English Dub Season Review: Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Yu Ayase (Kieran Regan), son of a late legendary actress, is overwhelmingly mediocre.  When he’s invited to stay with his mother’s friend, Yu is shocked to find out that he’ll be living with three prodigy sisters who possess both beauty and talent…and who rule his new school as the Three Emperors.  Can Yu manage to melt the sisters’ cold hearts and fulfill his mother’s last wish for him to build a happy family?

Our Take:

Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze is an anime adaptation of a manga series written and illustrated by Aya Hirakawa.  It is directed by Tadahito Matsubayashi, with Takayo Ikami writing the scripts.  It is produced by P. A. Works, known for producing other anime shows such as True Tears, Tari Tari, Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Buddy Daddies, and Skip and Loafer.  Yūsuke Inoue designed the characters, and Masaru Yokoyama composed the music.  The opening theme song, “Kimi ni Fusawashii Kiseki” (‘A Miracle Fitting for You’), is performed by Maisondes, while the ending theme songs are performed by Yurina Amami, Aoi Koga, and Yoshino Aoyama.

When you’re a skilled prodigy, you partake in the responsibility to retain your perfection to appease those around you at the expense of your own satisfaction.  However, most cases show that it takes more than skills to make people happy.  For someone who’s not good at anything, the only skill they can master is being kind to others.  The rom-com harem train keeps on rolling with the latest addition to the fan-service genre, where the prodigious sisters meet their match in the form of a highly mediocre high-schooler.  For those wondering how a boy who sucks at every sport imaginable gets lucky with three highly-skilled sisters, just remember that anything is possible in the world of anime, especially regarding harems.  Given my experience with previous rom-com harem shows, I pretty much knew what to expect from Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze in terms of its premise and fan service.  However, to my surprise, the series turned out to be an occasion that offered more than just those elements.

Dealing with Mikadono Sisters follows a similar structure to other harem shows, in which several girls showcase romantic affection towards the male protagonist.  In this case, the show centers on the wealthy, prodigious Mikadono Sisters from Saika Academy for Gifted Students.  Kazuki (Emi Lo) is the oldest sister who’s an up-and-coming actress in the performing arts.  Niko (Madeleine Morris) is a rising martial artist who’s highly strict with her career and herself, and Miwa (Lindsay Seidel) is the youngest yet mean-spirited sister who’s talented in shogi.  When they reluctantly welcomed Yu Ayase into their home following his mother’s death, the sisters ended up developing romantic feelings for him, while Yu struggled to fulfill his mother’s wish for a happy family.  However, given Yu’s obliviousness to their actual feelings, the sisters’ romantic competition wound up being more embarrassing than usual.  But, at the very least, it offers plenty to enjoy in these familiar scenarios, and what really won me over was their character growth and messages.

Amid its rom-com harem tropes, the season consists of episodes featuring Yu helping the respective sisters with their prodigy status and even their personal issues.  “A Father’s Teachings” and “This Is a Date” featured Yu helping Kazuki prepare for her first female role and overcome her fear of failure.  “The True Reason Is” and “You Will Win No Matter What” involved him assisting Niko in embracing both sides of herself — strong and feminine — while preparing for their match against karate champion Hayato Tatsumi.  Finally, the season’s final three episodes showcased Yu helping Miwa with her shogi tournament while introducing another competitor for Yu’s heart, Sakura Yaotome, who is as clumsy and mediocre as the unskilled boy.  Initially, upon meeting the sisters, I was concerned that their ignorance and self-absorbed behaviors would get tiring after the first few episodes.  Not to mention, their father (David Matranga) and his strict discipline are enough to make me want to throw him out the window.  However, the mini-arcs presented for each respective sister provided enough heart in their growth to make their personalities and actions tolerable and even amusing.

The heartfelt nature of the show is mainly due to its messages, particularly regarding a person’s role as a prodigy.  The series showcases that the sisters have spent their lives perfecting their respective skills and living up to their renowned reputations.  However, it came with the cost of them not being able to live their everyday lives and straining their relationship with each other.  That is, until Yu shows the sisters what they’ve been missing out on through their trips to the festival and an amusement park, putting the sisters closer than ever.  The series also explores the importance of acceptance, with Kazuki overcoming her phobia of failing and Niko accepting both sides of her personality, as well as the beauty of normalcy, in which kindness is another skill worthy of praise.  Though Yu is not as gifted as his mother, he compensates with his endurance and generosity, inspiring the sisters to embrace their own goodwill towards others.  These themes involving prodigious life provided a healthy dose of inspiration that complements the fun and heartwarming essence of the show’s tropes and character developments.

Another element worth mentioning is the dub’s solid voice cast, which consists of some names I’m familiar with.  That includes Emi Lo and Madeleine Morris, the latter who recently voiced Natsuko Hirose in Zenshu and Pomelo in To Be Hero X.  However, the only actor I was unfamiliar with until now was Kieran Regan, who voices Yu Ayase in the show’s dub.  Regarding his performance as the red-haired, oblivious boy, it’s highly likely that we’ll be seeing more of him in future dubs soon.  Regan’s lighter and timid vocal range effectively conveyed Yu’s strong-minded yet prudish personality, highlighting the boy’s big heart amid his mediocrity.  Emi Lo also did a solid job portraying Kazuki’s flamboyant and prideful persona, further demonstrating Lo’s distinction in their vocal talents, despite the character being slightly irritating at first.  Lindsay Seidel delivered as much levity as the other characters in her performance as Miwa, showcasing a serviceable balance between Miwa’s inconsiderate nature and the show’s romantic-comedy traits.  However, Seidel shines the most when she expresses Miwa’s broken spirit in the season’s penultimate episode, “I Already Knew It”, where she explains the truth behind her pursuit in shogi.

Many harem rom-com shows have achieved success due to their light-hearted, romantic essence and fan service.  However, some of them shine the most when they provide compelling and even thoughtful premises that warrant these seductive fundamentals.  Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze is one of the examples of the latter, with enough charm, humor, and heart to make it a breeze to sit through.  While the sisters’ arrogant personalities can be irritating during the first couple of episodes, the remaining season managed to make them tolerable through its character development and commendable genre tropes.  In addition to the dub’s delightful cast and humorous premise, the series was also nicely animated by P.A. Works, highlighting the attractiveness and glamour of its designs, bright color palettes, and physical comedy.  I suppose you could say that Mikadono Sisters offers enough talent to stand alongside other popular anime, such as Rent-a-Girlfriend and The Quintessential Quintuplets, despite not having watched the latter two.  Maybe my experience with this series might convince me to do so?