21 minutes, 12 seconds.
This number is your one chance to save yourself from the disasterphe that is the Oreimo ending. Once you reach this point in the final episode of the OVAs, stop the playback and end it right there. So long as you do, it provides a perfectly solid conclusion to the series with no cop outs or asspulls, and the rest of the story can easily be left to your imagination. If you are a glutton for punishment however, proceed at your own risk. Know that what you see cannot be unseen though. Trust me on this one, take the blue pill and
...
stay in wonderland Neo. You don't want to know how far down the rabbit hole goes in this case. I'll take you out for a juicy and delicious steak instead.
I originally was planning on writing a review for the entire series, but upon completing this crime against humanity, that idea was quickly jettisoned out the airlock like a refrigerator aboard the Bebop. I consider myself fairly lenient when it comes to entertainment that pisses me off, as I can usually see at least some redeeming qualities about it to overlook its flaws and misgivings, but what Oreimo did was such a travesty, so anger, much shitty, wow... Erhmm, what I mean to say is, this is basically the worst ending to a series I've ever seen; beating out Berserk in maximum trollage of its fanbase. There is simply no justifiable explanation for what it did. It is the one cop out ending to rule them all. Thus, out of sheer anger and resentment, I feel compelled to write this very specifically targeted review in the off-chance that I might spare even one other poor soul from being sucked into the empty void that is the experience you will feel in the aftermath of Oreimo.
As this is a sequel to an anime entitled "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute", by now everyone who has made it this far should be well aware of the incest undertones that are pervasive throughout the series. For some this has been off-putting, but they've managed to stomach it because of the interesting relationships and situations that have developed, or perhaps because it is animated and therefore not real, they don't see it as a problem. In my case, I've never had any problem with it. In fact, I actually rather liked this aspect about the anime. Much like the series' focus on otaku culture, it allows viewers to see how a social taboo could be painted in a positive light, but instead of just preaching to the choir by only focusing on otakus, the author also gets us to consider other socially unacceptable conduct and whether we should be quick to judge others when suddenly confronted with another behavior that we might not understand. With all this in mind, much of what you will see in this sequel finale should really come as no surprise for the most part, as the series continues to deliver exactly what it bills itself as.
I wanted to preface myself with all this so as to not be misconstrued as hating on this anime because of moral objections or because I just didn't get my favorite waifu pairing. To be honest, regardless of who Kyosuke decided to pick in the end, I would have been mostly satisfied so long as the execution was handled well enough. While I do have my personal preferences, at this point I had grown attachments to all of Kyosuke's major love interests, so I could have easily seen the story going many different directions. But the problem is that it wasn't executed well enough. It was executed abysmally. Actually, I take that back. The narrative did a pretty good job with its execution I guess. By dropping a guillotine on itself in its final moments.
What's so baffling about this whole debacle is that the vast majority of the content in these OVAs was in fact handled masterfully. Unlike so many other nameless harems, the main character isn't a clueless dunce that is just going to string his love interests along indefinitely; he had actually chosen who he wanted to be with, and he was prepared to suffer the consequences and fallout that would inevitably come of it. Therefore, this finale largely consists of Kyosuke confronting each girl of his harem and turning them down until he is eventually left with the only one he truly wants. As a result, we are given a dramatic and satisfying display of emotions from all the characters that, even though it was often heart-wrenching to watch, it tugged at my insides in all the right ways, and it was building up proper closure to the series. For this, I was preparing myself to give the OVAs the highest rating of the entire franchise, as it was shaping up to be the most fulfilling arc of them all. Then, inexplicably, with a single whisper in the ear, the story completely derailed itself and threw away everything it was building up to. All of Kyosuke's efforts and sacrifices up until this point were rendered effectively pointless, and absolutely nothing was accomplished by the end of the series.
To explain precisely how everything I just described is possible would be to spoil the story, and I'd like to keep this segment of the review spoiler-free until I get to my final footnotes, but if you really must know why it is so broken, the best way I can describe it to you in vague terms is that this is the Mass Effect 3 ending of anime. Huge breaches in logic, no closure, no resolution, no nothing. In fact, the scale of the cop out was so great that with the way Oreimo ended, viewers could start watching a theoretical third season of it having no foreknowledge of any of the events that transpired in the OVAs, and they wouldn't even notice that they had missed anything of substance. Despite a series of what should have been life-altering decisions, drama-packed confessions, and heart-breaking rejections, none of it actually amounted to anything and the anime was practically right back to square one where it started in the first season. Everyone has varying tastes when it comes to storytelling, but I think it's fair to say that no one would want an ending that is virtually identical to its beginning.
