Seventeen year old Ema Hinata has spent her entire life as the cherished only daughter of a doting father, but her world is turned upside down when she learns that her father has become engaged to a wealthy fashion designer, and the two will be combining their families... Which wouldn’t sound too alarming, if it wasn’t for the fact that her new stepmother already has 13 sons, varying in age from 10 to 31! Deciding to give her father some space to be with his betrothed, Ema moves into the lavish mansion inhabited by most of her new brothers, where her expectation that she’ll finally be part of a large, loving family is almost immediately shattered by the romantic feelings that several of her new step-brothers have developed for her. With each of her fraternal suitors vying for her affections in their own way, will Ema be able to obtain the familial paradise she once desired, or will she be forced to make an impossible choice?

Hey guys, remember Brain’s Base? Yeah, I’ve said some really nice things about that company in the past. I’ve said that, based on the impression that I’ve gotten from the few anime of theirs that I’ve seen, that they’re usualy really good at working on titles with low budgets and directing their way around this complication. Well, you can consider Brother’s Conflict the exception that proves the rule. This show is one of the cheapest looking I’ve ever seen, with each keyframe lingering a few seconds too long, obviously cheap walking cycles, and what little movement we get between key frames feeling stiff and jerky. I don’t want to believe Brain’s Base didn’t TRY to cover up how little resources they had to work with, because it does genuinely feel like an effort was made, but there was only so much they could do.

As far as designs go, they really didn’t fare much better. I said in my review of Kiss Him Not Me that shojo protagonists are often stated to be plain, but are actually drawn to be really pretty, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth for Ema, who definitely doesn’t look like main character material. Hell, I wouldn’t even pick her as a supporting character, stick her in the background and MAYBE give her a name. She looks like she’d be one of the first classmates to get eaten in a high school horror anime. As for the brothers, they look garishly overdesigned to the point of near parody. Not only do they not look even slightly related(And I mean not even the identical twins), they straight up look like they were pulled in from different anime altogether. Not even Ema’s pet squirrel was safe from this issue, with his weird little beard and heart-tail. I think the only nice thing I can say about the visual design of this show is that the interior of the Asahina mansion looks amazing, and I would pay a pretty penny to be able to rent a room there.

The English dub, on the other hand, is actually pretty good. In my own personal opinion, I think they should have taken a lot more creative liberties with it, but that’s just me, what Funimation gave us is basically perfect. Colleen Clinkenbeard took on the role of director in this project, and she actually directed herself as the main character Ema, playing her just as subdued and waifish as was accurate to the character, while still raising her voice just enough to match her characters occasional development of a spine. The brothers themselves were portrayed by some of the best and brightest male voice actors that Funi has ever managed to have on their roster. You have your obvious choices like J Michael Tatum, Micah Solusod and Vic Mignagna, as well as far less conventional choices like the previously Sentai-exclusive David Matranga, and the lord of DND himself, Matt Mercer. And yes, Jamie Marchi was a dub writer for this show, but don’t worry, John Burgmeier kept her under control.

Before I go into detail about what I like and dislike about this show, as well as my true feelings on it, there is one big elephant in the room that I would like to acknowledge. This anime was not made for me. It was neither written, produced or directed with me in mind. The show was made to sell a specific fantasy to a specific audience, and I am in no way a part of that audience. This show, or more specifically the novels it’s based on, were created to cater to female viewers, young and old, who want to vicariously live out the fantasy of having an entire house full of sexy bishounen to fawn over them and fight for them, and taking the series at face value, in that context? From this perspective, and this perspective only, there is nothing wrong with this anime, and if you're only watching it for that purpose, there’s nothing wrong with you either. You have every right to enjoy your trash on your own level, and I am fully prepared to respect your trash as long as you’re equally prepared to respect my trash.

I may never appreciate this anime on the level that it's intended, but I can still review it on my own terms, from my position as a casual observer with no inherent biases towards or against the material. First of all, while I understand certain viewers being able to place themselves in Ema’s shoes and indulging in a fantasy, it doesn’t really work outside of that specific context, because there is nothing in the narrative that supports any of these romances. Starting with Ema herself, she doesn’t just look bland and forgettable, she IS bland and forgettable. She has little to no agency in the story, only raising her voice or a concern when getting involved with her brothers’ sub-plots. She is kissed without permission multiple times, and while I’m tempted to call the kisses non-consensual... Mainly because she has been pretty clear she wants to be family with the lot of them before anything else... She only physically rejects a kiss once, the rest of the time just standing there like a mannequin until the kiss is over.

