Minami-ke

Subject: Minami-ke Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:15 am

Minami-ke (みなみけ?, lit. The Minami Family) is a Japanese manga series by Koharu Sakuraba,
who also authored Kyō no Go no Ni. It was first serialized in the weekly Japanese manga magazine Young Magazine in 2004.
The slice of life comedy focuses on the everyday life of three sisters: Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki Minami.
There are four anime adaptations of Minami-ke, done by two separate animation studios. The first, under the original title Minami-ke, is the only adaptation produced by Daume and aired on TV Tokyo between October 7 and December 30, 2007.
After the first anime ended, adaptations were produced by Asread. A second adaptation aired between January 6 and March 30, 2008 aired under the title Minami-ke: Okawari (みなみけおかわり?, lit. The Minami Family: A Second Helping), and also aired on TV Tokyo. The second season deviates slightly from the first season as it
utilizes a different color palette, has different school designs, and uses different character designs. It is also different in storytelling as it uses material not from the manga, and each episode consists of only one story.
The third series, Minami-ke: Okaeri (みなみけおかえり?, lit. "The Minami Family - Welcome Home"), aired on January 4, 2009. The third season is more closely related to the first season as the character design and color palette is more similar, although there are still designs that are from season two.
The third also returns to the episodic format from the first season.
On June 23, 2009, a limited edition of the sixth volume of the manga series was bundled with a DVD containing a single original video animation episode titled Minami-ke: Betsubara (みなみけべつばら?, colloquially, "betsubara" refers to an imaginary second stomach that is reserved for desserts).[5]