Minami-ke

I caught this off of Taco's journal and after reading some of the positive feedback this show has garnered (especially for people suffering Lucky Star withdrawal symptoms), I decided to check this out.

Synopsis: It's another one of those slice of life comedies that we all love ever since shows like Lucky Star and Ichigo Mashimaro hit the airwaves. The premise behind this series is rather simple: it takes a look into the daily lives of the three Minami sisters. Honestly, there's not really much more to say about it other than to note that the comedy is pretty light-hearted and the situations are pretty normal and includes comedy during the course of cooking meals, waking up early for school, and seeking out love.

Opinion: Like Lucky Star, this is pretty light-hearted but Minami-ke has the advantage in that it will click with a far wider audience because the jokes do not revolve around otaku culture. Even though it's only one episode in, I'm already digging the characters and their personalities. All signs point to this series being full of win.

Character profiles:

Haruka - the oldest of the three sisters, she's probably the most normal out of the sisters and the most well-balanced in terms of her skills. She cooks well, is fairly reliable and responsible in taking care of her sisters, particularly with Chiaki, and has a pleasant personality.


Chiaki - while Chiaki is the youngest of the three sisters, she's also got quite a lip, especially when dealing with Kana's antics. Whenever a situation calls for a sarcastic remark, Chiaki is usually the one to deliver such the line. Because of this, she also has no problems in taking advantage of Kana's naivete by playing pranks on her which helps bring on the comedy. Easily identifiable from Haruka from her age as well as her ahoge. She reminds me a lot of Alice from ARIA the Animation.


Kana - she's the problem child with an overly enthusiastic/energetic personality that's similar to Miu's from Ichigo Mashimaro. She's probably the worst student of the lot, tends to spend her time terrorizing Chiaki, and is a horrible cook, messing up even the simplest dishes by making mistakes in her enthusiastic bouts. However, because of this, she provides a lot of energy for the show and her antics are what keeps it interesting.

Links:
Episode 1 - [Ayako] [Wallsub/Anon] [A-E Saizen]
Episode 2 - [Wallsub/Anon]

How ya doing, buddy?

The series has its ups and downs and although it is enjoyable, the humor isn't nearly as consistent as I'd like it to be. Still, when you're looking for various types of humor (high school, middle school, and elementary school situations) this series can't be beat.

At the very least, each episode will contain a rather memorable part. Episode 6 bars special mention for having one of the more hilarious antics that I've seen in quite some time.

Spoiler:

I found it great at how Makoto was willing to go through the lengths he did just so that he could come over to the Minami residence. His obsession with Haruka and being able to see more of her hit the marks perfectly.

Most amazing jew boots

Episode 8

Spoiler:

The lack of a Ninomiya-kun gag doesn't make it any less awesome, and that's just because of Hosaka alone. His monologues and hyperactive imagination involving situations with him and Haruka are just downright hilarious. Always over the top, but certainly brilliantly done by taking a few lines from dating sims as well as an obscure Eva reference (so I'm told anyways).

Also, the whole bubblegum sequence had me grinning like an idiot. Kana's effort and facial expressions during that segment was just hilarious.

Either way, this show is somewhat of a hit or miss at times and its comedy isn't quite as consistent as I'd like it to be. There are a few factors in this show that gets me to come back though. Any segment that involves the Ninomiya-kun gag is bound to be awesome and hilarious. Same thing can be said for Hosaka who shows that you can be hilarious and creepy at the same time.

It's still worth pursuing, but it's certainly not the best comedy ever. Looks like Azumanga Daioh will still remain the crowning champion of schoolgirl comedies.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Episode 9

Spoiler:

It was sort of funny, just not as funny as some of the episodes that preceded it. Most of the jokes came up as being predictable with the high points coming from Kana exploiting Chiaki's love and devotion to Haruka.

The segment in which Kana wakes up Chiaki to talk about each other was also pretty hilarious, especially when Chiaki makes a speech regarding her thoughts for Kana and I laughed at the method in which she conveyed her feelings. Her tone of voice and her facial expressions were definitely crucial to the comedic aspects of this.

Still, I think we can agree that Hosaka and/or Ninomiya-kun is needed to make the episode be truly awesome.

As for the second season, I just have to raise a question at this point as I don't see it going too far before they use up their well of gags, even if it's a different retelling. Unless Minami-ke is to Okawari as Idolm@ster is to Xenoglossia, I'm not sure it can deliver. But that hardly matters as everyone will be looking forwards to another season of Hidamari Sketch to get their moe slice of life fix.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Despite being the thread creator, I seem to have fallen behind the rest of you

Anyhow, episode 10:

Spoiler:

first half was so-so, but I'll be damned if the second half just didn't knock my socks off. I swear, everything just gets better once Mako-chan gets involved somehow. The play off of Makoto making his big revelation in the classroom was utterly hilarious from a combination of his cluelessness as well as the fact that he was so deep into thought about his alter-ego that the context was all lost. EPIC FAIL for him but EPIC LULZ for the rest of us.

Special props to Touma for coming in and making things even more interesting and hilarious. We already have a trap, and now a reverse trap enters play to spice things up a bit. This is awesome as well as a nice recovery from last episode's blandness.

Aaaaand episode 11:

Spoiler:

Not bad... not bad at all. A set of three brothers with all varied personalities will certainly make for a good amount of character interactions between the sisters. It also helps that Natsuki will complement Hosaka quite well if not as a rival, than as an accomplice.

I did enjoy Haruka's phrasing during the phone conversation, especially when she made the tone of her voice sound lower to freak out the Minami brother. Easily the funniest part of this episode which beats out that little misunderstanding revolving around Kana and Akira.

I'll also agree that Touma's introduction so late into the series cut off a lot of the potential comedy that could have been taken advantage of earlier. Still though, you gotta hand it to Hosaka being hilarious to fill in the gaps as well as the Ninomiya-kun segments which are utterly brilliant.

For all you Hosaka fans (myself included):

YouTube Video

EPIC. Why lie.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Series finished up really well. I've never seen so much win packed into a single episode and so many jokes that managed to hit their marks.

Spoiler:

The beginning segment with Mako-chan and Touma dressing up appropriately was pretty hilarious, but I loved it when Yoshinoya showed up and disclosed a few details that made it all the more hilarious. Having Mako-chan remove his underwear was just absolutely lol-worthy way to end it all.

Phone tag scene was just excellent! I loved that Kana manages to twist Keiko's achievements akin to whoring herself out to get these rewards. By the end, it was brilliant how by the end, Kana directly kills the morale of one person, inadvertently causes another to feel really depressed, and the third.... well he still retains his naive optimism, so we need to give him credit there.

Hosaka is still pretty awesome, but I think we've established that nine or ten times over. It's still creepy, but a hilarious sort of creepy so I don't think that's actually a problem at all. He can unbutton his shirt and caress himself so long as he can be ultra manly while at it. That, and his partner-in-crime Natsuki make for an awesome duo of retarded manliness. It doesn't get any better than that!

And of course, watching the girls get drunk. It's almost interesting to see how they reacted to all of that. Haruka clearly falls into the category of being a scary, angry drunk who also gets sad easily while Chiaki is easily the most adorable happy drunk ever, which was quite a contrast to her usual self.

And of course, we shouldn't forget the awesome end to the Ninomiya-kun saga along with the after-effects involving Kana and Hayami.

Sure it got a bit slow halfway, but the last few episodes manage to make up for all of that. Definitely fun and entertaining. A+++ would watch again.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?