Please Twins!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please Twins!
The main characters of Onegai Twins
おねがい☆ツインズ (Onegai ☆ Twins)
Genre	Romantic comedy
TV anime
Director	Yasunori Ide
Studio	Bandai Visual, Studio Orphee, Daume
Network	WOWOW, Bandai Channel
Original run	July 15, 2003 – October 14, 2003
Episodes	12
OVA
Director	Yasunori Ide
Studio	Bandai Visual, Studio Orphee, Daume
Episodes	1
Released	April 23, 2004
Runtime	26 minutes
Light novel
Author	Gō Zappa
Illustrator	Taraku Uon, Hiroaki Gōda
Publisher	Dengeki Bunko ComicsOne
Demographic	Male
Published	2004 – 2004
Volumes	2
Manga
Author	Akikan
Publisher	MediaWorks ComicsOne
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Dengeki Daioh
Original run	2005 – 2005
Volumes	1

Please Twins! (おねがい☆ツインズ, Onegai Tsuinzu^?, Onegai ☆ Twins), is an anime television series, scripted by Yousuke Kuroda and produced by Bandai Visual, which was later adapted into a light novel and one-volume manga series. It centers around a family of three teenagers in high school all living together who are unsure which two of them are related to each other due to a reference from an old photograph. The Please Twins! anime series is a spin-off sequel^[1][2] to Please Teacher! that first aired in Japan on the WOWOW satellite television network on July 15, 2003 and finished with a total of 12 episodes plus a later OVA episode released on DVD. The series was later adapted into a light novel in 2004, which spanned a total of two volumes and, soon after, into a short one-tankobon manga version (authored by Japanese mangaka Arikan), which was serialized in MediaWorks's Dengeki Daioh magazine in September 2005.

As with Please Teacher!, the setting of the series is Lake Kizaki, located in Nagano, Japan, and the region and its surrounding locations are featured prominently and accurately across the series.^[3] For instance, when Karen and Maiku head out for their date, they go to Karuizawa, Nagano located on the Nagano Shinkansen and Shinano Railway line. The shopping center, staircase, and Church Street all are located 2 kilometers north of JR Karuizawa Station off the main road. The track that Miina and her childhood friend run on is said to be in Ueda, Nagano, also on the Nagano Shinkansen and Shinano Railway lines just south of Nagano City.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Main characters 2.2 Supporting characters 2.3 Supporting characters from Please Teacher! 2.4 Cameo appearances 3 Media 3.1 Anime 3.1.1 Episodes 3.1.2 Music 3.2 Light novel 3.3 Manga 3.4 CD drama 4 See also 5 Notes and references 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Please Twins! is a story mainly revolving around three high school students: Maiku Kamishiro, Karen Onodera, and Miina Miyafuji. The three were drawn together by a photograph of their childhood home which later makes all of them seek out the house in the picture. However, the picture only has two children - a boy and a girl. Hence, only one of the girls, Karen or Miina, is related to Maiku. The only other identifying feature of the pair in the picture is that the boy and the girl have eyes of the same unusual color; a feature that furthers the ambiguity as all three of them have the same eye color.

The main concern of the male lead, Maiku, is that he is in love with both of the girls, and he does not know which one is his twin. In addition, the two girls are in love with Maiku, forming a love triangle of potential incest. The three main characters, mostly the two female leads, are in a predicament of wanting to discover their past versus the risk of losing a romantic relationship.

