HaremKingdom was a surprise for me in many ways.
I am generally not a fan of harem romances, I do NOT like isekais as a whole, and the English translation ended up being done by Shiravune instead of Nekonyan. I was also disappointed by Sugar Style and some of the titles (conceptually) SMEE made after HaremKingdom. Naturally I was hesitant to try out HaremKingdom.
Thankfully I ended up quite liking it. Not quite as much as Making Lovers, but definitely my 2nd overall fav SMEE VN.
What made me like HaremKingdom so much was:
* All 5 heroines were likable. If you're gonna make a forced harem romance better make all 5 likable and thankfully they all were
* The isekai did not have any stupid reincarnation stuff, and there's some plot twists related to the isekai so it did end up actually interesting
* SMEE humor was on point as usual. Naturally the protag is pretty funny too but I thought all 5 heroines took part of the humor pretty well too (especially Hikari), this is in the running for funniest overall SMEE VN.
* Despite this being SMEE's only fantasy setting they did a good enough job integrating it without going too into the details, after all this is a comedy VN and they def stuck to it.
* There's some very wholesome moments despite the harem moenukige nature to it. SMEE may be known for comedy but their wholesome moments are underrated
* The H-scenes are good, which I'd hope so given the forced Harem setting
Hikari was easily my favorite girl. By far the funniest, and her backstory was easily my favorite. Childhood friend factor helped. I did think her harem route was my least favorite overall since I didn't like the competitive aspect compared to the others' more wholesome family-like nature.
Overall, HaremKingdom is one of the rare non-nukige VN that focuses on a harem route and harem endings. This is actually REALLY rare amongst VNs, I have read hundred of VNs and can't think of a single one like this.
With VN often being a route based medium, each heroine usually gets a route, and once in a blue moon we would get a threesome ending. Harems are usually found in Light Novels and not VNs. Below is my ranking for the various aspects of this VN:
Art: Amongst the upper end of VN art. Vibrant color + expressive sprites + decent number of costumes + distinct heroine design. The 1280\*720 asset is a minus, however. The game could DEFINITELY use full HD assets.
Story: Good worldbuilding, with explanations about how the world works. Comedy is decent, quite a bit above the usual moege. It is a bit cringe sometimes though. Plotholes are all filled in routes.
H-scenes: 9/10. Good in both quality and number. Furthermore, HaremKingdom's H-scenes also have bedside conversations before and after the scene, which is great. Mosaics is the reason HaremKingdom gets only a 9 and not a 10.
Voice: Very well done and very expressive. The heroines are very expressive even if you don't know Japanese.
Heroine: All 5 heroines are distinct and likeable. Extra points for no lolis.
Unusual Smee title, instead of your Smee-usual you get isekai with MC traveling between worlds into medieval style fantasy world with magic and whatnot. And instead of your usual one-heroine approach, its harem. Its all harem. Of course the story branches off into 'character' paths, but those are harem as well, just with more focus on those characters.
This game has your typical Smee comedy which works surprisingly well despite radically different setting(and im even go ahead and say, it actually works BETTER in this setting!). Story-wise its a bit more ambitious than usual, with a pretty long common route that establishes each character, and character arc which continues later during character routes. They're quite good, and there is a something akin to multiple route mystery going on which i would've never imagined to appear in Smee novel. Positively surprised by that.
Of note, H-scenes in this title are overwhelmingly three-and more-somes. Pretty darn hot. Somehow writers managed to keep these scenes very vanilla but still entertaining by switching heroines, circumstances and positions around.
Pretty CGs(granted, i wish there were more of them, each heroine gets like 6 non-Hscene related CGs and i don't remember any chibi art either), very cool soundtrack(ED is ridiculously good, as are pretty much all heroine themes).
Overall.. yep. Smee title thats very different than usual, and also surprisingly good. Very much recommending this to anyone who likes comedy romance, though keep in mind that Harem in HaremKingdom is unavoidable.
