Harem tag

Meaning Less

Engaged Member
Sep 13, 2016
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This is the harem definition for this website:
  • Harem [1 person being courted by at least 3 others, all engaging in consensual sex simultaneously.]
Nothing more, nothing less.

This definition comes from the that was popularized from japanese anime and manga and it is intentionally ambiguous because there are different types of harem inside the genre.
 
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Tokenugget

Active Member
Jan 25, 2022
614
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The harem tag for the site should be updated. Harem relationships by definition are not temporary. Saying that it is only a relationship with one person along with at least three others is not a correct definition.
Agreed. If i can't finish a game with 2 or more women in a relationship, then it's not harem. Sad days for the "harem" tag. Doesn't mean much nowadays. Right now it's pretty much banging more than 1 chick in a game... ugh.
 

Rannell

Member
Jul 29, 2020
299
662
This is the harem definition for this website:
  • Harem [1 person being courted by at least 3 others, all engaging in consensual sex simultaneously.]
Nothing more, nothing less.

This definition comes from the that was popularized from japanese anime and manga and it is intentionally ambiguous because there are different types of harem inside the genre.
If you read further then you would realize that F95 does not define it correctly. Quoting from the same site that you got only partial info from

Ending[ ]
Harem endings typically follow two different routes, the main character ends up with one or none of the women. Occasionally, a "harem ending" occurs where the main protagonist ends with all of the women, but this is more common in works intended for older audiences.
 
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Count Morado

Devoted Member
Respected User
Jan 21, 2022
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The harem tag for the site should be updated. Harem relationships by definition are not temporary. Saying that it is only a relationship with one person along with at least three others is not a correct definition.
Agreed. If i can't finish a game with 2 or more women in a relationship, then it's not harem. Sad days for the "harem" tag. Doesn't mean much nowadays. Right now it's pretty much banging more than 1 chick in a game... ugh.
You two are absolutely correct. This abomination of modernizing the meaning of a word with such depth of richness in tradition deserves to be renewed and revered for what it once was and should always be.

I request, nay, DEMAND, that F95 properly spells the the tag "Harem" (even if it must be ... SHUDDERS ... anglicized as Harīm).

And hereafter, only used in the appropriate, traditional, and revered definition as either "a sacred inviolable place" or as initially stolen by the English as "the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants."

Words have importance. Words have meaning. Any shifting is like building a house upon the blowing sand.
 

aspar4gus

Active Member
Mar 27, 2019
951
2,362
As someone who lives in a country with the actual historical harem as part of its past culture, it was still quite a whiplash and culture shock the first time i discovered that "harem" as a genre is so different and weird now
 
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Tokenugget

Active Member
Jan 25, 2022
614
1,637
You two are absolutely correct. This abomination of modernizing the meaning of a word with such depth of richness in tradition deserves to be renewed and revered for what it once was and should always be.

I request, nay, DEMAND, that F95 properly spells the the tag "Harem" (even if it must be ... SHUDDERS ... anglicized as Harīm).

And hereafter, only used in the appropriate, traditional, and revered definition as either "a sacred inviolable place" or as initially stolen by the English as "the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants."

Words have importance. Words have meaning. Any shifting is like building a house upon the blowing sand.
I suggest, no i DEMAND, F95 hires a team to review and scrutinize every game that dares to apply the harem tag!

But seriously... Sick of games that have harem in the genre. Then halfway down the development cycle decide it's too much work to put renders of all the women in the last stage of the game.

Lazy greedy dev fks.
 
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Rannell

Member
Jul 29, 2020
299
662
This is the harem definition for this website:
  • Harem [1 person being courted by at least 3 others, all engaging in consensual sex simultaneously.]
Nothing more, nothing less.

This definition comes from the that was popularized from japanese anime and manga and it is intentionally ambiguous because there are different types of harem inside the genre.
Bah I just researched my way into losing my own argument.
 
