The Best Harem Anime Of All Time

 

One guy and a plethora of women typically equals a harem. That has been the formula since the Tenchi Muyou! days. You usually find that each of the main female cast members has their own quirk or personality, and of course, there’s the variety of their builds. If you’ve watched enough anime, you’re familiar with such tropes as the busty onee-san, shy senpai, and tsundere loli.

Let’s not forget the all too dense harem MC either. He’s typically good for nothing, timid, and all-around someone who would never have the guts to approach a woman, let alone a group of them. This dichotomy spells some hilarity at times, but some harem anime do it far better than others. Today we’re counting down our updated Top

More

10. Outbreak Company

• Episodes: 12
• Aired: Oct. 2013 - Dec. 2013

Poor, poor Kanou Shinichi. His childhood friend brutally rejected him, he can’t find a job, and he’s been an otaku shut-in for the past few years. That all changes when he responds to a suspicious job ad asking for someone exactly like him. He finds himself becoming a type of otaku evangelist for a parallel fantasy world of the Eldant Empire. There, he finds that elves, magic, and dragons are all commonplace. He also finds himself in the midst of something of a growing harem all to himself.

Thrust between his half-elf maid, the loli Empress of the empire, an indentured beast girl artist, and his own handler/bodyguard, Shinchi has come to appreciate his life just a bit more than back in Japan. The show has a heavy dose of comedy, and while light on the romance elements typical to the genre, it definitely hits all the expected tropes while making light of them with its parodies. A classic of recent years for those looking to enjoy a new show.

---

9. Mahou Sensei Negima! (Negima)

• Episodes: 26
• Aired: Jan. 2005 - June 2005

Negi Springfield is quite the precocious go-getter. This teacher is a kid and he’s got his whole class after him! He’s also a wizard -the magical kind. To pass his final test and become a Master Wizard, Negi Springfield must prove he can survive undetected in the human world, and as an English teacher no less. It doesn’t take long before the girls realize something smells fishy about their new 10-year-old teacher, and not just because he’s a little short. A longstanding harem comedy, Negima is full of laughs and misunderstandings that audiences can enjoy.

---

8. Tenchi Muyou!

• Episodes: 25
• Aired: Apr. 1995 - Sep. 1995

Living in a rural prefecture in Japan, Masaki Tenchi thought his life would remain the same forever. However, the arrival of a space pirate by the name of Ryouko changes his fate. Thrust into a huge mess between the Jurai Empire, galactic space police, and a whole host of intergalactic tomfoolery, simple Tenchi can only ask “Why me?” One thing does remain a constant throughout his ordeals: the ladies are definitely taking notice of Tenchi. One of the most iconic harem anime ever, Tenchi Muyou! is worth a watch even now.

---

7. Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou (Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls)

• Episodes: 12
• Aired: Jul. 2015 - Sep. 2015

People like girls, right? And some people like monsters, sure. So why not put them together? That makes some sense, but why they’re all invading Kurusu Kimihito’s house is another question altogether. A lazy agent from the interspecies exchange program decides to drop off a lamia named Miia at Kimihito’s house on a whim, telling him he’s now her new host family.

Miia quickly falls in love with him, and due to the success, the agent decides to send several more to live at his house as well! Also, there are talks of marriage to smooth things over politically?! Say what you want about harem anime, but when they go for it, they go all out. You’ll find just about every flavour of monster girl you can imagine in this one, and all have it out for “Darling”. This is a funny, ecchi-filled everyday life harem anime for your enjoyment.

---

6. Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (Oreshura)

• Episodes: 13
• Aired: Jan. 2013 - Mar. 2013

Why is it always the MCs that want nothing to do with love that ends up with a harem? That’s the case for Kidou Eita at least. He believes love is fake and wants nothing to do with romance, but when the most beautiful girl in school blackmails him into pretending to date her, he can’t avoid it. Suddenly, his new, fake relationship causes the girls around Eita to treat him differently. They’re all trying to win over his affection, meanwhile, he’s just trying to survive being the number one guy with a target on his back thanks to his evil new girlfriend. A harem comedy with a lot of romances all spelling disaster, Oreshura is a very enjoyable watch.

