Check the updated post here,
By ayreesa
Wee it's been a year already!
Holy Grail
My most favorite when I started watching animes was "Fushigi Yugi". Over the years I kept on looking for animes similar to "Fushigi Yugi" but I couldn't find one because I didn't know what I was looking for and my only resource then is AXN-Asia and Animax. In January 2007 (9 years after Fushigi Yugi) I picked a random title from Memento's site. I have no idea what the anime is about. All I care is that I want to watch an anime that is short and has an ending and it was "Ouran High School Host Club". Kirimi's statement is a phenomenal line that will later produce 180 posts, almost 50,000 hits and counting. It also paved the way for me to read mangas and watch Asian dramas. I couldn't also believe the only drama that I've watched "Meteor Garden", prior to Ouran is also a reverse harem. There's something about a girl and a love dodecangle of swoon-worthy bishies.
Big Bang Theory
I've always wondered who coined the word 'reverse harem'. Hands down "Ouran" popularized the buzzword in 2006. But the contenders of the first cookie-cut reverse harem with one girl surounded by three or more guys are Yuu Waatase's "Fushigi Yugi "and Yoko Kamio's "Hana Yori Dango". Both mangas debuted in 1992. "Fushigi Yuugi " in May, while "Hana Yori Dango" in October. For the anime versions FY first ran in 1995, while HYD aired a year later. Animes preceding this two may be considered reverse harem retrospectively. I think these two officially set the trend in stone and no earlier anime may equal the cult following and franchise these two earned. I'm also thinking that reverse harems probably evolved (aside from branching out from harem) from stories wherein girls have multiple suitors or love interests spread out in different timeline like "Candy Candy" (1975) and "Georgie" (1981). They're kinda like grandmothers of reverse harems. For otome games, the first generally acknowledged is "Angelique" which was first released in 1994.
Devices
Statistically there are a lot of girls over boys, but all it takes is some common cliches and creative storytelling for a reverse harem recipe. There's the guardians, all-boy clubs, girls disguised as a boy or the only girl student in an all boy-school, stepbrothers, girl in an all-boy dorm or house and more. In some cases, they don't use these devices and guys with no connection or relation to each other fall for our heroine. Of course, the guys will represent a character stereotype as further explained by Kirimi like the prince type, twincest etc. More bishies, more variety.
Ze Future
I decided to create my first and only fansite after I've seen all the reverse harem animes listed in wikipedia (They deleted it BTW but here's how the list looks like) and I couldn't find a resource. After each manga or drama that I've finished I tell to myself oh well it's time to start reading the manga versions of the animes but up to this day I've never done it yet. Because every day I discover some old and new titles. I didn't know that it had been around for such a long time and it must be getting more popular as we learn new projects. In case you've noticed I havn't started any otome review yet. I really appreciate those who frequently visit this site, who recommended titles and who shared their thoughts since I first started this. Keep on supporting this site and hopefully the animation studios will also realize that we need more reverse harems!
P.S.
Why Reverse Harem Garden? Hmm.. Let's see "Boys over Flowers", "For you in Full Blossom," "Meteor Garden", "The Wallflower"...The uber-abundance of roses in "Ouran High School Host Club" and sakuras in "Saiunkoku Monogatari". And to sum this all up here's a cheesy haiku that I wrote in the banner before:
By ayreesa
Wee it's been a year already!
Holy Grail
My most favorite when I started watching animes was "Fushigi Yugi". Over the years I kept on looking for animes similar to "Fushigi Yugi" but I couldn't find one because I didn't know what I was looking for and my only resource then is AXN-Asia and Animax. In January 2007 (9 years after Fushigi Yugi) I picked a random title from Memento's site. I have no idea what the anime is about. All I care is that I want to watch an anime that is short and has an ending and it was "Ouran High School Host Club". Kirimi's statement is a phenomenal line that will later produce 180 posts, almost 50,000 hits and counting. It also paved the way for me to read mangas and watch Asian dramas. I couldn't also believe the only drama that I've watched "Meteor Garden", prior to Ouran is also a reverse harem. There's something about a girl and a love dodecangle of swoon-worthy bishies.
