Requested by
kurozukin_a!
In general, I'm not much of a fan of shoujo, especially relationship-centric shoujo. I don't like love triangles or contrived breakups or destined love or any of that, which effectively rules out most of the plot devices of those series. D: However, I do have several guilty pleasure series, and one of these is the classic Oniisama e (Brother, Dear Brother) by Ikeda Riyoko.
Ikeda Riyoko is sort of the queen of old-school shoujo; she wrote Rose of Versailles, so all your stereotypes about 70s shoujo with long curly hair and big sparkly eyes and long skinny legs probably come from her (and it was the first manga to be translated into English, apparently). Oniisama e was her second series, a 3-volume series written in the 1970s and adapted into a 39-episode anime series in 1991. Basically, it's the story about the first year at a private high school for an average girl named Misonoo Nanako. She's a nice, unassuming girl who has studied hard to gain admission to the prestigious all-girls Seiran Academy, and she documents her life in numerous letters to her old cram-school teacher, the "Dear Brother" of the title, asking him for advice and reassurance as she tries to figure out how to survive adolescence.
(I can't help but imagine poor Takehiko's face as he reads some of these letters. "Holy shit! N, no, this is my little-sister-figure, must not find this hot, must not find this hot...")
Nanako has never tried to stand out much, and doesn't even consider trying to get into the school's super-elite Sorority, which consists of all the most beautiful and talented girls of the school who get special treatment and have special parties and, well...it's a super-idealized sorority with an on-grounds Sorority House. However, she finds herself unexpectedly and bewilderingly nominated for membership into the Sorority (of COURSE), and she finds herself tugged about by the bizarre dramas and fears and general nonsense that a school of anxious, status-conscious teenage girls will inevitably produce.
Nanako finds herself somehow dragged into by the strange drama going on between the three most beautiful and idolized girls in the school; the princess-like Sorority leader Ichinomiya Fukiko ("Miya-sama"), the androgynously beautiful and INCREDIBLY WANGSTY tortured artist Asaka Rei ("Hana no Saint-Just"), and the boyishly strong and athletic and forthright Orihara Kaoru ("Kaoru-no-Kimi"). I went to a public high school, but my mother went to a private Catholic girl's school and she tells me that it was not uncommon for younger girls to develop a "strong admiration and worship" for the cool older girls, almost like a crush, but "it was NOT anything like THAT." Well, assuming my mother's CORRECT, which I'm not entirely SURE OF, Nanako develops a massive unrequited crush for Saint-Just-sama, probably because she's like a tall beautiful boy that smells good and quotes French poetry and chugs handfuls of pills when she gets upset. However, Saint-Juste has some kind of desperate love for the cruel Miya-sama, who seems to delight in emotionally torturing Saint-Just just to prove the extent of her power over the other girl. Nanako tries her hardest to help her beloved Saint-Just, but as the normally kind Kaoru-no-Kimi cynically tells her, you can't really understand what another person is going through, so sometimes there's no way you can help. Saint-Just seems to barely notice Nanako most of the time, except to tease her and say that she reminds her of a doll she has.
This is SUCH a total soap opera of a show; it's really intense and melodramatic and sucks you in despite yourself. It's not really for a younger shoujo audience, but I thought that despite its melodrama (near-rape, suicide attempts, fatal diseases, general bodice-ripping), it really handled a lot of truths about adolescence in a honest and realistic fashion that I could recognize from my own high school years that were NOT in a lesbian crockpot like Seiran Academy. High school and adolescence really are tough on most if not all girls, and I think that once you settle back with some popcorn, most people will really enjoy Oniisama e.
(If you're curious, you can get fansubs or DVD-Rs from
the TechnoGirls - I know, how old-school!)
(image shamefully filched from
Oniisama E.... ~Caro fratello...~)
[
ZIP OF ALL SONGS (83 MB) ]
01.
Saint-Etienne - La Poupee Qui Fait Non (The Doll Who Says No) [
lyrics ]
A translated cover of a
French pop classic by Michel Polnareff. You can't really narrow down this song to any particular girl in the series, but you get the idea. :D
02.
Interpol - Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down [
lyrics ]
Nanako runs into a beautiful long-haired "boy" in a suit on the bus, and is amazed by the older girl's beauty and really rather masculine mannerisms. She instantly develops a massive, painful, unrequited crush on "Hana-no-Saint-Just," who was nicknamed after
a figure from the French Revolution who was beautiful and cold and sort of fixated on death and who died young. (He actually responsible for the guillotining of many people, but he was beautiful and died young, which apparently excuses a lot of faults. >_> )
03.
