Best Isekai Harem Anime

Key Takeaways

• Isekai harem anime are popular, but only a select few have the right balance of romance and action for a successful series.
• Mushoku Tensei, Farming Life in Another World, and No Game No Life are among the best isekai anime with memorable romantic options.

Each new season seems to bring with it a handful of new isekai harem anime, so much so that some fans may start to wonder whether there are any shows without harems. While most isekai anime tend to have a waifu or two, only a select few have the story beats and character cast needed for a full-dive harem.

Balancing romance and action is key to the success of these series. After all, fan service should cover every fantasy, from attractive outfits to stacked spell stats. So, which isekai MC has the most memorable romantic options? Here are some of the best isekai anime with harems that fans might just confess their love to!

Updated November 3, 2024, by Mark Sammut: The Fall 2024 anime season has a couple of isekai harem options that should keep fans of both genres entertained. Also, two more older series have been added as recommendations, including an anime that aired during Summer 2024.

Does Fall 2024 Have Any Isekai Harem Anime?

• Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2

  Studio

  TMS Entertainment

  Based On

  Light Novel

  Creator

  Yuri Kitayama

• Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 3

  Studio

  Asread, White Fox, Studio Mother

  Based On

  Novel & Light Novel

  Creator

  Ryo Shirakome

• Loner Life in Another World

  Studio

  Passione, Hayabusa Film

  Based On

  Light Novel

  Creator

  Shoji Goji

  Streaming Service(s)

  HIDIVE

The Fall 2024 anime season has more than 40 shows that will surely be able to keep fans of all genres engaged. As always, isekai stories are a big part of the overall package, and the lineup has more sequels than the norm. In fact, there seem to be only three new isekai anime, including a reverse variant. Let’s highlight a few shows that have harem content.

• Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Season 2 – Although not amazing, season 1 of Seirei Gensouki was passable fluff that worked as a “shut off your brain” source of entertainment. While pretty generic as far as isekai content is concerned, the anime does lean heavier into harem territory than most of the theme’s releases. Season 2 has mostly maintained the same level of quality.
• Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 3 – Hajime is back for another adventure surrounded by potential partners, although Yue will always feel like the anime’s main girl. The third season covers volume 7, and it should feature quite a bit of action and world-building.
• Loner Life in Another World – Now for something new, Loner Life in Another World is based on a rather polarizing light novel, mostly due to the protagonist’s stream-of-consciousness thought pattern. The anime reduces that aspect to a degree, but Haruka should still find himself the focus of many, many girls.

13 Sword Art Online

A Pointless Harem

As one of the most recognizable isekai anime of all time, Sword Art Online‘s reach exceeds most of its contemporaries. Consequently, Kirito’s adventure is likely to be the first to come to mind when many folks think of isekai harem anime, especially since the protagonist amassed quite a collection of girls by the second cour. The thing is, SAO is a terrible harem.

To be clear,
SAO
has plenty of good traits. Its harem is just not one of them.

Most harem stories identify their winning girl immediately, to the point that the rest of the competition can lack tension. However, in these cases, the main character has yet to make their choice, so the additional love interests make sense on a narrative level. In SAO, Kirito starts dating Asuna before he attracts a harem, and their relationship remains a fixture throughout the show. Consequently, the other girls have no chance at all, which just makes their one-sided interest a bit sad.

12 The Eminence In Shadow

All The Pieces Are In Place Except One

The Eminence in Shadow just barely qualifies for this discussion as it is missing one key factor that defines harems: A male protagonist who shows interest in romantic relationships. Except for a fake romance, Cid does not appear to see female characters as potential partners; however, that has not stopped the protagonist from attracting a literal army of captivated suitors.

Reincarnated with incredible power and the will to live out his chunibyo fantasies, Cid becomes the shadow, an entity that pulls society’s strings from behind the curtain. His overwhelming strength leads to the creation of Shadow Garden, an organization consisting of nothing but attractive women. All the female characters have great designs and most of them are completely committed to their leader, even though the latter thinks they are just playing along with his antics. The Eminence in Shadow is an isekai anime with harem tropes but not a full harem.

11 The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human

Very Little Romance

Mostly an honorable mention, The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human sets up the pieces for a harem but does not do much with them, at least when it comes to the anime adaptation. Despite being a human, Ike was raised and trained by a powerful demon, and he is now part of that race’s army. Naturally, he has to keep his status as a human hidden from most of his peers, which is easier said than done. Still, he is a powerful magician who also relies on tactics to overcome most obstacles, be it fights with other demons or an all-out war against humans.

