The harem genre in anime is gaining steam. From the vast catalog, we have selected the best harem anime you should watch in 2024.
Before we list the shows, let’s find out more about the harem genre.
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What Is Harem Anime?
In a harem anime, the male lead is surrounded by pretty girls who are head over heels in love with him.
Several girls eyeing the male protagonist’s attention is the basic premise of the harem anime genre.
The characters within the harem are competing with each other to get closer to the lead.
However, the male protagonist is mostly indecisive about who he likes and ends up spending time with all of them.
The plot of a harem anime series is usually a mixture of romance and slice-of-life comedy with silly gags sprinkled all over.
However, harem anime also intermingles with various themes like war, sci-fi, history, and more.
Beast Tamer
Beast Tamer Rein Shroud can seek assistance from different kinds of animals. He can tame them to perform various tasks such as logistics and surveillance.
Due to his unique ability, he becomes a part of a Hero Party led by the obnoxious and vile hero named Arios Orlando.
However, Rein is banished from the party after six months because the other members feel he is useless when it comes to fighting.
Meanwhile, the hero party is unaware that Rein is an exceptional beast tamer. His ability starts shining when he meets Kanade, a cat spirit who is an ultimate species.
He forms a contract with Kanade and starts his journey as an adventurer. In the meantime, he meets a new ultimate species and forms his party.
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included
A lonely high schooler named Shintaro Tokumitsu finds his routine disturbed when a girl named Towa, unexpectedly appears on his balcony.
Towa is remarkably pure and sweet, and there is an undeniable aura of divinity surrounding her.
However, there is something different about Towa that catches Shintaro’s attention.
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included is a beautiful romantic harem anime with elements of comedy and slice of life.
Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World
High school student Michio Kaga tries to play a strange online game he found on the internet. He is intrigued by the peculiar nature and rules of the game.
However, he ends up finding himself transported from the game’s website to another fantasy world. He rebirths as a strong man who can use cheat powers.
Moreover, he has access to an overpowered sword. Michio accepts his new reality and starts fighting against the bandits. He realizes he cannot log out from the game.
Later, in Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World, Michio starts his new life completing missions to earn money and building his very own harem to satisfy his earthly desires.
Girlfriend, Girlfriend
Also known as Kanojo mo Kanojo in Japanese, the plot follows Naoya who just got a girlfriend named Saki. Despite their differences, they are madly in love with each other.
He declares that he will never cheat on Saki, but suddenly, a cute girl named Nagisa confesses her feelings for him.
Naoya knows he can’t cheat, but he also cannot let go of a girl like Nagisa.
So, he takes the most logical route to resolve this situation — ask Saki for her permission to date both girls.
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The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody
After reaching the extremes of human capabilities, Varvatos becomes supremely powerful and humans start addressing him as the Demon Lord.
They fear and respect his towering presence. Meanwhile, Varvatos is bored of his fellow humans and wants a true companion who is equal in terms of power.
He desires that his next life would be different and decides to reincarnate 3000 years later as Ard Meteor. Ard reincarnates in an ordinary household in a rural town.
Surprisingly, Ard realizes that despite weakening himself, he is still stronger than everyone in this new era.
Meanwhile, due to poor social skills, he finds it difficult to make new friends.
Soon, rumors about Ard and his powers spread and he is visited by men, women, and evil forces.
Mother of the Goddess' Dormitory
Koushi Nagumo is a 12-year-old boy who finds himself homeless after his father abandons him.
Moneyless Koushi struggles on the street, but a woman named Mineru Wachi brings him to her female dormitory – Megami-ryou.
After Mineru, who is the temporary manager of the dorm, learns about his struggles, she decides to make him the official mother of Megami-ryou.
The dormitory is full of eccentric older women with their own crazy shenanigans.
After some getting used to the residents, Koushi vows to do his best and fulfill the duties of the dorm mother.
Surrounded by these odd older women, Koushi finds himself in what appears to be a harem.
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is a harem and isekai genre crossover. It centers on Sakamoto Takuma who is summoned to another world in his current form.
He appears before two girls who insist that they were the ones who called him into this new world.
The girls perform an Enslavement Ritual on him to turn Sakamoto into their summon.
However, the ritual backfires because of Sakamoto’s Magic Reflection ability, and the girls end up getting enslaved.
The anime series then follows Sakamoto and the girls trying to find a way to reverse the spell.
Redo of Healer
Redo of Healer is a time-travel anime that has harem written all over it.
It follows Keyaru, a skilled healer who could heal all kinds of injuries irrespective of severity.
Keyaru desired a life filled with happiness and joy. Unfortunately, as a healer, he was subjected to countless years of abuse and torture.
In Redo of Healer, he decides to turn the tables after casting a powerful healing spell that could turn back time.
He vows to confront those who wronged him in the past.
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The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made
This fantasy and romance anime opens with a man who claims to be god hacking into a school’s intercom. The man then orders the students to form groups and prepare to be transported to a new world.
Upon reaching, the students will get special skills and the god hopes that they will become the greatest of heroes and beat the Demon King.
