The wealthy and esteemed Shiunji family consists of seven siblings: Banri, Seiha, Ouka, Arata, Shion, Minami, and Kotono. Arata, the family heir, is constantly teased by his sisters for his inability to find love. However, during Kotono's 15th birthday, the siblings learn a shocking, long-hidden secret—all of them are adopted!
The siblings all agree that their relationship will remain the same. But that promise does not last long, as each of the girls begins to approach Arata with intentions that go beyond sibling affection. Arata, who cherishes his family more than anything, must now find a way to protect their precious bonds and ensure that the Shiunji family never changes.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
IzanaSolos
Incest. Brother to sister. Brother to sisters. The list goes on, but you get the gist. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that incest plotlines tend to bring us some of the most engaging and outrageous shows in any medium, anime being one of the biggest offenders. Take Domestic Girlfriend as a prime example. You could also throw in Kiss x Sis or My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex and go on forever, but you get the idea. The point is, stories built around taboo relationships often result in some of the most wildly entertaining content out there. So what happens when you mixthat plus the creator of one of anime's most infamous dumpster fires, Rent-a-Girlfriend? You get a little show called The Shiunji Family Children.
Now, now, don’t tune out just yet. I know I lost a few of you the moment I said “incest,” and probably even more when I brought up Rent-a-Girlfriend, but trust me, it’s all worth it. Yes, on paper the premise sounds like incest... but it's really not. Let me break it down for those unfamiliar.
The Shiunji family lives in a rural mansion with seven children. “Seven?” you might ask. “So what, like 3 boys and 4 girls?” Wrong. Taking the Quints route, there are five girls and two boys, but one of the boys barely even gets ten minutes of screentime total, so it's really just one. One day, their father reveals a bombshell: none of the kids are biologically related. And just like that, their sibling dynamics get completely flipped on their heads as they begin to navigate life with this new information... aka, justified incest baby.
It’s basically The Quintessential Quintuplets if they found a loophole to let them all live together under one roof for extended periods of chaos, and let’s just say some of those “wacky” hijinks go way beyond that term.
Now you're probably thinking, “Great, another recycled trash-tier harem show,” and on top of that, it’s from the guy who made Rent-a-Girlfriend, so how could this possibly be good? Well... yes and no.
Contrary to popular belief, when Reiji Miyajima (the author of Rent-a-Girlfriend) takes his head out of his Chizuru-obsessed nut infested underwear, he can actually write. You saw glimpses of that in the most recent season of RAG, and here, he goes above and beyond. To put things into perspective: there’s more romance development in the first seven episodes of this series than in three entire seasons (and counting) of Rent-a-Girlfriend. So yeah, it’s off to a much better start.
And it’s not just the romance. The characters are surprisingly well-developed too. The main lead, Arata Shiunji, stands out, not just in comparison to Kazuya (which, low bar), but genuinely. When he’s not channeling inner-Kazuya energy, he’s actually one of the better romance leads I’ve seen recently. Well, “romance” may not be the right word, it’s more about how great and supportive a brother he is, particularly to Banri, Ouka, and Minami (the three sisters who get fleshed-out arcs this season). Speaking of arcs, without spoiling anything, Minami's arc is honestly one of the best I’ve seen in romance anime in a while, it's a masterclass. Ofc, this being only 12 episodes long, some characters get the short end of the stick here,or just don’t even get any attention like the aforementioned other brother in the family, but for the ones that were developed this season, they were all done masterfully.
Now sure, you can still see traces of Reiji’s writing flaws peek through, repetitive flashbacks, even to scenes that happened like 10 minutes earlier (and no, that’s not just the anime staff; Reiji himself does this constantly). Also, the weird obsession with random background characters gawking at the sisters in public, it’s just a Reiji thing.
But I’ve gotta give him props for the pacing here. It’s slow. Intentionally slow. A proper slow burn that, compared to the hyper-dramatic pacing of Rent-a-Girlfriend, actually gives the story room to breathe. And as a slow burn enjoyer, I was eating it up. Honestly, it reminded me of Days with My Stepsister, another “incest-adjacent” show, but with more dramatic highs (sometimes even over the top, if I’m being critical).
Now, let’s talk animation, you know, the part that makes anime... well, anime. Unlike Rent-a-Girlfriend, which has pretty drawings but barely moves, The Shiunji Family Children actually looks and feels like a fully animated show. It’s produced by Doga Kobo (yeah, Oshi no Ko's studio), so you already know it was in good hands. Director Ryouki Kamitsubo brings all his experience with “character-focused” series (ahem, GOONER shows as the kids would say) and delivers. There’s a scene in episode one, just Arata taking off his shirt, that has some of the most fluid clothing animation I’ve seen in years. The visuals overall are absolutely stellar, even reaching Oshi no Ko-level quality at times. And as mentioned before, the direction when it wants to go all philosophical on you, will go all in.
As for the music, the OST is jazz-inspired, fitting for the Shiunji family's laid-back, upscale lifestyle, especially since they live in Seijo, Setagaya-ku, a Tokyo area known for jazz. While the background tracks are solid but nothing groundbreaking, the OP and ED absolutely slap. The OP by NACHERRY is a banger, great vocals, catchy instrumentals. The ED, sung by the whole harem cast, hits even harder thanks to the stacked seiyuu lineup.
All in all, there’s a lot to enjoy here, whether it’s the characters, the development, the visuals, or the music. It’s obviously not a masterpiece, but considering this is coming from Reiji Miyajima, this is a shockingly competent and enjoyable entry into the romance genre. It’s weird, it’s messy, and yes, it’s kinda wrong, but man, it’s entertaining as hell, and at the end of the day, that’s really all that matters nowadays don’t it.
BeetleR19d
Having watched 'Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi' weekly for the past three months, a question has persistently lingered in my mind: 'Is my past experience with Reiji Miyajima's previous work making me unfairly critical of this anime? Perhaps it isn't as bad as I think, and I'm unconsciously nitpicking more than I typically do with other Harem-RomComs?' I believe these are valid questions. In this review, I will outline what I think went wrong with 'Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi' and what ultimately makes this anime so frustrating to watch. Art and Animation (9/10): I've decided to discuss the positive aspects first. In my opinion, the art is undeniably the strongestelement of this show, a point I don't believe is debatable. I've always appreciated Reiji Miyajima's artistic style; he possesses a flair and creativity that makes his characters visually appealing. This, combined with excellent animation and a well-chosen vibrant color palette, results in the high production quality this show offered. To put it simply, the animation quality was S tier. It remained consistently high from the first to the twelfth episode. Furthermore, I found the visual execution of the opening song particularly impressive for this genre. They could have easily opted for a more grounded approach, like many recent harems which often feature a simple sequence of everyone dancing side by side throughout the entire song. I'm glad they chose a more creative and engaging option.
