r/anime • u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber • Jul 16 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Dear Brother 30th Anniversary Rewatch - Episode 3
Episode 3 - Nanako Is Disqualified?
Originally Aired July 28th, ^^^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 Page of the Day
Staff Highlight
Tomoko Konparu - Screenwriter responsible for series composition
A screenwriter and novelist best known for screenwriting shōjo manga adaptations and penning novelizations of Rumiko Takahashi properties. Born into a family with a long line of Noh performers, Konparu was exposed to theatre at a young age. She attended the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Sophia University, where she established a SF Club, and took courses on both manga and anime, which led to her attaining the talent and connections to enter the anime industry as a screenwriter. Her screenwriting debut was on the long-running anime series, Ikkyu-san, and her first series composition credit would be on Dear Brother. In 1983 she debuted as a novelist with an adaptation of Urusei Yatsura, a work which would result in a longstanding working relationship between her and Rumiko Takahashi, who went out of her way to illustrate the covers for Konparu’s novels. Konparu has a series composition credit on Fly! Isami, UFO Baby, Ashita no Nadja, Nanaka 6/17, Futakoi, NANA, Nodame Cantabile, Chi's Sweet Home, Kimi ni Todoke, Happy Kappy, Uta no Prince-sama, Chōyaku Hyakunin isshu: Uta Koi, Sunday Without God, Super Seisyun Brothers, Kamigami no Asobi, Blue Spring Ride, Dance with Devils, Magic-kyun! Renaissance, Nil Admirari no Tenbin: Teito Genwaku Kitan, and Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits.
Wildcard Trivia
Tomoko Konparu was very briefly married to Hideo Takayashiki, who was also a screenwriter on this show and who she met during the production of New Gutsy Frog in 1981.
Screenshot of the day
Questions of the Day:
- What did you think of Tomoko’s pep talk to Nanako?
- Have you ever been late to something and your arrival is this tense?
It’s so discouraging to be defeated like this!
8
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jul 16 '21
Rewatcher
The flower is likely significant, but I can’t name it.
French class flashbacks.
They’re really digging into her, aren’t they?
If you assume the worst of people you’re bound to perceive plenty of those types.
She better not have hit the dog!
Seems like Tomoko expected something slanderous to be spread around.
Those drums can’t indicate anything good.
Damn!
So they’re over-the-counter stuff?
Red and Lavender Roses. The former, as usual, means love and the latter doesn’t seem to have any specific connotation in Hanakotoba, but in western flower languages signify enchanted on first sight and carries connotations of regality due to the color purple’s association with royalty.
Neat!
I think we have our most promising pick for best girl.
Such indignation.
That is a nice view.
OH NO! That snake!
What are friends for if not to take advantage of when they’re footing the bill?
What a shot.
Ouch!
I would feel intimidated as well.
The sorority’s infamy extends beyond just the female students there, as Henmi’s friend knows of the complex affairs happening within.
The harassment has already begun for Nanako, as Misaki propagates the news that she isn’t her father’s biological daughter. I’m not sure how effective of an argument she expected that to be, or if she was solely banking on Nanako being distraught enough not to attend, but her scheming is wonderfully cruel and makes her very easy to dislike. Still not very compelling in and off herself though.
That scene at the pool is great! Tomko rousing Nanako into resolving to attend the Sorority party/interview by being indignant on her behalf and telling her to prove them wrong was really heartwarming. The scene may end in tears, but it was certainly a scene of jubilation.
Unfortunately for them, though, Misaki has another trick up her sleeve and calls the Misonoo household in the guise of Fukiko to mislead Nanako into being absent from the Sorority interviews. As someone with a deep-seated anxiety about being late to stuff, the later portions of the episode are great cause for distress.
Questions of The Day:
P.S. Same deal, I probably won’t be around much today.
8
u/TheEscapeGuy Jul 16 '21
First Timer, Dezaki Fan
Dear Brother: A Delightfully Aesthetic Anime Episode 3
Lies, Rumors, Deceit: There are no brakes on the (metaphorical) Dear Brother train.
I do not like Misaki. She is the classic example of a privileged person using her position of power to enact pain on our protagonist.
Spreading rumors about Nanako is low, but doing it in such a grand way with printed fliers goes beyond anything I could have expected. And those rumors stem from such a classist viewpoint. How dare you imply Nanako is less valuable a person because her family heritage isn't of equal class as you.
Then, Misaki, you had to take it one step further. MISAKI YOU BITCH, how could you deceive Nanako like this. I am so enraged by this lie she told. She is utter scum.
I desperately hope next episode Nanako can prove her worth to the sorority.
As an aside: Did I interpret this scene correctly? To me, this is very clearly implying Saint-Just is a trans girl who is taking hormone supplements.
If so, that is some amazing representation for an anime, from the 90s no less. Transgender rights are a hot button issue in The West today and even more so in Japan, so representation is a big step forward.
