***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Kyosuke Kosaka (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura) is your average teenage high school boy. Nothing all that spectacular, nothing all that impressive. His younger sister is another story.
Perfect grades, star of the track team, and successful model, Kirino Kosaka (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu) seems perfect. The complete opposite of her lackluster brother. As a result, the two’s relationship is a little strained. Then one day, Kyosuke makes a discovery that changes everything.
Lying on the hallway floor, Kyosuke finds a DVD case of well-known children’s anime. Inside, to his shock, is a copy of a hardcore little sister themed eroge (pornographic game). Deducing that it can only be one person’s, though unlikely, Kyosuke confronts Kirino.
Upset, but otherwise caught, Kirino admits that the game is hers. She braces for the mockery that she is sure is coming. Kyosuke says that while he's surprised, it’s something that he wouldn’t make fun of her over. Taken aback by what he just said, Kirino decides to let her brother know her most guarded secret. Kirino is, in fact, a full-fledged otaku with a deep-seated love for little sister eroges.
Despite the shocking revelation, Kyosuke decides to keep and protect his little sister’s secret.
Series Positives
The set up alone will maybe turn many people away. To those, I say, “You’re actually missing out.”
I understand I'm treading on thin ice. But Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, Oreimo for short, is actually quite the good show.
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| Kyosuke |
Nerdom
I’m a nerd. I have my own, specific things that I will complete go ham on, regardless if you can’t understand why. I’m willing to bet you have something like that too; we all do.
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| Kirino |
Oreimo is a comedy. It’s silly, it doesn’t take itself that serious. And it’s not all that complex. It does all that well, yet Oreimo still hits right at home. It describes what it means to be a fan of something rather nice. Sure erotic little sister games might be an extreme example, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
Your nerd passion isn’t your whole being. But it is an important aspect of who you are. We can still have a daily life. We can excel in other fields. We can interact with society. What we turn to at the end of the day to help us relax differs from person to person.
Damn this show for using such a touchy example, but its message is pretty clear.
What it Doesn’t Do
With a premise such as this, it wouldn’t have been all that difficult for Oreimo to be an ecchi. I mean I've seen even the most innocent of scenarios be completely turned around. Anime is never shy from doing this, and when I started the show I did expect it to go that route.
Aside from one or two questionable camera angles, Oreimo doesn’t do anything of the sort. This was welcomed because the show had to then rely on using its characters and story to be entertaining.
Series Negatives
Oreimo is by no means spectacular, but it’s fun. The characters aren’t what I would call original, but they’re enjoyable. The premise is out there, but, and let’s be honest, it’s not the strangest thing that has ever been done.
What I’m saying is that it’s not perfect. There are more than enough things that the show doesn’t do well.
Nothing Happens
Every episode, every arch, everything always felt like it was building to something.
There was always a conflict. There was always something that needed to get fixed. There was always something that wasn't going right. Why then did nothing happen?
Everything got solved fast and was always without drama. Characters had disagreements. They did argue. But by the end of the episode, it was like nothing ever happened.
Oreimo never made anything potential troubling, permanent.
This then culminated in the final episode. The last big conflict, which had no build up UNTIL the final episode, wasn't a conflict at all. Because it just never happened. We learned about what was going on and then it was solved almost immediately. The the last episode was so anticlimactic, which was basically the entire show.
The series then did something rather interesting. The ONAs were an alternate ending. They showed what would have happened had the final conflict actually went through. How that was solved was unimpressive. But it was better than what the show went with in the first place.
Kirino
I don’t like her.
Kirino was by no means a bad character. She just wasn't that uninteresting.
The main point of Oreimo, or at least what I thought, was a brother and sister fixing their relationship. Except, I never found myself caring. This was because Kirino never seemed to be trying. She was always kind of a huge brat. The show was better and more fun when it was Kyosuke and a character that wasn't his sister.
I didn’t expect Kirino and Kyosuke to have a relationship like the ones in Kirino’s games. Actually, I did, but I’m glad it didn’t happen. While interesting, Oreimo would've been better with more emphasis on a deeper connection. Something that did exist in the show. There were of opportunities for Kyosuke to build a relationship with the other characters. These would've made for a more entertaining series.
To prove my point, just look again at the ONAs. Kirino wasn't a big part of them. But they were just as good, if not better, than rest of the series.
So a show with a little sister who liked little sisters, but didn't actually need the little sister. It’s definitely a problem.
Final Thoughts
This show has a second season, and I want to watch it.
Other shows might have better stories. They might even have more unique characters. Hell, they're even a lot funnier. But Oreimo was still an entertaining show.
It could've been a throwaway ecchi. It could have been unimpressive. But it wasn't. I had a lot of fun with this series and it's definitely worth checking out.
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