How do people enjoy Harem novels?

I just don't get it, and don't think will ever do. How the hell does someone enjoy a novel where the MC is actively seeking a huge harem? The stories would always be revolving around the MC adding more females to the harem and the interactions are ridiculous. In such novels, authors make all females-males interactions ambiguous even when they meet for the first time. Why?
Also let me not get to the cringey descriptions used quite often. For example
-"grinned like a bloom of a thousand flowers" describing a female smile. Why? She just smiled.
-A female working out for any reason and is sweaty, and apparently her sweat smells good? wtf?
-All females have a natural scent that can be smelled? and it's supposed to smell good? Okay lol

A side question, why does 99% of Japanese novels have harems?

 

Maybe they feel satisfied knowing that they at least get their favorite girl(s) chosen instead of going to war with the rest of the fanbase on whether the female lead should have been this particular girl or another character. Like people saying Rem was best instead of Emilia in Re:Zero

.... or maybe wish fulfillment that if they can't get any girl in life, might as well grab them like Pokemon in fiction.... but maybe I'm thinking too much into this.

 

As a certain man quoted"everything is sex except sex,which is power".

 

"grinned like a bloom of a thousand flowers" sounds like something from any Chinese novel and not just harem novels.

But yea, some people are just into that. I'm not gonna question it cause I myself am into a few questionable stuff.

 

^

 

I just don't get it, and don't think will ever do. How the hell does someone enjoy a novel where the MC is actively collecting all Pokemon? The stories would always be revolving around the MC adding more Pokemon to the Pokedex and the interactions are ridiculous. In such games/comics/movies, creators/directors/artists make all Gym battles hard even when they just start out. Why?
Also let me not get to the cringey descriptions used quite often. For example
-"shot out hydrocannon with the power of friendship" describing a normal Blastoise. Why? It just squirted some water.
-A Pokemon just doing its business is a valuable prize, and apparently needs to be battled unconscious for no reason? wtf?
-All Pokemon are living in harmon and its completely normal? and it's supposed to be all good? Okay lol

A side question, why does 99% of Pokemon games have Pokemons?

 

How do people enjoy Harem novels?
-Singlehandedly.

 

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of harem stories, though I can be willing to let them slide if they're done properly. There are several different types of harem stories as well so I can't really lump all of them in the same trash bin either.

For example, there are the wish fulfilment stories where the MC just goes around finding more women to add to their harem. That sort of story is probably the pinnacle of the story type labelled "Narou-kei" by a certain lolicon Vtuber I've heard a bit from. Basically, those stories can be enjoyed by people who are tired and want to be able to gain popularity without working hard. It's kinda the same vein as OP MC stories where the protag just suddenly is the strongest at no fault of their own. Basically, people who enjoy these stories tend to be struggling and tired in life, and just want an escape.

Then there are the non-committal harem stories, where the author never actually has any of the girls dating the guy until perhaps the very end. These ones are an effort on the authors part to string the viewers along in support of their favourite OTP or whatever. This type of harem story is more bearable for me personally since it's not really blatant NTR like the first type often is. I think this type is losing popularity lately however since people don't really want to put in the effort anymore and mostly just want to see the reward right away now.

And finally, there's the most believable type of harem story: the proper polyamorous relationship. This one used to confuse me until I actually met people IRL that lived like this. Usually this type of story involves the harem being created on request of the main heroine. I'd say

Spoiler: Kinda a spoiler if you haven't read it yet, popular JP harem isekai

Arifureta

falls nicely into this category since the MC wouldn't have considered entering a relationship with the other girls if the main heroine didn't directly ask him for it. I used to not believe this was realistic until I remembered that there are apparently bisexual people. This type of harem story can still be a hard sell for me, but I'm certainly not going to drop a good story just for this, and sometimes it can be done well enough to actually improve the story. Has to be on a case by case basis for me though.

Anyways, to answer your first question the reason you don't understand why people like that sort of thing probably stems from either your lack of academic understanding of how people work or a lack of empathy. Perhaps a mix of both.

Spoiler: Another type I forgot to add

There's also straight-up porn stories where people like harem because it's porn and nothing story-wise matters.

 

In japan its likely cuz harem sells. I mean. The FL is not everyone's favourite. Be it personality or form, so they add more varieties. And like i mentioned. It sells. Lmao. As for cn. Not rlly clear. Maybe wish fulfillment? I mean there are ppl who like to imagine to be the protagonist...

Another reason is. Smut. Ppl like smut varieties

 

I think people like it because it's a fantasy wish-fulfilling thing, if I can choose any females in the world I'd choose more than I can handle.

I mean many romance novels in any languages have overly romantic flowery words, it's not limited to Harem or Japanese.
and well, male after working out also smell 'manly' good to some females...

 

How is the wish fulfillment of harems different than all the 'oh, the MC is bullied and must kill his enemies' that are so popular? I figure something might be lacking in the lives of the readers and they want to live something they can't have in rl. Just like magic and lightsabers.

 

first you need to understand that harems are a representation of power.
second you need to remember that web novels authors get paid for character count.

 

Technically, I don't enjoy "harem" novels, I enjoy good novels. It might have harem in it, as a minor portion, or it could be the driving force of the story. Doesn't matter, if it's a well written novel, I will like it. The most enjoyable novels containing harem that I have read are Everyone else is returnee, Sevens, Stop! Friendly fire, Mushoku Tensei, Shield Hero(to some extent), Tsuki ga Michibiku (if two wives are considered harem). The Chinese harem novels(the ones I tried to read) on the other hand suck. Because they mostly throw the girls in there for padding the chapter counts with useless fillers. A new girl means another 50-100 chapter. Not to mention they can reuse the girls by putting them in another pinch.

 

Horny teens

Pheromones

Merchandising to horny teens



Most horny teens simply don't understand that a harem isn't your hot classmates you view from a far. It's like having your mother/sister that nag you all the time multiplied by each harem member.

 

Mostly for the comedy unless it not a comedy

 

I genuinely hate harem, because it shows how much the author is just a hornball who wants to bang all the pretty ladies he thought up of. And to appeal to the special readers who enjoyed it. Most harems are so poorly done that I feel like I am reading the chronicles of Red in pokemon as he goes on with his collectaton.

At least Rudeus understands his horniness and stops at three. Then Lyle is just a pitiful fool who gets gangbanged by the yans in his harem.

 

why harem sells? you asked.
So the thing is fantasy/Isekai novel is a ... fantasy, wish fulfillment for someone, who's tired of normal life or want something different, I,e: average Japanese salaryman (there's always execptions), your horny males(I was once one.), and many others.

 

I like to play a drinking game whenever I read anything harem.

>find novel and read
>write down name of introduced character
>if said character joins harem, take a shot

Not the way it’s meant to be enjoyed, but I’ll take the entertainment where I can get it.

 

I'm not going to go I to much detail because I think @UnGrave did a nice job breaking it down. so instead ill touch on real life events. Harems are actually more common then most people think. Even here in the good old US of A. We don't call them as such, and they function differently then in the stories, but what else would you call a guy that keeps multiple mistresses on the side. They even provide them places to live in a lot of cases. Cheating husbands aside, there are many cultures that exist today that have polygamous relationships. The easiest to point at would be the HBO show Big Love which is modeled after real life events in Utah. Even today polygamy is practiced there. So even if you can't understand something, doesn't make it wrong.

 

Is this the GREAT SECOND HAREM WAR?