While the season does a great job in its messages, the fan service as a whole is over the top and can be a big deal breaker. This can make the story uncomfortable to watch especially when the subject of the season is the protagonist’s little sister, while this alone would not be as bad. The particular genre of eroge in question is about little sisters falling in love their older brothers. In combination with the multiple misunderstandings, the title, and the fanservice moments, the tone of the series makes it harder to watch than it already is. The characters while expressive and in depth, the personalities tend to be on the more extreme side and as a result makes it harder to relate to the characters for their struggles and hardships. Especially the tsundere nature of Kirino is harsh and unfortunately does not have any redeeming qualities. Kirino is a huge offender of being extremely natured, she’s otaku culture personified and being portrayed as a “perfect” person on the outside just goes to show otaku culture in lighter shade. This by itself is not a bad thing per se but can be viewed negatively when paired in junction with the overall topics of the show. Kirino in essence feels like a portrayal of otaku culture and nothing more. She feels like has no other purpose but to be act as the doorway to otaku culture that has been mentioned.
Despite my criticism for the series, Oreimo with its extreme approach and characters to telling its story, the characters being as extreme as they are pivotal in helping the story move along its tracks. A part of the show’s charm is how extreme it is with its ideas. In addition, the extreme approaches to the story helps further push the story along the The story being character driven helps the execution of the story. The messages being about society and relationships The messages are fruitful and can easily be applied to ourselves as we have had situations we can use to relate to the series. And the protagonist can be seen as helpful and does not have any deal breaking flaws that make the protagonist hard to like. This goes for the majority of the cast, aside for a certain little sister. However, even when the series can be extreme they are still grounded to reality. While the execution of some of these situations are out of the ordinary, the bare bones of the most of the situations in this series, are plausible in real life. While the series does have an extreme approach to fan service, as the story progresses, the series tones down the fan service towards in the latter half of the season.
Unfortunately, I found the season one of Oreimo immensely uncomfortable to watch even with its upsides and the toning down of the fanservice. The topic of eroge gives the story an undertone that would be hard to miss even when the fanservice gets milder. I would say if you can stomach the fan service or do not mind it, give the series a try because of the series’ messages. However the series is not something I would say a majority of people would enjoy. I cannot say I enjoyed the series because of how much of an impression certain factors of the series give. For example, Kirino if replaced by a male character would have been seen more as a creep due to her interests in eroge and little sisters falling in love with their older brothers. And while I mention the fan service of the series gets toned down, it leaves enough of an impression to effect the subtone of the series. Despite the praise I have given this installment, after some thought, I would say I give season one a 2/10. While this series can be enjoyable and entertaining to some, it caters to a very specific audience. This is not a show to watch without knowing what you’re getting into and definitely shouldn’t pick up on a whim.