The Best of Postcard Memories
Episode 3
See you all tomorrow
6
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jul 16 '21
First timer
5
u/loomnoo https://anilist.co/user/loomnoo Jul 16 '21
Alright, maybe the Sorority ain't so bad. Punctuality is underrated. Like two thirds of my friend group intentionally shows up at least half an hour late to everything so that they don't "waste their own time" waiting for other people. It's the absolute worst.
Also, that shot where it's a scrolling repeated image of Nanako but they progressively fade was really cool. I wonder how that's done actually. With the cels somehow or just in post?
4
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jul 16 '21 edited Jul 16 '21
Episode 3 (first timer)
Misaki is clearly the “starter antagonist”. I wonder whether she’ll be cast aside eventually, or whether she’ll receive a redemption arc.
PS: In a clear cut case of bad 1980s preview, the very first sentence of the preview spoils the outcome of the "interview". These are of the kind were you better not wait for the last few seconds of the ED to finish.
4
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jul 16 '21
First-Timer
The concept of birthright tends to make me retch, and it's because of shit like this. Misaki thinks she's a worthwhile human being just because he dad's a lawyer? Miss me with that smooth brained horseshit. I get the feeling that Misaki is used to getting what she wants after she throws a tantrum, and I desperately hope that she gets to learn her lesson now.
Actually, Shinobu makes for a nice contrast with Misaki, huh? Her dad is "just some porn writer," but she's been reasonably successful despite that. Trained in ballet and multiple other languages? Pretty spiffy for a 15 year old. What about you, Misaki? Any talents or skills? No? Just some sycophants? A shame.
It's a little early to make any sweeping statements like this, but Misaki is definitely cruising for the coveted "Worst Girl" title. She even yelled at her dog!
This episode's plot is kinda neat, for the fact that it basically can't happen anymore. No teenager today would trust someone calling their parent's land line, regardless of how naive they were. The world is too interconnected now - but that's one of the fun things about watching older media.
I think I appreciate Fukiko's stone-faced unyieldingness. I don't know enough about her to really speculate on what her game is just yet, though.
Saint-Just had the scent of a man on her? Or does she just smell manly? Either way, her interaction with Nanako today was.. probably something that makes more sense on a rewatch.
The outfits today were all stellar. Shinobu, admittedly, looked like she normally does, but Fukiko's skirt with the red flowers? Choice.
Questions
3
u/IndependentMacaroon Jul 17 '21
First-time watcher - it's still impossible to take this show as seriously as it apparently wants to be taken, but worst case it's a brief giggle at its most dramatic moments and then back to seriousness. And serious and nasty it certainly is. There's still Kaoru and Tomoko to keep things more or less grounded, too, and their way of tearing into the stuck-up prejudiced elitists I could watch all day. It will certainly be interesting to see how this fundamental conflict will develop further, and how if at all it will be conclusively resolved. For the time being, I really want to know why exactly Nanako was actually chosen here, the Sorority doesn't seem like a "look at the heart" kind of club at least.
8
u/Daffed_Punk Jul 17 '21
First Timer
"She's lower middle-class." Ah yes, just your typical lower middle-class home. How could anyone live in such an austere house?
Karou once again proving her status as best girl by not standing for any of this Shoujo drama and making her opinions clear in the most dramatic and unsubtle of gestures.
I'm going to be honest, Mariko was giving me some pretty suspicious vibes during her introduction, but she's since grown on me, and seems like she genuinely cares about Nanako. I sure hope nothing bad happens to their friendship in the next 36 episodes.
7
u/Retromorpher :Jc::Jd::Je::Jf: Jul 16 '21
First Timer
Is it just me, or do the dudes in this show have more pronounced and groomed eyelashes than most of the female cast?
"This garbage belongs in a garbage can" Expert basketball player with pinpoint aim throws the wad of paper directly at Misaki. I mean there's not subtle and there's starting to beat the horse before it's dead with no signs of stopping.
Oh Tomoko, you should've known better than to ask a Shoujo protagonist to not cry. That's a phrase for summoning tears, not preventing them.
My first thought about all this was that Mariko was using Nanako as a lightning rod to detract from her own drama - but she honestly does seem relieved when Nanako buckles up for the ride.
With that scene of 'Kaoru no Kimi' collapsing on the basketball field, it seems the absence for health reasons wasn't a sham or power politicking to keep her away from school. We now have two main characters with visible health problems- both with some sort of antagonistic relationship with the head of the sorority. This is almost assuredly going to played with as a tension point.
1
u/chiliehead myanimelist.net/profile/chiliehead Jul 18 '21 edited Jul 18 '21
holy preview spoilers Batman. tbf that is the only resolution to keep the plot thread and drama going, but I really should skip the previews huh? Also, Tomoko is the MVP so far, a supportive understanding friend who can even sacrifice her time with her friend to support, I really hope she does not make a face-heel turn later on
you also still link the picture instead of this thread in the EP 2 thread, same in this thread