The first transfer is a resounding success. But Seiichi Hiiragi, who is constantly bullied by his classmates, is left behind because no one is willing to have him on their team.
Despite lacking a teammate, god sends Seiichi to the other world and lets him join his classmates. Later, Seiichi lands in the middle of a deep forest.
He is not only far from his peers but also any humans. Seiichi desperately tries to turn his situation around, but as the days pass, it only gets worse for him.
When all hope is lost, Seiichi comes across a weird-looking fruit called the Fruit of Evolution.
He hopes that consuming it will change things for him in the unfamiliar world.
Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles
Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles follows 20-year-old college student Haruto Amakawa, who dies in a tragic accident. He then wakes up in an unfamiliar world.
As it turns out, Haruto is reincarnated as Rio, and the former’s memories and personality merge with Rio's. Moreover, he now possesses magical powers.
He is happy that his earnest desire to seek revenge against his mother’s killers is still there. With his newfound powers, he aims to find them and annihilate them.
Meanwhile, Rio sees the princess of the Bertram Kingdom getting abducted. Without thinking twice, he saves her from her captors.
The king is impressed, and as a token of gratitude for his valiant efforts, he allows him to enroll in the prestigious Bertram Royal Academy.
He is excited to start a new chapter in his life, but it gets difficult for Rio to adjust among the children of nobles.
The Quintessential Quintuplets
Poor high-schooler Fuutarou Uesugi leads a tough life. Moreover, his reclusive personality makes it difficult for him to make new friends.
To top it all off, Uesugi’s family is struggling with a pile of debt. One day, he gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to clear his family’s debt.
Uesugi gets a private tutoring gig for a rich family’s daughter. He is offered a salary that is five times the market price.
He accepts the offer but freaks out when he learns that his client is Itsuki Nakano, a girl he had a confrontation with in the past, but that’s not the end of it all.
Nakano is a quintuplet, and now he has to teach her four other sisters – Yotsuba, Miku, Ichika, and Nino.
They all hate studying, so it is up to Uesugi to encourage them and successfully help them graduate.
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend
An otaku named Tomoya Aki has been obsessed with anime and light novels all his life. He gets attached to the series with mind-boggling stories and characters.
He wants to give others the chance to experience the same that he is going through. He decides to create his own game, but he needs more people to execute this plan.
Tomoya ends up recruiting Eriri Spencer Sawamura, his childhood friend, to draw and Utaha Kasumigaoka, a literary champion, to write the script for his novel.
Meanwhile, he is willing to direct them. With his team in place, he is looking for inspiration that would kickstart his project.
Fortunately, he meets a beautiful girl named Megumi Katou, who becomes his muse for the visual novel.
Armed with his otaku knowledge, he creates a doujin circle hoping that he will inspire the players of the game.
However, he doesn’t realize that to spark the emotions, the creators will have to experience the same in their own lives.
A Couple of Cuckoos
Nagi Umino, a second-year student at the Meguro River Academy, was switched at birth.
While on his way to meet his birth parents, he runs into the outspoken social media superstar named Erika Amano.
Erika wants to make Nagi her fake boyfriend as she has no desire to get married.
Meanwhile, when Nagi makes it to dinner, he learns that his parents have decided to resolve the birth switch by having him marry the daughter of his birth parents.
To Nagi’s utter surprise, the girl turns out to be Erika.
Kiss x Sis
The anime follows Keita, who lost his mother and is leading a troubled life. His father decides to remarry and her stepmother comes with two daughters – Ako and Riko.
In Kiss x Sis, the twin sisters start developing feelings for their stepbrother.
Meanwhile, Keita resolves to find a solution to the conflicting feelings in his head for Ako and Riko.
He can either succumb to their lustful advances or outrightly reject them.
In the meantime, Ako and Riko are not the only ones developing feelings for Keito.
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How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
After the sad demise of his grandfather, Kazuya Souma is left all alone. Suddenly, he is transported to the fantastical Elfrieden Kingdom.
It is a small country in another world that is going through a rough patch. He is summoned to be a hero of the nation.
Meanwhile, a war with the demon army has put the world at risk, and Kazuya is asked to assist in the war as a token from the kingdom to its allies.
Kazuya is ready to help Elfrieden Kingdom by revamping its tanking economy.
In his other life, Kazuya was an aspiring civil servant, so he will use his abilities to bring in administrative reforms.
One day, Kazuya is declared the King of the Elfrieden Kingdom and engaged to the princess.
Kazuya vows to form a team of the most talented people from the kingdom who will help him formulate and execute his strategies.
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TenPuru: No One Can Live on Loneliness
TenPuru: No One Can Live on Loneliness, also known as Temple, is a funny harem anime that also has ecchi elements.
Akemitsu Akagami dedicated his days and nights to intense studies and part-time work, striving to create distance from his notorious family.
Unfortunately, his lineage is known for being unfaithful. However, a chance encounter with Aoba Yuzuki instantly captivates his heart, throwing him into a whirlwind of worldly desires.