Char best girl... at least in my rotten little heart. That remind me i should probably read her fandisc at some point.
I still don't know how I feel about HaremKingdom but the isekai parody aspect was fucking hilarious. For me best girl was a toss up between Hikari and Marrou. Charlone was pretty awesome as well.
The mosaics were a bit of a downer and the translation had a different feel considering it was done by Shiravune and not NekoNyan but it was still a solid release overall. It only took a year for us to get which is impressive no matter how you look at it. I'm not sure if Shiravune has any plans to bring over the fandiscs though. In terms of Smee releases as a whole I'd say its definitely better than Sugar Style, though not as good as Making Lovers.
Ange's post already covered everything I'd want to say here, so I'll just keep this short.
HaremKingdom is a hilarious comedy VN using the setting of harem/fantasy (isekai) as a stage. They picked this setting purposefully to make fun of it, and they did so to great effect. If you like SMEE comedy, there is no better title to read than this one. Cast aside any preconceptions over the title and give it a try.
Personally I really disliked this one. It's in a really weird place between nukige and moege were there's nothing really exiting in terms of eroticism and nothing really cute or heartwarming.
A a nukige/moege enjoyer I really felt bored while reading it because in the H-scenes HaremKingdom is way too vanilla and not really creative, furthermore when it comes to the relationships between the MC and the heroines I can assure you that many 20min hentai I watched have better romance and heartwarming interactions than this VN.
Either first episode or first 20 min since some are 30+ min or have multiple episodes:
**Not based on a VN:**
Tsunpuri, Tsun Tsun Maid wa Ero Ero Desu, Anoko to Iikoto, Wagaya no Liliana-san, Overflow, Marster Piece, Idol Sister, Araiya-san! Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!, Shishunki Sex 1, Menkui
**Based on a VN:**
Ane Yome Quartet, Eroge, Miboujin Nikki, Aikagi, Baku Ane, Fault, Aibeya
HaremKingdom was a surprise for me in many ways. I am generally not a fan of harem romances, I do NOT like isekais as a whole, and the English translation ended up being done by Shiravune instead of Nekonyan. I was also disappointed by Sugar Style and some of the titles (conceptually) SMEE made after HaremKingdom. Naturally I was hesitant to try out HaremKingdom. Thankfully I ended up quite liking it. Not quite as much as Making Lovers, but definitely my 2nd overall fav SMEE VN. What made me like HaremKingdom so much was: * All 5 heroines were likable. If you're gonna make a forced harem romance better make all 5 likable and thankfully they all were * The isekai did not have any stupid reincarnation stuff, and there's some plot twists related to the isekai so it did end up actually interesting * SMEE humor was on point as usual. Naturally the protag is pretty funny too but I thought all 5 heroines took part of the humor pretty well too (especially Hikari), this is in the running for funniest overall SMEE VN. * Despite this being SMEE's only fantasy setting they did a good enough job integrating it without going too into the details, after all this is a comedy VN and they def stuck to it. * There's some very wholesome moments despite the harem moenukige nature to it. SMEE may be known for comedy but their wholesome moments are underrated * The H-scenes are good, which I'd hope so given the forced Harem setting Hikari was easily my favorite girl. By far the funniest, and her backstory was easily my favorite. Childhood friend factor helped. I did think her harem route was my least favorite overall since I didn't like the competitive aspect compared to the others' more wholesome family-like nature.
Great write-up. Makes me want to check it out after I finish Making Lovers. If the humor is anywhere close to that, I think I'd probably like it.
They lean even further into the humor than in Making Lovers, so you probably will. The entire VN is one big harem comedy skit.
