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So I have wrote review on 2 novels that have multiple females with a single male (polygamy) and the word the review had the word Har#&eM(Remove the extra symbols). Despite being a popular genre on this website the review that has that word does not get shown and it is a apparently a banned word. (you can try it, write a review with that word, log out and your review will not be shown in that book(s).) I guess that genre is unreviewable.
Since I don't think it will be fixed I suggest a work arounds. Lets just call it Merah (Spelled backwards (ps i dont know if that is banned too)) and while we are at it all the ones that have female merah should be called something else as to avoid confusion.

RachelRuth
I have changed sides now and I have been reading evil / mostly-antihero novels and there is a obvious reason for that, the "good" MCs are either hypocrites, dense, stupid or just too nosy.
So I started to read the other side, I would say it was worth it because you do not get the same enemy come after MC many times until his family or loved one gets hurt and....

The evil/ Anti Hero's main allure is decisive actions, not worrying about morality and enemies actually getting punished, and also there is little forced placement in the box rules (Especially when the rules are arbitrary).

As for how evil/far you are willing to go, the best option is have an auxiliary chapter letting people know about it.

Fully Evil MC's go all out and get stronger from killing, stealing... you just set it up like that and there is no moral concern for his action, just what he wills.

Anti-Hero they do not intentionally seek evil, but anyone that stands on there way will be dealt with.

Sneaky Anti-Hero - Does whatever they want as long as no one else is watching, or there is not proof.

Example:
Evil - I forgot the name read it back it was a translation - The MC kills, torture's and does everything on a whole world and turns into an energy source and he gets distracted and does not even bother collecting the energy source.
Anti Hero, original from here - MC does not save a women from a man until his interest is concerned. Then once he saves her he takes the opportunity to get repayment from the women into helping him as she has some skills.

Well the most important thing is delivering what you promised. If you are going to evil path avoid morality or trying to fix the mc. He is evil.
Anti Hero will gave you a little option of doing pieces of good, but also it gets balanced by his evil.

If you are planning to write Evil to good make sure you mention that too. I personally do not like MC's that force themselves to be good, the indecisiveness of choosing path is a letdown. Good luck with your book!

Nebel

Welcome to the club of not liking his son. I had filtered out those chapter out of my mind. It is one thing that did not resolve itself in the desired way.

Nebel
I am sure you will not be disappointed with Romantic Cultivator. MC is dense 5 Percent of the time and acts dense 15 Percent of the time, the rest of the time he's pretty smart. The story makes me smile and laugh most of the time. If you are worried about him being the passive type don't be.
Thanks for the feedback it is good and looking forward to more :)
Some of my suggestion might have been based on my current progress.. sorry.

I read a book. MC faces the enemy and is unsure of what to do?

Male comment - problem = the enemy - kill him/special jail holding enemy for eternity -> problem solved
Female comment - Don't kill/hurt him back, even if the enemy will come back, it will affect MC emotionally and he will no longer be the same. (special jail holding enemy for eternity also exists here at times)

One solves the problem and prevent it from popping up in future, (problem-solving mentality as the priority),
Other makes sure that at the end of the day when there is no problem, MC can live with himself (emotional aspect as the priority).

The way I see it female books delve more into emotional and more often than not enemy is somewhat converted no violence (ruthlessness). Needs more detail and character analysis for the change to be effective (+magical fairy takes care of ruthless enemy's future plans and makes him easily accept the peaceful way) and leads to the desired ending.

Guys books deal with current and the future problem with violence first (most cases) (+ magical fairy fix the emotional aspects ) leads to the desired ending.

Hard to tell which path makes the better story, it is based on personal preference.

Ps, this is my opinion generalized based on limited reading...

Tomoyuki
Sigh, I am totally agreeing with you, but you keep bringing points to make it seem like I am fighting you.
My point is if the story meets 9/10 criteria and you are on the fence about harem give it a try because it can be good at times.
Forcing no one.
You are tieing other tags/genres to the discussion about harem to make your point.

I am out -

Here is the torch carry on friend - good luck Nebel
Ps, I totally agree with you Nebel, that is also the reason for my interest in Harem.

Tomoyuki
Mate, you are all over the place.
You talk about morals one second but defend GoT's logic as ok while the novels not. You can either say is it is morally bad or not. Then you go on saying it is to evoke emotions in GoT so it is fine and they are remorseful. He pushes a kid no remorse..etc. You only cared about the main character while the other deaths and normal people that died in GoT, no one cared. Any novel in here that keeps killing people close to MC will get a similar response. I don't remember any of the main characters being horrified of violence each one takes that path and quite easily and happily. They marched and killed for 'honour' no difference then here. If the consider someone enemy they kill. Same logic. Most novel here someone close to them get killed they kill back. What is the difference?
Why are you bring rape and CEO again... different tags?
This apples and oranges... I just said that harem is fine as long as the Author and setting permit it and explains it, similar to GoT. There is no Apples and Oranges.... its a fruit basket and you are claiming to throw away the fruit basket because you dislike apples.

