The 18 Best Harem Manga With No Anime Adaptations

Why design one love interest when multiple ones will do? That’s how the harem genre was formed, as it kept the audience guessing over which potential lover the protagonist will eventually pair off with. It popped up in the 1970s but blew up in subsequent decades with the rise of classic anime like Urusei Yatsura and Tenchi Muyo.

The genre is still around today, whether it puts a guy among girls like High School DxD, a girl among guys like Ouran High School Host Club, or has an LGBTQ twist like Iono-sama. While those all made it into animation though, others didn’t make the jump. In fact, there are plenty of great harem manga that haven’t been animated yet.

Updated on December 6, 2023, by David Heath: Time can move quickly when it comes to adapting work for anime. The 100 Girlfriends anime recently made its debut on Japanese TV and on Crunchyroll, and 2024 will see Tying the Knot With an Amagami Sister get animated too. The likes of Sekai no Owari no Encore and Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle are still popular and running too, so it may only be a matter of time until they get animated too. Still, there are plenty more works that may remain in print only, such as old manhwa like Crazy Girl Shin Bia-Ah, or strips cut short like Reiji Yonakano’s Harem. Then again, anything could happen. Until then, a few new entries, and extra details for all strips have been added, and the older ones have been rearranged to separate the now-animated entries apart from the still-unanimated ones.

18 The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You

MyAnimeList Score: 7.84/10

• Written by Rikito Nakamura.
• Illustrated by Yukiko Nozawa.
• 2019-Present.
• Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment.

Created for Weekly Young Jump, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You (or just The 100 Girlfriends for short) lives up to its title literally. Hapless and hopeless high school student Rentarō Aijō prays at his local shrine for a girlfriend. The God of Love agreed to grant it, but because he was distracted by a rerun of Castle in the Sky, he messed up and gave Rentarō 100 soulmates instead of one.

He comes across two girls, Hakane and tsundere Karane, on his first day alone. Rentarō tries to fix it, but the God of Love says his soulmates will die prematurely if he doesn’t return their feelings. Unwilling to do that, he manages to convince the two to accept a polyamorous relationship. The story is currently still running, and Rentarō is up to approximately 27 in the manga. The series finally made its anime debut in October 2023 and can be watched via Crunchyroll.

17 Tying The Knot With An Amagami Sister

MyAnimeList Score: 7.56/10

• Written & Illustrated by Marcey Naito.
• 2021-Present.
• Available in English via Kodansha USA.

Tying the Knot With an Amagami Sister is not connected to the Amagami dating sim or the Amagami SS anime. The name comes from the manga’s Amagami Shrine, where Uryū Kamihate moves to after spending much of his life in an orphanage following the death of his mother. After a series of heartbreaks, he shifts focus to his dream: getting into Kyoto University’s Medical School. However, the shrine’s head priest Chidori has other ideas.

He wants Uryū to marry one of his three granddaughters to keep the shrine going. According to him, it’s his destiny. However, he doesn’t know who he’ll end up with—little sister Asahi, dedicated tsundere Yuna, or the playful Yae. Only time will tell as the manga’s still running as of this writing. It’ll also finally make its anime debut in 2024 via Drive, the studio behind Season 3 of Konosuba and the upcoming Uzumaki anime.

16 Magika Swordsman and Summoner

MyAnimeList Score: 6.97/10

• Written by Mitsuki Mihara.
• Illustrated by Lin Meng.
• 2013-Present Day.
• Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment.

Magika Swordsman and Summoner started off as a light novel under its original Japanese name ‘Magika no Kenshi to Shōkan Basileus’. Then Lin Meng adapted it into a manga for Comic Alive. In its world, people discovered magic and the ability to summon mythical beings. The world’s nations formed pacts with these beings where they get to choose a trainee as their official Summoner, who’ll work in tandem with a Swordsman.

Then, nearly a decade and a half later, things get complicated. Kazuki gets chosen as a summoner, despite the position usually going to women due to them having more mana. As such, he sticks out at the all-girls summoner school. He’s bottom of the class, and his elder foster sister Kanae would rather he became a Swordsman instead. But Kazuki is determined to live up to the Summoner role and prove everyone wrong.

15 29 and JK

MyAnimeList Score: 6.70/10

• Written by Yuuji Yuuji.
• Illustrated by Kakito Katou.
• 2017-2020.
• Fan Translations only.

Like many other entries on this list, 29 and JK was a light novel until it got adapted into a manga for Gangan Online. The title has a worrying implication, as the lead male, Eiji, is 29 years old, and the leading lady, Karen, is the titular JK, or joshi kōsei (high school girl). Luckily, it sets out to keep things between the two platonic. They met in a manga café during his break from his call center work. They had a chat where he encouraged her ambitions to become a writer.