Audio and Soundtracks (8.25/10):
The second and third best aspects of 'Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi' are the voice acting and the opening song. The voice acting and cast selection were pretty straightforward. To my surprise, Umehara Yuuichirou fit into Arata's character quite well, especially considering it's a role that differs significantly from his more familiar work. The female voice actors were also fine, with a special mention for Hana Hishikawa, who voiced Minami. I thought she did exceptionally well.
The opening song was good. While I'm not listening to it on repeat, it was enjoyable enough that I didn't skip it on several occasions. The ending song, however, was pretty average for the genre.
Plot and Characters(5.5/10):
I generally do not mind when common tropes are thrown into a harem or a rom-com anime. Actually, a lot of times they can make the experience better if they are used in a clever way. The same goes for the usual character types. I mean, types like the tsundere childhood friend, the onee-san, or the tomboy have been around in anime, VNs, mangas for like, ages. So for me to get annoyed by tropes and seeing the same character types means one of two things: either they used them badly or they just used them way too much. And in Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi's case, they kinda did both.
The main story idea isn't as complicated as some other "wannabe incest" shows. Right from the start, it tries to be serious but fails pretty hard because it keeps using tropes in the most annoying way possible. Let's just talk about the obvious thing first. This show has 7 siblings, 2 brothers and 5 sisters. But honestly, with how little we see of Shion, they could have just skipped his character completely. None of the sisters have a crush on him, and he barely shows up in each episode for maybe a minute or two. The longest he talked was probably when he tells his brother, just to make it easy for us to understand, how all his sisters are kind of amazing and are all 'Takane no Hana', you know, if I say it in Japanese. That scene was just not good. You don't talk to your brother about your sisters like that. He already knows that stuff. And when I said they used the tropes too much, I wasn't kidding at all, especially when it comes to Banri and Seiha. I know we haven't seen their arc in the anime yet, but at least they could have made how they act around Arata a bit more believable. I really didn't like how everything about their character felt fake. Like they were just there for fanservice. They could have easily cut out some of the fanservice for Seiha and Banri because it kind of distracts you for a bit, and then right away you're back to Ouka or Minami's story where things are actually happening. The main characters, at least for this first season, felt like Ouka, Minami, and Arata. I thought both Minami and Ouka's story parts were okay, not like I didn't cringe when Ouka said that "Can siblings be soulmates?". But still, at least the story moved forward in their parts. Arata was just a perfect example of a harem guy who doesn't stick to his own personality and keeps doing things that don't make sense for his character. He keeps saying "That won't happen because we are family, nothing will change because we have been family for 15 years," Yet, the moment Banri presses her breasts against him or reveals a hint of cleavage, he becomes flustered and bashful.
What troubles me most about this show is its attempt to straddle a middle ground. It tries to be both dramatic and realistic about the dilemma of romantic relationships between siblings while simultaneously adhering to the conventions of a typical harem anime with an oblivious male lead and stereotypical female leads. I believe it would have been significantly better without the step-sibling element. That plot point was essentially irrelevant in Kotono and Minami's arcs. As soon as they learned Arata wasn't blood-related, they immediately concluded they would try to win him over. I prefer anime that fully commits to either an incestuous narrative with blood-related leads or a standard harem setup with unrelated individuals. I think the latter approach would have worked perfectly with the existing cast of characters in this show.
Overall (6.25/10):
Now, let's revisit the very reason this anime is frustrating to watch. It's because I think it had the potential to be something memorable. The art, the animation, and the direction were all top-notch. However, the story and characters were so predictable and insignificant that these good aspects are significantly overshadowed by the poor writing. I might have still recommended this if the jokes were consistently funny, allowing it to be enjoyed as a comedy-heavy romance show, but that's not the case. It's neither a good harem nor a good comedy. Only consider watching this if you have absolutely nothing else to watch or if you simply want to admire some exceptionally well-drawn 2D waifus.
Thank you for reading ^_^
GensoTV
This series exists for the same reason Rent-a-Girlfirend never ends. Miyajima loves money. Let's break this down. Obviously the children are not blood related, except for the younger brother with one of the girls, but he doesn't appear much and has a girlfriend anyway. They get told what was obviously shocking, but of course nothing changes their 16-year-old relationship, right? Literally 5 minutes later they're all into the main character! All girls are blank stereotypes: Tsundere, Imouto, Tomboy, Nerd, and Onee-san. That's their character, nothing more or less. Well, even the girls in Rent-a-Girlfriend had more character. Their only problem is, oh no, I'm in lovewith my former brother.
The story is aweful, really, there are no story lines you didn't see multiple times in other RomComs and their adaptation of them isn't good or even new.
Then, and maybe that's something personal. In Rent-a-Girlfriend and this Anime there are always some NPCs who have to do expositional dialogue about how beautiful and sexy the girls are. Why? That's so cringe.
Last words to Doga Koba. I really like the studio, Oshi no Ko and Jellyfish look great, but this isn't their best work.
EVEnfall1311
Give me more Banri or I riot That being said, 8/10, better than rent a girlfriend for sure, but I feel this first season lacked something that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe the 2nd season if it continues gives more focus to each girl and some interpersonal time with Arata, cause right now I feel like there was a lot of falling head over heels without true build-up. The focus was on Minami and Ouka almost the whole season, they need to spread the love. I think if you're a fellow rom-com/harem enjoyer, this is a watch, but I'm sure a lot ofpeople may not care for the whole loving someone who may/may not be your actual sibling. It's a complex subject with a huge taboo, part of the reason these shows are popular in the first place.
