A 'Problematic' Harem Anime Is Stirring Debate For the Last Reason Fans Expected

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love Youis back for its second season, and it’s as great as ever. The series keeps finding new ways of being unabashedly goofy and raunchy while still balancing things out with plenty of heart, and even with it set to reach 11 girlfriends by the end of season 2, the writing doesn’t show any signs of letting up anytime soon.

As great as The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is, it, unfortunately, hasn’t been without its controversy. As a harem anime with an incredible amount of fanservice, the series hasn’t been without controversy for some of its more risque and objectionable content, and that’s been true since there was just the manga. For the anime specifically, however, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You season 2 is drawing controversy specifically for how it relates to popular fan content, and that’s probably the weirdest thing it could be criticized for.

Why 100 Girlfriends Is So Controversial With Shippers

100 Girlfriends' Fan Controversy Explained

Iku aroused by the pain of rejection — 100-Girlfriends-Season-2-Episode-5-Iku-Aroused

The biggest reason 100 Girlfriends season 2 has been controversial with fans has been because of, surprisingly, shippers. Every anime season, Anime Trending and other major anime fan sites rank anime every week under a variety of categories. Naturally, one of the biggest rankings is for the best couples or ships of each week, and sure enough, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, by being a popular harem anime, has dominated nearly every shipping fan poll, with Rentaro and each of his girlfriends taking up nearly every spot.

Not only have people been saying that it’s unfair for a harem anime to take so many spots to the point that they’re calling for 100 Girlfriends to have a separate poll, but many anime fans don’t like seeing The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You dominate the shipping polls because of its extreme raunchiness and often dubious setups for its romances. Fan polls like Anime Trending are taken very seriously by anime fans, and unfortunately, 100 Girlfriends is the furthest thing from what many of them would find acceptable.

Why 100 Girlfriends' Biggest Controversy Makes No Sense

100 Girlfriends Doesn't Deserve To Be So Controversial

100 Girlfriends season 2 quickly became controversial with fans, but much of that is hard to justify. While there’s merit in judging the series for its fanservice and questionable romances, especially when they involve age gaps, those points are only brought up to exclude it from polls as opposed to offering any meaningful criticism. The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You being as popular as it is means that it has an audience despite its often questionable content, and people’s inability to acknowledge that is a major part of why it’s become so contentious.

Beyond those points, as much as the series focuses on fanservice and harem antics, the anime’s true charm comes from its absurdist and often parody-laden comedy and, most importantly, its surprisingly heartfelt romance and character writing, and it all comes together so that The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You’s good points more than justify its incredible popularity in fan polls. The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is the kind of series that will always draw controversy, but hopefully, its good points will continue to greatly outweigh its bad ones.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You releases new episodes Sundays on Crunchyroll.

Source: @AniTrendz on X.