This Self-Aware Harem Anime Must Finish Its Story

Harem anime is akin to junk food in the anime world. It’s filled with empty plot calories, overloaded with the instant gratification of fanservice, and binge-watching it as a sole source of entertainment is crazy work. Like shonen and isekai anime—which equally remain a mainstay in seasonal anime releases—harem anime’s mass appeal comes from it serving up self-insert fantasies for young boys who dream of effortlessly charming color swatches of pretty girls with the barest level of human decency.

That said, not all junk food is created equal, and there is nothing wrong with occasionally indulging in a small treat. Although most harem anime takes itself too seriously while being a degenerate mess, one new Crunchyroll series winds up on the other end of the bell curve by poking fun at the genre—all while setting itself up to be its god-king emperor by setting the record for most soulmates in a single series.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, animated by Bibury Animation Studios, is an adaptation of mangaka authors Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa’s 2019 parody rom-com. It follows a boy named Rentaro Aijo, a model student and a genuinely good guy. The only problem is that he’s fresh off his hundredth failed confession in middle school, and now he’s pessimistic about his chances in high school. Like Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3, Rentaro prays to God to find a soulmate. Serendipitously, God appears in front of him to report an oopsie on his part that (while distractedly watching his favorite soap opera, as gods are wont to do) he mistakenly made it so Rentaro would have 100 soulmates. Should Rentaro turn any girls down, they’ll die of heartbreak.

At this juncture, it’s imperative to reiterate that this harem series is aware of how dumb its premise is. And yet, that isn’t stopping it from committing to the bit by becoming the Avengers: Endgame rom-com of the genre. 100 Girlfriends plays all the hits of harem anime tropes like beach episodes, king’s game sessions, and the like. The show is also filled with referential anime humor to shows like Tokyo Ghoul, Ashita no Joe, and games like Street Fighter, making it a pop culture hivemind alongside all the harem stuff. But the show has garnered a fanbase for deconstructing harem clichés, going beyond meet-cutes. Each episode sees Rentaro do the leg work, developing deep bonds with each of his soul mates in both hilarious and disarming ways. In turn, 100 Girlfriends transforms its growing ensemble from being cardboard cutouts of character archetypes that proliferate the genre into unique heroines with some texture.

It is worth noting that the show’s title alone created high expectations, setting it up either to meet the challenge or fail (by getting canceled) in its quest to live up to its name. Elsewhere, other harem anime commonly have an ensemble of five one-dimensional archetypes: the childhood friend, the new girl at school, the bratty one, the monotone one who had no chance in hell anyway, and the optional older/younger sister to one of the above. In the end, Protag-kun typically goes for the new girl regardless, so the genre desperately needs shows like 100 Girlfriends to flip the script and shoot for the moon. In what has become an earnest underdog story, the anime community has been cheering for the show to succeed and fulfill its promise.

I colored one of the manga panels of all time
from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You!#100カノ pic.twitter.com/kUEg9aUkSC

— Yash | On Hiatus (@YAAAAASH_) July 27, 2023

While the anime is still rounding 10 soulmates in Rentaro’s surprisingly healthy polycule with a range of archetypes like tsundere, kuudere, and even a mom thrown into the mix, the manga is further along, having just passed 31 soulmates, so there’s still hope yet that it will finish its story however that will pan out.

Please make no mistake: all praise aside, the show is still degenerate and self-indulgent, but of all the series that have come and gone, its lofty aims alone make it something worth rooting for. If anything, it’s way more worth folks’ time than tuning in to shows about incels that are perpetually spinning their wheels (cough cough Rent-a-Girlfriend).

If this article miraculously enticed you to open the proverbial cookie container—despite the attention drawn by the noise of its plastic bindings drawing wavering eyes—you can watch the first season and the currently airing second season of 100 Girlfriends on Crunchyroll.

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