In an attempt to resist his familial desires and embrace a more austere lifestyle, he seeks solace in a temple.
But to his shock, he learns that it is actually a convent brimming with stunning young women.
Date A Live
This sci-fi harem anime set in the distant future revolves around the life of Shidou Itsuka, an ordinary high school student who lives with his sister named Kotori.
One day, a spatial quake threatens to flatten Tengu City, and Itsuka rushes to protect his sister.
In his attempt to save Kotori, he sees a mysterious girl who is a Spirit. It turns out that she is the one triggering the quake.
Itsuka needs to find a way to stop the spatial quakes and the only option he has is to date all the Spirits.
By dating the beautiful Spirits, he can prevent them from going after planet Earth.
Date A Live has elements of sci-fi action and comedy, making the series a delightful harem watch.
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Strike the Blood
A school-based harem anime fused with supernatural elements, Strike the Blood follows Kojou Akatsuki, who is leading an ordinary life as a high schooler in the Demon District of Itogami Island.
Things take a drastic turn when he ends up gaining the powerful abilities of a legendary vampire.
The Lion King Organization sends a sword shaman named Yukina Himeragi to observe him. If Akatsuki becomes a threat, Himeragi is instructed to kill him.
The two are forced to form an alliance as Akatsuki comes to terms with his newfound powers as a vampire.
Akatsuki and Himeragi become closer as they fight against evil forces.
Nisekoi: False Love
Raku Ichijou is a first-year student at Bonyari High School and the only remaining member of a dangerous yakuza family.
He made a promise to his childhood friend ten years ago to keep a pendant as a reminder while she took its key.
Raku dreams of meeting his childhood sweetheart but reality hits him hard when Chitoge Kirisaki crushes his face with her knee.
Meanwhile, Raku is dragged into the family yakuza business and he is forced to form a bond with Chitoge, who is the daughter of the rival gang’s leader.
Tales of Wedding Rings
Part of the winter 2024 anime lineup, Tales of Wedding Rings revolves around a high school student named Satou.
Satou harbors romantic feelings for his best friend, Hime, a beauty hailing from a different world.
When she returns to her home for marriage, Satou doesn't hesitate to follow her and disrupt the wedding.
In an unexpected turn of events, a kiss from Hime results in Satou becoming the newly-appointed groom.
However, in this other world, Hime holds the title of Ring Princess, and her spouse is destined to become the Ring King - a hero blessed with boundless power.
We Never Learn: BOKUBEN
This harem anime revolves around Nariyuki Yuiga, a third-year student who is striving to get the VIP nomination that will help fund his college education.
The scholarship comes with a condition that Yuiga will have to teach the school’s brightest students in the weakest subjects.
His new students are the math expert Rizu Ogata, who aspires to get better at humanities; Fumino Furuhashi, who excels in literature but needs help in science; and lastly, Yuiga’s childhood friend Uruka Takemoto, who is great in sports but fails all other subjects.
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The World God Only Knows
This harem anime deep dives into the otaku culture as it centers on Keima Katsuragi, who is the God of Conquest and can win any girl’s heart in the world of dating sim games.
However, in real life, he is nowhere close to his gaming persona, but his life completely changes when he accepts a mysterious invitation from a stranger on the internet.
A demon named Elsie then appears before Katsuragi and he finds himself stuck in a contract with hell.
Now, he needs to use his powers to win the hearts of girls who are possessed by spirits.
Chained Soldier
Chained Soldier was part of HIDIVE's winter 2024 anime roster. The series showcases mysterious realms or demon cities getting manifested in different regions of Japan.
Those who consume the Peaches that grow in these places acquire special abilities, but the special powers only manifest in girls.
Yuuki Wagura, a dejected high school boy, finds himself unexpectedly lost at the entrance of one such demon city.
It is here that he comes across Kyouka Uzen, the enchanting leader of a unit in the Magical Defense Corps, who commands him to be her slave.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest
Seventeen-year-old Hajime Nagumo and his classmates are summoned to another world and commanded to save the world.
Nagumo’s friends are blessed with great combat abilities while he ends up getting mediocre transmutation skills.
Later, during an expedition, Nagumo is betrayed by his comrades as he falls to the bottom of an abyss.
He fights and vows to return home. On his way back, he meets a vampire named Yue, who is also struggling to get out of the labyrinth.
Yue and a few others join Nagumo on his adventure to find a way out of the abyss.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
100 Girlfriends revolves around Rentarou Aijou who was rejected a staggering 100 times in middle school.
Seeking a change of fortune as he entered high school, he visited a local shrine, earnestly praying for better luck.
Surprisingly, the God of Love was impressed by Rentarou’s fervent prayer and blessed him to encounter 100 girls whom he was meant to date.
However, there was a caveat. Once destiny intervened and introduced someone to Rentarou, a bond of love must be forged between them. Failure to reciprocate would lead to dire consequences for the girl.
The premise of 100 Girlfriends is ridiculously funny, and the jokes are hilarious. Moreover, the girls stand out, and their chemistry with Rentarou is marvelous.
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