Why no adult harem anime?

[lilcris]

And when I say adult I don't mean hentai, I talking about why haven't they made a harem anime with adults not teens and loli girls? The older I get the more I get sick of always seeing teen aka high school age characters as the main cast. It would be cool to see older MILFs with kids of their own, fight over a older dude. Would that be interesting to any of you, or are you fine with the current harem formula?

[Curse_7781]

That sounds like a pretty good idea. I would definetly check out this type of anime as my tastes are starting to fade in the harem anime department.

Back to topic, I guess it is up to Japanese anime studios trying to find what makes money to them and that is young girls with big chests showing off but also getting mad at the guy they have a crush on for accidently looking.

Try saying that explanation three times fast. /images/graemlins/knowital.gif /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Enhance the Trance,
Curse

[treatment]

[ QUOTE ]
lilcris said:
And when I say adult I don't mean hentai, I talking about why haven't they made a harem anime with adults not teens and loli girls? The older I get the more I get sick of always seeing teen aka high school age characters as the main cast. It would be cool to see older MILFs with kids of their own, fight over a older dude. Would that be interesting to any of you, or are you fine with the current harem formula?

[/ QUOTE ]

You haven't seen Maison Ikkoku?

Happy Lesson also have adult women as MILFs.

How about Golden Boy?

Oh, and Nadesico?

[golthin]

[ QUOTE ]
lilcris said:
And when I say adult I don't mean hentai, I talking about why haven't they made a harem anime with adults not teens and loli girls? The older I get the more I get sick of always seeing teen aka high school age characters as the main cast. It would be cool to see older MILFs with kids of their own, fight over a older dude. Would that be interesting to any of you, or are you fine with the current harem formula?

[/ QUOTE ]
Because most adults wouldn't act the same way as teenagers. Maison Ikkoku was kind of a Harem show if you think about it. Tenchi was also kind of an adult harem show, all the girls with the exeption of one were adult looking in appearance and age. Tenchi GXP aslo apply the same concept with all the girls but one being adult in appearance and age. There are a few more that escape my memory right now.
Of course they have to make the male a teenager, because most adults wouldn't pass on the advances of the girls.

[lilcris]

[ QUOTE ]
treatment said:
[ QUOTE ]
lilcris said:
And when I say adult I don't mean hentai, I talking about why haven't they made a harem anime with adults not teens and loli girls? The older I get the more I get sick of always seeing teen aka high school age characters as the main cast. It would be cool to see older MILFs with kids of their own, fight over a older dude. Would that be interesting to any of you, or are you fine with the current harem formula?

[/ QUOTE ]

You haven't seen Maison Ikkoku?

Happy Lesson also have adult women as MILFs.

How about Golden Boy?

Oh, and Nadesico?

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't seen any of those, but if they got MILF's I gonna have to check them out! /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[Skywise]

Hmm.. would Black Heaven qualify?

[Rhodes]

Ryoko and Ayeka arent teens nor loli girls.

So a harem anime with adult females has been made... its call Tenchi.

[Yukino Miyazawa]

Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=4382) (My Wife is a Magical Girl) has love triangles, lots of fanservice, and adultery.

[lilcris]

[ QUOTE ]
Rhodes said:
Ryoko and Ayeka arent teens nor loli girls.

So a harem anime with adult females has been made... its call Tenchi.

[/ QUOTE ]

While that is true, I guess I should have been more clear. i was thinking about a series that is based in the real world with 35-40 yr old housewives, not 10,00000 year old space pirates.

[Njr Scrawl]

In an Urusei Yatsura, so anti-harem way, City Hunter might qualify.

[golthin]

[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
In an Urusei Yatsura, so anti-harem way, City Hunter might qualify.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think there is anything that has not been done in anime yet. The fact that you have not watched it because it either has not been brought to R1 or you have not watched it yet, doesn't mean it has not been done. The fact that there are so many remakes can tell you that they are hitting the bottom of the barrel when it come to new ideas.

[rubyeye]

[ QUOTE ]
lilcris said:
And when I say adult I don't mean hentai, I talking about why haven't they made a harem anime with adults not teens and loli girls? The older I get the more I get sick of always seeing teen aka high school age characters as the main cast. It would be cool to see older MILFs with kids of their own, fight over a older dude. Would that be interesting to any of you, or are you fine with the current harem formula?

