[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minamike1.png]]
->''This story is a simple illustration of the three sisters of the Minami household. Please do not expect too much out of it.''

Take an OneeSama, a hopelessly GenkiGirl, and a LittleMissSnarker, make them sisters, and put them all under one roof. That's ''Minami-ke''. The show is a SliceOfLife comedy which blends the HighSchool, Middle School, and Elementary School subgenres by having each of the three sisters attend one of these. The fourth storyline is about interactions of the three and their friends at home.

The Minami sisters:
* Haruka. An OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, with highly developed cooking and housekeeping skills. Very good at school and adored by both Kana and Chiaki (and not only them). [[spoiler: Also a legendary delinquent, but that's somewhat in the past.]]
* Kana. {{The Ditz}}y GenkiGirl, preferring to act first and think... uh, well, somewhere in the distant future. [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/she_is_boss.jpg She is boss.]]
* Chiaki. The youngest sister and LittleMissSnarker of the show.

Based on a manga series by Koharu Sakuraba, the show follows the footsteps of ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', ''LuckyStar'', and other SliceOfLife works and emphasizes the absurdity of what's happening on-screen. Don't expect much realism or drama. Do expect a lot of eccentric characters that play off each other and just a plain lot of fun. The second season sequel, ''Minami-ke Okawari'' started airing in January 2008 and was produced by a different company. It mostly consists of original material not covered in the manga and contains much more {{Fanservice}}, which might be the reason that the viewing public generally regards it as far inferior to the first season.

A third season called ''Minami-ke Okaeri'' aired in early 2009, returning closer in style to the first season, and being met with good reception in turn. A short bonus episode, ''Minami-ke Betsubara'', was also released in 2009.

A fourth season, ''Minami-ke Tadaima'', is currently airing as of January 2013 (simulcast by {{Funimation}}), and returns even more to the first season's roots, down to having a similarly-styled opening song and animation. It even brought back the iconic starting spiel that you can see at the top of this very entry.

The page currently has a character sheet under construction.
----
!!The series provides examples of:

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Hosaka gets a "bad luck" fortune [[OneHundredAndEight 108]] times on New Year's and still doesn't take it as a sign to give up on his quest for Haruka. Also Fujioka, who probably should listen to his evil angel and give up his quest for Kana.
* AloofBigBrother: Touma has ''three'' of them, though the degree of their aloofness varies.
* ArtShift: Frequent closeups in which characters' faces gain considerable detail. "''Bible Black'' faces", as the image boards call them.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Chiaki and Kana. Big time.
* {{Badass}}: Fujioka isn't actually a badass, but is labelled one by Kana. [[spoiler: Haruka, however, is a LEGENDARY BADASS.]]
* BeachEpisode: A few of them.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Haruka, [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lord_of_Terror.jpg as seen in the fifth episode of ''Okawari'']].
* {{Bifauxnen}}: Touma Minami; comes with a large share of "swooning [[UnsettlingGenderReveal confused females]]" (and possibly some "outright SchoolgirlLesbians", too), as evident from episode 7 of ''Okawari''. Given that she wears the female school uniform, there is really not much room for doubt.
** Judging by the dialogue in that scene, it's apparently less that they don't know her gender and more that she is ''just that manly'', making this a weird mish-mash of EvenTheGuysWantHim and EvenTheGirlsWantHer.
* BirdRun: Kana in episode 5 of ''Okawari''.
* {{Bishonen}}: Hosaka when he is not doing anything weird. He even has BishieSparkle when he is not imagining.
* BlandNameProduct: Like most slice of life shows, there are tons.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Several assembles:
** Haruka, Atsuko and Maki
** Chiaki, Yoshino and Uchida
** Fujioka, Hosaka and Makoto
** Chiaki, Touma and Mako-chan
* BlueWithShock
* BreakoutCharacter: Hosaka; initially Sakuraba didn't seem very fond of him, and it didn't seem that he would use Hosaka for much time, but then the animated adaptation happened and gave him [[AdaptationExpansion expanded events and humor]], and with this the seemingly unimportant character took off. Ever since, Sakuraba has made Hosaka's moments in the manga as proiminent as in the anime, to the point newer seasons don't need to expand anything; just adapt panel by panel and you have enough of Hosaka for all. Also Hosaka is usually seen in newer back-covers from the manga, even if he doesn't appear much in the volume ''at all''.
