Are you looking for an anime about sisterhood to fill the empty hole in your heart that The Quintessential Quintuplets left? Then I might have an anime for you! I'm kidding…mostly, but the idea of a harem show specifically revolving around a group of sisters who all have their own unique quirks and idiosyncrasies made it very easy for me to make that initial comparison. However, Dealing with Mikadono Sisters is not that. While this is a harem show about a young boy being thrust into circumstances that caused him to directly interact with three of the best women at his school, I will give the show credit that it does try to be more about something. This isn't just a love story. It's also one about family, insecurity, imposter syndrome, and the overall pressures of living up to the expectations forced on you by others.

The bulk of the story comes from our three sisters, who are each prodigies in specific fields, but those fields come with their own types of burdens. In some ways, the show does skew the line a little bit by being about sympathizing with people who are unilaterally privileged. However, I do appreciate the fact that the show goes out of its way to establish very early on that these talents don't immediately equate to happiness and that the status of perfection is something that needs to be explicitly maintained. Just because you're really, really good at shoji doesn't mean that you don't have to constantly practice or study up on techniques every day, which affects your social life. Just because you're really skilled at martial arts doesn't mean that you don't have to keep a very strict dietary regimen while maintaining a very specific appearance. Just because you're really good at acting a specific role doesn't mean that you are amazing at acting out in all situations, especially when your life experiences ironically are very limited because of the hard work that you put into being an actor. There are so many different layers and approaches to this idea that hard work is a cornerstone of success, whether you're talented or not. Not only does it give the show more of an automatic feeling than what you would find in a typical harem show, but it also gives all the girls way more dimension than what you would find in the genre.

I like these girls. The show spends the first half establishing the forced, albeit slightly tragic premise, before the second half of the show gives each girl a little bit of an arc. Each girl ends up confronting a wall that they never confronted before due to their positions, and it's only by directly interacting with Yuu that they can overcome it while also learning more about themselves. However, there is a bit of a tug of war going on in the emotional stability of the household that they are in. Yuu can teach them that there is more to life than just their talents, which ironically ends up making them more well-rounded as individuals, but it also runs the risk of distracting them, which is something that their father really, really doesn't want. I do like how their father originally comes off as this understanding guy by letting Yuu stay with them, but after that, his presence is felt throughout the entire show as this source of emotional trauma that all the girls are dealing with, despite barely being actually present. It's a stark contrast to how Yuu acts, which is ironic because he arguably grew up in a neglected household as well.

Similar to the girls, Yuu is definitely more layered than what you would find with your typical harem protagonist. Don't let his cheerful demeanor fool you, it's very hard not to feel bad for this boy.. Despite his bloodline, he doesn't display much talent outside of just being conventionally attractive, but I like that the show establishes that it is not exactly a positive. He's conventionally attractive because his mother was a beautiful actress. Because he looks so much like his mother, that means it's very easy to be led into a false sense of security that he is actually really talented and capable. He is always reminded of expectations that he is never going to live up to, but he does his best not to be let down by them. I wish the show did more with that outside of the initial premise. It's brought up constantly throughout the show, but bringing something up and actively going into it are two different things.

All Yuu wants is a family, and he has an opportunity to create a family with these three sisters. I like that this is also an explanation for why he's a bit oblivious to the growing affections of the other sisters. He's not looking for romance as much as he is just looking for a place to call home because he has had to spend so much of his life being reminded of how useless he is. It's really sad when you sit down and think about what each of these characters really goes through on an emotional level. I respect the show for not shying away from it, even though there's a part of me that thinks they really could've gone further with it. Sometimes Yuu's disposition is so cheerful that it distracts you from that, and some character moments towards the end are only there to maintain this familial status when romantic progression could have been made.

It's just really convenient that the girls are so bad at expressing themselves due to their lack of experience, and our protagonist is so distracted by the idea of just being a part of a family that romantic progression doesn't really go anywhere. But then again, the fact that the show can hit on a lot of familiar harem tropes in ways that actually make sense and have explanations behind them is probably the ideal way to do it. You can have your familiar tropes, but as long as they come from a believable place, it's easier to forgive. All of these complaints weren't things that I was actively thinking about when watching the show, as I was genuinely invested in the emotional drama of the characters.

I like how the visual presentation is so bright and colorful. It's arguably one of the more vibrant slice of life harem shows that I've seen in a while, with everybody having distinct colors associated with them and very strong facial features. Everybody looks believably intense when they get into a mood, but I also like the little chibi art style that the anime falls back on when the characters are bickering or having a funny moment. It's a tough balancing act, but I do think it is accomplished fairly well. It also helps that the music is spectacular. The main light motif of the series is this really gentle guitar piece that always tugged at my heartstrings when it played during the more emotionally difficult moments of the show. A lot of effort went into this presentation so that things didn't feel shallow.

The dub is also good. I appreciate the fact that all three sisters sound distinctly different from each other, but there are hints of similar vocal tones throughout to show that the three of them really sound like they are sisters who live in the same household. Their outbursts are believable, and they manage to strike that perfect balance of sounding mature and also like being young teenage girls, which I feel like is very hard to do. Emi Lo sounds believably boyish as Kazuki since they mostly act as men in acting productions, Madeleine Morris is definitely able to yell with authority as Niko as somebody who fights in martial arts, and Lindsay Seidel has a lot more of a high-pitched voice that always feels like it's naturally being strained a little bit, but when you consider the fact that miwa is a shogi player that often sits in silence practicing or participating in matches, that makes sense. I like that attention to detail, but then it makes me wonder about Yuu's vocal performance.

Don't get me wrong, I do think Kieran Regan does a fantastic job, and it's especially rare to find a man capable of believably sounding like a young boy without straining themselves. I remember hearing him play a young boy in Shield Hero, so seeing him get a starring role gave me a great opportunity to really appreciate his vocal range. I'm just mixed because in the Japanese version, Yuu is clearly played by a woman, and it almost feels like that was supposed to be a plot point. The idea that Yuu comes off as far more traditionally feminine compared to the other sisters was also done on purpose to mirror and draw attention to the fact that he really looks like his mother. Again, I still think Regan does a fantastic job, and I want to hear him do more roles like this, but thematically, this might've been an instance where the Japanese version was just a little bit stronger.

Overall, I was thoroughly surprised. I enjoyed this show as much as I did. I originally watched it thinking that it was going to be my trash show for the season, but it quickly became one of my favorites. It's bright, colorful, sounds amazing, and there is a genuine effort to resonate with multiple audiences, not just those who love harem shows. The cast is bursting with personality, and I do believe all the individual struggles that they are going through. How that all ties together for a potential future season is also the cherry on top. If you like slice of life shows with a little bit more to them and don't mind the occasional harem trope, then I definitely think you should pick this one up because it might surprise you like it did me.