2016-08-03

Minami-ke

Minami-ke (みなみけ) is a 13 episode slice of life comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Sakuraba Koharu.  It originally aired in Japan over the fall of 2007.

Minami-ke, follows the odd ball average lives of 3 orphaned sisters who live together. The sisters are; Haruka, the high school student and mother figure of the 3, Kana, the immature middle school student and general trouble maker, Chiaki, the cold and calculating elementary school sister. The original manga is by the same person who created Today in Class 5-2, which explains a lot about this series and the way it behaves some times.


    The series is run like a four panel manga, with one episode being filled with a number of episodic situations that may or may not be directly related, much like Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star or Hidamari Sketch. Every character in the show is odd, only some are stealthy about it. There is no central plot, barely any cohesion of time and the only thing keeping the progression is the introduction of new characters. There are numerous situations of comical incest, pedophilia and gender bending. In the first episode one of the story arcs deals with Kana bent on giving Chiaki her first kiss after Haruka becomes flustered during a kissing scene on their favorite show 'Sensei and Ninomiya-kun' (which reminds me of the TV show from Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan; The Overly Sensitive Salaryman).

    All of the characters are lovable and highly entertaining, it's really hard to pick a favorite one out of this series. Between the guy who dresses as a girl to be closer to Haruka, the girl who wishes she were a boy and becomes Chiaki's younger brother, the guy who thinks that Kana and Chiaki are Haruka's daughters and fantasizes about a life as their father or any of the other odd balls, not to mention the main characters them selves. This title is definitely developed for the male anime viewer though, as there is a plethora of provocative, yet innocent, fan service shots, many of which are shots of thighs...if you watch you will see what I mean. After the original series ended another 13 episode series titled Minami-ke Okawari was aired, having been produced by a different studio.  This series is cute, genuine, funny and entertaining in a very carefree way. You will definitely enjoy it if you liked Azumanga Daioh.


     Sadly, none of the Minami-ke shows have been licensed for distribution in North America.  That is a real shame.


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