Real talk, nobody watches harems (for long anyways) for plot or characters, it's for the waifus, the lewd, the cute interactions what have you. And one of the very last reasons anyone would get into or particularly appreciate it is the "MC", they're not all exactly the same, sure, but on average, there are very very similar, and at the end of the day probably one of the first things people forget about these shows if you watch a lot of them.
That being said; who are some harem protags YOU personally thought stood out?
Not saying who was MC in your favorite shows, I'm saying who was your favorite MCs regardless of what you thought of the show overall; my own "top MCs" and "top shows" do not all go hand in hand although there is some overlap.
I'd say the most memorable three for me are;
Haguure no Yuusha guy; his rapey antics and general smugness was cheesy sure, but like a 80s/90s action way which although being extremely cliche in general terms is quite refreshing and unique for an MC in terms of modern harems.
Infinite Stratos guy was simple hilarious. He fucking knows, he's like that guy from hanagi but like a sociopathic savant pulling it off flawlessly. A great cast of waifus and generally entertaining interactions during the 'downtime' episodes combined with ichika was very fun to watch
Tomoki from Sora no Otoshimono; great humor in the character interaction, one of the best executions of a 'forwardly lewd' but also genuinely 'nice guy' MC I've seen. also very Gurren Lagann vibe in the 'plot aspects' (kinda getting into the manga) where he's like some regular ass kid yelling at reality warping beings and jumping into their fights and then like eventually killing "god" with his bare hands for a plot reset after everyone died
>I didn't make the picture, I'm not saying these are the endall best harem or anything, it's just a decent picture of a bunch of harems.
Brody Carter
also
Hudson Howard
No one cares about your taste.
Austin Kelly
Then please enlighten me with your superior taste I'm not trying to tell anyone to watch or like anything, it's called starting a discussion
Dominic Hughes
None. They're all shit. Typing up walls of text to paint them as colorful won't make them good.
Michael Collins
By they do you mean the MCs? or Harems in general?
In the case of the latter, as you seem to be implying you have watched several while hating every single one along the way; why do/did you continue watching then?
And in the case of the former; surely some were more shit than others, and some less so.
Nathaniel Adams
Ayato is literally worse than Ichika.
Alexander Smith
All of them.
William Howard
Is strike the blood actually good? The girl in OP looks cute.
Eli Harris
Then why do you watch them? Why didn't you just stop?
I've certainly dropped shit on EP1 and been like nope, not into that genre, and went and watched things I actually enjoy.
Nathaniel Howard
Stella a shit. A SHIT. Worst harem nain girl ever.
Carter Peterson
Don't know what to tell you other than I stuck with this series to read about how the protagonist would get through the plot and fight against the villains.
Julian Rogers
What are you new? For the girls, duh. That's a stupid question to ask.
Jayden Richardson
Trinity Seven MC is pretty based. Still not in a "you can recall his name" tier though.
Easton Rodriguez
I wasn't personally crazy about STB, but I know its quite popular on this board, there are fairly regular threads on it. It's one of those things that I don't really remember a lot of details about except the MC and main girl, and it was fairly plot involved with less sol/comedy breather episodes and what not, but did have a pretty cute romance plot which actually does reach a fairly satisfying conclusion at the end (that might have been the final OVA, like I said, it's been a while since I watched it), It isn't one of MY personal favorites, but I'd certainly say it is worth watching on account of being quite competently done throughout (while I don't have any particular things I remember loving about it, I don't recall hating anything either) and fairly long and having as mentioned before a satisfactory conclusion, and yes that girl is quite cute in it, one of the things I remember was how she said sempai.
Julian Thomas
tldr
Nathan Edwards
Fuck off Asterisktard.
Charles Peterson
>IS's MC >good Pick one. He's the worst and most dense MC in that pic.
Jesus doesn't belong there. He's actually decent as a protag instead of being reduced to a harem MC.
Samuel Taylor
What did you think about the MC of Cross Ange?
Adrian Walker
MC of Grisaia.
Zachary Howard
His density fucking hilarious though, he plays it so goddamn straight and has other moments where he's obviously not totally autistic and that just means he's gotta be faking which makes it even funnier
Joseph Walker
>butthurt at the truth >anyone who dares point out the truth has to like Asterisk Triggered Stellafag.
Jonathan Jones
Nothing. I didn't watch that shit.
Wyatt Howard
Fooling nobody asterisktard.
