Question Poll: Harem or No harem?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by TypeFantasyHeart, May 5, 2021.

?

Harem Or No Harem?

  1. Harem

    33.3%
  2. No Harem

    66.7%
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  1. Lissi

    Lissi 『Queen of Lissidom』『Holy Chibi』『Western Birdy』『⚓』

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    I like reverse/BL harems~ blobmelt_thumbs

    But I typically don't read regular harems with male protags (especially if it's a cultivation novel or sonething) because I hate the "collecting" feeling those novels give off.
     
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  2. Bigriend

    Bigriend Well-Known Member

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    No harem for me.
    I like romance and in my mind harems should not be called "romance". Harems are harems, they're more a wish-fullfilment kind of thing. Which is totally fine, but in a good novel I prefer to have an engaging romance which I can relate to instead of a harem.
    I really like power couples too and that's like the complete opposite of a harem.
     
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  3. MeowMeowMeow

    MeowMeowMeow Active Member

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    No harem. I Nolike to read shoujo but harem..... Nah- :notlikeblob: they completely spoil the novel .
     
  4. God slayer

    God slayer Retired God Slayer

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    No harem... Especially if they have a romance tag.......
     
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  5. applelollita

    applelollita Well-Known Member

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    Harem gives me a bad feeling . Its my personal opinion that harem makes no sense unless it some ancient imperial palace setting where the priority is to produce heirs and not love . If any MC says that they truly love only one person in their harem but then go on to sleep with others it kinda feels like adultery to me . Harem tag just has that psychological effect that tells me that don't read it unless you are prepared to get uncomfortable and have your mental boundaries breached .
     
  6. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    I do like the occasional harem novel but this doesn't fit every kind of story out there, and it takes a pretty special writer to make them work. It's not just a matter of whether the book is good as I've seen good books that are hurt because it incorporated a harem, and more about how the story itself works. In addition to this, the book will need a writer who likes writing female characters and who is willing to imbue them with personality and characterization than just have them as prizes for the protagonist.

    This sounds hard and it's probably even harder to do than it sounds. One pointed example is "Sevens". I've seen this book get praised for having a really good harem but I can't see what the appeal is. The harem members just aren't very interesting and there isn't a whole lot for them to do especially later in the book. The dialogue isn't particularly good and the interaction between the protagonist and the members of the harem are mostly forgettable. It's a story where the harem doesn't really harm the story but it also doesn't nothing to elevate it.

    At the other end of the scale is a book that takes place in the modern era. The harem members in that book are just fantastic. They're fully fleshed out characters with their own personalities, interests, and goals. All of these elements clash with one another, and sometimes even with the protagonist and it creates an environment where their interactions are one of the highlights of the book. You want to see them on the screen more often because they're so compelling and entertaining to see in action. And yet despite all this, I'd still say that the harem drags the bood down a bit. The problem is that it takes place in the modern day, and trying to get a proper harem working like this just doesn't entirely work.

    So in essence I'd yay harem, but only for the writers who can pull it off, and only in stories where harems would actually fit.

    I don't think that they're that rare, but most of the good ones are probably going to be historical novels and those don't get translated.
     
  7. alberu

    alberu Well-Known Member

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    If the quality of the work is good and the mc does not have to rely on the 'harem members' for literally everything or if the mc is not a lust driven beast, harems are fine for me. But in comparison it's no harem for me. (welp I rather read something with not even a speck of romance than read about the super op mc that suddenly turned to a simp and their logical thinking going down the gutter)no cap:blobunamused:
     
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  8. Nagisa11

    Nagisa11 Well-Known Member

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    I don’t follow lol. You talk about gangbang, the possibility of children, a man actually being capable of loving his harem? All of your arguments is in gross connotation of the brainwashing of the patriarchy. And really at the end it all comes down to the male privilege. Into the what is the fetishization of 1 woman 1 man. And really you just only described how the porn that you watch is gross cause of the women being gangbanged? Is that how you invision a harem with one women? So it’s not gross when it’s 1 men that sleeps with different women in his harem every night? He’s capable to love all of them? Pls. This is not irl, it’s the what if in harem in the novels we read! Do you really think a guy with 100+ harem members loves all of them equally? Hell he might barely remember their names.

    Like we noted, at the end it all comes down to power. And what a woman can and cannot have. Your opinion came down to children, than ask yourself! What if the girl doesn’t even want a child? It’s about power! Not love, that’s what harem is. Not love. But power. And the irl version of a harem is polygamy. FYI polygamous couples do exist irl.
     
