Koharu Sakuraba's comedy manga Minami-ke carved out a special place in the 2000s anime and manga scene, winning over fans with its low-key slice-of-life humor and delightfully ordinary stories.
A fifth TV anime season was announced in 2024 as part of the series' anniversary celebrations. Now, the official team has confirmed that Season 5, Minami-ke: Korekara, will premiere in April 2027. It marks the anime's first new season in 14 years, following Season 4 in 2013. A teaser visual and promotional video have also been unveiled.
Minami-ke began its biweekly run in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine in 2004 and remains in serialization today, with 29 collected volumes released so far. The story follows the everyday lives of sisters Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki Minami, along with the colorful people around them. The manga often strips its panels down to little more than the characters, using backgrounds sparingly while letting its simple, charming comedy do the heavy lifting.
The series was later adapted into a TV anime. The first two seasons premiered in October 2007 and January 2008, respectively, followed by Season 3 in January 2009 and Season 4 in January 2013.
The original voice cast is back, with Rina Sato returning as eldest sister Haruka Minami, Marina Inoue as middle sister Kana Minami, and Minori Chihara as youngest sister Chiaki Minami. The rest of the franchise's returning characters will also be voiced by their original cast members.
Jun'ichi Kitamura will direct the new season, with Takamitsu Kohno handling series composition and Nobuhiro Ando designing the characters. Animation production will be handled by LIDENFILMS. Yasunori Ebina and Yasuhiro Misawa, who have long served as the franchise's sound director and composer, respectively, are also returning for the new series.
The newly released teaser opens inside the familiar Minami apartment, with Haruka announcing, "Dinner's almost ready!" From there, the video brings back Kana and Chiaki's constant bickering, the sisters' friends from school, the other Minami family, and plenty of other familiar sights.
The Minami-ke manga may still be going strong, but getting another anime season after such a long break is an impressive testament to the series' staying power. Newcomers have plenty of manga to catch up on, while longtime fans can finally start counting down to more news.