Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

OreImo

There is no way my post title is so long. Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, or OreImo as it is commonly abbreviated, is an interesting twist of the quintessential tsundere anime genre popularized by titles such as Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima.

And beyond that, it, like Genshiken, is a testament to the subculture that has sprung up around bishoujo anime and games.

Despite its suspicious title (“There is no way my sister is this cute”), OreImo, at least the anime adaptation, is not about incest. There is certainly some suggestive tension between Kyousuke Kousaka and his tsundere sister Kirino Kousaka that does not usually exist between siblings, but arguably the masterful execution keeps it within tastefully platonic limits.

This can be disappointing if you walk into it hoping for another Koi Kaze, but on some level the setup is oddly appropriate given the personalities of the two main characters and the theme of the story. Nevertheless, the show does contain enough emotionally-charged moments to make the viewer blush excitedly like a giddy school girl.

OreImo

OreImo

Kirino Kousaka is a typical teenage girl who hates her brother Kyousuke Kousaka. But one day, Kyousuke accidentally discovers that Kirino is actually a huge closet otaku who has a pile of eroge tall enough to touch the ceiling hidden in her otaku closet and an ironic fetish for little sisters. Kirino, who has thus far kept her double life secret from even her closest friend, is initially horrified but slowly realizes that having someone share her secret may not be such a bad thing. With Kyousuke’s help, Kirino gradually overcomes her self-loathing and decides to be more honest with her passions (perhaps in more than one way). Of course, with Kyousuke around to help her buy 18+ eroge, she also descends farther into oblivion… めでたしめでたし。

OreImo
That stack of games cost a few thousand dollars

As with any anime dealing with otaku, things get really meta. There are many allusions and references to real-life anime and game titles and Kirino’s many dilemmas (usually, which girl to kouryaku first) probably strike a chord with many of the show’s viewers. Every commercial break eyecatch contains a imouto-themed parody of an actual anime or game and every episode has a unique ED song along with a unique illustration provided by a well-known doujin or eroge artist. As with Genshiken, it gives you a very warm and fuzzy feeling inside to know that this perverted little niche has grown to become a substantial subcultural force of its own.

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Eyecatch

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Kirino practising sexual grooming on virtual lolis

In a way, OreImo is really just Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, except that Haruhi is Kyon’s little sister and she likes to play pornographic games about little sisters instead of searching for UFOs or aliens. Haruhi herself has some maniac tendencies (e.g. making Mikuru dress up as a bunny girl to provide fan service) that endear her to the audience’s inner selves. Kirino takes that concept one step further by being a full-blown closet otaku. And like Kyon, Kyousuke gets to clean up her mess afterwards behind the scenes.

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@_@

To be honest, while combining Haruhi and Genshiken does make for an interesting concept as it is, the real draw of OreImo for me is the complicated relationship between Kyousuke and Kirino. There’s a popular saying in Japanese, tomodachi ijou koibito miman 友達以上恋人未満 (more than friends, less than lovers), which on a side note actually has an eroge named after it. You can probably call Kyousuke and Kirino kyoudai ijou koibito miman 兄妹以上恋人未満 (more than siblings, less than lovers).

OreImo
Kirino cries knowing that she can never be with her brother…

Even though Kirino fits the typical tsundere heroine archetype that has proliferated throughout the industry over the years as part of its moétification, and even though Kyousuke is more or less an exact replica of Kyon, the fact that they are siblings serves as an insurmountable absolute barrier against potential developments. All tsundere characters have their barriers (e.g. the master-servant relationship seen in Zero no Tsukaima) to prevent the relationship from escalating beyond the status quo until the season finale, but the one between Kirino and Kyousuke is real and indestructible. There isn’t even the usual wriggle room of “siblings unrelated by blood”.

OreImo
There is no way my family has so many different hair colours

Having not read the novels, I spent most of the 12 episodes wondering how the show intends to give a satisfactory ending to the web that it has weaved. An actual incestuous ending would be, in my opinion, oddly out of place — too straightforward and simple for a story that so carefully dances around the issue. And yet, a tsundere setup without a teredere ending just feels wrong. This sense of dilemma, I feel, is where OreImo truly differentiates itself. Wherein most works of similar genre a happy ending is predictable and welcomed, in OreImo it is uncertain and emotionally complicated.

