failed in a funny heartwarming harem type way.
December 11th, 2007 - 02:52
kei-clone: Heh, looks like I need a separate post just to defend the worthiness of Takayuki as a harem lead
Selective_yellow: Heh, no failure reads the hontouni blogs. XD In fact, kei and myself have very similar tastes in anime
Speaking of ef, I should have a post up about kei-chan and Miyako soon.
December 11th, 2007 - 03:20
Oh this is a good one Takayuki and manliness…. excuse me while I re-insert my lungs.
As for having Harima Kenji die, Darwin advocated the survival of the fittest, so if that one brain cell allows him to attract unwarranted attention he is in fact “fit” if still very stupid. As far as slaying his series he did not accomplish this feat and you can’t blame a man for being unquestionably loyal Unlike the rest his heart has never strayed nor has he harbored even a mildly treacherous thought. Harima is tenacious and uncompromising in his fealty to Tenma, though it is misplaced. In short how dare you slander him and honor that bastard Takayuki!
Explain your reasoning if you have any or must we re-institute coon skin caps?
By the way did you actually manage to finish School Days or was your stomach still not up for it?
December 11th, 2007 - 03:57
I agree with Harima not to be on this list. Yes, he at times is ridiculously stupid. But many can argue that he was a major element in people liking the School Rumble franchise. Probably his one redeeming quality is his unquestionable loyalty to the girl that he likes (even if she has the brains of a penny).
As for everyone else, I have no problems if you want to tie them to a rocket and send their miserable existences to the outskirts of space.
December 11th, 2007 - 06:00
Yes. I was very dissapointed when it turned into a banana-girl ending. For a newcomer like me, Koko ending isnt bad, but why banana-girl of all other girls?! Even Koko’s classmates would be a better choice…
Banana-girl has spoilt my ratings for DC II. It has fell from an average of 7.60 to the current 6.90 it is holding (out of a total of 10)
Yoshiyuki should die a death similar to Makoto. For his dumbness and all the wrong decisions made.
December 11th, 2007 - 07:21
Haha aww I liked Kusanagi Kei XD;; At least he was focused on one woman.
I think Yuuichi from Kanon was an excellent harem lead! Tomoya is doing a pretty decent job too.
December 11th, 2007 - 07:57
Makoto ruined the series for you? I thought he totally made School Days everything it was! Other than that, this list seems to be pretty spot on.
December 11th, 2007 - 08:26
Some who deserves discussion
Negi Springfield: 35 hot One-sama?!
Itou Makoto: He makes rest of the list look like angels
Harima Kenji: For sake of humanity, he should not mate. For that matter, I hope Karasuma whisks Tenma away to somewhere remote. Yakumo and Eri are too good for Harima and deserves better.
Where is that guy from Magikano?
Moroboshi Ataru: He is the first one to openly utter the word ‘Harem’.
Takaaki: He isn’t that bad. As far as I have observed, he didn’t do anything indecent, nor flirted with any ladies.
Where is that loser Kasuka Kyosuke?
Kyon: He might have made Anime history.
Yuuichi and Tomoya : They are real man with real brains compared to most on the list.
Hayate: He has several top finishers of various Moe Tournaments in his Harem. He might have the highest combat rating of them all. Who can boost of having Hinagiku(2007 Best Moe Tournament Champion), Maria ( 4th in Super Moe Tournament ), and Nagi (2007 Saimoe Runner up) as contender of his heart unless his name is
Sakai Yuuji: Shana(2007 Super Moe Tournament Champion), Yoshida Kazumi, and Konoe/Hecate?? Has wisest mother of them all.
Or
Sakurada Jun: Rozen maidens Tomoe ***
December 11th, 2007 - 08:29
Forgot to mention
Hiroki (Canvas 2): ~!@#$%^&*()(
finally Yoshiyuki needs to have some sense punched in by Wataru.
December 11th, 2007 - 09:19
It’s getting bad enough that I can’t even read other people’s Da Capo II posts anymore. I’ll give you a cryptic hint as to what you should be watching instead. If the hint’s not clear enough, I’ll be glad to explain further.
“Kokoro no ‘door’ wo ima hiraite mitai no
Kimi dake ni
‘Kiss’ todoke”
Who needs harem when you have honey (and clover)?
December 11th, 2007 - 10:00
Crusader/koneko-chan: Looks like I need to put up that ‘defense of Takayuki’ post. Of course I’d need to flameproof this blog first. XD My distaste for Harima comes from the hurt he’ll inflict on Eri and Yakumo once they find out who he really loves. I know, it’s not intentional but it still doesn’t absolve him of such cruel travesty to bishoujo hearts. Worse when all harm is incurred for an illusionary love. Harima does not love Tenma for who she is but who he think she is. Ack… my heart’s aching for Eri again
Oh I’m still stuck at ep 9 for School days XD
abao: From what I read at Hinano’s and Shirukii’s, Yoshi gets worse in ep 11. XD Anzu (Koko’s friend) is a playable character in the game and yes her tale is worthier than Koko’s or Minatsu.. sigh.
