It’s another case where I’m a manga reader first and an anime watcher second. The Shiunji Family Children has been a pretty good manga series thus far, with the third volume putting in quite the effort to build Minami up to be the best girl in the series. The anime, on the other hand, is just getting started, so, of course, I’m going to be comparing the two to see if the show can live up to the quality standards of the manga. Does it?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
In the Shiunji Family mansion, there are seven siblings: 5 girls and 2 boys. For them, life is just an everyday thing filled with hijinks and scolding their oldest brother and heir to the family, Arata. However, they do this under the judging eyes of society because all seven of them are beautiful. Mere onlookers feel jealous over how beautiful the girls are and even more jealous that the two brothers get to live with them every day. Despite their place in high society, they all act down-to-earth like normal people.
This all changes on the day of the fifteenth birthday of the youngest sister, Kotono. Their father promised their late mother to tell them the truth, feeling that they would all be old enough to handle it. The truth is, except for two of the sisters, they are not blood-related, and they are all adopted! After the shock settles in, they decide that no matter what, they are still family. After all, they grew up together and had been living together for the past fifteen years.
Now, they must navigate life knowing that they are not blood-related… which may pose a problem, especially for Kotono, who already confessed to Arata that she loved him!
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – So, if I enjoyed the manga so much, then why am I not putting the recommendation stamp of approval on this show? Because there is a stark difference in reading black and white pages in silence versus hearing the characters speak with tone and inflection, and in my opinion, the anime just doesn’t do it for me.
While nothing truly deviated from the manga, some of the characters’ voices didn’t come through as I had imagined them in my head, and the comedic moments were a bit too abrasive when I got to experience them in an animated format. I short, this wasn’t the adaptation that I was expecting to see. While yes, this is a comedy, I would have thought that the comedy would have been a bit more mellow in its delivery rather than resorting to the type that I hate the most: yelling and shouting.
But, because I know how good the manga is and where the story is going, I slapped the MAYBE label on this one because if you enjoy that type of comedic delivery, you will most likely enjoy this anime.
Without spoiling anything to come, I will say that the first episode may give off the “harem with a twist” vibe; however, if the anime does stay true to the source, you’re going to discover that the character work is surprisingly deep, and there are some pretty good moments coming up… especially if they do Minami’s arc justice. Plus, they will take the time for you to get to know each of the characters one by one.
This isn’t going to be one of those shows where it blows everything it has in the first episode, then sinks into mediocrity. There will be substance here; however, based on my personal tastes, I just didn’t care for the delivery of the comedy, plus some of the voices are a bit grating on my ears. I’d much rather enjoy this one in black and white, so that is what I will do.
