The Summer 2025 Anime Preview Guide - Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze

Yū Ayase is the son of Subaru Ayase. Yū's mother, Subaru, is herself gifted with beauty, athleticism, and intelligence, but Yū seems to have only inherited his mother's good looks and nothing else. When Yū is enrolled in a high-class school, he is entrusted to the care of his mother's friend and moves to their house. There, he begins rooming with the three Mikadono sisters, who are all exceptionally talented in their own way but have a weak side to them.

Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze is based on the Mikadono-san Shimai wa Angai Choroi manga by Aya Hirakawa. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays.

The structural setup of Dealing With Mikadono Sisters isn't anything new by harem-styled rom-com standards: hapless guy winds up rooming with multiple girls, hijinks ensue. But some of the specific details at least help it stand out. Stand out in good ways? I don't know yet. But it at least feels distinctive in ways that won't have me confusing this anime for a dozen other structurally similar ones out there. That (and the fact that it auspiciously dropped two episodes at once on its premiere day) earns it at least one more look.

The leads are a bit distinct compared to what I expect from an anime like this, for one thing. The three titular Mikadono sisters all have styles that are just a little unconventional in this space. They're leggy, sure, but there's also an angularity to them—sharpened alongside some pretty distinguishing height differences between each other as they metaphorically tower over the main boy. Naturally I find physical specialist Niko the standout—you know me folks, I can't resist a fiery combat athlete with a mean face. Plus she's the one who's done just a little more, interaction-wise, compared to her sisters. The others have their own charming points that are definitely going to target other viewers though—with stage star Kazuki coming off extremely different from other older-girl romantic interest leads.

It's all compounded by focal fellow Yuu himself. He is, in the parlance of our times, just a little guy. He's a cute little ball of mediocrity. But unlike so many potato-adjacent projectable protagonists, Yuu is assured and resourceful in his mediocrity. He's learned enough awareness of his alleged betters that he's got an idea of how to take care of them (or deal with them, as the title goes)—with a confident understanding you don't see from so many other put-upon dorks these kinds of shows are centered on. Yuu might not be able to perform, fight, or win at Shogi, but he's the most amazing housekeeper this home has ever seen—and that earns him a spot being subservient to these bigger, more headstrong women.

At least, that's the obvious train of thought I think that Dealing With Mikadono Sisters is trying to lead its target audience to. I spent a not-insignificant chunk of this first episode trying to suss out precisely what Yuu's actual deal was. He seems earnestly engaged in the task of forging a family with these girls—their own priorities aside. But his ways of dealing with doing so ping-pong between genuine helping out and self-assured psychology. Again, I can't actually say that this is good or bad or not, but it's enough to be intriguing. It all looks nice enough to start, with bold colors and sharp enough animation on parts like Niko's efforts to kick people's heads in. It's worth sticking around for another episode, so it's a good thing they gave us one right away.

In its second episode, Dealing With Mikadono Sisters continues to feel just a bit weird, but that at least means it continues feeling unique. Yuu's ostensible status as a simple little guy is regularly underscored by the anime effectively pimping him and his efforts. He's still inherited an actress's looks, after all, and he's even got the caretaking skills to conceive of and prepare meals perfectly suited to enhancing all these stupendous sisters. Really, who wouldn't fall for him as this sort of helpful househusband? Even Niko experiences a dreamy-filtered shot of him, and this episode is overall about Yuu's deceptively basic bearings breaking down barriers between him and his new would-be family members.

It only feels a little undermining the way the writing keeps slipping in the undercurrent of how Yuu has his ways with handling these would-be strong, independent women. They even throw up imagination spots of him visualizing girls like Niko as cute animals who need to be plied and tamed—though at least she does call him out on the inherent creep factor of that fantasy. Never mind the ultimate reveal of this episode that the rigidly resistant Kazuki is secretly a fussy child who needs an attentive parent to take care of things for her. It's an episode largely concerned with revealing things that these seemingly perfect sisters actually suck at, and it all provides a path for why Yuu would be necessary to helping these girls achieve their goals in the given fields. But it also comes across, at least a little, like the writing can't wholly abide girls who are strong and capable and must concoct situations where they need a self-insert guy playing Princess Maker with their stats and schedules. Granted, there's still a whole lot of a very particular kind of dynamic being fetishized under all this. Yuu deadass acts as a princess opposite Kazuki's prince for a portion of this episode.

