Understanding – The reason to be rooting for a haremette

14Aug/0718

Understanding – The reason to be rooting for a haremette

My good brother Zyl scares me. He sees through me like few people on earth does. So when he mentioned that I mostly "root for anime girls who understand the protagonist best", it was a tremendous revelation since I've never put my finger on the most basic motivation for supporting a particular character in love dilemmas. Hayate no Gotoku 17 reminded me again why Hinagiku is the choicest haremette I believe Hayate can pick - she knows him better than the rest of the clueless contenders.

Understanding requires a sufficient level of emotional maturity and intuition which are important basic building blocks of any relationship. Deeper understanding is then born through communication which furthers knowledge that reinforce love (or in other cases to punch out before marrying the jerk/committing to that friend). This explains why I'm partial to childhood friends/imoutos in any harem setup because they traditionally have a headstart in this aspect though not all have established channels for real communications. Anyhow, here's a list of harem heroines I have rooted for in the past because they know the protagonists for who they really are.

Shigure Asa (SHUFFLE!) - The resident counsellor in SHUFFLE!, Asa see Rin's heart and struggles so lucidly. From garnering support for Rin during the Primula incident to her initial rejection at the amusement park, she has consistently shown herself to be mature and sensitive to Rin's needs.

Housen Elise (Canvas 2 - nijiiro no sketch) - The only one who recognises that Hiroko's true calling in life should be in art instead of teaching where it's an avenue of escape from the demons of the past.

Suzumiya Akane (Kiminozo) - The only one with the clarity of mind to articulate the cruelty of Takayuki by being with Haruka but yet gives credit for his gentle-kindness (which sustains his hope of recovering Haruka) by falling in love with him.

Minase Nayuki (Kanon) - Sensitive, mature and always looking out for her cousin, she pwns all the Kanon girls in the department of knowing Yuichii.

Maehara Shinobu (Love Hina) - Frankly every haremette in Love Hina is exasperating save for Shinobu. Gentle and intuitive to Keitaro's needs, she's a 14 yr old worth waiting for.

Iokawa Karada (Asatte no houkou) - The main reason I rooted for Karada and not Shouko-chibikko is because Hiro and Karada has a level of understanding/love that Shouko would never approach within light-years of even in a thousand lives. Siscon did not taint this pronouncement.

Jujou Shion (Otoboku) - Although I openly lend my support to Mariya, I'd have preferred Shion if she were in the competition. There'd be no contest then.

Sawachikawa Eri (School Rumble) - Of the girls vying for Harima, I dare say Eri knows him best - his kindness/insecurities despite his tough exterior. Yakumo is merely fascinated by Harima's enigmatic unreadable mind and Tenma... she's in another solar system altogether.

The truth is I extend this preference to my RL choices. My wife knows me like no other on earth and she scares me crapless when she utters something about myself that even I'd refuse to admit. ~~(Well, ok the fact she looks 10 yrs younger and is one of the prettiest girls in her cohort were minor incentives I guess. I reiterate her considerate sensitivity is still key.)~~ Looks like I have to impart such harem-derived wisdom to my children in future so that they can choose fabulous partners like their parents. XD

Here's hoping Hinagiku gets her man.

Posted by Stripey

Filed under: Hayate no Gotoku Leave a comment

Comments (18) Trackbacks (8) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

kaz3phyrous
August 14th, 2007 - 04:01

i guess we only agree on shinobu on which haremette we support…

concerning yakumo only fascinated with harima i believe that’s false… i can clearly see, though i’m not up-to-date with the latest SR, that she understand harima… i believe she knows that harima likes tenma and he is supporting him… she also knows how kind harima is… ever since that scene woth iori.. or maybe it’s just my love for quiet-type characters that’s telling me all this…

concerning the shuffle… i believe that it was kaede who knew rin best… she knows how kind he is, as shown when he lied about how he was the cause of her parent’s death… and she devoted her life just to take care of rin, though it was because of guilt, and developed feelings for him… and i also hated asa, there is just something about her character that i didn’t like… and i’m neutral towards nerine and sia… or this could be just my love for yandere characters talking…

