Aug 19, 2013
As a enthusiast of the Oreimo franchise, I expected great things from the OVA meant to conclude the story built up by the two previous seasons. Long story short, both the Oreimo fanbase and I were disappointed with the turn of events that were meant to wrap up a memorable series.
Story - 5
As a series aimed to critique and evaluate sibling love, it is no surprise that the series tries to deviate from your typical romantic comedy. If you have been following Oreimo since season one, its theme of forbidden love should be familiar. Despite the awkward premise, the first two seasons
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expertly set up the unique plot line and simply made it work. However, by the OVA, its engaging story telling seemed to have all but run out of steam. Perhaps it was because Aniplex tried to end the series in a meager 3 episode release, but the story felt extremely forced and rushed. Minimal effort was put into the multiple confessions, and strong emotional build-up seemed to be non-existent. The confessions seemed too artificial to have any hint of a emotional implication upon the audience. Although the producers tried their best to remain truthful to the original light novel series, the set up lacked realism (even in the sense of anime) and ultimately made for what seemed like a clumsy attempt to end the series and earn a quick buck.
Character - 6
The first two seasons of Oreimo established memorable character archetypes that each added to the series in their own ways. Although still persistent in the OVA, the distinct lines set up by the first to seasons are blurred, and the actions of characters are dictated by the ease of plot, rather than aligning to their personalities. The most notable example would be the quarrel between Kirino and Tamaki, where the audience is treated with a Tamaki that very much goes against her average friendly demeanour. Some may argue that it is her inner self surfacing, but I simply find it a pathetic way to drive the plot. Her character completes a 180, which is not even hinted in the first two seasons, making it erratic and hard to swallow. Even well developed characters such as Kyousuke and Kuroneko undergo sudden changes with their personality that seem out of place (albeit to a lesser extent).
One of my major beefs with this anime is the voice acting. I'm not pointing fingers at the VAs, as they performed brilliantly in the two seasons, but rather at the directors and producers. In exception to Taketatsu, who portrayed Kirino much to the professionalism of the first two seasons, the voice acting seemed to forced and tried to force emotions into the audience that simply were not there. The dialogue that was meant to display deep feelings only left me confused and awkward, as if I've just watched a low budget 1980s love film.
Art and sound - 9
What seemed the most average in the first two seasons turned out to be one of the redeeming factors of this OVA. The opening and ending themes remained true to the second season, and the music served to strongly supplement, if not overshadow, the ridiculous attempt to portray emotion in much of the three episodes. Similarly, the high quality art that remained unchanged greatly pleased my visual senses. Props to Motoyama for giving the OVA a slight emotional touch, saving the OVA from becoming something similar to what would happen if Rei from evangalion and Nagato from Haruhi decided to stage a last minute comedy show.
Overall - 6.5
In all seriousness, I truly believe that this OVA deserves a 6. But that would not serve the series justice as it had an amazing start for such a difficult premise to pull off. Also, considering its difficult premise, the fact that they didn't completely butcher the ending should also deserve some praise. All in all, Oreimo makes for an interesting plot and enjoyable anime to watch, but the poor execution of the ending, along with the difficulties behind ending such a series result in an OVA built on mediocrity.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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