We never really learn anything substantial about her as a character... Apparently she’s good in the kitchen and enjoys playing video games... And while I get that this is supposed to serve the purpose of letting a wide range of female viewers identify with her, the truth is that it just makes it harder and harder to understand what anybody in her harem actually sees in her. There are a couple of characters whom she knows from school and loved her previously, and two or three who don’t get attached to her until she intervenes in their lives, but there’s no explanation beyond any of this. To make matters worse, as the series continues, practically every brother wants her to some degree, and the writers seem to care less and less about establishing any actual ground for romantic feelings to develop. What’s especially funny about this is that with the level of success all of the older boys have enjoyed, and the younger boys still being in school(one of whom is a star basketball player), you start to wonder: What kind of social lives do these boys/grown men lead? They have to have a ton of options each, but they all gravitate towards a 17 year old as soon as she starts to live with them?

I don’t know, it feels kinda incelish to me. It’s almost like they can’t make anything work with any women out in the real world, so they get all territorial and entitled over the one girl who's both stuck in their circle and obligated to interact with them. Looking at the extreme ends, it’s cute to hear the ten year old proclaim his love, but when a 31 year old lawyer starts to join the fray, you have to start wondering why he never got married or started a family, and is only now chasing a 17 year old. What’s especially curious is that at no point in the series, and I mean, like, never, does Ema show even the slightest hint of any romantic attraction to any of her step brothers, and when they’re not actively pursuing her, they’re blaming her for this insane situation. And yet, as little sense as this situation makes, and as little chemistry as Ema has with anybody, what baffles me most of all is, why are people so offended and creeped out by all of this?

Like, okay, it has a few obvious issues, but I don’t think any of them are THAT severe below the surface. First issue, the incest element. I’m not sure how to say this, because some people just have these unavoidable knee-jerk reactions to certain topics, but this scenario is the least severe kind of incest you can possibly include in a story. Just because nobody in the series ever uses the term ‘step sibling,’ doesn’t change the fact that Ema has no blood relations in the mansion. And yes, I know the whole ‘not blood related’ element can be problematic on its own, but that’s only when two characters have been raised as siblings and developed a psychological sibling bond. I’m gonna say the same thing I said during my Citrus review; When two late-teenagers become siblings through parental marriage, and then become attracted to one another, that is not incest. That is perfectly normal attraction being cock-blocked by a societal label, and I’d even go as far as to say that in that situation, it’s also an incredibly likely outcome.

Second issue, the boys do tend to get a little forward with Ema. One might even say they’re being sexually aggressive, and yeah, this is true. For a character like Ema, who shows no interest in her step brothers whatsoever, they really seem to like kissing her without consent, and one of them even manages to physically assault her on multiple occasions. That’s pretty bad, right? But I’d like you to try out a thought experiment for me. Imagine this entire series, but this time, reverse the genders. Imagine this is a more traditional harem anime with a male protagonist and a house full of thirteen sisters battling for his heart. You can already see it, can’t you? You already know exactly where I’m going with this. In the gender-reversed version of the story, the 13 siblings are far more aggressive, and they’re far more overt with their pursuit, despite the fact that the protagonist is far more animated in avoiding and rejecting them. You know that scene where Ema falls on top of Azusa? In the gender reversed version, this happens at least once an episode, often naked, and Ema gets her ass kicked each time. And yet, in spite of all that, it would be a way more popular series, with fanboys ready to defend it by tooth and nail.

