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Oreimo 2 Specials

俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない。

Episodes 14–16 of Oreimo 2 which finish adapting the Oreimo novels.

  • Type: ONA
  • Age rating: Teens 13 or older
  • Date aired: 2013-08-18 to 2013-08-18
  • Status: finished
  • Next release: -
  • Rating: 9473
  • In favorites: 49
  • Popularity Rank: 1075
  • Episode count: 3
  • Episode duration: 24 min/ep
  • Total duration: 1 h. 12 min.
  • Genre: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life
Reviews
carlo.denesik - 2016-08-21 17:49:28

An incredibly succinct way of destroying all of the character relationships the show had developed up until that point, the specials feel like a completely different show in the way that it seeks to go against all established dynamics in a rushed attempt to create some form of closure. The result being an utter butchery of what was, until that point a well thought out, charming show.

leonor.collins - 2015-03-11 18:55:43

The comedy was alright in these special episodes but, hoping for someting more at the end. Hopefully the author picks this back up!

creola28 - 2013-10-20 08:57:52

Well then. That was an interesting watch. If you're an OreImo fan like me, then I really suggest watching this and then voicing your thoughts. It seems the author wasn't able to do the originally planned ending where Kirino and Kyousuke stay together until the end.

This OVA is basically about what happens after the actual ending (Episode 13) and how they carry it out. I found it annoying to be honest, however I think it was made like this because they wanted an open ending meaning they could continue on later. It was still annoying.

If you haven't watched it, the OVA is basically Kyousuke turning down two more girls, to marry Kirino they for them to break up as soon as they get married. Kyousuke basically just made himself look incredibly weird by turning down some attractive girls because he loves (and wants to marry) his sister.

I am hoping there will be a season 3 where maybe Kyousuke gets back with Kirino or maybe even a separate episodes where Kyousuke says yes to all the girls and we get to see how that turns out.

So yeah, watch if you're a OreImo because otherwise you're missing out on the actual ending, however don't say I didn't warn you.

Thanks for reading my review,

Wulf.

dach.graciela - 2013-08-21 11:12:21

This review may contain spoilers.


A lot of people were very disappointed at the ending of Oreimo. While it was hardly unpredictable, it seems many wanted a full incest ending. I certainly wouldn’t have minded myself, but I think it is dangerous to allow personal feelings to get in the way of appreciating the value of the story.

Now as an anime, I’m willing to admit that Oreimo had its flaws. Several, annoying, even fatal flaws. As you know by now, Oreimo is a harem, and a particularly stereotypical one at that. The incredibly dense protagonist is surrounded by shallow, barely characterized girls who fall heels over head for him for inexplicable reasons like “He’s nice to everyone.” At some points I wondered if Kyouske even had male friends. These girls generally have unoriginal, single-faceted personalities and the Tsundere has, big surprise, a massive advantage. Oreimo clings to its harem roots until the bitter end, including a completely unnecessary confession from a side character.

Furthermore, as with the rest of the show, the comedy in these OVAs is pretty hit-and-miss. The animation and the sound track are acceptable but nothing to write home about. And the plot, while definitely a step up from the rest of the series, is most certainly no Brothers Karamazov. The ending, without spoiling too much, goes halfway but can’t quite work up the courage to give everyone what they really wanted.

Now that I’ve said all that, you may be wondering why in God’s name I gave this show an 8.

Taken just as an anime, Oreimo is decent but not great, and the OVAs are just a big let-down. But anime fans know that anime is art; and I argue more specifically that anime is literature. If we suspend our angry, sex-crazed otaku mode, we can look at the literary value of anime. Viewing Oreimo not as anime, but as a work of literature, we can find some worth in the story; and yes, especially in the ending that angered so many people.

While hardly a ground-shaking work that turns a critical eye to the very fabric of society, Oreimo does manage to ask some interesting questions through its story. The first being “What is wrong, really?” examined through the motif of incest. The origins of our attitudes on incest are fairly clear. Although it has certainly been happening for thousands of years, it leads to a weaker genetic stock which is an evolutionary disadvantage. But in the modern world, the survival of our species is no longer at stake; there is also evidence that single instances of inbreeding are not dangerous unless they are repeated or the individual's families have a history of genetic illness. However we have taken such a distaste to incest that even expressions of romantic love are taboo between siblings.