though i agree that nayuki knows yuuichi best… i for one give my support to mai… she has that mysterious atmosphere around her that just wants you to get to know her better… i guess that’s what attracted yuiichi too at first… plus mai is also a quiet-type character which gets top moe points from me… but a nayuki is fine too…

in kiminozo… i liked akane but i didn’t think she was right for takayuki… i just didn’t see the chemistry between them… i believe haruka was the one who understood him the most, to the point of letting him go to that other girl, knowing that she did nothing for him while he was in a coma and that other girl was the one who comforted him during that time… although it was that girls fault in the first palce that landed her in a coma… but she didn’t know that…

in otoboku i supported takako… even though she wasn’t the one who understood mizuho the most… she was willing to… because unlike mariya and shion, who knew mizuho was male… she was the one most affected by learning the truth it because she believed in him/her.. and although she was unsure at first… after she realized her feelings for mizuho she was willing to forgive and understand why mizuho lied…

still haven’t watched canvas 2 and asatte, it’s sitting in my backlog, so i can’t comment on that…

so basically for me my moe fetish ranking is this:
quiet-type/tsukasa > yandere/tsukasa > tsundere…

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maglor
August 14th, 2007 - 06:21

Understanding must go both ways. In terms of understanding of the character, I think these would be #1

Hayate: Maria – She is so smart, some people fear her for that.
Shuffle: Won’t go there
Canvas 2: ditto
Kiminozo: yes, Akane may be the only one who was seeing things objectively
Kanon: Akiko-san might have understood Yuuichi the best, but she doesn’t count, so Nayuki it has to be.
Love Hina: Agree about Shinobu
Asatte: Sure, Karada knew her ‘brother/f*t**r’, but the anime series was also about Shouko coming to terms with the past and reaching another level of mental maturity. The right pairing is Adult Shouko and Hiro, with Karada being their sister/daughter.
Otoboku: Mariya may know Mizuho the best, but Jujou Shion would have owned them all if she wanted to.
School Rumble: Ok, let’s get ready to Rumble. Yakumo and Harima shared a bond that few other pairing has achieved. Eri only has infatuation with Harima.

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maglor
August 14th, 2007 - 06:33

>>> (Well, ok the fact she looks 10 yrs younger and is one of the prettiest girls in her cohort were minor incentives I guess. I reiterate her considerate sensitivity is still key.)

There is no need to strike out this proclamation whether it is true or not. The real important thing is that your wife will give you a cookie for saying something nice about her

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Beowulf Lee
August 14th, 2007 - 08:52

There’s something about air headed girls that makes me want to scream: “U R ST00PID!!11″ no matter how lolilicious they are or how big their boobs are. I do share the same preference as you do in understanding, but in Shuffle’s case, I have to choose Kaede over Asa. I disagree with kaz3 about how Kaede knows Rin better than Asa. The examples he gave shows how they have stronger emotional tides, but not necessarily the deeper understanding in character that you’re is referring to. I guess it’s because of how Kaede’s backstory was completely original, how it took me by surprise, and the strong emotional tides mentioned above.

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suguru
August 14th, 2007 - 09:16

That’s an interesting way to look at it–I think understanding is definitely key in RL, my wife thinks I can read her mind sometimes, and vice versa…especially after you’re married for a while you really do get to the point where you could finish each other’s sentences…

If I had to make a list, I would wind up with almost the same choices you had (I loved Asa, Nayuki, Karada, Elis, Eri, and Akane) but thinking about it, it’s hard for me to come up with a rule for which types of character I like. In general, I like characters who for lack of a better term are strong-willed (I won’t say tsundere, since Feena-hime’s not a tsundere, but she’s clearly a strong-willed character) and I don’t like the meeker types (Shinobu from Love Hina falls in this category for me) or the doormats who live to serve the male lead (most of the cast of Shuffle falls in this category, like Kaede with her “I live to serve Rin-kun” schtick…sure, she’s psycho, but that doesn’t count as strong-willed for me…).