So yeah, Brother’s Conflict is pretty tame in comparison to most other harem anime, people just care a lot more because the protagonist is a girl. Okay then, you’re probably asking, why am I defending this anime so much? Do I actually like it? No, but there are a confusing number of things I like about it. There are some parts of it that I think could have worked a lot better, if people weren’t so hung up on the more squicky elements. For example, Ema herself may just be a bland lego-brick for the viewer to identify with, but the brothers? I don’t want to flat out call them interesting, but there are interesting details about them. They have interesting jobs and backgrounds. I liked hearing Fuuto’s thoughts on acting, and I would have liked to hear more about that. I liked Azusa and Tsubaki's voice acting connection, and I actually got sucked into the drama that unfolded between them over it. I liked Natsume and Subaru’s conflict over basketball. I honestly feel like if the romantic subplot were either streamlined to two or three characters, or even removed altogether, just seeing the daily lives of these thirteen brothers alone would have made for a much more engaging series. I kinda like their dynamic.

And while we’re on the subject, there’s a lot of other things they could have done to make this series better. What if they got rid of the annoying squirrel, and just gave Ema more of a snarky side? Seeing her actually react to the weird quirks and unwanted overtures of her new step-brothers would have at least made her more endearing to the audience. As a matter of fact, one of her biggest problems is that even when she actually takes some agency in the story, it still feels cheap and impersonal. When she turns the boys down, it’s always “We can’t,” and never truly “I don’t want to.” If she had a little more attitude, if she were a little more guarded, if she ever had a negative fucking reaction to anything, she could have been a much more self aware character, actually calling out the fact that all of these boys’ feelings for her were on a hair trigger, and asking “Why?!” when they started dogpiling on her with love confessions. On another note, on the few occasions when this series tries to be funny, it actually winds up being pretty funny, so maybe if it leaned a little harder into its sense of humor?

Maybe if instead of attracting the affections of the entire family, the writers could have picked just one or two frontrunners for her affection, with everyone else just being the quirky supporting cast? It feels kind of off that a relatively huge chunk of screen time was dedicated to the three 24 year olds, when fellow 17 year old Yusuke was in a perfect position to play the male lead, instead of weirdly being underutilized in the narrative. Yeah, the third obvious issue is regarding age differences, which I’m kinda split on. In terms of legality, I think it’s safe to say 17 year olds are considered legal adults in most cultures, including in at least half the US, but seeing one being kissed by people over the age of 24 is going to feel creepy no matter where you are. Depending on the situation, legality aside, even 18 and 19 year olds can be groomed, and there's a lot of grooming in this series. In terms of fixing this problem, pushing Yusuke and Subaru as her primary love interests in a classic love triangle with Fuuto as an acknowledged antagonist would have paid some serious dividends, especially in making this show a little easier to digest for western audiences.

If this review feels like it’s been going all over the place, there’s a reason for that. This is an extremely weird show for me, and even this far in the review, I don’t know how I feel about it. I don’t like it. I don’t hate it. I don’t even dislike it. I feel disappointed by how little of an impression it leaves on me, and I keep finding myself distracted by all of the different ways it could have been improved, because if I’m being brutally honest, I would have honestly preferred it to be an absolutely despicable piece of dog shit than what it is. This show had the potential to be exactly that... A fascinating train wreck full of severely toxic and absive behavior that I couldn’t possibly look away from, like Diabolik Lovers or Amnesia. It also could have been a subversive genre-bending and cliche-stomping masterpiece, like Ouran Highschool Host Club or Fruits Basket. It could have been any of these things, but with all of the potential in the world to become absolute gold or absolute shit, it chose to be absolutely nothing, which is exactly what I feel towards it.

Brothers Conflict is available from Funimation. Included in their release are the OVA episodes, the first of which is actually pretty enjoyable and entertaining. The manga, novels and games are not available in English.

I want to be absolutely clear about the rating I’ve chosen for this anime, so there’s no misunderstanding about it. I don’t hate Brothers Conflict. I feel no negative emotions towards this show, other than disappointment over what it could have been. If I were to write up a top ten... No, a top TWENTY FIVE worst anime series I’ve ever seen, this show wouldn’t be on the list. And yet, in the past, I’ve given a zero to anime that I hated, often because I thought they had no value whatsoever, or because Anilist wouldn’t let me give them a negative score like -3 for KissXSis or -10 for the anime that shall not be named. No, for this anime, I’ve chosen the elusive zero because I don’t have a score to give it in the first place. Brothers Conflict is an anime that neither fails nor succeeds, because it does not try. It has ideas, and it has problems, but it doesn’t do jack shit with either. It is a nothing show, and for that I have given it a nothing score.

I give Brothers Conflict a 0/10.