The events of the story are set after Please Teacher! and characters from the series appear in supporting roles throughout Please Twins!.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

Maiku Kamishiro (神城 麻郁, Kamishiro Maiku^?)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

The main protagonist of the story, Maiku tends to be very secretive and stoic. He treats the two potential relatives harshly frequently calling them idiots and bossing them around, however we find out later in the series he does this to avoid getting hurt by people he cares about. Later, he warms up to them a bit more but still maintains a tough exterior. He is a computer programmer and student in high school. At the beginning of the story, he is living alone but is soon joined by Miina Miyafuji and Karen Onodera after they each trace their copies of the photograph to the house. Maiku is soon told, while on a date with Karen, that Karen is actually his younger twin sister and that Miina is the stranger. When Miina finds out she does her best to avoid him, much to Maiku's confusion. Later he is told by Karen that Miina has gone to the train station to runaway. Shocked, Maiku jumps on his bike to go after her, and finds her standing on the dock of a rundown station. He tells Miina that he would never want her to go and that she is always welcome to stay. Maiku then say that 'they could talk about their relationship later' and then kisses her. Maiku and Miina later go out as boyfriend and girlfriend living with Karen in their home.

Left-Right: Karen Onodera, Maiku Kamishiro, and Miina Miyafuji.

Miina Miyafuji (宮藤 深衣奈, Miyafuji Miina^?)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)

Miina tends to have a hyperactive personality and is generally outgoing. Eventually, she develops feelings for Maiku but is afraid to act on them since she might in fact be his sister. She outwardly expresses herself as happy-go-lucky, although she is actually hiding things about her past. It is later found out that she is actually the stranger of the three, making Karen the relative. Knowing this she becomes hesitant when she is around Maiku, and even goes so far as to avoid him. In the last episode she attempts to leave by train back home, only to be followed and stopped by Maiku who says he would never want her to go and that she always welcome to stay. It is then that they share their first intentional kiss. She then tells Maiku that she wasn't trying to leave, but that she was told to come to the old train station by someone. Soon after all this Miina goes back to Karen and Maiku and she and Maiku begin to go out with each other.

Karen Onodera (小野寺 樺恋, Onodera Karen^?)

Voiced by: Ai Shimizu (Japanese), Lara Jill Miller (English)

Karen is usually a very shy and timid girl who is even prone to passing out (called "The 'nyu's," for the syllable she utters before eventually passing out) when a situation gets too intense for her to handle. She frequently calls people by a title, such as calling Maiku, "Mr. Maiku", or "Maiku-San" in the Japanese version. Like Miina, she also develops feelings for Maiku, though she doesn't act on them for the same reasons. While looking at the picture of Maiku and the possible sibling she realizes that the picture wasn't taken at the house, but somewhere near the house. She explores the area around the house and finds an old shack with an open diary inside. Reading it she finally realizes the truth. She gets the nerve to ask Maiku on a date, violating the Love Alliance Rules. She wears the dress that Maiku bought for her. As the date comes to an end she reveals to Maiku that she loves him and is in love with him. When she realizes that Maiku is very shocked and stunned she finishes her sentence by saying that she loves him as a sibling would, due to the fact that she is Maiku's younger twin sister. In the last episode Karen finds out that Miina has left for the train station and quickly tells Maiku. Karen later follows after Maiku to see him and Miina kissing. She then jumps at them saying 'Ms. Miina you can't do it.' As they're all walking home together, Karen explains that she wants to be spoiled by her older brother for a little while longer and that Miina can't have him till then. Later she accepts their relationship and even encourages their love.

In the manga

The relationship is explicated by the arrival of an older relative named Hanna Miasa. She claims to be Karen's mother and explains that Maiku and Miina are the twin children of her sister. Because of the tough economy back then she had to leave Karen with her sister. Later, again because of the tough economy, her sister had to give up all three children. Later, during the night after her arrival, she and Miina separately discover that she had made a mistake: in actual fact Hanna is Miina's mother and Karen and Maiku are siblings. Regarding the famous photograph, Karen happened to be inside the house sleeping when the photograph was taken.

In the novel

It is revealed in volume 2 that Miina is in fact Maiku's sister while Karen is the stranger.

[edit] Supporting characters

Haruko Shidō (四道 晴子, Shidō Haruko^?)

Voiced by: Ryoko Shintani

Haruko is Matagu's younger sister and is usually very bubbly and hyperactive. She has a very immature personality and while she acknowledges that her brother is a pervert, she seems completely oblivious to such mature matters.

