In the reverse harem genre, there are not so many choices that you can establish a number of sub-genres, but there is this one common occurrence. You have a girl, typically your average shoujo protagonist, and she suddenly finds herself special in some way. This attracts her a whole gaggle of usually men that end up protecting her. It’s not a bad thing for an idle fantasy. If you need more anime about girls that end up with their own private army of handsome protectors, we’ve lined up the options.
Best Shoujo Anime Where a Girl is Protected By Handsome Guardians
Hiiro no Kakera
High school girl Tamaki Kasuga is being sent to live with her grandmother in the rural village of Kifumura. When she arrives, she is attacked by a strange creature and is informed that the females in her family carry the blood of the Tamayori Princess. This makes it their responsibility to ensure ghosts and gods remain sealed away so they cannot hurt people. As her responsibilities are dangerous, she is given five guardians to keep her safe.
If you are familiar with reverse harems, you know the general set up. Despite being “powerful,” the main heroine doesn’t know how to effectively use her powers until the appropriate moment in the story. This leads to plenty of opportunities for her harem to show how cool and dashing they are.
Yona of the Dawn
After having her luxurious life shattered by the betrayal of her cousin, Princess Yona is forced to escape with her childhood friend Son Hak. However, leaving her palace forces her to see the poverty and strife that really makes up her beloved kingdom. Now she must journey to not only regain her rightful throne, but to return her kingdom to its former glory.
We say its a harem, but not a one compares of Hak. Regardless, the set up is that there are four dragon warriors who gained power from the dragon gods to protect the Red Dragon. Yona’s kingdom is said to have been founded by the Red Dragon, so this gives her dominion over the dragon warriors who reincarnate into every generation.
Kamisama Kiss
Homeless and in debt, high schooler Nanami Momozono thinks things are looking up when she rescues a man and he offers to let her stay at his home. She soon discovers that his home is a rundown shrine. Trying to leave, she is mistaken for the man she saved – the man that is also the land god of the shrine, Mikage. Finding out she was tricked into being a god and not wanting to be homeless, Nanami tries to embrace her new divine duties, but has to deal with a hot-headed fox familiar to keep things running smoothly.
While this is a smaller harem, only consisting of a fox demon and later a snake familiar of a defunct god. It is the type of series where everyone kind of falls in love with the heroine after some conflict. I suppose you could also consider Kurama the Tengu a member of her protective harem, but he’s not always around.
Hakuouki
In 1864 Japan, Chizuru is searching for her missing father. On her journey, she watches a ronin being killed by a group of white-haired men. She witnesses the Shinsengumi show up and dispatch them, but the Shinsengumi then take her captive and debate whether to just kill her. Once she reveals her father’s identity, they decide to keep her safe and help her search for him.
You’ve seen Shinsengumi in other anime, but you have never seen them this handsome. There isn’t actually much I have to say for this one, except that it is one of the larger guardian harems and longer anime series on this list.
Arcana Famiglia
The island of Regalo is protected by a supernaturally power mafia-like group called the Arcana Famiglia. However, at his birthday party, the elder of the group announces his retirement. In order to choose his successor, he announces a competition. Furthermore, the winner also gets to marry his daughter. However, enraged, his daughter decides to enter as well.
This one perhaps isn’t as applicable as the others, but I enjoyed the twist of it. There are some members that still help and protect her, but she doesn’t just want to be some dude’s bride, so she competes as well. It is very much a reverse harem still, but a nice refresh on the tropes.
Fruits Basket
When Tooru Honda finds herself homeless, she decides to live in a tent in the wilderness. However, one day she is discovered by a classmate, Yuki Souma, and invited to come live in his house. From there she gets to know many members of the Souma family, not realizing that they all are inflicted by a curse: when they hug the opposite gender, they turn into an animal from the Chinese zodiac.
A lot of Fruits Basket is watching Tooru help a member of the Sohma family with their vast mental or social problems, then having them willing to die for her as thanks. Not literally, but you watch those that she has helped regularly come to her defense when she needs it. Since this isn’t any sort of action anime, they aren’t quite the protectors in the traditional sense.
Brave 10
After her temple is burned and the people within slaughtered, Isanami, a priestess of Izumo, is forced to flee. She manages to find a masterless Iga ninja who helps her reach Ueda Castle where she asks the lord, Yukimura Sanada, for help. However, when she reaches him, a mysterious power manifests. This power is strong and coveted by many, so in order to protect it, Yukimura summons ten warriors to defend her.
Like other protective guard harems on this list, there is the occasional handsome historical figure in this series, but mostly the Brave 10 are original characters. Each one comes with their own devastating power that they can use to protect the heroine.