More

5. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Haganai: I don't have many friends)

• Episodes: 12
• Aired: Oct. 2011 - Dec. 2011

Forget having a girlfriend, Hasegawa Kodaka’s goal is just to have one single solitary friend in general. Given his dad’s work, his family has moved around constantly, not allowing him to socialize much. Not to mention he looks like a delinquent despite being a normal teenager. However, after joining the Neighbor’s Club at his new school, he’s surrounded by socially outcast girls all hoping to make friends. It’s lucky for him that they’re unperturbed by his awkwardness, and Kodaka is quickly on his way to getting a girlfriend far before he makes his first real friend. If you want to see how one lucky guy gets a harem overnight, give Haganai a watch.

---

4. To LOVE-Ru Darkness

• Episodes: 12
• Aired: Oct. 2012 - Dec. 2012

Yuuki Rito, aka the undisputable “god of fall”. How many women have met their undoing by merely stepping into his path, only for him to slip and grope them mercilessly? Despite having a natural aversion to girls, his alien fiancee Lala’s younger sister Momo has her heart set on making him a harem. Rito, who still only has real affection towards his classmate Haruna, is troubled by this. What’s more, bounty hunter Darkness has growing feelings for him, and her little sister Mea arrives as well. Not good for the gynophobic MC.

To LOVE-Ru Darkness is one of the wildest, lewdest, and almost completely out of control harem shows in existence. Despite being the very definition of the spineless, cowardly MC, Rito has a charm to him that only he could pull off. The situations he finds himself in are just too comical. Definitely worth a watch for harem fans.

---

3. Grisaia no Kajitsu (The Fruit of Grisaia)

• Episodes: 13
• Aired: Oct. 2014 - Dec. 2014

To put it simply, Kazama Yuuji is a human weapon. After successfully completing so many secret ops for the Japanese government, his only desire is to experience life as a normal high school student. Easier said than done, but his wish is granted with his transfer to Mihama Academy. However, the environment is anything but normal. The only other students there are a group of girls of mixed ages. One of them even tries to kill him on his first day, while another confesses her love. What’s going on?

Fruit of Grisaia is anything but your typical harem anime. It’s a drama that shows the dark side of human nature in a way that very few series try to explore. After coming into contact with the girls, their circumstances become clear and their hearts open. After enough time, Yuuji’s opens as well. Can a boy who only knows how to kill and be betrayed truly become a harem MC? Watch to find out.

---

2. Trinity Seven

• Episodes: 12
• Aired: Oct. 2014 - Dec. 2014

Can you think of another MC who would casually find himself in bed with two girls, only to be interrupted by a third and invite her to join them? The answer is no. Kasuga Arata is a man’s man’s man. He has no shyness, hesitation or cowardice when dealing with his harem, even when they often threaten to kill him.

After the life he knew crumbles around him due to a magical phenomenon, Arata heads to Royal Biblia Academy to discover the truth. There, he learns that the only way to return to normalcy is to seek the aid of the Trinity Seven, the most powerful girls at the school. Some seek to help him, while others feel his presence puts them all at risk. In any case, the adventure Arata finds himself in is hilarious, exhilarating, and above all, sexy. You can’t ask for more from a harem anime.

1. Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata (Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend)

• Episodes: 12
• Aired: Jan. 2015 - Mar. 2015

There are weak and timid harem protagonists, and then there’s Tomoya Aki. He’s not afraid of women so much as he wants nothing -and I mean nothing- to do with them. He believes that 2D girls are pure and worthy of devotion, and anything less is an affront to his goddesses. Despite his overwhelming otaku nature, this doesn’t stop him from being well-known at school.

One day, after he encounters a mysterious beauty, he is awestruck. His life’s passion has turned to make an erotic dating sim that depicts her beauty. However, it turns out she’s merely his plain classmate Megumi Kato. Thus begins Aki’s quest to turn Kato from a normal girl into the ultimate waifu.

Saekano most notably turned the harem genre on its head by having the usual vacation bathing scene in its very first episode. From then on, it proceeded to both ridicule and utilize every trope in the harem book with sharp and witty dialogue. It’s certainly nothing new, but it did what very few harem anime have done in the past, and that gives the characters a compelling reason to be interested in each other. Each of the girls is there despite knowing Tomoya has no desire for them as women, but their pasts connect them deeply. It’s also incredibly humorous seeing the lengths one man can go to avoid getting laid, to some hilariously insane levels.

---

Final Thoughts

Long live the harem. It’s arguably the trashiest genre in anime, but as long as there are us feasting raccoons, we can enjoy our dumpster delights in peace. What were some of your favourite harem anime? Did you feel we left any out? Let us know in the comments!