Minami-ke (13 episodes, 2007)
Minami-ke: Okawari (13 episodes, 2008)
Minami-ke: Okaeri (13 episodes, 2009)
Minami-ke OAD (TBA, 2009)
Synopsis
"This is just a plain depiction of the days of the lives of the three Minami sisters. Please don't expect too much."
As Chiaki considerately narrates throughout the beginning of the series, Minami-ke is a pretty simple series. It follows the daily lives of the three Minami sisters: Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki. Haruka is the oldest of the three, so she takes on the role of the mother-like figure of the household, while attending high school. Kana is somewhat of an ill-mannered girl, frequently getting into arguments with her younger sister or otherwise causing trouble. Chiaki is the youngest of the sisters, but is generally more mature than Kana.
Characters (click names to view images)
The Minami Family
- Haruka Minami: Haruka is the eldest of the Minami sisters, and as such, she takes on the role of the mother-like figure of the household. She takes care of the majority of the cooking and cleaning, also acting as the mediator who breaks up the frequent arguments between her two younger sisters. She is still attending high school, though she is given leniency in some areas, due to her obligation to take care of her sisters. (For example, she often gets to leave school early, so that she may take care of housework and prepare for her sisters' return from school.)
- Kana Minami: Kana is somewhat ill-mannered. She tends to be selfish, and frequently gets into arguments with her younger sister. She's rather lazy, and spends much of her time at home lying down and/or eating. However, when she is in the mood to be so, she can also be very energetic. She is a terrible cook, so she relies on Haruka and Chiaki to do the cooking, but occasionally finds herself trying to cook something for herself, which generally ends in disaster.
- Chiaki Minami: Chiaki is the youngest of the Minami sisters, but in spite of that, she is more mature than Kana. She worships her oldest sister, Haruka, which may be the main reason for her maturity, as well as other similar attributes, such as cooking skill. However, Chiaki tends to act a bit cold toward others, especially Kana, with whom she is often quarreling with.
- Takeru: Takeru is not directly related to the sisters, but is their cousin. He occasionally visits the sisters, either to check up on them, or to provide transportation for them.
- The Eldest Brother: The eldest brother of the other Minami family (actual name unknown) acts as the household's father-like figure.
- Natsuki Minami: Older than Akira and Tōma, but younger than their eldest brother, Natsuki is in his first year of high school. Natsuki was previously known as a delinquent around school, due to his violent behavior. After being recruited to the volleyball team by Hosaka, his behavior calmed down a bit, but he is still known for having a bad temper at times.
- Akira Minami: Akira is in the same grade as Kana, but in a different class, so they rarely cross paths. He is the youngest of the brothers in his family, but older than his sister. Because of this, he is often treated like a child by his older brothers.
- Tōma Minami: Tōma is a tomboy in Chiaki's grade (though in a different class). Because of her family name and boyish nature, Chiaki "adopts" her as a brother, which leads to her frequently visiting the Minami household, and often wearing boys' clothing. The fact that she lives in a household consisting only of three older brothers is likely the cause of her boyish attitude.
- Maki: Maki is a classmate of Haruka. She is often trying to interfere with Hosaka's approaches to Haruka, because she finds him disgusting. Due to being a member of the volleyball club, however, she often has to deal with Hosaka even when she doesn't want to.
- Atsuko: Another classmate of Haruka, as well as a fellow member of the volleyball club. Generally on the quiet side.
- Hayami: An older member of the volleyball club. Contrary to Maki's attempts to keep Hosaka away from Haruka, Hayami often gets involved in Hosaka's attempts to impress Haruka, coming up with all sorts of schemes for Hosaka to make use of.
- Hosaka: Hosaka usually puts on a cool act, but often gets lost in his own personal fantasies, causing him to act strangely in public, resulting in the repulsion of others. He is the captain of the volleyball club, and greatly admires Haruka, whom he wants to convince to join the volleyball club. Due to his initial urge to impress Haruka with homemade cooking, Hosaka has become a cooking expert.
- Hitomi: Hitomi is a classmate of Natsuki, and has a crush on him. She claims she can read his mind/mood by looking into his eyes, and frequently acts to counter his negative moods with various acts of kindness.
- Fujioka: Fujioka is a popular classmate of Kana, who has a crush on her. Due to a misunderstanding, however, Kana views Fujioka as a delinquent, and avoids him, while continuing to misunderstand his feelings for her. Fujioka makes several attempts to get closer to Kana, which eventually result in him getting closer with her whole family. Because of this, he frequently visits Kana and her sisters, and joins them for various activities.