It is interesting to see Yuu forging unique dynamics with each of the sisters, anyway. Niko's still my favorite, naturally, but there are some relatable connections Yuu makes with Miwa, as their shared lack of athleticism shows they aren't as far apart as they might think—at least before Miwa starts busting out baby memories like she's Ray from The Promised Neverland. There's potential common ground here though, is what I'm getting at, and that's also found in the acting that bring Yuu and Kazuki together by the end. His efforts can help to drive her passion for her craft as a motivation, and I find that way more compelling than the ending sequence showing Kazuki dreaming of Yuu sweeping her off her feet as she spawns long, womanly hair and dons a feminine dress.

Dealing With Mikadono Sisters continues to be amusing in most places, anyway. Plus it's still got a strong, vibrant look to it. I dig the variously expressive little bear on Yuu's apron, for instance. But I definitely think this series will fare better if it focuses on Yuu ingratiating himself to the girls as a caring family and/or equal-footing love interest—rather than showing off how his effective husbandry skills can tame these shrews. It all still feels weird, but I hope it can swing closer to "fun weird" rather than "weird weird".

Being a genius is hard, isn't it? We have a lot of anime out there that revolve around prodigies or people that excel in particular skills. But even if you do have a significant degree of talent, you still need to be on top of things in order to make sure that that talent doesn't go to waste. I like when shows sort of highlight that prodigies or geniuses have their own struggles that they need to deal with. If that is an angle that this show leans into then I might like it a lot more than what its original appeal seems to be advertising to me.

Mikadono Sisters is a story about an unremarkable kid giving a little bit of normalcy to the lives of three girls who are anything but normal. If anything, they despise the idea of being normal either because of their father, society, or some similar thing that will be introduced during the season. We have seen this set up so many times before that I could tell every plot point a good couple of minutes before it happened. Episode one pretty much ran the gambit of exactly what the show's going to be about and that worries me.

The show teases the idea that our main lead might have a bit of a sadistic side to him and maybe we're going to see some gradual power shifts between him and the other sisters. Whereas the sisters are these dominant figures and personality at school, back home they want to be taken care of and maybe lean towards being a bit more submissive. It would be interesting to see the show go with that angle but that has yet to be seen. I do like the expression work with the character designs and the directing style feels very kinetic—even if there isn't a lot of genuine movement on screen. I'm not sensing anything remarkable here, but maybe something mildly entertaining as the show goes on.

I have to say, the directing and comedic timing of the show is actually really winning me over despite its rather lackluster story. There's a lot of good moments of genuine comedy here that really take advantage of those pop-up character profiles with my favorite one probably being the profiles following the characters as they were running across the entire school. It's pretty unique and I hope it pushes the boundaries of that type of visual gag as the show goes on. There are also a lot of comedic cuts that genuinely did get a laugh out of me so, at the very least, the show is holding my engagement from an entertainment perspective.

The problem is the predictability of the whole setup and how the show hasn't quite yet earned a lot of those flustered romantic moments just yet. The show likes to make it a big point that our main character has the looks and the know-how but he doesn't have the talent to get by. So everyone keeps getting disappointed in him. With the athletic sister, he has seemingly won her over pretty easily with a look and a few choice words. It would've been better for the overall story if that affection was earned through our main characters' talent for hard work and dedication.

My favorite part of this episode was when it was just Yuu and Kazuki working together—the two of them able to build off of each other by pursuing common interests. If the show focused on just doing that one at a time, then it would earn a lot more points from me in terms of genuine heart and execution, even if the overall outcome is still very predictable. This is a solid step up from the premiere and there are a lot of signs of it going in a better direction than what I initially thought with episode one. Let's see if it can maintain that momentum.

I'm not sure how people are still surprised that talent isn't some hereditary gift that you suddenly access by virtue of the providence of your birth. Have we learned nothing from the existence of Chet Haze? Still, I suppose you have to feel bad for Yu Ayase. His mother was apparently his universe's equivalent of Tom Cruise, Margot Robbie, and Hedy Lamarr, all rolled into one. (First of all, kids, look up Hedy Lamarr, because she's a stone-cold badass. Second of all, you have no idea how much work it took to write just that one line, because Hollywood doesn't have any real movie stars anymore, and now I'm depressed about the state of the industry).