Pretear
Himeno Awayuki has just moved in with her step-family after her father remarries. However, while things are not going well with her stepmother and stepsisters, she has more problems with the Leafe Knights. This group of seven magical boys keeps trying to recruit her as the Pretear, a person that is able to borrow and use their abilities in order to protect the world and it’s source of all life, Leafe.
It’s a sort of new remix of Snow White done in a way that only anime can really do. It’s a bit old now, but it really is a fun watch if you aren’t the sort who can’t stand older animation styles.
Neo Angelique Abyss
Angelique lives peacefully at her school, but attacks by monstrous creatures called Thanatos have been increasing in the world. One day, two purifiers, those who exterminate these monsters, show up and attempt to recruit Angelique. She has the potential to become the first female purifier in the world. She is hesitant at first, but when a Thanatos shows up and starts hurting her classmates, she accepts her destiny.
Having watched enough traditional harem anime to know, being the only gender of something is a popular trope, so I’m glad reverse harem has one too. However, unlike one guy surrounded by many girls, the guys in this case are much more protective.
Fushigi Yuugi
One day while visiting the National Library, junior high students Maika and Yui are transported inside a mysterious book about ancient China called The Universe of the Four Gods. Within, Maika finds herself with the responsibility of being the priestess of Suzaku, and must gather all his celestial warriors to summon him for three wishes. However, she is put at odds with Yui when she is manipulated into becoming the priestess of Seiryuu by an enemy nation.
Fushigi Yuugi is a classic, but what’s interesting about it in this context is that Miaka’s protectors are not all men. They are predominantly men, but there are a couple of women in there too. It reminded me that you don’t really see that much. A group of protectors for a female protagonist is usually all one gender.
Sengoku Night Blood
The world of Shinga was once peaceful and prosperous under the Himemiko. However, when she disappeared, the warriors, imbued with superhuman powers, began to war with each other for dominance. Yuzuki ended up in this new land suddenly and finds that her blood has the ability to heal and empower these men, making her a target of all.
It’s a world totally not like Feudal Japan, but also exactly like it except that all the famous samurai warlords are vampires or werewolves. Not the creepy kind either, the very hot kind. It’s based of an otome game, so that should tell you all you need to know about it. The main girl has special blood, thus everyone wants her.
Snow White With The Red Hair
Shirayuki is an herbalist that lives a normal life in the country of Tanbarun. However, when her beautiful red hair is noticed by the Prince Raji, he tries to make her his concubine. She then decides to cut her hair and flees into the forest. It is there she is rescued by the second Prince of neighboring Zen Wistalia. In order to repay her life debt to him, she sets her hopes on becoming the court herbalist in the capital of Clarines.
Shirayuki, unlike many others on this list, isn’t special. She is just beloved. She flees a prince, only to charm another prince, who becomes her protector. Because she has the attention of a prince, she gains a mercenary that was once sent to harass her but later becomes a guardian.
The Twelve Kingdoms
In what started as a normal day as a normal high school student, Nakajima Youko has her reality shattered when a strange man named Keiki appears before her, swearing his allegiance. When Youko and her friends are attacked by demons, they are pulled into a different world, one she has never known. Separated from Keiki, Youko and her friends must do whatever they have to survive this strange, harsh place.
While older now, Twelve Kingdoms has always been kind of underrated. It has that typical thing where the girl discovers she is a princess and then everyone just sort of protects her, but she actually grows a lot as a character and grows into that leadership role. That can’t be said for every female protagonist present on this list.
Vampire Knight
Cross Academy is separated into two classes, the day class and the night class. The day class is filled with normal students while the night class is made up of gorgeous elites. However, what the day students don’t know is that the night students are vampires. This is the tale of Yuuki and Zero, guardians of the night students that keep their secret. While Yuuki is the adopted daughter of the chairman, she is happy to interact with her night student savoir Kaname. Zero, on the other hand, has an intense hatred of vampires.
Although the main character and her guardians are all just in a big love triangle together, you can bet that if anything ever threatened their lady, Zero and Kaname would be one unified front of pain. Though mostly what you get is a lot of vampire angst and wishy-washy feelings.
Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time
Akane Motomiya and her two friends Tenma and Shimon are pulled into another world by a demon. There Akane ends up becoming the Priestess of the Dragon God who can use her power to push back the demons. While there are others that seek to use her power for their own purposes, she is guarded by the Hachiyou, eight men with powers of their own sworn to protect the Dragon Priestess.
I would not fault you for reading that synopsis and thinking, “is this Fushigi Yuugi?” I thought the same even while watching it. They are very similar, but Haruka really does have the advantage of having newer animation despite its weaker story.
Do you have more anime series where a female protagonist is guarded by a whole herd of handsome guardians? Let fans know in the comments section below.
