Ken Akamatsu, the mangaka behind such classic harem titles as Negima and Love Hina, has stated that both harem and moe titles seem to have had their day.
Responding to the results of industry research into the state of the anime market suggesting that the formerly dominant position of moe and late-night anime has declined precipitously, he sums up his thoughts on the state of the market:
Certainly, the moe boom is finished, and from last year on I think we’re seeing the following phenomena:
1. Male protagonists are absent
Many anime are now nothing but girls, and the role of the “male character being excited by female characters for viewers to empathise with” has disappeared.
2. Male buying power has reduced
Now women buyers of both anime and manga are predominant. Oricon comic rankings show most of the top titles are women-oriented.
3. Male viewers can now empathise with female characters
The number of male fans who simply don’t view female characters as objects of sexual desire at all is increasing, even in titles like “K-ON!”. No more are they just thinking “I want to be part of that circle,” now they are getting into the characters themselves.
A friend of mine was saying “this will be the year of yuri!” thanks to number 3, but unfortunately I get the feeling the popularity of yuri is not quite that great…
Think he just doesn’t understand that he always has s♥♥t adaptations for his manga and it’s not so much the genre itself. Negima never did get the adaptation it deserved.
To Love Ru is a great harem manga! theres like 20 – 30 different girls all wanting to get some from Rito, including his sister, while he is engaged! its also a great l♥♥i!
#1 & maybe #2 is probably right but 3# does not qualify as a reason in anyway…they are not exactly dying though…
I do hate it however when the male lead character is constantly being hit(in the bad way) by 1 or more of the female characters as it draws me away from what may otherwise be a great Anime & or Manga…This is what stopped me from enjoying the Love Hina anime which was ok otherwise imo but it only took 3 episodes for me to lose interest after seeing the male lead get hit yet again by a female character for the stupidest reasons imo…
“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.
Negima! stood out because Ken intentionally took it away from “typical harem series”. And he did it so blatantly and with such style that he definitely deserves praise for it.
If all you need to do in Japan is to make a hit series by copy/pasting what is already popular, then that doesn’t say much. I am glad to see some of the few mangaka trying to get their manga to stand out by now falling into “must sell to otaku” audience.
ah, typo
I am glad to see some of the few mangaka trying to get their manga to stand out by NOT falling into “must sell to otaku” audience.