Eiji thought that’s where it would’ve begun and ended. However, he learns Karen is the granddaughter of his boss, who encourages Eiji to mentor Karen. That would be simple enough, but things only get complicated from there. His work gets busier, his sister moves in with him, and his childhood friend comes back into his life. Between his stresses and suitors, helping Karen with her writing may be the only peace he’ll get.

14 Dragons Rioting

MyAnimeList Score: 7.10/10

• Written & Illustrated by Tsuyoshi Watanabe.
• 2012-2016.
• Available in English via Yen Press.

While the entries on this list largely keep things clean, some of them do come close to the line between mature storytelling and mature content. Dragons Rioting keeps things PG, or at least PG-13 with its premise. Rintaro was diagnosed with a condition where he could die if he got aroused. To help him overcome this, his father took him to the mountains to train him how to keep cool under the collar, so to speak.

At 16, he enrolled at Nangokuren School, thinking it was the largest all-boys school in the country. Unfortunately, he finds out the hard way that it was the largest all-girls school that recently went co-ed. He tries to transfer out, only to get the attention of the Dragons-three notorious female students who run the school’s biggest factions. While he befriends Ayane, Kyōka, and Rino aren’t so amiable. They want to be the strongest students, and Rintaro’s only hope is to prove his mettle against them while keeping his composure.

13 My Wife Is Wagatsuma-san

MyAnimeList Score: 7.33/10

• Written by Yuu Kuraishi.
• Illustrated by Keishi Nishikida.
• 2011-2014.
• Available in English via Kodansha USA.

It doesn’t hurt to have dreams, but some of them can feel far out of reach. For example, Hitoshi isn’t popular at high school and is as average as average can be. But suddenly, for a brief while, he finds himself flung ten years into the future where he somehow managed to get married to Ai Wagatsuma, the prettiest and smartest girl back at school. Hence, the title: My Wife is Wagatsuma-san.

As these time slips grow frequent, he uses them to try and get to know Wagatsuma more. But he has to be careful, or he could end up with other suitors, like the exchange student Silvia, substitute teacher Itsuko, or Ran, one of the girls from a gang his friends have a rivalry with. The original strip ended in 2014, but can be found in English via Kodansha USA.

12 Gun X Clover

MyAnimeList Score: 7.36/10

• Written by Mikoto Yamaguchi.
• Illustrated by D.P.
• 2012-2017.
• Fan Translations only.

Gun X Clover originally ran in Dragon Age magazine (no relation to the other Dragon Age) from 2012 to 2017. It hasn’t received an official English release, but its scanslation proved popular enough for the series to get a wiki page. The combination of martial arts and harem must be a potent one. Despite Mikado High School’s reputation for producing top-flight mercs and bodyguards, Morito has no rank and no hope.

Not until he’s suddenly assigned to protect his classmate Kotonoha, a girl who could potentially end the world, and thus has had several bodyguards die in the line of duty. How did Morito end up getting such a deadly job? It turns out he may be not as weak as his lack of rank suggests.

11 Reiji Yonakano’s Harem

MyAnimeList Score: 6.96/10

• Written by Akira Kojima.
• Illustrated by Yohei Kazama.
• 2018-2020.
• Fan Translations only.

Perhaps better known under its Japanese title Yonakano Reiji ni Harem wo, or as Midnight Harem (because “Yonakano” means “at midnight”. It’s a pun that doesn’t quite survive translation), Reiji Yonakano’s Harem is a rom-com with a spooky edge as Reiji, an ordinary school kid, manages to meet his “fated person,” who just happens to be a ghost. Invisible to most other people, Rei makes it her (un)life’s mission to help Reiji find a girlfriend.

The problem is that he isn’t interested in romance, or even socializing. But whether it’s his shy classmate Yomi, or Minori the Public Moral Chief, Rei won’t stop until she’s found Reiji the perfect partner, or partners if need be. It’s a unique premise told with plenty of charm that makes it a genuine hidden gem, as it’s also a scanslation-only treat for readers outside Japan.

10 Gal Gohan

MyAnimeList Score: 7.45/10

• Written & Illustrated by Mari Taiyō.
• 2016-2020.
• Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment.

Gal Gohan originally ran in Young Animal (the same magazine that featured Berserk), but it didn’t exactly explode with success, and the author has since moved on to short story anthologies like Nō Hakaisunzen!? But its printed chapters remain popular with readers who fancied its romantic Food Wars-like premise. It told the story of Shinji Yabe, a home economics teacher who was asked to help one of his students.