Kousei Shimazaki (島崎 康生, Shimazaki Kōsei^?)

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura

One of Maiku's close friends who becomes a bit too friendly with him. He is a bisexual and can be seen trying to flirt with Kamishiro to an extent that when Maiku is needed money, he actually tells Maiku that if he stayed with him for a night, he would give as much as Maiku wanted but instead Maiku punches him as the result of many of their conversations. Surprisingly, he harbors deep feelings for Tsubaki Oribe.

Tsubaki Oribe (織部 椿, Oribe Tsubaki^?)

Voiced by: Michiko Neya

She is the vice president of the student council and usually has a very serious personality. Intelligent and outgoing, gifted with a busty figure and possessing a more mature personality than the 'twin' girls, she is a source of concern for Karen and Miina as being an obvious rival for Maiku's affections. Her attempts to interest Maiku in a relationship, however, are met with Maiku's tacit plea for just friendship. It is not until she confers with (the much older and wiser) Ichigo that she realizes that Maiku cannot engage in any casual romantic relationship due to both his obligations to his new-found 'family' and his own forcibly matured, responsible nature. This causes her to gain a higher degree of respect for Maiku, and to focus her attentions on the one person she once thought too forceful in expressing his affection for her, Kousei. Her brother died at a young age and to fill a void, she latched onto Kousei, then Maiku.

[edit] Supporting characters from Please Teacher!

Some of the Please Teacher! characters return in various supporting roles.

Ichigo Morino (森野 苺, Morino Ichigo^?)

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura

She has changed a lot since the events of Please Teacher!. She has become the president of the student council and somewhat perversely enjoys getting dirt on other students. Ichigo usually avoids male companionship though, in fact, she has normal desires in this regard. This is partly due to a unique disease where she was put into a "standstill", a form of metabolic stasis similar to a coma, for six years, which stopped her aging process. The disease can be triggered by psychological stress, hence her deadpan, phlegmatic personality is a counter to prevent its onset. In effect, she appears to be a 17 year old or perhaps younger when in fact she is 23 when the story begins. Teacher Mizuho Kazami was entrusted with knowledge of Morino's situation by her fellow student (and Kazami's secret husband) Kei Kusanagi during the events shown in Please Teacher!, and has maintained the confidentiality of Morino's disclosure to Kei. Ichigo, herself, informed her friend Koishi of her unusual illness in order to prevent a serious misunderstanding from wrecking Koishi's close friendship with Kei Kusanagi. Herikawa has maintained the confidentiality of this disclosure ever since. However, in the Twins series, there were no mention of her standstills. Morino has a married younger sister named Ringo.

Matagu Shido (四道 跨, Shidō Matagu^?)

Voiced by: Hiroaki Miura

Matagu is a senpai to the main characters and tends to come off as an incestuous pervert though is otherwise good natured. His appearances tend to be for comic relief. In Please Teacher!, he is known as a quiet and lonely guy who does not have a chance with women but he is much different in Please Twins!.

Mizuho Kazami (風見 みずほ, Kazami Mizuho^?)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Bridget Hoffman (English)

She is employed as a teacher at the school where all the characters attend. She is in fact a half-human alien, formerly of the Galactic Federation's elite Resident Observer Corps, who first arrived on Earth to observe humans and their development, but also to learn of the Earthly half of her heritage. She was forced to leave Earth under duress, and was stripped of her status as an Observer due to her romantic involvement with her secret husband, Kei Kusanagi. Illegally aided by her mother and younger sister, she surreptitiously returned to Earth to be re-united with her human spouse. She can be somewhat ditzy, but also very open-hearted, compassionate and sociable. In a somewhat nostalgic replay of the situation that led to her and Kei being discovered by the former Headmaster, Miina and Karen are forced to hide in the very same sports equipment locker. Marie locates them and Mizuho transports herself to it covertly, and then proceeds to counsel the two girls on the true nature behind Maiku's seeming gruffness towards them, and that it screens genuine kindness and affection for them. Her half-alien nature is never mentioned in the Twins anime. However, it seems in the OVA that her marital relationship with Kei is at least open among his close circle of friends, into which it is implied that Miina, Karen and Maiku have been inducted into courtesy of a summer vacation party.