Sun_Rodriguez
I find it completely unbelievable that the author of Rent a Girlfriend is the same person behind this work. To be completely honest, this story is far from being a masterpiece or something revolutionary within the genre—there are plenty of better works out there—but I have to say, it's good. It has some sweet moments, a somewhat fast-paced but relatively natural development, well-built characters, and decent dialogue. I hope the story continues on a good path, since it feels very different from the author's other, much more popular work. I’ll probably turn to the manga to find out what happens next. On the other hand, the animation is verywell done, the music is great, and the voice actors (in the original Japanese) do an excellent job.
Like I said at the beginning, it’s not an outstanding series, but it is good and entertaining—so yes, I do recommend it.
Marinate1016
Whether Miyajima Reiji has grown as an author or if Doga Kobo put in the carry job of their lives, I don’t know, but I really enjoyed Shiunji family. It’s trashy junk food in anime form, but damn it, it’s good. Somehow, in one 12 episode season, it manages to have more progress than Kanokari in 400+ chapters and 3 seasons, while having an MC who’s 1000x the man Kazuya is at only 17. I mean the contrast is night and day between this and Reiji’s more famous work. I know things should be evaluated on their own merits, but it’s impossible to read orwatch any of his stuff and not think of the train wreck that is Kanokari. This series fixes a lot of the issues I had with that one, the characters communicate, the MC isn’t a coward, the dialogue isn’t hard to listen to AND this series managed to make me cry multiple times in one cour. It’s actually very well written and makes you want to root for the cast instead of throwing them off a building!
Shaking my head while watching this show so everyone knows I don’t endorse incest.. or fake incest in this case, but you get the point. It’s still extremely weird to date someone that you, until a few weeks ago, thought was your sibling. Not illegal, but.. whatever, it’s anime. I think this show does a great job of showing how a family dynamic would change when that sort of news gets dropped on you. I think most people wouldn’t rush out to date their siblings, but you know.. hormones and all that, one domino falls and the next does and suddenly you’re giving us a heartfelt confession scene. The transition is believable in the show and I actually really liked the writing here. It’s mature and thoughtful. Our MC actually feels like a guy who should have a harem. He’s intelligent, kind, assertive and proactive. He doesn’t wait for things to completely fall apart to take action. He generally feels like someone you want to root for and when you see how he supports the girls in the story, the way they fall in love is believable.
Speaking of the girls, the cast has a nice mix of personalities and design types. There’s someone for everyone in this show, but I felt like Ouka, Minami and Banri were the main focuses in this season. It felt like the other two girls were kind of just there at times, it’s an ongoing story so I don’t know if that’ll change in later chapters or what, but they could do with some more screentime. I also felt like the other sibling, Shion, was basically nonexistent for large swathes of time. That said, Minami and Ouka rocked my world this season. I legit cried during Minami’s track and field competition mini-arc and did the same for Ouka’s big arc at the end. Ouka in particular, feels like the girl with the best chemistry with the MC. Their interactions were better than anything in Kanokari which is crazy because they’ve had a tenth of the screen time. You can tell Reiji gave Ouka a lot of Chizuru’s qualities and that explains why he seems to favor she and Arata’s relationship in this one. They grew up as twins and just feel the best suited for one another to me.
The show looks incredible as you’d expect from Doga Kobo. The art is gorgeous, the direction is top notch, OST great and voice acting is really good too. It’s really hard to go wrong when you have one of my favourite studios backing you.
Is this a game changing show? No, but is it good? Yes, I really liked it. If you can get past the trashy pseudo incest set up, there seems to be a really good story here with a cool MC and a nice varied cast of girls. I think the key here will really be where the story goes after this. How it develops in a potential season 2 will make or break my impression of Shiunji family, but for now, I’m content with what we got and will definitely be on the lookout for a season 2 and the manga. If only Reiji could bring this sort of quality to his main stuff..
Shiunji family gets 8 out of 10.
anoraks_spilt
If you're curious about how something decent on paper can end up a dumpster fire due to poor execution, give this a watch. Same if you want to experience a true bad romcom to appreciate the good ones more. I have so many problems with this show, I won't repeat what most others have already stated. This feels more like a 2000s MTV reality dating show where they have a house full of girls, raging with hormones, compete to win over a rich, square jawed investment banker. Any and all family characteristics are thrown out the window(in EP.1) so it's pure, undiluted raunchiness. The tropesgo hard for all, yet no further at all. I struggle to care or like any of the girls, despite the signature "golf ball neon eyes" and impeccable art design.
For a future man of the house, the mc does often act like a little girl on an emotional level. Pretty much from episode 9 on he's having a mental breakdown.
For example: Quints were psychos but they had defined personalities. Here you'll find it hard to reason with why the gals act so blatantly selfish and careless. Reminds me of the twins in "indivisible by love" with how competitively trashy they are towards each other.
Go watch something else. If you really hate yourself, put on rental GF and domestic GF to get your fix. I know I'm staying away from new releases for a good while now.
Kuso_AR
“Let me cut right to the chase…you’re not actual siblings.” Just from this line alone, you should know exactly what type of anime you’re getting into. Pick right here and now if this is worth your time. This entire thing is…comically incoherent. Something about multiple characters with completely different hair and eye colors being shell-shocked at not being blood-related. Something about the siblings’ dynamics completely changing at the mention of 4 words, going from familial and platonic to romantic and intimate in the span of weeks if not days. Something about a character that lived 15 years of their life as siblings saying “We siblings couldget married now, I guess?” or another character remarking how all of her other sisters are now “rivals” in her pursuit of love for the brother.
You’ll come to an epiphany very quickly that either every character needs group therapy or the author of this work is a tool. Then you discover that it’s BOTH. Guess who’s truly the one in control? Reiji Miyajima, the author of the infamous Rent-A-Girlfriend. The Shiunji Family Children is a mess you’ll either indulge in the nonsense of or long to pull all your hair out at it.
Yes, it’s another incesty show that makes you deeply concerned remembering Japan’s deep history with inbreeding. This time, it’s an incest taboo romance harem series “without the incest”, but I still felt some intrigue brewing. See, the series wants to focus on the subject of a group’s family worldview changing overnight; it actually wants to make conversations happen. How would siblings feel about living 15 years as family only to learn it was all a lie? If you learned your family was adopted, what topics would you expect? “What about my real parents? What happened to my relatives from before? Am we all really family?” Maybe there are identity issues and feelings of detachment. Look, you can do a lot with a premise like this: build heartfelt development, dive into emotions and conflicting perspectives around the family dynamic, get into the character of these different girls, and bring bits of dumb fun along the way as despite the changes, their bonds for each other grows. Hell, maybe even a romance can bloom.
