Cactus Matt launched the summer with a splash: The “Build A Harem” Tag, in which you imagine yourself as the protagonist of an anime harem! I’ve had a lot of fun reading the resulting harems of others, and then suddenly got tagged myself not once but twice.

So I’m going to do two harems. One for each. 😀

Part of what has made this so much fun is seeing how creative people have been in crafting their fantasy co-star rosters. Anibproductions, who tagged me first, decided to do a harem based on personality and character traits, rather than mere looks. Irina, who tagged me second, gave us a glimpse into the rich fantasy world that populates her waking hours.

Then I ran into two difficulties. First, how to narrow down the possibilities for my own harem? Should I stick with the “cat” theme and throw together Carla from Fairy Tail, Felix from Re:Zero, and a pride of catgirls? (I mean, it is Pride Month after all…) Or a more general non-human harem? But that would be too easy—just include the entire cast of Kemono Friends. (I kid, I kid!) Or—and I seriously considered this—how about a genderless harem, in which each of the characters is, for example, literally neither male nor female? And how to do all this without, you know, bringing out Mrs. Primes’ inner yandere? (Oh, hello, dear! How long have you been reading over my shoulder?!)

The second difficulty is my little boy who sat on my lap and asked, “Can we pway ‘Dis Liddle Piggy Went to Mar-ket‘?” The kid is so darn cute and so I spent ten minutes making him giggle. Which was entirely the most productive thing I did all day.

Obviously, family is a major part of my life. So Harem #1 is my family.

Naturally, I mean “harem” in a Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody sort of way. Where there’s literally only one love interest and everyone else is dependent on the main character without having any romantic tension with him. (Except his slave Arisa, but she’s like ninety anyway.) So you can stop judging me.

Now, allow me to introduce my family to you…

Primes’ Harem #1: The Family

The Yuki-onna

If I were to pick an anime character who is most similar to Mrs. Primes, it would have to be Yuki from Interviews with Monster Girls. (Albeit some years older. Look, I promise you nothing illegal is going on in my marriage.) Mrs. Primes is definitely a Yuki-onna, an ice woman, and like Yuki was a shy and private girl who at first found it difficult to make friends. Once she opened up, however, everyone couldn’t help liking her.

The Mage

MiniPrimes, whom you’ve already met on this blog, is much like Lelei La Lelena, the magician from Gate. She’s smart, creative, and likes her books. And I suspect she really is a magician…

The Accountant

My next kid, MicroPrimes, reminds me of Henrietta from Log Horizon: pretty, tough, wears glasses, and has a good head for numbers.

The Fairy

Then there’s NanoPrimes, who is irrefutable evidence that I have elves or fairies in my family tree. She’s pretty much Sylph from Black Clover.

The Dwarf

PicoPrimes, finally, is a dwarf. Albeit one who likes anime and video games, like the fellows in Outbreak Company.

(Took a break here to eat dinner and play with Nano and Pico. Now Pico is sitting on my lap while I type this with one hand. So much for my 70 wpm typing speed.)

Primes’ Harem #2: The Fantasy

Yeah, so, this is the one you’ve all been waiting for! I’m not given to collecting waifus, so this is a bit new for me. I honestly don’t know what kind of anime protagonist I’d be: The closest I can think of is Hirotaka Nifuji from Wotakoi or Jun’ichiro Kagami from Ultimate Otaku Teacher. And neither of them really had harems.

So I tried to pick characters I think I’d really enjoy spending time with.

The Tomboy: Asirpa – Golden Kamuy

She’s young, pretty, and has a good sense of humor. Oh, and she kills bears for fun. Asirpa would be good company whether I was lost in the woods or enjoying a cozy dinner among friends.

The Mature One: Rebecca – Black Clover

Honestly, I can’t figure out what kind of category Rebecca should go in—so I made one up—but that uniqueness itself is something I like about her character. Rebecca is hard-working and takes superb care of herself and her younger siblings. She’s well-spoken, but has no qualms about saying exactly what she thinks if needed. And next to her, all the other potential love interests in Black Clover—and heck, even the rest of the girls/women—are pretty flat. (Dude, I’m talking about their personalities, ok?) Except the old fire-bending nun. She’s awesome.

Noelle, for instance, gets flustered that she’s worried about Asta (who is off fighting Licht); she’s totally caught up in herself. At the same moment, Rebecca deliberately puts aside her thoughts of romance and prioritizes caring for those in need around her. She’s got a warm heart and a level head. If I needed someone to assist me in a crisis, I know which one I’d prefer to have on hand.

The Genki Girl: Mei Hatsume – My Hero Academia

Mei-chan has an eye (pun intended) for opportunities and making the most of them. She leads Iida around by the nose when they fight during the tournament arc. She’s crazy creative and crazy smart, a very likeable and energetic nerd. Heaven help us if she were ever to turn to the dark side…

What I like the most about Mei, however, is that in a world where a lot of people are defined by their Quirks, Mei just does whatever the heck she darn well pleases. She loves inventing and improving gadgets—tasks for which she doesn’t really need her Quirk (“Zoom”—she can ‘zoom in’ with her vision), but which she adapts her Quirk to. If she had let her Quirk define her, she might have ended up as, I don’t know, a sharpshooter or something. Kind of like Shinso, whose Quirk (“Brainwash”) seems perfectly made for a villain, and yet he insists on becoming a hero.

The Kamidere: Red – Restaurant to Another World

Powerful, immortal, and protective of the things she treasures, the Red Dragon is pretty much God in the alternate world. Even the other dragons listen to her. Plus, you’ve gotta respect someone who has a Balrog for a butler! Stay on her good side, like the Nekoya chef, and she’ll bring good things your way.

Plus, she’s hot. See?

The Meganekko: Sakie Satou – Interviews with Monster Girls

Sakie, our resident chaste succubus, is one of my all-time favorite anime characters, and literally the one that started me on aniblogging. She’s a meganekko, and like I always say, “Smart guys make passes at girls who wear glasses.” And she seems to prefer gentlemen, like yours truly. However, since she’s hopelessly in love with Takahashi, who is not only a gentleman but also built like a Gundam, I’d be out of luck.

---

That wraps up my harems! The rules for the “Build a Harem” tag are:

The ‘Build A Harem’ Tag Rules

1. Link back to the original post on Anime QandA so readers can check out everyone’s picks!
2. Use the ‘Build A Harem’ logo somewhere in the post.
3. Make sure to mention the person who nominated you too!
4. Pick 5 Anime Characters (any show & any gender) that would be in your ideal harem if you were the main character of a harem anime, explain a little bit as to why they are your picks (if you want).
5. Make sure each character you pick falls into some of the following harem character types: Childhood friend, tom boy/girl, genki girl/boy, loli/shota, trap, tsundere, yandere, kuudere, dandere, etc. (If there’s a character you’ve picked that doesn’t specifically fall into one of these types or falls into multiple types that’s fine too!)
6. Nominate 5 people to participate in this tag!

So to wrap up, I nominate:

Ameithyst

A Nerdy Perspective

Chaotic Lass

Keiko

and Samuru!

 

Stay cool, and see you soon!