Chase Torres
Both you series are awful.
Isaiah Richardson
My boy.
Oliver Barnes
Stella being terrible is true, so he's not wrong, you know.
Chase Turner
>Best harem main girl of 2015 >terrible
Jace Ramirez
I think you may be reading too deeply into a fucking battle harem but I suppose that's your prerogative. Also it's been a while since I've seen someone associate harems, let alone battle harems, with the word 'hilarious.' They more feel like I'm giving myself a lobotomy.
Carter Johnson
Alright, I might give it a shot later this month after I finish my current shows. Thanks for the write-up.
Robert Harris
>Best harem main girl >Fights once >Relegated to support instead of being focused on Come on now.
Jaxon Sullivan
I just don't watch harems, ever. I like girls, but not as the only reason to watch a show. I'd rather read manga or browse /c/ at that point. Anyway the girls are not much less bland and stereotypical than the MC, it's fucking pointless. I just don't bother at all. Only harem I ever enjoyed was DxD, and it was not as typical of harems, although it was still pretty bad.
Noah Myers
Your taste is garbage. You may want to check into that.
Liam Lee
Stella is shit.
Robert Hernandez
Stella is best
Connor Garcia
Delusional Stellafag. Stella is as shitty as Claire from Hundred, the worst girl of 2016.
Adrian Thompson
>DxD >not SZS Shit taste.
Angel Richardson
Bahamut/Hundred/Asterisk/Rakudai were a mistake.
Matthew Campbell
Cheating piece of shit
Dylan Davis
Green - enjoyed some and more Yellow - was just okay Red - so bad it's purely guilty pleasure
Jace Thomas
Fuck off, crabfag.
Henry Walker
You rate this shit?
What a shit taste.
Dylan Wright
Date A Live's protagonist stood out to me as the most generic harem protagonist in any work ever. He was so generic he wrapped all the way back to memorable.
Landon Stewart
Not every harem isa shitty school battle harem.
Colton Walker
The World God Only Knows. MC is more memorable than any of the girls.
Julian Brooks
>Guy Hair color White- 2 Brown- 4 Black/Dark Blue -14
>Girl hair color Blonde- 1 Orange -1 Black/ Dark Blue- 4 White- 4 Pink- 5 Red- 5
Is this due to the thought that a Japanese audience wouldn't be able to identify with a MC with non dark hair since they would seem very non-Japanese? But they are perfectly fine with the woman not being Japanese?
Jace Clark
Can I like a harem protag because of his voice?
I feel like part of his personality got shafted in the anime. No, I don't read the LN, it's just a gut feeling. Like, I totally agree with you, he's so goddamn bland.
Cameron Stewart
>Date A Live's protagonist What kind of personality does he have? Refresh my memory again.
Logan Thompson
The MC is all the same. They have nothing special, just ordinary people that have hidden super power. Everything what they do in the plot is decided by their harem. They can't even decide thier own role. But sometimes there's an exception like Seikon no Qwaser, or Mahouka. But it still the same, basically it just shounen + panties, nothing more nothing less.
William Walker
...
Lincoln Nelson
>His density fucking hilarious though It's not. Density like that is infuriating, badly executed, and is generic as it gets..
Nolan Long
It's generic because he made it generic. You can't accuse the thing that started the trend of following the trend.
Christian Miller
Hosoya is love
Jordan Thomas
Just because the show sold well doesn't mean he started the trend, nigga. Dense MCs was around before IS came out.
But ichika's density collapsed into a singularity spreading the dense MC cliche forward and backwards through spacetime, so although he wasn't the chronological 'first' by the limited perception of linear temporal beings such as humans, he was indeed the progenitor
Joshua Thompson
Shitty normalfag taste much?
Asher Long
>I only like tits
Jayden Allen
I see one, maybe two good girls. JUST holy fuck, go fix your taste.
You sound so retarded.
Ayden Rogers
Hint: He has a singular personality trait, and it's the most common one in harem animes.
Zachary Ortiz
Jokes on you I was only pretending~
We get it tough guy, your mysterious never to be stated and therefore OBVIOUSLY infallible preference are so far above our heads that we could never comprehend them and if you were to reveal them we would all be struck dead by the majesty. Oh great serious discussor of battle harem anime and battle harem best girl officiator of exalted taste.
