Something I have been thinking on lately with anime series becomes more infuriating the more I analyze the shows I watch. I find myself despising the male MC and how most of the time this random guy happens to be adored and loved by multiple women for seemingly no damn reason(s).
All the girls around the male MC are “unique” to say the least. Their strong, fast, skilled, talented, determined, motivated and you get where I am going with this. These woman are special in their own ways and then you have this blob of guy who is the weakest being ever, boring and dry, but somehow all these girls flock to him.
I get that in series like “in another world with my smart phone”, “Sword Art Online” , “Tenchi Muyo!” , “Ah My Buddha!” , “Girls Bravo” , and many other series that have an MC of similar quality who are build with this random ability or sense of justice that draws the girls in. I mean do not get me wrong I know it is Anime, so it of course has an imaginative aspect, but why are the same tropes always used like you are milking a nipple while hoping for water to come out.
Why does the MC have to be so dense or what is the point of making all these woman like him just because he spits a cool phrase without the actions to back it up or even when the MC is just OP with one of those tragic back stories.
I mean at least Issei Hyoudou From “High-School DxD” has a proper character build and all the girls start to fall for him once by own with proper reasoning. Of course other anime try an do that, but they fuck it up tragically by making the MC into a pathetic trope that makes no sense whatsoever. Super dense, knows the girl(s) likes him while ignoring her or acting to scared to do anything to the extreme (i.e., hand holding). OP for no reason and they just put all their love and faith into him.
There are way more combos of a bad MC, but those are the just the most common ones I can name with no problem.
The anime industry is scared to go off from what people are use to seeing so they overuse everything until otaku can just predict what will happen – which is what I do all the time when I watch a series. That is another things that pisses me off about anime.
Natural Degeneracy 
I agree that most Harem characters are blank slates and this can spill over to other shows, but I think that is the point.
You aren’t watching the show for the male lead, you are watching to see all the girls bounce off each other with their clashing personalities. Now some shows (DxD and Majikoi) have actual good male leads, but they aren’t the draw, the females are.
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Do not get me wrong I understand what you mean, but that just gives the creators good cause to be lazy and no so creative anymor if the MC is always so bland and easy to maneuver. As you stated, in shows like DXD or Majikoi where the MC, plot, and Ecchi are all balanced it makes for a good time, I would even argue that Freezing could be thrown into the mix.
I try my best to look pass the classic reused tropes because I want to enjoy the series that was produced, but if I wanted to watch pointless Ecchi being thrown around just for the kicks then I would go and watch Hentai because at least they go all the way to home plate (unless I just enjoy the suspense of nothing happening).
Shows like Kanokon, Ladies Vs Butlers, or testament of sister new devil are what I would go watch just for the pure enjoyment of looking at oppai and extreme sexual innuendo, I do not go there for the MC because he is just the excuse for all the sexual scenes to be happening in the first place, sometimes the story is good and sometimes it is not.
In conclusion, I can’t truly disagree with you, but that also means I cannot truly agree with you either. Pointless Ecchi is good in it’s own right do not get me wrong, but the lame MC that is the center off all that goodness is what ticks me off. They try to give the MC some weird skill (that he never masters), makes him so OP that the ladies are just drooling because of it, or this supposedly random backstory that would maybe make him stand out, then they surround him with all kinds of girls either for no reason or each encounter is something random like bumping into her or seeing her panties when he “happens” to fall down some stairs.
I give all shows a chance because I want to have a good reason for my opinions, so it doesn’t seems like I am not just criticizing because I can. All anime is good in it’s own way and I can admit that because I partake in the activities, so the fun part is being able to talk about it once you’ve watched it.
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Fuck Shinmai.
Sorry..required to say that every time that show is brought up.
But yeah, I agree. Ecchi and Harem doesn’t NEED a good male lead, but having a good developed male lead can completely transform a show from “good” to amazing”
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Lol, yeah that’s what I am saying. If the male lead is to bland it makes everything else seems weird and randomized.
I enjoy most anime I tend to watch on one level or another. Give it a chance then complain later, so I tend to ignore all the bad comments until I have watched it for myself, like with Infinite Stratos. Dude is denser than a bowl of spaghetti, but it is an okay show if you do not care for character development to much.
I just really hate it when they waste the amazing potential of the girls, the MC, and the story out of sheer laziness and fear.
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