* {{Brown Note}}/{{Nosebleed}}: Natsuki tends to collapse headfirst on the nearest surface with blood spewing out of his schnozz whenever he accidentally lets his mind wander to Haruka's cleavage. This is partly due to an [[FunbagAirbag incident]] that started with an overenthusiastic shove from Maki and ended with him getting punched in the face by Haruka for the sake of appearances.
* ButtMonkey: Poor, poor Takeru.
* CanNotSpitItOut: Hosaka to Haruka, Fujioka to Kana, and Hitomi to Natsuki.
* CatSmile: The sisters' default expression, particularly Kana.
* ChaosArchitecture: Between season 1 and ''Okawari''. The most noticeable bit about this is the addition of a dining table, and their kitchen is now a counter across said dining table (when in the previous season, the kitchen was outside the living room and [[AustinPowers oh I've gone cross-eyed]]). Also, Chihaki and Kana no longer have separate rooms.
* CloudCuckoolander: Everyone becomes this at times.
-->'''Kana:''' Warmth... sounds warm.
** In a scene concerning Valentine's Day...
-->'''Chiaki:''' I tried to make chocolate from chocolate.
-->'''Mako:''' This is chocolate from chocolate, right?
-->'''Chiaki:''' Pretty good chocolate, no?
*** This is mostly a mistake in the translator's part. Chiaki actually said, "I tried making Chocolat de chocolat (a multi-layered chocolate cake)". Mako then butchers the name as "sokora de kokora".
* CompanionCube: Yamada, a small rock Chiaki was kicking around. The fans appear to have latched onto him. The trope also applies to Fujioka, Chiaki's teddy bear, to an extent.
* ContentWarnings: See the quote above.
* ContinuityNod: All over the place in ''Tadaima'', to the first season. Fitting, as the first season is considered by many watchers to be the best season overall in terms of comedic timing.
* CoolBigSis: Haruka.
* DemotedToExtra: The Minami brothers, whom the audience had grown attached to by the end of the first season, vanished entirely in the second. Thankfully, they return in ''Okaeri'' and ''Tadaima''.
* {{Determinator}}: Hosaka will not give up on his affection for Haruka, going so far as to master cooking to make her happy.
** In the final episode of season one he takes to making buckwheat noodles, and at the end he takes a case of his cooking and climbs to the top of a snowy mountain.
* DiabolusExMachina: The Teacher and Ninomiya. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] both within the confines of their show and by Kana while watching it.
--> '''Doctor/Kana:''' '''Another''' car?!
* TheDitz: Kana, although Chiaki has her moments too, despite being a LittleMissSnarker.
* EarWorm: InUniverse, Chiaki hears Hosaka's song about curry and Chiaki ends up singing it herself a few times.
* EvilLaugh: Hosaka in the last episode of season 1. The whole scene on the cliff reminded this editor of the good ol' shows where the villain is shown madly laughing until the credits roll in a CliffHanger-esque ending... Perhaps, an intended mockery.
** And he goes at it ''again'' in the end of the second season.
*** And it returns with the last scene of the ''first'' episode of the ''third'' season -- but then again, his plans for Haruka ''are'' kinda creepy...
** Hosaka's laugh even makes it into his ImageSong.
* ExpressiveHair: Chiaki's IdiotHair waggles when something bothers her. It also behaves in a quite kinky way when affected by FrothyMugsOfWater.
* ExtremeDoormat: Fuyuki, which pisses Chiaki right off.
* EyesAlwaysShut: Hayami.
* FacelessMasses: Except for a school uniform, everyone who's not a main character in ''Okawari'' is a black silhouette. Then they start ''talking''...
** [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MinamiKe_blackened.png Some of those blacked-out faces still have some recognizable features]], which makes it [[NightmareFuel even creepier]].
* FakeUltimateHero: Haruka, maybe. It's implied that her Legendary Banchou reputation is mostly the result of exaggerated rumors.
