Negima Mangaka Ken Akamatsu: “Moe & Harems are Dead”

I noticed a trend of all kinds of entertainment is dying after 2010 and slowly began after the year 2000.

IMO on this though I like when main characters aren't such perverted lame horn dogs and that moe is dying, it's for the better.

The year of yuri certainly sounds better than the year of the rat.

If you look at love hina, harem was finished when it was released >.<

Actually, I think it's because most (Not all, but most) harem anime eventually dissolve into the same shit; All the girls want the spineless and/or perverted hero for no real reason other than he exists, the one girl who's super mean to him falls for him and they get together, fill in extra space with questionable situations and panty shots as needed.

Yep, completely right.
Now, it's like just milking a dead cow.

The problem is that no one is coming up with any fresh ideas. Its almost like a formula which uses too many cliches, therefore making it dull and uninteresting. a lot of harem titles seem to have some sort of potential, but it is never well used and ends up tossed to make way for all the fanservice and when the animation staff realizes it, they've gone through almost the whole series with nothing but pointless episodes so then they try something, but its too late by then. and EVERY harem anime title never does things other animes do like develop characters enough or idk...a plot? But a man once said: its a lot easier said than done...

I think there is still plenty of light novel titles with cool male characters..or that they still makes an entrance...it just that female-only title are more popular nowadays..because certain sections of otaku are soo obsessive that characters cannot have male character in the story that will take their "waifu" away....

I don't see how #3 could possibly be a bad thing. And anime in general needs more male characters.

Ken Akamatsu's point is very crystal clear: MOE ANIME AND HAREM only catered to man children...

Anime why can't you grow-up?

"The number of male fans who simply don’t view female characters as objects of sexual desire at all is increasing,"

I see nothing wrong with this.

To quote an episode title of another moe/harem series:

"Noo~! Why did it die?!"

Now is a perfect time for a resurgence of the Mecha genre. Macross Frontier did well enough. Though the last Gundam was a little of a let down.

The Manga/Anime industry needs more stories with strong and interesting adult characters again. Maybe they could make something like Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy BeBop, Slayers.

Funny how this turned into an Negima discussion ^_^

Personally, I agree with Mr. Akamatsu. I miss those days with some shows with a male as a protagonist, like Mospeada, Mazinger, Saint Seiya, Macross, Hokuto no Ken etc... The fanservice nowdays is too saturated and I don't feel that particular exitement by seeing some nipples out by a pretty cute girl as before. Just like they said "If you eat pizza all the time (pizza is delicious) you'll get bored of it" My point is if we rest sometime of ecchi stuff. At the chance to see another one it will be exciting again. That's my opinion.

Moe and harem is dead ? HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you sir is crazy, you may hardly see harems now adays but it is there and not to mention moe is almost everywhere it may decline since K-On! is ending but it won't die.

I do wish though that they create a harem anime and not make the guy a spinless pussy or a moral pussy, i want the male lead with a actual backbone and actually interested in sex, sheesh and please I beg PLEASE don't have the main girl always hitting him, atleast give him moves to dodge and avoid and make fun.

and the most important thing

-> there is no adult people

I can't imagine how #3 can be a bad thing. And I haven't exactly seen a harem anime that's outstanding or anything.

On a side note, anime in general needs more male characters.

This is what you get when you let women read manga

(JK - Pleasedontkillme)

Sell your Moe and Hare'm's overseas. See how the popularity rises ^^

Well, it better be dead, I am honestly very sick and tired of it. Sure, 1 or 2 every season is fine, but for the love of god, everything is all moe and harem now.

Well, despite that hack's best effort to kill it, it seems to be chugging on stronger than ever - he's just changing the definitions. Kampfer is a yuri-ish harem show.

I wouldn't mind if things got dialed back to the modesty of the 90's, but really it sounds like he's shooting his mouth off because he fancies himself the alpha and omega of harem manga and has run out of ideas.

