First Impressions – Brothers Conflict
Brocon indeed.
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Everyone who was going to talk about this with me got really busy, so I guess it’s just me for Brothers Conflict. OTL So yeah, I absolutely love the game (review coming soonish, I have like, half a route left before I can post part 1), but as for the anime… |
First things first, I highly doubt any of you remember who the brothers are, let alone match names to faces (I know I sure as hell didn’t at first, but I also had dialogue boxes with the character names right there, so I learned quickly). …So I have a small summary here (copy-pasted from the above mentioned review I was hoping to get out before this but never did). I took out some of the more spoilerish details since I’m sure the anime will go into them, but some of this might still be considered spoilers. …Some of which, I wish I could take out, but are unavoidable, so read at your own risk I guess (the spoilers honestly aren’t that big of a deal though). Oh, and I also included ages. If you’re wondering, I’m pretty sure Ema is 16 or 17.
Ema. What happened to you? Seriously, she was practically the most energetic person in the games (maybe second to Wataru, the shota character). I have no idea what happened to her here since all of her personality traits are just… not there. Like, for instance, she was a HUGE fan of Futo (the idol brother) in the game (she was SO excited when he appeared on TV, where Tsubaki and Aszusa were all “meh”) and here she didn’t even know the guy. The same goes for the BL but not really scene with the twins. The scene was originally hilarious due to Ema and Juli’s embarrassed overreactions, but it’s not even that funny here. Are they going to take away Ema’s gaming habits too? I really hope they don’t… But yeah, Ema no longer has a personality. I really, really hope that her awkwardness is just due to the fact that she’s uncomfortable with having to suddenly live with 11 guys and not just because they think people want an –insert yourself here– heroine. Kind of like how Narukami Yu managed to get a personality as the Persona 4 anime went on, maybe Ema gets back her enthusiasm as a sign that her and the Asahina family are becoming less like strangers. She was so cute in the game, I have no idea what happened to her here. OTL I don’t even think they called her by name once (Chi is a nickname), so maybe we have another nameless heroine. Screw that though, I’m still going by her default name, Ema, in my posts.
I was kind of surprised at how much screentime Juli got too. His role in the anime is pretty much the same as the game (aka telling every brother in the house to stay the hell away from Ema), but instead of hearing Ema’s monologue the entire way through, we suddenly have Juli introducing the brothers in a really obvious way. Maybe this is for the best since Ema is pretty boring right now, but I wonder if the anime will go more into Juli’s character. Even I found the talking squirrel aspect really weird and they didn’t explain it at all in the first game. Also, playing the game, I kind of forgot that he existed half the time (except for an ending where Juli is hinted to be more than a talking squirrel), so seeing what the heck his character is would be nice.
The brother introductions… I don’t even know if it’s worth mentioning those. This was the most painfully obvious exposition ever. The game introduction was kind of like this too (only, a bit more subtle), but where I can live with that in a game, it looks terrible in an anime. Did they really need to cover 11 brothers in one episode? They also halfassedly added in some of the route events too, which were kind of boring since Ema is boring. Though I’m not saying that it’s totally a loss, since Kaname was kind of memorable. Ema’s realization that Kaname is more than a playboy seems a bit early. …Though it definitely doesn’t have as much impact coming now as opposed to having him look like a terrible person who only thinks of sleeping with women and then switching to being deeply concerned about his family when there’s an emergency. Maybe this is early set up for Iori’s (the prince character) issues that happen. I don’t know.
Juli. What happened to you?
Finally, my thoughts on production. …Ahaha that ending was so UtaPri, it’s not even funny. The opening wasn’t too bad either. …I’m still having issues with some of the art changes though (see the Juli comparison above). Other than some weirdness I feel with the character designs though, this wasn’t bad animation-wise. There aren’t any super intense action scenes that I can think of (nor any pretty-supernatural scenes like Amnesia had… ignoring the first part of this episode that had no purpose other than looking pretty), so hopefully BrainsBase doesn’t have to drop the quality at all in later episodes due to lack of budget.
Generic brothers are generic (and they don’t get any less generic), but what I absolutely love about this series is the heartwarming family vibes. …Which were absent this episode, but again, I hope this is just due to the new family awkwardness. The character dialogue and interactions were also really fun in the game as well, so I hope this anime manages to include some of that, even with the fact that they’ll have to cut a lot out due to time constraints. …I also hope Miwa and Rintarou show up before the wedding, otherwise it will look like they came out of nowhere. Argh, some of my favourite moments involve Miwa doting on Ema as the daughter she never had. They need to get some of that in here!!! Anyways, I wasn’t all that impressed with this first episode, but hopefully the introductions are over now and we can get into looking more into the characters. Or at least focusing on making the characters more memorable.
