I  prune this list often with  better replacements. Last page has the "updates"... more>>

1. Charm of the soul pets 2. Mechanic 3. Overlord 4. Throne of magical arcana 5. Mage Adam 6. shrouded sea scape <<less

Sturgeon's law: 99% of everything is terrible.... more>>

I know many people say that there are no good novels on this site, and it oftens feels like the top lists are filled with overpowered MC's, undeveloped harems, 2D characters, and lacking plots.

There are some novels that stand out, however, whether that be for their plots, characters, or translations.

This is a list for my personal 1%. It is ranked in order. <<less

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(There's a second list, just add a 2 to the name of this list and you'll find it) ... more>>

There are too many novels with cliché romance and harems with annoyingly useless girls. Reading them gets extremely tiring. There are too few novels with absolutely no form of romance or harem. Here are some novels I've found to not have romance/harem or have an harem/romance theme that didn't affect the plot of the novel to the point of it being annoying. 

Feel free to recommend novels that fit the criteria, arigatou^o^

P. S. I haven't read all the novels in this list so I might not be accurate in judging them. And there are some I've read but didn't finish and the novel ended up having romance or harem elements in a later chapter, please feel free to correct me anytime you see that I wasn't accurate. Arigatou minna-san <<less

I'll be adding my own ratings for each novel on this list. The core of this list is the [S] rating. The rest are just additions.... more>>

[S]: Masterpiece

[A]: Very Good

[B]: Good

[C]: Normal <<less

Major hurt/comfort simp. ... more>>

Been hurting all my life with no one to comfort me so reading a hurt/sickly MC being worried/doted/cared for/loved on really soothes my soul or something twisted like that. I'm trying to find meaning behind all the suffering. Hmnn yeah that sounds about right, I wanna read meaningful suffering.

SSSSE (Self Sacrifice= sacrificing themselves for others/a greater good) (Self Suffering= is hurting/carrying burden/enduring hardship on their own) (Exposed= other people find out leading in increased positive action/attention towards them and or it affects other people in some way so there is meaning to the suffering)

Absolutely love the vomiting blood and everybody worries trope. MC in pain? It's okay baby it's all worth it there will be people that will take care of you or make up for it. Fluff stuff. Spurting blood is fun and all but psychological hurt also rubs me right, stuff like taking blame then the other party regretting and making up for it? Angst stuff. Mmm working too hard or getting hurt in place of others is also nice.

Romance. No romance. Straight. BL. Some I read using mtl.

tl;dr I just wanna talk about the novels I've read but highlight the heart abuse scenes :)

*Recommendations are welcomed but not always accepted to the list ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

If you decide to follow, I'll warmly say; Welcome to the cult  <( ⓛ ω ⓛ *)> <<less

Just bromance, boys love,and Shounen-ai . This is not the place for anti gei people!!! I WILL ALWAYS ADD NEW NOVEL IF I FOUND ANOTHER... more>> ONE,SO DON'T MISS IT!! And check my other lists ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ ) <<less

Sequence is CN- JP- KR- Fluffy- (Comedy)- Exceptions- To-reads. Not ranked by number. 
My descriptions varies greatly from a gist, polished review, impressions, or explains key points.        ... more>>

[Flexible Preferences] 
A. Protags are somehow mostly male but I read both!- interesting, has compelling qualities, flawed with development
B. Entertaining, Distinct, & Creative
C. Steady premise, no TERRIBLE plot hole 
D. Romance: good execution, pacing, build-up, & evokes emotion; no bullsh!t drama & brain-dead denseness
E. Vital, relevant, fleshed-out characters
F. Comedic & Fun
G. Danger, Wars, Battles, Strategy, Tactics, Trials, Fights, Thriller, Suspense
H. Lore, Culture, Kingdom, Worldbuilding 
I. Political Intrigue, Schemes, Mind Games, Manipulation, Mystery
J.  Pure tragedies rarely - it hurts!
K. No BL/GL(yet?)
L. Can be R-18 
M. Polygamous-like IF great story | even if you're averse consider my recs. ;)

[Criteria]
1. These are (mostly) 4/5 stars in story, translation and enjoyment according to my flawed evaluation that is mainly 3/10 objective, 7/10 subjective.
2. I have perused the novels or adaptation before sharing my thoughts.
3. Writing must be consistent, coherent and engaging and the ending must at least not be sh!t. Clichés to a point are fine however it needs to be purposeful & executed well. 
4. I will keep adding books that are promising, satisfying, translated.  <<less

UPDATE: There is a new livestreaming tag now! https://www.novelupdates.com/stag/livestreaming/... more>>

I am adding this tag to all of the novels on my lists instead but you can add the tag if I missed it and/or you find a new novel with it!