All sound points.
I wouldn't resume them as " Ken says moe and harem are dead" though.
The boom is just over and now things are getting more stable.
Regarding harem though, he seems partially right.
The very basic harem might very well be dead but it can still be felt in other genres.
The guy with many girls isn't going anywhere is just not the main target of the lonely guys. Action and fanservice oriented titles will still work with that formula.

I would like some titels with real character building and an good plot.

well people will only humor the wussy, sexually inexperienced/frustrated male protagonist for so long

And again Prophets of apocalipse are bawwwing over their works not selling well how surpringsly.

What about Bakemonogatari? It IS a harem.

not that i`m totally against moe and harem manga/anime
but a deeper plot and more interesting character (beside being cute a.k.a moe or sexy) aren`t bad for a change of pace

but calling them dead is a little exxaggerating
the market might be saturated for now but in a couple of years that might change

I can see them on the decline, and not many future titles following the formula again for a good while. The current batch that are popular will continue, just don't expect 20 new series that are of the same style pop up every year.

NOOOOOO!!! Moe and harems, come back, I will forgive you everything!

... Okay, Love Hina? Maybe not that kind of moe. Oh wait, there was for instance Kaolla Su... I think Negima goes though, as well as most of other kinds.

I loved that -- "unfortunately, I get the feeling the popularity of yuri is not quite that great..."

Despite his being one of the harem/moe gods, his comments seem so reasonably-stated that I believe he's flexible enough to come up with something other than harem/moe, and I'm curious to see what it might be.

For the person largely responsible for the very definition of the term "Moe" itself to say that, Akamatsu's statement is likely to turn heads more than anyone.

However, I don't completely agree with him that decreasing number of harem series, non-existent male characters or the fact that there are more female fans means the moe is any less rampant. I mean just look at K-ON.

Moe will never die. It will become specified subgenres.

You wish Arty-nyan. You wish. :)
Won't happen.

I dunno, I've always wanted to see a lesbian harem manga. Someone write that immediately.

Nyankoi is a harem isit not? But i somehow loved it hehe!

I'm a endangered species. Protect the harems and the moe. LOL.

this is madness . ken is my favorite mangaka ever. period . to hear him say this is like a kick in the stomach.

I can't stand any harem anime. Actually I take that back. The only harem anime I like are Tenchi and Ouran High School Host Club. The rest are just "whatever" to me.

Fuck the magical world arc, I want my old Negima back, just like "the dear old days" (chap 296).
Negima is becoming in a stupid shounen, more like a Dragonball clone, just look the appearance of Negi after the transformation.

-Stupid over the top magic
-Nonsensical character development.
-Chekhov's gun (see chap 299).
-A lot of Deus Ex machina´s (see chap 194 for example)
And the list goes on.

hopefully the genre would rise in the coming years.

Moe FTW :)

Less moe and harem.
More yuri.

Now, that's a hard decision. ¯ w ¯;
I want, moe yuri harems!

I'm not sure about this, but this is coming from Akamatsu might be the death knell of these genres...

...or he's overreacting. There's only so much of the harem genre one can take, and moe is good, primarily in moderation. Plus, I'm pretty sure there are other publications with slightly different manga sales numbers, so that kinda nullifies #2. Also, I don't see myself empathizing with many female characters, but reading their true intentions; I also like tsundere. On top of that, I loev yuri/shoujo-ai because it's different. That doesn't mean that I don't like manga & anime with the typical, wussy and/or GAR dude as the protagonist. That shoots #3 outta the air, if not clipping a wing; #1 is just B.S. for the most part.

C'mon man, this is not the time to get discouraged over a lull in activity of all things harem (although, the reverse harem is appearing more lately). Save the "zetsubou-shita!" cries for AFTER you've finished Negima!

"The year of yuri?" I'm on Ken's friend's side.

What people don't want manga thats almost purely fan service anymore? Man I can't imagine how anyone could have called something like that.

As an aside, harem manga could still have its own place (Mahou sensei negima ironically comes to mind) so long as both male and female characters stand out.