Whew. This one is a hard read.

They aren't even achieving the purpose. THe idea was that the birth rate in Japan was going down. And yet, none of the three wives are having babies (well, Madoka can't). Kinda defeats the purpose to repopulate the country.

That just applies to Date family. I think other Hare-kon families are doing well and are actually doing what they were supposed to do. There are also several single mothers participating the event which being in a Hare-kon family would help them raise their kids. But I think Hare-kon is effective, at least in other families.

Yeah, it's the main characters that I'm talking about. They ain't reproducing but they're looking for a new wife? Yeah, how about you impregnate your current wives?

I actually think the other way would be more effective: one wife, two or three husbands. I have read several articles on the population issues in Japan (and EU nations, etc) and it tends to have a lot of a financial component. Money to raise a child. In that case, two or three husbands working so one woman can have babies that can be well-financed makes more sense. One woman can have several children, and that can be expensive to raise. Ryuu doesn't seem to be the most income-generating guy. How is he gonna support all those kids that the Hare Kon is supposed to provide?

There is gonna be an issue with daycare if a bunch of women have a bunch of kids with ONE man--because they'll have to go to work to support that huge family and then who takes care of the kids? I suppose one of the wives could be stay-at-home, but again, if financial issues are a main component of not having kids in industrialized nations with high costs of living, then they need to switch the Hare-Kon to 2 Men and 1 Wife if it's gonna be rational. (Not that I am a supporter of polyamory. Nope. I"m not, but I can see situations culturally and economically where that would make survival sense.)

For the Date family, it's more like to show support for Yuzuru's Mayor Dad. The daughter needs to show support for his father's work by being an example. If I'm not mistaken, unless not introduced yet, the Mayor only has one wife, Yuzu's mother.

I have thought of that, too. How can the financial support from the government be sustainable for Hare-Kon families? Specially once they truly have become a big family. Unless women also work. I don't know how will that ever be fair but they ought to assign roles and some wives would be left at home and some can generate income. I also noticed that why neither Yuzu nor Madoka were working? It was interesting since they have no kids to raise yet they just stay at home. Following the stereotype that married women should just stay at home, which to me is ridiculous.

Also, if Hare-kon is not only to repopulate Japan but to take less burden to wives then that would mean wives would have more time to do other stuff besides being housewives. Because I was thinking with the 2 Men and 1 Wife set-up, there would be too much burden on the wife to take care of everything else, unless they become ridiculously rich and get to hire house helpers. But how if raising several kids will be too expensive?

Are you kidding? In my mother's generation, women routinely took care of 4, 5, 6 or more kids without help. It's just the modern mindset who thinks women can't handle more than 1 or 2 kids. One wife could take care of 4 kids, with 2 men working to bring in two full-time incomes--or three husbands if they are not professionals. That would mean men had to swallow their pride about their own "seed" as they'd be supporting babies by other men, likely.

The reason men tend to make more than women--aside from residual sexism--is that women who have children HAVE to take some time off for the necessary physical issue with late pregnancy and delivery, and newborns who need round-the-clock attention and various feedings (even at night). It's very hard to work and care for a newborn. But if one is a stay-at-home mom who can sleep/rest on the baby's schedule, and get things done when the baby's asleep, it's not that stressful. Also, as the older children become capable of chores, they can help with the younger kids, along with retired relative. That's how it always worked. Generations of family helped each other, and women tended to the multiple children.

So, if the idea is repopulation, one woman + 2 men having 4 kids add 1 bonus person to the population without requiring public assistance, since there are two full-time incomes. And the gov't could give huge tax breaks for any child that's "more than the parental unit count"--that is, what adds to the population, rather than just replacing it.

Girl I live in a third world country where there are 10-12 children in the family. Mothers can surely raise 4-5 kids at the same time. But they looked so worn out. They have to keep the house in condition, they have to budget their finances and serve their husbands when they get home, apart from the kids, and many more. Of course, what you are saying is totally fine if there is proper family planning. Pregnancy was properly spaced. But even then, it's a tiring job and allocating tasks would give women more time for themselves, pamper themselves, and balance out their responsibilities at home. 2M1F might result to lots of children and given that the kids' ages are so close together, it would be chaotic, add to that are childish men who would demand attention after work.

I think there is no ideal way to do this. 1M2+F would be financially difficult but 2M1F will have a problem on men's ego/personality. I imagine there will be fewer families where that set up would work compared to the former. What needs to be worked on is either prices/tuition etc should be lowered or increase parents' salaries.