Novels with Broadcasting jockeys or livestreamers or video posting or YouTubers or vtubers 

Directory

Part 1 < YOU ARE HERE

Part 2:  https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/48872/   <<less

A list of all the things I’ve read since I made a NU account. Most of them ended up being mid. If you want my recommendations, see my other list “The stuff you binge read all night”... more>>

What I tend to like: Strong Characterizations, Character relationships, good world building, excellent writing, great dialogue, realistic romancing (basically mature, not in hs anymore romance)

What I tend to dislike: Shounen (too formulaic and limiting on the stories they’ll tell), Harem (if not for realistic/fit into the story reasons), Romance where the reasons the characters like each other are unrealistic/wish fulfillment/s*upid (I’m looking at you, popular/hot/charismatic girl dates the wet mop of a child cause the plot needs to happen)

Current tropes I have beef with:

1. Girl was protected/saved/impressed once by wet noodle mc in early elementary school, so she’s obsessed with him in high school. Such a lazy plot device and it feels like every damn KOREAN/JP novel has some variation of this. These authors need to talk to real women instead of writing this elementary crap. <<less

Novels that have no lasting romance or love interests. There will be no smut, harem (if MC attracts some people, I don't mind until it becomes a major part of the story or MC becomes interested in them), or ecchi, and BL/GL also count as romance. The list includes a personal rating and (often rambling) review/description.... more>>

Of course, it's also about my tastes, so this list will be mostly fantasy and action novels (op mc will be a common feature). I am a wordy person so I also don’t mind wordier books, too... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The list is in no particular order, but novels with <100 chapters and on hiatus/slow updating (less/around as often as 1 chap/month) will go in the back, starting at #33. This is because I assume people are looking for binge reads like me.

DISCLAIMER: The list is subject to change and revision - my impression changes as I think about them/read more. I cannot guarantee a novel has no romance later. I'll try to update this rec list as I read. No promises though, so my descriptions may be outdated.

~
Similar lists (insert after the "viewlist/" in the URL): 68396, 3797, 46727, 20556, 7097, 25820, 47958, 19335, 48107, 50847, 29345, 44031 <<less

I'm gonna sort this list from gaeey-est to straight-est/ "brotherhood" level lol (except of course those novels which I haven't read yet, just recommended by many . I will just put them on the bottom, in accordance with their NU ratings) - you may also recommend some below if I ever missed one or anything. This is all for our quest on finding these types of novels anyway lmao.... more>>

.

EDIT: On second thought, I won't put the ships anymore cuz some readers may put off reading it because they're spoiled as to who to focus on or that they're already suggested as to which relationships between 'bros' to invest on so yeaahh~~ Just gonna put some of my thoughts and its synopsis instead.  <<less

Here's a list of novels you might enjoy if you, like me, want to read some good stories that don't force an unnecessary & underdeveloped romance subplot where it isn't needed.... more>>

So these stories will have minimal to no romance, and I despise the harem trope in general. On the other hand, I'm a sucker for good bromance/brotherhood/friendship/found family stories. I also won't add any series to the list that I haven't personally read.

I decided to create this list because I've seen many similar 'no romance' lists on the site from which I've gotten many great recommendations to the point they have now become my go-to sources for new novels.

- - - - - - - - - - -

I'll be trying to organize the list based on how good I personally think the books are, but I'm only really certain about the first 4 being my favorites, the list then gets quite ambiguous, but I personally really like everything on the first page.

In the descriptions, I'll include how many chapters of the series I have read as well as how much romance there has been up until where I've read, as well as additional thoughts/opinions/warnings that I might have about the series.

I'll try to update the list whenever I find another good series to add. If you know of any series you think I'd like based on my list I'm more than open to suggestions! 

UPDATED JAN 1ST: Added 'The Nebula's Civilization' to the list. <<less

I thought how about list all novel without harem that is good for reading in the free time, then here I was, make it. Basically I put ALL GENRES in one list, BUT they don't have harem tag. Ah, ofc the mc is male. And unlike the other lists, I don't arrange the novels based on its stars. But at least, I put them according their origin (kr-cn-jp) ... more>>

If anyhow you guys found a title with harem inside and I put it here, please tell me. Thank you! <<less

I searched everywhere for bromance WITHOUT romance, harem or the shitty romantic subplot tag . ... more>>

I 'm searching for good stories no boring sh*t and interesting characters : I want QUALITY 

Only stories without YAOI or SHONEN AI TAG 

Open to recommendations  <<less

these novels aren't ranked. all are good and i recommend all of these for you guys to read. there's no (or some may have a little) romance here,  but no harem. ... more>>

♡ contains action, adventure, fantasy, horror, mystery, cultivation, supernatural, slice of life, world hopping etc...
♡ cn, kr, jp <<less

Get that harem sh*t out of here.... more>>

A BL reader's curated guide (with comments) to exciting non-BL stories with either no M/F romance or very little late romance. And NO idiotic, horndog MCs!!! <<less

A hundred and three novels starred by male protagonists that you might like with NO HAREM.... more>>

·····

《 Good 'Male-Protagonist-no-harem' novels but unlisted in NU 》

↠The Beginning After The End

↠The Author's POV

↠ Mother of Learning

 

·····

THIS IS NOT ARRANGED BY RANK

·····

p.s.