I could talk about the voice actors, which were great at their roles. I could talk about the animation, which was fluid and lives up to the quality of the rest of the series, but all of this doesn't matter. The ending was just so broken and so forced that nothing else could save it. In spite of all this, my leniency still managed to squeeze 3 points out of 10 from me because there was so much else that the OVAs got right, but it's still bad. Really bad. This is the first time where such a small segment of the narrative has so greatly affected my score simply because it is that atrocious. When all is said and done, we are left with a conclusion that emotionally manipulates its viewers and then kicks them all violently to the curb. It's particularly more nefarious than most because other cop out endings are usually done due to their source material being incomplete, but Oreimo doesn't have this excuse. The light novels are finished, and this was the official ending that was chosen, which means there is likely no planned continuation that gives a proper resolution to the story, and there is nothing to look forward to in its source material to provide any solace. Still, for an anime to be capable of eliciting this much emotion out of me, there obviously has to be something special there. And there is. Oreimo is still overall a good series and it was a fun ride while it lasted, but the ending will break you, so I repeat: 21 minutes, 12 seconds. Save yourself and do not forget this number.
***** SPOILERIFIC FOOTNOTES *****
Now if by some chance you didn't listen to my advice and foolishly stumbled ahead anyway, I'd just like to say right now that I told you so. Anyways, it's time to take the safety gloves off and make some final points that I couldn't touch on in my spoiler-free section of the review. So as we all know (since you didn't listen to my advice), Kyosuke chose his sister Kirino, but we find out later that the secret words Kirino whispered in Kyosuke's ear were a suggestion for them to end their relationship after they graduate, and perplexingly Kyosuke agrees as if this is actually a great idea. She doesn't really give an explanation for this proposition, which is what makes it all the more confusing that Kyosuke would accept it right away, but presumably the implication is that because this is an incest relationship, they must have believed it could never work out in the end due to society rejecting them, so this was the only way they thought they could go forward. Well that's all fine and dandy, except then WHAT THE HELL WAS THE POINT OF ALL THAT SACRIFICE? So the writers expect us to believe that even though Kirino's selfishness would never allow this, and even though Kyosuke already told everyone his true feelings and turned down several confessions that could have easily resulted in life-long fulfilling relationships, they would both cast all this aside just so they could have an intimate relationship for a few weeks? There is absolutely no way this would realistically happen, and it is completely inconsistent with the characters' motivations. Granted, Oreimo has hardly been a realistic series, but even relative to its own rules that it establishes for itself, it just doesn't work.
Given this sudden and massive breach of common sense, it seems rather obvious that it was the writers' intent to cheaply avoid controversy while still trying to have their cake and eat it too. However, even putting aside the huge inconsistencies this creates with the characters just so they could have this contrived ending, how does this even truly evade the moral outrage that they sought to tap dance around? I don't know if anyone noticed, but Kirino and Kyosuke already confessed to each other! They already slept together! They already held a wedding and kissed each other! For anyone who strongly objects to incest at this point, the line has already been thoroughly crossed, but instead they think they can still just back up their car and no one will notice that the finish line was passed. And that's the most frustrating thing about this all. The anime had already reached the perfect place to finish, but it just kept on going. Going backwards that is, and yet if it had simply ended where it was supposed to, it was already set for greatness.
If you don't have the balls to fully commit to your incestuous ending, then at least have the decency to not completely screw your main character over and make him choose someone else. Otherwise this is just insulting and it doesn't satisfy anyone. It doesn't appease Kirino fans, it doesn't appease Kuroneko fans, it doesn't appease Manami fans, it doesn't even appease the moral prudes that object to the incestuous undertones which is the whole reason for the asspull ending in the first place, so again I ask, what was the point? Now because of the way the producers chose to chickenshit out at the last minute, not only does it leave the conclusion completely unfulfilling, but it also ruins one of the biggest messages that was emphasized throughout the series. Kirino was always struggling to reconcile her true feelings with the clashing values of the society that will judge her for holding them, and in the end she always decided that it was more important to be herself and not give up who she truly is, yet I guess in this case the message is, "Just kidding, go back to repressing your true feelings because now they're suddenly a bridge too far." What a fantastically hypocritical pile of bile. Screw you dickless, ball-less producers at ASCII Media Works that are likely responsible for this sleight of hand from the mangaka.
*Drops the mic*
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute 2 Specials, Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai 2 Specials
Japanese: 俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない。
More titlesInformation
Type:
ONA
Episodes:
3
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Aug 18, 2013
Licensors:
Aniplex of America
Studios:
A-1 Pictures
Source:
Light novel
Theme:
Otaku Culture
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#76882
2
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Popularity:
#1594
Members:
141,461
Favorites:
180
Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 80 / 89
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Your Feelings Categories Jan 9, 2014
21 minutes, 12 seconds.