Rather than any thoughtful conversation and perspective that may be engaging, there’s one main conclusion: The siblings can now freely fall in love. That’s the entire show’s thesis. It defaults to being another seasonal slop RomCom Harem. There is no difference in identity or reaction. Every unique family conversation is rushed or skipped over. Everyone and everything falls just in place for the “Sibling” Harem to flourish, and it becomes boring, repetitive and unfulfilling fast.
Let’s focus on the brothers first. First, there’s Arata, our main character and older brother. Arata is a breath of fresh air from Reiji’s previous cuckold r/incels protagonist. He actually has responsibilities, hobbies, and character outside of getting his willy wonked. However, the audience quickly identifies him as a harem everyman pulling a weird case of “having the most incoherent personality possible by doing things he never signified any interest in before“. Once “not-blood related” gets announced, he’s too busy going “damn my sis really is hot OIJSIOFWJIOEFIJOWE WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT MY SISTER LIKE THAT?!” to have any sort of identity or character growth. His sister will appear and the camera will focus on their bodies while he thinks about how they're attractive, something he never did or even entertained before. He'll then say a cool line to make his sisters blush. Arata doesn’t exist as a character. He exists as a device for the viewer to insert themselves into and admire the girls’ bodies every single episode. And it happens. Every. Single. Episode.
Then there’s the younger brother, Shion. You’ll be surprised to see he actually doesn’t look or act like a walking caricature. However, be warned. His role solely exists to mask the series’ harem premise. You may think that there’s a potentially complex situation that could occur in which both brothers confront relationships of the family, each having their different personal ideals and stories with the sisters. TOO BAD! That would actually make the story interesting! Shion is barely involved in the story dilemma and is immediately established to be the “push Arata toward his sisters” character. Also don’t worry! For whatever reason, NONE of the sisters are into him. They’re ONLY into the older brother. Hell, give Shion a girlfriend that never appears in the story! Just for safety measure! We can’t have another instance of fan cucking in a Reiji Miyajima work!
Then, there are the tropes, love interests, or sisters. They do have good-looking designs, but every single girl boils down to a one-word romcom harem archetype. Look, dumb harem tropes can be fun and work for some dudes, but the tropes are so poorly handled once you see the following background: they’ve lived as siblings for 15 years. They then immediately go against any behavior that was set up before to fall for the brother’s bone. All of their identities revolve around Arata.
Banri, the caring onee-san starts with the “a brother and a sister together…hmm♡♡” teasing gimmick shortly after “not blood-related” gets announced, and Arata’s shocked and flustered reactions hint as if she didn’t pull bits like this before in the 15 years they lived as siblings. Ouka, the tsundere and “twin that’s on a similar wavelength as Arata” *EXTREMELY_LOUD_INCORRECT_BUZZER.mp3* immediately has a cumbersome and awkward dynamic with Arata once “not-blood-related” gets announced, becoming increasingly irrational and agitating as the story progresses. What a twin, am I right? The tomboy Minami…exists. Any solid sibling dynamic or character story is malleable to further the harem premise.
I could rant about Kodomo’s character role all day. The shy girl Kodomo actually has potential. She's the “baby sibling” nobody takes seriously. Everyone tells her “you’re still young” as if she isn’t a measly 3-4 years younger than the oldest sister (18) and the same age (15) as 2 other characters. You may be thinking "wait, a wide family subject around not being taken seriously in arbitrary familial structures? This could be great character writing!" The series will completely bomb it because it only exists for MORE INCEST!!!!!
Kodomo’s a different beast than the other girls; she already confessed her love for Arata before even knowing they weren’t blood-related and paved the path of incest. The series will have scenes hint at diving into another topic of confusing familial attraction with romantic love…and the characters do nothing with it afterward. They, instead, let her feelings fester and explode to the point she views her own sisters as rivals. Nobody talks or communicates in this show like an actual sibling, let alone an actual person.
However, the most confusing girl of this series has to be Seiha. Seiha’s the typical “smart girl” trope. Rather than any character growth or development, her little screentime is dedicated to 2 things: 1) fanservice and 2) confronting the subject of incest in a serious manner. Rather than any focus on family and psychology, she focuses on incest. With REAL LIFE ARGUMENTS. She pulls up Japanese Civil Codes, Biological theory, aversion to familial scents, heart-rate experiments, and even the fact that marriage between cousins isn’t unheard of (completely ignoring how its prevalence is decreasing). So because they’re not biologically related, by her own words, “it’s certainly possible for us to have sexual relations.”
Seiha is less a character and more a cute girl to communicate the writer’s confirmation bias around the taboo of incest to explain why people who’ve grown up as siblings could reasonably start seeing each other as bed partners once by Seiha’s words “the word Incest is removed”. I’m not even kidding, this is the series’ crutch. Its magnum opus. If we’re going to actually apply REAL LIFE ARGUMENTS to this dumb fictional fantasy and make people turn on their brains, then we’ll use REAL LIFE ARGUMENTS to ruin this dumb fictional fantasy: the Westermarck Effect. Just search up the Westermarck Effect and you’ll figure out how “aversion to familial scents” was independent of genetic relatedness. Therefore, the life you lived and these behaviors noted are hardwired in biology, psychology, and social learning as “incest”. Removing the blood wouldn’t immediately make people start seeing their “brother” or “sister” as a subject for love and sex. The entire setup of 5 different sisters falling in love with one brother is so statistically impossible it’s not even worth arguing for, but hey, it's fiction. So in the world of fiction in which people turn off their brains for dumb fun fantasy, why have a character go “when you actually turn on your brain and think about it in real life Japan” while drastically failing in the process? For the few times she exists in the story, Seiha sounds like a “150 IQ” redditor trying to figure out an online argument on something inherently wrong. Her experiments only go the direction of “incest” because the author makes them work. The shitty harem setup is actually based in possible reality! The cute smart girl said so! (she’s wrong btw)
The Shiunji Family aren’t siblings; not just in a blood-related sense or a loving sense, but in a “the author doesn’t know how to write an actual family dynamic to save his life” sense. The dialogue is painful. The siblings act like they’re in a school friend group rather than a close family. They talk like they’re implanted with memories given to them by the writer rather than actual individuals with a long background. If you took a shot every time a character hit another over the head with “we’ve bonded as siblings for 15 years”, you’d still be less drunk than the producers that greenlit this show. The series constantly has to remind you that they’ve lived their whole lives as siblings because it can’t write actual congruent characters interacting with familial chemistry. It’s like the series wanted to add the taboo to a harem without actually creating the atmosphere needed for such a setup to be believable. It’s just a bunch of different fodder characters that coexist in the same house.
