Nozomi and Shino
Shino Kishibe finds herself living with the wife of her brother after he suddenly died. Nozomi is a kind and beautiful young woman who would love it if her little sister-in-law would rely on her more, but Shino is afraid of being a burden on the young widow. The two live their lives day to day getting closer, each hoping they can become more like a family.
Known as Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu in Japanese, Living with my Brother's Wife is an ongoing Slice of Life manga by Kuzushiro, who also made Inugami San To Nekoyama San. The series currently has 4 volumes.
Tropes in this series:
- A-Cup Angst: Shino is shown a couple times angsting over her small bust.
- Affectionate Nickname: Shino's brother called Nozomi "Non-chan."
- Broken Pedestal: Back when Shino was playing volleyball in middle school, Koizumi admired her to the point of picking the high school she attended, only to find out Shino had quit. Unaware that Shino was processing her brother's death, Koizumi ends up viewing Shino as a pampered and noncommital girl who just decided to quit out of nowhere.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Shino is this for Nozomi, in a possibly platonic way though. When she sees Nozomi at a festival with a fellow male teacher she becomes incredibly distraught. Nozomi too has shown to be a little possessive of Shino, telling the girl to wait ten years before she would be ready for Shino to have a boyfriend.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Shino lost her parents to a car accident when she was younger and six months prior to the manga she lost her brother to a complication with a cold.
- Hard Truth Aesop: When Nozomi and Moriboshi, a fellow teacher, mediate between two fourth graders who are distraught over one having to transfer out, Moriboshi tells the girls that their friendships won't necessarily last their entire lives, especially since they'll meet new people at each stage of their lives. Moriboshi adds that it's possible to stay in touch even if they're separated, and that even if they drift apart, they can still fondly remember the friendships they once had.
- Homoerotic Subtext: The relationship between the two leads is often shown to be tinged with a romantic flavor. This is especially true to chapter beginning pages which often have the two in couple poses. Its also shown that both Shino and Nozomi are very against the idea of the other finding a boyfriend or new love interest.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each chapter is titled, "Diary."
- Mood Whiplash: In the middle of delivering a blunt but heartfelt Hard Truth Aesop to two friends worried about being separated, Moroboshi suggests that they keep in touch if they "use the interwebs and such." Without missing a beat, she then gets back on track and says it would be a shame if they parted while on bad terms with each other.
- Poor Communication Kills: Both Shino and Nozomi have a hard time expressing their feelings with one another and often they will cause the other to worry unnecessarily with their bottled up feelings. This goes to the point where Shino and Nozomi completely misunderstands each other on how well they're dealing with Taishi's death and that Shino's attempt to become more independent is hurting Nozomi because she doesn't know that Nozomi still couldn't get past Taishi's death and is holding onto her as a replacement.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Although Koizumi's impression of Shino as noncommital came from her ignorance of Shino's circumstances, Shino herself admits that she tends to quit things easily.Shino: I had my reasons for quitting the club, but I do have the tendency to quit really easily.
- Title Drop: Shino's narration at the end of the first chapter.Shino: My parents died a long time ago, my brother half a year ago. Now I'm living together with my brother's wife, and that's the whole story.