Miku Okazaki is a typical Japanese “gal” or “gyaru,” an underachiever who’s more interested in fun, frolics, and fake tan than studying. With Yabe’s guidance, she makes a batch of cookies tasty enough to convince her other teachers not to flunk her. Inspired, she then joins Yabe’s cooking club to see if the way to a man’s heart is truly through his stomach. That is if her clubmates don’t manage to out-cook her.

9 Fujimura-kun Mates

MyAnimeList Score: 7.41/10

• Written and Illustrated by Seiichi Shiki.
• 2009-2013.
• Fan Translations only.

Fujimura-kun Mates also passed by with little notice during its run on Gangan Online. However, those who managed to check the strip out ended up getting into it. It helps that the manga leans more toward the comedy aspect of the genre than the wish-fulfillment aspect. Haru Fujimura has plenty of suitors, yet he doesn’t really want any of them. He’s a juvenile delinquent who’s feared by his classmates and cares little about learning.

That all changes when class president Eriko Usami forces him back to school by threatening to paint his cat black. She makes herself his friend, with the intention of becoming his girlfriend. As does the linguistically challenged Inui, the clumsy Shizuru, creepy Himuro, and fellow delinquent Subaru. Fujimura is left as the frustrated straight man to a host of wacky women, like a harem take on manzai acts. It’s a breath of fresh air for manga readers who prefer something more nutty than saucy.

8 You Guys Are All Annoying!

MyAnimeList Score: 6.74/10

• Written & Illustrated by TOBI.
• 2014-2020.
• Fan Translations only.

You Guys Are All Annoying is better known by its Japanese name (‘Omaera Zenin Mendokusai’) as it hasn’t been officially translated into English yet. Some translate it as “You Are All Annoying” or “All of Them Are Troublesome Girls.” Either way, the manga shows how Kunihiko Kunitachi is driven up the wall by the girls at his school. He works as a language and art teacher and often has trouble with Kazumi Kazumiya, one of his students.

When he suggests she make some friends, she asks him to be her first friend. He agrees, only for Kazumi to end up following him around everywhere. Even when he tries to get her more friends, like Riho Kurihara and Eiko Enomoto, he only makes things more complicated. Surprisingly, while the manga hasn’t been animated, it did get a live-action movie in 2019 with Kensho Ono (Giorno Giovanna’s VA in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) as Kunihiko.

7 Umi no Misaki

MyAnimeList Score: 7.38/10

• Written & Illustrated by Kō Fumizuki.
• 2007-2014.
• Fan Translations only.

As famous as Kō Fumizuki’s Ai Yori Aoshi was, its anime adaptation was criticized for not blending its comedy and drama as smoothly as the original manga. So, it might’ve been good that his next work, Umi no Misaki, didn’t get animated as soon as possible. It was about Goto Nagi, a student who moved to his late mother’s home in Okitsushima. He learns she served as a Cape Maiden, the representative for the island’s Dragon God. Once the locals discover he was born on the day of the god’s death, they start venerating him as its reincarnation.

But the position comes with responsibilities. For one, he has to pick one of the three new Cape Maidens to settle down with. Unlike many harem series, Umi no Mizaki focuses on the emotional narrative rather than titillation. Readers are kept guessing as, while lead girl Shizuku takes center stage, her rivals Soyogi and Karin get just as much due care and attention. Nagi grows as a person as he adjusts to his new role, rather than being an ordinary, unchanging, average Joe.

6 Red Lion

MyAnimeList Score: 7.51/10

• Written & Illustrated by Yong Seon Kim.
• 2003-2005.
• Fan Translations only.

Can a Korean comic, or manhwa, get turned into anime? Well, yes. It worked for The God of High School, Noblesse, and even more, so it could also work for Red Lion. While it’s an older strip, it’s held up well over the years as it combines a reverse harem romcom with martial arts action. Its lead, Eisul Kim, was the most famous fighter in all the city’s school districts. She was so strong she gained a reputation as the titular Red Lion.

After ruling the streets for so long, she suddenly stops fighting and disappears. That’s because she promised her mother she’d move on from her past, go to a new school, and just be an ordinary girl. However, while her fetching red hair and looks are enough to attract suitors, her past will always come back to haunt her. She now has to deal with her old foes alongside her new lovers.

5 Today’s Cerberus

MyAnimeList Score: 7.51/10

• Written & Illustrated by Ato Sakurai.
• 2013-2018.
• Available in English via Yen Press.

