First Impressions / Minami-ke

A fateful turn of events in the classroom gains our hero(ine) Makoto entrance into the holy sanctum of the Minami house. The fated return of Haruka, and her aura of grace and refinement towering over a stunned Makoto. His subsequent attachment onto her, asking to help with cooking, calling her “Haruka-san!” at every junction. And the unavoidable jealousy by Haruka’s #1 admirer, Chiaki.

She kicks him out, vowing to never let him in the house again.

Now, Makoto isn’t the kind to let a little resistance come between him and his destined woman. The other girls with him devise a plan – one involving disguise, deceit, the fact that Chiaki’s eyes are never fully open, and while some would refer to it as “sick,” I put it somewhere between “pure win” and “ZOMG EPIC.” Makoto transformation to… Mako-chan!

Now, the idea of the trap character has been a well-documented phenomena since OtoBoku bust onto the scene several years back, followed by such characters as Jun from Happiness, Hayate’s catgirl getup, Seiko from Lovely Complex, and apparently Shion no Ou has one too (thanks Fayte). To make a long story short, it’s the general consensus of the trap-consuming public that trap characters are… well, awesome. It’s the detachment from reality (and subsequent no-guilt) as a result of anime, it’s the confusion of the character’s (and one’s own) sexual preference, the undeniable charm and typically over-the-top personality they exhibit. Mako-chan is closer to a Hayate-trap than he is a true one, but the situations he is almost instantly thrust in and constantly bombarded with makes him/her a special one.

First test: scrutiny from Chiaki’s bakayarou radar. The friend – 50%. Kana – 100%. Wait, who’s this new girl?

Success!

Next, the test of Haruka, who after coming home, loosens up by taking off her clothes in front of elementary school students. Mako-chan, you’re the best.

The next day at the store, Makoto has realized the power of disguise, and is perusing the women’s section for further opportunities to meet his perfect woman. He enlists the help of the one who put him up to it initially – and, lo and behold, Haruka shows up as well.

        “Um… it’s my first bra, I’m not sure of the size!”
       ”Alright, come with me into the changing room, I’ll help you out!”
       ”Eh?”

I’ll let the pictures do the talking – suffice to say that it was an orgasmic and traumatizing experience, all at the same time. Mako-chan, you’re the best.

Next week: there’s something epic about the 3rd shot underneath. Keep in mind that Kana’s voice actress is the one who did Yoko from Gurren Lagann!

Preview:

While the animation quality wasn’t as top-notch as previous episodes, this one has epic written all over it. Long story short, Makoto dresses up as a girl to get closer to Haruka. Did I mention how much I love trap characters? Mako-chan <3

The fanservice factor has notably increased as well…!


Thoughts

Let’s take a step back and look at the sequence of events leading up to our changing room encounter:
– Makoto meets Haruka
– Chiaki doesn’t like Makoto meeting Haruka
– Makoto dresses up as a girl to avoid Chiaki detection in order to meet Haruka
– After getting a glimpse of heaven, Makoto wants more Haruka
– Makoto goes to women’s section to pick out more cute clothes
– Haruka shows up to help Makoto pick out bra
– Haruka feels up Mako-chan’s pettanko mune
I mean, what? How do you make this stuff up? Every step of the way, we have something that’s totally berserk and yet completely in character. It all makes some cosmic sense. It’s scary, frankly, how it all works together so well.

Regardless, there’s several important topics of interest:
– I hope this show is longer than 13 episodes
– I’m reaaaally glad Minami-ke is here this season, cuz oh man most of the other shows have been mehhh
– The remake of the Minami-ke, coming next season – how can it top this? It looks like it will be a lot more shounen-ish, probably with a lot more fanservice, so while it could be catering to a different market, the comparisons with this version are unavoidable. I just don’t think it can get any better than this – but believe me when I say, I’m always ready to be surprised.

Captions up

37 Comments

  20. “Now, the idea of the trap character has been a well-documented phenomena since OtoBoku bust onto the scene several years back”

    Sorry but it predates OtoBuku, Vandread had one and if we go at manga we find out that gender bender is not exactly recently, also when it comes to anime there is a difference of original work or adaptation, Otobuku, Hayate, LoveCom and Shion no Ou are all adaptations.

    Drakron
    Reply

  21. of course it predates otoboku, but i dont think vandread’s main character was a dick-toting bombshell, was it? i could’ve pointed out ranma and androgynous characters like souma yuki from fruits basket as well, but i dont really think it became a big thing until otoboku put the trap front and center.

    jaalin
    Reply

  26. Oh there was a trap in Vandread, its BC, sub-commander of the Nirvana.

    Also Ramma and Fruits Basket are manga first, in fact there are more traps in the Fruits Basket manga, Yuki is not one because that only happens one and nobody confuses him with a girl, Ritsu Sohma on the other hand does dress as a women and is confused as a women and Akito Sohma is in fact a women that dresses up as a man and is presumed to be a man by the majority of the cast until the end.

    I think you mistaken my point, “traps” in anime are rare and they are used is because of the adapted source material, its not they are popular in anime but on other media.

    Drakron
    Reply

  27. I disagree. A trap isn’t any character that successfully cross-dresses, they’re defined by the ability to inspire sexually confusing or willfully ignorant lust in the fanbase of the sort the OP is extolling.

    Frankenstein's Clare
    Reply

  28. I am sorry but Hayate can be a trap but its not a trap (the whole thing was a comedy about traps), traps are characters that lead to to flap to it until you discover there is a penis in there, now if you continue to flap to it full knowing its a male … well I am not to ague about people orientations.

    There is a reason why its called “trap” and not “trying people lesbian/gay”.

    Drakron
    Reply

  30. LMAO. .. I love your blog. Anyway, Minami-ke is by far one of the better series than the others this season. I love the word play and the antics of the show, especially Kana. Like Chiaki says. . .”Bakayaro!” As for this episode, can you guys just picture Chiaki’s reaction (revenge) when Mako-chan is found out? I can’t wait for the next episode. On a aside note, I really like this moreso than Lucky Star. Maybe it’s because I didn’t get half of lucky stars jokes. .. but Konata was a good character but I prefer the 3 sisters. . .

    PajtshiabVaj
    Reply

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