I would hate for this review to be taken as an argument that incest is acceptable. The point I am trying to make is that society disapproves of incest, but the reason for this disapproval is now less clear than it was for most of history. If you asked a typical person why incest is wrong, you would probably get a partially scientific answer, a bible verse or an answer like “it just is.”

Oreimo is definitely not the first work or even the first anime to use incest as a plot device. However, most of them are either fetish material, or come down pretty hard on one side of the issue. However, Oreimo manages to take a slightly more complex look at the subject. Without giving Oreimo too much credit (it doesn’t go into the science and history of incest), it does ask some questions about our attitudes: “Is it really anybody else’s business?” “If some people approve, does that make it any better?” “Does it really hurt anyone else?” “If they really love each other, is it somehow then acceptable?” Oreimo manages to show the restraint to not answer these questions with one unified voice. Focusing more on the question than the answer is one of the things that distinguishes good literature from propaganda. Our modern attitudes value “true love” as “right” and incest as “wrong;” when Oreimo juxtaposes the two, which opinion wins? And more importantly, why?

There is also a secondary question. It is less important so I considered not talking about it at all, but it has some value I think. “How much of our attitudes are really our own?” We all know we are heavily influenced by our environment and especially other people. If you don’t believe me, look at your views on religion and politics compared to your parents’. Unless you’re being rebellious, I would wager there is a good chance they are very similar. Looking at Kyouske’s love that he develops for Kirino, how much of it is really his? Or did Kirino convince Kyouske that he loved her?

Kyouske is surrounded by influences that probably shaped his feelings to some extent. His friends, for the most part, accept the relationship with Kirino; with Kuroneko even explicitly stating her assent. He is often with Kirino who has romantic feelings for him. She also gets him to play siscon eroge. This question of outside influence on our person is even unambiguously stated in the OVAs. Manami comes right out and asks Kyouske if he can really deny that he was influenced by these games. The anime is again less than completely clear on how much of Kyouske’s feelings are genuinely his own.

Oreimo is not a work of literary genius. Most of the show is a mindless harem with some pleasing comedy and slice-of-life. This ending gets a lot of heat, and I can understand why it was so unpopular. But if you dig a little past the clichés, there is a certain amount of intelligent value, if you’re willing to look for it.

kschinner - 2013-08-20 00:33:57

With an ending like that it kept me wondering and wondering on why the hell did it end the way it did. First off, why does he dump the girls he loved for his sister to have a wedding (a pretend one) only to find himself going back to being normal siblings. Somewhere i just...didn't like the ending as much as i wanted to.

But somehow the ending felt as if of a "make up your own ending" because "the oreimo happy end game" is coming to ps3 in september 2013. But i kinda found myself making a conclusion basically kyousuke dumps all the girls to show that his sister is the one he loves the most and even though he knows that he can't marry her, she will always be the one he loves most, even though it is forbidden. (i say this because no matter how much i support kirino and kyousuke, i really can't support incest)

As always the ending didn't please everybody and believe me i didn't like it either, but an oreimo fan always an oreimo fan and i can't wait for their next work (if they are planning another one which i heard they are).

Cheers!

adam.waelchi - 2013-08-19 22:43:42

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS.

MAL-era import reaction; please excuse my lack of experience and drop in quality.

Let me be clear: this is simply my opinion on the ending and not the series as a whole. Perhaps I will get around to that someday. I would be rating the series as a whole much differently. In any case, if you are reading this review I expect you have watched the first two seasons by now, so take that into account. Because it is just a trio of episodes/OVAs making up the ending, I won't bother making sections for each category.

While I generally don't like harems, I was able to sit through the first two seasons of OreImo without complaint. My main complaints about harems are their 1-dimensional girls and pathetically dense and oblivious MC. OreImo was able to deliver likable characters, and while they were no means deep, they at least broke away from the stereotypes a tiny bit. The center of the harem, Kyousuke, was less dense and oblivious than the average MC, and while that isn't saying much, he was always relatively competent in his decision making skills. You should know all the girls by know, and their relationships with him. But which will he choose? With a title like "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute", it should only take one guess.