** Of course, it's also been implied that at least half of those rumors are true.
* FanNickname: At several points in the show, Kana sports a T-shirt with "[[GratuitousEnglish I AM BOSS]]" on the front. Considering this and her [[GenkiGirl energetic nature]], her nickname naturally became Boss, or Bossu, for SHE IS BOSS.
* FanService: Quite a bit, with skimpy sport outfits in the opening credits, a beach episode and Kana appearing shirtless (though retaining her bra) in the opening of episode six. The service reaches really silly levels in the second season, perhaps in an attempt to compensate for the lack of funny source material.
** And the manga has plenty of Chiaki and Kana {{pantyshot}}s as well.
** The ''Betsubara'' OVA has a completely random Chiaki pantyshot for seemingly no real reason, though it's so zoomed out and undetailed it's almost incidental. Then the camera goes back to it. ''[[RuleOfThree Three times]]''.
** ''Tadaima'''s first episode has some shots of Haruka with a loose school uniform while taking a nap and Kana lying under the kotatsu along with a change of clothes so that she would be warm when she gets up. The problem with Kana is that she forgot the change of clothes and is in her underwear when Haruka pulls her out.
** Another from ''Tadaima'' - Kana's butt wiggle from episode 7.
* FanServicePack: Kana becomes better endowed between the first and second season. Possibly justified, as she ''is'' still growing.
** She seems to have developed a nice rear end as of ''Tadaima''.
* {{Flanderization}}: Maki and Uchida's silliness. Also Natsuki, who started at the first season as a rather harsh and insensitive character, evolved by the third season to somewhat of a moronic, violent troglodyte.
* FrothyMugsOfWater: Hayami-senpai's "high-quality, imported 'juice'".
** Or it could just be Hayami messing with the Minami sisters, as we do get sequences where they question if it really is juice, considering smell and taste. And they were brought in juice containers, so it's probably just Hayami being one hell of a gadfly.
* GenkiGirl: Kana.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: Chiaki and Fujioka's angel/devil pairs that appear in episode two of ''Okaeri''. Combined with EvilIsSexy.
** Chiaki's pair shows up again in the first episode of ''Tadaima''.
* GratuitousEnglish: KANA IS BOSS.
* TheHecateSisters: In terms of age it's Chiaki-Kana-Haruka, but in terms of personality, Kana is the maiden, Haruka is the mother, and Chiaki is the bitter crone.
* HospitalHottie: Kumada-sensei, who is a nurse at Chiaki's school.
* HotBlooded: Hosaka can get so hot blooded, rainwater on him will evaporate.
* HotForStudent: The soap opera ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Teacher and Ninomiya's]]'' premise.
* HotSpringsEpisode: The very first episode of ''Okawari''.
* IconicOutfit - The "I AM BOSS" T-shirt.
* IdiotHair: Chiaki. Ironically, she's ''not'' the family weirdo. That role is much more accurately filled by Kana.
* IHaveBrothers: Touma.
* ImagineSpot: Hosaka. Often, and with everyone watching. They just think he's creepy.
** Not helped at all by the fact that he tends to [[NoNudityTaboo spontaneously strip]] as he fantasizes.
** Riko does this too, but nowhere near as much or as weird as Hosaka.
* ImStandingRightHere: Touma gets this a lot from her brothers, but she's fairly apathetic about it.
* IsThatCuteKidYours: Chiaki and Kana once get mistaken as Haruka's kids, by someone who hasn't even met them! Hosaka seems to keep this erroneous belief throughout the whole series.
* IWantToBeARealMan: Natsuki. And a real man does not yield to the attacks of his littler sister.
* JapanesePronouns: The {{Bifauxnen}} Touma referring to herself as "ore". Likewise for "Mako", although of course [[SelectiveObliviousness Chiaki doesn't seem to notice]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Kana in various episodes.
* {{Kotatsu}}: Much of the time the sisters or their friends are shown at home, they are seated around it. Or under it.
* LargeHam: Hosaka, so very much.
* LethalChef: Kana. Unlike most examples, she is fully aware of how bad her cooking is, and uses it as a threat to get Chiaki to help out.
