I'm usually not a fan of reverse harems and I'm certainly not a fan of this one. I know what exactly it is about them I don't like and no, it's not because of the Shoujo category. Before I go on to explaining this preference of mine, here are some definitions for people who don't really have an affinity for anime and thus, don't understand the terms. I will be explaining other terms as I go on.
Reverse Harem: Reverse Harem is, as the name suggests, the reverse of Harem. In Harem, there is the main lead, who is always a male, surrounded by females. Thus, the opposite is true in Reverse Harem, where a female is the main character and she is constantly surrounded by good-looking men, i.e. Bishies. These men will compete for her affections for the most part, though this is not always the case.
Shoujo: "Shoujo" or "少女" is a term in Japanese that refers to girls between 7-18 years old. The genre of Shoujo in anime thus refers to any anime whose main intended audience are teenage girls. Common themes of this genre are romance, friendship, comedy, etc. with romance being the most common theme.
To make this more interesting, instead of pointing out the character blatantly like I usually do, here's a video of the anime's opening theme. It reveals the main characters, albeit very briefly, so you can form your opinion about them first. Also, you can guess which one I like.
In order of appearance, the male characters are Sakamaki Ayato, Sakamaki Kanato, Sakamaki Raito, Sakamaki Shuu. Sakamaki Reiji and Sakamaki Subaru.
Yes, this is an anime about vampires, as you can clearly see from the fangs on Reiji. It's nothing like Twilight, I assure you, or I'd rather gouge my eyes out before I watch even a minute of this anime.
It doesn't surprise me at all that I like Reiji, given the anime stereotype that he fits in so well with. In fact, in anime, there is a character stereotyped accurately named "Spectacled Sadist". Reiji isn't just a Megane (Spectacled) character, but is also one of the biggest sadists. Well, all the Sakamaki brothers are sadists to some extent, but Reiji is that kind of hidden sadist, who is extremely prim and proper on the surface, but has some very, very strong sadist habits.
Well, a little more on his character, from the Wiki page:
"Sakamaki Reiji is the second eldest son of the Sakamaki household. Reiji and his older brother, Shuu, are the sons of Beatrix, second wife of Karlheinz, the Vampire King.
Reiji has refined manners. Though he might have a polite, sophisticated way of speaking (which the creators describe to be "butler-like"), his words tend to come with a biting edge. He values rules and demands that they are followed by others, but he creates many strange rules. Despite how rigid he may seem, he still has some sense of humour (albeit a dry one).
Although Reiji is the second son, he takes it upon himself to keep the house tidy, to manage household affairs, and to keep his brothers in line. His role in the family combined with his seemingly polite, gentlemanly posture often causes him to appear more like the eldest instead of his older brother Sakamaki Shuu.
Shown by how he values rules, Reiji is a strict person towards both himself and those around him. He is an arrogant, prideful person who demands perfection and dislikes submitting to weaknesses. Though his words may be harsh, they shouldn't always be taken at face value. He is an extreme sadist, like the rest of his brothers, and his particular phrase is schadenfreude (pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune). Sometimes, he does or says something in order to get a reaction that amuses him.
Along with his passion for experimenting and making potions/drugs, he loves to collect tea sets and kitchenware. His brothers sometimes use Reiji's love for kitchenware to coerce him into cooking for them by saying that they'll use the kitchen themselves - his brothers have a penchant for destroying it when they use it. Due to his love for collecting, Ayato often called him a tableware otaku."
The problem with the anime is that, in a Reverse Harem, you would expect that at one point, every male character will have a sexual encounter with the main character. As a part-Yandere, that pisses me off.
Yandere: A combination of the words "Yan" and "Deredere", which means "Sick" and "Infatuation". Yandere refers to an anime character who is extremely affectionate, loving, merciful and gentle to the one they love, but can be brutal, psychotic and deranged. They are often easily jealous, leading to extreme acts of brutal murder.
In other words, when I see this...
I become like this...
In other words, I would love to watch Diabolik Lovers to its finality, staring at Reiji the whole time with tons of fantasies in my head, but I would go batshit insane if Yui goes one step close to him. I don't know why but I have stronger Yandere tendencies towards anime characters than towards real-life people. Probably the fact that I can own an anime character in my mind, but not a real-life person. Am I Yandere? Partly. Though I can be quite Tsun too.
Still, I really want to watch the anime, because when this happens...
Only in anime: Megane characters look good without their spectacles.
I'm basicaly this person...
Well, I'm basically done, so what's left is just me spamming pictures and Tumblr stuff related to Reiji.
That's basically how I felt, except that I knew that I have an obsession with Megane and sadist anime characters. Therefore, I don't feel that bad about it.
That is the face of a sadist thinking dirty, sadistic thoughts. As much as I fancy myself an S (sadist), Reiji is probably one of the few I would go M (masochist) for.
OMG, I'm officially married to Reiji! My life's purpose is fulfilled! Not.
Now that you mentioned it...*stares*...MMMM...nope, you're not the only one.
Yeeeesssss!! Im also obsessed with Reiji <3 I love everything about him and what attracts me the most was his formality. I dont understand why some hate him, Hes just amazing. I find him more interesting than the rest of DL characters but i also love kanato^^
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