Tomoyuki Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that there is a problem with how everything is portrayed in some of these novels. To put it simply I am just saying to just treat it as fantasy, take Game of Thrones as an example it has genres and things that degrades people, characters, things, occupations etc, but it is considered a fantasy work and treated as such.

Tomoyuki Again, the topic isn't about how "harem" as a genre is problematic, but why people dislike the majority of current harem novels. And it's not because of the genre itself but the way these writers execute it.

I can see that you have an understanding of Harem and is not just avoiding the genre just because, but criticizing some of its aspects. But some comments above is about "harem" as a genre being problematic. My point is that it has its gems. I am sure, if you read the comments in a thread you will see the reason for some of my points.

If anything I am all for better books and improvements in novels.

Tomoyuki Thanks I can see where you are coming from and I understand your points.

When you look at it through such lense, it indeed does not paint a pretty picture. But there is also more at play here.
Then shouldn't we also consider the fact that violence is also normalized here and similarly affects people? similar comments if MC lets an enemy survive. (calling him coward, stupid etc.)

Other ideas such as
- dangerous adventures always bear fruits
- Mc is always right
- how morality is twisted for many of MC's actions
- Idea of perfect love (finding perfect fairy's no problem with them or their relationships)

And romance stories, how one of them only lives for the other one and the idea of such sacrifice as a test for love.

The reality is everything is exaggerated and all stories have more things wrong with them then right. Does objectification happen only in Harem? No - most stories objectify either gender based on the MC's gender and genre.

What about the objectification of life, from killing 1 to millions of people are accepted as long as the MC has a reason? so then shouldn't we also hate Action for this reason?

Honestly going by the comments any action of MC will be met by someone's hate because it does not make sense to them. Again comment such as the "Slut" etc. has nothing to do with the genre, but the people's opinion or the authors choice in plot and should not be a reason to judge a genre by it. If the setting is the olden times where virginity was important, then like you said people will judge it based on that. Is it wrong yes, but is it wrong in that setting, time and the world then only the author and plot can tell you that.

What I do agree with is that characters are poorly written at times and it takes away from the story as the reason for people to follow MC is simply that he/she is MC. I would not care about the number of harem members as long it suits the plot, setting, world and laws of the story. Is many members going to take away from deep character development that happens with a few of them? Yes. But I am not simply going to hate it for that. like you pointed out, harem has happened in the past and is happening currently, so I don't think there is a reason to fault it in a fantasy story when the setting, time and plot matches it.

I think when we turn a blind eye to so many other problems of killing, flying, magic etc. Harem should not be the only areas you shine a light at. Either put it everywhere or don't bother. If an author puts non virgin person and someone calls the member "slut" and you don't encourage the author for making it realistic then you are just encouraging him to continue on that path and make his story how the people want. All he has to do is add an extra sentence to make the change.

Don't blame all the problems on Harem, because there are good ones and bad ones like every other genre and if you are going to not read it just because then you are letting those that read it define its direction. Harem has bases in real life so it should be more acceptable than other genres and the fact that only one side has a major say in it, it is in its current form that people have an aversion towards.

My problem is with people that say, "I hate harem and will never read it," Then why should it have all the things that you want when you are not planning to read it. If you are not willing to read it why should any Author care about your opinion?

My personal opinion is, it is Fantasy accept the direction it is going, and judge it based on the setting. If it matches the setting then the author is doing what he/she promised. If there is a huge mismatch then pointed it out, but you can't judge the relationship based on this world's standards while accepting their immortal lives/magic and other fantasy elements,

I don't get it, you can accept
- people flying
- turning to beasts
- teleportation
- creating fire
- accept murder/killing
- dragons
etc.
AND YOU DRAW the line on Harem. It is fantasy just go with it. Granted some stories take it too far. But I find the fact that in none harem books where MC takes two FL with him to the end of the plot and tells one FUCK OFF here is my friend as a replacement and get along with him, is much worst. (Author says - suddenly love blossomed between them, please.)
It is fantasy - harem, in my opinion, is good, because just as I am picky with ML so am with FL. If I don't like FL or MC picks the wrong one of two (most of the time there are two options) then I just end up quitting. Harem - he picks both. Don't enjoy seeing the first one but at least second is not dumped at the end of the story to his friend.
Sometimes I just look for those without FL and romance, if I am looking for pure action-adventure as I don't have to worry about the disappointing end.

Also, there is the Affair path MC goes tricks women sleep with them for a while, gets bored come back to FL. How is that a better option?
Anyway, a harem is not always done right? But the chances of having a satisfying end is much higher than non-harem that MC takes first pick in the group of girls the remaining ones are picked by his party. Plus I find the fact that people lump rape and other stuff with a harem disappointing. Many books that don't have harem have rape and so does harem book. So why make it a harem problem I don't understand.
As for the, how can you think if FLs are happy? Then if we are comparing to real-life divorce rate is 50 percent all books should end with either the couple living happily or divorce in 6 months.
It is fantasy... if authors say they are happy, they are happy. If you are going to accept him saying that pigs fly, it is ok to kill, why stop there?