Best Harem Anime of 2024

2025 is well underway by this point, but 2024’s shadow still looms large. The year ended up containing quite a few additions to the harem genre, including both sequels and new shows. They also covered romance and comedy fairly evenly, all the while throwing in just enough fanservice for anyone who might enjoy those types of scenes.

As new harem anime can be quite difficult to come by, let’s highlight the genre’s best shows of the previous year, just in case some fans might wish to revisit shows they initially missed. Here are the best harem anime of 2024.

7

Tales of Wedding Rings

MyAnimeList Score: 6.07

Tales of Wedding Rings presents a rather amusing tale of world-hopping that leads to an unexpected marriage of heavy proportions. The story revolves around the central character, Princess Krystal Novaty ‘Hime’ Nokanatika, who fled from her home world after she was almost assassinated. Things get more tricky after she arrives in modern-day Japan and encounters another central character, Haruto Suto, which results in the princess asking to promise to forget everything he has witnessed with her.

However, things become tricky after Haruto somehow regains his memories of the princess and inadvertently crashes her supposed wedding. He ultimately weds the princess after a blurry collapse of events. With a prophecy hanging over her head, Haruto is thrust into the adventurous life of a hero destined to save the world. However, now, Haruto must marry four other princesses to even stand a chance against the prophesied enemy: the Abyss King.

An isekai anime, Tales of the Wedding Rings is one of those harem stories with a clear divide between the main girl and the subsequence waifus, even though Haruto is narratively compelled to foster relationships with all of them. The anime also teases a lot of physical moments but does not follow through on them, although that could change in the upcoming sequel season.

6

Chained Soldier

MyAnimeList Score: 6.85

The prospect of an ordinary life after high school seems entirely disappointing for the central character, Yuuki Wakura, in the Chained Soldier series. Part of the 2024 winter season, the series follows the life of Yuuki after he is suddenly drawn into an alternate dimension to the world of Mato, where dangerous monsters called Shuuki roam freely.

The all-female Demon Defense Force is within this new world, tasked with eliminating the Shuuki. Things become even more tricky for Yuuki after encountering Kyouka Uzen, the chief of the Demon Defense Force’s seventh unit, which leaves him tied to her as her slave.

One of the most hyped harem anime of 2024, Chained Soldier ended up being one of the most disappointing, largely due to the adaptation not fully embracing the source material’s risqué nature. The show leaned heavily on action, but these sequences were nothing more than just passable and not on the level of most battle shonens. The story’s selling point should have been Yuuki’s post-fight rewards/punishments at the hands of Kyouka, but these sequences often felt rushed.

5

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 3

MyAnimeList Score: 7.06

After more than two years since its second season, Arifureta: From Commonplace To World’s Strongest finally returned as part of the last batch for 2024’s Fall anime season. Beginning with an expected conquest of the Great Labyrinth, Nagumo gets caught in a distraction due to a tragedy that happens to one of his members, Shea Haulia, a rabbitman.

With allies abducted by soldiers of the Hoelscher Empire, Nagumo takes it upon himself to see to the matter by heading to the empire to rescue Shea’s people. However, what is supposed to be a simple rescue mission becomes a sort of political ruse with Nagumo at the eye of it all.

Arifureta season 3 is mostly just OK, and the harem aspect is a relatively minor part of the equation since the focus is far more on action and world-building. Still, Yue, Kaori, and Shea are likable enough characters in their own right, even if the former is very clearly Nagumo’s main girl and, arguably, should be his only love interest.

4

Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister

MyAnimeList Score: 7.19

Tying the Knot With An Amagami Sister presents a tale about the young Uryuu Kamihate. He was only a boy when he witnessed his mother’s horrible death, which led to an utter aversion to faith in his current life. As a result, Uryuu aspires to become a doctor who can save lives at the Kyoto University of Japan. As an orphan, the only way for Uryuu to further his studies is to find a new home other than the orphanage currently housing him.

Housing options looked rather bleak for Uryuu until he met Chidori Amagami, the head priest of the Amagami Shrine, who was willing to take him in. However, the head priest has one condition for Uryuu— marry one of the three granddaughters of the head priest and promise to one day inherit the shrine.

