User blog comment:B214/Volume 23 discussion blog/@comment-31137559-20170331222853

Qualifications for Harem King:

​*Does the culture accept polygamy or having multiple lovers at once? Although most of these series are fictional, the setting of these series is mostly Japan or some fictional world with the customs of Japan. Or anywhere else where ploygamy is unacceptable and having multiple lovers at once is heavily looked down upon. That's the case most of the time. In our world, polygamy is illegal in most countries. For there to be a harem in these series, 9 times out of 10 they need to create another setting where polygamy is in fact acceptable. Take DxD's case. In the Underworld, polygamy and having multiple lovers is perfectly acceptable. They are devils so it would make sense. They are still trying to repopulate after the Great War ended and devils have low birthrates. So having a harem would make sense. Instead of in those series where the culture of the country won't accept it.


 * Are the girls fine with having a harem? This partially ties in with my first point. Are the girls just fighting to be the guy's 'one and only'? Or are they fine with sharing the man they love with each other? Just having a bunch of girls like a guy doesn't make him harem king. People who try to use Ichika from Infinite Stratos as an example and say that he has a whole school of girls that like him are kind of confused. It wouldn't be that hard to get every girl in the school if you're the only male in the entire school and you're famous across the world. Or those people who use Kirito as an example just because he has a few girls that are attracted to him. By that logic, Kiba should be the harem king of DxD, not Issei. By all means that means I'm a harem king because I have girls attracted to me everywhere I go. For girls being in a harem, they will have to sacrifice a lot. Not every woman is willing to do that for the man they love. Can they accept that other women love the guy just as much as they do?


 * Is the guy ready to take on the monumental task of being a harem king? Not every male can give attention to their multiple lovers and cater to each one. And no, being harem king doesn't mean being a balls-out pervert like Akatsuki from Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero. You can be timid and be capable of becoming a harem king in the future. You don't have to be cool and collected about being around lustful women to become a harem king in the future.


 * Is there any mention of harem or any signs pointing towards a harem in the series? We know how these series go. Normal guy ends up being around a bunch of beautiful girls that are somehow attracted to them and end up in a variety of very erotic sutuations. Most of these series are just for laughs and I enjoy most of them. But is there any hinting towards a harem or any mention of it? Because otherwise it's a harem series that's not going to become a harem.


 * Does the guy actually care about the girls? While the guy doesn't have to show any romantic feelings towards the girls at the moment, does he show anything that could point to possible romantic feelings in the future? As we've seen in DxD, Issei does care about each of the girls and I would say he has become somewhat sensitive to their feelings. And he confessed to Akeno and Asia, so it's possible for a guy to realize their feelings for the girls much sooner.

High School DxD has met these expectations and then some. While I bet there are other series that have met these expectations or will meet them, I have found very few. The only ones I can point to are To Love-ru, Trinity Seven, and Campione. Can anyone point me out to any good harem series that actually meet the expectations of a harem. And please don't say Shinmai Maou no Testament although I guess that meets the expectations as well.