Why do harems have "main girls"?
I mean isn't the big draw of the genre seeing the drama and placing bets on who's gonna win?
If you have someone you know will win, the whole point is defeated.
>>137656100
>>137656100
But then fans would want character development
Thus, a girl would be 'mained'
Unless you had a kinda small cast
Because someone is always first
>>137656196
Why not develop the cast in a well rounded manner?
Or in the very least, don't plaster a single girl in all of the advertising, thus making it ridiculously clear who the winner will be.
The target audience is socially inept pathetic neet fucks who can't handle excitement like that, they need peace of mind and to know how everything will play out
we're talking about people very close to mentally handicapped here, they wouldn't watch harems otherwise
>onoderafag this mad
>>137656396
this.
>>137656270
Don't tell me you thought someone other than Chitoge had a chance of winning this.
>>137656644
That's the point, no I didn't.
Isn't that an inherent flaw in a narrative that focuses on introducing girls and trying to make you, the reader, want to see them end up with the MC?
When you already know who's gonna win, the drama of that feels pointless.
And it's not like it's just Nisekoi, there are countless stories that pull this.
>>137656780
I personally prefer it this way and I'm sure most people do too.
Haganai seems right up your alley however. I would have been pissed (if I was a fan) if that was their outcome.
>>137656867
>I personally prefer it this way and I'm sure most people do too.
May I ask why?
It's genuinely something I don't get. It's not a matter of me not liking any particular girl, it comes more down to story structure. If I see a harem manga that has like, a girl plastered front and center on the first volume, chances are I already know a good chunk of how this story is going to begin and end, even if it's not done being written.
>>137656100
Because the other girls pose a potential.
That's what most f/a/ggots want. Just potential in life.
>>137657003
To avoid disappointment. The excitement is reading the story and wondering if the author will change his mind.
>>137656100
The rule is that if she's the first girl seen by the MC, and she has a big introduction, she's going to win.
>>137657058
>To avoid disappointment.
Huh. See I would be more disappointed if the author introduced a character that I enjoyed better than the "main girl", but having her lose regardless because they're obligated to go the route they've already established.
If there was a straight even playing field for everyone, that would create an experience I'd be much more invested in, on my end at least.
>>137657003
> yfw you finally realize you were actually reading a rom com, essentially a love story between main boy and main girl.
The other harem chicks are harbingers of conflict, they are there to cause consistent tension and suspense, things you need to keep a story going long term.
>>137656100
Its how things work.
It also allows you to develop the losers.
Besides who actually self-inserts as harem mains? Most of them range from mundane beta male to how they are not gay twinks beta.
The ones you're talking about have harems as a secondary aspect to spice up the series. In those cases, the idea of it as a contest is flawed.
>>137657470
Aside from harems, what else is Nisekoi about?
>>137657531
It's a rom-com
go back to throwing barrels at Mario, gorilla
>>137657325
Not even OP but the other chicks don't really bring any conflict into the series, they may do it at first but they quickly settle into "I will beat you for the MC but lets be friends!" thing.
I will be amazed if there's a harem series out there that doesn't do this.
>>137657554
Are there even anime romcoms that aren't harems? A lot of the comedy seems to come from the girls competing with each other.
>>137657562
The conflict is the illusion of any of them having a chance to win the MC so the main pair doesn't get together.
It's the same type of narrative illusion in action movies where you are supposed to believe maybe James Bond is in danger of getting killed.
I would first like a harem story with credible characters that feel like actual humans and not cardboard stereotypes.
As for why things are that way, >>137657325
Might be the best explanation, first girl is the one the author actually wanted to develop with the MC and then the rest are introduced to pander to other kind of fans and bring conflict, even if it's seemingly pointless from the reader's point of view.
I agree it's fucking bullshit and yes, i'm mad you faggots, i'm fucking mad
>>137657628
A couple.
>>137656100
You raise an interesting point.
In theory, you would be right about the big draw of the genre being drama and placing bets on who'll win.
In practice, only the drama counts. People pick the girl they like best and, if she isn't the main lead, savor her interactions with the MC even when they know she'll be crushed. If she is the main lead, they are gratified throughout the course of the story with the knowledge that she'll win and can comfortably take in any development until they'll proven otherwise.
>>137657628
Horimiya comes to mind.
![[Ayako]_Minami-ke_-_01_H264_[EA5EB9DE].mkv_snapshot_15.50_[2016.01.19_19.12.42].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/yIOFG9s.jpg "[Ayako]_Minami-ke_-_01_H264_[EA5EB9DE].mkv_snapshot_15.50_[2016.01.19_19.12.42].jpg")
>harem anime
>worst girl wins
I'll never get this.
>>137657773
Japan has shit taste, what do you expect senpai?