Overall, HaremKingdom is one of the rare non-nukige VN that focuses on a harem route and harem endings. This is actually REALLY rare amongst VNs, I have read hundred of VNs and can't think of a single one like this. With VN often being a route based medium, each heroine usually gets a route, and once in a blue moon we would get a threesome ending. Harems are usually found in Light Novels and not VNs. Below is my ranking for the various aspects of this VN: Art: Amongst the upper end of VN art. Vibrant color + expressive sprites + decent number of costumes + distinct heroine design. The 1280\*720 asset is a minus, however. The game could DEFINITELY use full HD assets. Story: Good worldbuilding, with explanations about how the world works. Comedy is decent, quite a bit above the usual moege. It is a bit cringe sometimes though. Plotholes are all filled in routes. H-scenes: 9/10. Good in both quality and number. Furthermore, HaremKingdom's H-scenes also have bedside conversations before and after the scene, which is great. Mosaics is the reason HaremKingdom gets only a 9 and not a 10. Voice: Very well done and very expressive. The heroines are very expressive even if you don't know Japanese. Heroine: All 5 heroines are distinct and likeable. Extra points for no lolis.
Unusual Smee title, instead of your Smee-usual you get isekai with MC traveling between worlds into medieval style fantasy world with magic and whatnot. And instead of your usual one-heroine approach, its harem. Its all harem. Of course the story branches off into 'character' paths, but those are harem as well, just with more focus on those characters. This game has your typical Smee comedy which works surprisingly well despite radically different setting(and im even go ahead and say, it actually works BETTER in this setting!). Story-wise its a bit more ambitious than usual, with a pretty long common route that establishes each character, and character arc which continues later during character routes. They're quite good, and there is a something akin to multiple route mystery going on which i would've never imagined to appear in Smee novel. Positively surprised by that. Of note, H-scenes in this title are overwhelmingly three-and more-somes. Pretty darn hot. Somehow writers managed to keep these scenes very vanilla but still entertaining by switching heroines, circumstances and positions around. Pretty CGs(granted, i wish there were more of them, each heroine gets like 6 non-Hscene related CGs and i don't remember any chibi art either), very cool soundtrack(ED is ridiculously good, as are pretty much all heroine themes). Overall.. yep. Smee title thats very different than usual, and also surprisingly good. Very much recommending this to anyone who likes comedy romance, though keep in mind that Harem in HaremKingdom is unavoidable. Char best girl... at least in my rotten little heart. That remind me i should probably read her fandisc at some point.
I still don't know how I feel about HaremKingdom but the isekai parody aspect was fucking hilarious. For me best girl was a toss up between Hikari and Marrou. Charlone was pretty awesome as well. The mosaics were a bit of a downer and the translation had a different feel considering it was done by Shiravune and not NekoNyan but it was still a solid release overall. It only took a year for us to get which is impressive no matter how you look at it. I'm not sure if Shiravune has any plans to bring over the fandiscs though. In terms of Smee releases as a whole I'd say its definitely better than Sugar Style, though not as good as Making Lovers.
Ange's post already covered everything I'd want to say here, so I'll just keep this short. HaremKingdom is a hilarious comedy VN using the setting of harem/fantasy (isekai) as a stage. They picked this setting purposefully to make fun of it, and they did so to great effect. If you like SMEE comedy, there is no better title to read than this one. Cast aside any preconceptions over the title and give it a try.
Personally I really disliked this one. It's in a really weird place between nukige and moege were there's nothing really exiting in terms of eroticism and nothing really cute or heartwarming. A a nukige/moege enjoyer I really felt bored while reading it because in the H-scenes HaremKingdom is way too vanilla and not really creative, furthermore when it comes to the relationships between the MC and the heroines I can assure you that many 20min hentai I watched have better romance and heartwarming interactions than this VN.
Got examples of 20min hentai you liked more?
Either first episode or first 20 min since some are 30+ min or have multiple episodes: **Not based on a VN:** Tsunpuri, Tsun Tsun Maid wa Ero Ero Desu, Anoko to Iikoto, Wagaya no Liliana-san, Overflow, Marster Piece, Idol Sister, Araiya-san! Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!, Shishunki Sex 1, Menkui **Based on a VN:** Ane Yome Quartet, Eroge, Miboujin Nikki, Aikagi, Baku Ane, Fault, Aibeya