This is yet another “pick your waifu” series, but it actually wants to be something more. It hints at wanting to have characters address dilemmas and ideas, but it bombs the topics and never actually commits to anything due to being too harem-focused. It never challenge itself or have characters challenge each other. The story arcs the characters have only serve to further the incest. The story events drive at a snail’s pace and is all over the pace. The comedy is lame and cookie-cutter so it’s not even funny. It toes the lines on the taboo while doing barebones to be different. But the worst part out of ALL of this, is that it’s boring. Other than girls for a waifu-loving audience, production value, and "not being Rent-A-Girlfriend", this series really has nothing going for it.
But yeah, shoutout to the production value. Doga Kobo is an enigma to me. Whether the anime’s a big blockbuster or another mere seasonal, this studio's passion shines through and they WILL make it look good. While the animation in this show isn’t as fluent as others before, it still looks really good. The OPs and EDs are accompanied with a well-directed OST, and the voice talent give it their all, especially for the girls. It creates some rather emotional moments that make you forget you’re watching 3/10 story and characters, which is why the anime score is a 4.5. But good production can’t save a shitty story, shitty characters. or sibling dynamics in romance anime. Regardless, they will make that shit look like a 5-star cuisine freshly cooked by Gordon Ramsey as he reminds you you’re nothing more than an idiot sandwich.
Second, things actually happen. While scenes do move slow, romance actually develops. I know, the bar is in hell, but Rent-A-Girlfriend had viewers in perpetual hell over 380 chapters of nothing moving forward. Moments are made in Shiunji Family Children. *Sheds tear* it’s breathtaking, and all it took was adding...incest.
So as I’m finishing up this review, I’m thinking about why when the “not blood-related” bomb was dropped, the entire thing felt so comical, especially with all the differing character designs. Why did their family dynamics immediately feel so malleable? Why did nobody act like a sibling? Then I remember the scene where the Dad revealed to all the siblings the big reveal:
“You’re not actual siblings.”
From a parent, you would expect a statement like “you all are adopted but we’re all still one big family” or even “even if you aren't my real children, I still love you as my own”. Why wasn't the focus on the entire family, but instead on not being siblings? Then it began to hit me. Once the word incest was removed, “We siblings could get married now, I guess?”
I feel a gun placed at the back of my head. As I look back to this anime’s world, the phrase “We siblings could get married now, I guess?” repeats over and over in my mind like an endless bell toll. This was all my fault, and I should have escaped from the start.
“Wait, it’s all trashy incest?” I cry out.
“Always has been.” Reiji Miyajima declares, before finally pulling the trigger.
BrotherCoa
Giving the fallout Rent a Girlfriend caused with Chapter 380 this series so far is a fresh breath of what author Reiji Miyajima is really capable off when it's not point to making entire fanbase angry. It's not a perfect story but it is building to something that can be potentially great if handled well. Animation and sound: decent, animation was fluent throughout the entire show and music is serviceable. Nothing to give high praise to but nothing to bash it either. Overall it is what should be industry standard. Characters: The main focus of the series is in it's characters and there are 7 main -2 brothers and 5 sisters. I liked all of them as each of them is playing to their own stereotype without being too blunt about it (Ouka being typical tsundere, Banri typical bully type onee-chan, Kotono shy and sweet little sister etc...). The dynamic between then as they all slowly start to fight for their older brother is what makes this show shines. Arata is a decent MC, kind of dense and out of touch (as he is really trying his best to think about all of them as family despite those bonds being very tested right now) but the way how he handles certain situations and how he support his sisters is very touching. Overall the dynamic between them is nice and I very much enjoyed it.
Story: the premise is very simple - when Kotono (who is youngest daughter) turned 15 their dad dropped a bombshell of a news. With the exception of Minami and Shion none of them are blood related. They have all been adopted from different families and raised as one. What ensues is pure chaos as each sister is slowly awakening her inner desire to bone her older brother. The story is very slow mind you, it was only after episode 5 that it took pace and we got proper character arcs. Manga is still ongoing so who knows where the story will go and who will win in the end (it was hinted that we will indeed have a winner), I just hope it will not go with the way Rent a Girlfriend has gone.
Overall score: 10 for me, it was quite enjoyable. Others may rate it 7 at best, giving that it was really a mid anime since half of the time nothing happened.
I would recommend it in the end, simply becasue the romance drama that is slowly building up between siblings is too funny to skip.
Stark700
Reiji Miyajima is more known these days for writing the series we come to known as 'Rent-a-Girlfriend'. It aired for three seasons with a fourth to air in July 2025. He's also known for creating AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei that for some reason yet hasn't gotten an adaptation yet. The Shiunji Family Children did however receive one and a 12-episode adaptation sets us into the world of the Shiunji family. There's no doubt this series is adapted as a romantic comedy, the type with relationship building among all the cast. Or to be fair, the most important members. At the center is male protagonist Arata, theeldest son. The early revelation of Arata not being related to the Shiunji family breaks a field of controversy, at least related to incest. Make no mistake that this show is protrayed in a lighthearted style of storytelling, not one with mature tones. There's obviously romance and relationship building, with some characters being more relevant than others.
Adapted as a 12-episode anime, Arata has to navigate with the revelation that his siblings are not related to him by blood. They're adopted and this triggers previously hidden feelings among them. The anime aimed for a colorful cast, and each female member of the family excels in some for talent. (ex. sports, intelligence) Watching the first episode casts the female characters as being unique and different from one another. For example, Banri is the oldest member of the female member of the family so she seems more comfortable with teasing Arata than others. This contrasts with Seiha who display a more timid nature. Ouka and Minami are somewhere around the middle, that they are open minded and confident in themselves, but not enough to be completely open with their feelings. And of course, we can't forget Kotono, the youngest daughter and most timid of the family. Each episode is designed to allow Arata to get closer to each of them in some way or another. Collectively, Arata has to deal with his own feelings that takes him by surprise.
