Minami-ke Betsubara OAD

Complementing the release of the final volume of Minami-ke Okaeri on DVD came this single episode OVA (or OAD as they like to call them these days) as something of a bonus episode to the series. Seeing as I've religiously watched the Minami-ke franchise through good times and bad, it would be remiss of me not to check it out.

The episode begins with Hosaka once again looking for a way into Haruka's heart, and as per usual food is the answer that he comes up with. What follows is perhaps one the funniest moment of the episode, with Hosaka espousing the wonders of the much-maligned carrot in the middle of a supermarket, in front of a bemused Chiaki. Still, it's enough to get her to start eating carrots at last, filling Haruka with joy in not quite the way Hosaka would have intended as it gives her free reign to create as many carrot-related dishes as she pleases. Ninjin loves you yeah!


From here we get some more gender confusion angst from Mako, who worries that Yoshino has discovered his secret, a concern not exactly helpoed by Kana who manages to persuade him that Yoshino is clearly some kind of sadist who is deriving pleasure from inflicting psychological torment upon our hapless lad in a dress. By the time this chunk of the episode is out, gender confusion has simply turned into outright confusion, leaving us with a final Valentine's Day related segment to the episode. To cut a long story short this state of affairs ends with what is quite possibly the happiest moment of Fujioka's life as he receives some chocolate from Kana - Sadly for him, what he views as Valentine's Day chocolate is in fact "eat when tired" chocolate, with Kana forgetting what day it is completely. Oh well, free chocolate is never a bad thing no matter the circumstances.

Overall, this episode was pretty typical Minami-ke fare - Not wall to wall laugh out loud funny, but with a pretty likeable bunch of characters and a few amusing moments to see it through. Indeed, the overall properties of this OAD fits into the modus operandi of the series it accompanies perfectly - As I'm sure I've said before this franchise is no Lucky Star or Hidamari Sketch, but there are less entertaining ways to while away half an hour or so. Speaking of such things, it's time to go and watch some more Shangri-la...