- Keiko: Keiko is Kana's classmate, and an honor student. She frequently gets 100's on her quizzes, but Kana's backward logic twists this fact into a negative attribute for Keiko, which Kana often makes her feel bad about. Kana often drags her into various shenanigans.
- Riko: Another classmate of Kana's. Riko has a crush on Fujioka, but notices the time he spends around Kana, which results in a sort of rivalry with Kana.
- Yū: Yū is a senior to Kana, and given the title of the third-generation "Banchō" (leader of juvenile delinquents) against her will.
- Hiroko: Hiroko is Yū's classmate and best friend.
- Makoto: Makoto is a male classmate of Chiaki, though he is not liked by her, often being bullied by her in school. When he manages to join Chiaki and her friends for a study group at the Minami household, Makoto meets Haruka and forms a crush on her. He helps Haruka make food for everyone, which causes Chiaki to dislike him even more, gaining a sense of jealousy toward him. Because of this, he finds himself required to take extreme measures to be around Haruka...
Mako-chan: "Mako-chan" is an alternate, female persona which Makoto takes on in his desperate attempts to visit the Minami household to see Haruka. Originally a method forced upon him by Kana, as a joke, Makoto begins to voluntarily continue it, as it seems to be his only way to get closer to Haruka. - Yuka Uchida: Yuka is a friend of Chiaki, though she is in a different class. A bit of a ditz, she is forced to join "Team Idiot" with Makoto, and is also recruited by Kana to join her escapades.
- Yoshino: Yoshino is a classmate of Chiaki, and generally seems to be the most levelheaded among the elementary students. She is not aware of Makoto's crossdressing secret, but gradually begins to question the similarities between Makoto and Mako-chan.
- Shūichi: A very ordinary classmate of Chiaki, earning him the nickname of "Plain Yogurt."
- Fuyuki: Exclusive to the Okawari arc of the series, Fuyuki is a transfer student in the same grade as Chiaki, but in a different class. However, he lives next door to the Minami sisters, so he often crosses paths with them. He feels the need to accept every favor asked of him by others, which bothers him, but he does them regardless.
Other Notes
- Artwork & Animation: For the most part, I think this series has a fairly unique art style to it -- specifically, the character design. I can't quite explain how I find it so, but if you just check out the images I provided for the characters, I imagine you should be able to see what I mean. On a related note, the animation for this series actually surprised me at times. Although it's not a consistent thing, several scenes scattered throughout have really great animation (framerate, consistency, etc.), which I find rather surprising for a slice of life series like this. Considering how laid back things are much of the time, Minami-ke occasionally catches you off guard with a very well animated action scene. The OP and ED animations also tend to show similar quality.
- Soundtrack: I pretty much immediately became fond of the Minami-ke soundtrack, as soon as I first heard "Minami-ke no Asa" in the beginning of the series. (It's the first song used in the series.) Apparently, the soundtrack was never released as a single official compilation, but was spread across the series' OP and ED theme song singles, drama CD's, and some bonus discs included with DVD's.
- References: There are a few references to other series, even including Western television. For example, there is a reference to 24 in the sixth episode of the first season (04:12).
- Okawari Differences: To start with, both Okawari and Okaeri are produced by different studios than the original series: the original studio is Duomu, while the latter two seasons are done by Asread. You will quickly be able to realize this, upon starting Okawari, because the art style changes quite a bit (even going as far as changing characters' hair and/or eye colors). Along with the change in art style, the storytelling changes a bit as well. For one, the story isn't from the manga (so, basically, some would say it's "filler"). It's also different in the sense that the story is told in a less episodic manner than the original. Most of the first season's attributes return in Okaeri, though some character designs are carried over from Okawari.
- OAD: An OAD (original animation DVD) for the series is set for release on June 23rd, but I haven't found any accurate info on it yet. Once I do, and/or I watch it, I'll update this.
Conclusion
Despite the slight deviations that the series takes after the initial season, it's still a great series, ultimately. If I were to list the seasons in order of preference, it'd be something like Minami-ke > Minami-ke: Okaeri > Minami-ke: Okawari. Overall, though, the series provides some great laid back entertainment, and plenty of laughs (especially when Hosaka is involved). If you're looking for something to kick back and casually enjoy, and/or you're looking for some innocent comedy, then this should be a great choice.