  9. Wakashii

    Wakashii Well-Known Member

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    I feel like harem is an arcaic thing that only works in an Imperial Palace, because the MC is not going to ascend, he'll just stay there and live a 'good' life with his wives.

    I really can't understand how people can even enjoy a 'cultivation novel' with harem, how can 'you' marry a lot of women that can't follow you in cultivation? Why would any strong women allow that? Why would 'you' marry a woman that you will leave behind? I really don't believe in polygamous love.

    In my opinion, a single Dao Companion is the perfect, she/he should follow the MC while both of them are progressing. Furthermore, I can't endure the plots that are done because of an harem, they are painful to read, and so many good novels are destroyed that.

    Maybe I think this way because I read too much novels, but I'm very strict with that, a novel with harem must be nearly perfect to make me read nowadays.
     
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  10. Szara

    Szara Your average American Psycho

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    I don’t like harem novels. They’re just not realistic. I mean, who can tolerate that the person they love are out banging different people every day? It’s fine if there are multiple love interests, but I prefer if the novel ends with one couple only.
     
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  11. Nepagear

    Nepagear Well-Known Member

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    Harem is actually great only if it's a romantic subplot, I greatly dislike having a boner while reading an action nivel afterall, well it's kinda good for some sex scenes as long as not too much excessive sex (like for some reason taking 3 chaps for them to finish or for every 10 chapters there would be a steamy sex scenes)
     
  12. Nimroth

    Nimroth Someone

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    I would differentiate between harem as a setting and a harem plot though, if a story is about a person that has a harem but the story only have one actual love interest it is questionable if it counts as a harem plot.
    Harem as a setting I don't mind too much if it at least makes sense why the harem would be there in the first place.
    Harem plots with multiple love interests I'm more sceptical about, not because I think they are necessarily bad but it means the story has more characters that the author has to get right for the story to work.
    If the author half-asses it and tries to do a harem plot but has all the love interests except for maybe one or two just be minor side characters with nothing to do in the story then I would rather it not be harem in the first place.
    This isn't really limited to harem stories either, I could say the same about a lot of other stories that have "important" characters that get get nothing to do.

    In the end, if a story is well written, all of the characters done well and it all makes sense, then I don't really care if it is harem or not, although I can't say I've read many harem stories that counts as that personally.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2021
  13. God slayer

    God slayer Retired God Slayer

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    Yes that's exactly my feelings...
    Whenever I try to read them even if I try to force myself to read them by saying [it's not real it's novel after all] that just doesn't sit well with me.... It's like I feel a natural resistance towards them.... No matter how much people praise about a novel if it's harem I just can't read them...

    They're not realistic I agree... And almost every cultivation novel says the path of cultivation is solitary and full of loneliness... But mc has more than 10 harem members he's in no ******* way alone... And yes there's some novel where the woman is strong but she's very much willing to have another woman besides her man.... that doesn't feel good enough....
     
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  14. shahijohn

    shahijohn Well-Known Member

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    No harem but if a equal love triangle comes , I don't mind if Mc have 2 girls .
    But more than that, then it's lust no more love I guess.
    (Historical novels harem ok because in old time kings etc had to marry a lot in order to maintain the relationship between nobles and countries.
    It's wasn't up to then anyway.)
     
  15. Nana24

    Nana24 Well-Known Member

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    No harem, a lot of wuxia plot, the imperial plot always got harem with many females
    Sometimes, u read 1000+ chapters with these, easily get bored and wonder why u still reading this.
    Much prefer for these types of plots only includes the fighting, not including seducing girls from one end to another end.
    The human emperor novel is a good one as there is a lot of fighting, only one wife and other love interest.
     
  16. Ahodesuga

    Ahodesuga °˖✧Aho desu ga, Nani ka?✧˖° 《Liking Fiend》

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    Harem as a tag should die. A gruesome death.

    *insert burning elmo meme*
     
  17. may.day

    may.day Member

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    Nah, just can't at all. I hate harem both when it is male-centered as it is female-centered. 3 people are my limit at best (female and two guys :p don't @ me)

    I think it's good the harem tags exist, so I know which novels to avoid. lmao
     
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  18. Ahodesuga

    Ahodesuga °˖✧Aho desu ga, Nani ka?✧˖° 《Liking Fiend》

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    Oo, point.
     
  19. gomezcarsonk

    gomezcarsonk Member

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    Depends on the quality and background of the novel.....
     
  20. shyja

    shyja 『Seinen』『School life』『Sports』

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    harems are amusing to watch but not fun to be in, its just straight up impractical for most ppl irl after all
     
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