I feel like I stand in front of a set of pearly white gates. Orelmo could potentially be the greatest guilty pleasure I've ever encountered, at least that is somewhat the reputation it has gained within the anime community during the last couple of years. I mean, the name of the show literally translates to "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!", how could this possibly be any good? It's just degrading fan-service played against a backdrop of stereo-types and cliches, looking to cash in on a creepy fetish that the anime community has developed over the last couple years... right? I'm not entirely sure why anime in particular seems to be so hung up on incestuous relationships that it seems to need to be a part of nearly every series, I guess the idea of forbidden love has always been popular, and while we over here in the West are particularly fond of the "rebellious young lovers from two warring nations/factions/families" that we probably adopted from fondness of Shakespeare, I can only assume this is how the age-old trope has materialized into Japanese culture and anime, unless this is really just a cultural thing that I just plain won't understand.
Whatever the reason, much like how the "rebellious young lovers from two warring nations/factions/families" seems particularity stale these days from the product of being over-done, incest in anime has lost whatever initially intrigue it once may have had contextually and now is mostly just there for fan-service, ecchi series, or as a way to pander to specific demographics in anime that don't have much things like that, like how Sword Art Online used the trope. My long-winded point is this: this trope is rarely used seriously anymore(I think only WIXOSS and to some extent Kara no Kyoukai took the trope to build characters, even if the nihilistic nature of the latter series sort of puts all points made about it into doubt), and thus, any show containing it as a selling point of all things is usually disregarded by me entirely. So, the question, 3 episodes into "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!" is why do I feel so conflicted about the series? Well, it's because I'm not sure yet whether it's a pure unadulterated guilty pleasure, or if it's actually really good or not, because the line has been blurred by pretty much everything.
So, hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, and let me take a deep breath, because today it's a First Impression on the immensely popular anime series Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai, or as we would say in English: "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!", or if you don't want to say all that: Orelmo. Let's get started then.
The premise of the first episode is pretty typical. Our apparently bland protagonist Kyousuke Kousaka is living a relatively normal life in Japan and going through a very typical high school experience, that is, besides from his relationship with his younger sister Kirino. Kirino is somewhat of a star student, as she is great at sports, has top notch grades, and even models for a fashion magazine, but Kyousuke and his sister more or less haven't been on good terms, not really speaking to each other properly for years despite living in the same house. What changes this status quot is probably the last thing Kyousuke would expect, after finding an anime of questionable moral nature laying on the ground in his house, which is odd, since Kyousuke's parents(especially his father), are very stern and against such clearly negative influences as anime and manga. He later discovers that the CD belonged to Kirino, who at some point secretly assimilated herself into otaku culture, and has been gathering all sorts of anime merchandise in her closet. After this, Kyousuke gradually helps Kirino accept this side of herself, getting fellow otaku friends and going to meet-up, but at the same time, keeping it secret from her parents and her classmates, as she is afraid of the social stigma that inevitably arises from admitting your love of anime and manga will ruin her relationships.
Click here for my First Impressions of Tamako Market and One Week Friends.
My review of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU is here.
Follow me on Hummingbird or Twitter, if you would be so kind.
Whatever the reason, much like how the "rebellious young lovers from two warring nations/factions/families" seems particularity stale these days from the product of being over-done, incest in anime has lost whatever initially intrigue it once may have had contextually and now is mostly just there for fan-service, ecchi series, or as a way to pander to specific demographics in anime that don't have much things like that, like how Sword Art Online used the trope. My long-winded point is this: this trope is rarely used seriously anymore(I think only WIXOSS and to some extent Kara no Kyoukai took the trope to build characters, even if the nihilistic nature of the latter series sort of puts all points made about it into doubt), and thus, any show containing it as a selling point of all things is usually disregarded by me entirely. So, the question, 3 episodes into "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!" is why do I feel so conflicted about the series? Well, it's because I'm not sure yet whether it's a pure unadulterated guilty pleasure, or if it's actually really good or not, because the line has been blurred by pretty much everything.
So, hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, and let me take a deep breath, because today it's a First Impression on the immensely popular anime series Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai, or as we would say in English: "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute!", or if you don't want to say all that: Orelmo. Let's get started then.
