Comics / Manga

Me & My Brothers: Volume 1

By Leroy Douresseaux
July 29, 2007 - 13:21

After her grandmother dies, Sakura Miyashita finds herself alone in her home, but she’s about to get a surprise of epic proportions.  One day she returns to her house to find four strange men making themselves very comfortable.  Masashi is a 25-year old romance novelist.  Takashi is a 23-year old Japanese teacher.  Tsuyoshi is a 19-year old full time, part time worker, and Takeshi is a 17-year old, 11th grade high school student.

And the four of them are not only brothers; they’re also Sakura’s step-brothers.  Before she died, Sakura’s grandmother sent them a letter summoning them to live with her granddaughter.  The quartet turns Sakura world upside down, and Sakura dislikes how they’ve inserted themselves into every aspect of her life.  Their personal ticks annoy her; for instance, Masashi’s hobby is wearing women’s clothing.  There comes a time, however, when she starts to wonder if she really needs these four men, but she worries more – do they need her?

THE LOWDOWN:  Me & My Brothers, Vol. 1 is that mixture of comedy and drama knows as a dramedy.  Why describe it as such?  As both a broad domestic comedy and family drama, Me & My Brothers mixes slapstick comedy and poignant relationship drama.  It’s not a situation comedy, because the humor, for the most part, isn’t based on situation, but rather gags and clowning around.  The center of this concept is a tale of children torn apart by death in the family, so sadness tempers the humor.  Hari Tokeino’s art is quite good, although the story tends to be a bit repetitive and stretched.  There are enough interesting sub-plots (Where exactly is Sakura and Masashi’s relationship going?) that would make this worth revisiting.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Me & My Brothers has a similar tone to Marimo Ragawa’s Baby & Me (VIZ Media).  It you like family stories that focus primarily on the children (TV’s “The Brady Bunch” or “Party of Five”), you may like this.

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12