About Reverse Harems

Note: When I talk about novels, I mean the ones on Novel Updates, translated from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc…

There are currently 103 titles listed on NU that include the polygamy tag. I’m not sure whether there might be other novels that have the MC (male) sleep around, but since he’s not two-timing, it’s not under polygamy. I’ll leave the open-ended harems alone as well, since it’s never stated for sure whether he gets with all the girls…

Now take a look at the reverse harem tag. Nearly all the girls pick one dude and stay loyal to him, while their harem full of dudes is kinda just there… Or it can’t even classify as harem, because they’re just bros who consider the MC (female) as a little sister. In other cases, you get those dude who pine after the MC, but she has eyes only for her main guy. There’s no sleeping around involved, or else she’ll get dirty (/sarcasm).

I want to note here, I didn’t write this rant to complain. No sir, I find the hypocrisy hilarious. For example, I was reading this dude’s comment on a certain novel I like (with a female MC). And he was going on about how he disliked the reverse harem aspect, how there were shotas who fell for the MC for no substantial reason. And there I was nodding along, thinking to myself, “I totally get it. Like the shotas can be uncomfortable, and if I was a guy I wouldn’t be into the reverse harem thing.” And then he goes on to write how it’d be more realistic if the shotas were lolis and the MC was male… And here I burst out in laughter. I think he was being serious? Not to mock other people’s opinions, but geez… I don’t think there’s a need for me to elaborate on how I felt about this. Only, this is a prime example of being stuck in your own perspective.

Leaving that aside, I can count the translated novels (on NU), where the female MC sleeps around, on one hand (I’ll a few fingers left over, too). I don’t feel that strongly about it, to be honest. I really couldn’t care less. I enjoy a 1 on 1 romance a lot better than harems and reverse harems. And I really get why guys would salivate over polygamy in novels. I’m not a harem hater and I don’t think people should hate it. It’s a fantasy, let people dream.

But I also want something equivalent for the ladies. Like, for that option to exist, you know. Not saying it doesn’t, but you have to admit there’s some hypocrisy still surrounding it. Even when I was a teen, I wasn’t so prim and proper that it would be unacceptable to me if a woman slept around and enjoyed her sex life. I am more romantically oriented, so I’d rather have love involved though. And where can you get both, if not in a novel. Hence the specific type of reverse harem novels, where the female lead gets to be intimate with the guys. Yeah, there are novels like that, and they do enjoy some popularity among the targeted demographic. (I’ve mostly seen this in Western novels however. But they’re too boring, the guys are too overbearing, and the women too submissive. There’s almost always spanking included. No, thanks.)

And this, boys and girls, brings me to what I originally wanted to say in this post. I occasionally look through the ratings of the novels I’m translating on NU and count the number of 1 star ratings for fun, trying to imagine the thoughts involved. Don’t get me wrong. Not only the Female Protagonist tag gets the hate. Look at any new novel, and you’ll see a bunch of 1 star ratings within a few moments. So I’m not feeling like a victim when I look at those ratings. I looked at the Captivating Crown Prince’s page and just tried to guess, “Was it the Female Protagonist, the Reverse Harem, or the shonen-ai subplot… Hmm. Or did they read the novel and really, really hated it? If it’s the former, I wonder why they feel that way. A general hate for harems?” Those kinds of random thoughts…

And here’s the real real reason I wrote this post:

Yes, it was to post a meme. Don’t judge me~

I swear I’m sober. I’m just sitting alone in my room, feeling bored, so… I got this rant in my head and thought… Others deserve to know. Ah, I should go out and enjoy the snow…