* LittleMissSnarker: Chiaki
* LoveLetterLunacy: In the first episode, Chiaki's... creative re-interpretation of the letter as a challenge from a ''[[JapaneseDelinquents banchou]]'' has [[HilarityEnsues hilarious results]].
* LoveTriangle: Riko is in love with Fujioka, but Fujioka is in love with Kana. Sadly, Kana is [[ObliviousToLove completely oblivious]] to Fujioka's affection for her.
* LoveYouAndEverybody: Kana does this to Fujioka in episode 6 of ''Okaeri'', although not for the usual reasons. She's just covering up an earlier remark of hers, amending "ah" to "I love you" before realizing that's just as bad in a different way.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Touma and Makoto.
* {{Meganekko}}: Keiko.
* MindControlConspiracy: Just why was a children's television show hypnotizing people into loving vegetables...?
* MindControlEyes: The result of the vegetable song from Tadaima, episode 8.
* MrImagination: Hosaka, who is probably the grandmaster of {{imagine spot}}s.
* MsFanservice[=/=]MrFanservice: Haruka and Hosaka are ''amazing''.
* NamesToKnowInAnime:
** RinaSato - Haruka
** MarinaInoue - Kana
** MinoriChihara - Chiaki
** AkiToyosaki - Yoshino
** EriKitamura - Uchida
** DaisukeOno - Hosaka
** NanaMizuki - Touma
*** RelationshipVoiceActor: Among the above seiyuu, all of them are in ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' with the exception of NanaMizuki.
* NeverLiveItDown: An in-universe example. [[spoiler: Almost everyone regards Haruka as a delinquent gang leader. She wasn't.]]
* NoSocialSkills: One has to wonder how the other Minamis raised their children when you look at Touma's brothers... Natsuki in particular is the crowning example.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: It's not really noticeable in the manga, but for those following the anime this is especially glaring. For example, at ''least'' three New Year's celebrations have been shown... and yet no one has advanced a single year in each of their respective grades.
* OddlyNamedSequel: From ''Minami-ke'' to ''Minami-ke Okawari'' ("Seconds") to ''Minami-ke Okaeri'' ("Welcome Home") to ''Minami-ke Tadaima'' ("We're Back")
* OneeSama: Haruka.
* OnlyOneName: Almost the entire cast. It's easier to point out the characters who do have family names: The Minami sisters, the other Minami family (Touma's family), and Chiaki's friend Yuka Uchida.
* ParentalAbandonment: There are no signs of parents. A conversation implies that the sisters' father is dead or long absent, and their mother is not mentioned at all.
** This seems to go for Touma and her brothers too, but they get less screentime.
* PhraseCatcher: Hosaka, "Kimochi warui" (most commonly translated as "disgusting").
* PromotionToParent: Haruka, taken to a ridiculous degree, where she's also like a parent to the other Minami family.
* RatedMForManly: While Hosaka is an apparent [[EstrogenBrigadeBait bishie]], it's safe to say that his male fans are more outspoken to glorify his usual quirks and fantasies, which to them are the distilled display of fabulous manliness.
* RunningGag: The loincloth festival.
** Also, never ask Keiko what grade she got for whatever test you just took, you'll just feel bad about your own grades after.
** The [[SayMyName limited vocabulary]] of Teacher and Ninomiya ("Sir!" "Ninomiya!").
** When people discuss things about Touma, she's often lying around within earshot. This is {{lampshaded}} when Natsuki asks Haruka to tell Touma something.
* SelectiveObliviousness: Characters often act as if they do not hear the conversation [[ImStandingRightHere that is taking place right next to them]] (i.e. Touma to her brothers' talking about her).
** Taken to extremes with Chiaki not seeming to notice anything that would give away Mako's disguise... although perhaps she's only feigning obliviousness.
* SeriousBusiness: Pudding. That is all.
* ShipTease: Sakuraba likes to portray Hosaka, Fujioka, and Makoto as [[SpearCounterpart Spear Counterparts]] and OppositesAttract of Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki respectively in promotional art he makes, although in the manga proper those three are quite far from being romantically involved, and Hosaka and Haruka in particular barely know each other; surprisingly enough, Touma's brothers, who are generally accepted to be the real SpearCounterpart for the Minami sisters, get no such service from Sakuraba, they are in none of the promotional material.
