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おにいさまへ… [Oniisama e...] #1
おにいさまへ… 1
名門女子高・青蘭学園高等部に進学した奈々子は、毎日華やかな上級生たちに胸をときめかせていた。そして、生徒の誰もが憧れる特別に選ばれた者しか入れない「ソロリティ」の存在を知る…。名門女子校の社交クラブに渦巻く、嫉妬と捻じれた欲望…池田理代子が描くエレガントな愛憎劇、第1巻！
Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Riyoko Ikeda
390 books277 followersRiyoko Ikeda (池田理代子) is a Japanese manga author and soprano singer.
As one of the 24-gumi, she has written and illustrated many shōjo manga, many of which are based on European historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution.
Her most famous manga is Versailles no bara (ベルサイユのばら, The rose of Versailles).
Other famous works include Oniisama e... (おにいさまへ…, Dear Brother) and Orpheus no mado (オルフェウスの窓, The Window of Orpheus) that won an Excellence award at Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 1980.
As one of the 24-gumi, she has written and illustrated many shōjo manga, many of which are based on European historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution.
Her most famous manga is Versailles no bara (ベルサイユのばら, The rose of Versailles).
Other famous works include Oniisama e... (おにいさまへ…, Dear Brother) and Orpheus no mado (オルフェウスの窓, The Window of Orpheus) that won an Excellence award at Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 1980.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 14, 2023
Now this is the melodramatic lesbian blueprint. I already knew the characters, so reading this was a blast. My favourites are probably Shinobu, trash daughter, and Kaoru, sports butch. The main pairing (Nanako/Rei) is difficult to really invest in when you know how compromised Rei's whole emotional landscape is, but I'm coming round to the idea that there's something in how she allows Nanako to be close to her in her darkest and most vulnerable moments. It's just a shame she's not better to the people around her, but it's not difficult to sympathise with a depressed, neglected teenager, so I'll forgive her.
Like other subversive Shōjo of the '70s, in here you'll find drug addiction, self-harm, divorce, possible incest, creepy adult men, etc. But there's also loads of lesbians and bisexual girls, and some of them wear fancy suits. However, if you're looking for a straightforward romance, you won't find it here.
Like other subversive Shōjo of the '70s, in here you'll find drug addiction, self-harm, divorce, possible incest, creepy adult men, etc. But there's also loads of lesbians and bisexual girls, and some of them wear fancy suits. However, if you're looking for a straightforward romance, you won't find it here.
June 15, 2023
It's both heartwarming and heartbreaking to see a manga from half a century ago have better queer representation than many popular jp texts from the 21st century. There's no fetishisation of queerness. No shock outing. Queer identities are not a joke to be played, a tragedy waiting to happen, nor a site for liberal moralists to support in pity. Bisexuality is simply the unspoken norm in Dear Brother.
There're some fun iterations on male character tropes, demystified of their performative rigidity through their transplantation to an all girls' high school. Masculinity becomes an iterative and associative complex, no longer reified to sex, but rather connected to activities, relations, and signifiers like basketball, straightforwardness, and emotional support; or cigarette smoke, detachment, and the death drive.
There's also a surprising depth to Dear Brother's depiction of more problematic tropes like queer suicide, an event that involves an accident, rather than an intentional act. It's not misunderstanding or fear of one's desires that leads to death, but prolonged emotional and drug abuse. As Erica Friedman points out, the character who dies turns away from their abuser to instead affirm healing through sisterhood. But not all of us survive healing from abuse, however much we want to.
Lastly, while the manga takes place at a private girls' high school, by the end of the story the highly coveted sorority club is critiqued as a structure of class power that generates infighting, bullying, and literal death. While the sorority club is not explored as deeply as it could have been (is the normalisation of inequality and infighting a preparation for a ruthless job market?), Ikeda nonetheless ties the insecurities and instabilities of the school's students to the school's organising structures. Subjectivity is not merely an individualist quirk, nor a reaction to familial circumstance. It is activity iterated and instituted. Through the abolition of the sorority club, we're granted the promise of an alternative future. We might not get back our friends, but we prevent their second deaths in the students who follow us.
There're some fun iterations on male character tropes, demystified of their performative rigidity through their transplantation to an all girls' high school. Masculinity becomes an iterative and associative complex, no longer reified to sex, but rather connected to activities, relations, and signifiers like basketball, straightforwardness, and emotional support; or cigarette smoke, detachment, and the death drive.
