Oreimo Archives - DoubleSama

Oreimo 2

By DoubleSama | August 25, 2020 | Comments 2 comments

Season 2 Overview

Oreimo 2 (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. / 俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない。) is the second season of My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute, or Oreimo for short. It’s been over two years since I watched the first season, which is a bit surprising considering the imouto romance genre is one I find extremely entertaining. You’d think I would have watched it sooner.

But, while I remember enjoying the first season, as you’ll learn from this review, the second season didn’t meet my expectations. I actually knew how the series ended even before watching the first season, and yet I was still disappointed by how it played out. Somehow it was worse than everyone made it out to be.

I’ll get to everything that went wrong in this season of Oreimo shortly, though. First, since it’s been so long, here’s a quick recap of what happened just before the events of season 2. At the end of the first season, Kirino went to America in order to compete in track. Then, in the season one specials, Kyousuke traveled to America to bring Kirino back to Japan.

It’s at this point that season two begins, and it begins in a pretty awkward way. You’d think that Kyousuke and Kirino would be close from the start this time, but that’s not the case. Once again, Kyousuke has to break down the walls his sister built up around herself to keep him out.

This was a problem for two reasons. First, it made it feel like the entire first season was pointless because their relationship was basically starting over from scratch. Second, it allowed all the other, better girls to swoop in and shoot their shot for Kyousuke’s love — which only led to disappointment.

Battle of the Best Girl

There are six main girls for Kyousuke to choose from in Oreimo 2: Kirino, Ruri, Ayase, Manami, Saori, and Kanako (listed in no particular order here). So, let’s go through and rank these girls from best to worst.

The top-tier girl of the series isn’t Ruri (sorry), it’s Ayase Aragaki. There’s literally no downside to her. It’s legal for Kyousuke to marry her, she likes him, she’s a good cook and is generally good around the house, she’s cute (and a model), and she’s a tsundere. Ayase is truly the best pick.

Ayase Aragaki from the anime series Oreimo 2 — Ayase Aragaki

Ruri “Kuroneko” Gokou is the second-best girl. She’s cute and wears some pretty nice outfits at times — I especially liked her white dress. Ruri also has two, cute, younger sisters who give her some bonus points as well. But, I don’t think I would actually ever want to be with someone like her. Her chuunibyo levels are just too high.

Kanako Kurusu comes in third. She’s cute, she has twin-tails, she’s short, and she’s literally an idol. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m starting to think she might actually belong above Ruri. But I’ll leave her here.

Saori Makishima is the mid-tier option as far as I’m concerned. She definitely has some good qualities, such as being cute when she isn’t dressed as an otaku and the fact that she’s rich. But, her otaku mode definitely lowers her stock as far as I’m concerned.

In second-to-last we have Kirino Kousaka. One of the obvious drawbacks to Kirino is that Kyousuke can’t legally marry her. However, that’s not the only one. Kirino just doesn’t seem like a pleasant person to be around. She’s abusive, annoying, and doesn’t actually bring anything good to the table.

And in last place is Manami Tamura. She has short hair and acts like an old lady. There’s nothing more to say. She’s bottom-tier.

Season 2 Specials (True Ending)

The downfall of Oreimo begins within the second season, but the fatal blow is dealt in the specials that finish adapting the light novels. I’ll spoil it now: Kyousuke chooses Kirino over all the other, far superior girls (and Manami). And despite knowing this from the start, I didn’t know exactly how it happened.

So, when Ruri asked Kyousuke to go out with her, I assumed that he was going to reject her. Much to my surprise, he didn’t, and the two began dating. But, then Ruri did something that really made me dislike her. It was revealed that she dated Kyousuke with the knowledge that she was going to break up with him shortly afterward.

I’m not friends with any of my exes, but none of them did anything wrong. So to see Ruri do something like that and then still be considered Kyousuke’s friend is just crazy to me.

