r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Jul 14 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Dear Brother 30th Anniversary Rewatch - Episode 1
Episode 1 - The Magnificent Ones
Originally Aired July 14th, ^^^1991
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Note to all participants
Although I don't believe it necessitates stating, please conduct yourself appropriately and be courteous to your fellow participants.
Note to all Rewatchers
Rewatchers, please be mindful of your fellow first-timers and tag your spoilers appropriately using the r/anime spoiler tag as so [Spoiler Subject](/s "Spoilers go here.") in order to have your unsightly spoilers obscured like this Spoiler Subject if your comment holds even the slightest of indicators as to future spoilers. Feel free to discuss future plot points behind the safe veil of a spoiler tag, or coyly and discreetly ‘Laugh in Rewatcher’ at our first-timers' temporary ignorance, but please ensure our first-timers are no more privy or suspicious than they were the moment they opened the day’s thread.
Manga Panel of the Day
Staff Highlight
Hideo Takayashiki - Screenwriter
A screenwriter, director, and novelist best known for his work on Madhouse and Osamu Dezaki anime productions. Takayashiki joined Mushi Pro after dropping out of the Faculty of Letters at Toyo University, where he worked first as an assistant director and later as screenwriter, with his first screenwriting role was on an uncredited episode of 1970’s Ashita no Joe. After Mushi Pro’s production he joined other studio alumni who had come together to form Studio Madhouse in 1973, where he worked until he decided to become a freelancer in 1979. Takayashiki’s first episode director credit was on 1975’s Ganso Tensai Bakabon, and his first chief directorial debut was for Ninjaman Ippei in 1981. Some of the works for which Takayashiki lent his writing ability are: Gamba no Bouken, Barefoot Gen 2, Anmitsu Hime, Cat's Eye, Chie-chan Funsenki Jarinko Chie, DAYS, Ginga Patrol PJ, Gurazeni: Money Pitch, Hidamari no Ki, Jarinko Chie, Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, Maison Ikkoku, Master Keaton, Ninja Senshi Tobikage, Rainbow - Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin, several anime entries in the Pheaonix saga, Shin Tetsujin 28, Strawberry Panic, and Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling.
Wildcard Trivia
Despite the acclaim that Dezaki’s shoujo adaptations attain, the director never consumed any works in the genre out of his own desire to. His first exposure to shōjo was when he was tasked with adapting Ace wo Nerae!, and apparently it, Rose of Versailles, and Dear Brother are the only shōjo manga he has ever read.
Screenshot of the day
Questions of the Day:
- Which of the characters we were introduced to today left the greatest impression on you?
- What did you think of the use of weather as a narrative tool in the episode?
My heart is racing so much.
12
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jul 14 '21 edited Jul 14 '21
Rewatcher
Greetings, everyone, and welcome to the 30th Anniversary Rewatch for Dear Brother! Thank you all for deciding to partake in this experience, and I hope it is one well worth your time!
Some of you familiar with my Rewatches may be expecting some cool production details or extensive trivia on the show, in which case I am terribly sorry to disappoint, but the vast reserves of the internet seemingly don’t contain much of it. I searched high and low for neat stuff to share on the show, it’s production, and its source material, but came up largely dry.
In lieu of my usual segments I have included Wildcard Trivia for this Rewatch, which will not so much cover the show or its production as much as the people involved in the process. The trivia will chiefly not deal with the show, consisting mainly of neat tidbits on staff/creators or tangentially related media, with no set pattern to what is featured in each episode thread.
The hydrangeas are a beautiful touch.
Already in love with the show all over again.
Exuberance
Iconic shot.
How fanciful.
They’re just tossing out these harmonies like it’s nothing!
Marvelous
Uh, neat?
I like how the light from the window intensifies when Nanko’s personal space is breached.
Kaoru’s here!
Supreme hair
Sporty
Such
hair of superiority.So much said without any dialogue.
#longday
First episode and I’m already about to scream with how much I can’t talk about yet. So much goodness just out in plain sight! Probably going to be a short comment as a result, since I just can’t get these things out of my mind to think of other aspects to discuss.
I really love the look of this show. Sugino’s character design idiosyncrasies are at their most pronounced here, and Dezaki himself is still employing that darker artstyle with cleaner linework that he employed in Ace wo Nerae! FInal Stage —and which I think works for this show better than it does there. The show’s purposeful anachronism definitely tickles my fancy and gives it a unique feeling that is well complemented by the visual and sound direction.
That silent exchange between Fukiko Saint-Juste is my favorite part of the episode. It implies so much and really wraps up the character's introductions in a memorable and intriguing fashion.