Anyways, the point is that Subaru Ayase was apparently God's gift to humankind, but now she's dead, and Yu is stuck at a school meant for the cream of the crop, despite possessing none of his mother's talents or skills. That's pretty rough, to have all of those expectations foisted upon you, and to be all too aware of how much you fall short in every respect.

Except, wait, never mind, I take back what I said about Yu's life being “rough”, because he is the protagonist of a harem anime. This means that, naturally, the Three Royals who rule the roost at Saika Academy are all knockout waifu material and predestined by genre convention to fall madly in love with him. The kid has a mega-hottie in a miniskirt roundhouse kick the bejeesus out of the dude who was bullying him on the mat before the opening credits roll. There's no feeling bad for Yu Ayase. His life is a ridiculous wish-fulfillment fantasy. He can deal with sucking at martial arts, or whatever his meaningless “problems” might be. You might be surprised to find that I don't think it's a bad thing that Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze trades so much in stock romcom clichés. Back when I was a teen, I turned up my nose at anything that I thought was too cliché or meant for cheap, mass appeal. Nowadays, though, I simply appreciate it when a brazen attempt to play on broad emotional beats and familiar tropes puts in a little effort in the execution.

This is a decent-looking anime with an appealing color palette, solid comedic timing, and a cast of characters that is likely to satisfy anyone looking for goofy harem antics. I'm even okay with our twerp of a protagonist, Yu. Unlike so many other anime leads before him, his patheticness is transformed into a recognizable personality trait that the show mines for jokes, rather than being ignored by writers who are too lazy to come up with material. Dealing with Mikadono Sisters isn't trying to be anything other than a fun harem romcom with a cast of likeable characters and some fun visual gags. It succeeds at that goal, which makes it worth checking out for anyone so inclined.

Don't you love it when you're a harem protagonist and you are hand-delivered three specific challenges for each of your prospective girlfriends that relate to their particular interests and goals, which thereby create natural opportunities to improve your bonds with each of them? In real life, I imagine most of the issues of cohabiting with a trio of intense and uber-talented cuties would come down to, like, arguing over who gets what duties on the chore wheel, complaints about someone taking up the laundry machines all day, or simmering resentment over the fact that nobody is taking it upon themselves to take care of the dishes that have been “soaking” in the sink for two days straight. Yu really is a lucky guy, in that respect. Not only does he have clear, identifiable goals to pursue in his contractually obligated yet completely unintentional pursuit of his new roommates' hearts, but he also gets to achieve those goals through the one talent he can truly be proud of: His cooking.

Maybe that's why I like Yu more than a lot of protagonists who have been in his shoes before. He interacts with the Mikadono Sisters like an individual character who is just as goofy and weird as his costars, and the interactions he has with the girls actually make you believe that these ladies would actually come to like (and maybe even like-like) their new, tiny live-in butler. In that sense, Dealing With Mikadono Sisters reminds me of Chained Soldier, except much more chaste. That said, we get enough shower scenes and cheeky innuendos to keep Dealing With Mikadono Sisters from feeling too wholesome and sterile. You've got to strike the right balance of being cute and being pervy in a harem anime, you know what I mean?

The cuteness takes priority, though. This episode focuses on Yu getting to know the Three Royals better, and it does a good job of establishing his rapport with Kazuki, Niko, and Miwa. I like that none of the girls is falling into the role of The Terribly Shy and Awkward One (that's Yu's job, after all), as it keeps all of the sequences moving along. We get plenty of solid jokes, such as Miwa's ability to hold a grudge for an insanely long time, or Yu's godawful attempt to serve as Kazuki's acting partner. It's a thoroughly entertaining half-hour of television. If you are looking for more breezy comedies to add to your watchlist this season, I think you should give Dealing With Mikadono Sisters a shot. You might end up as pleasantly surprised as I have been.

Well. Okay. This is kind of awkward. Somehow I mistakenly watched the second episode of Dealing with the Mikadono Sisters is a Breeze, thinking it was the first one. I managed to keep up well enough, thinking that it just threw us into the situation abruptly. Knowing that that was the second episode and I had missed the actual set up actually makes things make a lot more sense.

