Anime Review: Gimai Seikatsu

Okay… I will admit that I am a degenerate and am a sucker for stepsibling love stories in anime. I’ve seen my fair share so when I saw Gimai Seikatsu (Days with My Stepsister) on the list for this summer, I had several reactions. The first was… “Woot, new stepsibling degeneracy!” The second was… “Oh, I’m slated to review the manga for Yen Press in June. The third was “Wait, the manga got delayed? Well, I guess I’ll add it to the list and watch it anyway.” The fourth was “Nah, I don’t want to spoil it. I’ll just wait for the manga.” The fifth was “Well, the first episode is out so… do I do it? Do I go for it or wait?” And the final was “Screw it! I’ll just do both.”

And here we are.

Let’s go!

The Story

Yuta comes home and is told by his father that he is going to re-marry. Yuta isn’t bothered by this and says whatever makes him happy is fine with him. He’ll just continue to do whatever and that’s that. His father tells him that’s impossible because his soon-to-be stepmother has a daughter so he will be gaining an imouto! Thanks to the word choice, Yuta figures she’s much younger.

Nope.

She’s only younger than him by a month! Now, they have to learn to live under the same roof; however, they both agree to just be casual, yet, not truly force any issue upon one another. They both just want to live average normal lives and that’s what we see here. We see Yuta and Saki deal with everyday life along with living with each other, trying to make the best of the situation… even though things aren’t bad in a way it is definitely awkward for them to be living together at first.

Over time; however, things change. Yuta and Saki both develop feelings for one another but it’s not something that is apparent, at first. The story explores this deeply from relation of events to how they feel towards one another, questioning if it’s the love between a brother and a sister or if it’s something more that falls into the romantic zone. All the while, there are other external influences at play here that could lead them in different directions.

The Characters

Starting off, we have Yuta Asamura. To be honest, there isn’t anything remarkable about Yuta; however, that’s what makes him remarkable. I know that doesn’t make much sense but when you look at his qualities, he’s pretty laid back albeit thoughtful, he’s helpful and doesn’t mind lending support whenever it’s needed, he’s responsible as he has a part-time job at a bookstore, and he often becomes the voice of reason when it comes to bringing his co-worker Shiori back to reality. So, when you look at him from an external lens, there isn’t anything remarkable about those qualities. Nothing truly stands out as he seems as if he’s just a normal person but when you see the efforts that he goes through to just be a “normal” person, that is where he shines and becomes remarkable. Like, when he was helping Saki study and even went as far as to bring her some music to listen to, or later on when he taught her to be more perceptive of her surroundings in the bookstore. All of his actions carry a certain weight and it makes normal actions seem so much more impactful. This is a very difficult thing to achieve in any medium and Yuta, as a character, pulled it off impressively.

The same can be said for Saki who had a few more layers to her. She’s very monotone in her voice as if she takes things way too seriously; however, when you peel back the layers you realize that while she does take things seriously, it’s because she has a purpose and is determined to see that purpose through. Sometimes, that determination became problematic as she was doing more harm to herself than good but that’s where Yuta came in to balance her out. It’s through these remarkable unremarkable actions that caused something to flourish inside of Saki that made her question what feelings are and what hers were towards Yuta… and she did all this while trying to figure out how her future would look like. Another incredible character!

I mentioned Shiori before but she served to lighten things up and it was a much-needed character considering the gravity of the show from an overall perspective. Although, you could also tell that there were some romantic feelings for Yuta there as well which also played a role into the development of Saki’s psyche throughout the series. Despite being a co-worker, Shiori took her role as Yuta’s senpai in grandstanding fashion! I loved her as a side character although she could be a bit too noisy at times.

Art, Animation, and Sound

This is a rare one for me. Normally, I’ll talk about the art and animation and then say something like “for a slice of life, the soundtrack is what it is.” This time; however, I want to talk about the soundtrack for this show… or lack thereof.

Before I do, the artwork, character design, backgrounds, and animation were all pretty good. Everything accented the scenes well and some of the scenery was downright gorgeous. Studio DEEN did an incredible job here.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about how this show barely has any music in it whatsoever and why this is a good thing. The show presents itself in a very serious and dramatic way. This isn’t a typical step-siblings romance series that you’ll find in something like Domestic na Kanojo, Mint Chocolate, or even Eromanga-sensei. This one is grounded in reality and while I’ll expand on that in my overall thoughts, the usage of silence here is masterful. Because of the lack of sound, you feel the intense gravity and weight of every sentence, every scene, every character action. The fact that music doesn’t get in the way allows you to focus solely on what’s happening and it impacts the tone of the show so much.

Never did I imagine that if you want this show’s soundtrack, sit in a quiet room and close your eyes and you’ll have it. Of course, there is music in this show and when it is used, it commands your attention as much as the silence does. The sound direction for Gimai Seikatsu is absolutely masterful!

Overall Thoughts

As I was about to get into in the sound analysis, Gimai Seikatsu is an anime that grounds itself in reality and makes sure it stays there. It’s a very deep and analytical approach of how your life can change when parents remarry and how you will deal with it. Of course, if you’re a decent human being like Yuta is, you’ll want to be supportive and not cause any friction. You just want everyone to be happy so you do whatever you can to not be a bother or a nuisance while life’s dramatic shift settles and becomes your new normal. That’s how things start out here but as the show progresses, they remain the same all while Yuta and Saki begin to realize that the feelings they have for each other are growing.

At first, those feeling starts off as tolerance. They are tolerant of each other’s presence but they are thinking alike in the sense that they don’t want to cause friction. Because of Saki’s monotone inflections, you’re not sure if she’s annoyed with her new life or just trying to make the best of it. In the end, you realize that she doesn’t mind… she’s just not trying to make any unnecessary waves, the same as Yuta. But, the more she gets comfortable, the more she begins to open up but she expresses that openness with cooking food, or accepting Yuta’s help with studying, showing a little more appreciation for the things he does.

All the while, she’s trying to figure life out and in the process of doing so, those feelings of acceptance and appreciation become a question mark in her head. She wonders if there’s something more. Then jealousy begins to kick in when she sees Shiori. This is accented even further when she applies to Yuta’s workplace and gets a job there. When she has a study session with Keisuke later on, Yuta starts to feel that very same jealousy.

The feelings here are gradual and natural. Of course, there is some drama along the way but it’s not blown out of proportion. It’s just executed so well that it seems like two lives are being lived while everything is within a plane of normalcy. I hope that makes sense because it’s hard to nail down the vibe of the show because it’s just so different from most of the things we are used to seeing from this genre but it’s different in a good way.

The ONLY complaint I would have on this show is that Saki has a LOT, and I do mean a LOT of monologue time and while I understand why, it sometimes hurts the pacing just a little bit. That would be the only negative thing I’d have to say.

Other than that… if you’re a fan of romances and want something different, eye-opening, and just well-executed, Gimai Seikatsu should be at the top of your list of shows to watch.