Marie (まりえ, Marie^?)

Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda

Mizuho's diminutive assistant and companion. A quasi-organic systems link to the operating system controlling Kazami's cloaked and submerged starship and its' transporter functions, he has been nicknamed "Fushigi-chan" ("Little Wonder" in English) by Karen for his ability to materialize almost anywhere, often after being summoned without any seeming communications device employed. 'He' makes occasional appearances in the neighborhood, at school and the protagonist's shared residence. As 'his' master Kazami does with "Pochy", 'he' enjoys eating "Prech", a snack food based on the real-life snack Pretz, for which he has an insatiable appetite. The anime establishes that, Marie's existence is publicly known and accepted (despite 'his' other-worldly appearance and demonstrated abilities such as levitation) by several of the school's students as being a part of the local UFO folklore surrounding the area, thanks to the events of Please Teacher!. It is commented by Mizuho that Marie is a frequent visitor and overnight guest at the Kamishiro residence, and is seen 'sleeping' on the same futon with the 'twin' girls.

[edit] Cameo appearances

During the series, many of the Please Teacher! characters make cameo appearances.

Kei Kusanagi (草薙 桂, Kusanagi Kei^?)

A senpai (a term roughly equivalent to mentor) to the main characters, he has no speaking lines in the Twins series, although he does have a "sneezing" one. Only during the OVA episode did he briefly speak. Kei has the same extraordinary disease as Ichigo which caused him to be in a "standstill" for three years, so when the story begins he appears to be 15 when he is actually 18. He was covertly married to Mizuho Kazami in the original series but their marriage appears to be common knowledge in this series.

Koishi Herikawa (縁川小石, Herikawa Koishi^?)

Koishi is, at the time of this series, a high school student, good friend and former love interest of Kei Kusanagi, and proprietor of Herikawa Groceries. As such, she becomes Miina and Karen's manager after the two of them obtain part-time jobs at the store, thanks to Ichigo's machinations and her long time friendship with Koishi, who was entrusted with the knowledge of both Kei Kusanagi's and Ichigo's rare disease, and still maintains the confidentiality of their true calendar ages. Koishi does not seem particularly distressed that both of her classmates are in fact much older than her; in the OVA it is implied that she is romantically involved with her technology teacher, Mr. Yamada, who is considerably older than she is. She was also most of the time behind the counter, out of camera sight, and is reported to be getting ready for university entrance exams. She had only one, brief, camera shot in the final episode, along with Kaede Misumi.

Hyosuke Magumo (間雲 漂介, Magumo Hyōsuke^?)

A brash student with dyed blonde hair, Hyosuke aspires to attend college at Tokyo University and become a professional statesman, much like his brother. Currently going out with Kaede.

Kaede Misumi (水澄 楓, Misumi Kaede^?)

Kaede tends to be a rather shy girl most of the time. Her physical characteristics include that she is one quarter Irish, tall (for a Japanese) and with red hair and freckles. Currently going out with Hyosuke.

Masami Yamada (山田 正臣, Yamada Masami^?)

A quiet male teacher whose hobby is creating human-powered planes.

Crazed-Summer-Love-Girl

Known as the little girl during the summer (both in this anime, and prequel) who finds a boy (Maiku/Kei) who she quickly becomes attracted to. Soon after, she finds out the person she falls in love with already has a love interest. Her dog is then pulled on the neck by the leash when she staggers away broken hearted.

[edit] Media

[edit] Anime

The Please Twins! anime series, scripted by Yousuke Kuroda, directed by Yasunori Ide, and produced by Bandai Visual, premiered in Japan on the WOWOW satellite television network between July 15, 2003 and October 14, 2003, consisting of a total of 12 episodes. An OVA episode continuing the story was later released on DVD on April 23, 2004. The series has been licensed for North American distribution by Bandai Entertainment.

