Harem Series: How Do They End?

The harem series is a genre, most often associated with anime, manga and light novels, that gets a bad reputation for various reasons. To some people, the idea of multiple women throwing themselves at the male protagonist borders on sexism(admittedly, there are "reverse harem" stories with the genres reversed), or reeks of wish fulfillment, but there's another problem not everyone has considered. When there are multiple contenders for the hero's heart, who will win in the end?

One could argue that finding out is part of the fun, and I can understand that. However, many stories tend to have one of three outcomes, each with its own pitfalls.

Outcome 1: An Obvious Winner

Sometimes, the outcome isn't much of a surprise. The winning candidate turns out to be the one who was obvious from Day 1, assuming you were paying attention.

So where does that leave the others? Perhaps they're simply there to add color to the story, or to mislead the reader into thinking they had a chance. Alternatively, for some of them, coming to terms with their unrequited love is the point of the character. Whatever the reason may be, many of the romantic runners-up can seem largely extraneous, particularly if they have no significant relationships other than with the hero.

To be fair, some works that seem to be in this category are faux-harem series in which the hero's love interest was always obvious. For example, Ai Yori Aoshi is about Kaoru and Aoi, two childhood friends who'd previously been in an arranged marriage, coming together again and falling in love, but having to keep their love secret for various reasons. In those cases, the works may barely qualify as harem series, but one may still wonder what the other candidates for the protagonist's heart contribute to the story.

Outcome 2: A Last-Minute Surprise

This is the antithesis of Option 1. These stories juggle multiple love interests for the majority of the plot, then have the hero choose one at the last minute. This leaves the supporters of the various ships on the edge of their seats for as long as possible, but some will inevitably end up disappointed.

Unfortunately, the winning side is likely to be just as disappointed as the losers, since this approach makes it difficult to provide the necessary buildup for a well-written romantic relationship. It may be possible by making the signs pointing to the winning candidate relatively subtle and more easily discerned on a second reading, but some readers may still cry foul.

Outcome 3: Everyone Wins

As with many choices between two options, there's a third option that some would consider a compromise and others would consider a copout. This may result in the hero engaging in a polyamorous relationship with all the candidates or simply keeping the status quo at the end of the series.

Essentially, the problem here is that if everyone wins, no one does. Few of the shippers are likely to be happy with this outcome, even if they're not as unhappy with it as if some other character had won. Those who had been invested in watching to see who would win are also likely to be disappointed, since they're denied any sort of meaningful closure.

Conclusion

It's not impossible to do a harem series well, but prospective authors must ask themselves difficult questions about why they're writing it and what their goals are. Is their priority to leave readers in suspense as long as possible, or to develop the main pairing? What purpose will the other characters serve, and is there any reason for them to be there apart from as a possible suitor to the lead? And most importantly, what ending will the series have, and how will it get there?

Romance arcs live or die by good characterization, tight plotting and satisfying endings, and the more love interests that are involved, the more difficult this gets. Perhaps would-be harem series writers should not think of the genre as an easy way to get popular, but a challenge that will test their writing abilities and must be done well.