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[High tyrol]

thank you reelya about two thirds of those look interesting. i will have to restrain myself from attempting to marathon one of them tonight
(on another note i am halfway through reading this thread. yeaaa!)

[Neonivek]

Just take a look at the Marry Them All listing on the TVTropes page, it has quite a few examples, including a handful of non-anime/manga ones. (And at least a chunk of the Balanced Harem examples would count as well under your definitions).

Edit: One particular example that floats to mind easily is To Love-Ru.

Goodness... Now if only some of these counted xD

Most of them are one off jokes or references.

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Frumple]

Harem in itself is not bad, but its introduction tends to apply a negative modifier to likeability for me, as they tend to detract from just about anything else more interesting and/or 'here is the protagonist with all the love interests after them, please relate yourself to the protagonist'.  Obviously I'm not the demographic being pandered to.

Mm... me, it's romance that is the baseline negative modifier more than what form it takes. I actually kinda' enjoy well constructed romance plots, but by default I'm notably more leery of a piece of media that includes it than one that doesn't. Tends to lead to really lazy character interactions or incredibly unhealthy relationships, even outside of anime. That said, it's a lot easier to initially hook me with an attempt at polyamory than it is with something more mundane. S'more exotic, y'know? Frumple likes the OT3+.

Even most harem setups in anime tend to functionally be monogamous with jealousy gags and fanservice thrown in, though. It's unfortunate. I mean, I generally like the fanservice but I could do without the jealousy, heh.

... actually, can anyone think of an anime that's full-on polyamorous? Not polygamic or polyandric, but something with more than one of both genders. Stuff's freaking rare period, not just in anime. Usually you get threesomes or one side going solo at best...

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Neonivek]

Naw... The most I get is the "Joke Gay Romantic Interest" who almost always have this seemingly odd way of being a more tolerable romantic interest then the more legitimate ones... (usually by not being a violent Tsundere and not being such a Shrieking violet that they don't make any moves)

Well there was this ONE manga... a friend showed me... but it is kind of a "a porn manga without the porn" is how I would describe it... A sexy hermaphrodite (who looks like a woman) and how she gets it on with everyone! except... doesn't. But it definitely doesn't count because being a Hermaphrodite and all that.

[i2amroy]

Haiyore! Nyarko-san? It's got a guy interested in the main guy, a girl interested in the main guy, a girl interested in the girl interested in the main guy (and also somewhat interested in the main guy by the end), and the main guy himself, who would honestly prefer not to be involved with any of them.

It's gonna be exceptionally rare to find something because you are basically crossing a sorta-uncommon thing with an exceptionally rare one (harem genre with the "gay love included" subset), and in addition the two things tend to appeal to crowds in opposite directions, which means the crossover is gonna be even smaller.

[Neonivek]

Well a gay love interest isn't too rare... but as I said they are usually a joke. (as in "Ha ha! he is gay! and likes our hero! who isn't gay!")

Examples of this include "Baka No Test"

An example of a joke gay romantic interest also exists in Valkyria Chronicles... but that isn't a Harem anime.

And as always I am going to give ALL THE CREDIT to Fairytale for having a... what I assume is a straight character a gay romantic interest who isn't treated as a joke, nor does he violently refuse his advances.

[i2amroy]

Yeah, but a gay love interest that is treated like a serious contender by either the main focus or by the other contenders is.

[Frumple]

But it definitely doesn't count because being a Hermaphrodite and all that.

No, no. Futa is fine, too. Frankly, that or gender swap would probably be the most likely place to find something of such nature in anime.* Which is, like. Okay. I'm okay with that.

Really, when it comes right down to it, I just want some equivalence, y'know? Balance. The cheese/beef cake ratio should be in tune. I'm not even particularly fond of the latter, but it makes me sad when it's not as present.

*Well, or some obscure shoujo manga. They're at least faintly willing to roll with polyandry, and not unwilling to play the yuri card.

[Hawkfrost]

Some ideas for non-light / dark comedy anime:

Welcome to the NHK
Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Watamote
FLCL
Baccano / Durarara
Paranoia Agent
Detroit Metal City
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Humanity Has Declined as well, even though it might not seem like it at first.

[Karlito]

Also I'd highly recommend Space Dandy for a comedy. It's a goofy parody of Cowboy Bebop style animes, but the episodes show a huge variety of tones and art styles. It's really great. I also felt like it has a lot more Western culture references than most anime, which I appreciated as an American.

I recall reading an interview of Watanabe (the creator), where he was critical of the fact that anime tends to draw mostly on other anime for reference and inspiration. I definitely think that's true: there's a whole host of shows that someone won't grok unless they've first watched a whole bunch of other shows.

[ggamer]

can anyone explain japan's creepy fetish for wierd bullshit? I'm starting to get rather tired of the WOW DID YOU NO GIRLS HAVE BOOBS ACCCCK PANTIES HEE HEE HEE CREEP

hence why i'm watching the driest of tom clancy wank material, Legend of Galactic Heroes

[Frumple]

not japan's

is everyone's

you just don't notice your own culture's creep because you've been inundated with it all your life :V

[lordcooper]

I don't like anime.