So, I knew from the start that no matter how good it was – or wasn’t – basically no one would be paying Uchi no Otouto-domo ga Sumimasen any attention in English. Even if it was great – which for the record I wasn’t expecting – it’s just the sort of show that gets roundly ignored. As much as I pretend that has no impact on my coverage decisions, it kind of does. It can be a tiebreaker at least. I’d never not cover something that was great for that reason, no way. But if it were a tossup and a busy day, it could matter.

In the event it’s not great, but I do think Please Excuse My Younger Brothers is legitimately quite good. It has an outstanding director in Nanba Hitoshi and the story and characters work pretty well. There are some tropey elements to it but by shoujo standards, it’s not remotely off the hook in that way. I’ve also noticed that for two weeks running the B-part has been much better than the A-part (that has Nanba’s fingerprints all over it), and that’s often a leading indicator of a show’s staying power.

I do feel like the brothers are getting fleshed out a s individuals, though Gen is obviously 1-A. He’s as tsundere as it gets but the dynamic between he and Ito is believable, largely because each of them are individually dysfunctional in believable ways. He keeps trying to keep her from getting hurt by getting too close to his family, and thinks by acting tough and detached he can protect himself. She tries to be a martyr and do everything for everybody to keep anyone from abandoning her. It’s all painfully obvious from the outside looking in, but I like that the writing doesn’t spell that out for us.

I also like the way Rui has attached himself Ito, which is likewise a very realistic turn of events. As the youngest – and with the next brother isolating himself – Rui would be the one most desperate for someone to bond with. He’s also been living without a mom and while Saho theoretically is the replacement, it’s Ito he has the most interaction with. The whole Hokkaido thing is a bit of manufactured drama but the way it drove a wedge into the group dynamic rang very true. I like a lot of what this series is doing, certainly enough to keep it firmly in the mix for the present.