Hayate seems like it’s going to wind up like School Rumble, with a cast that’s so likeable it’s hard to choose between them, and I’m sure the factions will be gearing up to do battle as the series comes to an end (although Hayate probably won’t actually choose anyone). I’m torn between Hinagiku and Nagi right now, leaning towards Nagi since she’s had more screentime and Hayate met her first…they’re both great characters though.

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crimson
August 14th, 2007 - 09:30

I guess I missed the announcement somewhere. omgStripey! Your now married??

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Jobrill
August 14th, 2007 - 10:01

I have to say, Hayate no Gotoku has probably been the hardest Harem anime to pick a favorite for for me. Unlike most other Harem animes, almost everyone has a lot of good points to them. Depending on my mood at the time, I can be rooting for Maria (even if she’s not technically openly interested, I could still see the potential), Nagi, Hinagiku, OR Nishizawa. In the end, however, I do probably end up rooting for Hinagiku the most, probably for similar reasons you do. Having a level head on your shoulders and being able to be sensible and understanding go a looooooong way.

That said, I still couldn’t say that’s quite the Only factor for me. For example, In Love Hina, I’m more of a Motoko fan. Which is weird, on the surface, I SHOULD probably be rooting for Shinobu. She more closely fits what I like to see in a girl, and I hate it when girls in a harem anime beat up on the lead for no apparent reason. Probably in that case, it’s a combination of sharing an appreciation of Hakama on women with my good friend Hanai, and being a fan of the Warrior woman with a soft center archetype. At the least, it felt like she and Keitaro had more real, solid emotional interaction than most of the other Haremettes did, sans Keitaro’s inexplicable mooning for the most sadistic and unlikable of his love interests.

That said, I can agree with you on all your other choices, so… hey, maybe I do have that same preference for girls who understand the protagonist best, with the occasional soft-sub for warrior women. Good read.

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kei-clone
August 14th, 2007 - 10:26

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du5k
August 14th, 2007 - 12:01

I know what you mean! I’m with you for all the choices expect for Shinobu… I’m going with Mutsumi Otohime, I think she understands him better?? And Takako’s too deredere to resist…

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kaz3phyrous
August 15th, 2007 - 01:11

ok… i’m gonna take back what i said about kaede… it’s probably just the yandere fanatic in me talking… but i’ll still choose kaede… even though i haven’t played teh game yet… there is just something about kaede that i like in a girl… but my preferences in anime and RL girls are still the same… understanding quiet-type/tsukasa > yandere/tsukasa > tsundere

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Stripey
August 15th, 2007 - 18:24

kaz3phyrous: Heh, we all have Zyl to thank since he rightly pointed it out I’ll be the first to admit that my support for Asa waned at the end of SHUFFLE! I thought her stubborn refusal to use magic myopic and inconsistent w her character. So I threw my support behind Kaede after ep 21 where Kaede has shown tremendous fortitude. But really, I think Primula would win out eventually XD. As for SR, I haven’t read the manga so my conclusions are drawn from the 2 seasons which I suspect is partial to Eri. If you enjoy such love-tussles, I believe you would enjoy Canvas2

maglor: Abt Asatte, actually deep down I knew the eventual conclusion would be Hiro/Adult shouko living w chibi Karada. But I couldn’t help but harbour hopes that the series would break norms. I guess I’m one-tracked mind in the sense that I feel that the strongest bond in any setting should be elevated to the main romantic item on the drama agenda and clearly in Asatte, Hiro/Karada has the deepest bonding. It didn’t help that the series misled me into thinking siscon since Karada was non-blood related XD And yes, I got a cookie

Beowulf Lee: Thx for making the distinction Just to say that non-understanding girls are not necessarily lacking in intellect or EQ but sometimes are just merely self-centric in their thinking making them much less desirable.

