# Pseudo Harem

Pseudo Harem (Japanese: 疑似ハーレム, Hepburn: Giji Hāremu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yū Saitō. It was posted as a webcomic on Saitō's Twitter account from June 2018 to March 2021, and was later parallelly serialized in Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday from January 2019 to March 2021, with its chapters collected into six tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Nomad aired from July to September 2024.

## Plot

Eiji Kitahama, a second-year high school student, yearns for popularity more than anything. His days are filled with dreams of being surrounded by admiring peers. Enter Rin Nanakura, his junior in the drama club, who decides to use her extraordinary acting skills to help Eiji achieve this lofty goal. With her talent, she crafts a harem of loving girls, each one showering Eiji with affection. But behind these diverse characters is Rin herself, and her feelings for Eiji are genuine, though Eiji remains completely unaware.
As Eiji enjoys the attention from the various "girls", he cannot help but be enchanted by Rin's vibrant performances. Her colorful and dynamic acting brings joy to his life, leaving him wondering if the actress behind these roles will ever find a way into his heart. The line between reality and performance blurs, creating a captivating drama of its own in which Eiji might discover that the most genuine love comes from the one person who had been there all along.

## Characters
### Eiji Kitahama (北浜 瑛二, Kitahama Eiji)

    Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto
    Eiji is a member of the Drama Club who is also Rin's senior. His wish is to be popular and have a harem, just like in manga. To fulfill his wish, Rin acts out many archetypes in hopes for her to color his world. He often mistakes Rin's actions of affection as method acting, as he is largely unaware she is in love with him. It is later revealed that he fell in love with Rin at first sight.

### Rin Nanakura (七倉 凛, Nanakura Rin)

    Voiced by: Saori Hayami
    Rin is a member of the Drama Club who is a method actress. She gets into comedic situations with Eiji in which she poses as different archetypes such as "imp-chan", "tsundere-chan" and "cool-chan". She has a huge crush on Eiji, but Eiji himself is often unable to properly decipher her feelings due to her acting skills. At the end of the series, she becomes an actress and she and Eiji marry.

### Ayaka Nanakura (七倉 綾香, Nanakura Ayaka)

    Voiced by: Mai Narumi
    She is the younger sister of Rin. She is an elementary school student.

### Motokuni Nakayama (中山 元邦, Nakayama Motokuni)

    Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe
    Nakayama is a clubmate of Eiji and Rin who is also the member of the Drama Club.

### Tsuguto Iwata (岩田 嗣人, Iwata Tsuguto) / Tsu-chan (つーちゃん, Tsū-chan)

    Voiced by: Kōji Yusa
    Iwata is a member of the Drama Club who works as a scriptwriter. He is also good at telling ghost stories.

### Megu (めぐ)

    Voiced by: Maria Abo
    She is a student at Kouban High and a close friend of Rin.

### Kiri Shirasawa (白沢 きり, Shirasawa Kiri)

    Voiced by: Minako Sato
    She is a first-year student who is a part of the Drama Club. She admires Rin.

## Media
### Manga

Written and illustrated by Yū Saitō, Pseudo Harem was first posted as a webcomic on Saitō's Twitter account from June 20, 2018, to March 5, 2021. The manga was subsequently serialized in parallel in Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday from January 12, 2019, to March 12, 2021, collecting its chapters into six tankōbon volumes, released from March 12, 2019, to April 12, 2021.

#### Volumes

| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN |
| 1 | March 12, 2019 | 978-4-09-129095-3 |
| 2 | August 8, 2019 | 978-4-09-129365-7 |
| 3 | January 10, 2020 | 978-4-09-129580-4 |
| 4 | June 12, 2020 | 978-4-09-850140-3 |
| 5 | November 12, 2020 | 978-4-09-850325-4 |
| 6 | April 12, 2021 | 978-4-09-850468-8 |

### Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on April 10, 2023. It is produced by Nomad and directed by Toshihiro Kikuchi, with Yūko Kakihara handling series scripts, Yoshihisa Sato designing the characters, and Takeshi Watanabe composing the music, with Pony Canyon credited for music production. The series aired from July 5 to September 20, 2024, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Blouse" (ブラウス) performed by Gohobi, while the ending theme song is "Ad-lib" (アドリブ) performed by Saori Hayami as her character Rin Nanakura. Crunchyroll streamed the series. Medialink licensed the series in East and Southeast Asia for streaming on Ani-One Asia's YouTube channel.

#### Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Storyboarded by | Original release date |
| 1 | "The Beginning of a Story?" Transliteration: "Monogatari no Hajimari?" (Japanese: 物語の始まり？) | Toshihiro Kikuchi | Toshihiro Kikuchi | July 5, 2024 (2024-07-05) |
| 2 | "Confession?" Transliteration: "Kokuhaku?" (Japanese: 告白？) | Yūichi Satō | Toshihiro Kikuchi | July 12, 2024 (2024-07-12) |
| 3 | "Lesson in Love?" Transliteration: "Ren'ai Shinan?" (Japanese: 恋愛指南？) | Ryō Ōkubo | Hideaki Uehara | July 19, 2024 (2024-07-19) |
| 4 | "Wow?" | Ikuhiro Matsui | Hiroyuki Yamada | July 26, 2024 (2024-07-26) |
| 5 | "Summer Vacation" Transliteration: "Natsu Yasumi" (Japanese: 夏休み) | Yudai Hanaoka | Hideki Tonokatsu | August 2, 2024 (2024-08-02) |
| 6 | "First Date?" Transliteration: "Hatsu Dēto?" (Japanese: 初デート？) | Nao Miyoshi | Yuta Suzuki | August 9, 2024 (2024-08-09) |
| 7 | "Graduation" Transliteration: "Sotsugyō" (Japanese: 卒業) | Takanori Yano | Toshihiro Kikuchi | August 16, 2024 (2024-08-16) |
| 8 | "Adults" Transliteration: "Otona" (Japanese: 大人) | Takashi Ando | Hiroaki Shimura | August 23, 2024 (2024-08-23) |
| 9 | "A Person To Love" Transliteration: "Sukina Hito" (Japanese: 好きな人) | Yusuke Nakagama | Daisuke Kurose | August 30, 2024 (2024-08-30) |
| 10 | "Birthday" Transliteration: "Bāsudei" (Japanese: バースデイ) | Yūichi Satō | Yūichi Satō | September 6, 2024 (2024-09-06) |
| 11 | "Love Triangle?" Transliteration: "San-kaku Kankei?" (Japanese: 三角関係？) | Higashio Yamauchi | Masami Watanabe | September 13, 2024 (2024-09-13) |
| 12 | "The Beginning of a Story" Transliteration: "Monogatari no Hajimari" (Japanese: 物語の始まり) | Toshihiro Kikuchi | Toshihiro Kikuchi | September 20, 2024 (2024-09-20) |

## Reception

In 2019, the series was nominated for the fifth Next Manga Awards in the print category and was ranked seventh out of 50 nominees.