Ike does not seem to have any interest at all in romance, and his circumstances limit what he can do and who he can date. That said, there are about three female characters who seem to be at least somewhat interested in him. Satie is a bubbly human maid, while Cefiro and Lilith are both strong demons. Except for Satie, who does not do much throughout the show, these characters have more going on than just being love interests for Ike.

10 In Another World With My Smartphone

Slow-Life Wholesomeness

This anime stars a fairly young boy who is definitely not prepared to have his world rocked by four fantasy anime girls. So why not just pile on more? Yeah, there are a total of nine waifus in this show.

And yet, the main character can’t seem to make a solid move on any of them. If fans are triggered by the overly-innocent-main-character trope, don’t bother with this one. The hesitation is ever-present and can hurt the flow of the show, which is often. However, the girls are all pretty cute and there is a good variety of personalities being used.

9 KonoSuba (Kind Of)

An Isekai Parody Will (Obviously) Poke Fun Of The Theme’s Harem Tropes

While hardly the only option, KonoSuba is unquestionably the definitive isekai parody, especially in terms of popularity (although, The Eminence in Shadow is a close second). As the show pokes fun at nearly every cliché associated with these types of stories, harem punchlines are naturally part of the equation; in fact, the core dynamic essentially mirrors a typical harem setup. Within days of landing in a new world, Kazuma finds himself in a party alongside a female goddess, mage, and knight.

The twist is that all three girls are extremely dysfunctional and cause Kazuma more trouble than they are worth, at least at first. He also does not hesitate to let them know about their incompetence, and the same happens in reverse. More importantly, while Megumin and (to a lesser extent) Darkness show some interest in Kazuma, this element takes a long time to develop and is rarely prioritized.

Basically, KonoSuba is not a harem isekai anime but can still be enjoyed by people who love these types of series.

8 High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World

Perfect Fine Isekai Harem

At first, this show seems like another vanilla anime. It certainly takes hints from other shows like Bakemonogatari, but this quickly develops into a rewarding harem. The main cast covers both male and female characters, each with a well-defined, if somewhat basic, personality. Though, that isn’t to say the show is devoid of a unique romance.

Almost right out of the gate, one of the lead romantic interests is chewing food and spitting it back into the main character’s mouth like some kind of bird mommy. Although that’s not exactly what most would call “sexy,” it’s certainly a nod to other popular romance and harem anime. The harem ends up lacking variety, but there’s plenty of “tongue-in-cheek” fan service and the main character is way overpowered, making the fight scenes enjoyable to watch.

7 Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles (Season 1)

A Safe But Watchable Isekai Harem

Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles has a pretty interesting hook. A common trope of reincarnation in isekai anime is that the protagonist awakens in the body of a person, usually a member of royalty, and just takes over. Most shows tend to just ignore the body’s previous owner or frame it as them regaining memories of a past life, completely wiping out their current personality in the process. Seirei Gensouki tries something different. Haruto dies and wakes up in a fantasy world as a boy named Rio. In a refreshing twist, both characters retain their personalities, cohabiting and co-existing. Ultimately, they just combine their traits, but it is still an interesting concept.

Beyond that, Seirei Gensouki is a rather standard isekai anime. Although not absurdly overpowered, Rio is very capable and generally idolized. He quickly forms a harem revolving mainly around Celia and Latifa, although a few other girls join in on occasion. Romance is fairly minimal, so it is more of a case that the characters have very close friendships that occasionally threaten to become something more.

6 My Next Life As A Villainess

Villainess Isekai, Reverse Harem

Foolish main characters can be a pain, which is why this isekai harem decides to play with that trope. The main character, Catarina Claes, is stupid in a way that actually helps the harem progress. If she were a bit smarter, she’d just be nice to everyone in her otome game world and call it a day. Instead, she gets caught up in trying to survive well past the point where she probably secured her safety. Luckily for viewers, this is exactly what causes her to build a harem, which of course she doesn’t even notice happening.

Even though her being completely oblivious is annoying, fans can be happy with the results. A wide variety of character designs shows off very attractive guys and girls, complete with good personalities. It’s a perfect show for experienced anime fans who love Ouran High School Host Club but wish it was also an isekai.

