Danchigai - Reviews

I started watching this series on a whim because it was short and needed something to watch while on the bus, which aren't long enough to let me watch a full length episode properly.

Like any series that's 4 minutes long, it suffers a lot in the story department due to it's length and the characters aren't well developed. Of course not everything was bad or below average, the animation was quite pretty and the characters were well drawn. Also the voice acting helped to make them look even cuter (the twins are so cute Rena Ryuuguu would want tot ake them home). Aside of the expected lack of story this aniem has one major drawback and it's the overuse of incest jokes. Not only they were unfunny but they also got annoying really fast.

All in all, this was far from being a bad show, but it also wasn't very good. Watch it only if you're looking for something cute and you don't mind repetitive jokes

I watched this with the guys doing the daily anime marathon club, and I want to stab my eyes out. the animation was allright but it was nothing special.

If I have to see another incest joke I will murder the writers.

It's better then triage X

Creators in Pack’s 2015 slice-of-life clearly was not to everyone’s taste yet it remains a great little show with twelve four-minute episodes to enjoy. It’s your basic family comedy following the lives of five siblings who live together whilst their parents are off travelling. Their adventures are relayed from the point of view of the single brother High Schooler Haruki Nakano who has to endure the craziness of his four sisters: Mutsuki the older High School girl, Yayoi the younger middle schooler and the two twins Uzuki & Satsuki who are in elementary school. The story spins on the tensions between the five as they endure the typical love/hate relationship to be expected by such a family group. In unguarded moments Yayoi is very affectionate towards her brother but mostly expresses her fondness by thumping him and wrestling him to the floor. Elder sister Mutsuki tries hard to play Mum but loves to revert to childhood so she can play with her little brother. She can often be found asleep in Haruki’s room much to his annoyance. The little ones adore him but wish he would be a little cooler as he likes to stay in his room and play computer games. They take every opportunity to torment their big brother and play tricks on him. The four-panel manga series was from the pen of Kazusa Yoneda and ran for ten years ending in 2021.

The adventures of the five mainly happens with the four walls of their small apartment. In one typical episode - the obligatory “beach episode” – the sub-genre is subverted when Mutsuki & Yayoi end up in a kiddy paddling pool just so the girls can rekindle happy childhood beach memories. Haruki find himself pressurised into going along with what his sisters want even if he privately thinks it a ridiculous idea. He is clearly the hen-pecked brother yet he is kind hearted and mild-mannered so it doesn’t bother him too much. He often muses to himself about the mystery of sisters as they seem to baffle him. It is a common theme in the show that the girls show their love for their brother when it suits them. They fall back on him as a source of comfort which may well be natural for girls without a father figure around. “Danchigai” is a gentle and charming little family comedy. Why some didn’t like it is a mystery as it is pretty inoffensive. It is about as good as you will get with a show made to this formula. It remains a heart-warming comedy about a tight-knit sibling group in which the single boy is outwitted and outnumbered by his sisters. What’s not to like? Well written and wonderfully delivered in short episodes it is certainly recommended and a show anime fans should check out.

this is a great small sided anime to watch. By having 3-5 minuets every episode, it is good to watch as a side anime instead of a main.

When I saw the working concept of Danchigai (Japanese for ‘Big Differences’ referring to the actions perceived [usually something kinky] and what is real [move on, nothing happening here!]), it touched too close to home.  Haruki Nakano badgered by his four sisters … sounded too familiar.  Haruki is the only son in the Nakano clan, and second-born.  Dealing with older sisters is always tough.  I have a double whammy.  I was the eldest son in my family and second-born …. followed by a sister … and a sister … and a sister.  For thirteen years I would not know what it was to have a brother, and even then in four years I would be off to college.  Little time for play, and that is probably why this tended to turn into a ‘Mufasa-Scar relationship.’  Nothing murderous, just two brothers with different personalities.  Then marriage to a wonderful woman … and four daughters … no son.  A life of forever being out-femaled, and I had this built-in sympathy for Haruki.

In his review, Futureblot had it right.  The thing that ruins the series is the frequent appeal to the incest angle.  In these 12 episodes, Haruki finds himself in compromising situations/positions.  Call it Adventures in the 'Forbidden Harem.'  This is where my chief relief is knowing that the worst my siblings tended to do was scare me in the middle of the night with phantom raids in the spooky backroom, my bedroom.

The four-minute episodes tend to downplay character development.  Heck, there wasn’t enough time for the Nakano parents to make an appearance.  Though, with the help of the manga you can still determine some traits.  Haruki is a gamer, and little Satsuki follows his traits, though she favors oldest sister Mutsuki, who she resembles.  Mutsuki has the aura of being all-together as the oldest and her sisters look up to her as stable force.  Haruki knows better, and older sister just has a streak of insecurity which makes her find refuge in Haruki’s room.  Yayoi is the athletic sister who is moving through middle school and needs tutoring for the high school exams, but she mistrusts Mutsuki.  Haruki is a better teacher.  One of the twins, the pink-haired Uzuki, is a prankster, though her pranks are often ineffective.  Her favorite target  Haruki always seems baffled at her best stuff.  Never malicious jokes, just attempts to embarrass Haruki.

The four closing themes were cute, and it was sad that only the OVA thought of subbing the words to the last of the four.  It takes the viewpoint of the twins, who are happy for the security of their older brother and sisters.  But then again, where’s the parents?

The cuteness of the sisters is over-played in all the episodes, including the 13th OVA, a two-minute visit to the public bathhouse (Haruki discreetly sits down throughout the session.  The girls ... don't).  While not given much time, the action is predictable if you constantly remember the main premise:  Haruki is always put down.  And, with this premise we could crank out more episodes:  E14: Haruki brings home a girlfriend ... dirt and sordid details aplenty.  E15: Covid Craze  ... Mutsuki and Yayoi disagree about masks ... Haruki models the latest styles . E16: Twins Revenge ... however you slice it, no good news for Haruki.  It’s a shame that Danchigai stopped after twelve shorts and a shorter OVA.  the wars of siblings make for good material.  As for myself, I always had good relations with my sisters, and glad that I didn't have to put up with the follies which were dumped on Haruki.