[/ QUOTE ]
I totally sympathize with you. I can only conclude it is because the Japanese are all Pedophiles, just look at all the "moe" shows and angst laden, pre-pubescent teens. They know it's illegal in the real world, so they satisfy their fantasy by making it into a cartoon. It's sickening. That's why I'm gravitating more and more toward (live action) adult erotica.

[Skywise]

[ QUOTE ]
rubyeye said:
I totally sympathize with you. I can only conclude it is because the Japanese are all Pedophiles, just look at all the "moe" shows and angst laden, pre-pubescent teens. They know it's illegal in the real world, so they satisfy their fantasy by making it into a cartoon. It's sickening. That's why I'm gravitating more and more toward (live action) adult erotica.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh come on RES, that's just narrow minded. You should know better than that after being an anime fan all these years /images/graemlins/happy.gif. Moe also has nothing to do with erotica/pedophilia (it's pretty much the opposite). Japan has its share of loli sure, but that's confined to H anime and manga. It's not something you really see in stuff shown on TV.

[LexiJ]

[ QUOTE ]
lilcris said:
While that is true, I guess I should have been more clear. i was thinking about a series that is based in the real world with 35-40 yr old housewives, not 10,00000 year old space pirates.

[/ QUOTE ]
The first two words that come to mind when I read that are sad and pathetic. I can understand a few 18 - 20 year olds fighting over a guy. They're young and typically immature. But at 30 or 40? In a "real world" setting, a little dating drama is fine, but by that point I expect a certain amount of emotional maturity in the character and a female who won't put herself in that position. A middle aged adult behaving like a spoiled teenager doesn't appeal to me.

[Lego]

Could Vandread be considered a adult harem? I know the characters were in their late teens(least if I remember right). But I'd love to see a adult harem show. Obviously they would have to be in their early to mid 20's as some forty year old guy with a harem of women is kinda creepy. But maybe it's because I favor characters like Urd over Skuld or Haruka over Mikoto. But yeh, I'd watch a adult harem show in a heart beat.

It would be interesting because you'd have to juggle work, personal life, and so on rather then just school and the "zomg surprising moment". The only show that comes close to this that I can think of off the top of my head is Tenchi. Most of the female characters in Tenchi aren't THAT young. Although it goes back to what I've been saying for a while. Everyone seems to be kind of "waiting" if you will for the next "mature" hit show like a Monster or GITS SAC.

Or maybe it's just me as I'm a fan of things like Emma, Kamichu, Honey & Clover and Planetes.

[Yukino Miyazawa]

If I See You in My Dreams (http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/2078.php) has older, twenty-somethings in it.

[itsuka]

[ QUOTE ]
LexiJ said:
I can understand a few 18 - 20 year olds fighting over a guy. They're young and typically immature. But at 30 or 40? In a "real world" setting, a little dating drama is fine, but by that point I expect a certain amount of emotional maturity in the character and a female who won't put herself in that position. A middle aged adult behaving like a spoiled teenager doesn't appeal to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree... harem anime always had that problem. Even females of the 18-20 range aren't usually that stupid, especially if you take into account the kind of guy they usually fight over, who is usually a total loser or flat, boring and distant.

I think the only thing you could do to revitalize the genre and make it suitable for older characters is to give it a more dangerous twist, like a tale set into a true harem situation, with concubines fighting for power and position, including murder. It's not the person they want, it's the power that goes with being his favourite, and a guy in the middle who doesn't like to be in this situation either, but is smart enough to maintain the balance of power between the women and the political structure of the court.

[Leon_Belmont]

Basilisk

[Sheena]

[ QUOTE ]
Itsuka said:
[ QUOTE ]
LexiJ said:
I can understand a few 18 - 20 year olds fighting over a guy. They're young and typically immature. But at 30 or 40? In a "real world" setting, a little dating drama is fine, but by that point I expect a certain amount of emotional maturity in the character and a female who won't put herself in that position. A middle aged adult behaving like a spoiled teenager doesn't appeal to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree... harem anime always had that problem. Even females of the 18-20 range aren't usually that stupid, especially if you take into account the kind of guy they usually fight over, who is usually a total loser or flat, boring and distant.

I think the only thing you could do to revitalize the genre and make it suitable for older characters is to give it a more dangerous twist, like a tale set into a true harem situation, with concubines fighting for power and position, including murder. It's not the person they want, it's the power that goes with being his favourite, and a guy in the middle who doesn't like to be in this situation either, but is smart enough to maintain the balance of power between the women and the political structure of the court.

