Dear Brother

Dear Brother (おにいさまへ…) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was adapted into an anime series that aired on the channel NHK-BS2 from July 14, 1991, to May 31, 1992.

The series originally started out as a manga in the early to mid-1970s. The story is about a 16-year-old girl, Nanako Misonoo (御苑生奈々子), who attends a prestigious academy and deals with life as a high school student via writing letters to her "brother". The manga has been translated into French, Italian and Polish. The series spans 39 anime episodes and three manga volumes, ending when Nanako is eighteen.

Plot

Nanako Misonoo is a young high school freshman at the exclusive girls' school Seiran Academy. When she begins her first year at this school, she falls into a world of female rivalry, love, chaos, and heartbreak. She narrates the story of the series in a chain of letters to a young man named Takehiko Henmi, who she calls "Oniisama" (Brother). In reality, Takehiko was her teacher at the cram school she went to earlier. She feels such a strong bond with Takehiko that she asks to continue corresponding with him. Takehiko agrees, and soon Nanako begins addressing him as "brother" in her letters. When Nanako starts her new school year at the all-girl Seiran Academy, she is unexpectedly inducted into the school's Sorority despite having none of the looks, talents, or background needed to become a member. As the series progresses, she becomes involved in the lives of the "Magnificent Three", the three most popular girls in the school.[1] As Nanako interacts with these ladies, she becomes attached to the great but troubled Rei Asaka, whom she wants to help, but cannot get close to due to Rei's obsession with Fukiko Ichinomiya, the Sorority president.

Characters

A girl from another first-year classroom, was chosen to be in the Sorority alongside Mariko and Nanako. She becomes the first member of the Sorority who is expelled from it due to her bad grades, despite having a reasonable excuse (her bad health); Fukiko further humiliates her by exposing her case to everyone in the Sorority and then demanding for her to resign, despite Nanako's objections. She ultimately does so, and later confesses to Nanako that she had begun to feel uncomfortable in the Sorority itself. In the anime she is given some more spotlight, as she is introduced via speaking to a friend about Nanako's qualifications to be in the Sorority, which angers Mariko; few later, she rejoins the cast and befriends Nanako more properly. Later in the series, she returns to support to motion to abolish the sorority. Nanako's parents, or more exactly, Nanako's mother and stepfather. Mr. Misonoo, a well-known and respected college professor, was formerly married to Takehiko Henmi's mother, and after a very bitter divorce, he took to drinking his sorrows away; Nanako's mother was the waitress of the pub that he attended the most, and once the professor sobered up, they fell in love and got married. Ever since then Professor Misonoo has been a kind father figure to Nanako, though he was not able to rekindle his bonds to Takehiko as well; he and his new wife still worked hard to both be able to support themselves and help Takehiko after his mother's death. When Nanako is chosen as a Sorority member, one of the reasons she was questioned the most for was the assumption that her mother was a homewrecker, which was obviously false. Mariko Shinobu's parents. Hikawa Shinobu is a rich and popular erotica writer, and his work is used by Aya and her group to bully Mariko at school; not to mention, his affair with an ex-actress is very well known, as well as the reason why Mariko hates men of all kinds. Hisako attempts to take care of Mariko as much as she can while ignoring her own troubles, but while Mariko loves her deeply, her forceful personality sometimes is too much to handle. In the manga, Hikawa never made proper apparitions; in the anime, however, he and his mistress show up in person.

Nanako Misonoo (御苑生奈々子)

The main character of the story, Nanako Misonoo is suddenly and unexpectedly chosen to join The Sorority, an elite group at her new high school, eliciting the wrath and jealousy of her classmates. Like many shōjo heroines, Nanako is innocent, caring, sometimes insecure, but always determined to do what is right. She begins the story hoping only to be liked by her peers, but is soon dragged into the lives and secrets of Seiran Academy's most elite students. She falls in love with Rei "Saint-Juste" Asaka, and their relationship is one of the major driving plots of the series.