Hinano: I guess I’m just miffed that Kei chose teacher over high school girl… err never mind XD Yuichii loses points with me for his terrible treatment of Nayuki. He’s still a great lead but probably not in my top 5
Need to catch up on Clannad.
Kabitzin: Heh, yeah, I know Makoto made School Days the legend it is. But I suppose I care too much for the girls to be able to enjoy the atrocious he inflicted on them. I still think School Day should be a hentai series. Makoto would make a great hentai lead then XD
maglor: Actually Hiroki was No. 11. Not because of the surprising turn around but for making Kiri pay so painfully for his mistakes TWICE.
sixten: One kimikiss marathon coming right up!
December 11th, 2007 - 10:24
Unfortunately most people do not understand Darwin’s theory. It isn’t Survival of the Fittest at all. That was an deliberate misinterpretation spread by Social Darwinists at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century to rationalize the inherent racism of dividing up most of the the non-European non-North American world into colonies.
In Darwin’s model success is measured by the number of offspring sharing a male’s genes that the male leaves behind. So as a matter of fact Harima would be considered very successful if only there isn’t a disconnect between human attraction and sex that most other animals don’t have. In fact if we want to use harems to look for evolutionary success…Makoto will be the most “fit” and awesome male lead ever.
December 11th, 2007 - 10:33
Stripey: I didn’t look at it that way and I agree with most of it (especially since I *makes heart sign* Yakumo). It’s just that I feel like Harima’s sins against the bishoujo around him aren’t as bad as the others on this list. I’d probably re-rank Harima just outside this list and add others I feel that did worse.
maglor: With that said, Sakai Yuuji also needs to be staked and burned. His denseness so far in season 2 is reaching Makoto levels.
December 11th, 2007 - 10:46
Seconding the recommendation from sixten, Kimikiss is win and a half, by far my romance/drama of the season.
And…whoa, whoa, what? Takayuki? As in KGNE’s Takayuki? While I don’t think he’s the worst male lead out there, he’s not exactly the shining beacon of harem etiquette, I look forward to your explanation on that one.
December 11th, 2007 - 11:23
this talk of harem male leads
reminds me of this:
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6729/wantedanimemaleslf1.jpg
December 11th, 2007 - 15:29
Ow….and I want to put Aoba Riku (Tokimeki Memorial~only love~) on that list :X
I was very very near on dropping the show thanks to him (and I dropped very few shows back then…) OTL
December 11th, 2007 - 15:37
That’s the old list :p
The new list has Hiragi Saito, Sakai Yuji, Lelouch Lamperouge, Yagami Kazuma, NaGARsumi, and Ayasaki Hayate, among others
Saito – My only problem with him is his taste in women =_= Other than that, he’s fine…
Yuji – Ah well… At least he makes himself useful in fights… But this second season better pick up…
December 11th, 2007 - 15:37
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/36908/2004400158588202937_rs.jpg
December 11th, 2007 - 15:46
I still can’t believed that list still has Youga but not Akio.
December 11th, 2007 - 15:46
*Touga not youga
December 11th, 2007 - 15:53
This is ridiculous!
Some of those guys should not be here at all! Saying like the guy in a harem show is the weakest link is like a huge generalization! In other words, just because a guy has a harem does not make him worthless.
Lelouch Lamperouge, Yagami Kazuma, NaGARsumi, Hiragi Saito, and Ayasaki Hayate – are you kidding??? These guys were the stars of this respective shows, not their weakest link.
Emiya Shirou, Harima Kenji, Sakai Yuuji – these guys were not stars, but they were decent characters and should not be bundled with human scum like Makoto and…oh, yes…Takayuki!
In other words, please don’t put all male leads who have more than one girl interested in them in the same category!
December 11th, 2007 - 16:08
Rin? You got to be getting me Stripey. That wanted list sums up my feelings about him pretty well: “Procrastinating and Undecided Slow Sissy Youth, aka PUSSY”.
December 11th, 2007 - 16:35
@Darklord
Erm, you do know that I was referring to the list of ‘Enemies of Mankind’, and not the ‘worst harem lead’ list right? And I have never place them in the same Category, I just said they were new on the list.