…Or they could just put Tsubaki in handcuffs for no reason. That works too.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Uh oh. Ema had a personality but it was removed!? Nuhhhh. T_T Give her, her personality back! She sounds like the kind of girl I would like!
The only guy I know by name for the moment is Kaname but that’s because he was very memorable compared to the other guys for me.
I’m also wondering how in the world they are going to cramp everything into 13 episodes. Or how much this is going to get butchered…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahaha… yeah. Ema was really adorable in the game! She was still your rather generic heroine, but she was still adorable, …They took that all away here.
Yay for remembering at least one of them!
Uhhh… have no idea. I expect the confessions to come on rather quickly to be honest.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
That’s not logical. If she had a personality IN THE GAME, why the hell did they turn her into a brick in a show… shouldn’t it be the other way around?
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Hopefully her personality will come out later on. Maybe they wanted to focus on the introductions in this episode and he personality will come out later?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The stuff you talk about that individualizes whatsername (yeah, I know it’s Ema, but did they even mention that? The only name was ‘Chi’ that Juli called her) would have been really welcome. Like seeing her fangirling over the idol on TV, or have her playing a video game and interrupted, or something. As it was, her reaction to Tsubaki and Azusa’s ‘confession’ was the best thing about her.
The only guy I actually liked was Subaru, because he is the only one besides Wataru who didn’t come off as a smarmy skeever. Kaname was just awful… *gross*. And while I’m not a huge adherent to the “1/2 + 7” rule of thumb for age difference, it does seem quite a bit weird that 1) all these older guys are living in this same house and haven’t ever found a girl of their own or gone their own way yet 2) they all go gaga over their new ‘imouto’, which itself is pretty skeevy. I mean, given their reaction to Ema, you’d think they’d have been trying to find themselves a partner, so either they haven’t been trying, or they have and have *utterly failed* at it, which doesn’t point to good things. Although as kimoi as they’ve been with Ema, I can maybe see why they failed to get a different girl…
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
*shrug* It’s an otome game? XD Ema has pheromones that just draws men to her and make them love her?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
True, about the older brothers thing. Why the heck haven’t they gotten relationships of their own and moved out? They only name two who have their own places and not because they have families of their own, but because of work or something. Are ALL thirteen boys unlucky in love? Because I do find that kind of hard to buy. And even if I shorten it by dismissing Futo and Wataru (who I consider too young for anything other than a crush), that’s still 11 left. Not one of them has a girlfriend or a wife or a significant other, or something?
Most of your reverse harem guys are usually around the same age to make the choice a little more difficult, however there is such a large age gap here (31 to 10) that it’s a little weird and you know there are just relationships that will never work. For example, as weirded out as I was seeing a 26 year-old Kaname hitting on a 16 year-old Chi, I am really going to count him out of the running.
I know in the beginning they show two of the boys with her, but I’m still going to count all the eligible boys: which really out of the 13 are only: Subaru, Iori, and Yusuke. (Yes, despite the suggested love tetrakaidecagon, we are probably only going to have a love triangle, or a love square at most) All the others are more than likely going to play side roles that reflect more of the family aspects of the series rather than the romantic.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
A shortish explanation that doesn’t really explain everything:
They’re not really in a house as much as an apartment complex. …An apartment complex with a random living area. So they all kind of live on their own, but get together for meals and whatnot.
As for the guys, some of them have explanations…
Nothing for Masaomi (I think he mentioned having a girlfriend in high school), Ukyo was in a relationship at some point that didn’t go so well, Kaname has another woman practically every night (but nothing serious), I have nothing to say for Tsubaki/Azusa/Natsume/Rui, Iori has SERIOUS ISSUES based around the whole relationship thing, Yusuke only has eyes for Ema and Subaru can’t handle girls since his whole life has been a sausagefest. …Or at least, those were the game/LN relationships the brothers mentioned.
…And you’d be surprised about Futo.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Are they the only ones in the apartment complex (with that many people they probably took up all the units), if so, you might as well say they are all living in the same house. Especially since lawyer guy looks like he cooks and cleans for everyone, while doctor guy basically looks after everybody. The way they portrayed it, it looks as if they own the whole building.
