Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze – Episodes 1-2

Content Warning: Fan service

What’s it about? Ayase Yuu is the son of famous international actress Ayase Subaru, who passed away due to illness.  Everyone expected Yuu to inherit his mother’s talents, but he’s just an ordinary person with no special abilities.  After his mother’s death, a family friend offers to let Yuu stay with his family; it’s only then that he discovers that he’ll be living with his school’s stars, the famous and talented Mikadono sisters.

You know, not everything deserves a double premiere. The only premiere episode that earned it in my eyes was Oshi no Ko, because Ai’s story was both crucial to understanding the stakes and very different from the rest of the story (and after the Tokyo Blade arc the entire series went downhill).  Episode 2 of this premiere only reinforced Yuu’s desire to create a happy family, since he didn’t have that kind of relationship with his mother while she was alive.  While I’ll never know what it’s like to be the child of a celebrity, it must suck for said child to be constantly compared to their parents. Growing up into adulthood is already stressful enough for regular people, so I can only imagine the pressure these kids feel that they HAVE to accomplish something great in their lives.  

It’s truly a shame that Yuu’s mother didn’t do a better job protecting him from such public scrutiny and help him develop his own identity outside of being related to her.  It shouldn’t have taken being at death’s door to finally apologize to Yuu for not being an attentive parent to him.  What’s left is that Yuu has to deal with her legacy while also trying to become his own person.  That said, I admire his resilience and acceptance of the fact that he’s just an ordinary teenager.  It’s tough watching him be forced to take specialized exams in front of the entire school by his fellow students.  It’s humiliating, and emphasizes that he’s not allowed to exist outside of his mother’s shadow.  

That said, I’m surprised that the sisters have their own distinct personalities! Their popularity is well earned since they work extremely hard to perfect their respective crafts.  I really like the relationship between the sisters and how they have mutual respect for each other.  They might not spend much time together as a family, but it’s clear that they have a deep bond with each other.  A lesser show could’ve easily turned these girls into non-entities who only fawn over the main boy.  It’s safe to say we dodged a bullet, for now.  Yuu might not be a genius, but he understands the enormous dedication and sacrifice talented people make in order to succeed — he respects the hustle.  He also realized that the root cause of his problems with his mom was the lack of communication, so it’s endearing to see him try to form a meaningful connection with his new housemates.  

However, the premise alone sounds like it’s teetering the line between becoming a full on harem show or a nice series about chosen families.  It’s obvious one of the sisters has a crush on him and it does look like the other sisters will follow suit, which doesn’t make me happy at all.  Plus there’s also a few scenes of the sisters being partially naked and a camera that lingers on their butts. The fan service wasn’t needed, but of course, I feel like I’m beating a dead horse at this point.  

Yuu is a decent protagonist and dare I say, even adorable! His earnest attempts to cook meals and unify the household is genuinely sweet.  I’m not sure if I’ll continue to follow this one, but for now, perhaps it’s worth giving it a chance.