OreImo Specials

I'm critiquing this anime based solely on the present story progression without any hindsight pertaining to the light novel. It has been my experience that reading the original material before watching the animation may result in set expectations that might negatively impact one's opinion of the animation. That being said, no I did not enjoy the specials at all. I understand this was an effort to continue the series with what little ongoing story material not covered in the televised series. However, from what was presented in the specials, I think that the overall series would've benefitted more from original televised ending.I do understand that the stories in light novels often continue even after their animated counterpart's intended ending and because of that we viewers are subjected, at many times, to sudden cliffhangers that leave the stories open ended. If a light novel series proved to be successful, the story may be revisited with a second season of animation. Animated specials, on the other hand, contain materials that were not featured in the televised series for reasons uncontrollable by the producers. They often feature side stories that provides insight into the story but not enough to further the development of the story on their own. For that reason, the animated special of Ore no Imouto failed. It was too short to be a second season on its own and contain too much development to be half-hearted animated special. The animated special continues the story with what is considered the "true path" in line with the story development from the light novel. Kirino was removed from the main cast while Kuroneko and Kyosuke was pushed to the center stage. There were minor re-introductions of several secondary characters like Saori and the game club's president as well as the introduction of new characters like various members of the game development club and Sena Akagi. This too was another weak point of the animated specials. I never did like Kirino, however, she is the glue that ties this story together; removing her and placing Kyosuke as the story's focus was a stupid idea. Kyosuke, of course, can't function without being a hero coming to the rescue of young maidens and for that Kuroneko replaced Kirino's position. The story hinted at the romantic tension implied as the schoolmate replaced the younger sister's position but with all due intent, the romantic development between Kuroneko and Kyosuke was much anticipated. However, even that was cut short by second cliffhanger ending the animated special provided. And to further comment, nothing is more frustrating than seeing two Japanese teenagers taking such a puritanical approach to dating. Sena Akagi was hilarious and interesting for exactly 30 seconds. The gay joke dies quickly. The rest of the cast received no development. I won't comment much on the music or art as those rarely impact the value of an animation to me unless in the case that they were extraordinary; they weren't but they weren't bad either. I do no hate animated special or the Ore no Imouto series but am just disappointed at the decision the production staff has taken. They could've just waited a while longer for the author to release more novels and created an eventful second season but instead they opted for a lackluster continuation that dragged on throughout the summer. In short, the animated specials were a story of Kyosuke and Kuroneko NOT doing anything.

I've already watched both seasons of OreImo, and decided I wanted to rewatch them and write reviews for each section right after finishing them. If you're on the fence about watching this show, here's how it is: OreImo is a damn good Romcom, and if you enjoy that kind of light hearted show, you should definitely watch it. This here is the "True Arc" ending to season 1. Basically, this is what happened when the first season surpassed expectations and the anime producers thought "We need to find a way to milk this more. That produced these 4 episodes of alternate ending to the first season,which I hear follow the manga. And god damn is it a treat. Now, if you're going to watch this, I expect you've seen the first season. If you haven't, don't be an idiot and start at the beginning. Since you've seen the first season, no need to delve into plot. You'll get a fair amount of what the first season delivered: fun characters, a decent setting and a fair amount of comedy. These four episodes however focus much more on Kyousuke than the first season, since Kirino is sort of removed from the scene for a while. Since one of the main characters is gone, we obviously need new characters, right? The main addition to the cast is the colorful Akagi Sena. She's... a surprising character, who adds a new dimension to the whole 'Otaku culture study' feel that this anime has. Other than that, a few other characters are introduced, but they are mostly secondary. We also see Kuroneko coming to the front of the stage. She's a now a student in Kyousuke's school, and as a result of this, the two become closer than before. It leads to some pretty entertaining situations, and in fact, most of these 4 episodes consists of Kyousuke sticking his nose in Kuroneko's affairs and trying to help her out. So really, these 4 episodes are a pleasant addition to the first season, and if you enjoyed that, you'll enjoy this. I will say however that although this is only 4 episodes long, I actually enjoyed it more than the first season. There were far more laugh out loud moments, as the writing seems altogether better than previously. There is also a sense of progression, where Kyousuke is helping Kuroneko out, learning things about himself and all this in 4 episodes, whereas the first season sometimes seemed a little slow, with little actual progression going on. It's a short little changing to the old ending and a promise of more good to come. And if you plan to watch season 2, you had better watch these cus I made the mistake of not seeing these the first time I watched season 2 and goddamn was it confusing.

I’m not going to use arbitrary numbers since that’s not going to help you understand what I just watched. These episodes are the true ending of Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (or Oreimo [or My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute]), so it goes without saying that you need to watch the first season of the show in order to understand them. Now it’s hard for me to quantify this series on a scale of whether I like it or don’t like it (I really like it), because it’s just so damn charming and I get the feeling it shouldn’t be.This 4 episode ending carries on the endearing nature of the show, but adds a little more spice to a few of the side characters (mainly Kuroneko) since this is the alternate route where Kirino actually leaves Japan for track and field training. There’s also a bunch of new characters (some you may be more familiar with than you realize) which opens up a whole new dialogue. I can’t help but be oddly smitten by this strange grouping of characters and story points and I feel like anyone would be too provided you’re not here for incestuous diddling. Spoilers. I’m simple and I like my romances much the same (I’m not here for romance, I promise). These episodes that make up the “True Route” are very characteristic of your high school romance, but they still capture that spirit of comradery and rivalry that remained constant throughout all of Oreimo. It’s just a continuation of the series so anything that I said regarding art, sound and any other technical aspects remains the same. It’s still colorful and has a great soundtrack, moving on. This isn’t like the first ending to the series which was really sweet (because the siblings finally got along). Instead it’s a little more bitter which is alright, because a series like this can’t be too sweet for too long. They’re worth the watch since it’s a totally different ending to the series and it’s cool to see this story about visual novels (most of the eroge presented are VNs as far as I can tell) be treated like one. ALSO, make sure you watch these if you’re continuing on to season 2. OTHERWISE the beginning will spoil all the new characters/events that take place.

This arc is the true ending of Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai from the novel which serves as an alternate ending to anime's lackluster filler ending. It adds to the character development to Kuroneko; fans of Kuronecko will love this ending while the Kirino fans may find this to be lacking. The quality of the anime remains the same with the special.