Oniichan wa Oshimai!

Onimai is the sort of anime I’m legally not allowed to admit I watched without risking it being a criminal confession. But despite all, it was rather a wholesome little experience.

Onii-chan wa Oshimai, or Onimai as it’s affectionately called, attempts to explore a fundamental question every anime fan has pondered since the beginning of time: what if an unemployed shut-in university age otaku/weeb dude suddenly turned into an adorable middle school age girl?

I really loved the way this show introduced its premise to the audience. In an average boring anime with this setting, you’d be given a five minute exposition dump about how the mc ... is an irredeemable NEET with zero social skills and heavily into otaku media, showing him play some generic looking rpg or watch an absolute dogshit in-world anime. But here, we don’t even get to know it’s supposed to be a dude until almost two minutes into the first episode. All we see is a young girl waking up in a rather unbefitting messy room with questionable magazines and empty crumpled packets laying around the floor, lewd figurines displayed on the shelves and the small table next to her futon filled up with random items and of course, messy. The face reflected on the turned-off screen of her tab seems oddly confusing to her. As she gradually gets up, feeling odd in her body, the clothes she has on seem way oversized, the sweatpants even dropping to the floor as she walks towards the shelves. And when she finally sees her appearance in the tab’s front camera after placing it on the shelf, her confusion finally takes on a solid form (btw you get to see in-world counterparts of Kemono Friends and KonoSuba light novels behind the tab on the same compartment of the shelves). She then spends a moment pinching her cheeks and striking all sorts of poses in front of the camera, as if she were testing something. As a viewer, unless you are already aware of the show’s premise, you also find yourself just as lost about what is going on, which pulls you into the immersive experience, wondering what this character is so confused about, going through a full range of emotions, displaying hilarious and colorful expressions in response to whatever is going on. And then finally she says it: “Hang on, hang on, stay calm. I’m Oyama Mahiro, avid eroge gamer and self-sufficient home security officer. I’m supposed to be a young man in his prime.”

Bro calls his hikikomori self a home security officer 😭 More importantly, bro is no longer bro?? Well, that is why the show is named “Brother has ended”, I guess lmao. There’s even a wordplay in the title. So like, dude is supposed to be the brother of this genius sister who created this formula that can turn a grown ass man into a little anime loli. Why? Cuz somehow it’s part of her plan to make him a functional member of society again? Anyhow, now the two of them are “sisters”. In Japanese, the word “shimai” means either a set of sisters (noun) or being a girl’s sister (verb). See? Onii-chan is now O-shimai.

Anyway, now assuming it’s not a cheap dumb anime, you might think this show is perhaps about exploring the idea of gender transition, but I think you’d be wrong and disappointed. Then, you might further, and reluctantly, consider that it’s a gag show that wants to use this premise for overabundance of fanservice, and you’d be half-right. The way I’d describe it is that it’s about exploring the idea of girlhood from the perspective of someone who has never been a girl. Sure, it’s filled with scenes that can easily be labeled as fan-service—a prospect I’m not at all against as I believe fan-service can be just as effective a tool to enrich the narrative—or rather out of context would seem nothing but that, but none of it particularly feels like it’s meant to be arousing. They’re just girls being girls. Perhaps that alone is enough to turn some people on (no judgment), but it’s just them being who they are. In fact, the first thing the sister does (after explaining that she just made him her guinea pig without asking), is to convince him that females experience ecstasy hundred times more strongly than guys so if he does anything indulgent, it’ll literally fry his brain. Now the dude is too traumatized to even enjoy his beloved eroge. I think for the viewers, it subconsciously sets up that sort of mental boundaries going in as well. Things are just the way they are, nothing to be worked up over.

I think for the first few episodes, it does a splendid job of exploring how it’s like to be a girl… well, more like how it’s like to be a girl in a somewhat wholesome moe anime. In reality, a lot of things are probably a lot more complicated but I digress. And it portrays it quite brilliantly from the perspective of a dude with little knowledge about the experiences of a girl, all while pumping out clever jokes delivered hilariously. And its aesthetic presentation is crafted brilliantly and animated with care. In fact, I started watching this literally because I saw its ED theme and was absolutely blown away by the energetic animation all over. There’s a lot of attention put into the details, especially in terms of how the characters move around. And did I say it’s super good with expressions? Well I’ll say it again, it’s expressive as heck.