* ShirtlessScene: Hosaka. He needs no reason to actually do it. He's gone shirtless in school, as a chef, with a fish...
* ShowWithinAShow[=/=]SoapWithinAShow: ''The Teacher and Ninomiya''
* SliceOfLife
* TheSmartGuy: Keiko. Whatever test comes up, she's guaranteed to get a perfect score.
* SpellingSong: The first, third, and fourth season opening themes. The [[DorkAge second season]]...was something else entirely.
* StandingInTheHall: Makoto.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Chiaki refers to Hosaka as the curry fairy. Later, Hayami tells Hosaka that he could become the curry fairy.
** Chiaki meets Hosaka again in the eighth episode of ''Tadaima'' while both of them are shopping for vegetables.
* StupidSexyFlanders: Hosaka has quite the large fanbase among men as well as women. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrMtgd3gpqw This video's comments section]] shows the influence he has over them.
* StylisticSuck: ''The Teacher and Ninomiya'' is an utter ClicheStorm.
* TemporalThemeNaming: Doubled up -- the Minami sisters have ''Haru''ka (spring), ''Ka''na (summer), and Chi''aki'' (autumn), while the other Minami family has ''Natsu''ki (summer), ''Aki''ra (autumn), ''Tou''ma (winter)... and the oldest brother, whose [[NoNameGiven name is never mentioned]].
** The anime has a ''very'' subtle (and likely accidental) ActorAllusion in the last case; voice actor Shinji Kawada played the role of ''Haru''ki (spring, again) in ''SchoolRumble''.
*** The seventh volume established that his name is ''Haru''o (spring).
** ''Okawari'' runs with this again in the case of ''Fuyu''ki (winter).
* ThanksForTheMammary: Natsuki is pushed into Haruka. She knows it was accidental and doesn't hold it against him, but still has to sock him one for the sake of appearances.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Each of the sisters has a pair of Those Two Girls in their respective schools.
* {{Tsundere}}: Harsh and abusive Chiaki sometimes is shown as a surprisingly loving sister to Kana, the main (and usually not innocent) subject of said abuse. She also acts in a tsundere-ish way towards Makoto, though definitely most of the "deredere" treatment gets received by his alter ego, Mako.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: ''The Teacher and Ninomiya'': The Video Game. Such genres include [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros platformer]], [[Videogame/{{Gradius}} shoot-em-up]], Capcom grade survival horror, and an RPG.
* UnlimitedWardrobe: Just how many swimsuits do [[{{Fanservice}} the sisters, their female friends]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Mako-chan]] own?
* TheUnSmile: [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mko10-34.jpg Natsuki's smile]] is somewhere between this and [[SlasherSmile slasher smile]].
* UnwillingSuspension: Kana dresses Chiaki up as a rain charm and hangs her from the clothesline, threatening to leave her like that until the weather clears up. She does.
* WackyHomeroom
* WholesomeCrossdresser:
** "Mako" becomes "trapped" in his role when no-one believes he's a boy, due to a female-to-male {{Wholesome Crossdresser}}'s earlier IgnoredConfession. Therapy, please.
** Touma also fits the mold, perhaps most obviously when the other girls dress her up in Makoto's male kimono. She tries to act "manly" by posing with it off-shoulder. The others are visibly disturbed, for obvious reasons. Kana even comments on Touma's lack of shame in exposing her chest.
** In the second season, however, there have been hints that Makoto is enjoying this situation. That twisted grin when he found the bondage outfit didn't help matters. Nor does the fact that he carried a purse to a sleepover, or wore a French Maid outfit (complete with knee-high socks and makeup) to his ''school's cultural festival''. By the third season, he doesn't even think twice about dressing up in Haruka's old outfit to help increase his supposedly-nonexistent bust size (it was Chiaki`s idea, though).
** Come ''Tadaima'', Makoto's crossdressing situation has accumulated so much inertia that Kana's count of his protests to stop has reached more than fifty already.
* ZettaiRyouiki: The girls in Chiaki's grade school seem to have this as part of the uniform.
----