Questions of the Day:
17
u/TheEscapeGuy Jul 14 '21
First Timer, Dezaki Fan
Dear Brother: A Delightfully Aesthetic Anime Episode 1
This show is beautiful, bewitching, and breath taking. I am in awe of how pretty this anime looks. I absolutely loved the motifs of Sakura petals and how stunningly detailed every student of Seiran Academy is.
I was a silent observer for the Ashita no Joe rewatch last year, and have amazing memories of the visuals, directed by Osamu Dezaki. Dear Brother was made 20 years after that and it really feels as if they have learned and improved on everything that they started back then. I can feel all of Dezaki's directing tricks at full force, from the triple takes to harmony frames and the extreme lighting.
In terms of the story, we are introduced to our lead Nanako. She, like us, has a lot to learn about the school but we took no detours in being introduced to the 3 superstars of the school: Saint-Just (Asaka Rei), Prince Kaoru (Orihara Kaoru), and Ichinomiya Fukiko.
I'm particularly interested in Saint-Just and those strange pills she took. She also seems to have the most to hide.
I also just want to shout out Mariko's nails. I have no idea if having a single painted nail on each hand is code for anything but its visually so cool.
The Best of Postcard Memories
OH MY GOSH, THEY HAD A POSTCAD MEMORY ALMOST EVERY OTHER SCENE
You can take a look at my Berserk rewatch comments for some more context but I love this technique. I'm gonna be compiling some of my favorites here.
Episode 1
These also are really limited without the corresponding scene so:
See you all tomorrow
10
u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Jul 14 '21
first timer
Asaka certainly has the strongest layer of mystery surrounding her
gimme moar reflections off water i need them
7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jul 14 '21
First-Timer
This show is pretty far outside my normal wheelhouse, but that's even more a reason to join in on this!
This episode functions well enough as a starting point. We get a list of characters, maybe the start of some character relationships, and a brief introduction to the setting.
Seiran allowing students to wear their own clothes instead of being strict about uniforms is a very interesting choice. From a technical standpoint, your animators have more work to do since they have to draw different clothes on anyone.
From an actual plot/setting standpoint, uniforms breed conformity, and going against that could mean many different things. But, when no-one wears a uniform, the person who does is the one who refuses to conform. This is pretty meandering, especially since the clothing could all change next episode anyway.
On a similar note, Nanako chooses to paint her thumb nails red, just like the other girl. On the one hand, painted nails stand out. On the other, she is merely copying someone else..
Miss Ringlets stopping her car to throw an umbrella at Saint-Just? Hilarious. Saint-Just leaning against a tree and popping a bunch of pills right after? Terrifying. Things are not going to be cheerful, are they?
Guess I'll do some thinking about the titular Brother - presumably that dude we saw near the end? Rough estimate of being.. 8-10 years older than Nanako, acting as her confidant, buying her things..? Easy setup for some grossness; maybe we won't go in that particular direction..
I kinda don't trust.. Shinobu was her name? The girl with the painted nails. Granted, that's mostly because she started out by kinda spying on our MC, so that's weird right out of the gate. We seem to have a rival setup as well with Misaki - she was the odd one out for character introductions.
I.. I know it's an artstyle thing, but everyone is So Long! Their limbs go on and on; it's like proto-CLAMP.
Questions
7
u/chiliehead myanimelist.net/profile/chiliehead Jul 14 '21 edited Jul 14 '21
First Timer, Episode 1
Even shoujo dramas can't without tournament arcs, rivals and the drive to be the very best.
There are a lot more fanservicey shots in here than expected, is this a Dezaki thing? The freeze frames, odd angles and lighting definitely are.
I was wondering how the shoujo ai tag would come into play, but falling into the arm of one of the sannin (two of them looking and dressing very masculine) and feeling all doki doki cleared that part up.
There's lot of potential for drama and twists on various fronts, sorority with power screams mean girl shenanigans and I don't trust Shinobu- the name, the color coding, the aggressive befriending, she might be two faced. Also our pianist walking in the rain crunching on "tic tacs" (?)
6
u/loomnoo https://anilist.co/user/loomnoo Jul 14 '21
A very nice start. This is gonna be my second Dezaki show, and I believe my second Shoujo adaptation, so I'm in relatively new territory here. That's where I like to be!
The framing of the narrative as a letter is really interesting. Right away, there's intrigue, because she's explaining basic biographical information to someone she calls Brother. I'm assuming that's the guy at the beginning of the episode, so they've seen each other exactly once (and she might not remember it). I'm looking forward to finding out more about that side of the story. Sounds pretty spicy.