This trio begins with Kyousuke figuratively picking off of the members of his harem one by one like a hitman (with the exception of Ayase, who was dealt with previously, and Saori who was barely an option in the anime adaptation at all). He seemingly breaks up with Kuroneko/Ruri again (didn't this happen before?) which leads to a lot of crying and drama which heavily contrasted the first time. He gets a laughable confession from Kanako, whose character had essentially no screentime in the anime adaptation, which makes the scene even more absurd for those not aware of the other source material.

After a Christmas Eve date, he finally declares his love for Kirino, who eventually accepts his confession. They decide to become lovers, and Kirino whispers something in her brother's ear which the viewer cannot hear.

After they start out their "romantic life", the story climaxes when Manami, who had made it her mission to prevent this from happening for years, appears in the park. She confronts the pair and the viewer is treated to a cat fight between Manami and Kirino, ending with Manami giving up her love for Kyousuke and leaving the park after a last minute morality lecture.

Afterwards, they get married (figuratively, but with clothing and church to match). They share a kiss. And then the credits roll.

Just kidding.

Kirino had whispered in Kyousuke's ear that they would only keep up their lover's life until they graduated. With that done, they agree to go back to being normal siblings.

In the end, Kyousuke burned his bridges with every girl in his harem to be with his sister for a matter of weeks. Some say the author was pressured into leaving an open ending like this, that a full-on Kirino end was the desired outcome, but that doesn't really excuse it. After two seasons of build up and "character development", the viewer is left with an ending where no one wins. I suppose Kirino got closest, since they shared a kiss after all, but their relationship burned out very quickly. Everything returns exactly to the way it was as the ED plays, in an almost Groundhog Day like ending. It was one of the most contrived, rushed, and idiotic ends to an anime I have seen, and it will leave a long lasting bitter taste in my mouth after two solid seasons.

Dear studios: please never do this again. Stories need some sort of resolution.

kassulke.stewart - 2013-08-19 21:51:59

After a very successful two seasons for this slice-of-life comedy, it was time for Oreimo to conclude itself with a three-episode OVA special. The main focus was on whom Kyousuke would choose as the one he loves, the trailer in particular had me pumped with anticipation. However, that was too much for me, and I ended up spoiling most of the events of the OVAs for myself.

It's most likely because of this factor, that I am not as angry as many other Oreimo fans who went into the OVAs with the same level of anticipation without spoiling it for themselves. So, how do I personally feel about the Oreimo 2 OVAs? How do I feel about the overall conclusion to the Oreimo anime series? Simple, I'm disappointed. Not pissed off in any way... just disappointed.

Unlike a lot of Oreimo fans, this ending didn't crush the entire anime for me, because in my personal opinion, the journey really did beat the destination in this anime. The first season, it's OVAs and the entire second season before these OVAs were really enjoyable to watch and I will definetely be fond of this anime when I think of it in a few years.

Now for a really important question... what did I think of the ending? How do I feel about Kyousuke and Kirino getting together? How do I feel about Kyousuke rejecting pretty much every other girl that liked him just to go out with his little sister? Not as pissed off as most Oreimo fans, that's for sure. I have to say I don't agree with Kyousuke getting together with his little sister, it's just plain wrong, and they both know it. What really disappoints me most is how the author decided to cut their relationship off in the last 5-10 minutes of the OVA. If you are going to go down a particular route, stick with it!

The author did say, in an interview, that he had originally meant both of them to stay together... but he worried about the opinion of his producers, or something like that. This means we aren't being given the ending that he originally meant for this story. While I agree wholeheartedly that the incest is wrong... I hate even more how he initiates the incest route and then completely cuts it off in the end.

So, what now for Kyousuke?!? He rejected all the girls that loved him and then said he loves his little sister. After holding a fake wedding and kissing her... they then decide to break it off...? Talk about logic... Now he has a bad reputation for going out with his little sister, he's rejected all these girls... the dude has messed it up for himself.

No matter what these OVAs may have contained, my main opinion is that the journey was much better than it's destination and is the part of Oreimo which I will remember fondly. The ending hasn't completely ruined Oreimo for me, but at the same time has made me unable to see this story, which I have invested so much time into, reach a satisfying conclusion.

I would still recommend Oreimo to people who enjoy slice-of-life comedies but will tell them from the get go, not to expect a satisfying conclusion...

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