![[FFF] Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata - 12 [BD][720p-AAC][6A026AF4].mkv_snapshot_16.41_[2016.02.18_21.13.14].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/PMl2Fm5.jpg "[FFF] Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata - 12 [BD][720p-AAC][6A026AF4].mkv_snapshot_16.41_[2016.02.18_21.13.14].jpg")
>>137657773
>harem anime
>best girl wins
I love this.
>>137657661
The thing is, I don't see many action movies plastering the hero over the defeated form of the villain.
You still have the question of how everything is going to go, but when you make it obvious that someone is going to win in a harem story, the tension is completely gone.
>>137657875
In advertising, I mean.
Like, I've never seen a movie poster with the bad guy already defeated on it.
You can't introduce girls simultaneously, so whoever gets introduced first is the main girl, everyone after that is divided by their template like tomboy or yandere.
The caveat in this is childhood friends and sisters who, while introduced later in the story, are technically pre-existing and should logically have more emotional depth than main girl. But we all know that childhood friend never wins and very few people will support incest.
That's not even taking into account faggot authors who write best girls in then make them lose for the sake of stirring drama or otherwise give a girl 1% of screen time compared to other inferior girls.
So in the end what should be a fair communistic paradise is just greedy capitalism enforced by jewish authors and goyim audiences.
>>137657661
This >>137657875
raises a good point with
>You still have the question of how everything is going to go, but when you make it obvious that someone is going to win in a harem story, the tension is completely gone.
The execution is bland in harems as well. You know Luffy will find One Piece but it's still interesting as to how he'll get there, another example is Lupin III where Lupin gets captured and you know he'll escape with some elaborate scheme but it's so much fun watching it.
>>137657773
>>137657814
Why the fuck are you self-inserting as these beta cucks? Isn't that one of the things Akamatsu pretty much said? The MC has their own tastes and desires
>>137657773
>/a/ knowing who best girl is
Kek
>>137657990
>making best girls lose for the sake of drama
I hate and like this trope at the same time. Like it because it makes me actually feel opinionated towards a character(s) but hate because its unfair that some blandie has to win because the MC is an herbivore and likes bland girls
>>137658182
>The MC has their own tastes and desires
The harem 'MC' tends to barely be a character, just a blank-slate with no outstanding characteristics(except maybe being good at cooking or some shit.) so I don't why you can't self-insert.
>>137658320
Agreed, it's great because it can be refreshing and truly offer the tensions most fake, but it's annoying when it's legitimately, objectively worst girl
Because japs aren't commies
>>137658467
There are MCs like Ichika and Tanukichi floating around. How the fuck would you want to be them?
>>137656100
Unless unless the protagonist is from the tenchi-verse they can only marry/bang one of them usually.
>>137659175
> Tenchi-verse rules not applied to Negi-verse
REEEEEEEEE
>>137656100
Harems are really just another form of romcom but with more girls in them for marketing/popularity/otaku bait/etc.
>>137656100
Ichigo 100% handled it best, and best girl won
>>137657628
There's a lot of romcoms that are love triangles or involve multiple couplings
>>137658822
It's because they are blank slates that the idea of "self-inserting" can happen
>>137659707
>, and best girl won
No FUCK you
>>137659773
Get some taste
>>137656100
Japanese audiences prefer it. While Western audiences would bitch about it, having a "designated love interest" pleases the country it's written in. I don't know why though.
>>137659175
>anon hasn't played enough VNs
>>137656100
That's always been my issue. Harems having a "main girl", like the other girls had a chance anyway, clearly there's a front runner.
However, most of the time the author asspulls and has MC end up with another girl lol
>>137656100
worst part?
each other girl gets an episode dedicated to them and become "closer" to MC at the end of the episode.
Still Zero chance though lol
Because otherwise we'd get endings like this.
>>137656240
second
>>137656270
>Or in the very least, don't plaster a single girl in all of the advertising
They need a workhorse for the merch.
Poster girl isn't always the most popular girl though
>>137662122
What was wrong with that? Best girl won.
>>137657325
Consider SAO. The main pairing is settled almost from the beginning. No conflict. And yet there are still a dozen girls orbiting around him.
It's just to add more girls for the viewer's favorite-picking in case the main girl is not to their tastes.
>>137663332
I always found that weird. The romance is pretty much settled, but the story just keeps on adding girls, and they mostly all just wanted Kirito's dick.
But they'll never get that dick.
>>137656240
Harem with first contact of the harem girls that happens in a single scene when?
>>137656100
The difficulty comes from presenting the harem to the readers. Only one girl can be introduced at a time and fans will clearly favor the first girl as the 'main' girl.
>>137665918
What if you intertwine multiple girls into the introduction?
