Of all the genres of anime, manga, and light novels in existence, few are as controversial as the harem. Harems are those stories where a self-insert protagonist gains the attention of multiple romantic partners, often for the most arbitrary reasons. They get plenty of flak for being wish-fulfillment with their characters having little to no depth behind them…and that’s true. Plenty of harem anime are like that, hence the reputation. But every now and then, there’s a harem series that manages to rise above what anime fans would consider trash. Now, at last, anime fans have been blessed with what might be the genre’s peak. One that not only parodies its genre but deconstructs its tropes. One where the protagonist actually deserves all the love he gets because he gives as much in return. That anime’s name is The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone, and today, we’re here to talk to you about The 100 Girlfriends, why it’s considered peak harem, and how it turns the genre on its head.
How Rentaro became the Ultimate CHAD
Rentaro Aijo has only one goal in life: to find love and get himself a girlfriend. And every time he’s been rejected, he’s strived to better himself and finally get a girlfriend. But after getting his hundredth rejection before entering high school, Rentaro finally learns the truth. Due to an error made by a Love God, he won’t just meet his soulmate in high school. He’ll have found all one hundred of his soulmates. However, there’s a catch: if he rejects any of his soulmates, they’ll eventually die. Rather than let that happen, Rentaro decides to step up. Somehow, he’s going to not only date all one hundred of his soulmates, but he will return their love a thousand-fold. Not out of a sense of guilt (blame the Love God), but because he really, really, really, really, really loves them all!
100 Girlfriends=Harem Anime’s logical extreme
As crazy as the premise of one guy having 100 women loving him sounds, this isn’t even the biggest harem possible. However, that’s besides the point. The point is that 100 Girlfriends is trying to take the genre to its logical extreme. Each girl will inevitably fit a certain archetype of waifu, meaning that by the time the series concludes, everyone watching will have at least one girl that they like the most. But you may be wondering “how are we supposed to be invested a story about 100 cookie-cutter girls with no real personality to them?” Or “why does this one guy get to have this much attention from so many beautiful women when he didn’t earn it.”
Here’s the thing: they’re not, and he did earn them.
While the prospect of juggling a hundred heroines sounds impossible, the series somehow manages to pull it off. Like Rentaro itself, The 100 Girlfriends gives each of the heroines the attention they need, allowing their personalities and quirks to be fully fleshed out. In addition, each of the girlfriends is shown to be a deconstruction of whatever archetype they fall under. It gets to the point where they will even defy their defining character trope when the story calls for it. What’s more, said defining tropes often result in serious issues that won’t suddenly go away because they date Rentaro. They continually have to work on themselves, not only for Rentaro, but for their own well-being.
Fortunately for them, Rentaro’s efforts to become the ideal boyfriend weren’t simply all talk. Over the course of the series, Rentaro has shown that he’ll go out of his way to make his girlfriends happy. If they’re feeling bad about themselves, he’ll be there to comfort them and help them work things out. If they’re in some sort of danger, he’ll dive in front of them to take the bullet if it means they’ll be safe. And whereas many guys his eyes would take advantage of these girl’s love for him, Rentaro has no such compunction. In fact, he actively refuses to let things slide into outright degeneracy. The love and affection he shows each of his girlfriends is real, and the amount of care he shows them is enough to make them return it ten-fold.
In other words, Rentaro is a CHAD among CHADs.
Every Waifu Archetype is on the table
The title of the 100 Girlfriends isn’t just for show, either. The mangaka seems bent on making it to all one hundred girlfriends. Thus, anyone who reads it should be prepared for a long journey. Thankfully, it helps that the series is incredibly funny.
The 100 Girlfriends is, at its heart, a comedy manga, a fact that it’s not only aware of but revels in. It doesn’t care if others consider it degenerate, choosing instead to focus on meta-humor, fourth wall breaks, pop culture references, and whatever else it thinks is funny. Nowhere is this better shown than with the girlfriends themselves, each of whom deconstructs whatever archetype they fit for entertainment. The manga’s sitting at 31 girlfriends, but the anime’s only made it up to 8; 9, depending on when this goes out.
We would tell you about them, but part of the fun of watching is seeing for yourself. Just be warned that it does get absolutely crazy; nothing is off the table. Here’s the proof.