[edit] Episodes

#	Title	Original airdate
01	"Triplets?" "Futago ga sannin?" (双子が3人？)	July 15, 2003
Miina and Karen, two girls with purple eyes, arrive at Maiku's doorstep claiming that they are related to him.
02	"We Might be Related" "Nikushin kamoshirenai" (肉親かもしれない)	July 22, 2003
Maiku ponders if he should let Miina and Karen stay with him.
03	"We Might be Strangers" "Tanin kamoshirenai" (他人かもしれない)	July 29, 2003
trouble raises when an upperclassmen that likes Maiku arrives at their house.
04	"Kind to You" "Kimi ni yasashiku" (きみにやさしく)	August 5, 2003
Miina and Karen search for jobs. A series of events ends them hiding from everybody at Maiku's school.
05	"Do You Like Girls?" "Onna no ko wa sukidesuka?" (女の子は好きですか？)	August 19, 2003
Miina and Karen test Maiku to see if he likes boys or girls.
06	"Love Alliance" "Ren'ai doumei" (恋愛同盟)	August 26, 2003
All three of them feel strange around each other after the events of the previous episode. Miina and Karen create a Love Alliance.
07	"Making Memories" "Omoidezukuri" (おもいでづくり)	September 2, 2003
Maiku, Miina and Karen head to the beach.
08	"Be Honest in Love" "Koi wa sunao ni" (恋は素直に)	September 9, 2003
Maiku learns the truth of Shimazaki's sexuality.
09	"Don't Leave Me Out" "Nukegake shinaide" (ぬけがけしないで)	September 16, 2003
On a beautiful day, the three head to the mall, but lose each other.
10	"I Want to Run Again" "Mou ichido hashiritai" (もういちど走りたい)	September 30, 2003
Maiku and Karen learn of Miina's past.
11	"I Want to Tell You I Love You" "Anata ni suki to tsutaetai" (あなたに好きと伝えたい)	October 7, 2003
Karen finds out who is the relative, then goes out on a date with Maiku before telling him(breaking the Love Alliance).
12	"We Are Three Twins" "Sannin de tsuinzu" (3人でツインズ)	October 14, 2003
Miina ran away(in the previous episode) and Maiku and Karen are worried. After Karen talks to her, Miina goes to the train station. Maiku runs over there and they let their feelings out with a climactic kiss.
OVA	"The Summer Never Ends" "Natsu wa owara nai" (夏は終わらない)	April 23, 2004
Maiku craves for alone time to catch up on work, but the student council, Miina, Karen and more arrive for a party. Miina wants to spend alone time with Maiku, but Karen wants to be spoiled by her brother and comes between the two.

[edit] Music

• Opening theme: Second Flight by KOTOKO and Hiromi Satō
• Ending theme: Asu E no Namida by Mami Kawada

[edit] Light novel

Please Twins! was later adapted into a light novel, authored by Gō Zappa and illustrated by Taraku Uon and Hiroaki Gōda. It was published in Japan by MediaWorks in 2004. It was later licensed for North American distribution by ComicsOne and published in two volumes in 2005.

The light novel covers several different events that did not occur in the anime and omits some events altogether. While the basic story stays intact, there is one large difference: the identity of Maiku's sister in the novel differs from the anime version.

[edit] Manga

The series was later adapted into a short one-volume manga version, authored by Japanese mangaka Arikan, which was serialized in MediaWorks's Dengeki Daioh magazine in September 2005. The manga has since been licensed for North American distribution by ComicsOne and published in 2006.

[edit] CD drama

There is also a CD drama spinoff of the "Onegaiverse" called Onegai Friends.

[edit] See also

• Please Teacher!

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Please! Official website (Japanese)
• Please Twins! Official website (Japanese)
• Please Twins! Bandai Channel website (Japanese)
• Please Twins! Official US website
• Please Twins! (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia