Danchigai

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tl;dr: A very simplistic but fun manga about a group of five siblings getting along well while living pretty normal lives.

This manga is about a group of five siblings whose parents are always at work and thus they take care of each other on their own. There are four sisters and one brother so that may suggest some sort of harem like dynamic but that isn’t the case at all and there’s no romance whatsoever. Rather, the manga is entirely focused on the bonds between a group of very different siblings who get along really well.

Each of the siblings has a somewhat flat though pretty ... well-defined character. What gives each depth though is in their relationships with each other. The eldest sibling, Mutsuki, despite being a high school student is like the mother of the family. She’s very caring and always tries to be a good role model for her younger sisters who all greatly admire her. The only one she lets her guard around is the second eldest sibling, Haruki, who she’s fine showing her lazy and slobbish side to. She’s also somewhat old fashioned, in that she has bad fashion sense and is terrible at social media. As for Haruki, he’s a pretty heavy gamer, and decent though not exceptional at academics but really bad at athletics. He’s also the kind of person that’ll complain about everything he has to do, but will make sure to do it properly… usually. His being a nerd peeves his younger sister, the middle school student Yayoi, who is terrible at academics, but a great athlete. And though she acts like she hates Haruki most of the time, she’s basically a tsundere brocon. She’s also a much more of what you would expect from a teenage girl in that she’s very into fashion and the internet, and thus helps out the rest of the siblings with that. Lastly, there are the two twins in elementary school, Uzuki and Satsuki. They’re inseparable and do pretty much everything together. However, they have very different personalities. Uzuki is an extrovert that is pretty mischievous and especially loves pranking Haruki. On the other hand, Satsuki is really shy and very into anime, which helps her connect with Haruki in an otaku manner.

Within this setup the vast majority of the manga is just a stream of comedy and slice of life. There are a few other reoccurring characters, but they don’t matter much. There are some serious moments here and there, but not that many. The only real extended plot line is Yayoi studying for and taking high school entrance exams. The manga takes place across a little over a year, and though as students they go through all the standard student stuff, nothing all that important happens. The two eldest siblings don’t really seem to change much at all, Yayoi goes through a bit of character growth, and the twins change tremendously, which I suppose makes sense as in general the younger someone is the faster they mature. Things being that static may seem like it would get pretty repetitive, but I felt it never really did. The comedy is pretty solid and well-paced due to its 4-koma nature, and just the family getting along and helping each other out is pretty nice to see. And thus, while I didn’t really feel like there were any especially strong highs, there were no lows either, and it remained an enjoyable read from beginning to end.

The manga is a 4-koma though it changes quite a bit within that definition. For the first 2/3 or so, it’s a standard 4-koma with two 4-panel strips per page. The starting page of each chapter usually has a larger title art panel, but other than that it sticks pretty rigidly to the format. Around the 2/3rds mark, it switches to wide-panel 4-koma, meaning four panels per page, and it also becomes a lot more flexible to breaking the format. As such, the art in most of the manga for the first 2/3 is only okay, as the only times it has a chance to stand out is the opening pages and extra pages like covers and such. The final third I would definitely consider as having good art though, in that it has more room to show off the art and also in that I think the art itself definitely improved over the series. I would also like to note that the manga had way more color pages than I expected and that they work well with the art style.

Danchigai is a heartwarming Slice-of-Life manga about the daily life of Haruki and his four sisters. The tag "School" is misleading since 99% of the chapters take place in home AFTER they come back from school.

The strongest point of this manga is the characters and their interaction with each other. Their premises are rather simple: Motherly older sister, aggressive/'tsundere' younger sister and little twins who like to play pranks on their brother. But they don't simply remain at that, Haruki's interactions with his sisters makes them feel like real persons and not just shallow archetypes. They experience happiness, sorrow, frustration and help each other out.

tl:dr on bottom

Makes me kinda wish my family was like this.

The story revolves around a family of one guy and four sisters and their daily antics. There is no progression or character development to be found really, but just the status quo of this strange family. I want to say that it's supposed to be a bit comedic, but it's honestly hard to say. Each chapter tends to focus on a different sister's relationship with the MC that day, and each chapter is pretty self-contained.

In terms of the characters, they're all pretty average for what you'd find in manga, like the motherly older sister, the ... otaku brother, the younger sister who for some reason has maybe feelings for her brother (?), younger sister who likes to tease the brother and one that kinda looks up to him. However average they are though, its their dynamic that runs the whole story. There's just something about seeing them interact as a family that is so heartwarming. My favorite chapters are the ones where the brother is out of commission and the sisters realize how grey their lives are without him.

The art is alright I think? Nothing that good or that bad about it. Just average.

Overall, this is another one of those fluffy and chill manga that you'd read to destress, only with a family twist this time. Don't expect to find anything that crazy or new here, just sit down for a relaxing read.

tl:dr- cozy read about a family of 1 guy and 4 girls