December 11th, 2007 - 16:46
What’s wrong with Shirou? The man had balls imo, steps in front of a gynormous Berserker multiple times to get himself slashed to holy hell so he could protect his woman. He was a bit idealistic at times but that doesn’t take away from his manliness imo. You could call him annoying or stupid, but if your standard is “manliness” he pretty well fits that description imo
December 11th, 2007 - 16:57
@Chaos2Frozen:
Sorry, I wasn’t talking to you in particular, just whoever made the “enemies of mankind” list has done wrong to put Lelouche and Kazuma with the likes of Rin and Takayuki in the same category. It’s just that lately the word “male lead” has become pretty much an insult and I just wanted to point out that it’s not the general rule, it’s just a few individuals that give the “male lead” a bad name. Some of them are on this list, but others should not be there.
@Calawain:
Yeah, exactly. Sure, Shirou was annoying in the first half of the series but he was not a coward at least, he was just reckless and confused and did some stupid things, but in the second half he kicked some major ass and saved Saber’s life several times(even though it was always through some Deus Ex Machina).
December 11th, 2007 - 17:42
@Darklord
Ah I see… But in my opinion, being on that list does not automatically mean that the character is bad. In some cases, it could be an honor =p
The list simply shows all the… I suppose you could call them ‘high profile’ harem leads. They are a ‘threat’ because either they are so successful with what they do that it makes people scream “LUCKY BASTARD!!”, or they suck so badly that they need to be killed off.
And for the record, those names I’ve listed, are some or my favorite male characters
December 11th, 2007 - 19:40
About Shirou. I think knowing your limitations is very important aspect of maturity that defines manhood. Shirou was jeopardising Saber by insisting on being the paper tank and having noble concepts about it doesn’t make it right. I suppose he did grow towards the end of the series but he has already ruined most of the series for me
About Harima and this list. Actually talk about manliness, Harima has it in bouts. The thing is this list does not focus on ‘manliness’ but how these leads put me off. Very personal yes. And subjective of course.
About Takayuki. Heh, actually I think it’s easier to discuss what was wrong with him than for me to list his faults. He was not prefect but frankly in RL I would have done 80% of what he did if I was 20. Maybe I could set up a post for this discussion. Allow me to put on my flame suit first XD
About worthy harem leads. Hayate is at the near top of my list now. But I have an additional criteria when it comes to worthy harem leads, they must have made some admirable decisions with regards to their love dilemmas. Which would alienate candidates like Hakuoro who had a harem but didn’t quite struggle in love choices. Worthy leads would be those who struggled between 2 fabulous girls and made the painful but sound choice. ie Junichi of DCI – who incidentally is in top 3 of my list.
December 11th, 2007 - 21:00
Aargh, just reading that list made me cringe at the memories… Couldn’t agree more, a weak male lead has wrecked many a promising bishoujo series, and Yoshiyuki is quickly making DC II less and less watchable. I’m just hoping at the end of the last episode Koko and Minatsu will run off together to the Island of Unpopular Secondary Characters to explore yuri rabu, they’ll announce a D.C. II S.S. where Otome and Yume will get all the screentime, and Yoshiyuki will get a spine transplant.
December 11th, 2007 - 21:19
This is why Shirou (anime version at least) is ASS.
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/7798/engrish57113ip7.jpg
Nuff said.
December 12th, 2007 - 01:28
Quick comments:
Kei (Onegai Teacher) – He really didn’t have much of a choice. His uncle demanded a shotgun marriage to Mizuho when he found out about their affair. And even if it wasn’t Mizuho, the anime implies that Ichigo would’ve won over Herikawa as well. Let’s not forget that it’s Ichigo, and not Herikawa, who poses the bigger threat tot their relationship.
Junichi (DCSS) – His character regresses from the first season. He is kind but not to a fault; and is able to show some backbone in critical situations – qualities he lacks in the second season. As for Kotori,I don’t even want to know what would’ve happened if she was lesbian, lusted after Nemu, and caused her to cough up Sakura petals…
Keitaro (Love Hina) – In a word – pathetic. It’s pretty obvious to me that Naru is a decent friend but not girlfriend material. He should’ve at least stopped the violence against him.
Takaki (To Heart 2) – Not unlike Kouichi in KimiKiss (manga), but decidedly inferior. Kouichi is much more capable when it comes to meeting a girl’s needs, and taking charge at key moments. Takaki just needs to grow a spine.
Yoshiyuki (D.C. II) – Honestly, he took on too much responsibility. He shouldn’t make himself be solely responsible for Minatsu – if you ask me, Yume is actually in better position to do something about it!
Makoto (School Days) – Brilliant. The protagonist we all love to hate. The rare male lead who can elicit cries of joy while he is being brutally murdered.
Other candidates in the Hall of Shame:
Haruo (Magikano) – He is simply a prop; an excuse for the girls to fight each other. It actually increases the humor of the show because it only serves to add to the absurdity of their fights.