There is nothing wrong with familiarity or sticking to conventions, especially for a genre that tends to deliver comfort food-style shows. Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister might as well be the prototypical harem anime, with a set-up that feels properly old school (after all, it is somewhat similar to Ranma 1/2, which aired during the same Fall 2024 season). If executed well, tropes are perfectly fine, and this anime mostly delivers in that area. Uryuu is a pretty great harem male protagonist, who has clear goals and builds strong dynamics with each of the three girls. The Amagami sisters take a while to flourish, but they are likable enough and have lives beyond their relationships with Uryuu.

3

Date A Live V

MyAnimeList Score: 7.69

Date A Live’s fifth season built nicely on the excellent fourth entry. Shidou Itsuka is in more danger than ever before due to his continued involvement with the Ratatoskr. After sealing an alarming number of Spirits, the protagonist gains for himself another enemy in Isaac Westcott, the leader of Deus Ex Machina Industries, who has finally decided that he wants the powers of the Spirits for himself.

Isaac declares war on the already thinly-resourced Ratatoskr, the organization doing all it can to ensure Shidou’s survival. His chances of any success against Isaac appear beyond bleak, but only until the discovery of the Spirit of Time, Kurumi Tokisaki, whose power, Shidou must seal and acquire if he is to have any chance against Isaac.

Date A Live is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious harem anime of all time, and season 5 is pretty much non-stop action, raising the stakes to the point of matching most battle shonen epics. At this point, Shidou’s harem is absolutely massive, and most of the girls have some depth stemming from previous arcs in the series. That said, they are largely relegated to bit-part characters in season 5. The Spring 2024 entry has very little time for romance or harem silliness, outside a few moments.

2

The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses Season 2

MyAnimeList Score: 7.39

The Familia Café Terrace and its owner Hayato Kasukabe returned for a second season of The Cafe Terrace and Its Goddesses, one that proved to be even better than the first. It has only been a couple of months since Hayato decided to take over his late grandmother’s café to save it from being permanently closed, alongside the five female mascots. However, it seems Hayato’s problems expand when a new café opens up with the sole intention of driving his establishment out of business. Still struggling with operating from day to day, Hayato must find a way to outwit his problems and competition.

Somehow managing to survive one of the worst first episodes in harem history, The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses has developed into a consistently charming show. Hayato is the main force behind this anime’s success, as he is comfortably among the best harem leads of all time. He is passionate, determined, intelligent, and willing to call out awful behavior by the girls. To their credit, the latter are solid in their own right and they nearly all get a few moments to shine throughout season 2, although Ami, Riho, and Akane take center stage.

1

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

MyAnimeList Score: 7.43

2.5 Dimensional Seduction details the somewhat unromantic life of Masamune Okumura following his brutal and disastrous romantic confession. Finding solace in the world of anime and manga after the heartbreak, Masamunue is now a second-year high schooler and the President of the Manga Research Club, where he spends most of his time, watching Liliel, his favourite fictional character.

Masamune’s rather peaceful life is interrupted at the start of the new academic year when he encounters Ririsa Amano, a passionate cosplay practitioner, who resiliently convinces him to become her photographer. Masamune agrees since Ririsa tends to cosplay as the character Liliel, who is his favorite. Things start to move fast for Masamune when he reconnects with Mikari Tachibana, a childhood friend who has become a model and also a cosplayer. Interestingly, Mikari still holds unrequited feelings for Masamune, even if it seems that Masamune’s love for fictional characters may not extend to the real world.

2.5 Dimensional Seduction was one of 2024’s nicest surprises, with the anime going from decent to good and eventually great throughout its 24-episode run. A big part of that success comes down to the friendships between Masamune, Ririsa, Mikari, and Noa, all of whom are driven by a love for cosplay rather than solely their romantic interests. They come across as genuine friends, with romance being something that could eventually happen but is not their sole reason for existing. The second half of the season is pretty much a celebration of cosplay, and it is fantastic.