Strangely, the first episode reminded me of nothing so much as a gender-swapped Fruits Basket, minus the supernatural elements. A recently orphaned child of a single mother ends up moving in with their remarkable classmates, learns that they're total slobs, and takes on the role of caretaker. Here, however, Yuu has spent his life in the shadow of his extremely talented actress mother, and each of the sisters he has been charged with is a prodigy in her own field. Too caught up in nurturing their own talents, they've completely failed at functioning as a family unit, eating meals separately and letting their large house turn to squalor.

It's very much a harem series—the episode ends with all three of them blushing furiously and each of the girls is bound to fall for Yuu at sooner or later—but it carries potential for the thematic richness that marks the best examples of the genre. Yuu may not be talented in ways that society values, but the show seems to recognize that caretaking skills like cleaning and cooking are just as much a “talent” as anything else. He's a likable kid, sweet-natured but also with a bit of mischief in his heart to keep him interesting.

Even if he can't act, fight, or play the violin, he's inherited his mother's good looks, so the sisters being attracted to him makes sense for a change. Plus, the reason the sisters' home is such a disaster is being a “prodigy” takes hours and hours of hard work. There's also a lot of gender stuff going on; in addition to the obvious, I can't think of the last time I saw three female anime characters just casually wearing pants in a room together. Can you?

As I observed in my, um, earlier review of episode two, Dealing with the Mikadono Sisters is flat-out gorgeous. I mean, it's P.A. Works, so that's expected; their hit rate may not be 100%, but their quality output has remained unusually consistent for their entire history. The second episode may have given me a negative enough first impression that I wanted to overturn the table at my uncle's barbecue, but this one makes me much more inclined to give it a try going forward.

Dealing with the Mikadono Sisters is a Breeze did not endear itself to me right away. I was disinclined toward it based on its harem-y premise and the concept of the mediocre male protagonist having to figure out how to “deal with” a group of talented girls—presumably resulting in them falling in love with him. The episode throws us in right away—it's unclear exactly why Yuu is having to act as the live-in caretaker of these three extremely wealthy girls. If they fail at their specialties, it will be his fault. When he thinks of this, he imagines them defeated, humiliated, and uh… stripped of their clothing. Okay, I don't think your clothes fall off if you lose at shogi or your competitor tries to pull off your gi in a karate match. But I've never played either, so what do I know?

But there wasn't any fan service after that, leaving me to enjoy the parts of the show I liked and feel neutral about the rest. Yuu doesn't win them over through trickery or manipulation, but by sincerely attending to their needs. In this episode, feeding them meals specifically geared toward their needs as specialists. The girls are prickly and suspicious, but accept his help when they see the effort he's put in to address their exact situations. When Kazuki resists his assistance, he tries to learn more about her to resolve the problem. It's actually kind of… sweet? I didn't fall in love with the characters or anything and the writing was fine at best, but I didn't dislike it. I did spend much of my time mentally unpacking the gender of it all, but Preview Guide isn't the time or place for an in-depth analysis, so I'll let that lie.

The show's greatest strength is easily the character designs. Harem though it may be, there's little relying on visual shorthand to express the girls' personalities—that comes through in their expressions and actions, just as one would expect from P.A. Works. The sisters' two-tone hair gives them extra pop in an overall vividly colored production. It's not just the big picture, either; there are small details that show thought and care, like Niko's practical t-shirt and sweats at home.

But then the ending credits rolled over a sequence that concluded with Kazuki dreaming of dancing on-stage with Yuu in a feminine white dress and long hair. Once again, I was smacked in the face with the gender of it all, but this time in a deeply negative way. If there's a boyish girl in an anime or manga, she is almost always depicted as secretly wishing she were more feminine. Because I guess every girl secretly craves gender roles? It left a bad taste in my mouth, spoiling my neutral-to-slightly-positive opinion.

The original manga artist, Aya Hirakawa, reputedly has a history of creating series that play with gender roles, so I am mildly curious about where it goes. Even if whoever made the ED decided to reinforce them instead of exploring them, there's still plenty of room to play.