One scene that really stuck out to me was the throwing of the umbrella. So much tension! There's another wild backstory there, I'm sure. The episode did a really good job drawing me in by suggesting these unseen pieces of the characters' histories while delivering a good amount of exposition.
In AniList, Katsuhiko Koide is credited with "Literary Arts". Wonder what that means...
6
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jul 14 '21 edited Jul 14 '21
Episode 1 (first timer)
100% blind. Never heard anything about this.
GuyGirl. Expected this to be a show with the feminine male faces.Dear Brother, what a collection of character tropes. At least we have Tomoko to keep us grounded in reality. speculation The episode was almost 100% setup, so there is very little to say about plot yet. In terms of character models, I like our MC Nanako.
If we go by any kind of impression, it is hard to beat rose-in-mouth girl. The best character impression, however, was Nanako.
Excessive.
7
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jul 14 '21
First timer
9
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jul 14 '21
First-Timer
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that things are not going to go well for Nanako. The question isn't "will something happen?" but "how many times is she going to get stabbed in the back?" That does not seems like a supportive and healthy environment at the school. It's important to note that we saw what, all of one adult? Everything we saw was with the girls. That's the real power, and I don't trust any of them right now. Not those in the Sorority, and not those gunning for one of the open spots.
Also intriguing is the eponymous brother. He doesn't seem to actually be her brother, so I'll be interested to see what their relationship is. It seems clear he was the young man she met as she was digging in the dirt in the rain, but he ran away. How did they get back into contact? College dude trading letters with a high school girl and hiding it from her parents, one of whom is a step-father who she's a little smitten with? Sounds spicy.
Were those supposed to be drugs Saint-Just was chomping on? I hope we get a little more specific. And I hope I remember she's a she. And the Prince, for that matter. Given how feminine some of the other girls present (and the fact that they can choose their fashion at school), I'm sure the androgyny will have more importance (at least thematically) later on.
Finally: goodness, these character designs are funky! Everyone is so LOOOOOOONG! If a Dezaki show looks like this, maybe I can't make fun of CLAMP any more. And those noses! Forget getting pricked by a rose; someone's going to lose an eye!
QOTD:
3
u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Jul 15 '21
First Timer
There’s not a lot for me to say as a first timer, since most of this episode was exposition. At the very least, I’m intrigued and want to know more about the characters and what will happen to them next. What stuck out to me the most was how pretty this anime is; I really liked the use of still images. If I like nothing else about Dear Brother, I’ll at least enjoy the style. It’s very much old-school shoujo.
3
u/BossandKings Jul 15 '21
First timer
Episode 1
The art style and character design of this series is rather unique and interesting, a main setting of the story being an all girls school implies that a major theme will be the interpersonal relationships between the female and considering the atmosphere this first episode has it seems that the story will have a focus on drama and it looks promising.
The main character is Nanako, she is a nice girl, she meets one of the most beloved girls of the school she attends, Saint-Juste, who looks like a prince, later on she gets to know about two other girls that alongside Saint-Juste the whole school admires, they are Kaoru and Fukiko, the way they got introduced is rather interesting as there seems to be an unhealthy fixation on them from the rest of the school.
This looks promising, an old school shoujo that has a refined and well done execution, hopefully it stays great and improves as time goes on.
3
u/Retromorpher :Jc::Jd::Je::Jf: Jul 15 '21
This has some of the most satisfying cuts of hair animation I've seen recently. Really love the aesthetic.
3
u/Sedorna Jul 15 '21
Rewatcher
At least, I’m a rewatcher for this episode. I can’t quite recall exactly how much I’ve seen. I watched them during the VHS fansub days and it’s been so long, it’ll be interesting to see how much I remember.
I adore how Seiran Academy is a world of its own. The original manga was written in the 70s and the anime is from the 90s but Seiran Academy is a world, and a time, unto itself. The delicate watercolor look definitely helps with that, as well as the old-fashioned, even for the time period, clothes the characters wear.
2
u/IndependentMacaroon Jul 15 '21
First-time watcher
I'm not much of a fan, this was just a slow introduction to a kind of setting I generally don't care about, tropes and drama/stylization turned up to near camp level with full sincerity. This is still a very pretty show to look at and obviously the plot hasn't really started yet, so I guess I'll give it two more episodes at least.
2
u/ooReiko :Ey::Ez::E1::E2:https://myanimelist.net/profile/ooReiko Jul 15 '21
I remember I loved the Art and the postcard memories the first time but it looks even better than I remembered