Just for a bit of clarification: is Iori the lilac haired one with a pastel school uniform? And is Subaru the basketball star or the red-haired rebel? My subtitles didn’t make it clear to me.
Also, thanks to your explanations of characters, and the fact that this seems to be a standard reverse harem, I’m guessing that it’s Iori and Yusuke that will form the final love triangle. The emotionally damaged one and the one who has been a long-time admirer seem to be the more obvious. However, the one who isn’t used to women is a possibility too, the social clumsiness of those kind of characters can be seen as quite charming.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, I if I remember correctly, it’s a private apartment complex. ….Since they own a vacation house too, I have this image in my head that Miwa is rolling in money.
You have Iori correctly, but Yusuke is the red-haired rebel. Subaru is the one who was walking around in just a towel or whatever.
Actually, I think Iori’s plot mostly revolves around Kaname… You’re right about Yusuke and Subaru though (I think, based on some of the game events).
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
She’d HAVE to be rolling in money to support that many kids as a single parent with each of them able to afford their own apartment, including the ten year-old.
Okay so Yusuke is the redhead, and Subaru is the basketball guy. Well, at least I now have three characters together. 10 more to go…:(
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, it’s really rare for a harem to have more than 3 serious contenders when it gets to an anime adaptation. Usually, they have a couple others who are long-shots, who you know are never going to have a real chance, but they keep their fans happy, and usually they maroon a couple in the friendzone or even comic relief (Tendou-kaichou in Who is Imouto? comes immediately to mind).
I think that a lot of the guys are definitely out of the running, not that that makes Kaname’s Kip Winger act any better…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Actually, I have it in my head that the triplets are the -main guys- due to a bunch of reasons.
-The games names “Passion Pink” and “Brilliant Blue” are Tsubaki and Azusa’s in game theme colours
-their VA sing the OP and ED songs
-they get a 3P ending in the games where nobody else does
and if you want me to spoil part of the novels
Show ▼
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Twins (triplets)to me never seem to work out. Despite the fact that they’re already too old (24), they don’t look like final love material. Like Hikari and Kaoru of Ouran, while Kaoru had some really serious feelings, anyone with eyes knew the final choice was going to be Tamaki.
Who knows, it’s possible, but I just don’t see it.
Also, aren’t all the boys singing the ED along with Juli? And the OP is listed as being sung by Gero?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
This is just my view on the games, I don’t know if the anime is going to go with this or not…
Oh, I mean in the game. Toriumi and Suzumura (the twin’s seiyuu) sing pretty much everything. I have yet to play Brilliant Blue since it’s being released in September, but I imagine they’ll be singing the ED to that as well since they’re doing the OP again.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ugh, I wish you guys could have seen in her in the game during the date events.
Ema: “Look! Penguins!!!! How adorable!!!!!!!!”
Brother: “Ema, calm down or you’re going to tri-”
Ema:*trips*
…Or watching her fangirl all over the anime Azusa is voicing in. Or really, any scene in the game.
Pfftahaha Kaname is supposed to be gross at first really. There’s a joke in the game where even the temple he works at is more like a host club. The eldest isn’t that bad and I expect him to act more like family than (as Juli would put it) a wolf. Azusa is more of a herbivore as well and he keeps Tsubaki in line.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Man, I really hope that these elements you mentioned with this series will be in it and soon. Because this was an awful, first impression for me. Ema or Chi or whatever her name is, is not even one of your usual annoying reverse harem chick…she hasn’t even got that far! She’s as boring as a sheet of blank paper, with absolutely no personality or character traits to her name! As you say though, hopefully she will develop them, because as of now, she is second only to Heroine of Amnesia in terms of blandness.
As for the brothers, I knew they were going to be anime male cliche tropes, it’s almost impossible to have a reverse harem without them. However, it’s up to the show to breath life into these tropes and make them interesting. BroCon failed to do that.
I honestly hope they mention each of their names an awful lot or else I’m going to keep calling them by their cliches (sporty one, effeminate one, cross-dresser one, serious twin, flirty twin, etc.), even with your picture I still had a hard time telling who was who. The only one I remember is the redhead Subaru and that’s only because my car is a Subaru Forester. -_-
And even on top of bombarding us with these boys without even giving us a chance to know them, they are ALL some of the most boring, also personality-less characters as well, never moving outside of said tropes. Even the “ladies man monk one” (Kaname was it?)is still holding to the “guy who charms women but is quite a very decent guy underneath” cliche. I’m sorry to say this, but even the Amnesia guys (also some of the most blatant cliches on earth (except for Ukyo <3)) had more personality and originality here. I'm really hoping that we can see them develop into actual characters and not simply cardboard cutouts. Juli annoys me, but since he's the only living thing with an actual character in this premiere, I will take what I can get.
