Read on to find out about my little discovery about another Minami. Also, read about Alfred Adler’s birth order theory and how it affects the Minami sisters and us as well.

I am sure a lot of you have noticed that Haruka 「春香」, Kana　「夏奈」, and Chiaki’s　「千秋」 names contain the kanji for spring, summer, and fall, respectively. So, with winter missing, is there some chance that there is a fourth sister?! After scouring through the Minami-ke website, guess what I found out.

Winter is not missing!

Winter is Touma　「冬馬」, her last name is also Minami. I assume she is a cousin. According to her character profile, she commutes with Chiaki to school and is often mistaken to be Chiaki’s brother because of her name.

What’s in a name?

Interestingly, the Minami sisters’ names could be an allusion to their personalities.

Haruka is light-hearted, carefree, nurturing, and feminine. There is something about her that is graceful, gentle, and elegant. Yes, spring is very fitting for her.

Kana, on the other hand, is loud, high-strung, and has crazy energy levels. Fiery summer?

Finally, Chiaki acts coldly towards Kana and warm towards Haruka. She also has a hint of sophistication and darkness about her, though she isn’t really that frigid enough to become winter. Hmm… Fall would seem appropriate.

Would Touma follow this pattern? From what I gathered in some shots of her in the OP/ED she does not seem to be cold and the distant type. So, I suppose she is an exception.

Birth order theory and the sisters

The initial attraction for me to watch the series was the three-sibling setup that is similar to mine. I am the eldest of three. I was hoping to see some relatable scenes from the anime. I am happy to say that Minami-ke obliged, as mentioned in my earlier post.

Being the avid psychology fan, I wanted to try and apply the birth order theory with the Minami sisters and see if the hypotheses would stand true. Basically, the theory suggests that birth order influences our personalities.

Firstborns are more conscientious, serious, responsible, organized, conservative, ambitious, and generally have a high regard of themselves. This is partly because of how the parents usually expect a lot from firstborns, as they are seen to be the breadwinners in the family. They are expected to become role models for their younger siblings. They are also known perfectionists, probably due to constant bombardment of high expectations from the family.

Firstborns are usually groomed to become successors of their parents’ works and legacy. I, for one, have been trained to take over our family business ever since I was young and I have been told repeatedly that it is my responsibility to look after my younger siblings.

This explains Haruka’s nurturing and motherly character. She is also conservative and wishes to educate Chiaki about things properly. Like me, she probably does not want her younger siblings to grow up too quickly.

I noticed that Haruka is bit of an OC (obsessive compulsive). I recall the scene when she entered into the house and saw Kana’s shoes. She immediately took it and placed it in line with Chiaki’s and subsequently placed hers in the same fashion. I am only assuming that it was Kana’s shoes, seeing how she might be the type who does not care for those things.

Middleborn children have a less secure spot in the family. Thus, they tend to venture out into more diverse things to stand out. Since the trailblazing firstborns often overshadow them, they tend to become competitive or may constantly feel inadequate. Middleborns have also been dubbed as the family black sheep or the odd man out more often than not. Being stuck in the middle, they may also develop excellent negotiating skills and act as the mediator between the older and younger siblings.

I think Kana tries to stand out with her loud personality. She said so herself that her only redeeming factor is her being energetic, that is, it is what sets her apart from her siblings. To some degree, this also explains Kana’s troublemaking.

We can also see, even at this early stage of the show, that Kana feels somewhat left out because Chiaki and Haruka have these bonding moments together. Like the first scene when Haruka was cooking and Chiaki volunteered to help, Kana was hoping that they would ask her to join them as well.

Kana also delights in teasing and picking on Chiaki. This could be seen as channeling her feelings of inadequacies to Chiaki.

Youngest children are labeled the entertainers and party animals of the family. They may need to learn to cope with being picked on the middle child. They may try to be strong to deal with it or become fearful and excessively weak. Seeing how the youngest may possess the least power amongst the siblings, they may resort to manipulation or charm to get what they want.

Certainly, Chiaki is no push over. She has taken upon herself to become strong and cunning to deal with Kana. Although we see Chiaki as being serious and mature for her age, there is still a side of her that wants to be babied and pampered, especially by Haruka.

I thought that Kana was evil, but after some reflection, I realize that Chiaki is much more cunning. Remember how easily she manipulated Kana into going to school. She easily fooled Kana into thinking that the love letter she received from Fujioka was a challenge. She has the makings of a great tactician yet. Not to mention how easily she was able to formulate an effective plan to win against Fujioka, a soccer athlete, in their so-called showdown by immobilizing his supporting leg.

Hopefully, we will get to see more of the sisters’ personalities and perhaps I’ll get to write more about the birth order theory when that happens.

Life is gray

… or grey.

I do not mean to oversimplify our personalities based on birth order. This is not a clear black and white description and classification of people. I know that much. However, I am inclined to believe that there is some truth to it and it does, even in a small extent, influence our personalities. How can it not? Having siblings is a way of life.

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