Please oh please let your venerable (You) rain down upon me so that I may bask in it
Andrew Robinson
I agree. I always consider to watch a harem if I'm interested in the MC's VA. Damn if I didn't enjoy Index not only because of the absurdity but also because of Touma's voice which was relaxing to hear.
Also Bahamut's MC got a cute voice. Yeah I know it's a girl voicing him.
Nicholas Campbell
SZS looked good, but I found it underwhelming.
Joseph Powell
9/10 taste
Xavier Hughes
best harem mc coming through, the first series he's just based and the second he's fighting against the reality of a harem
Camden Rogers
Voices definitely help with deciding if I should continue watching something or not. In the case with DAL's protag, I definitely remember worse since I actually like his voice in other works He's one of the best
Nathaniel Clark
Hosoya's performance as Kusanagi Takeru was one of the things that made me a fan of Antimagic Academy. That and it looked better than its contemporaries Asterisk and Rakudai simply because of the fact that there was something on the line besides school pride in a tournament setting.
Julian Robinson
Harem anime idea: Combine 1 parts World God Only Knows, 1 parts Death Note, 2 parts Mirai Nikki, and 1 parts Overlord.
Result: Psychopathic MC uses his meta knowledge of being in a harem anime equivalent to manipulate the girls into helping him take over the world. Also the MC is Tsundere as fuck.
Nathan Sanchez
Kusanagi Takeru.
>dat military uniform >no muh justice bullshit >works and pays rent
Asher Perez
Hopefully he can pull something amazing off since Kurogane and Haunted just pulled some fan-fucking-tastic shit in the latest chapter.
Isaiah Brooks
Yeah, Shimazaki is actually pretty decent VA, I like him in Saiki Kusuo, Active Raid and Tari Tari. It's just that he's forced to do his generic, boring voice for DAL's MC (and I think he's in Twintails too?).
The other harem MC voice I actually like is Shimono Hiro. No special reason I just find his voice moe as fuck.
Hosoya's voice when shit's getting real is always a treat.
Henry Campbell
>color wars Glad to know people still call it by that name
Hudson Rogers
Is this bait?
Jaxson Phillips
How can you stomach this many harems. How.
Nolan Campbell
>once again proof that AMA was the only good thing to come out of that season
i expect to see you all at the next comfy ama chapter thread.
Blake Brooks
It'll take a while apparently but of course.
Ethan Garcia
How harem does a series have to be before it counts?
Jace Perez
Top kek right there, can't believe that shit stuck.
Like Sekirei pokemon.
Nolan Lopez
Objectively the best ranking
Noah Stewart
>DxD >Great
Robert Martinez
Maybe it's the nostalgia goggles talking, but I really thought it was super badass when he busted out the Lighthawk Wings and took down Kagato.
Christian Martinez
Issei is, objectively, great for a harem MC. Certainly leaps and bounds above betalord faggots allergic to pussy. He at least actively seeks it out.
No matter what you think of DxD as a whole, the fact that Issei is great cannot be denied.
Landon Edwards
>He at least actively seeks it out Yet for the longest time he shrinks away from it because he's scared of getting close to chicks. Sure he wants it now because the editor got changed but nah, he's average.
Owen Wilson
>Hagure >goat >DxD >great Spotted the ultra manchild.
Kayden Roberts
He would have loved Mahouka if he actually understood what was going on, I'd imagine.
Nathan Russell
Pretty dull to be honest.
Ethan Stewart
Trinity seven had my favorite characters, even if the plot was retarded.
Jace Adams
T7 is great but it has the worst harem main girl to ever exist.
Colton Morgan
Is she worse than Houki?
Juan Garcia
yeah, levi best girl
Angel Barnes
I like them like Kenshi or his brother.
Jackson Lopez
>but it has the worst harem main girl to ever exist
not while pic related exists
Blake Garcia
Literally worse than Houki.
Asher Richardson
>Hated Love Hina so much that I actually enjoyed the the thought of MC's sister winning the bowl
Adam Scott
The sim date was the best part of the series since I got to beat the shit out of them.
Wyatt Hill
Tohka has purple hair tbqhwydesu
Ryder Gonzalez
All these fuckers look the same.
Like they would be in the exact same series and nobody would notice.
Fuck, maybe that's more interesting: a world full of harem protags, generally just shitting up their social spheres via unmitigated obliviousness and philandering.
Adrian King
Celestia is the best girl in a harem anime ever
William Jones
She's still 10 time better than Houki and Stella. At least she and MC can have fun together and engage in comedy skits.