5 Tenchi Muyo! War On Geminar

An Isekai And Harem Classic

Tenchi Muyo is a harem classic that, while somewhat dated by today’s standards, had a reasonably huge following during its heyday. The main series is fantasy but not isekai; however, the War on Geminar spin-off ventures into that genre. Tenchi’s sibling, Kenshi, is summoned to another world and tasked with eliminating a princess. Naturally, things do not go to plan and the human finds himself under the thump of his target. Before long, Kenshi joins a military school that focuses on mecha training, which paves the way to an expansive harem filled with classic archetypes.

Despite coming out in 2008, War on Geminar shows that it is based on a franchise that peaked during the ’90s. The anime’s art style, characters, and pacing are all reminiscent of older shows. While the series sets up a premise with plenty of potential for drama and action, most episodes lean heavily into comedy shenanigans. Except for a few moments, this anime does not take itself too seriously, which complements its harem element.

4 How Not To Summon A Demon Lord

Raunchy & Fun

This show is amazing on all fronts. The humor is superb, the magic is impressive, and the various female characters check a lot of boxes. Although the premise seems a bit lascivious and overdone, the anime establishes its penchant for parody without sacrificing the quality of its characters.

They’ve got almost every fan-favorite archetype here, and they are all trying to woo the main character Diablo. Each female character has a well-developed personality and actually has the power to handle most threats, until Diablo is in proximity. But that’s something many fans want to see: a white knight character, minus all the hoity-toity stuff.

In fact, the attention paid to Diablo makes this series especially unique. Not only is he running in to save the day, but he also looks fine doing it. Similar to Overlord, Diablo’s internal monologue lets audiences know how little confidence he has before entering battles, and when confronted with one of his attractive cohorts. This guy’s got humor, he’s got magic, and he’s got abs for days. There’s truly something for everyone with this anime.

3 Arifureta

A Romance Turns Into A Harem

This isekai harem offers viewers a fascinating story where the main character changes from sweet and meek to cool and capable. Despite having a solid plot, it manages to get in a lot of borderline explicit fan service. The kissing animation in this show will make slice-of-life fans blush; there are no indirect kisses here.

A great variety of waifus are involved in these scenes, including rare bunny girls. Anime should definitely continue to follow Final Fantasy’s lead and add more bunny girl content, especially if it leads to shows like this. As mentioned, the plot is stellar too, with characters following the main male lead towards victory over the demons in this strange new world and, eventually, returning to Japan. Overall, the fight scenes are well done, as are the fanservice scenes.

2 GATE

Welcome To The New World

GATE is an underrated but amazing isekai that also offers viewers a fantastic harem. Partially hated by fans for being an ad for the Japanese self-defense force (JSDF), fans who have seen it know that this show answers the all-important question: who would win between a black hawk helicopter and a single legion of medieval soldiers? Spoiler alert: the helicopter, and it’s awesome.

Then, just when fans think this is as good as it gets, the show marches on with cute elves, goth-loli vampires, thirsty princesses, and coveted bunny girls. What’s more, all the main romantic interests are age-appropriate. That’s a pretty major accomplishment in an anime market flooded with anime kids well under 18 taking the spotlight in very adult bodies. Rory Mercury, a major character who sticks to the male lead like glue, is one of the few lolis in the series, and she almost immediately establishes that she’s hundreds of years old.

Between flashy explosions and explosive flashing, this fan-service-packed anime places classic anime tropes against a unique universe steeped in the realism of our own world for a winning combination. This incredible take on the isekai harem genre is one that fans shouldn’t miss.

1 Farming Life in Another World

A Safe Haven

Airing during the 2023 winter season, Farming Life in Another World puts a unique spin on a classic trope. Everyone knows that the first girl who appears in a harem is the one that the MC will end up with, and this show knocks things out of the park by quickly introducing a vampire named Ru, to whom the MC quickly proposes. She is soon followed by an angel.

Prior to the girls’ arrival, the MC is alone for months as he has been trying to craft a life in the middle of a deadly forest. However, once some company starts to roll in, the farm quickly transforms into a village that primarily consists of female members. To be fair, all of them are really well-designed, and the group manages to check nearly every box. Farming Life in Another World is fairly wholesome, with the protagonist largely just seeking to provide a home for people who might not have anywhere to lay down their heads. While ticking the harem box in terms of the sheer quantity of potential partners, the anime barely explores any romance. Instead, the story focuses on the group’s effort to create a new welcoming village.