Indeed, I personally find that OreImo’s “Good Ending” is the non-controversial compromise that is decent but somewhat hollow. Perhaps this is why OreImo will have 4 extra DVD episodes that will form 2 alternate endings to the series. Will I be condemned if I say that I am looking forward to the “True Ending”?

OreImo

OreImo
^_^

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>:(

OreImo
Ahh… Toranoana at Akiba. Nostalgic.

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Kirino’s awesomely psychotic best friend

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There is no way my otaku meta-anime doesn’t feature a Comiket episode

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This proves it. Kirino is Konata!

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Kuroneko, cat-eared dweller of the eternal darkness

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Mutually-Assured Tsundere

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KIRA☆

Also looking forward to the OreImo PSP game… >_>

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11 Responses to Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai

  1. Amnestic says:

    Good to hear this show’s actually decent. It caught my eye recently (along with Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt – which you should check out if you haven’t already) but I’ve not had a chance to watch it yet. Might free up some time over the next few days to dig into it.

  2. omo says:

    Honestly I don’t watch this for the relationship between kyousuke and kirino, because there’s nothing really much going on and as far as incest goes, there are better works whose focus is on that insurmountable relationship. Kyousuke’s internal processes, on the other hand, is already more interesting in terms of what he thinks a brother should do for his sister.

    I find all the otaku jokes and nods and how Kirino interacts with the greater world more interesting.

  3. DarkMirage says:

    Well, I don’t watch enough to say for sure, but I actually can’t think of any other show that executes the stereotypical tsundere story with an incestuous bend. I find this interesting.

    That said, I can’t really think of another show that does the unlikely closet otaku thing either. But somehow I find it less remarkable after having read and watched Genshiken.

  4. reesha says:

    this anime is hilarious and touching to watch. The otaku part is very much similar to Fujoshi Kanojo, except they made it Yuri instead of Yaoi to cater to male audiences. The incest inneundos are there to please the fans, just like the ‘shonen-ai’ depicted in animes like Cluster Edge, Oofuri, 07-Ghost, Kuroshitsugi, Hetalia etc.

    Pretty sure they won’t ruin this awesome anime with a certain kind of ‘true ending’ to promote their franchise just to please those unsatisfied(male) fans.

    Expecting to see alot of oreimo 18+ dojins in the upcoming Comiket…

  5. Egakiar444 says:

    No, no I wouldn’t condemn it. I saw the platonic ending coming from a mile, so I when i saw “Good Ending” the first thing I thought was I can’t fucking wait for the true ending. Assuming there is one. There had better be one.

  6. >Nevertheless, the show does contain enough emotionally-charged moments to make the viewer blush excitedly like a giddy school girl.

    Did you blush excitedly like a giddy school girl?

  7. Jaemin says:

    You forgot to mention that Saori Makishima, the otaku leader, fills the ojou-sama archetype and is actually a beauty

  8. DarkMirage says:

    Okay, frankly, I didn’t really care about her. Shoot me. D:

  9. DarkMirage says:

    @reesha

    Pretty sure one of the upcoming alternate endings is actually called “True Ending”… Or did I dream that?

    @Egakiar444

    Actually I wouldn’t exactly call it a platonic ending since it doesn’t make sense for her to do what she did for someone she sees only as a brother. I think it’s more like the compromise ending.

  10. reesha says:

    yep there is, the true ending is just the opposite of what happened in episode 12,(**America anyone?**) and is the events that actually transpired in the light novel.

    The good ending is just an alternative ending created originally by the animation studio.

    It just irks me that so many people are looking forward to, and assume that there is some form of incest in the true ending, hence i used the word ‘certain kind of’ xD

  11. Jason says:

    I was actually waiting for the whole season for saori to show her ‘other’ side and shock the others…oh well…

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