World’s End Harem is a survival drama wrapped in a harem coat, and it knows exactly what it is. The premise is grim: a deadly virus wipes out nearly every man on Earth, leaving Reito Mizuhara as one of five survivors in a world desperate for babies. The anime, produced by Studio Gokumi and AXsiZ, takes that setup and spends eleven episodes mostly ignoring the apocalypse around it. What remains is a story about love, loss, and the strange weight of being the last few men on the planet.
“Reito and four other male studs are given lives of luxury and one simple mission: repopulate the world by impregnating as many women as possible!”
The show opens with Reito waking from cryogenic sleep, having spent five years frozen while doctors hunted a cure for his rare disease. He finds himself in a world where women rule, men are scarce, and his body has become the currency of reproduction. The government offers him a luxurious lifestyle and one simple job: impregnate as many women as possible. The catch is that Reito is still looking for his childhood friend, Erisa Tachibana, who disappeared three years ago. His mission is not to breed, but to find her.
Trailer, via Crunchyroll.
Reito’s Awakening
Reito is the anchor of World’s End Harem, and Taichi Ichikawa delivers a performance that balances determination with fragility. He rejects the women assigned to him, including Mira Suō, because he loves Erisa. That refusal is the engine of the entire series. The anime leans into the tension between his duty and his heart, and it rarely lets up.
Mira Suō, voiced by Haruka Shiraishi, is the closest thing Reito has to a companion. She is a nurse assigned to care for him, and she bears a striking resemblance to Erisa. It is later revealed that Mira is actually Erisa’s clone. This twist adds a layer of horror to the show’s central relationship, because Reito’s affection for Mira is a simulacrum of the woman he truly misses.
The show’s promotional materials capture the stakes in plain terms: “Reito and four other male studs are given lives of luxury and one simple mission: repopulate the world by impregnating as many women as possible!”
The line is blunt, and the show does not soften it. The world’s desperation is treated as a constant backdrop, not a punchline. Reito’s refusal to comply becomes a statement of principle in a world that has lost its principles.
The Women Around Him
The supporting cast is a mix of types, and the show handles them with varying degrees of care. Akane Ryūzōji, voiced by Yō Taichi, is Reito’s lustful nurse whose mother runs Japan’s council of rulers. She is a political pawn, and her presence adds a layer of intrigue to the show’s exploration of power. Sui Yamada, voiced by Aya Yamane, is Reito’s bodyguard, a small child in stature but a force of nature when it comes to combat. She knocks out a rampaging bear with ease, which is a detail that tells you everything you need to know about her character.
Maria Kuroda, voiced by Yurie Kozakai, is a shy virologist who helps Reito develop a cure for the MK Virus. She is the older sister of Chifuyu Rehn Kuroda, and her quiet competence grounds the show’s more chaotic moments. Mahiru Mizuhara, voiced by Yukina Shuto, is Reito’s younger sister, working at a refugee shelter. She provides a human face to the crisis, showing how ordinary people are surviving in a broken world.
Kyōji Hino, voiced by Takuya Eguchi, is another of the five survivors. The show occasionally shifts focus to his perspective, though his storyline is less developed than Reito’s. The series shows the perspective of the other men who have developed immunity to the MK Virus, each with their own circumstances.
The Clones and the Cure
The revelation that Mira is a clone of Erisa is the show’s most significant twist. In the sequel After World, it is revealed that Erisa died of an illness, and her organs were donated to Mira. This means that Reito’s feelings for Mira are a simulacrum of his love for Erisa. The show handles this with a degree of subtlety, allowing the audience to feel the weight of a love that is not genuine but is also not a lie.
Reito investigates the secrets surrounding the MK Virus and the mysterious disappearance of Erisa throughout the series. The series shows the perspective of the other men who have developed immunity to the MK Virus, each with their own circumstances. This multi-thread approach gives the show a sense of scope, even though the individual arcs are thin.
The anime draws heavily on the manga by LINK, illustrated by Kotaro Shono. The first part of the manga was serialized in Shueisha’s online magazine Shōnen Jump+ from May 2016 to June 2020, while a second part, After World, ran from May 2021 to May 2023. Its chapters have been collected in eighteen tankōbon volumes. The manga is licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment under its Ghost Ship adult imprint.
Two additional manga series inspired by the original have been written by LINK: Fantasia and Britannia Lumiére. Two audio dramas were released in May 2017 and August 2021. A virtual reality game adaptation developed by DMM Games was released in March 2019. The anime began serialization with its first episode in October 2021 and resumed from January to March 2022.
Tone Problems
World’s End Harem is a show about isolation, memory, and the cost of survival. It is not a comedy, despite the harem label. It is a drama about a man who has lost everything except his purpose, and the purpose is a cruel one. The show asks whether a man can hold onto his humanity when the world demands his seed.
The animation is competent but unremarkable. The character designs are appealing, and the backgrounds are clean, but there is nothing here that pushes the boundaries of the medium. The pacing is uneven, with some episodes devoted entirely to character development and others moving the plot forward in fits and starts.
The show’s biggest flaw is its handling of the female characters. Many of them are reduced to functions: the nurse, the bodyguard, the scientist, the politician’s daughter. They are not given the same depth as Reito, and their arcs often feel like sidebars rather than equal threads. This is a structural problem, not a stylistic one, and it limits the emotional range of the show.
The show also struggles with its tone. The premise is dark, but the execution often leans toward the absurd. The sex-crazed world is described in clinical terms, and the show rarely dwells on the horror of a world without men. This tonal inconsistency is jarring, and it undermines the emotional stakes of Reito’s search for Erisa.
The Verdict
World’s End Harem is a show that is better than its reputation suggests. It is not a masterpiece, and it is not a failure. It is a solid drama with a strong lead, a compelling premise, and a handful of missed opportunities. The show earns a 7 of 10, a score that reflects its ambition and its limitations.
The show is worth watching for Taichi Ichikawa’s performance and the sharpness of its premise. It is not worth watching for the way it treats its women. The difference between those two judgments is the measure of the show’s success.
Key Facts
– Title: World’s End Harem (終末のハーレム)
– Network: AT-X
– Season: 1 season, 11 episodes
– First aired: 2022-01-07
– Last aired: 2022-03-18
– Genres: Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery
– Score: 7/10
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