This number is your one chance to save yourself from the disasterphe that is the Oreimo ending. Once you reach this point in the final episode of the OVAs, stop the playback and end it right there. So long as you do, it provides a perfectly solid conclusion to the series with no cop outs or asspulls, and the rest of the story can easily be left to your imagination. If you are a glutton for punishment however, proceed at your own risk. Know that what you see cannot be unseen though. Trust me on this one, take the blue pill and ... Aug 21, 2013
It's impressive how a series can manage to alienate every part of its fanbase in just over one hour.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS. 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 ... Aug 18, 2013
Well, it's been a fun little ride. I mean, a ride with an otaku/tsundere/little-sister fetish obsessed sister and her average brother. From what we've seen over 3 years ago in 2010, Oreimo made a smash debut when it opened its doors to the 2D world for viewers. But hey, all things has to come to an end right? Well, the ride is finally over because these OVA episodes concludes the light novels. However, what I got from these OVA episodes were a combination of rage, mixed, and also some emotional feelings.
For one thing, these OVA episodes concludes the light novels. What this means is that ... Aug 18, 2013
“There is no way they can end it like this!”
By that I mean all those little, but important, things that the producer (A1-Pictures) decided to leave out from the source material (i.e. the light novel, LN) and the half-assed animation during small segments throughout the special OVA series. Many casual viewers will likely be confused with the ending because of those missing little details from the LN. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the entire series. But as a show with global recognition, I expected more efforts from the anime staff to make this (the specials) a standalone masterpiece depicting the hardship and challenges our ... Aug 25, 2013
With the conclusion contained in this 3 episode special the OreImo series can be best described as a series that got progressively worse with each new release. The first season was very good, the second one was already lackluster and this... I have no idea what this is meant to be. The story is a directionless train-wreck, the characters are completely ruined (every last one of them) and the ending has the ability to induce anger even in the most docile of individuals.
Now let's have a look at all of this in detail. Some SPOILERS will be involved. First off the story. So you've ... Aug 21, 2013
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 ... Aug 18, 2013
Let's jump right into my review, shall we?
Story: 1/10 The last 5 minutes of the final episode makes the entire rest of the series a pointless waste of time... so if you plan on watching this, just close your media player RIGHT AFTER the kiss that occurs during the final episode. It's not possible to give a score lower than 1, but if there were a way to do it, then I would. ... Nov 21, 2013
There really is no other way to visualise the plot of these last three episodes other than the metaphorical fist of God flattening everything you once knew about a harem king and his own little world. Whether the ending itself is satisfactory or not is entirely up to you, your expectations and how soon you realised it was inevitable. This does not excuse the incredibly poor execution of the conclusion to a show I wish I could hold in the harem halls of fame.
I will, unlike many, avoid using spoilers in this summary because I believe these episodes should come with a warning label attached ... Aug 18, 2013
The first season of Oreimo was an outstanding comedy anime. The second season was a lackluster sequel that took itself way too seriously, focusing on the harem that surrounds the main character, Kyousuke. The second season still managed to have some really good moments and I enjoyed it enough. These specials wrap up the second season.
This... this is just horrible. I realize Kyousuke was a siscon, but thats not what bothers me. I can handle incest in various degrees. Though, I did find myself cringing in various scenes because... the romance is just NOT done well. At all. Even between two characters who weren't ... Aug 18, 2013
A lot of people are complaining about the ending to a fantastic series. I'm here hoping to get my point across.
People are saying the ending is rage-worthy, some even call it "bad." But these are people reviewing on a personal/emotional level. Critically, the ending was logical, and dare I say it, perfect. Now, was I happy with the ending? Absolutely not. It's one of those "Why would you do that!?" moments. And being a fairly new anime watcher, this was a first for me. In my opinion, the ending was great, including the part that everyone has been complaining about. As I said before though, an ... Aug 17, 2013
(SPOILER FREE!!!!!) Review for the whole series as well.
Love is a risk. What strengthens it is our commitment to risking it all, even if it means complete failure. While those in love may suffer, they stay true to themselves, not allowing others to stop them. That is what OreImo taught me. It was a fun ride. With every possible way they could have messed up the ending, it went relatively well. The Story [8] takes you on a trip through every girl for Kyousuke, tying up loose ends. Although it lacked suspense regarding the ultimate "decision," I can't say I wasn't happy with it. Closure ... Jul 24, 2014
GLORIOUS.
