Disclaimer, this anime is NOT trans representation, and the main character constantly refers to himself as a he, so therefore for the sake of sanity, from here on out he shall be referred to as a he.

“Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister!” (January 2023, Studio Bind) is a strange story with the premise being the main character’s little sister drugging him for the sake of rehabilitation.

Mahiro Oyama (voiced by Marika Kōno), a mid twenties shut in, woke up one day thinking he had a cold only to realize that his little sister, Mihari Oyama (Kaori Ishihara), had drugged him the day before and turned him into a middle school girl. Mahiro, now at the crazy whims of his little sister, has to go along with her plan to try and rehabilitate him back into society.

The animation style is honestly very cutesy, being sort of a chibi (meaning the style is more cutesy while also giving away some higher quality aspects) throughout the majority of the show. Even though it’s of that style, the animators convey the characters’ emotions really well, especially the amount of turmoil Mahiro feels.

There are little background details that are very adorable, having a type of “gradient” of stars near the edges making the show feel more fantasy-like, especially without the lifelike background most anime viewers are used to. The way the artists draw the scenes gives them more of a dreamy feeling instead of the sometimes stale lifelike backdrops.

Environmental sounds when done right are the keys to success for a show, and with the talented hands at Studio Bind they have made sounds mesh so well with the environment. It never feels like there’s too much or too little, even when running when the shoes hit the floor there’s a clear sound for the viewer to hear, and it’s that little effort that goes a long way.

The soundtrack was made perfectly with this show in mind, giving a melancholy feeling whenever there’s a wholesome scene, honestly, the show is able to portray Mahiro’s emotion to the viewers so perfectly that it can have people see in his eyes.

Even though this show is a “gender bender” show, there are actually a lot of wholesome plot points instead of the experiment being a gag or over-sexualized. Although not all parts are overly sexualized for quick laughs, the ones that do come out of right field and take an audience by surprise only to have them relaxed knowing they aren’t going to jail. 

Although there’s a lot good going on within the depths of this show, an audience has to wade through the first few episodes that are concerning on many levels, the first episode with a bath scene, the second with a period scene, and the third with Kaede Hozuki (Hisako Kanemoto) appearing and baiting the viewer thinking something not wholesome would occur. 

There’s plenty more that happens between Mahiro and the wide cast of characters, that as of writing this is only half, but even with the slim cast of characters only 5 episodes in the show still somehow manage to be jailbait. Even one of the animators Kay Yu states, “I’m likely going to jail for some of the cuts I animated for this show.” 

This is another show where some old guy somehow is put into another body, but this time the body is significantly younger, being in middle school. In some scenes between Mihari and Momiji Hozuki (Minami Tsuda) Mahiro has to actively remind himself that he is a man.

For an avid watcher of anime who is used to a lot of the nuances this show has to offer, it’s this season’s best wholesome pick. However, if the viewer is new to anime, they should probably work up to this or flat out ignore it.