The premise of the first episode is pretty typical. Our apparently bland protagonist Kyousuke Kousaka is living a relatively normal life in Japan and going through a very typical high school experience, that is, besides from his relationship with his younger sister Kirino. Kirino is somewhat of a star student, as she is great at sports, has top notch grades, and even models for a fashion magazine, but Kyousuke and his sister more or less haven't been on good terms, not really speaking to each other properly for years despite living in the same house. What changes this status quot is probably the last thing Kyousuke would expect, after finding an anime of questionable moral nature laying on the ground in his house, which is odd, since Kyousuke's parents(especially his father), are very stern and against such clearly negative influences as anime and manga. He later discovers that the CD belonged to Kirino, who at some point secretly assimilated herself into otaku culture, and has been gathering all sorts of anime merchandise in her closet. After this, Kyousuke gradually helps Kirino accept this side of herself, getting fellow otaku friends and going to meet-up, but at the same time, keeping it secret from her parents and her classmates, as she is afraid of the social stigma that inevitably arises from admitting your love of anime and manga will ruin her relationships.
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| Our two main characters: Kirino and Kyousuke. |
What's been kind of cool about the series is that is has only get better over these three episodes. The first episode established the fairly typical atmosphere and characters, that is, it has the usual high-school familiarizes(like how Kyousuke has a female child-hood friend who has a secret crush she won't admit) and Kirino is basically the biggest tsundere I've seen this side of Nichijou, and either parents didn't show much characterization either. What I liked about that first episode was the very well-written dialouge, so I reckoned I could pull some enjoyment out of the series by considering it a guilty pleasure. Then episode two rolls around, introducing more very enjoyable characters, but also introducing some moments of "painful realism", like more detail of Kirino's feelings about hiding her otaku life from her friends, and being able to talk naturally with otaku chicks despite herself being nothing like them on the outside. It added a certain amount of depth the show, and well as establish it was capable of introducing impactful situations, and now I was ready to at least take Orelmo seriously if it wanted me to. And so it did. Episode 3 turned out to be one of the best episodes of anime I've seen for a good while, a slowly churning pot of Kirino's very relatable social anxieties and worries that eventually ended with quite possibly one of the best goddamn speeches about society, anime, manga, and why it's so awesome that by the end of it had me screaming at my screen "Damn straight!". Yeah, it was pretty great, and simultaneously provided development for Kyousuke, his father, and even Kirino. It was a legitimately great piece of writing, clearly written by someone who has had experience with this sort of thing, and remained so whatever prejudice against the series or the characters.
Now that I've taken the time to calm down, I realize I'm not quite sure what to expect from Orelmo as a whole; it clearly has ambitions to be something more than it says on the tin, and it clearly has the tools necessary to do so, I'm just not sure if those ambitions quite line up with what I want to see later on. What I personally want is to see continued social commentary from the anime on the anxieties, tribulations, and joy of accepting yourself as an otaku, maybe similar to SNAFU in a way, only told through a more optimistic lens, but what will likely happen is more of what you'd expect from a show like Orelmo, with occasionally sprinkles of quality. Since the first three episodes brought to an end an arc of sorts, we'll likely reset next time with a brand new grin of happiness from the show, and I'm not sure I want that particularly, because for me it was best when balancing its comedic and dramatic elements, not having drama occasionally stick its head out the door waiting for its turn. There's also of course the whole potential relationship between Kyousuke and Kirino that the show will never stop hinting at, and while that really hasn't been touched on much(and the brother and sister honestly have good chemistry without it being a plot point) it will inevitable pop up, I'm guessing. Now, I realize that this element might be part of the whole meta-critique of otaku culture that the show sort of goes for, but honestly that will probably go right over my head, so what I'm more concerned about whether the relationship will be pure fanservice or, you know, funny, romantic, dramatic, entertaining and not an absolutely pile of crap. That'd be great.
Goodbye for now guys.
Click here for my First Impressions of Tamako Market and One Week Friends.
My review of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU is here.
Follow me on Hummingbird or Twitter, if you would be so kind.
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