Kyousuke's and Kirino's wedding from the Oreimo 2 anime series specials — Kyousuke’s and Kirino’s wedding

But, the worse offense as far as I’m concerned came later, when Kyousuke rejected best-girl Ayase. And, despite how stupid of a decision that was, it wasn’t even the worst part. No, the worst part of the series was the very end when Kyousuke “marries” Kirino.

If he and Kirino actually got married in the end, I think I would have accepted everything up to that point. It is a siscon series, after all. But that’s not what happened. Instead, Kyousuke and Kirino made a deal to pretend like they were dating until the end of the school year, have a fake wedding, and then go back to being normal siblings.

Do you see the problem I have with that ending? Not only does Kyousuke not end up with the heroine of the series, but this means that he tossed aside (or got tossed aside) by all the other girls for literally no reason.

Ruri broke up with him because she wanted him to be happy with Kirino. And Kyousuke rejected all the other girls so he could be with Kirino while knowing that his relationship with Kirino was going to end. He literally chose a fake relationship with his low-tier sister over a real relationship with a top-tier girl like Ayase.

Conclusion

Oreimo 2 was definitely worse than the first season, and I have to give the series portion of the season a 5/10. But, the special OVA portion of the season was even worse, and I give that a 3/10. And despite the specials only being three episodes compared to the series’ 13, I think the ending was so bad that it brings the second season down to a 4/10 overall.

Before anyone says that I just didn’t like Oreimo 2 because my favorite girl lost to Kirino, that’s not it. The reason I don’t like Oreimo 2 is that Kyousuke threw away all these healthy, happy relationships he could have had just for the chance to kiss his sister once. That was honestly one of the most disappointing anime conclusions I’ve ever seen.

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Oreimo Specials

By DoubleSama | August 31, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Overview

Oreimo anime specials cover art featuring Sena, Ruri, and Kyousuke — Oreimo Specials Cover Art

The Oreimo Specials are a four-episode OVA that takes place during and directly after the first season of the anime. The first episode in the OVA is actually an alternate version of episode 12 from season one, while the next three episodes all take place between the ending of season one and the beginning of season two.

When the first season ended, it was unclear whether or not the anime would get a second season, and so a different ending was written into the final episode. However, once it was confirmed that there would be a second season, the ending of the first season didn’t match up with what happens next, thus the alternate episode 12 was needed.

In this new version of episode 12, Kirino does go on her trip to America, leaving Kyousuke behind. Because of this, Kuroneko becomes the female lead for the next three episodes of the OVA. It’s during these episodes that we finally learn her real name, Ruri Gokou.

Ruri is now a first-year high school student at the same school as Kyousuke. She claims he isn’t the reason she chose to go to that school, but we all know that’s a lie. I also thought that Ruri was supposed to be the same age as Kirino, but apparently Kirino is younger since she’s still in middle school.

At school, Kyousuke notices that Ruri isn’t making any friends from her class and isn’t interested in joining any clubs, so, as the loyal friend and older brother-type that he is, he decides to help her out. Together they join the game research club because Ruri is interested in making games, although she won’t really admit it.

The president of this club is someone who Kyousuke met in the alternate version of episode 12 when he went to the midnight game release for Kirino. The other members aren’t that important, with the exception of the only other female member, Sena Akagi.

Sena is essentially Kirino’s replacement for most of the OVA because she serves the same role to Ruri. The two girls eventually become friends, but neither of them will actually admit to liking each other. They also have creative differences just like Kirino and Ruri.

Throughout this OVA, Ruri, being the female lead, is also set up to be the primary romantic interest, but, as we all know, Kirino will eventually return and Ruri will be pushed aside for her instead. It’s a shame because once the romantic spotlight was cast on Ruri, I actually started liking her character a lot more.

Ruri "Kuroneko" Gokou from the Oreimo anime specials — Ruri “Kuroneko” Gokou

The latter half of the final episode of the OVA, however, is devoted to Kirino and serves to set up the second season of the anime. Kirino sends a text to Kyousuke telling him to throw away her anime collection, and another text to her father telling him to throw away her awards.