[/ QUOTE ]

Plus, I can't imagine many older women living under the same roof as one guy. Older single women would most likely be employed and living on their own. Getting them together would require them basically being forced to do so. There is an image of teens living together in a dorm-like environment (even if it's the house of one of them) being more tolerated than a bunch of working adults doing so.

I think there's also an issue about relationships. Adult relationships would move much more quickly I think than teen romances leaving less room for competition, misunderstanding and the usual tricks of the harem genre. Besides, the genre itself is targetted at people in that same age group as the characters. Not sure it'd translate to older audience.

[Takato]

I think there's a shortage of harem anime with adult characters because most anime fans tend to be teenagers and young adults and the purpose of a harem anime is to appeal to male anime fans' fantasies and because there aren't as many 35-40 year old anime fans out there (not to say that there aren't any; just that there's a lot less than teens and young adults), there's going to be less harem anime with 35-40 year old characters because the demand is highest with younger viewers. Now what I really want to see is a harem anime that has nothing but guys.... /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[Rhodes]

Happy Lesson

5 adult women all employed and living under the same roof with 1 guy.

and if you've seen the ending of happy lesson final...

[itsuka]

[ QUOTE ]
Takato said:
Now what I really want to see is a harem anime that has nothing but guys.... /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I only caught one episode of Gakuen Heaven, but that episode definitely looked like a setop for a yaoi harem anime, though maybe it developed differently later?

[Sheena]

I haven't watched much more of it but yeah it was setup as a 100% guy harem. To the T with wimpy clueless "lead" character sought by tons of stupid bishies. The result wasn't pretty even for someone who doesn't mind yaoi fan service or loads of bishies.

But of course, those 100% guy/girl setups are a bit different from a regular (reverse) harem. In a harem, there is a central character of opposite sex with little possibility of romance between all those interested in that central character. When it's all guys or girls, the possibilities are much more open so maybe it doesn't look as much like a harem anime.

As far as Happy lesson is concerned, I question whether those women can be considered adult by any criteria but age alone. Behavior was certainly way outside of adulthood for most of them IMO. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[chicogrande]

Hmm, yes, something like an anime "Golden Girls." /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

I too, in my old age, am getting tired, I guess, of shows like Dear'S, Girls Bravo, etc. Thank goodness there are plenty other shows you can enjoy that are not "harem anime".

I can see it now. 80 year old Ken is walking with his cane. Suddenly a large rumbling sound. He turn to see 7 women aged 75 to 90 in wheel chairs chasing after him. Each of them in their own way saying this line, "Ken, it's been over 60 years. Make a choice already. Just remember if you choose anyone besides me, I'll become a complete wreck that goes insane. Come on there's no pressure. JUST CHOOSE ME ALREADY!".

Poor Ken, so many anime fans wanted him to choose a girl when he was only 15 year olds. He was expected to screw the girl, marry her, have multiple children, win at the game of life, and all that before he turned 16. With each girl constantly reminding him the results of choosing someone else. Ken wasn't exactly ready to choose Thus Ken has been on the fun for 65 years.

Thus there you have it the true result of an Adult Harem Anime. For the record yes I am pure evil for making this. Still in all seriousness it's not a bad idea on occasion to mix up a formula. That would include making the characters older than usual. Hence the idea of an Adult Harem Anime. Only problem is making sure there is more to it than the girls are now women. Other wise the age thing is pointless.

Oh yeah if it's not obvious while I'd welcome an older harem, I'm also fine of younger harems. Both within reason of course. What reason? Well that is a secret or maybe it isn't.

[Tomcat]

[ QUOTE ]
Takato said:
because there aren't as many 35-40 year old anime fans out there (not to say that there aren't any; just that there's a lot less than teens and young adults)

[/ QUOTE ]
I hate to say this, but I was be closer to believing that there are more anime fans over the age of 25 than under. I have nothing to back this up other than the fact that anime has been around since the 50s, and there aren't THAT many teenagers that have been around that long.

Teenagers tend to have more time, and less financial responsibility, and they are probably better represented in online forums, and maybe even anime conventions, but that does not mean that there are more of them.

I'd also say that the demographic that spends the most money on anime is probably in the greater than 25 age group, simply because that group makes a lot more money.

Now, I would also like to point out that a harem show of 40 year old characters would not be appealing to 40 year old anime fans. That's just a very, very sad and disturbing commentary on life. Most people watch anime (and TV in general) to escape from the reality of life, and something so sad as a 40 year old looser being teased endlessly by a dozen old maids... That's just nasty.

No, if I watch harem, I'd prefer the under 20 age group for my characters.

-TC