46 replies to this topic

[Violet]

well, here we have a good story, good characters, sexy girls and the best male harem protagonist....

what do you think?

[aku720]

that magic is really awesome, i mean the one which strips away the clothes
waiting for new chapters......desperately, it will be exciting

[Violet]

that magic is really awesome, i mean the one which strips away the clothes
waiting for new chapters......desperately, it will be exciting

definitely, that magic is unique one. but the thing i like is the lead character.
damm..he is the best...

[ravenblitz]

yeah the lead(Arata) is one of the best male protagonist i've ever seen

[Neiter]

yeah the lead(Arata) is one of the best male protagonist i've ever seen

yea i agree he is one of the best male protagonist and as far as this manga goes it is pretty interesting and i like it cant wait for the next chapter

[AltSync]

yea i agree he is one of the best male protagonist and as far as this manga goes it is pretty interesting and i like it cant wait for the next chapter

^
That, I completely agree with.
And there's scale for some pretty cool magic (along with a magic system different from cliché Latinus Cantus or wave motion guns)

[babbo3d]

finally we have a charactr that knows how to use a harem he represents true guy

[polokoku]

definitely, that magic is unique one. but the thing i like is the lead character.
damm..he is the best...

i agree with you

[₰Ѻʯϒαϑ]

Yup.....like the main character....

[Alberich]

Good story, sexy girls and a cool protagonist, overall a good manga!

[ValorantX]

Not that I don't like the protagonist but..... what actually characterizes him as one of the best?

[hoccus]

It's an ok manga, the comments seem quite biased. Everyone seems to really like Arata, imo he is your standard protagonist in this kind of manga, nothing special to make him memorable. I do love the fan service though ^^. Storywise, I don't think its as great as what others are saying, but it isn't bad as well.

[thearux]

Taking into account the common main protagonist of an harem manga, I find it qutie good and original.
The main guy is interesting and he isn't that coward like most of the harem guys.

[Pax Empyrean]

This manga is hilarious. Most harem leads are of the "socially awkward, good-hearted loser who wins people over with his determination and sincere belief in generic shonen ideals" type, but Arata isn't like that at all. He trolls Lilith constantly, takes all the weirdness in stride ("Cool... a ninja"), and never hesitates to say whatever he's thinking no matter how much it horrifies anybody around him. There are a few oddball girls as well, so the role of straight man usually goes to Lilith when the gags start flying.

I'll be following this one.

[Thunder Wolf]

I personally like the main character because he's the kind of guy I'd actually want to be friends with. He's not some main character that everyone likes because the plot says "people like him because ____ and we needed to explain it because people liking him doesn't make sense normally".
He's also rather relatable for me personally. He's brave, and likes women. He's not some herbivorous man, like many other harem leads. He's a refreshing break from all the ridiculous pansy men.

I don't know what manga hoccus reads, but from my experience, most male protagonists in harem stories are either not confidant, easily flustered, cowardly, or self destructing. This character is none of these. Instead of being like, "I don't seem to be able to use my magic well, what will I do? It's hopeless", he keeps trying until he gets it right. He's definitely not a loser.

It's nice to see a character who isn't like Rito from To-Love-Ru (who is almost exactly like Tsuna from Reborn, who is similar to Keitaro from Love Hina, who is similar to Keiichi from Oh! My Goddess, who is similar to...)

[ValorantX]

It's nice to see a character who isn't like Rito from To-Love-Ru (who is almost exactly like Tsuna from Reborn, who is similar to Keitaro from Love Hina, who is similar to Keiichi from Oh! My Goddess, who is similar to...)

The difference is that this character isn't really liked too much by the characters in the story.....he's more bold than confident.

[Thunder Wolf]

Well, we all know they actually like him. The characters in this story tend to either like him, or be tsundere about it.
Those who don't like him, seem rather neutral about him.

[hoccus]

I don't read hardly any harem genre, so I'm guessing a perverted protagonist is new to everyone and feels fresh to them? Since I don't read hardly any harem, the protagonist doesn't seem any special. But this manga is pretty good, I do come back for more, but maybe that's cos I have so much time on my hands and looking for things to burn time on.

[Thunder Wolf]

I don't read hardly any harem genre, so I'm guessing a perverted protagonist is new to everyone and feels fresh to them? Since I don't read hardly any harem, the protagonist doesn't seem any special. But this manga is pretty good, I do come back for more, but maybe that's cos I have so much time on my hands and looking for things to burn time on.

You are exactly correct. For a person who reads harem manga, it's not often we get a character as awesome as him in the lead. Especially one that oozes confidence and manliness.

Most harem leads are losers who would never realistically get a girl. It's almost as if the girls have the inability to see other, more worthy men. In fact, it's almost as if the girls are brainwashed into liking the main character. It's essentially a fantasy so that the less popular of the otaku can imagine themselves in the main characters place. There are people who simply read for the ecchi or laughs or whatever the manga has to offer, but the main character is often made to appeal to the less popular of the otaku fans.

Thankfully, there seems to be a shift in genre conventions where more masculine protagonists are showing up in recent harem manga. Although, there have been a few harem manga before with strong male leads, but not too many of them have been scanlated until recently.

[Pax Empyrean]

I think there are two root causes of weak male leads in harem manga. First, like Thunder Wolf touched on, is to make them a loser so that loser readers can relate to them. When the harem shows up and girls start throwing themselves at this loser guy, it plays to the loser reader's fantasies. I don't much care for that sort of story; honestly I find them rather insulting. It's gotten to the point where if I start a series and the male lead gets nervous simply by being in the presence of girls, I ditch it right there. No sense wasting my time on that crap.

The second cause of weak male leads in harem manga is mostly a matter of plot necessity. It's harder to write a story where a bunch of girls are all after one guy when he's already picked one. The competition between female characters for the male character's affections often takes up the bulk of the story, depending on what other plot (if any) is going on at the same time. For the writer, it's easiest to just have a male lead who can't make a decision, which lets them drag out the story indefinitely. Not having the male lead pick a girl also avoids making the girls look bad for chasing a guy who is already dating someone else.

The end result is a genre with a whole lot of clueless/indecisive losers for male leads, often with extremely generic personalities so the loser reader can relate more easily. They tend to be extremely sexually inexperienced (probably haven't ever even kissed a girl) which further helps keep them from actually picking one of the girls and undermining the plot. It's not just the male leads that tend to suck, though. A lot of the female characters amount to little more than cobbled together collections of aesthetic and personality fetishes for the reader to lust over. There's the childhood friend, the tsundere, the token loli, the quiet one who reads a lot, and maybe some foreign character who is just a walking national stereotype. We've all seen these characters a million times.

The thing about Trinity Seven is that it doesn't follow those conventions that plague the harem genre. The male lead is not a loser or an easily flustered wuss. The female characters aren't mindlessly chasing the male lead, or even really chasing him at all at this point. It's not like Arata is oblivious to girls either, though. He'll comment on Lilith's "outrageous boobies" and come out and say it if something turns him on. He's just not the type to get a nosebleed and pass out if he sees some cleavage or something. The story has a plot that's interesting regardless of romance, so even though the cover has a girl with outrageous boobies, the author isn't crutching on fanservice or cheap harem tripe to carry the story.

Edited by Pax Empyrean, 18 January 2012 - 09:56 AM.