Up until this point, nobody has really heard from Kirino despite her being gone for six months. Because of this, her family is worried about her and so Kyousuke travels to America in order to figure out what’s wrong with Kirino.

Once he gets there, he discovers that she’s having a hard time adjusting to her new life because she can’t play her eroge games, and also can’t seem to beat any of the other girls at track. It’s mainly the failing at track that seems to be giving her the most stress, however, considering that’s the entire reason she went to America in the first place.

In the end, Kirino agrees to go back to Japan with Kyousuke, where she’s reunited with her friends.

New Characters

There are only two new characters who really seem to matter in this OVA. The first is the president of the game research club, Miura Gennosuke. He originally met Kyousuke at the midnight release of some siscon, eroge games that Kyousuke was buying for Kirino.

By the time Kyousuke was able to purchase the games, the final train from Akibahara had already left for the night and so he was stranded with no way to get back home. Luckily, Miura lent Kyousuke his bike because he believed that nobody who would buy the games he did could possibly be a bad person.

Miura is also apparently notably older than the rest of the students because he’s been held back so many times. One of the other club members tells him he should just graduate already, but Miura doesn’t really seem to be bothered by being held back.

The other, more major, new character of the OVA is Sena Akagi, the younger sister of Kyousuke’s friend, Kouhei Akagi. You may recall from either version of episode 12 that Kouhei was at the same midnight release as Kyousuke, but was instead buying a homoerotic game for his younger sister.

This younger sister is the one he was buying it for. Sena is obsessed with homosexual relationships, even to the point of having fantasies about all the male members of the game research club. Because of this, none of the male members of the club particularly like her despite th fact she’s one of only two female members.

She also seems to hate other otaku, despite being one herself, and also hates that her brother appears to be a siscon, despite playing up her role as the younger sister. Everything about her character conflicts with other parts of her character.

Sena Akagi from the Oreimo anime specials — Sena Akagi

Considering the second season of Oreimo appears to pick up directly from where this OVA left off, I think it’s highly likely we’ll see more of both Miura and Sena in the future.

Conclusion

The OVA was a 7/10 just like the first season of the series, and the best part was actually the exact same part as the best part of the first season. For those who aren’t aware, this is when Kyousuke and Kouhei accidentally meet up at the eroge midnight release. I’m glad that scene was left in both versions of episode 12.

Since the OP for this OVA is the same as the OP for the first season of the anime, I won’t be linking it here today.

If you enjoyed this last-minute review (I didn’t have anything to write about today, so I just watched these four episodes), then let me know in the comments below or by leaving a like. You can also follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, or subscribe to my blog via email for all your notification needs.

My review of Oreimo 2 is available here.

Oreimo

By DoubleSama | August 13, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Overview

Oreimo, also known as My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute, is an anime about some guy who discovers that his little sister is a hardcore otaku (a Japanese person who is into things like anime and manga). However, unlike many anime, the protagonist himself is not an otaku.

I’ve only seen the first season so far, but I’m pretty sure I know where the series is going to end up considering the emphasis on the relationship between the protagonist and his younger sister. That said, the best parts of the anime had nothing to do with the sister or other otaku girls.

Episode six only has brief scenes of Kirino, the younger sister, and instead the protagonist, Kyousuke, spends most of the episode with his friend Manami and her family. This episode was wholesome and actually funny unlike most of the rest of the season.

If I were to rate episodes individually, episode six of Oreimo would be a 10/10, so it’s a shame that the rest of the series isn’t just like that. However, that’s not to say that the rest of season one is bad, it’s just not as good as it clearly has the potential to be.

Another 10/10 scene comes in episode 12 when Kyousuke and one of his friends run into each other at a midnight release for eroge games. Both boys are there to purchase 18+ games on behalf of their little sisters, and agree never to speak about their encounter there ever again.

It’s scenes like this that remind me this anime could have genuinely been a great comedy, but instead is actually a harem, fan service anime instead. And as far as the fan service goes, it’s generally all implied rather than seen, meaning the fan service comes in the form of it simply being a harem anime instead of being ecchi.