Legowelt - Strange GirlAs soon as Nanako enters school (wearing the wrong thing, of course), she's practically accosted by a beautiful, sort of frighteningly intense girl in her class named Shinobu Mariko. Mariko pretty much latches onto Nanako and declares that they're going to be BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, OMG, and sort of elbows her way into Nanako's life in the sort of off-putting yet harmless way that people with really poor social skills do. Nanako just accepts this as best as she can, and goes along with Mariko's obsessing about being accepted into the Sorority. But Mariko, dude, you have to realize that attempted rape is a poor tactic for keeping friends. Really. I know you're sorry, but you freak people out when you do that.
04.
Ween - Baby Bitch [
lyrics ]
Nanako respects the head of the Sorority, the queenly "Miya-sama," but she is really weirded out by the interaction between Miya-sama and Saint-Just-sama. She's seen Miya-sama deliberately stab Saint-Just with sharp objects and Saint-Just not mind...JUST SO LONG AS MIYA-SAMA WILL BIND THE WOUND. (Which Miya-sama won't do, of course.) Nanako has no idea what's going on but wonders what on earth would make someone who is otherwise so kind and gracious be deliberately sadistic to Saint-Just-sama, and why Saint-Just keeps crawling back like a kicked dog.
05.
Bloc Party - Compliments [
lyrics ]
Saint-Just is a "bad boygirl" and often skips class to sit and smoke in the clock tower, occasionally joined by her best friend, the basketball star "Kaoru-no-Kimi." Saint-Just is constantly scarfing handfuls of pills, especially when Miya-sama is cruel to her, and Kaoru-no-Kimi keeps telling her to cut that shit out and get over the bitch. It's like The Fortress of Solitude, except...not. Kaoru-no-Kimi even crawls into Saint-Just's bed naked to keep her warm and to let her cry on her shoulder. It's platonic, I swear. (I think?)
06.
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration [
lyrics ]
Nanako finally seems to attract Saint-Just's attention, but who knows, it's probably just to entertain herself. The series is pretty honest about how people can be unintentionally cruel, especially as teenagers.
07.
Hootie & the Blowfish - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want [
lyrics ]
Before you start screaming (or not), give it a listen; the lead singer's voice really does suit the song, ahahahaha.
08.
Juliana Hatfield - My Sister [
lyrics ]
Sisters can be weird, but, uh, usually not this weird.
09.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Breaking The Girl [
lyrics ]
So Saint-Just gets Nanako to skip school with her, and then Nanako confesses her love and gets pretty much...nothing in return. Oh dear.
10.
Filter and Crystal Method - Trip Like I Do [
lyrics ]
I'm not sure why Nanako is so obsessed with poor nutty Saint-Just; at one point Saint-Just is so whacked out on her psych meds she tries to kill Nanako, thinking it's Miya-sama and they can do a sexy double-suicide together "like she promised." Um...
11.
PJ Harvey - Down By The Water [
lyrics ]
What's nice about the series is that all the characters, even the bullies and bitches, get their time to have a backstory, so even if you don't FORGIVE their actions, you at least UNDERSTAND them (to some extent.) Eventually you learn about the (completely ridiculous) reason that Miya-sama has been so kind to Nanako and so mean to Saint-Just, but I'll say it again since the girls of this series don't seem to understand: LESBIAN RAPE IS NOT A VIABLE OPTION FOR INTERACTING WITH NANAKO, JEEZ.
12.
Soundtrack of Our Lives - Sister Surround [
lyrics ]
13.
Rolling Stones - Play With Fire [
lyrics ]
Eventually Saint-Just, with the help of Kaoru-no-Kimi and Nanako, sort of makes a stand against Miya-sama's bitchy actions. Even though she still loves her, she won't let Miya-sama continue to get her way in everything, because she can't stand to see her beloved Miya-sama degrade herself like this.
14.
Barenaked Ladies - Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel / Hidden Sun (m4a) [
lyrics for first part /
lyrics for second part]
I really really apologize for the lone .m4a. m(_ _)m Spoilery McSpoiler, spoilers otherwise?
15.
Billie Holiday - Speak Low (Bent Remix) [
lyrics ]
Nanako goes on with her daily routine, but everything seems unreal. But, in real life, even if you're upset you still have to keep going.
16.
Magnet - Everything's Perfect [
lyrics ]
Kaoru-no-Kimi, who generally could be counted on to be the big-brotherly voice of calm and reason in the midst of the stupid melodrama, all of a sudden decides to go nuts and have her own emo woe arc. She's prone to collapsing with chest pains in the middle of strenuous exercise, and because of this, um, she can't be with the guy she loves. Because. Yeah.
17.
Snap Ant - Saviour PieceBut the man she loves is like, "Are you crazy? I don't care about your tragic illness!"
18.
Stone Temple Pilots - Sour Girl [
lyrics ]
The series ends with Nanako as a senior in high school, older, still cheerful, but with many things from her first year that she still can't discuss with anyone. But she'll be okay, because she's decided to learn from it instead of going nuts like all the other girls did.
It's the best thing to marathon when you're in the mood for ridiculously intense soap-opera hijinks and throwing popcorn at the TV.