suguru: For hayate, I’m currently torn between Hina and Maria. Maria has been beefed up over the last few ep ousting even my 2nd fav hamster twin-tailed girl. But I noticed the trend – All 3 are fairly mature with a fair understanding of the strengths of Hayate. Unless Nagi grows more mature (i don’t blame her btw, she’s only 13 ), I don’t see myself rooting for her soon even though she’s blond, twintailed and tsundere And yes, my wife reads me like a open book… woe me to me if I attempt to lie about my nocturnal anime-watching trysts XD

crimson: heh yes! I have a Mrs Tanuki now

Jobrill: I remember loving Motoko A LOT after ep 25 of Love Hina. In fact she would be 2nd for me after Shinobu. I guess beneath that veneer of violent tsundereness, Motoko’s actually an insecured girl struggling to have some backbone and this twin-traits won my admiration plus set my moe sense ablaze XD Speaking of Hanai, I support the Hanai X Mikoto pairing in SR for the same reasons in this entry too

kei-clone: Thx! As I mentioned we have Zyl to thank for.

du5k: Ah I think that’s really the beauty of Otoboku. I was a staunch Mariya supporter until ep 13 and within just one ep, I wavered, seeing how Takako struggled to overcome her inhibitions to give Mizuho the benefit of the doubt and for greater good despite how it contravenes all that she believes. This compromise tells me Takako would be a great gal to start a relationship with. Even now, I oscillate between the 2 gals. Really looking forward to season 2

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vexx
August 22nd, 2007 - 18:15

Interesting blog posting…. at least you’re mostly consistent

I also won’t touch Shuffle!…. but its a good thing it takes all types of girls to make the world go round and guys to like each kind. Most of the ones you mention I think of as the “mothery” kind (not in a bad way). But I just prefer the more energetic type exemplified by Motoko:Love Hina or Kagami:Lucky*Star — crunchy outside creamy inside

…. and yay for loli-wives (or at least wives that get carded for drinks even after they’re in their 40s). My wife and I turned 50 this year and I really *do* get glared at for stealing from the cradle now, especially when she twin-tails (and she has to buy from the junior department since Americans have now redefined her below size zero to pacify their bloated need to be “size 6″).

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Stripey
August 23rd, 2007 - 03:04

vexx: Heh, I also lurvvve the genki types too….. genki yet understanding that is. Shirakawa Kotori, Suzumiya Akane and Kirishima Kano are a couple of names whom I believe embrace both traits

And LOL! I hope I get such glares come my time! With several friends (including our solemniser) asking (j/kingly of course) if my wife’s legal on my big day, I suppose I’m currently on-track XD

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aurabolt
August 25th, 2007 - 21:49

Think I should start getting scared rather than amazed at your posts from now on. Scared that I can relate to just about everything you’ve been posting. (Latest other example of that which I remember clearly would be the one on your definition of loli. Always bothered by how people seem to think underage automatically equals loli even though the word usage is correct in Japanese) You seem to pull out all the thoughts I can’t manage to pull out into words due to what I believe are my poor communication skills.

Anyway, that seems to explain a lot on why I like Elise so much. Never sat down to think hard about that myself. Eh, still a long way for me to write good posts. As for Hayate, I don’t watch it mainly because I can’t stand Kugimiya Rie’s voice (Yes, shoot me. I’m not watching ZnT II), but I do keep Hinagiku’s character CD on my hard drive for the awesomeness that is Shizuka Itou.

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0rion
August 26th, 2007 - 02:14

Wow, one of the best blog posts I have read in recent memory!

Man, you really hit the nail on the head there. It’s all about the girls who understand the main character.

I think the people who prefer this type of character are the realists, who, even in the most ridiculous harem comedies, can’t help but think, “But if I that were that guy and I really had to spend the rest of my life with one of them…”

I’m with you 9 for 9 on the shows you mentioned. =D

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Stripey
August 27th, 2007 - 01:42

Thx for your encouragement! Glad both of you enjoyed and identified with these thoughts One of the greatest rewards of this blog is finding like-minded folks like yourself to share anime-related passion/ideas with. And now to get that Hinagiku Character CD XD

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Nosgoroth
November 30th, 2007 - 10:23

Well, thanks for the self-applying insight. Opinion 100% shared, post 100% bookmarked, and blog 100% added to RSS.

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Stripey
December 2nd, 2007 - 06:56

Nosgoroth: Glad to have another share the view! Comment 100% approved! XD (Sorry the spam filtered almost ate your comment)

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