Monthly Shonen Gangan’s Today’s Cerberus is a weird one as one of the lead’s suitors is a dog woman with multiple personalities. When Chiaki was nine, he saved a three-headed dog from being bullied by some kids. Startled, its middle head bit Chiaki, breaking off a piece of his soul in the process. Since then, he’s been a morose, cold figure. Eight years later, the dog returns and offers to help him regain his missing soul fragment by becoming human.

However, during the process, she has an accident that splits her personality into three different identities: the dark-haired Kuro, the white-haired tsundere Shirogane, and the masked, pink-haired Roze. Dealing with the shrine priestess Hinata and his childhood friend Minerva was testing enough. Now he has the Cerberus girls and a whole host of supernatural figures who come in and out of his life.

4 Sekai no Owari no Encore

MyAnimeList Score: 7.17/10

• Written by Kei Sazane.
• Illustrated by Ryū Usui.
• 2015-Present.
• Fan Translations only.

Sekai no Owari no Encore, a fantasy harem adventure, was originally a light novel by Kei Sazane and Haruaki Fuyuno. Then it was converted into a manga by Ryū Usui for Comics Alive. Surprisingly, for a modern fantasy tale, it’s not an isekai. Instead, it involves a mystical MacGuffin known as the ‘Encore’. It was the last record of the end of the old world and the rebirth of the new one, and it was last seen in the hands of the legendary hero Elline.

Ren, a young boy with a striking resemblance to Elline, aims to become a heroic knight like him. Unfortunately, he’s so hopeless with a sword that the locals call him a ‘fake hero’. Nonetheless, when Kylse the Dragon Princess awakens from her seal, she sees potential in Ren. Alongside the archangel Fear, and Elise the Demon-Lord, they form a party to find the Encore together. With friends like them, who needs foes?

3 Ai Kora

MyAnimeList Score: 7.65/10

• Written & Illustrated by Kazurō Inoue.
• 2005-2008.
• Fan Translations only (English). Available in French via Kadokawa.

AKA ‘Love & Collage’ or ‘Sexy Puzzle’, Ai Kora was a saucier strip for Shōnen Sunday back in the mid-2000s. It’s an ecchi harem tale, but it used its storytelling and comedy so well that it managed to appeal to people regardless of their feelings on fanservice. The story follows Hachibei Maeda, who loves women as much as the next guy, except he loves some parts more than others.

He likes the sound of a soothing, deep voice, the sight of bright blue eyes, straight ‘anime-esque’ legs, and a bullet train-like bust. These specific interests keep him from settling with one sole woman. However, when he moves to Tokyo for school, he ends up in an all-women’s dormitory and meets five women who each have one of the ‘attributes’ he likes. He’ll have to decide which part appeals to him the most or learn to appreciate women beyond their body parts.

2 Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle

MyAnimeList Score: 6.70/10

• Written by Hiromu.
• Illustrated by Bobcat.
• 2020-Present.
• Available in English via Yen Press.

Starting life as a light novel by Hiromu and raemz, Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle has been running in Manga UP! since April 2020. It caught on so well that the city of Fukui set aside ¥6 million for a Chitose-based tourism campaign in the middle of 2022. Both the light novel and manga are also available in English via Yen Press. It’s about Saku Chitose, the most popular kid at Fuji High School.

Everything seems to be going perfectly for him until his teacher asks him to help a shut-in student called Kenta Yamazaki break out of his shell. He uses his connections and social knowledge to help Kenta get on in school. In other words, it’s like the Nerd & Jock webcomic with a narrative and a bunch of women to charm.

1 Crazy Girl Shin Bia-Ah

MyAnimeList Score: 7.68/10

• Written & Illustrated by Mi-Ri Hwang.
• March 2008-May 2008.
• Fan Translations only.

Time to head back to Korea with another manhwa in Crazy Girl Shin Bia–Ah. Like Red Lion, it has a young girl choosing among a host of men instead of the usual one guy, multiple girls fare. It also throws in time travel and a period setting, as the pretty but lazy Shin Bia-Ah has her life turned upside down by a single Chinese necklace. She was walking home one day when it fell from the sky and smacked her on the head.

Its power sends her back to one of her past lives in ancient China. Luckily, she was a noblewoman and got to live in the lap of relative luxury. Unluckily, she’s expected to have the manners and poise of a noblewoman too, which she lacks. It’s in her struggle to fit into this ancient society that she catches the attention of several suitors, like the handsome but curious Prince Mu-Yeong. Will Shin Bia-Ah fall for his charms or does she fancy someone else?

MORE: Great Anime That Have Unnecessary Harems