Overall SAO follows the classical harem formula of guy meeting girls and them ending up in his social circle, which at some point start to mostly consist of those girls. It has strong harem element.
Officially it is not Harem because it is not what the show focuses on, but just because it doesn't, doesn't meant it doesn't contain Harem. Like a show that isn't a comedy, still can have some comedy in comic relief. The anime is yes.
Sword Art Online has never been a harem. First off, let's define a "harem" as where one person has numerous love interests, with mutual feelings between the central person and each of the harem members; the feelings must be two sided. Then, with this definition, let's prove how each so-called "harem member" is not, in fact, a harem member.
It's not a harem unless he is romantically involved with all of them, and that is not the case.
Kirito has only ever had one love interest, and that's Asuna. Sword Art Online has never been a harem.
Sword Art OnlineāAn Action-Fantasy Anime.
Is Sword Art Online a romance anime? Yes it is. It has some of the best romance of any anime as well. It's an underrated element of SAO that many people gloss over because the anime's not exclusively just a romance.
Although it is not classified as a harem anime, the premise does heavily revolve around Kirito and his harem. Even if all of the women are not present, there is seemingly always at least one female other than Asuna with romantic affection for Kirito with him incessantly.
Anime Top 10Top 10 Best Rated (bayesian estimate) (Top 50)#titlerating1Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV)9.082Steins;Gate (TV)9.043Clannad After Story (TV)9.028 more rows
Includes violent scenes, including some of a sexual nature. One of the things that first strikes you when you come across the latest collection of SAO is the rating: 18.
Yuuki Asuna. Asuna is Kirito's partner and main love interest in the series. Among all the people Kirito has met, she is the closest and dearest to him.
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris has a bit of fan service for its long-time supporters. It comes in the form of the affinity system that leads to romance options via the heart-to-heart minigame.
10 Best: Kirito & Asuna They're not only the most popular pairing within the series, but one of the most beloved and represented pairings by fans in all of anime.
SAO is technically not classified as a "harem anime," though sadly it does retain a lot of similarities to that genre. Tons of girls have swarmed around Kirito, usually from being saved by him or impressed by his "skills," who all adore him. Sadly for them, he's only interested in Asuna.
Unfortunately, SAO became caught up in a brutal and systematic misogyny that, I argue, stops viewers from enjoying the show. See, most anime series already give the entire category an awful reputation by including sexualized gags about breasts or having a woman unnecessarily strip down to her bare necessities.
SAO is a haram anime, and this video proves it.
Some fans said SAO is a harem anime (and somebody a side story of SAO wrote by author is a harem ending? )
I know it's confusing, but there are 2 genres that people colloquially call harem. We have since called the correct term "true harems", and the other merely "harem".
Some fans said SAO is a harem anime (and somebody a side story of SAO wrote by author is a harem ending? )