In all honesty I couldn't do what Ema is doing, so I will give her that. I could not move into an apartment building with 13 boys that I never knew without any close family or friends with me, I don't care if they are step-brothers. Maybe after some time connecting perhaps, but before even meeting them?! I think not. I’m also not an advocate of romantic relationships between siblings (blood-wise or not), but we’ll see how this goes.
I actually interested in seeing all the paint-by-numbers situations play out: Ema’s meeting with the cross-dresser brother only to not recognize him at first (as a guy or as a brother), her to get in trouble somehow and have like 8 of her brothers show up out of nowhere to be protective of their new sister showing that she’s no longer alone, her to do something nice for the rebel brother and for him to get mad and later apologize for being such a jerk, etc., etc.
Well, this was episode one, and boy was it bland. For someone who’s never had any experience with this property until now, I can tell you that it put its worst foot forward here. I hope it gets better and I will wait through my 3 episode trial period, but this episode really dashed a lot of my hopes. I give this episode a 4/10.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Heh, they need to mention it more. Subaru’s the one with the short gray hair (I actually do remember his name because he’s the non-skeevy one). Yusuke is the classmate with red hair who has had the crush on Ema.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
SEE! I can’t even remember which hair color goes with which name! Especially since some seem to have the same looks and hair colors! Suburu was the only name I remembered and I put it to the wrong guy…
So what’s the name of the redhead with hair like Amy form Gargantia? You know, the tsundere one?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Nevermind, I got it, the redhead is Yusuke.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The Amnesia heroine was a lost cause, but really. I have an idea what they’re going for with Ema, but still. There are novels with her name written right there! She has a default name! USE IT.
Amnesia also had that extra layer where all of them were royally screwed up beneath their personalities though (minus maybe Kent). Plus the plot had that. BroCon is 100% happy family fun times except when there’s family drama. …So if they take away the character interaction, there’s not much here. Long story short, I see where you’re coming from.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD YOU NAILED THOSE PLOT POINTS. …Ahaha is this really that predictable?
Er, good luck. I’m with this all season, but hopefully you stick around.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Sigh…I’ll actually probably stick around. I rarely drop single cour series I’ve started, unless it just becomes too stupid to bear. ( I couldn’t through the 1st ep of Uta no Prince) I sat through Amnesia, so that has to mean something. 🙂
And yes, unfortunately those are common plot situations in reverse harems. They even happen in very good ones like Ouran and Fruits Basket, so I expect it.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 207 comments
Gahhh! Otome centered animes always get to me! Hrrnnggghh! By that notion, hmm Brothers Conflict doesn’t seem that bad. Though I have to admit some of the brothers don’t look THAT cute to me. Still Bishie-looking, but most are not to my cup of tea when it comes to appeareance-wise. (Though however, the visual novel versions of ALL of them look sexy as hell! 0w0; Aghhh what happened??)
Anyway the episode itself, I mean it’s as meh as it can be. I hope Ema will get better, I mean I still like her from this episode, but it’s just WAYYYY to obvious of how bland her personality is. I pretty sure Juli had more things to say in this episode then Ema.
I really hope this anime can still be enjoyable from a standpoint, because I think the set-up is good enough where I can watch it for 13 episodes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…I wish I could answer that. I don’t really like the anime designs either.
As long as they give Ema back her personality and avoid trying to fit every single brother into every single episode, I think this could work out. What they need to do now is focus on fleshing out some of the brothers so there’s less confusion and more to the characters. OTL
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
One wonders how many husbands/partners Ema’s stepmother went through before marrying Mr. Hinata…
Something tells me she and Samantha Jones from Sex & the City would get along perfectly.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
From what I’ve been told, it’s only one dad, which unfortunately is too much for my suspension of disbelief. There has to be another factor in there somewhere. Maybe the mother had some genetic manipulation done, or went in vitro with different sperm banks to have her kids since her husband was infertile. There has to be some explanation, because I refuse to believe that all 13 of those kids came from one man’s genetic code!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Just one husband actually. …And then he conveniently died. xD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Okay. I watched Amnesia 2 days ago too. Harem Summer! Amnesia wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. So I’m hoping for BrainsBase.
But remembering all those names and faces is a pain. Introducing all of them at once was a bad idea. But maybe they just got it out of the way to clear more screentime? I hope so.