I don’t really remember how I came across Oreimo. I think I saw a clip of it on YouTube, thought it looked interesting, and decided to check it out. Boy, was that a mistake. There aren’t many shows I hate, but I genuinely despise Oreimo. I could spend many, many paragraphs breaking down why I hate it so much, but the primary reason is that the main female character, Kirino, is horrible. I don’t mean that she’s badly written; rather, that she’s a terrible person, one of the most unlikeable characters I’ve ever come across in a fictional work.
I stopped watching the show after Season 1, so her backstory—namely, her upbringing with her brother, Kyosuke—is still largely a mystery to me. However, regardless of what happened in her past, no matter how tragic or traumatic it might have been, the obscene level of physical and verbal abuse she heaps on Kyosuke throughout Season 1 is completely unjustifiable. Her kicks, punches, and headbutts aren’t mere slapstick played for laughs (for an example of effective physical comedy in an anime, check out Baka and Test). To the contrary, it is full-blown domestic violence, leaving lasting bruises and scars all over Kyosuke’s body. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find domestic violence “cute” in the slightest.
Kirino’s actions are made even more intolerable by the fact that throughout Season 1 Kyosuke is trying his best to help Kirino at every turn, putting his time, money, and reputation on the line to rebuild their relationship. And how does Kirino greet his efforts? With indifference and cruelty, of course! Kirino—along with her two Mean Girls-esque middle-school friends—made Oreimo so unpleasant for me to watch that I eventually gave up on the show entirely and started watching Spice and Wolf instead (a much, MUCH better show, btw).
The problem with Kirino is that she’s positioned as the protagonist of the series; the audience is supposed to like her, relate with her, and root for her to succeed. However, her abusive and selfish behavior, combined with her being a Mary Sue otaku with a brother complex, leaves me hating her more than most villains I’ve come across in anime. At the very least, it would have been nice to see her suffer some consequence for her brutish actions that leads to introspection and growth (and no, her half-hearted attempt at a thank-you party in episode 11 doesn’t count, especially since episode 12 contains her biggest beatdown of Kyosuke in the series up to that point).
However, as much as I hate this show—and I truly, truly hate it—I can’t in good conscience give Oreimo a 1/10. To deserve a 1/10, a show must lack any artistic merit whatsoever; basically, that the creators shouldn’t have bothered to make the show in the first place, and the world might actually be better off if they had made such a decision. It is the ultimate condemnation, to say that “not existing” is preferable to “existing.” And I can’t in good faith argue that Oreimo is so vile or worthless that it doesn’t deserve to exist. For whatever inexplicable reason, Oreimo has a head-scratchingly high number of fans (a fact that continues to baffle me to this day). Not to say I wouldn’t give 1/10 to a show because of its popularity; rather, I honestly believe Oreimo has some artistic value.
There are elements of the show I like, particularly Kyosuke’s “girlfriend” and her family (honestly, the show would’ve been so much better if it had centered on them instead). Unfortunately, these positive elements are completely overshadowed by Kirino, in all her ingloriousness. Still, Oreimo has been a surprising source of inspiration and introspection for me; my disdain of the show has helped hone my analytic prowess, leading to greater self-awareness as to why I like what I like and why I dislike what I dislike. To appreciate the good, you need to experience and learn from the bad. And what have I learned from Oreimo? That I hate watching jerks be mean to each other for 12 episodes.
Would I recommend the show? Well, I gave it a 3/10, so that should tell you something. Unless any of what I’ve just described intrigues you, avoid this show at all costs.
