Touya Mochizuki died by accident. God (not specified if it was a god or the God) apologizes, allows him to be reborn in a fantasy world and will grant him any one wish. Touya, the millennial he is, chooses to keep his smart phone. You think “wow, that’s going to be useless in a medieval fantasy world,” but God makes sure it can connect and has access to all the knowledge there is in this new world. Touya makes the wise decision to play it off as a magical artifact to anyone who sees the anachronistic device. Touya’s life seems pretty set from the get-go. He finds there isn’t a challenge he can’t face with some of the other strengths that God gave him for his new life like magical powers and extreme memory.

The moral of the story seems to be life is good when God owes you one. Touya almost immediately begins collecting his harem and starts off with twins to boot. The Silhouseka sisters, Linze a shy mage and Elze an adventurer who likes to fight with her fists, quickly join up with him and set out for the capital of the kingdom. A cute kimono-wearing samurai joins him as well as Sushie, the daughter of a duke whom Touya rescues. The harem doesn’t stop there and grows throughout the series including the daughter of the king. We like this series because it is sheer wish fulfilment. You don’t have to think too hard or constantly worry that someone is going to die. You just watch a protagonist breeze through a fantasy world surrounded by cute girls and think, “I wish God owed me one.”

The adventures of Kazuma and his hapless companions continue in the second season of this fantasy series. KonoSuba is about Kazuma, a regular guy who dies and is given the choice go to heaven or be revived in a fantasy world with the task of defeating the Demon King. The goddess giving him the choice acts very smug so he decides to be a smartass. He tells the haughty goddess Aqua the one thing he wanted to help him in his new life was her. The problem is Aqua is quite useless and he has to start from the bottom of the world’s pecking order as a homeless adventurer sleeping in a barn. Kazuma does eventually make friends and get companions to help him along the way. The unfortunate part is they are each morons in their own right.

The second season has Kazuma getting over some of the obstacles of his arrival. He and his team now live in a mansion. The problem now is they don’t have nearly enough money to keep it up. They have the chance to make a lot of money on adventures yet find some way to lose it in the end. We even find they are under the scrutiny of the kingdom not sure if they are helpful or a plague on the kingdom. We like KonoSuba because it’s silly. The characters are odd and you can’t help but love them: Kasuma, the struggling protagonist, Aqua the bumbling goddess, Megumi, the loli-arch-wizard that will only use explosion magic, Darkness, the female knight that is a masochist and gets off on getting her ass kicked. We even have some nice side characters that add to the harem. You get a good bit of satire for the harem genre in this show, yet you can love it because you know you’re not supposed to take it seriously.

The Rewrite we watched last season is completely re-written as the story continues in its second season. The new story is based on the moon and terra routes that appear in its visual novel version. Kotarou is the same guy but different, the story focusing less on the kid in high school with special powers trying to save the world and more on the kid that didn’t fit in at high school and became an assassin. He then finds himself working for one of the two shady organizations that are fighting for control of the planet’s future. Kotarou seems to have some memory of his previous self, which makes for interesting internal conflict when he meets people from the previous timeline.

The story is a bit confusing if you didn’t realize that it was a different timeline at first, so keep that in mind. We like the darker take on this harem tale -- and yes, it is still a harem tale it’s just not as warm and fuzzy as the previous season. We still get a collection of girls with a collection of various powers. The moe art style makes them disarming even though they are more than likely to be the ones shooting, stabbing and slashing. The girls Akane, Chihaya, Lucia and Shizuru all play parts in the route, some more than others. The personalities are a bit darker which fits the feel of the route. Rewrite 2nd season is a tad darker but we bet you still wouldn’t mind being the center of this harem regardless of its tragic nature.

Kasuga Arata has adjusted to his life as a mage at the Royal Biblia Academy. He has even happily accepted his identity as a future demon lord. His mission is still clear. He will learn everything he can and find his beloved cousin who became an evil mage in an attempt to turn her good. Arata also has the mission to save the world from disappearing from a magical effect called the breakdown phenomena. The movie’s plot begins with Arata touching the “Hermes Apocrypha,” his friend, teacher and love interest Lilith’s grimoire. The grimoire turns into a young girl and refers to Arata and Lilith as her parents. The events get even more complex when the White Demon Lord plots to eliminate Arata and the collection of mages known as the Trinity Seven in order to become the new all-powerful demon lord.

