Yosuga no Sora

An anime that is immortal with time not because it is good but because of the controversy, a masterpiece, one of the best anime, the scenes that have become legendary in the film industry, an anime that seems to come from a visual novel, here is an introduction:
Yosuga no Sora: In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone
Adapted from the visual novel of the same name by Sphere, directed by Takeo Takahashi, who direct the hit "Spice and Wolf" and... Citrus. Although it has been released for a long time, somehow its fandom has never died and there are still a few new viewers. Especially for ... those who have watched and argued with each other about the quality/content of the anime.

Haruka and Sora are two siblings who have been together since childhood. When the younger one was in high school, their parents passed away. They decided to return to the countryside where they had lived for 4 years ago to start over again.

The controversy mainly revolves around the quality and content of the anime, here is my opinion:
About the quality:
+ The anime's plot is good, extremely good, it's similar to amagami but this is a summer romance, I was moved many times when watching this anime. The movie is divided into many routes, each main route loves a person, most people pay attention to the last route (Sora) but personally I think the other routes are still very good, very "summer", depicting the beauty of summer through love: a feeling that seems great but is as trivial as the summer of years past. As for the last route, it is the best, the most meaningful, if possible, watch the anime to feel it.

+ The anime's listening and viewing are also very good, using the art of visual novels, anime is a feeling of experiencing a high-quality novel, what makes a visual novel good has never been a "good" thing that comes from everything, it's very personal, putting all the most personal things of the author, there's no fullmetal alchemist or logh, that's why I love visual novels. The music is so great, also taking the ost from the novel, the op ed composed and still conveying the emotions of the novel.

About the content: Specifically, the issue of incest is the main reason the anime is controversial
Do I hate incest? Yes, I definitely have a younger sister. Do I like this anime? Of course, even though it's incest, the anime clearly understands what it's doing and the viewer will definitely be convinced of the feelings of these two, it's very complicated, not just simply incest for bait. I hate cigarettes but I also like Lagoon, I hate war but I still love Code Geass, I hate politics but LOGH is still one of my favorite anime, the key is not whether I like or hate the issue raised in the anime but how it develops that issue. I respect the completeness of the anime's content and its incestuous element.
To be clear, the anime does not whitewash the incestuousness of these two, whether it is right or wrong depends on the person, the anime still asks many questions: the main character and his sis are doing something wrong, so why are they wrong? And if they do wrong, is it blameworthy even though life is too harsh and their world only has each other? And in the end, whether it is right or wrong is no longer important.
Because the anime has made it very clear and very good, I can confirm that most of the people who decry it for incest have not watched it. Talking about anime should be criticize because of incest, it should about "Do you love your mom and her multiple attacks", that's the bad one.

Verdict: The quality of the anime is great, and the plot is.....great. An emotional roller coaster, definitely a must-try, when i interviewing people who have watched this anime, i know 2 types, hate and love, but no matter which type, both agree that the anime is a worthwhile experience.

"The name is different now, but the meaning remains the same, I call it bondage"

There are very few anime as controversial as Yosuga No Sora, and it warrants that controversy to an extent. There is explicit incest, (between twins, at that,) but it’s really only something that rears its head in the last few episodes, although there are hints beforehand. Most dislike the show because of the incest, but I think that’s unwarranted. It’s treated as something immoral and taboo, which is how it should be treated. In my opinion, Yosuga No Sora has one big flaw that makes it a subpar experience.

Visual Novels rarely make for good anime adaptations. They are known to be long, usually with a ... handful of routes. When studios animate a visual novel, they tend to squeeze everything into 12 or 24 episodes. I haven’t watched Fate, (excluding Prisma Illya. No, I’m not joking,) but I do know that the anime separates the routes into different anime. If a studio has to adapt a visual novel in a single season, they should only adapt a single route.

That is the issue I have with Yosuga No Sora. The show tries to squeeze 4 different routes into 12 episodes. I haven’t read the visual novel, but from what I’ve read online, a single route takes around 20 hours. Because we only have about three episodes for each route, the pacing is a mess. Each route isn’t given enough time to make it feel meaningful.

The structure is my central criticism, but I also disliked the protagonist, Kasugano Haruka. He is bland, uninteresting, and acts more as a conduit for the four heroines' growth than a person with dimensions. Still, there were things I liked. The animation was smooth and I liked the OST. Even though the pacing was horrendous, I did like the heroines. Unlike Haruka, there were dimensions to them. My favourites were the Migiwa sisters, who felt like real people who had to grow to tackle their problems.

I didn’t hate Yosuga No Sora, but with better structure, it could have been marginally better. If instead of trying to squeeze four routes into 12 episodes, it focused on a single route: preferably the love triangle between Sora, Haruka and Nao, it would result in a better anime. No, it definitely isn’t because I wanted 12 episodes of pure twincest.

Someone once recommended Yosuga no Sora to me, saying it was a “really deep and meaningful romance.” After watching it, I’m convinced that person was either joking or they just hate me.. Because this isn’t deep. It’s not meaningful. It’s one of the most shallow, tone-deaf attempts at romance I’ve EVER seen in anime.

At first, the anime presents itself like a typical slice-of-life romance set in a little countryside town. I found myself excited to explore whatever the anime had to offer! But Yosuga no Sora quickly turned into an anthology of awkward and disconnected romantic routes that felt like a checklist of fan service ... scenarios. There is no depth to the relationships, no real emotional weight or lasting consequences in really any of the arcs.

Worse, the anime tries to frame taboo and uncomfortable relationships as something profound, but they’re just handled in the most deplorable and exploitative ways possible.. The supposed “drama” feels forced and empty, and any attempts at emotional sincerity get buried under shock value.

Even visually, it’s mediocre. The animation is okay, though dated, the pacing is painfully uneven, and the tone is constantly clashing.

The characters have zero emotional depth, every confession or ‘intimate’ scene feels insanely hollow. By the time I reached the end, I was wondering why I didn’t drop it sooner. But alas, I am consistently a victim of the sunk-cost fallacy.

Story: 2/10
Animation: 4/10
Characters: 1/10
Pacing: 2/10
Soundtrack: 6/10 (Unfortunately, I have to give credit where credit is due)
Overall: 1/10