First Impressions / Minami-ke

OP Sequence

OP: 「経験値上昇中☆」 (Keikenchi Joushouchuu) by 佐藤利奈, 井上麻里奈, 茅原実里 (Satou Rina, Inoue Marina, Chihara Minori)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2

Skit 1: Circadian rhythm

Sunday, October 14, 2007.

Haruka: Ah, the weather is great this morning. Time to make breakfast~
Chiaki: Yawwn… time to wake up
Kana: zzzzzzz

    (some minutes later)

Chiaki: Haruka-neesama, ohayogozaimasu… can I help with anything?
Haruka: Ah, good morning. Help me peel these carrots?
Kana: HUAAAA!! GOOD MORNING! To demonstrate the freedom that is Sunday, I will hereby go back to sleep!
Haruka & Chikai: Good night.
Kana: Meh, couldn’t you at least have pointed out that my hair was already done, or told me to help out at least?
Haruka: Ok, help me peel the potatoes then.

    (botches potatoes)

Chiaki: Just go back to sleep.
Kana: HIDOI~

Skit 2: Self service

More about the dialogue than what actually happened. Well, that’s kind of how it is with everything. Chiaki tells Kana that they have to prepare dinner, since Haruka is getting home late. Kana tries to prepare something from the…nothing in the fridge, so Chiaki lays the ever-pragmatic “ordering-out” on – no, Kana won’t give in to that!

Kana> Let’s make pancakes.
Chiaki> Oooooh ok

    Shame, Kana gets too ambitious with the pancakes and adds too much stuff, and it comes out too watery to solidify. Cream stew, yum…

Skit 3: Sisterly love

After watching a hot, passionate kiss on TV, the girls’ minds start to wander.

Kana> Hmm… wanna try it out?
Chiaki> Get away from me.

    CHASE.
    Chiaki eventually gets pinned by Kana, but right before she lays a big smacker, Haruka walks in and breaks them up.

Kana> Then kiss Haruka!
Chiaki> If it’s Haruka-neesama, then ok~
Haruka> Eh? Eh? Ah….

With Chiaki’s lips puckered and Haruka chickening out, Kana slides in and steals the kiss!

Skit 4: Intermission

Chiaki wakes up hungry. Goes to school hungry. That’s about it, but somehow it’s still funny.

Skit 5: Love letter

Kana gets a love letter in her shoe locker! The conversation goes something like this:

Kana> Got a letter!
Chiaki> Can I read it
Kana> Not out loud, but if you do I’ll just make a lot of noise!
Chiaki> (reads letter) Hoh, it’s from Fujioka-kun. What’s he like
Kana> Ooh, he’s pretty popular! Ho ho ho, aren’t you jealous of your popular sister!
Chiaki> Now wait a sec… this letter has some places for misinterpretation. For example, if we interpret the meaning differently, it actually sounds like a letter of challenge.
Kana> zomg!
Chiaki> Attack the pivot leg

    After school the next day, Chiaki walks into the classroom when everyone has left to meet with Fujioka-kun…

Fujioka> Ah, Minami, I…
Kana> *kick*
Fujioka> OW WTF

ED Sequence

ED: 「カラフルDAYS」 (Colorful DAYS) by佐藤利奈, 井上麻里奈, 茅原実里 (Satou Rina, Inoue Marina, Chihara Minori)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2


Thoughts

We have a winner!! The best comedy of the new season is MINAMI-KE!!!

From the mangaka that brought us Kyou no 5-2, Minami-ke is a 4koma-ish comedy about the Minami family of three sisters, headlined by the eccentric Kana, her younger sister Chiaki (the quiet, diabolical one), and her old sister Haruka (the motherly, responsible one). In this episode, the girls try to make pancakes, wonder what a kiss feels like, and put their own unique twist on a love letter.

The animation is solid, the music is well timed and sets the tone well, and above all, it’s damn fun to watch! Easy to enjoy comedy that doesn’t make you feel retarded, I’m all over this one!

It’s really similar to Ichigo Mashimaro – think of Kana as a slightly more grown up and ever more crazy Micchan, lol. Chiaki is like that class pres chick in Onegai Twins, and Haruka is uh… like Feena from Yoakena. Strangely enough, all three shows were done by the same studio that’s doing Minami-ke, so considering their largely successful track record, I don’t think we have much to worry about in terms of production quality and any over-animated cabbages. Problem is, the combination of studio + director yields only one other result: Yoakena.

Ah well, I’m sure we’ll be fine. Minami-ke rocks!

41 Comments

  2. Well I’m at the same boat as you. But didn’t expected it to be this good. Now there gonna be a replacement for my Lucky Star cravings finally I thought it would be just all Romance and Mechs.

    arigatou
    Reply

  15. Just watched the RAW on niconico. It made me laugh even though i didnt understand what they were talking most of the time. I really like the character designs for the show =3. The idiotic things that Kana do really reminds me of Tomo from azumanga daioh xd. Overall, it had some nice animations too. I just hope it stays consistent thought out the whole show, since these types of shows tend to drop fast after a few episodes

    Bleach123
    Reply

  26. I love Kana XD I kinda look like her; I can’t cook (although…I can make a proper pancake), I’m always trying to kiss my sister (but just to tease her, not to try out XD) and I’m most of the time as energetic as she is (I do not jump on the table though, but I do run through the whole house sometimes XD). But I surely do not kick the guy who sent me a loveletter :p.

    Mayuna
    Reply

  35. Hey this is amazing… AZUMANGA DAIOH…WITH BOOBS AND STUFF JUST LIKE GROWN WOMEN…
    YEAH ALL RIGHT GIVE ME MORE ANIMATION DUDES!! 😀
    This is the HAREM season for sure!! I bet you love it hummmMMM… OMNI!! LOL

    Tensai Otaku
    Reply

  37. epic win.

    my fav of the fall season so far with clanad for the laughs i got. Lets hope it stays that way. Animation quality is top notch too, lol @ the jumpoverthetable scene. Couldnt stop laughing 😉

    Peysh
    Reply

  41. A load of fun, which will only be heightened on the day that one watchs it after a heavy dose of sugar. On a sidenote, this episode 01 entry does not show up when one clicks the Minami-ke section on the side bar, only 02 at the moment of writin’.

    Anonymous for no Good Reason
    Reply

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