DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyGiji Harem

REVIEWS

• 

  MundaneSoudane

  75/100
  The ultimate monogamous harem experience.

  Harem is all about wish-fulfilment: a situation where an average Joe becomes the most sought-after person by attractive girls and is surrounded by them. This idea undoubtedly appeals to Eiji Kitahama, props manager of a high school drama club. He’d love to have his own harem too, despite the fact that he’s unpopular and no one is romantically interested in him. The only girl around him is Rin Nanakura, his junior from the same club. Here comes the question: how to make it a harem with this setup?

  Luckily, our heroine comes up with a clever solution: be the harem. As an aspiring actress, Rin joined the drama club to improve her acting and express her interest in it. The latter goes beyond that actually, because she’s also into her senpai. Through made-up harem personas, she spends a lot of time with and gets closer to him. At the same time, Eiji finally has his wish fulfilled just from one person, thanks to Rin playing various harem personalities in front of him. Cool girl, little devil, tsundere, it's all archetypes you’re already familiar with. She basically offers five different girls for the price of one, simulating what it is like to have a harem. Hence, this show is called Giji Harem (Pseudo Harem)

  At first, each episode mostly runs as a series of short skits of our main couple. Isolated skits to be exact, since each skit is loosely connected and won’t lose much context if taken randomly. The highlight reel-like format isn’t much of an issue to me, but jarring transitions between scenes are. It’s a little bit faster than I used to as if they wanna move to from one setup to the next one ASAP. The good thing is the show improved later on, where every episode was more structured and the pacing felt less rushed. It really took them a while to reach this point but as long as I can see these two tease each other, that’s what I stayed for.

  In terms of personal enjoyment, I find the gag doesn’t get stale quickly. The anime may heavily rely on its premise indefinitely for the sake of content, but likeable characters and their dynamic really make the best of it. Rin is a kouhai you want to protect at all costs. Her cute face while acting, her giggles, and her noises are so addictive. I loved it when Eiji had a ton of fun from flirting with her various characters. He can be demanding sometimes with his requests for her to play certain trope but besides that, he’s goofy. The rest of the cast, from other club members to our leads’ relatives, are also great although they don’t appear often.

  Pseudo Harem in general has simple production values. This is my first experience with Nomad’s work so all I can say is the animation does its job well. Although the background art and character designs aren't visually stunning or anything, they complement each other and don’t feel out of place. I’m not sure if it’s just me but the OSTs sound monotonous for the most part. There’s a certain melody in some theme songs which is fine, but a little bit of variation wouldn’t hurt them. Blouse by Gohobi is one of my favourite opening songs from this season, while Rin-chan’s Ad-lib as ending theme is simply fun to listen to.

  On voice acting department, every seiyuu knew what they were doing with their respective role. Saori Hayami's soft tone and Nobuhiko Okamoto's hoarse voice perfectly fit the characters. One thing I notice here is that Hayamin’s voice doesn’t really vary much when Rin is in harem mode. There were times I couldn’t tell what persona she was playing. The director probably aimed for more realistic approach so a set of voices that sound completely different from each other won’t work. Understandable if that’s the case, because her acting voices outside the harem schtick are pretty convincing.

  All in all, Pseudo Harem is a pure fluff romance with no unnecessary drama you can watch to relax. The characters are likeable, the interactions are sweet and the whole vibe is so wholesome. The title may turn people away but don’t let it fool you, because what you’re about to miss is the ultimate monogamous harem experience.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  SallyOtak

  93/100
  A romance full of feelings, two beings predeterminer to finish together!

  ╔════════════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ════════════╗

  REVIEW Pseudo Harem

  ╚════════════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ════════════╝

  ｡･ﾟﾟ･Story/Genre :

  Pseudo Harem” is a romantic comedy like many others, such as ‘Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible’, ‘Teasing Master Takagi-san’ and the more recent ‘The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses’. This type of romance is never intended to have a complicated story or events. This type of romance is above all based on following cute characters who already have a predisposition for each other.

  

  ｡･ﾟﾟ･Characters :

  

  First, we follow “Rin Nanakura” and “Eiji Kitahama” in their daily lives, as they both belong to the drama club.
  What surprised me about these two characters was their individual characters. Sometimes, in this type of romance, you come to think that one of the characters arrived there by chance, and that the romance is a little unrealistic in relation to the character of each.
  The two characters have excellent chemistry, and you can feel it from the first second of the first episode to the last second of the anime!
  The special aspect of the anime that “Rin Nanakura” plays different roles to please “Eiji Kitahama” was very original and done in a way that didn't make the relationship between the two characters unhealthy or weird at all, on the contrary it brought back a varied humor and a way of circulating the feelings that “Rin Nanakura” has for “Eiji Kitahama” that was really enjoyable.

  And I also appreciate the fact that you didn't put the two characters in the same class, that you didn't fall into that easy scenario :)
  And for perfectly handling the end of “Eiji Kitahama's” studies.

