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Surprise update!

This season was an interesting one, going into it I expected series after series of shit, and while it’s hardly the return of the glory days, there was some entertaining stuff. I don’t know whether I’ll post on all of it, but I’ll keep going until my motivation to write leaves me as impetuously as it came.

99%

Truthfully, oreimo pissed me off, and of course by that I really mean Kirino pissed me off. Let me back up for a moment and say that I love the tsundere archetype, and before the cavalry marches in to crush the logical fallacy that is tsundere appeal, let me assure you, I know. I am well aware of its inherent shallowness and how completely unrealistic it is. Yes, tsunderes in real life are more commonly known as bitches and whores and no girl is going to stutter in a fluster when she leaks that bit of outward affection. But you know what? Fuck it. It’s anime, I don’t care if it’s realistic, tsundere is cute damnit.

However, Kirino is not tsundere, she’s a fucking bitch. Her brother, out of seemingly nothing but a sense of familial bond, does everything in his power to make this insufferable brat happy. She doesn’t deserve an ounce of the devotion that he showed towards her and frankly, I don’t what motivated Kyousuke to keep going. The whole appeal of tsundere are those moments where the walls are lowered, involuntarily, and the faintest rays of love shine through, only to be frantically covered up in a silly display of pride. So instead, when the good will and efforts of Kyousuke are returned with a swift kick in the balls, something has gone horribly awry.

The weirdest part about this is, the writers knew it, without a shadow of a doubt they knew what a horrible person they were making Kirino out to be. That scene where Kirino is playing a game with the tsundere imouto that is a complete mirror of her personality who proceeds to bitch out for being such an unlikeable tsuntsun was the writers looking us straight in the eyes and saying “deal with it”. And coming from that angle, perhaps that was their goal, to rile up discussion on internet boards between tsundere siscon lovers and those who actually have annoying little bratty sisters. ie. /a/ for the past 12 weeks.

One thing that I did like about Kirino’s character though, was her dedication to her hobby as an extension of herself. That episode where she reconciled being an otaku as part of herself, the struggle of coming to accept that she loves what she loves, despite knowing society views her kind, despite knowing the feelings of her best friends, despite everything in the world going against her, it’s who she is and to give it up would be to give herself up. Admirable, to say the least.

B-b-b-baka musuko!

Oyaji-san showing us how it’s done. I really liked Kirino’s dad, he came off as overly strict at first, but when he found out about Kirino’s hobby and Kyousuke confronted him, he ended up being pretty reasonable. Also…

You were in your little sister’s room using your little sister’s laptop to play games about doing indecent things to little sisters?

Absolute gold, second best speech across all shows this season.

Friendzone’d

Generally, the side characters in oreimo were fairly likable, if anything just because in direct comparison to Kirino, everyone else seems like a great catch. The childhood friend was a pretty generic character, but I couldn’t help but feel this sad sense of pity for her. Kyousuke’s kind of an asshole for stringing her along like he is, it’s pretty clear he knows how she feels.

The other major side character, Ayase, was all kinds of crazy, bordering on yandere stalker towards Kirino. I think they could have done a lot more with the conflict between the two, the way they chose to resolve it was rushed and not very well explained.

Nii-san~

I didn’t really like Kuroneko at the beginning, but she really grew on me as the series went on, and her “Nii-san” sealed the deal, I can’t remember the last time a line was delivered with such sultry sexiness that it sent a shiver up my spine.

Saori (BAGINA) was a weird character, she seemed to take up a voice of reason/comedic relief role when the tensions between Kirino/Kyousuke or Kirino/Kuroneko reached critical mass, but it somehow felt they had bigger plans for her that they just never got to.

In fact, I’d wager that oreimo will get a second season, the merch probably sold well enough to warrant it and there were so many loose ends not tied up. We got a glimpse of Saori in her bishoujo, glasses off mode, but it never surfaced, and Kuroneko dropped the foreshadowing bomb in the last episode for those who know what happens in the novel, saying “I’ll be calling [Kyousuke] something else soon enough”. I’m not quite sure how they’d continue it though, despite staying more or less true to the novels throughout the series, the ending deviated with Kirino staying in Japan vs going to America.

Anyway, that does it for this unstructured rant. Animation gets a “meh”, as does the soundtrack, they do what they need to without standing out in any particular way. The character designs were cute, but forgettable, and the music was UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ.

How high do you even have to be…

As for whether I’d recommend watching this…it depends on how much of a masochist for tsundere you are. If you think watching an entire episode of the MC busting his balls to appease a girl that isn’t even a realistic love interest only to get a fraction of a second of dere, then sure, it’s right up your alley. The tsundere ratio of the last episode might make it worth it, and is honestly what it should have been throughout the entire season. However, with an ending that deviated from the source material and an unbacked sudden shift in Kirino’s attitude, it feels rushed and unbelievable.

Do not watch this series with any hopes of siscon action, you’ll be disappointed, as was I, hell, it hasn’t even happened in the novels yet. Besides, if you want your incest fix, there’s another series you might want to check out. Expect more on that from me when it finishes airing tomorrow…maybe.

~ Shirukii ~