Kirino Kousaka from the anime Oreimo — Kirino Kousaka

Characters

As previously mentioned, the protagonist is Kyousuke Kousaka, a high schooler who’s overall pretty bland. This may be in part so that viewers/readers can easily project themselves onto him, something that I don’t particularly like. I like my characters to have a bit more character.

I’m fairly certain that in the end Kyousuke is going to pick his younger sister, Kirino, but honestly he already has a perfectly good girlfriend in the form of Minami Tamura. She’s the daughter of a Japanese confectionery-making family and has been Kyousuke’s friend since childhood.

Minami also has a crush on Kyousuke, and her entire family likes him too. Speaking of her family, they’re the reason why episode six was so good. Her grandparents constantly try to get Kyousuke to see Minami as his future bride, and her brother is just an all-around funny character.

However, Kirino Kousaka, Kyousuke’s younger sister, is likely to be the girl he picks in the end. Gross. Kirino isn’t that bad of a character, but she’s not really a likable person. She has her quirks, such as how she’s into eroge games involving younger sisters even though she is a younger sister, but she’s also a brat.

Kirino’s otaku best friend is simply known by her screen name in season one, Kuroneko. Kuroneko is like Kirino’s opposite when it comes to both taste in anime, as well as behavior. She frequently dresses in what amounts to cosplay and appears to suffer from chunibyo.

However, she’s not a bad person like Kirino is. In fact, she’s a pretty good person and cares about her friends despite putting on airs to make herself seem “cool.” Kirino’s other best friend, the “normie” best friend, is just as different from Kirino as Kuroneko is, just in the opposite direction.

Kuroneko from the anime Oreimo — Kuroneko

Ayase Aragaki is Kirino’s best friend from school who hates otaku culture and finds Kirino’s hobby to be deeply disturbing. While Kuroneko shares Kirino’s hobby, but not her personality, Ayase is the opposite. She’s a terrible person, just like Kirino, but they don’t like the same things.

When Ayase was first introduced into the series, I was pretty sure she was going to end up being “best girl” until she showed that she’s actually crazy. Maybe she’ll get better in the second season, but for now I think Minami is my “best girl” pick.

The final character I want to mention is Saori Makishima, the leader of a group for female otaku that both Kirino and Kuroneko are a part of. Saori typically dresses and speaks like a stereotypical otaku, which doesn’t really help their image. However, it’s hinted that she’s actually an extremely refined rich girl who can swap between her two personalities.

While none of the other characters know about this other side of her yet, I’m hoping it’s revealed in the second season. I’d be completely okay with her doing away with her stereotypical otaku persona because it’s fairly annoying if you ask me.

Conclusion

From what I understand about the second season of Oreimo, it doesn’t actually line up with the conclusion of season one. To fix this, some specials were released after the first season which include an alternate ending which then progresses on to Oreimo 2.

What this means is that I’ll be watching and reviewing the Oreimo Specials before Oreimo 2, so there’s going to be even more Oreimo content posted to the site in the near(ish) future.

The first season of Oreimo was a 7/10 for me, which is actually higher than I expected going in. Maybe it doesn’t really deserve that score, but I’m sticking to it. Even so, I don’t think the specials or second season will be any better than the first, so those will likely get a 7 at the highest as well.

The OP for Oreimo is available here.

Which reminds me, in the series, Kirino has a novel she wrote turned into an anime, and one of the things she wanted is for every episode to have a different OP and ED. Well, while Oreimo only has one OP, every episode has a different ED which I thought was a nice reference to itself.

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Tag: Oreimo

Oreimo 2

By DoubleSama | August 25, 2020 | Comments 2 comments

Season 2 Overview

Battle of the Best Girl

Season 2 Specials (True Ending)

Conclusion

Oreimo Specials

By DoubleSama | August 31, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Overview

New Characters

Conclusion

Oreimo

By DoubleSama | August 13, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Overview

Characters

Conclusion

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