Trinity Seven is one of the best harem programs from the last few years and the movie update for the franchises doesn’t disappoint. Of course you get plenty of fiery redhead Lilith, clever ninja Levi, confidently sexy Lieselotte, calm expressionless Arin, bubbly sweet and flirty Yui, mature for her age Maria and her partner the amazon-looking Akio. We also know that because it’s Trinity Seven we’ll see lots of mage battles and unapologetic panty shots. The franchise at is heart is ecchi and when you combine that with harem you get great anime entertainment.

Seiren is a follow-up to the successful Amagami SS anime from 2010. Though it is not a direct sequel it does follow a similar format and takes place at the same school. Shouichi is enjoying his high school life and preparing for his future. He then comes across three girls that he could see himself sharing a future with. Hikari Tsuneki, a well-off girl with a cheerful attitude and one of the school idols, takes an interest in Shouichi and shows her love by constantly teasing him. Tooru Miyamae is a third-year making her Shouichi’s senpai. She loves video games and could probably turn pro if she wanted to. Tooru and Shouichi bonded over a social game like Pokémon and begin their romance finding and breeding rare creatures online. We then have Kyouko Touno, Shouichi’s childhood friend. Of all the characters, she is the least sure of herself and has little in common with Shouichi other than their shared history.

We included this in a harem list even though it isn’t a true harem story or at least told that way. Seiren has three separate arcs to follow that let us watch Shouichi’s feelings grow and change in respect to each of the girls. The end of each arc brings us back to the beginning so he isn’t dating the girls at the same time, we simply get to see how his and their lives turn out if he made a different choice. Sometimes we want to see that kind of choice in our harem anime. We want the chance to explore the what-ifs.

The second season of How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend is a continuation of the first season following the student dojin circle Blessing Software headed by Tomoya Aki. The goal of the circle is to create an original dating sim that will shake up the industry. The story was inspired by a chance encounter with a girl on a hill and has evolved into a romance/taboo/adventure story involving time and destiny. He was able to assemble powerful talent to help bring his dream to fruition. A childhood friend, Eriri Spence Sawamura is the ace of the art club by day and best-selling porn doujin artist by night. The girl he let get away, Kasumigaoka Utaha is the year-three cool beauty of the school who also happens to be an extremely successful light novel author. His boisterous cousin happens to be a talented musician and can track the score for the piece. The cast also includes a cute little junior who isn’t part of the circle but is a talented up-and-coming artist who adores Tomoya. And Megumi, the girl who inspired it all. She has so little personality her character falls flat at times, but that doesn’t make her any less important to our story.

We love this harem because of the way it lovingly pokes fun at the genre and the otaku community. The dialogue is witty and fast-paced, so if you don’t speak Japanese you’d better be a fast reader. The characters occasionally break the fourth wall and make comments that are meant for the viewer that only add to the humor. How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend also pokes fun at the tropes of harem by blatantly pointing out how its heroines fit the roles perfectly. The character design is pretty good, too, with the ladies each having distinct looks and traits that separate them from the other characters. You will not be disappointed if you watch this anime given the involvement in an overarching plot between both seasons and the passive-aggressive methods the heroines use to gain Tomoya’s attention (they seldom truly throw themselves at him). We even have some amazing character development that stretches and sometimes breaks the bonds between characters that you’d think were permanent. How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend isn’t boring at all.

Tamotsu and Niwaka Denkigai are a brother and sister pair out shopping in Akihabara one afternoon when it is attacked by cosplaying monsters. We later find the monsters are referred to as “Bugged Ones” that possess people and then begin wreaking havoc. Trying to be a hero, Tamotsu finds himself getting the crap beaten out of him by one the Bugged Ones. He is rescued by a red-haired beauty with a baseball bat named Matome Mayonaka. She resurrects Tamotsu from the dead (in a manner of speaking) so he can continue the fight against the Bugged Ones. The only catch is he can’t ever leave the neighborhood of Akhabara or he might just end up dead. He learns many secrets during his journey including the best way to stop a Bugged One is expose the host to sunlight by stripping them down to their underwear.

He is joined on his mission by his little sister and otaku, Niwaka, a foreign female cosplayer with uncanny strength named Arisa, and a strange loli scientist on a Segway named Tasujin. The four become a vigilante group named Electric Mayonnaise working to preserve the peace of Akiba. The girls also perform as an idol group on the side. We like this anime because it is simply a screwball ecchi comedy with a harem element. We have one guy with three girls taking on evil to save their town.