I can totally see being worn out by 10, 12. But women in my mother's generation had 3+ without being worn out and used up. They thrived. :D Most of my classmates has multiple siblings--my best friend had (one of them) 2 sibilngs and my other BF 3 siblings. I have 5. My mother didn't look like she was gonna drop dead from it :D One of the women I admire most has 6 kids. She manages to raise them into great people, work, volunteer, and she looks fab.

I'm not believing the line that having a lot of kids wears you out. For many women, it's a joy and enlivens them to keep going and striving because they had a family to live for and wanted to see the grandlkids. :D

BTW, not knocking having help. We were poor, so it's not like we had a lot of money to toss around for someone to babysit, clean, etc. If one can afford help, yay. But if poor women can raise a few kids, women in a household with one to two solid incomes should manage just fine.

How were your family's and others' kids spaced? I believe there wouldn't be a problem if kids were properly spaced. As elder kids grow up they help with the chores etc. But with a 1 yr age gap between kids, it doesn't look good. Well those families that i've seen are not necessarily in the lower poverty line. But yeah, at the end of the day, it is a fulfilling job no matter how tired one get during the day.

Even going back to the manga it is noticeable how different Koharu is with that friend with a kid in Tokyo was. The way they dress and present themselves are different. Maybe majority of Japanese women have difficulty with raising kids since that friend was open to Hare-kon. Apart from financially supporting for their own child.

My fam: Most were born within 8 years, with one exception. And I agree, as kids get older, they can help. Spacing them 2-3 years apart also allows for weaning to be done on one before the other one shows up, or even get them potty trained to some degree. That helps, too. But I have a friend who says it's better to have them close to one another, so they can be close enough to be buddies and so you can finish having them young enough to have energy, plus when they are all in school, you are not so old you can't go on and have a career of your own before you're too old. :) That helps pay for advanced education, too. Of course, in a Hare-Kon, the more incomes the better--good food, nice home, education money, and even seed money for a child's desired business. And weddings. :D

It depends. I think it worked for your friend because they can financially. But here in the Philippines it doesn't look good. Raising them all together can be done but when they start to go to school, that's when things will get hard. As the children go up their grade level, tuition and misc fees increase, unless they are financially stable. Depends on how many the kids are and how young or old the mother is to still be capable to generate income. To most families here younger siblings do not graduate on time to give way for the eldest to finish his studies and work. The breadwinner will then pay for his siblings' education.

Yeah, my mom had to take an extra job to pay my tuition, but I did well enough to get a full scholarship for college, which took the burden off them. It's very expensive to raise ONE kid with everything they need and some of what they want. Which is why I think the Hare-Kon idea in a Japan that's expensive to live in is silly (at least the many women having kids and ONE man). Shoot, as soon as the man gets all stressed with all those kids and wives and bills, he's taking a run to the hills.

That's why the basics of Hare-kon is at least in this manga is quite confusing. Rather such plot holes are glossed over. So Hare-kon includes support from the local government then there are men who are insanely rich like the top two in the festival. But if Ryuu takes in that new girl with a kid as the new wife, finally the financial issue would be addressed.

Support from the "local gov't" doesn't make sense, either. From what I read in Japanese papers over the years, most smaller towns, lesser cities, have money issues, tight budgets. Where are they getting the money to support these families?

Rich guys, sure. They can have a ton of kids without problems. Ryuu...dude's got no money. hahahah He better start playing piano again.

That's their catch! Get into Hare-kon and your family will be provided. Like how??? Lol. I just tried to overlook those stuff and just concentrate on the romance plot since it is Romance. Gosh. It just won't work. Plus Date Family is just the sample family for the program. They are not required to have kids since Yuzu's the mayor's daughter. The plot is really just about romance and won't get too realistic. Honestly, I even doubt Ryuu's feelings are really into polyamory since I know his feelings are for Koharu. Not debunking polyamory or anything, I'm just saying it based on how the story went in the past few chapters.

For me, a real harem--as opposed to a romantic type harem/reverse harem--is not romantic. All I can think of is, "Ew, I don't wanna be kissing a guy who's screwing two other women in my house." I just can't really go there. So, I'm rooting for the wives to eff off and leave KOharu with Ryuu. :D

I'm open to any kind of plot and willing to learn or accept polyamory because it exists and not like I'll be in one but just understand those who do then I'm up for the story. But the story seems like it's contradicting itself with Koharu and Ryuu's relationship. So what is the goal of the story? Is it really pro-polyamory or not? We can only find out in the end I guess.