I haven't read all of these books and only a few of them. I wanted male pov books that didn't have a dozen of females flocking hence after tons of reading genres and tags and a h*ck amount of reviews making sure there ain't no imposter in here I've finally formed a hundred (and two) "MALE PROTAGONIST WITH NO HAREM" READING LIST!!!! TADA ~ ~~

You're welcome ;D

Oh, and If you guys wanna recommend books and found out there's an imposter among us (diz books) please tell me- tell us! and even more so if you wanna recommend a good book ANY GENRE you know about please please please..? *with sparkling eyes* 

·····

⤜ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ⇻ <<less

This is to help my s*upid brain never regress further due to being addicted in reading novels with lack of common sense and questionable plot holes. And to also prevent myself from always having to lower my standard to the point of being brain dead.... more>>

Most often no romance but with male protagonist. As much as I always read everyday, only some stories really piqued my interest. So here's my list of unforgettable novels I've read here.

Just to mention, I won't add some KR dungeon tropes and CN wuxias, xuanhuans, xianxias since I find it more generic and full of plot holes (and armors).

I've been an avid NU reader since 2018? Yet this is my first time setting an account because I really want to create this list for my fellow comrades.

Ah, please do not hesitate for some recommendations I forgot to add! <<less

This list is specifically for second chances/age regression in fantasy, historical or VRMMO settings. 
- Not transmigration stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/16246/)
- Not time loop stories (see: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10681/)
- Not second chances in modern society (see:  https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/10745/)... more>>

I'll start with a big recommendation for:
1. Metaworld chronicles - wonderful series with well developed characters, magic, monsters and dragons, all set to a really well explored alternate modern Earth fuelled by magi-tech. It's the best in the genre and you should try it out!
2. Selena's Reign - only around 20 chapters out so far, but they're really well done. Beautiful descriptions (though sometimes a bit verbose) and the best depictions of a late 18th century setting that I've seen in an online fantasy. Read this for the magical second chance messiah in a gritty, Louis XIV->Napoleon type time frame world.
3. The Calamity of a Reborn Witch - more of a shoujo take on things, it's filled with political plots and conspiracies of a cinderella type heroine in a rather dark fantasy world
4. Forgotten Conqueror (this was on hiatus for a long time but restarted on the author's site) <<less

These are the novels that I personally enjoyed, though some of them might not be my favorites, they still had enough influence stay in my heart as a decent novel at the very least... well, most of them. (Also I'm actually back now 2022, got burnt out after reading too much reincarnation paradise)[2023 here, uhhh, oops]... more>>

*Rest of description is for when you enter the list*
{I'm back and ready to fix my younger self's s*upid tastes, some are pretty good though}

(My reviews will not be consistent with the list because I go into the read deeper rather than just a overview, make sure to check my oldest comment, it is also the most liked one, it has the unpublished reads)

[S tier is a 5 star read, A is a 4.5 star read, B tier is a 4 star read, C tier is a 3.5 star read, D tier is a 3 star read, E tier is a 2 star read, F tier is a 1 star read] 

[SS and X tier are special. SS is consistency and intrigue, and X is the top 3 with the SS tier also being applied] 

(exaggerated tier which is a new special tier has been added, this is when I give reads that just started a good tier even when there isn't enough chapters to properly review it, the tier of the read will most probably change someday)

(The special tiers will now be accompanied by a regular tier, Exagg. tier will be accompanied with a Z)  <<less

These novels are those that I deemed worthy of being called one of the High/Top Tier BL novels out here. ... more>>

There are also novels here that aren't BL but I still included them (in the list and in the comment box) to bring such masterpieces to your attention.

Also, those with a ⭐ are the ones that occupy a space in my heart! They are very special to me and I will read them over and over again!

10/08/2023. I will arrange my lists in the future! So excited!

01/29/2024. Making a second shelf! Link: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/85506/?ft=yes <<less

No romance, no harem. Just MC with their brotherhood/sisterhood or found-family ^^~.... more>>

Novels with adaptations are noted.

Recommendations are appreciated! <<less

Honestly, are there any webnovels that are objectively good? ... more>>

Flawless? Without dragging on endlessly, trailing off into a nothing ending or meandering on with a directionless plot? 

I haven't found many and I sure have read a lot.

A lot.

Many that I'm not proud of. The type of novel that if my friends and family found me reading might cause another Isekai.

But also, in the filth and garbage that I often see festering on NU there are plenty of gems to look out for. 

And plenty to avoid.

Keep In mind all these reviews are just my opinions.

Ps. Check the comments for novel recommendations that aren't on NU

PPs: although they are my opinions, you are objectively wrong if you disagree. <<less

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