Indeed, the creator tried to aim for a variety of tastes with its colorful cast. It wanted the audience to understand each female character and their feelings towards Arata. Some of them may appear more complicated than others such as the case with Ouka. Others are triggered more naturally such as Arata getting involved with Minami's sporting events. However, the show does a meek job at best for Arata to understand himself and his own feelings. It appears he's more confused with how he feels about these female characters, as if it's he's constantly testing himself. The most prominent example is Ouka that spans upon multiple episodes and after being kissed on the lips. It's an experience Arata has to wrap around with in his mind without a definitive answer to why it happened. Others are more forgetable with his relationship with Seiha and Kotono. It appears that the more vibrant characters in this show stands out more, if intentionally or unintentionally. Either way, even as a 'balanced harem', there's definitely characters that stand out more than others.
The Shiunji Family Children does carry a similar tone because of the author's previous works. There's misunderstandings, dates, and the obvious rom-com tones. It stays away from controversial topics and doesn't push the boundary of romance too much. Collectively, the performance by the family members share a special bond. There's no serious rivalry between any of them and their behavior mirrors those of an actual family. Even though Arata seems like the odd man out, he is still represented as an ordinary male protagonist. Yet, he has his character flaws, namely having trouble to make up his mind about important choices in life. Watching him reject some of the characters is stubbornly frustrating at times, because deep down, he cares about each of the female characters.
It's no secret this anime wanted to be a romantic comedy from the start. It's filled with colorful characters decorated with features each unique to their look and personalities. Arata may be misunderstood at times with his words and look, but he's still a typical protagonist you'd expect to carry himself. Nonetheless, do be prepared for some light fan service and comedy gags. While this anime contains less mature tones compared to the author's "Rent-a-Girlfriend", there's still some to go around. Character expressions and emotions are also constantly put on display depending on the situation. It's a rom-com that also explores human behavior when they learn the truth after all.
CyberXane
Man, I do love my cheesy romance anime. They always have me switching moods, and this one was no different. This series is from the same creator as Rent-A-Girlfriend, and from what I hear, his reputation lately hasn’t been the best especially with the drama surrounding the most recent chapters of Rent-A-Girlfriend (not sure if it’s ended; I haven’t read the manga, just going off the noise online). So naturally, I went into this one hoping it doesn’t go down that same road. Now, onto the core of the story: The siblings find out they’re not blood-related. Oh shoot shocker! (sarcasm). One of the girls has beenin love with the MC since childhood, but the others slowly start catching feelings too. Because the MC’s always there for them at their most critical moments, when it matters most. Though this season also had plenty of oh sh*t moments to give one example I didn't expect one of the girls to kiss the MC this early in the series, not telling who. If I had to simplify this season it's “the girls realize they’re in love with the MC,” plain and simple.
As for the music? The opening’s solid, but the ending really stands out. It's catchy.
Final thoughts: I’ve got hopes for this series. It’s sweet, and enjoyable to watch. I just hope it doesn’t pull a Rent-A-Girlfriend, dragging things out forever with zero development. If it keeps the momentum, it could become a hidden gem.
Flacion
A classic love polygon, where multiple girls falls in love with with the same guy, and can almost be seen as incest, but is saved by a technicality. In The Shiunji Family Children, do we follow the seven siblings of the family, with a special focus on the eldest son Arata. We follow them as their world is shaken by the revelation of them not being biologically related, which suddenly brings their sibling relations into question. This show focuses a lot on the taboo subject of love between siblings who are not biologically related, which can be difficult or weird to watch, but to justwrite of the show becomes hard, when it is executed rather well.
The plot of the show focuses around the siblings and their relations to each other, which makes the plot very dependent on the characters themselves. The structure is built up around actions the siblings make after the revelation and on how normal everyday things suddenly seem different. This is done with a good pace, which gives the important scenes time to breath, so they really give the impact they should have. So the plot in itself is fine, but is mostly there to facilitate the characters growth, since that is the true story of this show.
When it comes to the main part of the show is it the characters, the siblings themselves, since we mostly only focus on them, with a few other characters having smaller moments. The siblings are all done with quite a lot of details, even though each of them seem to fit a stereotype. They all have their own personality, struggles, interests and quirks, which makes them feel alive and dynamic, which is important since it is the characters that take the rather simple plot and turn it into something interesting. With the characters being unique from each other, does it also affect their sibling relation differently, some having an easier time facing it, while others are struggling with it. The whole dynamic between the siblings and especially with Arata, is what makes the show, since it does not just accept the new possibilities of their relations, but also works against it. Which is what makes the characters great and is what makes the show standout.
Looking at the production value of the show, is it rather high with them having knowledge of when to put much attention on the animation and when to scale it back. They also use that to emphasize the important or silly moments, which helps showing the conflicting emotions between sibling love and romantic love. A thing they also do great is the style of the characters, their outfits and hair, which each fits the characters and changes depending on what the characters want to show or do.
Overall the show in itself is great, the plot is simple, but is the playing field for the characters who shine bright and really makes the show so enticing. The production value of it is great, with them paying attention to both animation and design. There is only really one drawback which is the taboo the show revolves around, but to be honest is it executed so well, that if you are willing to see a show handling that taboo, can i only recommend you watch the show.
TomasAlgerio
The first episode of The Shiunji Family Children (2025) left a good impression on me. The pacing, while slow, didn’t make it any less engaging, thanks to its protagonist, Arata — a serious and reserved character who only allows himself to unwind in the privacy of his room. That’s why the opening twist is brilliant. It genuinely unsettles all the Shiunji siblings and sows distrust among them. There was solid potential here to build an intriguing conflict, even with a touch of melodrama. The downside is that, being a work by Reiji Miyajima, the charm couldn’t last. In just a couple of episodes, the anime gave into clichés, bland plotlines, and silly humor. In short: self-sabotage.