But as it progressed, it felt like it started to meander through the rest of its run when it comes to the part about exploring femininity from a former guy’s perspective. Honestly, if you’ve seen enough anime, this structure of the story is easily recognizable. Anime with a bizarre setup and themes exploring it well within the first few episodes but then the rest becoming sorta just running through the usual tropes but in the context of their unusual premise, until the end where suddenly the tranquility is threatened/questioned. And as predicted it has a slight tension at the end before… well, find out by yourself. Frankly I would’ve preferred if this show didn’t fall into this same old structure but it does still kinda works in its context since the strange premise becomes an everyday matter to the characters as well, and as a viewer, you kinda also ease into their routine until the routine is finally questioned so you can feel the same shock the characters do. I can appreciate that experience but still it’s a bit too predictable and tame for my tastes. That earlier boldness was my favorite part of the show too, and it definitely could do a lot more than resorting to a safe structure. I also feel that it loses some of its edge when it comes to the attention to detail. But it’s still a very fun and wholesome experience, with characters who really grow on you and scenes that are quite emotionally satisfying, filled with amusing gags and references and easter eggs. And it still looks solid all throughout the run, so not much to complain about there.

This is more like an “I watched a thing and I have some thoughts about it” sort of post than a thorough review. Even though it had the potential to be something special, it has chosen to be satisfied with a much less ambitious run. Give it a shot if you want. You might find yourself on the FBI watchlist, but CIA is already monitoring everything you do anyway.

This Series does not adapt all the chapters and it adapts them in an odd order. This anime is fun and good but like horimiya just read the manga and get a fuller picture.

if you see this review after wards you only missed chapter 4(very trans), 19, and 23, along with most bonus chapters/pages

The anime itself is still good, with a bubbly art style that makes our cast look good. the humor in this is good for an anime but what makes this series any fun is watching the characters interact. The main cast are all so charming and distinct.

The premise is from the get-go that a man (older brother, true gamer nerd/enthusiast, recluse but ultimately harmless) wakes up having been turned into what looks like a pre-teen girl by his "mad scientist" sister, via a drug. In her room she has a manual on her desk which deetails how she wants to turn him into her little sister, meaning this is entirely deliberate with an agenda.

It SOUNDS like this should be a hilarious comedy to give a guy what he deserves in order to appreciate what being a girl or a woman is like, as punishment.
That's not at all what it is. ... This is entirely about a selfish wish from the sister's side to get rid of her nerd brother and gain a cute little sister that she can dress up and take care of and the brother-turned-sister just goes along with it for no good reason with no strong opinions one way or the other.

It's dressed up as being wholesome and shows some awkward situations because it's a gender-bender, but really it just seems like a small girl's coming of age slice of life with questionable fan service. Gotta ask, why isn't that just the story?

So you're left wondering where the plot is going and why you're looking at pre-teen panty shots. Where's the joke?
If you think about the premise a little, this is a creepy story about a woman who abuses her sibling and psychologically manipulates them, besides the fact that she drugged him with what seems like permanent side effects.
Again, this could've been interesting, she could've been a genuine psychopath who mentally tortures her brother, but instead it's played off completely straight and even lovingly.

Moral of the story? It's better to be forcefully gender transitioned and socially groomed than be a male recluse.

You tell me how this isn't wildly thoughtless and even offensive.

I'd like to touch on another thing which is the topic of being transgender in the 2020's.
How odd and insensitive it must be to watch someone with no interest in becoming the opposite sex just get a pill or some liquid and magically transform with no effort, no pain or any cost.
I'm not an "ally", I don't particularly think encouraging being trans is at all healthy or the right thing to do, but I can't help but feel that this show has to just twist the knife for a person who wants to be the opposite sex and feels genuine grief with who they are.

It's not the show-maker's responsibility for how it makes people feel, but I think it's another thoughtless and irresponsible way of approaching what could've been a good and interesting story.

It's not impossible to view past its flaws and just enjoy a 'wholesome' story with a bit of ecchi, but man... this is in poor taste.