It being Valentine’s Day and all, I was wondering what reader opinions were regarding…
1) Favorite anime couple in recent history (last 5 years)
2) Worst anime couple in recent history
3) Coupling you most wish had happened, but never did (aka Fanfic Fodder)
4) Couple you most want to happen
5) Ideal number of love interests in a harem anime series
BTW, are there any harem anime series with tons of boys vying for one girl? It seems to me that these tend to take the direction of a Fruits Basket or a Fushigi Yuuigi, as opposed to a Girls Bravo or a Futakoi. I could really go for a harem anime series featuring a spineless/oblivious heroine and lots of goofy harem guys. And it would have to be funny. And it would have to be like… um, School Rumble…
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This post was written by...
Kabitzin – who has written 1940 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
huh? It looks like you answered your own question. What are you really asking?
1. Sakura and Shaoran – Cardcaptor Sakura (it’s still recent right?)
2. Ryo and Ojo – Final Approach (can’t think of any other)
3. Spike and Faye – Cowboy Bepop
4. Tenma and Harima (or Eri) – School Rumble
5. Two -> anymore would be confusing (for me)
I’m not satisfied with my answers, but I can’t think of any other right now!
1) Gonna have to go with Sakura and Shaoran too, but Shuuichi and Yuki from Gravitation are a close 2nd (as dysfunctional as it may be), and also Tohru and Kyo from Furuba
2) Kaoru and Aoi from Ai Yori Aoshi, come on.. 2 years and they’re still blushing? seriously…
3) Chidori and Sousuke from FMP, I hope this happens in the new series…
4) Sakura and Shaoran in Tsubasa!!!!
5) Probly 3 main ones, 1. The girl he’s going to end up with but is too shy to tell him till the end, 2. The girl you think he will end up with because she’s more forward about it, and 3. The girl that’s really too young for him but he still thinks is cute.
As far as I can think there aren’t any true female “harem” anime tho there are several with one girl and a lot of guys (FY, furuba, Pretear), but I wouldn’t consider them harem per se.
I guess it’s only fair if I post my answers, too.
1) Asakura Yoh and Anna Kyouyama (Shaman King): I can really identify with Yoh…
2) Takayuki and Mizuki (KimiNozo): Because even if they were the best match, you couldn’t feel happy for them. And also because Fushigi Yuugi came out 10 years ago.
3) Ayaka and Yayoi (Uchuu no Stellvia): Nothing says “I love you” like attempted homicide.
4) Harima and Eri (School Rumble): There are hints that perhaps this may come to fruition!
5) I’d say 5 because there also needs to be an evil bitchy one and one that ends up being sisterly.
Ender, I was kinda babbling, but Jeni seems to have gotten the gist of what I was trying to say. They just don’t seem to have that shin-harem quality….
Ahhh, I see what you mean now. However, I think the reason why is because if a girl had more than 2 or even 3 major love interests(in which case one or two of them would have to be lukewarm ones), she would be an uber ho-bag, and we all know that’s a no-no for a Japanese heroine, even the trashy ones! Males, on the other hand, are encouraged to have as many love interests as possible…
As your examples demonstrate – Furuba had Kyo/Yuki, Pretear had the blue haired guy vs. the white haired guy, Fushigi Yuugi had one main (Tamahome) and two minor (Hotohori and Tasuki), Hachiyoushou seems to have one main and two minor, etc.
School Rumble has a decent number of guys and girls that are tangled up, so I guess it doesn’t really classify as harem. Someone needs to make one of those relationship charts for this series!
By the way, speaking of types of love interests, I can only think of 2 types for the “female harem”-ish series:
1. The cool/majestic/pristine one who’s always graceful and perfect
2. The feistier, more uncouth one who has rugged good looks and shows much more emotion.
Gotta have both of em–imagine if you had two of type #1….that would be boring as hell!
1. Genzo and Megumi (Tenshi na Konamaiki). Their SD moments are always hilarious and giggle-worthy. *lol*
2. I know that I might be shot but I have to say Midori and Seiji (Midori no Hibi). Why? Because I’m all for the SeijixAyase camp.
