No description.

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

Surrounded by loyal protective companions? Good stuff. Platonic harem and bonds? Heck yeah. MC smartly planning ahead and sometimes humorously misunderstood?  Dig it. Bromance? YES!... more>>

This is my jam~ ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧

I like stories where the MC is loved and cherished by his people (but not romantically, not into harem).Though I still ship MC with other characters sometimes (〃'▽'〃). 

Some are more of a slice-of-life, with little actions, but more focusing on the deep bonds of the main characters.  I only put series that I've actually read, with my little comments on it, I'm definitely up to recommendations for similar trope.  

Top best three asides, the rest are in no particular order. Enjoy! <<less

Things that makes me ship them, or it is so ambigous, or the bromance is u w u.... more>>

Also, wait what? is that shounen ai sub-plot? 

If it is only comradeship without me shipping too much I will tell you.

My favorite are the non romance one, so I will give No Romance + Ship when it isn't, meanwhile I will put Romance if they have romance..  <<less

The isekai here is pointed to another world, but not only to the usual Jpn isekai with reincarnation/rebirth/transmigrate MC. It can be the world that's totally not in the earth, and maybe it's not a reincarnation/transmigration and MC is from that world. ... more>>

My ideal isekai novel is the one with the world building as its central theme and the romance is non existent, even if there's romance element in it, usually it's slow and just as unnecessary side dish.

NO HAREM for me. Tho few of them has harem and romance tags, for me there are those that are not romance and harem, so I'll explain in related description instead. 

  <<less

(Mostly) no harem no BL, male lead on fantasy novel setting with his over protective companions.... more>>

***
Some is tagged Yaoi/Shonen Ai. BUT their relationship is mainly bromance, dense MC, super slow romance and barely had any explicit contents. Save read for those who doesn't like BL, like me.

Note: Some with yaoi tag  still ongoing, I'll update if it's bearable to read or not. <<less

Thick and heavy plot with some sweet and fluffy side. But my first priority is their stunning art.

Yup! I am a Fujoshi and the fantasy novel I've read should not have ROMANCE!! ... more>>

LET'S GOooOOO ~~(^ 0 ^)~~ 

SOORY! I lieD~: some of them are bl <<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>>

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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

Essentially, either a weak or strong protagonist has subordinates or people who are all very loyal and protective/possessive of him. Most of them are stronger than the MC. There are mainly male protagonists, but female protagonists are included.... more>>

NO HAREM OR ROMANCE-FOCUSED NOVELS! Contains mainly friendship or comradeship-focused Novels.

Other Novels/Mangas that can't be found on novelupdates: Eleceed (Manhwa), How to Survive as a Terminally-Ill Dragon (Manhwa) <<less

No description.

The first list is a complete one. ... more>>

Since I can only add 100 books per list, I'll continue here. I can't believe that I could even find so many books, I didn't think it'd be possible when I started the first list.Y'all can check out the first list, there might be some similarities, but I'm too lazy to check lol. If there are novels that have romance in the later stages in both lists, please let me know. 
Link to the first list- https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/25820/?st=1 <<less

No description.

Non-BL, mostly action shounen, slow life, fantasy isekai, etc.... more>>

Basically non-BL stuff that I want to start reading or am currently reading. <<less

No description.

sometimes i have no standards and it shows

Mostly no romance, some I dropped because I started reading others, but still recommend. The order doesn't matter.

I ain't reading half of this list yet, just want to clear my tabs.... more>>

Male MC. fantasy/adventure/action/isekai/game/novel elements, can be reincarnation/transmigration/2nd chance/dystopian,  some modern setting and less/no action, some might originally from that world, some might be more psychological, some might be harem as well. 

in no particular order

Part 2: https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/57754/?ft=yes <<less

Just a list I've randomly found weather I'll read them or not is up to my whim also gonna put novels I've finished reading but... more>> wasn't that mind blowing for me or my taste  <<less

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

Novels with adaptations are noted.

Recommendations are appreciated! <<less

بیشتر جنگو بدبختی و مرگه تا عاشقانه :)... more>>

حالا نه اونقدرا اما بازم  <<less

For novels that look like BL but aren't actually. Also for fun.
~
So the real reason I made this is because I thought it was quite interesting how many BL shippers there are for no-romance and minimal-romance novels I've collected in my other lists. As you can imagine, most of these are novels that prominently feature male characters and their relationships with one another.... more>>

Although I do read BL, I'm not much of a shipper myself, so most of the stuff on here is here because there really are people out there shipping the MC with one of the male characters that's not canonically a love interest. Yes, I confirm these ships by searching for fanarts, fanfics, and forum articles asking if it's BL. Think of it as my weird hobby.
~

I'm not going to rate or review the novels here. It's more of a compilation than a rec list. Note that I haven't read many of these, and that it is in no particular order.

There has to be an uncommon degree of fujobait going on. I'm not going to add just any series where male characters have a significant friendship. Although series with exceptionally thirsty fandoms will leak into this list anyways since, like I said, I'm not actually reading some of these. I will occasionally ramble in the description.

I'm well aware that there are plenty of other similar lists out there, so I'll link them below as I find them.
(insert after the "viewlist/" in the URL): 30062, 1733, 64324 <<less

male mc with no romance that could interfere with the plot _ maybe bromance? _ there are hunters , another world and things like that.... more>>

mc with a goal even if it's slacking of _ there is no ranking it's random~  <<less

1st List -
https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/44031/... 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

If you don't like romance and harem novels, then this list might help you find good novels.  This list of Japanese novels is generally of the SOL, fantasy, and adventure genres with the theme of family and friendship.  ... more>>

For example, the adventures of a father and his daughter in a fantasy world.  Or it could be SOL's story that warms the heart.  

Apart from avoiding the harem and romance genres, I also try to avoid red genres as much as possible (genres are forbidden or should not be read by children or under 15 years old) such as adult, mature, ecchi, and gore. But it could be that in the story there is some content as subplots even though it is not the focus of the story. I mean, I'm also disturbed or uncomfortable with the existence of the red genres or similar contents, even though sometimes the contents are a little needed for plot story development.

The following are recommendations for Japanese novels without romance and harem but focusing on stories of family and friendship in a fantasy world. I hope that you all enjoy reading these novels! <<less