it's exactly as the list name says. the bromance/close friends (who are coincidentally pretty strong/good-looking) is prominent in these novels and romance is non-existent or... more>> at a minimum (i'll mention it if otherwise). these are largely strong mc in some manner and action-y (there's always some aim imo) <<less

"So many stories are glorious, so many heroes are victorious. But this story shows the other side that is rarely explored. This story is not happy, it is not light. There is no way to survive it without shedding tears, but in a way, the ending lifts the heavy feeling a little. Therefore, it was totally worth it!"- @Liri... more>>

[One of the review on Mulberry Song]

Liri's words pretty much sums up what I'm trying to accumulate in this list.  <<less

Both Completed and Ongoing. Both good and bad. Mostly male main character cuz I'm a woman who wanna see men being badass lol.... more>>

How I evaluated the novel I've read:

1-5 out of 10: Not good

6-7 out of 10 : Kinda good 

8-9 out of 10 : Good

9-10 out of 10 : Really good <<less

list of titles that made my heart beats faster, unfortunately not from fluffy moments :)

List contains my favorite action/horror/psychological thrillers. Some will question ones humanity but I do love antiheroes.... more>>

I like my MC strong but they're way cooler if they're clever enough to outsmart the enemies. Or should I say cunning?

PS:haven't read all BL novels listed yet, but just keeping it here so I wont forget.

Novel recommendations not link to NU in the comment section. <<less

No description.

List of novels you might enjoy if you want to read novels with that have minimal romance/nonexistent.... more>>

More on friendship, brotherhood, family found stories. <<less

since the other list full... more>>

Part 1: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/45789/?st=1 <<less

it's not BL but with many male characters. ... more>>

I live for brotherhood, okay. I want them happy. I want them happy. I WANT THEM HAPPY BUT THE AUTHORS (MIGHT) SAY NOOOOO.

it's comedy, and comedy of life. no lie there. winkwonk.  <<less

Novels with little to no romance because sometimes you just don't want to read romance.... more>>

MCs are more interested in their career, making their life better and only have platonic relationships with other characters. <<less

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series i plan to read

No description.

Most probably BL, mu*der mystery or supernatural

List of mystery novels that I really enjoyed. 

Most fo them idk yet. ... more>>

No smut, ai, yaoi, yuri.

Almost no harem.  <<less

Translated Taiwanese light novels (physical books). Most are no or minimal romance, focusing on plot and bonds between family and friends instead! The writing style... more>> usually has a comedic undertone as well. <<less

- No harem ... more>>

- MC is not an idiot

- Big plus for bromance (or just wholesome friendship in general that makes sense)  <<less

I will only include the one's that made me stick through thick and thin. Mostly no romance, if it's harem then you should expect that the MC is just using them for greater benefits. I don't like DUmb characters so you should also expect that most of the Male leads here or Female leads are smart or sharp. half of my list also include survival and teaches you some bitter reality lesson unlike those cliche novels that makes you scared or dream about nonsense fantasy stuffs.... more>>

I JUST RANDOMLY PLACE THE NOVELS AND I WON'T RANK IT. ( for me, they're all the best on their own way and techniques) 

[disclaimer: as I said, ‘mostly’ no romance- what I meant is in the survival stories, and if the protagonist is a man. But if the protagonist is a girl, they’ll be really romance. Book like that (top tier books with Female Mc w/ no romance) are very rare. I myself having some troubles finding them.] <<less

2nd List -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/50277/... more>>

3rd List -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/61691/

I am doing this list for people like me who enjoy family and friendships or gets entrained by MC building there organizations directly or indirectly—
(Unedited) They are all in alphabetic orders, # or A-Z

There will also master-follower relationship or master-disciple relationship being recovered or building up between them…

And some overstate themselves even though they are OP or haven’t released their power-

There are no romance nor harem but there might be people around them having favorable impressions on them or bad reputation trying to be fixed or just leaving it…

I will try to put on novels that I’m sure there isn’t any romance nor harem and have already read them so to be double sure and some are recommended to me and had told me there isn’t :>

Any that are involve with the tag romance is explained in the bottom ^^*

Loving family for the beginning, knowing, and get transmigrated in a novel or another world ✌️

MC - Main Character
OP - Over Powered
OG FL - Original Female Lead
FL - Female Lead
OG ML - Original Male Lead
ML - Male Lead
BL - Boy’s Love
GL - Girl’s Love
GB - Genderbend <<less

Stories with a close friendship/relationship between two male characters that is not romantic in nature.

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

Novels with adaptations are noted.

Recommendations are appreciated! <<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

(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