3. Pacifica and Fulle (Scrapped Princess). I still insist that episodes 17 through 26 are all but dream sequences.
4. Zoro and Tashigi (One Piece).
5. I think Negima-esque numbers would be a lot of fun. Confuse the audience instead of annoying them.
Aw maaaan. What is this, otaku central? After reading the questions I was grinning because I had some answers which I was sure to be unique, and WTH?? Here they are already. Scary ^_^;;
1) Chikane and Himeko (KannaMiko). Shoot me, but they’re so made for each other. If you demand a normal couple and want to know which couple I rooted for most with the biggest apprehension, Bakayuki and Mitsuki.
2) Aya and Tooya (Ayashi no Ceres). She dug the wrong guy, the cook was better ^_^. Otherwise, more recently, if they qualify as a couple after ep19: Tate and Shiho. I didn’t list them since they’re gonna be temporary though.
3) Ten, you flabbergasted me. I didn’t expect anyone else to list Seiji and Takako here. I knew that it wasn’t meant to be, but after Ayase’s strong manga confession arc I _was_ hoping for an upset ending. Alas.
4) Kabitzin and Tensai11, what were you thinking? Unless a miracle happens, Harima+Eri will not be. But it would be soooo wonderful. If you want more likely answers, I’m really intrigued by and rooting for Shizuru+Natsuki. Stop laughing, dammit. I’m perfectly straight ^_^
5) Realistically, two. There can be more love interests, but usually there can only be 2 realistic contenders, I think. Was there ever an anime which could sustain more than 2 _realistic_ contenders? Realistic as in a character who you honestly think COULD end up with the main lead?
Heh, I have such bad memory that I can’t possibly answer those questions without actually using my brain… which I don’t want to today
Lemme think… some couples I like are:
Ahiru & Fakir from Princess Tutu – Best relationship in the series, totally! And unlike the stereotype “hard guy softens up” where it’s quite sudden, this is really believeable and subtle, so much so that the guy doesn’t even realise it until the very end. It’s also IMO a lot better developed than Mytho and Rue. I’d say more but it’d be spoiling, though…
Sara & Shin from Macross Plus – WHY?! I don’t know… Not that they’re my most favourite characters of all time in anime history, but somehow they’ve got the chemistry going. I’m also very biased towards couples where both are roughly the same height and intelligence. Sara doesn’t go totally gaga over him like Mao, either…
but my MOST favourite would be:
Jinto and Lafiel from Banner/Crest of the Stars series – I can never stop raving about how much I love this couple. Seriously, it is THE best to me… It was portrayed sooo well, the best part of the series and honestly so appealing to me. I… I’d go off tangent if I described it so I’ll stop here, but dang, they rock. You have no idea how happy I was to find out that a BotS movie is coming out. Ohhh yeah.
Ah, and as for fanfic fodder…
)
Spike and Faye (Cowboy Bebop)
Yoko and Rakushun (Juuni Kokki. It’d actually be better if it didn’t happen, but I just think they’re such awesome friends… No kissing plskthx. Nekkid reassuarance in the night is A-OK though.
Shizuru/Natsuki and Reito (Mai-Hime. Seriously, I think Mai doesn’t deserve Reito!)
Maya and Soushi (Soukyuu no Fafner. I’d kill for this to happen, dammit. Soushi is the BEST character! He deserves to be happy! With a great girl like Maya, not angst-fest Soushi!)
I can feel I’m missing out some, but oh well.
Some other couples I like are Seiji and Shizuku from Whisper of the Heart, and Gutts/Caska from Berserk.
What about Jubei-chan? Not quite harem and not all guys have a love interest in her but the guys are definitely goofy.
1. Nemu and Jyunichi ~Da Capo~. Nothing like the power of psuedo-siscon.
2. Mahoro and 34 year old Suguru ~Mahoro~ (or Nanako and bro ~Koi Kaze~ if they can be considered). Hanzai desu!
3. Shannon and Zefiris ~Scrapped Princess~ Ok it was implied but formalising it would be nice. Cz would make a nice alternative too (What? D-Knight can’t have more than 1 dragoon?)
4. Fuu and Jin (Samurai Champloo) Well, someone’s got to keep her from chronic kidnapping.
5. 3. But so far no anime studio has had the finesse to balance 3 interests and drive a compelling tale.