Yes, I gave the most controversial and infamous episodes of 2013 an 8/10. Care to know why before downvoting? Read the review! It will probably piss off the absurd majority of readers and will probably get buried under page 20~30, but I'll write it anyway. [Note that this is a review for the "specials" released as eps. 14~16 and the conclusion of the anime] While I'm still appreciating the afterglow of this series, I get me wondering if the reason why I could fully enjoy it is because I'm not part of the fandom. This ought to be the most reasonable conclusion, given that it successfully made the entire ... Aug 19, 2013
I know a lot of people are bitter about this ending but let me just say this, I feel it was perfect. Obviously spoilers galore ahead.
We got the build up, the confessions, to see them as lovers (wasn't that kiss beautiful?) but honestly after all we've been through thats not what this show is. It's fun, its lighthearted and above while it seems we are back to square one its pretty obvious that we are not. There is so much progress in their relationship. They are open with each other, friendly and know how each other feel. They have a unique relationship and while they ... Jan 9, 2014
Well then, let's get a few important things out of the way. As I go into this in an attempt to lose my review virginity, I'll also add that I see OreImo specials not as standalone, but as a continuation of OreImo2. This should go without saying - They are the final episodes. I'll attempt to write this without using overly complicated words. I believe reviews should be friendly and will do my best to explain my points and try to be concise. And, by the way, there will be spoilers lower down - You can choose not to read them, but it makes understanding
...
Aug 18, 2013
Since the Oreimo finale made an unexpected attempt to deliver on the show’s initial premise, here are my thoughts on the big finish:
1) Kyousuke and Kirino have a really tame idea of what it means to be “lovers”. I kept waiting for the S-word to come up during their vague discussions of their future as Siblings In Love, but it seems a couple of chaste kisses and many exaggerated exclamations to Kyousuke’s premature harem constituted the entirety of their brief incestuous adventure. 2) As implied by the opening of this review, I was surprised when the incest taboo was finally broken. Incest as an anime ... Aug 18, 2013
What's up with all the Call of Duty rage kids suddenly thinking they can review a show based on one ending? Tell me, is that really the way to review a show? "Yes, but there's INCEST-" yeah. There is. You got a problem with that?
Now, I don't like incest. I absolutely dislike it and I believe it's wrong for two siblings to get together and become lovers. It didn't sit well with me from the beginning of the series mostly because of the title, and it never sat well with me with Yosuga no Sora. But check my profile. Where is Yosuga no Sora now? ... Nov 28, 2013
I'm surprised at all the bad reviews these last three episodes got, but after reading some, it seems like many people are just mad that they didn't get the pairing they wanted. So a word of advice to prospective watchers...
Watch it. Because it's the end, and most of all, because it's an actual ending. I guarantee that all the plots are resolved, with a few interesting twists for good measure. Just try to ignore whatever pairing you were hoping for, and enjoy it as a story However, if you finished the episodes and are just window-shopping for opinions, I got just what you need... SPOILERS! and more, ... Aug 12, 2013
I saw this at Otakon 2013 for the worldwide premiere with author Tsukasa Fushimi, director Hiroyuki Kambe and editor Kazuma Miki. Being in a theater meant deafening applause and laughter at times, but it was still a great experience.
Story: 7 While these OVAs were absolutely hilarious and entertaining, the story left off on a very abrupt note. Without a satisfying conclusion, I can't say the story was that great. That being said, the ride up until that point was lightning-paced and thoroughly enjoyable. It was fun to see where all of the characters ended up. Art: 8 Art style is the same as the rest of the series, ... Jan 16, 2015
This is a true ending of OreImo. First 13 episodes weren't finished in TV series, there was NO ending.
So, are these specials worth watching? I've seen them, because i've wanted to know the ending. Now i regret this, THIS insults me and the previous episodes. First season and most of the second were quite funny and fun. And this? I just wanted it to end as soon as possible. Only art is good, music, like always, is bad. Characters- they WERE average, now they aren't, and this is surprising. Enjoyment- i liked the part when TsundeNee got hit by that... main character's friend? DON'T WATCH THIS. ... Oct 22, 2021
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This review might contain spoiler? ===================== ====================================================== I regret watching it, I wish i left it at s2 and read the manga instead. It was a waste of time, literally. Who even thought it was a good idea to make this? Why the fuck did he refuse to date anyone that confessed to him? Siblings dating, heck marrying each other is wrong in so many levels. ''oH BuT sOmE pEoPlE aRe LiKe ThAt In ReAl LiFe!!!!!!!'' Yes but that doesn't change the fact that it's WRONG. I liked s1, s1 ona and s2 but this? No. Would i recommend watching it? No. Just drop it after s2. ====================================================== |