Tomoko Arikura (有倉智子)

Tomoko is Nanako's childhood friend and arguably the only "normal-themed" character in the series. In the manga, Mariko manipulates her into ending her friendship with Nanako, which Tomoko later rekindles when she realizes the misunderstanding. In the anime, Mariko attempts to end the friendship too and almost succeeds, but Tomoko ultimately remains by Nanako's side and protects her from Aya Misaki's bullying, and the three of them become best friends for the entire duration of the show, with Tomoko acting as the series' main comedic relief.

Rei Asaka ("Hana no Saint-Juste") (朝霞れい)

Rei "Saint-Juste of the Flowers" Asaka is a second year student and one of the "Magnificent Three" known for her social indifference and her many artistic talents, especially artistic (she plays the guitar and sings in the manga, and plays the piano, the flute and violin and acts in the anime). She is also shown playing basketball in the anime, replacing Kaoru in at least one game (Episode 16 "Comeback"). Incredibly loyal and devoted to the ones she loves, Rei's destructive relationship with Fukiko Ichinomiya leads her to be troubled, obsessed with death, and drug-addicted. She is Kaoru's best friend, with them exchanging playful insults at times and loyally helping each other at others, and shows a soft spot for Nanako when they interact, but her relationship with Fukiko prevents her from comfortably maintaining other friendships. The secrets between the two, and Nanako's involvement in them, is one of the major driving plots of the series. She dies late in the series; in the manga she dies by suicide via pill overdose, but in the anime her death is an accident as she falls off of a commuter bridge, into the path of a train (Episode 34 "Ablution"). She does this while trying to catch a bouquet of flowers that she purchased for Nanako, which she accidentally drops. In the anime her death deeply influences the other characters, as Kaoru begins to have suicidal feelings and the Ichinomiya family feel guilty for not doing anything for her, despite their wealth and their relationship to her. Ironically, Rei is the only one allowed, and who has ever seen Fukiko cry (Episode 25 "The Scarlet Lipstick"). Rei's nickname comes from Louis de Saint-Just, a French Revolutionary, known as the "Angel of Death".

Mariko Shinobu (信夫マリ子)

Nanako's classmate, a fellow Sorority member and a former student of the junior high school attached to Seiran, Mariko becomes one of Nanako's best friends. Mariko distrusts all men because of her troubled family life: her father Hikawa is an erotica author who has an affair with an actress and later divorces Mariko's mother Hisako, who keeps her sadness bottled up as she raises Mariko practically on her own. As a result she is terrified of abandonment to the point where she becomes obsessed with the ones around her. She is also extremely beautiful, with red lips and long black hair as well as a curvy body, and shows an odd mix of vanity about her good looks and lack of regard for her own health if upset. On one occasion, Mariko becomes extremely possessive towards Nanako when Nanako tries to leave the Shinobu Residence. This later leads to Mariko refusing to eat until Nanako accepts her apology and forgives her. She collapses after three days due to hunger, before returning to eating as normal once the two friends have resolved the situation.. Mariko greatly admires Kaoru due to her strength and the emotional support she gives her as well, and at some point she admits to loving Karou (Episode 16"Comeback"). She also has odd interactions with Fukiko's brother Takashi, especially in the anime where she comically insults him (Episode 21). Almost at the end, Mariko injures Aya after Aya makes fun of her family problems in front of the class, leading Mariko to be suspended from school and expelled from the Sorority, which partially triggers the call for the Sorority to be abolished after Nanako declares that Fukiko's judgement on Mariko was too harsh, as she did not hear Mariko's side of the story. In the anime Mariko eventually comes to terms with her rivalry with Aya, realising they were both lonely and self-centred.

Near the end of the series, Mariko's parents finally divorce. At first Mariko is extremely distraught, and reminisces about how her father was never there for her on her birthday, and Nanako observes how difficult it must be for her to choose a parent to live with as she loves both of them deeply. Furthermore, she feels shame about her father's profession deepens her self-loathing. After the incident with Aya and Mariko's expulsion from the Sorority, her father tells her that he believes there is good in everyone, including himself and Mariko, so she should love herself. She is able to resolve her feelings of shame towards her father's profession when Takashi hands her an old novel by her father, which is a sincere novel about his love towards his mother and his belief to live life in a way that will not be regretted.