Yuuichi (Kanon, Kanon 2006) – The first incarnation totally neglects his aunt and cousin to grieve over a friend who disappeared seven years ago; the second goes suicidal.
Rin (Shuffle!) – Accepts Sia at first, but it doesn’t stop him from “keeping his options open”. Then he absolutely butchers the whole Kaede-Asa deal, culminating with his boxcutter moment.
Sana (Myself; Yourself) – A true masochist in the Keitaro mold. Good luck with Nanaka; you’ll need it.
And as for a Hall of Fame…
Hiroyuki (To Heart) – The total package. Considerate, friendly, and helpful. He has all the traits that tend to make relationships stronger in the long run – a person who pays attention to details and does the little things. One can only hope that Akari will always have a person like Hiroyuki by her side…
Kenji (Lamune) – Not quite at Hiroyuki’s level but pretty dang close. His devotion to Nanami is exemplary.
Haruhiko (Gift) – His relationship with Riko is not unlike Kenji-Nanami – so natural and flowing that it’s a joy to watch.
December 12th, 2007 - 01:54
Forgot to mention that IMHO Kei from Onegai Teacher also should not be on that list, since choosing Mizuho over Herikawa was actually the right thing to do. If I remember correctly he decided to get married to Mizuho on his own and he stayed true to her throughout the show, both of which showed some amazing maturity for a person his age(yeah, I know he is 3 years older, but come on – he did not develop during those 3 years of sleep, he is still 15-year-old mentally and emotionally).
Also, Sana?!? Really? He might be a little wimpy but he’s a pretty decent guy and besides I’m not sure if he fits the harem archetype since he only has one girl genuinely interested in him(Nanaka) and two who are more like comic relief than actual love interests(Aoi, Hinako).
December 12th, 2007 - 07:18
@Stripey
My most basic and important criteria is personality, one that has to be reasonably likeable and perhaps even repectable. This of course includes throwing out a serious degree of stupidity. Abit is fine, if just for comedy sake. An added bonus is if that character could exhibit an impressive mentality or belief… Or at least one that doesn’t make you roll your eyes.
Once he at least have those, next is harem managing and taste in women =P
(Even better if he’s GAR
)
@dsong
You have got to be kidding, Yuuichi from Kanon 2006 ? Forgot harem lead, He’s like one of the best male characters in existence! And he is NOT suicidal. And please don’t put Sana in the same category as Keitaro, the two of them are too different.
December 12th, 2007 - 19:24
@Stripey: except…. kei kei hates ef D:
December 17th, 2007 - 22:51
I agree with Chaos, Yuuichi is an example of a harem lead done right, well atleast from 06. My critira for good harem leads includes personality, if they have a brain or not (Rational thinking), the ability to use dedeuctive reasoning (something Saki Yuji lacks), and their choice in girls. The last part is suspectible to my bais but as long as the harem lead doesn’t choose a girl I HATE it’s cool. NaGARsumi wasn’t too bad imo, but Rin as the top of manliness is a bit meh.
The enemies of mankind list isn’t on how pathetic the harem lead is, the fact that Tsukihime’s (There is no anime) Shiki/Nanaya is at the top is proof to that. Although there are alot of pathetic lame harem leads on that list too.
@Beowolf
In the anime I’ll admit that Shirou got on my nerves abit, but atleast he was one of the few harem leads to grow a brain near the end. The anime doesn’t really do him justice. In the Fate route of the game his “Saber shouldn’t fight because she’s a girl” attitude was really an excuse to put Saber out of danger because he just didn’t want to see her get hurt in specific. In the other routes he’s alot more likeable, Heaven’s feel has him going antihero and killing Berserker 9 times in a row with a kickass move as well as totaly discarding his ideals.
December 18th, 2007 - 07:00
Darklord: Actually I may be too hard on Kei. I just I’m just hung up over him not choosing Herikawa. Ack, now I’m made the mistake of labelling someone poor lead just because he didn’t choose my fav girl. XD
Chaos2Frozen/Flamestrike: Heh, actually I would put managing harem first because a good character would manage his harem well and kindly but an intrinsically good character may bomb at bishoujo management
Which is why one important marker of a good harem lead for me is making sound choices in haremettes.
December 18th, 2007 - 17:50
Kei simply couldn’t choose Herikawa. If he didn’t choose Mizuho he would have been disgraced, kicked out of school, and disowned by his uncle. And if he dared to cheat on Mizuho, he is even worse than Takayuki or Rin… he’s heading towards the Makoto zone.
And besides, if Mizuho hadn’t arrived on the scene he would’ve probably chosen Ichigo. Herikawa will have to make do with the sensei, hopefully AFTER graduation.
April 27th, 2008 - 03:38
Awesomeness…. Im gonna Advertise the Enemies of Mankind…. Hahaha