  I like that the romance progresses over the episodes and doesn't drag on. The events and interactions really serve a purpose and don't just fill up the episodes.
  “Eiji Kitahama” is also an excellent male character, he's not a stupid guy who doesn't see his own feelings or those of ‘Rin Nanakura’, even if he doesn't necessarily show it openly during the series, we understand that he loves her without having to have those thoughts about him directly!
  I also particularly like the fact that he's very attentive to “Rin Nanakura's” little sister - it's just a detail, but he really made me feel like a big brother to her.

  Last episode : The last episode was just unbelievable! It touched me so much, and fuck YES THE WEDDING PROPOSAL!

  

  ｡･ﾟﾟ･Animation/Opening :

  In terms of animation, it's pretty simple, but it works well, so you don't need much for this kind of anime.
  On the other hand, I'm terribly disappointed by the opening, which is really bad, with practically only still shots and no atmosphere!
  It's a real shame, especially as it's very easy to make a really nice opening for this type of romance without going overboard.
  I imagine the studio had to make do with the available budget, but frankly, they built the sets perfectly with the limited means available, and frankly, congratulations to you!

  

  ｡･ﾟﾟ･Comment :

  

  As I love stories that don't go round in circles, THANK YOU for pairing them up in the middle of the anime, THANK YOU for not making us wait for a kiss, bravo for keeping things interesting after the declaration of love that could have made the anime boring. I'm a fan of these short romances, which for me are the essence of a romance, no need for a love trio, no need for a blind main character, no need to see them fool around for 6 seasons before having a tiny advancement. No need for an ultra-popular girl who strips naked to please the masses. JUST THANK YOU for still creating this kind of work that takes you to the heart!

  

  ｡･ﾟﾟ･Conclusion :

  If you like the romances I mentioned at the beginning, you'll probably like this one!
  This anime is just excellent, and above all, it's short! Here we have two complementary characters, who are really adorable, and who are really good for morale. It's funny, touching, and you'll get what you came for. A romance that doesn't last 30 years, and a romance with two partners who were meant to be together :)

  *Thank you for reading this review, I hope you enjoyed it, please feel free to share it with me or just leave me a message :)*
  Continue on AniList
• 

  H8ter

  27/100
  A Shitshow Of A Romance

  The story revolves around a boy and a girl in the drama club. And yes, I don't know their names because I don't care enough. The whole series is basically her practicing her acting skills with him, using her different characters like demure-chan, spoiled-chan, and many others. The main problem with this series relies on how the progression is done. She actually starts liking him first, and the whole series is her flirting with him by using her acting skills, as a front to get away with it. The problem though, Is how incredibly DENSE the MC is.

  There are so many great opportunities for progression in this, but they all go to shit because every time she flirts with him, he says something like: "Stop demure chan!!!" making it feel like he forgets she's a real person. I get that that's the whole point of the series, but it's giving us NO progression.

  This is one of the most frustratingly "bitchless" and ugly main leads I've ever seen. It actually amazes me how they could make the main point of the story be such an eyesore that it makes you want to turn your brightness down. This series could've had a great deep message about someone not really knowing who they are, and finding someone who discovers it, but instead, it's a dumbass (and very ugly) guy feeding into this repetitive delusion of her fake personas. You can get mad at me and say I don't understand the point of the story, but there are some things that should never be created.

  I've heard people say that he has more personality in the manga, but I find it hard to believe that this pile of shit is even saveable. The whole series is filler, where the same events happen over and over again while you feast your eyes on wasted animator salary and horribly cringe "flirting". I keep coming back to the ML, but it's also important to note that the FL is also a dumb sack of shit that doesn't realize he also likes her and thinks that his blushing and embarrassment is because of her personas and not him actually being into her. (what a crazy idea)

  I usually get super excited when two characters confess "early" on in the series at 8 episodes because I've seen this drag play out so many times, but at this point, they could get married and I'd still be mad. Like can we not cut away on the kiss and let me enjoy at least one thing in this show?

  Overall, this anime is a complete waste of spending, time, and energy, and I'm ashamed that I even got through 8 episodes before dropping it.

  This anime was really bad, and I know that I was a little harsh, but if you liked the show and enjoyed watching it, I'm not here to rob you of your happiness. I recently realized something, and its that no matter how bad I think something is, if someone else enjoyed it, that's all that matters.

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• ANIME

  ComedyKaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensaitachi no Renai Zunousen
• ANIME

  ComedySono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru
• ANIME

  ComedySuki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta
• ANIME

  ComedyIjiranaide, Nagatoro-san
• ANIME

  ComedyKimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo
• TV SHORT

  ComedySenryuu Shoujo
• ANIME

  ComedyTokidoki Bosotto Russiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san
• ANIME

  ComedyAharen-san wa Hakarenai
• ANIME

  ComedySoredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru
• ANIME

  ComedyKubo-san wa Mob wo Yurusanai
• ANIME

  ComedyBoku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu
• ANIME

  ComedyBoku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu 2nd Season