The Shiunji Family Children Volume 1 Review

Author Reiji Miyajima is best known for long-running Rent-A-Girlfriend, currently sitting at 34 volumes and counting. Today I’m here to check out a new series of his which has made it to the English market via Yen Press: The Shiunji Family Children. Does this first volume prove an entertaining read? Let’s find out! 

The story follows Arata Shiunji, a young man with five sisters and a younger brother. The siblings might not always get along, but Arata is always there for them, no matter what. Partly because of his devotion to his family, Arata is a source of jealousy at school where rumours run rampant about the five gorgeous girls he’s lucky enough to live with. His family is also incredibly wealthy, so there are plenty of reasons for our protagonist to be subjected to envious stares. 

Both because of putting his family first and some alluded-to childhood drama, Arata currently doesn’t have a girlfriend. However, he still has his fair share of romance problems after his sister Kotono confesses she has  feelings for him. Being siblings, Arata rejects her but he can’t help worrying about it all the same. His troubles are only set to multiply when their father shares an important announcement with the kids when they come together to celebrate Kotono’s 15th birthday. 

At the party, Arata’s father reveals that none of the siblings are related by blood except for twins Minami and Sion. This understandably throws everyone for a loop, especially as the oldest of the siblings, Banri, is 18 already and can’t believe that, even as an adult, their father would keep the secret. But he reveals he promised his wife not to share it until Kotono was 15 and in some ways the group understands that he could have just as easily never told them. 

While the group collectively reassure each other that this changes nothing about their relationship and that they’re all still siblings, regardless of blood relationship, individually they’re all beginning to wonder what this means. Especially Kotono, given her feelings for Arata. Is it acceptable for them to have feelings for their brother now? Will they stay close to one another as adults without blood ties? It’s a lot to take in. 

I must admit that as it comes from the same creator as Rent-A-Girlfriend, I expected this to be similarly over-the-top and, well, trashy. Especially given one of the main themes is incest. However, what we’ve been presented with here in The Shiunji Family Children is a narrative that’s thoughtful and willing to discuss these taboo topics in a way that doesn’t feel pointless or for the sake of drama. 

Miyajima writes in the afterword that he intends for the series to run for 13 volumes and his confidence in this is perhaps why Volume 1 feels slow. After the initial reveal, most of the siblings get a chapter of their own in which they explore their feelings after the news. And this is great because it’s developing them equally, but because the author is taking the time to do that now it feels like the story isn’t moving forward very quickly. And that creates its own problems because it means it’s difficult to tell where the narrative is going. 

Will this remain a thoughtful look at what it means to be family or will it lean into fan service and silly incidents as the siblings realise they could date Arata? There are certainly some intriguing arguments made that Kotono falling for Arata is simply because it’s taboo (or a forbidden love) and that’s the element of the story I would like to explore. What this means for their relationships is far more interesting than any potential harem antics. Rent-A-Girlfriend certainly succeeds at telling these kinds of thoughtful storylines, when it wants to, but also spends a substantial amount of time buried in really contrived twists so I’m not exactly filled with confidence here. 

Still, it’s hard to argue that this first volume has gotten off to a compelling start. Especially coupled with some truly fantastic artwork here from Miyajima and credited “art support” Reiji Yukino. If you’re familiar with Miyajima’s other series you’ll recognise their use of panelling here, opting for smaller sections to home in on a character’s expression and then breaking out into full-page spreads for maximum impact in key moments. It’s work from someone very experienced in telling stories through not only the actions of the cast but through the unsaid feelings shown only on their faces. Surprisingly for the amount of characters here, no one looks all that similar to the Rent-A-Girlfriend cast either which is refreshing if you’re someone like me who follows that too.

I will say at the beginning that I felt a lot of the dialogue seems quite forced, in that it only exists to explain things to the reader, rather than being natural discussions the characters would have had among one another. But this is largely only an issue in Chapter 1 (of 7 here) where it introduces us to everyone and the general situation; afterward it improves. So, I’m willing to let it off the hook for that, but it’s certainly something to be aware of going in. 

As mentioned at the top of the review The Shiunji Family Children Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press where it has been translated by Kevin Gifford (who also works on Rent-A-Girlfriend) with lettering by Arbash Mughal. The translation reads well and there are some good translation notes included at the end, explaining the meaning of some changes in honorific usage from our cast later in the story. Honestly, it’s impressive work to make sure this many characters have such distinct voices too. 

This series started in Japan back in February 2022, but due to a hiatus (although it has since resumed) there are currently only 2 volumes available there. Perhaps because of that, there is currently no English release date for Volume 2 listed, but I’m hoping it won’t take too long as I suspect this series will be one better experienced in quick succession. 

Overall, The Shiunji Family Children Volume 1 offers an intriguing but slow beginning. There are signs that this could be something quite special and different from Reiji Miyajima’s existing work, but because of the amount of time spent on set-up, it’s hard to tell right now. One to pick up if you like the author, but otherwise maybe wait until Volume 2 surfaces. 

Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.