There's also a surprising depth to Dear Brother's depiction of more problematic tropes like queer suicide, an event that involves an accident, rather than an intentional act. It's not misunderstanding or fear of one's desires that leads to death, but prolonged emotional and drug abuse. As Erica Friedman points out, the character who dies turns away from their abuser to instead affirm healing through sisterhood. But not all of us survive healing from abuse, however much we want to.
Lastly, while the manga takes place at a private girls' high school, by the end of the story the highly coveted sorority club is critiqued as a structure of class power that generates infighting, bullying, and literal death. While the sorority club is not explored as deeply as it could have been (is the normalisation of inequality and infighting a preparation for a ruthless job market?), Ikeda nonetheless ties the insecurities and instabilities of the school's students to the school's organising structures. Subjectivity is not merely an individualist quirk, nor a reaction to familial circumstance. It is activity iterated and instituted. Through the abolition of the sorority club, we're granted the promise of an alternative future. We might not get back our friends, but we prevent their second deaths in the students who follow us.
August 23, 2024
5 stars
I randomly watched Dear Brother at the end of July and finished it in August this year and it changed my life and my brain chemistry. I hate the last four episodes, but I love the show. I instantly looked up the volumes of the original manga because I needed to see and know the differences between the manga and the anime.
The characterization is so much better in the anime and that meant that I loved the pacing and tension that was built up; it helped that the anime is 39 volumes compared to only 3. I don't feel as much tension in the manga because the scenes hop around so quickly, but the ideas and basis are there. I see the vision, but it wasn't fully realized. I'd say this volume is around the first 10 episodes of the anime and a lot of the character buildup I love and am obsessed with is not in the manga due to the short chapters. Despite those flaws, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Oniisama E (or Dear Brother).
I randomly watched Dear Brother at the end of July and finished it in August this year and it changed my life and my brain chemistry. I hate the last four episodes, but I love the show. I instantly looked up the volumes of the original manga because I needed to see and know the differences between the manga and the anime.
The characterization is so much better in the anime and that meant that I loved the pacing and tension that was built up; it helped that the anime is 39 volumes compared to only 3. I don't feel as much tension in the manga because the scenes hop around so quickly, but the ideas and basis are there. I see the vision, but it wasn't fully realized. I'd say this volume is around the first 10 episodes of the anime and a lot of the character buildup I love and am obsessed with is not in the manga due to the short chapters. Despite those flaws, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Oniisama E (or Dear Brother).
September 22, 2024
INCREDIBLE art, but what else do you expect from Riyoko Ikeda? I am actually liking this a bit more than the anime. While the adaptation did a very good job, the emotions feel a bit realer in the manga?
December 29, 2025
Riyoko Ikeda, te quiero
June 9, 2015
I read a translation of this. It's melodramatic and addictive, and I will never not love it. I am not sure how many times I've already read it. I am not sure how many times I've re-read it. I think probably the closest thing to this I've seen is Maria-sama ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us), or other works by Riyoko Ikeda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oniisama_e...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oniisama_e...
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January 26, 2024One of the lower quality fan translations I've read.
March 26, 2019
4,5/5
Literalmente acabo de terminarlo y a estas alturas puedo afirmar que amo con locura el estilo de Riyoko Ikeda 😍
Obviamente hay algunas cosas que me hicieron ruido al momento de leer, pero hay que tener en cuenta la época en la que fue escrita la historia (que ya de por sí es bastante transgresora en cuanto a los temas que se tocan y el público al que va dirigida).
De momento la única gran "queja" que tengo para la trama es que el encuentro del principio es demasiada casualidad, pero eso es todo, todo lo demás se da con un buen ritmo y, a pesar de no centrarse solo en una cosa, uno no se pierde en ningún momento y entiende todo a la perfección.
Se tocan temas delicados, que calculo que se extenderán en los siguientes tomos; los personajes son geniales (es imposible no shippear a todos con todos), y la trama engancha desde el principio (aunque no se sepa bien para dónde van a ir las cosas).
Quiero seguir leyendo, necesito saber qué va a pasar.
De momento es más que recomendable!
Dato: este manga envejeció re bien, si me decís que Sailor Moon es mucho más antiguo te creo.
