反面【はんめん】

反面 means "but on the other hand": one thing has two sides, and the second clause gives the side that runs against the first. It follows the plain form; a な-adjective keeps な or takes である, and a noun takes である.

The two halves are usually a good point and a bad one, in either order. At the start of a sentence, そのはんめん反面 does the same job.

反面 or 一方

反面 needs one subject with two sides. To set two different things side by side – an older brother and a younger one, this year and last year – use いっぽう一方.

• × 兄は背が高い反面、弟は低い → 兄は背が高い一方、弟は低い

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反面 belongs to writing and to careful speech: essays, reports, discussions. In conversation the same contrast is けど or でも.