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Fans of the harem genre may have heard the saying “the childhood friend never wins.” At first glance, this may appear to be true as some of the most well-known harem-romance anime either don’t have a concrete conclusion or the childhood friend does not end up with the main love interest. Some familiar examples are Tenchi Muyo!, School Days, and To LOVE-Ru. Thankfully there do exist anime that continues to disprove this misconception.
Shuffle!
Shuffle! follows the story of Rin Tsuchimi whose life gets a bit more interesting when the daughters of the God and Demon world are transferred to his school and promptly proclaim one of them will marry him. What follows is the normal harem high jinks as Rin attempts to understand why these two girls chose him as well coming to terms with the fact his two other friends also have feelings for him.
Despite going back and forth between Sia and Nerine throughout the series and even being pushed by the other characters to pick one of the two, he would eventually choose Asa, one of his two childhood friends. Despite showing the two were a great match this has been seen as a situation where the wrong person won by some fans of the series.
Love Hina
Of all the entries in the list, Love Hina is likely the most well-known and iconic. The story is pretty simple as viewers follow Keitarou Urashima as he attempts to keep a promise to his childhood friend by getting into Tokyo University only for obstacles to get in his way including finding himself as the central love interest to five girls. The cast by today’s standard isn’t exactly unique as each character leans heavily into an archetype, especially the tsundere, but for 2000s-era anime, this was to be expected. What is to be expected is the absurd amount of erotic fanservice in this show.
While it did take a very long time to get there Keitarou would eventually fulfill his promise to his childhood friend Naru Narusegawa culminating in them ending up together and the series even showing their wedding. A very fitting and well-deserved end to one of the earliest harems in the genre.
Kanon (2006)
Kanon 2006 is often considered the more popular version of this specific story but is unfortunately non-canon to the source material. Said story follows Yuuichi Aizawa as he returns to a city he visited as a child that has no memories of. There he meets several girls who all are linked to his past and through them unlocks the memories that were once lost
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If Minase is not counted as a childhood friend of Yuuichi due to her being his cousin, that would mean three of the five girls in the harem are his childhood friend. With those kinds of odds, fans were likely not surprised when Ayu was the girl shown to be living with Yuuichi at the end of the series. Capping off a very emotional and supernatural story.
The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
There are many iseka-harem, but one that fits the bill of this list is The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar. The story centered around urban legends and Norse mythology with the main character Yuuto Suou and his childhood friend Mitsuki Shimoya being very interested in the topics. Fortunately for Yuuto, while looking into urban legends he is transported to a whole world where Norse mythology comes to life.
While the story and plot left much to be desired it does stand out as having a fairly uncommon ending for a harem. In this case, Yuuto returns to the normal world and starts dating Shimoya which provides a satisfying conclusion albeit it was foreshadowed a bit as Shimoya did state she would date Yuuto upon his return.
0 Maidens of the Savage Season
O Maidens in Your Savage Season is a unique romance comedy with harem elements that stood out when it was airing. In a change from the norm, the story actually focuses on five young girls with the main love interest being a supporting character to the story as they all go through high school and come to terms with maturity, love, friendship, and sexuality. Through a cast of unique, realistic, and often relatable characters, the series tackled topics such as sexual desire, something not always taken seriously, especially in the harem genre.
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While some of the harem elements did take a back seat to the comedy and developments of the characters there was still time for each character to develop their relationship with the main love interest. Despite this Kazusa would be the one to confess to Izumi and have her feelings reciprocated. Even though this occurred in the last episode it proved to be a satisfying conclusion to a memorable series.
Yona of the Dawn
Coming in as the only “reverse-harem” on the list, Yona of the Dawn follows the titular character, Princess Yona, as she attempts to reclaim her Kingdom after an act of treason has caused her perfect world to crumble around her. It has to be said that Yona of the Dawn is a fantasy-adventure-drama first with heavy harem elements. Thankfully the different genres don’t cannibalize each other and the story offers a healthy focus on each throughout its 24-episode run.
While the story of Yona of the Dawn is technically still ongoing in the manga, the anime does conclude with Yona and Hak, her childhood friend, looking like they will end up together. While the journey to get to this point wasn’t the main focus of the story the build-up to it is very satisfying and if any fans are looking to see more of this relationship develop the manga will not disappoint.
Bluer Than Indigo
In the story of Bluer Than Indigo, we meet Kaoru Hanabishi as he finds a girl in kimono and attempts to help her find her way before coming to the revelation she is his childhood friend Aoi Sakuraba who came to Tokyo to marry him. From there many other girls come into the picture to fight for his affection as the story unfolds for the next 36 episodes.
If it seemed very obvious that Kaoru would end up with Aoi, that was likely intentional and that is in fact what happens at the series conclusion. However, it isn’t about the obvious conclusion, but rather how the characters get to that point and what is learned and developed along the way.
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