Kaoru Orihara ("Kaoru-no-kimi") (折原薫)

"Kaoru-no-Kimi" ("Prince Kaoru") Orihara is one of the "Magnificent Three", the class representative of Nanako and her friend's class and the star of the basketball team, known for her tomboyish way of dress and her great athletic skills. She has a mysterious and deadly illness (breast cancer) kept secret from most of her classmates; it's only known in public that she was held back a year due to unnamed health problems. As Rei's best friend, she greatly dislikes Fukiko for everything she has done to Rei and hates the very existence of the Sorority. She spends the series trying to live her life to the fullest in spite of her disease, and is the one who supports Nanako the most when she is bullied, and helps Rei when she gets into major trouble. She was romantically involved with Nanako's "brother", Takehiko Henmi, but broke it off after her mastectomy. However, both Kaoru and Takehiko still have strong feelings for each other near the end of the series. Fukiko, who is also in love with Takehiko, encourages Kaoru to take up their relationship again after Rei's death, pointing out that Rei lived her life to the fullest until the last day, so she should too. In both anime and manga Kaoru marries Takehiko and emigrates to Germany with him. In the anime, she recovers from her cancer and gives birth to a child at the end of the series, but in the manga she dies two years after she and Takehiko leave. Kaoru's nickname comes from the anti-hero character, Kaoru Genji, of The Tale of Genji.

Fukiko Ichinomiya ("Miya-sama") (一の宮蕗子)

One of the "Magnificent Three", Fukiko "Miya-sama" ("Princess") Ichinomiya is a senior year student, the Student Council President, leader of the Sorority Club, member of the flower arrangement and horse riding club, and known for her elegance and dignity. She appears to be calm and generous, but is cruel and manipulative, often psychologically and physically torturing Rei for several ambiguous reasons, such as her desire that Rei should only have eyes for her and no one else. It is also revealed that she and Rei are full sisters, daughters of the Ichinomiya leader and a maid of the family mansion, although she was adopted by the Ichinomiya family and Rei was not. The annual Sorority candidate selections always cause extreme fighting and jealousy among the lower-classmen, which she promotes, believing that in competition one finds strength, so Fukiko sponsors Nanako's entry into the Sorority due to secret and ulterior motives: she is in love with Takehiko, does not know that Takehiko is really Nanako's stepbrother and confidant, and sees Nanako as a potential obstacle. She jealously tries to destroy their relationship by making Nanako love her instead (she believes that Nanako is writing to Hemni with romantic intentions and tries to make her stop writing him letters). In the anime, her love for Takehiko is given a backstory: she met and fell in love with him when she was twelve and he spent several days with her in the Ichinomiya mansion, but he unknowingly broke her heart by not showing up to her birthday party, which she had prepared a violin piece for, which emotionally splintered young Fukiko; Fukiko has since been stuck in that sense of love that she felt when she was twelve. Her room from that period remains the same as it was on the very day that she met Henmi (Episode 22 "A Summer Serenade"). In the end, she is able to overcome her childhood love and move forward, and in the anime she greatly laments Rei's death.

Aya Misaki (三咲綾)

The daughter of a famous lawyer, a fervent (her mother was in the sorority so it would shame the family if she were not chosen) Sorority aspirant and Mariko's rival ever since junior high, she tries to make life miserable for Nanako and Mariko when she fails to gain entry. In the anime, she is almost always seen with Miyuki Sonobe and Megumi Furuta, the only friends she seems to have at Seiran Academy. Mean-spirited and conniving, her cruelty belies an intense self-loathing. In the anime, after she is wounded in an altercation with Mariko in Episode 27, "An Incident of Bloodshed", she experiences intense guilt for her actions and ultimately repents. When Megumi and Miyuki are manipulated by older Sorority girls, Aya takes the blame to protect her friends and later attempts to commit suicide by throwing herself into the sea, but is saved by Nanako and her friends. By the series' end, she and her group appear to be on good terms with the main characters.

