Brother, Dear Brother...
Basic Information
Title: Oniisama E
Translation: Brother Dear Brother
Total Episodes: 39
Seen Episodes: 28
Owned Episodes: 28
Genre: Ladies Shoujo
Content Rating: A very strong PG-13.
Rated for: Very adult (Not sexual, just very mature) subject matter; Violence, lesbians (Not cute busty ones), possible incest, a small amount of blood, suicide, malice, hatred, anger, hazing, and extreme drama.
Recommended for: Fans of Rose of Versailles, Glass Mask, drama fans, lesbians, young women.
*Not* recommended for: Fans of hentai, sexy girls, or big macho anime. This anime is VERY dramatic and NOT about magical girls or hot women.
All-Time Favorite Rating: 1
Basic Plot: A young girl named Nanako takes a test and gets into a very prestigous school called Seiran Academy, along with her best friend Tomoko. There is an elite sorority on campus run by a devilish woman who clearly has many mental problems. The desire to be in the sorority is overwhelming, and what girls would do to belong frightens Nanako. But within days, she finds herself enveloped in the most complicated, dramatic years of her lives. She falls in love with a very intriguing young tortured, mysterious woman. She meets a GORGEOUS young girl her own age who is very complicated, and sometimes, very dangerous. And she meets one of the most cruel, sinfully beautiful women she'll ever meet. The storylines aren't all that complicated themselves, but the depth of the characters turns otherwise simple storylines into a collection of dramatic experiences and encounters.
Overall Rating: 10.0
I tried to pick a good picture that captured the essence of this anime. You're probably thinking, "why that picture?", it's just someone playing a piano. The obvious facial shots of this anime don't do it justice. That picture is very representative of the anime. Graceful, elegant, emotional. It's from a key scene in the first episode where the main romantic attachment begins to develop. And it's a picture of one of my favorite characters of all time. That's right. I gave this a 10. I will probably never give something a 10 again. This anime is my absolute favorite of all time. Words can't describe how beautiful this anime is. It takes a lot to rock my list of favorites. Since I was 10 years, I've always had an obsession with boarding schools and movies or books containing them. I first heard about this anime at the Technogirls webpage because I wanted to see what other than Wedding Peach they did. I found Brother Dear Brother out of this process, as well as Zetsuai 1989/Kaze Ki No Uta, and Bronze (which are WONDERFUL OAVS). What attracted me to this anime was, I'll admit, the lesbians. But I don't watch hentai. I'm bisexual and lesbian anime is very scarce. This anime is perfect in every way. I can't describe how beautiful it is. I'm a fan of a VARIETY of anime, from Sailor Moon, to Utena, to Flame of Recca, to Wedding Peach, to Gundam Wing, to Rurouni Kenshin. Lets put it this way. The Technogirls have moved, and it's been a while since I've gotten a new Brother Dear Brother tape. Actually, since March. I'm still as obsessed as I was in March, without even watching a single episode over again. That should count for something.
Cast
Misonoo Nanako (Main Character): Hiroko Kasahara
Arikura Tomoko: (Old Friends)Waka Kanda
Asaka Rei; "Hana No Saint Juste" (Love Interest): Sumi Shimamoto
Shinobu Mariko (New Friend):Sakiko Tamagawa
Orihara Kaoru; "Kaoru No Kimi" (Rei's Friend): Keiko Toda
Ichinomiya Fukiko; "Miya-sama" (Main Antagonist/Enemy): Mami Koyama
Misaki Aya (Another enemy) Masako Shousei
Henmi Takehiko (Nanako's "Brother") Tessho Genda
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Category Ratings
Artwork: 10.0 Absolutely gorgeous. This anime was made in 1992 and a lot of people criticize it for keeping a style similar to 70's style anime (the manga is a very similar design, which was made in the 70's), but I love this style above all. The eyes, the hair, the faces, absolutely gorgeous. The colors and the way this anime flows and progresses. The sweeping motions. Positively beautiful.
Plot: 10.0
Great ideas. I love the idea of a european boarding school in Japan. Lesbian romances are so very few, and how platonic the relationships are portrayed is lovely. The torture and pain and emotional content is what makes it stack up to everything else on my list.
Character Development: 10.0 By far the best feature in this anime. Every single character has passion and emotion that is conveyed through his or her actions, words, and even just how they move. Everyone has their own complicated past, and emotional struggles. It's hard to explain without giving away anything, but everyone is connected in some way, and when we do find out the past about each character, the most shocking, beautifully orchestrated revelations are.. well, revealed.
Music: 10.0I love this music. The ending is actually BETTER than the opening, but both are wonderful. Lovely classical music sung by what some would call "off" voices. They're certainly not typical sweet voices. But they fit very well. Both the opening and endings have very european airs, in both the animation and music. The background music is very classical and elegant and graceful. What's really very sad is the only thing produced in regards to CDs was a VERY rare single of the opening and endings. No background music. If you're a diehard Brother Dear Brother fan, I'm willing to send the mp3s out. E-mail me.
Voice Acting: 10.0 I'll be honest with you. I had no idea who the heck these people were. But the voice acting is FABULOUS. Particularly Rei and Miya's. These people aren't famous in the general sense. The only thing I recognized was Miya, who did Esmeraude in Sailor Moon. The almost all female cast conveys emotion very beautifully.
Other Information (And My Opinions)
Favorite Character: Asaka Rei. God knows how much I love this woman! People complain about the manga turning this into Rei this, Rei that, but I do not CARE. I absolutely LOVE her. She's a very closed off, strange, emotional woman. She's a drug addict of sorts, and a very tortured character. She's also very gorgeous in my opinion, and I wanna marry her! ^_^
Least Favorite Character: This is a tie between Aya and Miya. I'll go with Aya. Aya is a wretched, cruel, stupid idiotic girl that needs to die! Miya is very cruel also but a key component in the anime and at sometimes, worth feeling sorry for. Well, for about two minutes. Then you wanna kill her.
Ups: Extreme emotional content, beautiful artwork, elegant music, the BEST character development I've ever seen, and it's just THE BEST anime I've EVER seen.
Downs: I'm trying to think of a downside. It really is hard. I could gripe about the ending, but it fits. Lack of fan base. This anime is severely overlooked. It's sad that more people don't love it.
Manga Written By:
Ikeda Riyoko (Rose of Versailles, Orpheus Window)
Subtitled by:
Technogirls (www.technogirls.org)
Seiyuu information taken from Hitoshi Doi's Webpage
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