Junichi was more than ready to get involved in a relationship. He was tired of whiling his days away in high school as a single guy -- and by that we mean a virgin. Junichi decides that his best shot at losing it might be to date a “Gal.” In this context, Gal refers to girls in japan that tend to dye their hair blonde, paint their nails, wear make-up and rebel against the idea of being a “good girl.” Yame is a girl in his class and a Gal, so he decides to make his move. If anyone was going to give it up to him it would be a girl with what are perceived to be loose morals, right?

Junichi ends up getting more than he bargains for when Yame says yes. He finds that she is a lot more complex than he believed and finds himself actually falling for her. The harem element is found in the women around him, though not all of them are in love with the protagonist. Ranko is Yame’s overprotective best friend and does everything she can to slow the pace of the lovebirds’ relationship, though in the end she finds that Junichi isn’t so bad after all. Nene is Junichi’s childhood friend and a year younger than him, though with the size of her rack she could be far older than 16. We watch Nene do everything she can to get Junichi to notice her, but he still only sees her as a little sister type. Yui is our wild card considering we don’t really know much about her except that she is the upstanding sort of girl that seems to have a thing for Junichi and may or may not lead a double life as a Gal vlogger. My First Girlfriend is a Gal is a show is filled with plenty of ecchi moments and overly busty ladies and is one of those classic-style harems where the protagonist for some reason becomes the center of the amazing women around him.

Hajimete no Gal PV

One year ago, Sagari and Masamune’s parents got married and the two became step-siblings. The family was happy; the son was a new author and the daughter was slowly overcoming her social phobias. The newly married couple of course tragically die and leave the high schoolers on their own. The siblings also have an arrangement with their closest relative: as long as Masamune can pay the bills the two can stay in their home. Sagari, who already had social anxiety problems, promptly retreats from the world, locks herself in her room and drops out of society, only speaking to her brother in notes or through the door. Masamune hopes his sister with emerge one day, so he dutifully does her laundry and makes her meals, leaving her trays outside her bedroom door. We aren’t giving away much when we tell you that, unbeknown to Masamune, the illustrator named Ero-manga Sensei who draws the racy pictures for his light novels is none other than his reclusive sister.

The cast quickly grows beyond the two main characters as of course this is a harem show. Masamune is quickly joined by two young female authors. The first is Elf-Yamada, a 14-year-old author that lives next door to Sagri and Masamune. She is proud, full of herself and a more successful an author than Masamune. She is constantly finding any excuse to involve him in her life. Muramasa is another writer that has found her way into Masamune’s life and despite the fact that she’s the hottest author out there, she is willing to only write stories for Masamune if he will have her. We even have some non-authors like a cute normal girl who works as a bookstore clerk and Megumi, a girl with a perverted streak who would be Sagari’s class rep if Sagari ever went to school. The girls in this harem are cute, have quirks to endear themselves to you, and are ever-present in the protagonist’s life. The challenges that fill their lives are a lot of their own making, but they make you laugh out loud at their antics. Oh, and did we mention that Sagari the shut-in step sister has been in love with Masamune since before their parents got married?

Eromanga Sensei PV

Seiji Anio opens his door one day to find a cute girl dressed as a demon. She tells him that if they don’t kiss in the next 24 hours that they both will die. The problem is that kiss bonds Seiji’s life force to this weird girl, Guri, who’s dressed as a demon. We also find out that Guri is actually an angel from heaven who is training to be a cupid. Guri accidently put his name down in the Kiss Note, a notebook used by cupids to pair couples. If he wasn’t paired soon he would remain a virgin for eternity. Seiji is now desperate and decides to go for broke by confessing to his crush, Akane. The beautiful, perfect Akane is out of his league but he decides to try anyway. To his surprise she isn’t just interested, she has also had a crush on him. The real surprise is that when she finds out that he also kissed Guri it is revealed she is a complete Yandere. She begins to stab him repeatedly. Bad, right? Nope, other than the pain the repeated stabbing doesn’t kill him because his life is tied to an angel. He also apparently needs to work with Guri making matches in order for her to return to heaven. We know this is confusing but it gets even stranger and wackier so it’s best if you watch the show.

Seiji is quickly joined by other girls like Yuzu, Akane’s cousin that idolizes perfect Akane, and Shikimi, another cousin of Akane’s that is really into BSDM and wants to hurt Seiji to that end. We even have Seiji’s high school aged little sister Aino who seems to harbor some not-so-sisterly feelings toward her brother. The show is zany and funny and the characters are all really strange. You get girls for all the tropes and still don’t know what to expect on an episode by episode basis. The surprise and slapstick this show has to offer makes it a stand-out program for anyone looking for a laugh.

Renai Boukun PV