Big Bang Theory
I've always wondered who coined the word 'reverse harem'. Hands down "Ouran" popularized the buzzword in 2006. But the contenders of the first cookie-cut reverse harem with one girl surounded by three or more guys are Yuu Waatase's "Fushigi Yugi "and Yoko Kamio's "Hana Yori Dango". Both mangas debuted in 1992. "Fushigi Yuugi " in May, while "Hana Yori Dango" in October. For the anime versions FY first ran in 1995, while HYD aired a year later. Animes preceding this two may be considered reverse harem retrospectively. I think these two officially set the trend in stone and no earlier anime may equal the cult following and franchise these two earned. I'm also thinking that reverse harems probably evolved (aside from branching out from harem) from stories wherein girls have multiple suitors or love interests spread out in different timeline like "Candy Candy" (1975) and "Georgie" (1981). They're kinda like grandmothers of reverse harems. For otome games, the first generally acknowledged is "Angelique" which was first released in 1994.
Devices
Statistically there are a lot of girls over boys, but all it takes is some common cliches and creative storytelling for a reverse harem recipe. There's the guardians, all-boy clubs, girls disguised as a boy or the only girl student in an all boy-school, stepbrothers, girl in an all-boy dorm or house and more. In some cases, they don't use these devices and guys with no connection or relation to each other fall for our heroine. Of course, the guys will represent a character stereotype as further explained by Kirimi like the prince type, twincest etc. More bishies, more variety.
Ze Future
I decided to create my first and only fansite after I've seen all the reverse harem animes listed in wikipedia (They deleted it BTW but here's how the list looks like) and I couldn't find a resource. After each manga or drama that I've finished I tell to myself oh well it's time to start reading the manga versions of the animes but up to this day I've never done it yet. Because every day I discover some old and new titles. I didn't know that it had been around for such a long time and it must be getting more popular as we learn new projects. In case you've noticed I havn't started any otome review yet. I really appreciate those who frequently visit this site, who recommended titles and who shared their thoughts since I first started this. Keep on supporting this site and hopefully the animation studios will also realize that we need more reverse harems!
P.S.
Why Reverse Harem Garden? Hmm.. Let's see "Boys over Flowers", "For you in Full Blossom," "Meteor Garden", "The Wallflower"...The uber-abundance of roses in "Ouran High School Host Club" and sakuras in "Saiunkoku Monogatari". And to sum this all up here's a cheesy haiku that I wrote in the banner before:
red rosebud blossoms
bishonens by the dozens
love blooms in eden
bishonens by the dozens
love blooms in eden
congrats! nice job on the blog! i really enjoy it. (:
ReplyDeletealso, i just found i reverse harem that i'm not completely sure that you have read. It's called crown and you can find it on mangafox. i found it absolutely addicting and cute and UGH. I can't describe it. Check it out! keep on updating! i check every day!
I love that picture you have :D
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thank you for keeping this blog, it's really fun to check out. Also, i enjoy listening to the japanese theme songs that i've gotten addicted to when i watched the anime.
anyways, thank YOU and I love you for making this blog so god bless you~ lol
@ hannah- is that the complete title?
ReplyDelete@ hannah and mk- thanks for the motivation =^^=
thanks heaps for keeping this blog. I found a reverse harem manga you may not have read. its called "Barajou no Kiss". Only the first chapter is out so far but it looks good.
ReplyDeleteYup someone already suggested it but thanks too. I'll try to read it this weekend because I realized I haven't read a single manga for a month already.
ReplyDeleteDear : person who made this blog,
ReplyDeletesoz i didn't know what to call u lol! I just wanted to say that i think this website is AMAZING. I love reverse harem anime so i can totally empathize with you!
I was looking through your animes that you recommend and i have seen a lot of them so it just shows we both have the same tastes!
I know of some animes you don't have down, they are:
Angelique neo abyss - an quite unrelated spin off to the angelique series but it is amazing!
Hakushaku to Yosei/Earl and Fairy - this is great as well.
Hope that is useful!
You can call me ayreesa :) Yup i've seen NAA and watching Earl & Fairy too. I hope Earl & Fairy will become a reverse harem. Drop by anytime :)
ReplyDeleteAww, I really wish you'd make that reverse harem list up again. I'm sure there's some I've missed. (I think I've seen 90% of them already.) ;o;
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting together this awesome blog! I've just only realised that the specific genre of manga/anime I like is in fact "reverse harem", so this is a wealth of info for me ^^. Arigatou goazaimasu!!!
ReplyDeleteI recommend Super Darling!, Stray Love Hearts (SLH), Crimson Empire, Akatsuki no Yona, and Saver. I'm not really sure if Akatsuki no Yona is reverse harem but there are lots of stereotypical bishies serving one girl... and Saver's art is a little on the off side but the main character is someone I really admire (you just need to get past the first volume). Sorry if I repeated anything you've already mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThanks for creating such a great reference source, it makes my life a lot easier
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I've already posted the mangas except for AnY. Ive read it before but it kinda felt non-rh but I'll have to pick it up again. Thanks!
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