Is this actually that common of a thing? I try to stay away from the trash side of anime, which is to say a solid majority of it nowadays and especially anything that could be described with the word harem, but I struggle to accept the apparent reality that slave romances are a common trope in the genre. Like that’s straight against the wall, do not pass go, do not collect $200 kind of behavior and to think that that has such an audience that it’s become a staple of the genre is maddening. In the lovecraftian sense

If you wanna see a web comic that actively calls out this kinda shit, I can't recommend 'This Isekai Maid is Starting a Union' enough.

And if you wanna see the complete opposite, try subjecting yourself to Kuma Kuma Bear, the whole thing is just the author's neoliberal power trip. It hasn't gotten to the point of slavery (yet) but apparently child labor is fair game and God really loves you only if you accumulate wealth.

What if the slave owner ego insert protagonist is one of the good ones and the slave waifus want to fight for senpai

If this is the grizz that runs the r/konosuba discord they used to be extremely right wing so this would be a very significant shift leftwards for them.

If this is one of ours it would be the John Brown isekai meme:

I don't find the slave dynamic in on itself a problem. When looking at cheap romances, it is filled with dangerous power dynamic even when aimed at women. Example, the infamous 50ShadesOfGray.

I take more of an issue with how the slaves fall in love with the bare minimum of effort and how despite otherwise portraying a monogamous culture the slave is fine with being one out of a dozen in the owners harem.