Pseudo Harem

Pseudo Harem (疑似ハーレム) 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 volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Nomad premiered in July 2024.

Plot
Eiji Kitahama, a second-year high school student, yearned for popularity more than anything. His days were filled with dreams of being surrounded by admiring peers. Enter Rin Nanakura, his junior in the drama club, who decided to use her extraordinary acting skills to help Eiji achieve this lofty goal. With her talent, she crafted a harem of loving girls, each one showering Eiji with affection. But behind these diverse characters was Rin herself, and her feelings for Eiji were genuine, though Eiji remains completely unaware.

As Eiji enjoyed the attention from the various "girls," he couldn't help but be enchanted by Rin's vibrant performances. Her colorful and dynamic acting brought joy to his life, leaving him wondering if the actress behind these roles would ever find a way into his heart. The line between reality and performance blurred, creating a captivating drama of its own, where 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)


 * Rin Nanakura (七倉 凛)


 * Ayaka Nanakura (七倉 綾香)


 * Motokuni Nakayama (中山 元邦)


 * Tsuguto Iwata (岩田 嗣人) / Tsu-chan (つーちゃん)


 * Megu (めぐ)


 * Kiri Shirasawa (白沢 きり)

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  volumes, released from March 12, 2019, to April 12, 2021.

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 premiered on July 5, 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 licensed the series. Medialink licensed the series in East and Southeast Asia for streaming on Ani-One Asia's YouTube channel.

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.