Maybe the author is quite satisfied, knowing that — like Rent-A-Girlfriend (2017) — this series will likely bring in strong profits. But at the same time, it’s disappointing that, in terms of writing, this might be the best he’s accomplished in his entire career.
colelouch
You could sum up this anime by saying: it feels like the creator of Rent-a-Girlfriend watched Gotoubun no Hanayome, got inspired by its concept, and decided to try his own take on the formula, maybe thinking he could improve it or at least ride the same wave. But after finishing season one, I realized Gotoubun was kind of lightning in a bottle: its charm came from a specific blend of old-school romance tropes and a unique premise that’s hard to replicate. If you want to expand on that idea today, it probably has to go big, like what 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really LoveYou is doing.
This anime’s premise is nearly a one-to-one copy: several girls who are technically not related to the main character all fall for him, and the audience is left wondering who he'll pick. The girls fill out the usual anime archetypes: Older sister, bookworm, tsundere, sporty, and shy, basically a rehash of Gotoubun’s lineup.
Where this series tries to differentiate itself is in its pacing and development. Unlike Gotoubun, which moved at a brisker pace to keep the competitive harem structure engaging, Shiunji-ke takes its time, focusing the entire first season on slowly building individual relationships between the protagonist and each girl. It feels very much like Rent-a-Girlfriend in that way; each girl gets one or two episodes dedicated to her backstory and emotional connection with the lead.
And that’s kind of the problem. That slow, introspective format works better in a drama-focused romance like Rent-a-Girlfriend, where character development is everything. But in a show modeled after Gotoubun, where the whole gimmick is about multiple girls competing for the same guy, this drawn-out structure kills momentum. Instead of making the journey feel rich and earned, it drags things out so long that the viewer may lose interest in who the protagonist ultimately ends up with.
There are highlights: The twist at the end of episode 1 was well-executed, and the arc around episodes 9–10 had some fresh emotional depth and decisions that felt distinct. But overall, the characters are just fine. They’re not bad, but they aren’t compelling enough to make me want to commit to a long, drawn-out romance I’ve essentially already seen.
I checked the manga too, and unsurprisingly, the author is back to relying on his usual tropes, reusing controversial and questionable narrative tricks, writing every other male character as a threat to the girls’ virtue, which cheapens the dynamic even more.
In the end, this anime didn’t offend me, but it didn’t excite me either. It’s a decent watch if you’re into the genre, but I felt indifferent the whole way through. Just one of those shows where you say, “Alright, that exists,” and move on without much desire to see what’s next.
KodySapphire
I enjoyed it, openings alright, endings a banger. Although it's unfortunate the random goofy incest shit ruins the tone sometimes, I do enjoy the family aspects of the show. Especially the tennis arc, it really showed how much Arata cared for his sisters. The start of the show was hard to get through, but the rest was solid with only episode 11 being a hard pill to swallow. And they did great on the ending, delivery was pretty solid BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, "AMONG US THERE ARE REAL SIBLINGS"??? Other than that, I'd give it a watch. Drop it if you don'tsee the vision continue it if you do, not my place to force you to watch it.
niconico_86
[For male audience] If you like the main girls displayed in the promotion picture and their fanservices/romance just watch it, don't worry about the "taboo" or "incest" stuff. You will see a lot of soft fanservices and some censored nudity in this anime. Because MC is surrounded by many beautiful girls (harem-like). The most famous female VA here is Takahashi Rie that voices Ouka. She also voiced Megumin in Konosuba, Sumi in Kanojo Okarishimasu, Emilia in ReZero and many more that you most probably already watched at least one of animes voiced by her. [For female audience] Arata, the male MC is considered handsome and masculine, with his muscularbody often being exposed from time to time. And of course, the MC voice is the famous male JP VA Yuuichirou Umehara, the same voice of Goblin Slayer-san that has a deep charming knightly voice. He also voiced as MC in Akuyaku Reijou and as Manabu Horikita in famous Classroom of Elites anime.
Arata has also a knightly personality that will save/protect the girls whenever in trouble or sad. You will find most of the scenes about MC being hero saving the "princess" from various trouble, which is very attractive scene for most female audience.
[SUMMARY]
Overall this anime has light story with some good drama that is good for both male and female audience, ideal to be watched by couple together. My main hope is that there should be Season 2 otherwise it is a big let down because the story almost progress nowhere in this S1.
Chuy_diazz
If at the beginning of the season someone had told me that something coming out of Reiji Miyajima's head would be good, you would have had me dancing the macarena for an hour. Now, with the anime over, I'm the one who says that something coming out of that man's head is good. From the beginning, Shiunji places us in the strangest and most uncomfortable premise imaginable: seven siblings. When the youngest turns 15, it's revealed that they are not related by blood. From here on, we see how each of the girls becomes romantically interested in her older brother. There's no incest, but that strangefeeling persists. Up to this point, you genuinely believe that this man has the Midas touch, but in reverse. As the story progresses, you realize that he really took his time to treat the subject with the necessary delicacy, focusing the narrative on themes that are more familial than romantic. The important questions this production asks us are: first of all, what does a family do? Blood ties, DNA, or the amount of time you've lived and interacted with someone else? From this, the second question arises: how thin is the line between filial and romantic love when you know that blood isn't an impediment? This is where the story being told with teenagers makes a lot of sense because at their ages, their minds are always confused and in disarray. This will always motivate them to want to find answers.
As for family themes, many interesting topics are addressed. Because the entire narrative is based on this. The balance between family and romance is always there. The male protagonist will always do things for his sisters, out of affection for them, because they are family. His sisters, on the other hand, have a different perspective on these actions. They don't see the protagonist as their brother, but as a man. This is where we can see both sides of the same coin: how a sibling's actions can be viewed differently when your opposite doesn't see you the same way. Despite the murky premise, it's never treated with any kind of morbidity or sensationalism. What's being told is always taken seriously; it's not as if the protagonist wants to woo his sisters just because they don't share DNA.
The protagonist, if you ask me, and it sounds really odd considering who this story is about, is a good romance protagonist. He's sensitive, sensible, respectful, knows how to show affection, and knows how to bow his head when he should. He was raised to be the next head of the family; the responsibility that this entails is ingrained in him. Therefore, when his sisters are in danger or need him, he'll be there to help them. The protagonist isn't the typical pervert who wants to see his sisters' panties just because he can. On the contrary, there's a line of respect that he always maintains toward them. They are the ones who take action and approach the protagonist in different ways to try to get him to stop seeing them as his sisters and instead see them as women.