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Meaning Less

Engaged Member
Sep 13, 2016
3,539
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Bah I just researched my way into losing my own argument.
Again like I mentioned there are different types of harem, harem endings are just one of them.
There are plenty of harems where the protagonist ends up with only one girls or even none of them at the end.

That's why the main definition given by wiki is "a protagonist surrounded by three or more love interests or sexual partners" which is pretty close to the f95 definition.
 

Rannell

Member
Jul 29, 2020
299
662
Again like I mentioned there are different types of harem, harem endings are just one of them.
There are plenty of harems where the protagonist ends up with only one girls or even none of them at the end.

That's why the main definition given by wiki is "a protagonist surrounded by three or more love interests or sexual partners" which is pretty close to the f95 definition.
Just curious. Is there really one that you end up with no one? How shitty of a story would that be.
 

Duke Greene

Active Member
Feb 6, 2018
829
1,848
Just curious. Is there really one that you end up with no one? How shitty of a story would that be.
In games with porn content, I don't think it happens outside of bad endings or some old school dating sims. In SFW anime or games with harems or love triangles it does happen sometimes and it isn't always a bad thing: for instance, one the endings in Catherine involves Vincent (the MC) rejecting both Katherine and Catherine and it's considered a Golden Ending because it represents true freedom for him.

For anime, an example that made a lot of people rage back in the day is Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, where the MC categorically refuses to even consider he has a harem, and when he can't avoid the truth anymore he also rejects them all because 1) he doesn't want a GF, he just wants friends, and 2) he hates change and wants to preserve the status quo. He ultimately fails because his rejections eventually shake up the status quo anyway but he does manage to stay friends with all of them, which is really what he wanted all along.

Romance in general doesn't need a "happily ever after". What needs one is power fantasies, which admittedly a lot of harem fans are into.
 
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Meaning Less

Engaged Member
Sep 13, 2016
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Just curious. Is there really one that you end up with no one? How shitty of a story would that be.
Quite common in anime/manga, usually love interests are looking for something deeper than sharing their boyfriends with every girl, so a complete harem just isn't possible in many cases and girls usually just concede to the victor.
And some protagonists also choose to pick noone since this way they can keep everyone happy and things stay as they are.

In fact many games even punish you for not considering other character feelings and just trying to choose everyone (like in witcher 3 when you try to romance both love interests you end up with none of them at the end).
 

kristijanEX

Active Member
May 25, 2020
561
953
As someone who lives in a country with the actual historical harem as part of its past culture, it was still quite a whiplash and culture shock the first time i discovered that "harem" as a genre is so different and weird now
You Turkish ?
 

aspar4gus

Active Member
Mar 27, 2019
951
2,362
You Turkish ?
nah, indian actually, but when i heard of "harem" the mughals instantly come to mind.. but i think whether it's turkish or indian it still have the same persian root right? i mean in comparison to... uhh.. whatever this japanese novel writers defined as harem?
 
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Nov 27, 2018
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Bah I just researched my way into losing my own argument.
Most of the old harem anime/manga (the reverse harem ones too) I remember being about the protagonist having to choose one of the love interests in the end, and there being constant fan wars over who should be chosen (and in Japan I think character popularity polls that could sometimes affect things, too?), and lots of Internet drama or death threats if the final partner wasn't liked by the majority (I think it was Ichigo 100% that even received a fanmade final chapter where the main guy chose another girl?). And in games (granted, I didn't play many of those back then) any non-monogamous endings were in minority and/or hidden. Works with open endings where no decision was made tended to be sequel baits (anime) or milking the fanbase (manga).

Straight harem endings are also unfair to the majority involved. By embracing polyamory you can be sure that everyone gets the same share of love.



But if you want to fight for tag equality, the homosexual ones don't even need to involve any gays/lesbians, a single bi-curious scene somewhere is enough:
Gay [Any sex act between two or more males. Not applicable to content involving transgender or futanari characters.]
Lesbian [Sex act between two or more females.]