I like what I like… Until…

There is that genre that we tend to avoid. You know when the story sounds pretty cool then you see that it’s a certain genre… It can be an automatic pass. You know there is no judgement from me since I am a serial abuser of the “I don’t like_____ .”

Mostly it has to do with harems. I really don’t like them. I also should mention that I am a super hypocrite since I like some reverse harems. So I’ll just lay it all out there that I am a super hypocrite. Or I could argue that there is a bit of difference and that to me it is the personality of the main character… blah blah blah.

But I’m actually want to write about those few harems that snuck through my instant reject and turned into something that I enjoyed.

Something that frustrates me is my own lack of research. So I’m the only one to be blamed here. When I’m watching an anime and it is okay but I stop watching once girl number two falls in love with potato boy. At that point I’m done. The anime already failed me in the fact that the main character is not a believable love interest. For any harem to work (for me) I have to believe that one person would be awesome enough to have multiple love interests… (I had to rage quit Accel World)

He is cuter as a pig but the constant crying… Thank you, next.

So it in the end I’ve only watched very few harem anime all the way to the end. Also if I see one male surrounded by women in the picture I tend to pass.

Now for the ones that I found myself enjoying. These I guess have a darker themes and I think a way stronger male lead.

This anime will be getting a second season soon which I’m pretty excited about. However, Re: zero was a hard sell at first. When I first watched it I didn’t make it through the first episode. Then for some reason I tried it again and I think the darker elements really drew me in. I also started to like the how the main character grew with each rebirth. He didn’t stay the same and and that really sold me on him as a harem leader lol.

I did also like that he had to earn one of his love interests loyalty. He never knew if they were going to kill him or not. Pretty fun. Nothing like keeping your man on his toes.

 

The Rising of the Shield Hero is a recent anime that I’m really enjoying. For me Naofumi is a great character. He is a bit refreshing to me as an harem lead. For one I don’t see him crying all the time and also he isn’t awkwardly blushing all the time. I really like that. He was the typical nerd but I like that he is more hardened and that he really changed and grew as a character.

It really is a story line that makes sense. Normally I would be done at the first lollicon (something that makes me insta quit… sorry just not my thing) but the story and mc (for now) is overriding something I really don’t like … Now that is a powerful story to do that.

I think it is also due to the fact that he is acting more like a father or brother figure and that may be what is working for me.

So these two harems broke my own standards and I’m really happy that they did. It is hard to put out a blanket statement saying that you don’t care for a genre. In the end though, life is too short to watch something you don’t like. But I guess you have to stay open to finding that next thing that will bring you joy.

Any anime that changed your mind about a genre?

Happy Watching!