Minami-Ke, literally translated as “The Minami Family”
Synopsis: A slice of life comedy that focuses on the everyday life of the three Minami sisters: Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki. (from: Wikipedia)
Genre: Comedy, slice of life
Status: Anime – Completed (October to December 2007)
Manga – Ongoing (4 volumes as of 01/2008.)
“This story gives a straightforward account of the three Minami sisters’ normal, everyday lives. Please have no expectations beyond that.” — This note is shown before each episode as sort of a “warning.” I love the honesty of it. xD
Thoughts / Review: I kinda liked the OP theme, “Kokoro no Tsubasa” performed by Rina Satō, Marina Inoue, and Minori Chihara (the three Minami sisters’ seiyus). It was nice and fun. I thought it fit quite well into the series. I liked the chibi version of the characters that pop out here and there… so cute! The ED is “Sono Koe ga Kiki Takute” performed by the seiyus as well.
ON A SIDE NOTE… Minami-Ke is a Japanese manga series by Coharu Sakuraba. It was first serialized in 2004 in the weekly Japanese manga magazine, Young Magazine. The manga was adapted into an anime series by two studios. The anime produced by Daume, entitled simply as Minami-Ke, aired from October to December 2007. Asread’s adaptation started airing January 2008 under the title Minami-ke: Okawari.
AND THE CHARACTERS ARE…. The members of the Minami family: MINAMI HARUKA- the oldest sister, a high school student. She takes care of her younger sisters and is the most reliable among the three. MINAMI KANA – the middle sister, a middle school student. A lively girl who usually acts before thinking. MINAMI CHIAKI – the youngest of the three, an elementary school student. Intelligent and seemingly grumpiest among the sisters (well, grumpy especially to Kana, but nice and sweet to Haruka). She almost always uses the word “bakayaro” (dumbass), most particularly to Kana. TAKERU – he is a cousin of the Minami sisters who occasionally visits them. They usually call him Oji-san.
Haruka’s classmates: MAKI and ATSUKO – close friends of Haruka. They are in the same year and class. Both are also members of the volleyball club. HAYAMI – member of the volleyball club who is a year older than Haruka. HOSAKA – He is the captain of the volleyball club. He is in the same year as Hayami. He has a crush on Haruka. Maki thinks he’s weird and disgusting.
Kana’s classmates: KEIKO – Kana’s friend who is an honor student. FUJIOKA – Kana’s classmate who is in love with Kana (but unfortunately, Kana is oblivious of that fact, thanks to Chiaki -see episode 1). RIKO – in the same year and class as Kana. She is in love with Fujioka and sees Kana as her rival for his affection.
Chiaki’s classmates: MAKOTO -Chiaki thinks he’s an idiot. He has a big crush on Haruka and would do anything just to be on her good side (from which “Mako-chan” is born – see episode 6). YOSHINO – in the same class as Chiaki and Makoto. A friend of Chiaki. UCHIDA – friends with Chiaki as well. She is aware of who “Mako-chan” really is.
The other Minami family: Eldest brother (whose name was never mentioned), NATSUKI (The second brother. He goes to the same high school as Haruka), AKIRA (the third brother. He goes to the same school as Kana), TOMA (the only girl in the family. She’s in the same year as Chiaki and goes to the same school. Due to certain circumstances, Chiaki adopts her as her younger “brother” as they have the same surname – see episode 10)
- Check out these scans [Scan 1 — Scan 2] from the manga to get a bit more insight on the characters with amusing descriptions by the author. (** Scanlated and translated by WhirlingTako)
MY IMPRESSION… On watching episode 1, I already had quite a few laughs. It was one of my “must watch” list of the Fall 2007 line-up and it didn’t disappoint me. It’s fun and easy to enjoy. The story doesn’t really follow any specific plot, just the normal everyday lives of the sisters. The serious faces that they put on once in a while totally reminded me of the same thing in Hayate no Gotoku! xD. The different personalities of the sisters also add to the dynamics of the series. It definitely won’t be as enjoyable as it is without it. The side characters also do their part, adding in to the mix and making the situation even more laugh out loud than it already is… wait until you meet Hosaka, Mako-chan, and Touma and her brothers (the other Minami family)! ~Lol. It only spans 13 episodes, so it’s not dragging to follow (you might even ask for more!)
There are two anime adaptations of Minami-ke done by two separate animation studios. The first, under the original title Minami-ke is produced by Doumu and aired from October to December 2007. After the first anime ends, the second adaptation under the title Minami-ke: Okawari is produced by Asread and aired on January 2008. It picked up from where the first anime started and went from there.
I really had a lot of fun and countless laughs while watching this series. Personally, though, I had more fun watching the first Minami-Ke adaptation than Okawari .
If you don’t mind the lack of any major complex plot, and if you like comedies then I think you would enjoy watching this one too. ^_^
Leave a comment