Literalmente acabo de terminarlo y a estas alturas puedo afirmar que amo con locura el estilo de Riyoko Ikeda 😍
Obviamente hay algunas cosas que me hicieron ruido al momento de leer, pero hay que tener en cuenta la época en la que fue escrita la historia (que ya de por sí es bastante transgresora en cuanto a los temas que se tocan y el público al que va dirigida).
De momento la única gran "queja" que tengo para la trama es que el encuentro del principio es demasiada casualidad, pero eso es todo, todo lo demás se da con un buen ritmo y, a pesar de no centrarse solo en una cosa, uno no se pierde en ningún momento y entiende todo a la perfección.
Se tocan temas delicados, que calculo que se extenderán en los siguientes tomos; los personajes son geniales (es imposible no shippear a todos con todos), y la trama engancha desde el principio (aunque no se sepa bien para dónde van a ir las cosas).
Quiero seguir leyendo, necesito saber qué va a pasar.
De momento es más que recomendable!
Dato: este manga envejeció re bien, si me decís que Sailor Moon es mucho más antiguo te creo.
November 2, 2024
Beautiful and decadent, an ambitious story of young women’s beauty, love, sorrow and suffering. When Nanako finishes middle school, she starts writing to an older man who she has come to consider her brother. She also moves to a prestigious all-girls school with an elite sorority that promises the best of futures for those who take part — and is, against all odds, accepted into it. The young women she’ll meet there will change her forever.
Oniisama e… is a gorgeous piece of work who explores all the ugliness behind the beauty of young women, in all ways — blackmailing, manipulation, drugs, disease and jealousy. It has statements to say about the ways love can and cannot save you, and about the special ways women love (or hate) each other. Definitely a strong recommendation for anyone looking after a lesbian read, so long as you’re open to unhappy stories. I’m glad I decided to read it.
Oniisama e… is a gorgeous piece of work who explores all the ugliness behind the beauty of young women, in all ways — blackmailing, manipulation, drugs, disease and jealousy. It has statements to say about the ways love can and cannot save you, and about the special ways women love (or hate) each other. Definitely a strong recommendation for anyone looking after a lesbian read, so long as you’re open to unhappy stories. I’m glad I decided to read it.
February 5, 2023
Intensa historia sobre manipulación, femeneidad y soledad. Refleja muy duramente los problemas de las mujeres jovenes y como ellas se desgastan. Así como también representa de forma espectacular los estereotipos de género. De igual forma, Riyoko Ikeda es una genia con el uso del lenguaje, la narración y su espectacular dibujo que logra representar el dolor juvenil
November 12, 2024
Ah, el buen shōjo de los 70...
Si yo no tengo mi dosis de adolescentes ricachonas en institutos femeninos que se sienten miserables porque no pueden con la intensidad de los sentimientos que tienen hacia chicas andróginas me marchito.
Gracias, Riyoko Ikeda por tremendo pepino de manga. Así se hace historia del cómic.
Si yo no tengo mi dosis de adolescentes ricachonas en institutos femeninos que se sienten miserables porque no pueden con la intensidad de los sentimientos que tienen hacia chicas andróginas me marchito.
Gracias, Riyoko Ikeda por tremendo pepino de manga. Así se hace historia del cómic.
July 7, 2023
*my review applies to the entire series*
beautiful art and clothes. cool depiction of queerness, and female rivalry, rage, and loneliness. poor nanako.. she never asked to get tangled in this mess. poor kaoru. and mariko. she's got to be my favorite.. all she wanted was a friend.
beautiful art and clothes. cool depiction of queerness, and female rivalry, rage, and loneliness. poor nanako.. she never asked to get tangled in this mess. poor kaoru. and mariko. she's got to be my favorite.. all she wanted was a friend.
December 26, 2019
No entendí nada, maldita sea.
June 23, 2023
les lesbiennes
March 13, 2024
a bit too fast paced at times but that is probably the only thing i would point out
September 28, 2024
Honestly I'm not really sure of what I just read,but I would and I will recommend it
November 16, 2024
Que intenso y que maravilloso es todo.
December 16, 2024
Ojalá las lesbianas fueran reales
February 19, 2025
Dramas de adolescentes intensitas... La droga que necesito
September 6, 2024
j'ai adoré mais je mets 4 étoiles pour me rappeler que les deux derniers chapitres n’existent pas.
February 16, 2021
Im upset :(
August 25, 2016
I always love Ikeda's art style, gender-defying characters, and crazy plot lines.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews