Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai Specials

If you've seen Oreimo, you can probably extrapolate what you thought about S1 here.

Broadly speaking, I thought Oreimo was funny and had a good cast and could be touching at times and I agree with that in these specials too.

However, this is more Ore...

The first episode is the ~true~ ending to S1 (which kind of hurts S1 in retrospect since now there's just a random episode there to hedge your bets that can now be discarded) and it was fine. I kinda skipped around since a lot of it is just repurposed from the end of S1 but I got the main jist of it.

The ... second episode is where it starts cooking.

If you are a Kuroneko fan, you will be eating good here. I like Kuroneko but she's probably my least favorite of the main girls? She's not bad but I never really got the spark between her and Kyousuke and this did not change over the course of these specials.

The main thing I think makes these specials pop is the new character, Sena. I wouldn't mind if they brought her into the fold with Kirino and Kuroneko and Saori, she provides a new layer of imouto power to the series since Kuroneko is Big Sis and Saori

Anyway, I thought she had the best joke in the specials, perhaps even the whole series up to this point, obviously I won't spoil it but yeah, I think she has her own niche which would fit in alongside the imouto pervert, chuuni dork, and... uh... whatever Saori watches? She was building a mech in one episode so I'm headcanoning her as a Gundam fan.

Other than that, I appreciate that they do a little more with the game development club. Oreimo S1's novelist arc kinda lost me when Kirino went from legitimately terrible, unreadable garbage to published novelist in the same episode so seeing Kuroneko and Sena actually having to work together (to make something recognized as shit, no less) is actually such an improvement.

The Imo finally comes back in the final episode and honestly, I kind of missed her presence in these specials, so it was nice to see.

I think these specials heavily depend on two questions:
1. How much do you like Oreimo
2. How much do you like Kuroneko

If you like Oreimo a lot, check it out. As someone who may or may not have accidentally watched a few episodes of Oreimo S2 before watching these specials, you're going to need it.

If you like Kuroneko, definitely check it out.

I'd imagine if you're reading a review for the SPECIALS of Oreimo, you should probably check this out unless you really don't like Kuroneko.

Even if you don't like Oreimo because of Kirino specifically, Kirino isn't in this a whole lot so you can enjoy what Oreimo could be if Kirino was just Thanos snapped off the face of the planet.

After watching the first season of OreImo I was mildly surprised. It wasn't completely mediocre as I had suspected, and the show definitely showed potential, although that potential was never really fulfilled. Will the continuation finally break out of it's own shell? Let's look at Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai Specials.

Story (6/10):
The first thing I noticed when watching OreImo's Specials, is that the plot seemed to have calmed down a bit. As you can recall, the first season of OreImo had some pretty bizarre arcs in there, that degraded the shows character focused story. This time around the plot seems ... to have taken some chill pills, and has taken a more slice-of-life approach. Because of that, the story is actually better than the first season, giving the viewer nothing more than a nice little story that isn't too complicated.

That's all I can say about it though. While the story is pleasant to watch, it isn't really trying anything special. There's some decent comedy in there, but it isn't nearly as funny as the first season. The drama, the little there is, doesn't really pack a punch.

Art (7/10):
I've complimented the artstyle in OreImo before for having a very nice looking colour palette with good looking character designs, and that hasn't changed. What I really liked about it though, were the wide variety of outfits that the characters were wearing, and sadly, that isn't the case here.
This isn't really caused by a lack of effort, but more by the setting. High School students in Japan usually wear the same outfits in school, and with that, the variety is thrown out the window. It makes sense of course, but I am sad that such a good aspect of the show isn't shown in these specials.

The animation is average, not really bringing anything unique to the table. But since it's a slice-of-life show, I can't really fault the show for it. It doesn't need to excel at animation.

Sound (6/10):
The soundtrack is pretty much the same as the previous installment. It fits with the scenes, but isn't really memorable.

I have noticed an improvement in the voice acting department, especially on Kuroneko's part. The voice actress seems to be a lot more comfortable with her part this time around, and it is quite noticeable.

Characters (7/10):
It's an interesting turn of events for our characters, isn't it? Kirino is faffing about abroad, Kuroneko goes to the same High School as Kyousuke, and now they seem to be active in the computer club, adding a new character to the cast.

So let's start off with Kyousuke. I've said before that Kyousuke was a good male lead, showing just the right amount of compassion that you would expect, but also having some unique quirks, and twists on his character that make him interesting, and he's no different here. He does have some development in the specials, which is nice to see, but it doesn't really seem like anything major.

Kuroneko seems to be holding up quite well as the female lead this time around. The chemistry with Kyousuke might not be as funny as with Kirino, but she does present some sincere moments with him, that are entertaining to watch. She does shine at the end of the specials however, providing for some really good scenes.

The new character, Sena, isn't really that good though. She seems to be more like a replacement for Kirino, being an otaku herself, although a bit different. Yes people, this is the yaoi fangirl of the show. Run while you still can. Saying that though, the yaoi aspect of her actually provides most of the laughs in the specials, when she starts ranting about her interests. Other than that though, she doesn't really bring anything interesting to the table.

Overall (6/10):
OreImo Specials is kind of an oddball. It seems to have removed a lot of the flaws the original show had, but seems to have negated a lot of it's really good aspects. So would I recommend it? To repeat myself, if you're not into the whole incest-thing, no. Otherwise, it bridges the gap between the previous season, and the next season, so it is essential to the overall plot. Therefore, if you're interested in watching the next season, it's essential you watch this first.

"So anime characters don't automatically disintegrate when they leave Japan?"

If you are watching this a decade later just as me, you probably had the opportunity to watch another work from the dearest Taketatsu Ayana, Dagashi Kashi Season 2.

This ONA has the EXACT same problem Dagashi Kashi had: "where is the protagonist?", we still have Kyousuke and the upgraded to main character Gokou "Kuroneko" Ruri, but honestly I don't get the hype over her, maybe it is yet another Hanakana character that people love for the seiyuu and not for itself. Anyway, the main issue is "where is the 'imo' of 'oreimo'?". Kirino doesn't show up until the second half of the last episode, and ... considering episode 12 TRUE ENDING is at least 50% the same as the episode 12 of season 1, you could say that Kirino was vanishing of her own show for almost 70% of the time, what's the point?

They weren't trying to show how Kyousuke missed her, the writers were developing Kuroneko's story since she will be a main character in season 2, so his longing for Kirino was secondary in this ONA, despite what he says in the last episode.

So most of the time in this ONA the "little sister" thing felt collateral to what was going on, if it was any other series, alright this ONA would have been good, average score a bit too high imo, but still at least a 7, but that is not the case, this was supposed to be a show about a "little sister", where the little sister shows up in the last moments, they didn't bother to make the episodes about Kyousuke missing her, only about Kuroneko.

That's why I felt that Dagashi Kashi 2 is the same as this, and oh the irony that Ayachi happens to be in those two shows, still I really like her.