A harem anime sounds like a dream come true -- one guy with multiple attractive women practically throwing themselves at him. There are worse things that can happen in life... or at least, there should be. Thinking about it, harem anime are actually nightmare scenarios. Women will fight over the guy both figuratively and literally, and the guy has to choose one of them at the cost of breaking every other girl’s heart.
The girls can get mad at the dense protagonist for not understanding their feelings, beat them to a bloody pulp and act like they just don’t care -- not to mention all the jealous guys or fantastical elements that might aggravate the issue. The protagonist will never get any sympathy because most men somehow wish they could have his problems. There are a lot of awful harem situations that have things like this happen, but here are five of the worst.
Monster Musume (2015)
The girls in Monster Musume aren’t always bad girls, but they are monsters -- literally. As part of a foreign exchange program, the virtually-unnamed protagonist has to provide shelter to a growing number of female fantastical creatures. As much as he tries to treat the girls like human beings, he still has to be wary of their monster attributes. He runs the risk of being crushed by a lamia tail, drowned in slime or bound in spider webs. That last one isn’t especially fatal, but Arachne is a sadist, so it can still get pretty unpleasant. The protagonist actually has to build himself up in order to endure whatever his harem might do to him.
Rosario + Vampire (2008)
Tsukune Aono has it almost as bad as the guy from Monster Musume. He attends a high school of Halloween monsters and yōkai. The girls can be problematic in their own ways; the vampire Moka always looks like she's going in for a kiss, only to end up biting Tsukune's neck and sucking his blood; the succubus Kurumu constantly suffocates him in her ample bosom; the witch Yukari is underage, which is its own can of worms; the yuki-onna Mizore is sweet but also a stalker. More girls and monsters also go after Tsukune for his delicious human scent, but thankfully get kicked away by Moka's alter ego. All these girls will fight it out for the one they love.
Nisekoi (2014)
Raku Ichijō has to deal with some of the worst girls imaginable. The first, Chitoge Kirisaki, is irritable and violent, and hates him just as much as she hates her. Unfortunately, they have to pretend to be in a relationship -- a "false love," as the title translation suggests. If they don't, their rival gang families will go to war. Chitoge eventually comes around to Raku, but she still gets violently angry with him for not reciprocating her feelings. To make things worse, this fake romance prevents Raku from confessing to his actual love interest, Kosaki Onodera. Worse still, Kosaki likes Raku too but neither has the courage to confess. It's a purgatory of indecision separate from the nightmare of the rest of the harem.
Speaking of the rest of the harem, they're also pretty bad. Seishirō Tsugumi likes Raku but can't admit it, so she assaults him for showing any semblance of affection. Marika Tachibana stirs up plenty of trouble too; her father is the chief of police, so saying no to her is as bad as saying no to Chitoge. She also guilts Raku with her terminal illness. Other girls also show up, all of whom are relatively insufferable.
Ranma 1/2 (1989)
Ranma seems to live a miserable life in general. They're forced into an arranged marriage with one of their father's friend's daughters, Akane. She's like Chitoge, but much worse. As for Ranma, they have to put up with not just Akane, but also her sisters and several more girls after their heart. Despite their lack of interest, they also have to protect themselves from boys who want Akane, such as Ryoga Hibiki and Tatewaki Kuno.
Ranma's situation is especially bad because they alternate between being a boy and a girl when drenched in hot and cold water. This means that they also have to deal with boys as well as girls who want them, including Tatewaki. Some girls, like Shampoo and Kodachi Kuno, love the boy Ranma but want to kill the girl Ranma, not realizing the two are one and the same. Shampoo also has her own suitor named Mousse who gives Ranma a hard time. Wherever Ranma turns, they are the victim of physical abuse, sexual harassment, mistreatment and general aggravation.
IS: Infinite Stratos (2011)
Ichika Orimura has one of the most horrifying harems ever conceived. As the only man capable of piloting an Infinite Stratos, he is forcibly enrolled into an all-women boarding school for IS pilots. Being the only male makes him a commodity among the student body, so of course, several women go after him. Unfortunately, the militaristic nature of the IS causes most of these battle-hardened girls to respond violently when things don't go their way. Whether another girl makes a move on Ichika or he seems to be making a move on them, the other girls in his harem will likely pull out their IS and attack.
What's truly horrifying about all this is that Ichika can never pick one girl and settle the dispute. If he ever were to choose one girl, the others would kill him. He has to feign ignorance of their feelings and treat them all as friends so none of them get too jealous -- and then he gets attacked anyway over all the "misunderstandings." As long as Ichika can't settle on one girl, he will be stuck in this infinite purgatory of celibacy and abuse.