Takehiko Henmi ("Oniisama") (辺見武彦)

Takehiko is a favourite tutor of Nanako, whom she asks to be her "Oniisama"—a trusted older-brother figure. He is a graduate student at Gakuin University along with Fukiko's brother Takashi Ichinomiya, and has aspirations to study abroad in Germany. Takehiko is actually Nanako's stepbrother, the son of Mr. Misonoo's first marriage, though he keeps this secret from Nanako so as not to air the family's dirty laundry in a society that still looks down on divorce. He was involved with Kaoru approximately two years prior to the series' start, though after she was diagnosed she ended their relationship so neither of them would suffer. He is acquainted with the Ichinomiya family through his best friend, Takashi. He appears to know of the situation with Rei, though if this information was revealed through Kaoru or Takashi is not stated. By the end of the series he rekindles his relationship with his father and marries Kaoru, before moving to Germany.

Takashi Ichinomiya (一の宮貴)

Takashi is introduced as a friend of Takehiko, and is often seen accompanying him. Takashi is good-natured and caring, showing considerable interest in the well-being of his younger sisters and especially the troubled Rei. Takashi is incredibly supportive of Takehiko, frequently driving him around and going so far as to plan and pay for his friend's entire wedding at the show's conclusion. It is hinted that he has a strained relationship with his father. He also seems to be impressed by Mariko's fiery personality (though his reactions are mixed in the anime), and supports her when she runs off after attacking Aya.

Miyuki Sonobe

An anime-exclusive character, introduced as one of Aya Misaki's two friends. She has pigtails and hair decorations, and is almost never seen without either Aya or their common friend Megumi Furuta. She and Megumi are seen as few more than Aya's girl posse, supporting her bullying of Nanako and Mariko. In episode 27, it's revealed that she and Megumi actually do care for Aya's well-being instead of just liking her high status; this leads Komabayashi and Ogiwara to manipulate them both for their benefit

Megumi Furuta

An anime-exclusive character, of Aya Misaki's other friend. She has short hair and a deep voice, and is almost never seen without either Aya or Miyuki. She and Miyuki are seen as few more than Aya's girl posse, supporting her bullying of Nanako and Mariko. Like Miyuki, her motivations (misguided but genuine affection for Aya) are revealed in episode 27.

Junko Nakaya

Mr. and Mrs. Misonoo

Hisako and Hikawa Shinobu

The Sorority

The Seiran Sorority is an amalgamation of a student government, an extracurricular club, and an elite society, and is a school tradition that is said to date back to at least the 1930s. Similar to western fraternities and sororities, prospective members seem to be nominated by those already in the Sorority, and undergo a pledge period in which they are interviewed for fitness. Family legacy, appropriate extracurricular activities, and attractive appearances are the main considerations for admission. The Sorority appears to have around forty or fifty members, though several of the senior members are given prominence and special nicknames. They are primarily referred to by these nicknames, though later in the series their surnames are revealed. Their given names were never shown.

"Lady Borgia" Ogiwara
Borgia is a senior member of the Sorority, and is commonly seen wearing her hair in a chignon. Her position in the Sorority is never expressly stated. During the Petition Arc, she is presented as the most adamant member of the plot to discredit Fukiko, with intentions of taking over as President, herself. She holds a strong dislike of Fukiko and shows frustration with the other girl's staunch pride.
"Lady Mona Lisa" Komabayashi
Mona Lisa is a senior member of the Sorority, and resembles her namesake, possessing long black hair and an enigmatic expression. She is stated as being the Sorority's Vice-President and a good friend of Ogiwara. Reserved and mysterious, she is quite invested in the Sorority. She eventually goes along with the other members during the Petition Arc, though contests Borgia when she realizes their machinations have gone too far.

type	tv series
director	Osamu Dezaki
producer	Hirotaka Matsumoto Masakazu Shioura
writer	Hideo Takayashiki Tomoko Konparu
music	Kentarō Haneda
studio	Tezuka Productions
network	NHK-BS2
first	July 14, 1991
last	May 31, 1992
episodes	39
episode list	List of Dear Brother episodes

Plot

Characters

The Sorority

Themes

Media

Manga

Anime

Reception

External links

References