The sisters are the central element of this story. The protagonist is an actor who only reacts to what his sisters propose. All arcs begin with a sister and end with a sister. They are the ones who take the lead in both the arc and the relationship they want to forge with Arata. The final boss here is the moral barrier the protagonist has imposed on himself, and the sisters are the players who will try to break it down. Being the central pieces, they develop as people and not as tools for fan service. You will always have details or arcs dedicated to one of them where their strengths, fears, and vulnerabilities are revealed. Their strengths and weaknesses mean that even though they are good in one area, they also have shortcomings in another. This means that, regardless of which girl you choose to support, if any of the others wins, you can come to understand it without feeling upset.
I think Doga Kobo was the right fit to adapt this story. His animation work is always aesthetically pleasing. He knows how to play with color palettes, character designs, settings, and backgrounds to deliver something visually appealing. As for the script, he even included small portions of the original story to make the narrative feel more fluid and the pace not cut off abruptly. The dialogue is very good, and they know how to sell you on each of the siblings' ideas.
If I had to point out something negative, it would be the fan service and the underuse of one of the characters. When you have a good story, I don't think you need to overuse the fan service. This was the case; sometimes you saw very unnatural shots just to focus on some attractive part of the sisters. Not to mention the last episode, which was a feast of butts and breasts. As for the wasted character, it was precisely one of the brothers, the other man. I think his character could have been even more exploited; he had very few appearances, very little dialogue, and few solo scenes or conversations with his older brother. I hope they fix this in a hypothetical second season, because it feels like he's a character who can contribute a lot.
Undoubtedly, judging a book by its cover is never the right thing to do. While the creator of this series has written things that made me want to tear my eyes out, this wasn't one of them.
gakuendo
This anime feels like it was made just to fill the seasonal harem slot. You’ve got the classic setup—five girls, all falling for the same guy—and yeah, it’s super predictable. I’ve watched plenty of shows like this, including the author’s other work like Rent-a-Girlfriend, so a lot of the usual flaws were obvious to me. The protagonist honestly feels like a tweaked version of Kazuya. He’s supposed to look a bit more confident and manly, but deep down he’s still the same indecisive and frustrating guy with the same annoying habits people always complain about. As for the girls, they each have a bit of backstory,which is nice, but they still mostly fall into common archetypes.
The show did try to include emotional or dramatic moments, but they often came across as forced. There were too many cliché events crammed in, and the way they were handled just didn’t feel smooth. Some of the dialogue felt weird too—like it was taken straight from the manga without much adaptation. Maybe it’s just me, but it felt kind of stiff or unnatural at times, like the characters were just reciting lines instead of having real conversations.
On the positive side, I really liked the art. It’s done by Doga Kobo, and they rarely disappoint in that area. The character designs are expressive and clean, and the animation quality stayed consistent throughout all 12 episodes. Visually, it looks great for this kind of story.
Overall, if you’re a fan of harems and don’t mind familiar tropes and character types, you might still enjoy it. But if you’re looking for something with more originality or emotional depth, this probably won’t stand out.
patkarunungan
The Shiunji Family Children is a creation of Miyajima Reiji, the mangaka of Rent-A-Girlfriend. Since it's a sister series of Rent-A-Girlfriend, most people expect it to be trash. Is it really? Let's dive in. In the run-up to its premiere, it has been marketed as an incest anime, so there was some buzz about it. Those who dislike incest-related stories immediately dismissed it. Others who enjoyed Rent-A-Girlfriend despite being trash gave it a chance. Alas! It's not really incest in the strictest sense of the word. Right in Episode 1, their father tells them that they are not blood-related. Despite that, the incest tag remains becausethe Shiunji Family girls are into the protagonist Arata. Thus, instead of incest, it is reduced to a generick harem.
One thing that's glaring about this anime is how it ignores the Westermarck Effect. It's an observed phenomenon where children who grew up together as siblings, even if stepsiblings, don't develop sexual attraction for each other. Yet, we see them getting attracted to Arata. Therefore, if you think about it, this is one aspect where it goes against your suspension of disbelief, even if you're open-minded about such stories.
Arata is manly unlike the loser Kazuya from Rent-A-Grilfriend. Unfortunately, this is its only advantage over the latter.
The animation is mostly fine. Some would say it's good because it's from Doga Kobo. But for such a story, it only needs a serviceable animation and art direction so I don't think it's remarkable in terms of visuals compared to what Doga Kobo did in Oshi no Ko.
Character designs are generick and forgettable, unlike the design for the main girl in Rent a Girlfriend. One may argue that the generic design reflects how real-life people are not really the bombshell beauties in magazines. Despite that, it's glaring that they are not that attractive compared to their characterisation that they are ultra attractive. (Banri and possibly Ouka are their best girls in terms of looks, but that's it!) They are deemed by people around them as celebrities and models. Shouldn't we expect more in terms of looks? This disconnect between what's said and what is shown is glaring.
In the history of harem anime, Tenchi Muyou! (天地無用!) has a useless main character Tenchi, and that is told explicitly in the title. (無用 [muyou] means useless.) Its main draw is how interesting the girls are. Eventually, harem anime like Quintessential Quintuplets have both interesting girls and an interesting guy character.
In this anime, it's the reverse. The guy Arata is a bit interesting and manly, a step up from blank, self-insert characters. Unfortunately, the girls are not interesting compounded with the fact that they don't really look that gorgeous. So far, we've seen Minami and Ouka's character arcs. They are fine but are boring.
The Shiunji Family Children's worst sin is being boring. Overall, don't expect much from this. It's fine to watch on its own to pass the time. You might actually like it if you haven't seen other harem. But compared to classic and recent harem anime, it's worse than mediocre. Even worse, it's a downgrade from Rent-A-Girlfriend in terms of entertainment. Many harems have been a guilty pleasure. This is not.
Since we haven't seen the character arcs of Seiha, Kotono, and Banri, it is still possible that over time, this anime may improve. The first season did not end with a bang. In fact, it seems we're still in the phase where the characters and their possible complexities are being introduced.
But for now, I cannot recommend this.
NOTA BENE: A grade of 2 out of 10 means either of two things: the anime is extremely boring or it may have fun elements but it's ultimately illogickal and doesn't make sense. Or just possibly, I rank it above my 1's but below my 3's.
My enjoyment spectrum lies from 4 to 10. If I have scored an anime below 4, I actively dislike it.
