For those who shiver when the little sister is mentioned.
Summary:
In modern anime, relationships between siblings often end up being questionable and fall into borderline romance.
Ikenaikyo is not just a wholesome tooth-rotting sweet show, it also has a realistic portrayal of siblings' relationships.
Eruca, Allen's little sister, is not third-wheeling the main pair's romance but ships them herself.
Her relationship with Allen is based on a playful rivalry, trust, and respect.
Last week we gushed over I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness (Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu) being one of the sleeper hits in the 2023 fall season, as it's an incredibly wholesome romance show, but there's one thing we overlooked in our attempt to get you to watch that, and it's how the show portrays the sibling dynamic.
In modern anime series, when relationships between brother and sister are mentioned, they quite often end up being questionable: from borderline ecchi, nurturing sister and brother complexes, to just simply unrealistic imbalances. There's a reason why people are so down for the found family trope — look at the Hayakawa family in Chainsaw Man: as dysfunctional as its members are, this little makeshift unity represents the sibling dynamic almost perfectly.
Insulin-boosting show
This is something that we love about Ikenaikyo: the siblings in this story behave like siblings. The anime, which is based on a light novel (which was also adapted into manga), shows us the story of Charlotte, who has been betrayed by her country and stood up, and Allen, who stumbled upon her in the woods and decided to help her by forcing her to learn to stand up for herself and think about her own needs.
Allen is an introverted hermit who's also a genius magician, and this combination of skills and personality granted him the nickname Dark Lord. Charlotte is timid but extremely sweet and charming, always thinking about others first and not herself. In the process, they are slowly falling in love with each other, and the whole town, it seems, ships them. We can relate.
Two teachers of naughty things
One of those shippers is Allen's adoptive sister, Eruca. And usually in shows like that, adoptive sisters become part of a love triangle, but not here. They have a wonderful playful rivalry going on, one that relates to Charlotte: they try to one-up each other in the naughty things they're going to teach her. Granted, their understanding of naughtiness is extremely pure, as it usually consists of overindulging in food and consumerism, but the challenge is a challenge, and they both participate in it with vigor.
There's no heated tension between them, no airy gasps and watery gazes. They talk to each other, they discuss things related to Charlotte's future, they mock each other (like Eruca calling Allen a drama queen for turning himself into ashes when he's overflown with feelings), and they trust each other. Who would've thought that this realistic portrayal of the sibling dynamic is possible in anime? Who would've thought that this little detail would make us happy?
For those who shiver when the little sister is mentioned.
Summary:
In modern anime, relationships between siblings often end up being questionable and fall into borderline romance.
Ikenaikyo is not just a wholesome tooth-rotting sweet show, it also has a realistic portrayal of siblings' relationships.
Eruca, Allen's little sister, is not third-wheeling the main pair's romance but ships them herself.
Her relationship with Allen is based on a playful rivalry, trust, and respect.
Last week we gushed over I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness (Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu) being one of the sleeper hits in the 2023 fall season, as it's an incredibly wholesome romance show, but there's one thing we overlooked in our attempt to get you to watch that, and it's how the show portrays the sibling dynamic.
In modern anime series, when relationships between brother and sister are mentioned, they quite often end up being questionable: from borderline ecchi, nurturing sister and brother complexes, to just simply unrealistic imbalances. There's a reason why people are so down for the found family trope — look at the Hayakawa family in Chainsaw Man: as dysfunctional as its members are, this little makeshift unity represents the sibling dynamic almost perfectly.
Insulin-boosting show
This is something that we love about Ikenaikyo: the siblings in this story behave like siblings. The anime, which is based on a light novel (which was also adapted into manga), shows us the story of Charlotte, who has been betrayed by her country and stood up, and Allen, who stumbled upon her in the woods and decided to help her by forcing her to learn to stand up for herself and think about her own needs.
Allen is an introverted hermit who's also a genius magician, and this combination of skills and personality granted him the nickname Dark Lord. Charlotte is timid but extremely sweet and charming, always thinking about others first and not herself. In the process, they are slowly falling in love with each other, and the whole town, it seems, ships them. We can relate.
Two teachers of naughty things
One of those shippers is Allen's adoptive sister, Eruca. And usually in shows like that, adoptive sisters become part of a love triangle, but not here. They have a wonderful playful rivalry going on, one that relates to Charlotte: they try to one-up each other in the naughty things they're going to teach her. Granted, their understanding of naughtiness is extremely pure, as it usually consists of overindulging in food and consumerism, but the challenge is a challenge, and they both participate in it with vigor.
There's no heated tension between them, no airy gasps and watery gazes. They talk to each other, they discuss things related to Charlotte's future, they mock each other (like Eruca calling Allen a drama queen for turning himself into ashes when he's overflown with feelings), and they trust each other. Who would've thought that this realistic portrayal of the sibling dynamic is possible in anime? Who would've thought that this little detail would make us happy?
