Reverse harem is not an exact science. Fans may have a different interpretation of what reverse harem is. Now, this a tale of two otomes turned animes from Winter 2015 who just didn't quite feel reverse harem at all. And I thought it was going to be the best season ever. Boy, I was wrong.
Prince of Stride: Alternative- 12 episodes
Nana enters Honan Academy to join the stride club.
I was greatly disappointed with how the two animes turned out to be not full pledged reverse harem but more particularly with Prince of Stride. I had high hopes with POSA. Everything about is refreshing and exciting. I love the crisp, energetic and clean animation. There are so many bishies to choose from Honan to Saisei etc. We haven't had any sports-themed reverse harem anime. This could have been easily my favorite reverse harem for the season.
The reason it didn't feel like a reverse harem was because it didn't focus in the heroine. It is more of a group-centric. The heroine seemed forgotten too. Lol. There are more scenes dedicated to fujoshis. It's like a sports anime that tried to combine shonen and shoujo and looking like less of either of the two. But I still enjoyed it, but I would have been happier if has fully cemented its reverse harem status since it's based on otome after all. If there is the best ensemble group award, I would award it to their team. They have great teamwork and engaging relationships. My favorite bishies are Takeru and Kuga. But Heath is tugging my heart too.
Norn 9: Norn + Nonet - 12 episodes
Koharu was taken into a mysterious ship with young people who also have powers.
Norn 9 had this noir steampunk feel. It's very mysterious and evokes breathtaking scenes that remind me of Kamigami no Asobi. I actually liked the twist but for something that huge, the incidents that lead to it are all uneventful. I thought wow three mini reverse harem group with three heroines on each group. You will think that it will be three times the fun. Right? Wrong! It just went farther and farther from reverse harem that it barely became recognizable. Why you do this to us, reverse harem Kamisama? No favorite bishie/s too. They are visually appealing but I couldn't find a connection.
The opening also already shown the official pairing which shuts out any glimmer of interest or hope from the other members of subsets enough to spark a reverse harem.
And up next is kdrama from Fall 2016.
Moonlight Drawn Over the Clouds- 18 episodes
Hong Ra On pretends to be a eunuch in the palace while Lee Yeong pretends to be a commoner.
It's too perfect that it can be boring at times. They have chemistry but after we get past the challenges, it lost its charm. But the ending was too sad for me. This is a matter of perspective though since I have fallen to my habit of second lead syndrome. Am I hardwired to fall for second leads or kdramas are really evil in making us root for them? It was hard to take Park Bo Gum as Lee Yeung seriously as I have seen him Youth Over Flowers Africa and he is way too nice. While Jinyoung as Kim Yoon-Sung is perfection. Sigh! He's the dark knight against Kee Yeung's boyish appeal.
Although it didn't market itself as reverse harem, this is on the same page of kdramas masquerading as reverse harem. I can see the marketing potential. It had the gender bender, three flower boys and only girl in a place forbidden for women. I was hoping for this to be reverse harem as an excuse to watch it. I'm a sucker for gender bender stories.
That's it for the related reviews. Sorry for keeping it short. It's hard to blog about shows I have finished a year ago. I procrastinated for such a long time due to mixed feelings of their reverse harem status. At times you will not agree with me but let’s all agree that we do love reverse harem.