First Impressions / Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai

OP Sequence

[flv:Ore_no_Imouto_ga_Konnani_Kawaii_Wake_ga_Nai_OP.mp4 512 288]

OP: 「irony」 by ClariS
[Download]

This is a contender for the catchiest opening theme of the season.

Meet Kirino’s “normal” friends, Kurusu Kanako (Tamura Yukari) and Aragaki Ayase (Hayami Saori). I hope to see more of these two given the seiyuu cast to play them.

The ONE time they’re supposed to use an “R”, they go out of their way to switch it to an “L”. I’m starting to think that the Japanese purposely misspell stuff.

「俺が妹とオフ会に行くわけがない」 (Ore ga Imouto to Ofu Kai ni Iku Wake ga Nai)
“There’s No Way I’d Go to An Offline Meeting with My Sister”

If there’s one thing that this episode of Oreimo reiterated to me, it’s that there will never — and I mean NEVER — be an offline Random Curiosity meet as long as I’m running this blog. The last thing I need is some uptight person giving me an earful about covering shows like Kanokon and kiss x sis and how I should have some shame, before going off on a tangent and preaching to me about what’s morally acceptable in this world. Even then, I’d probably have to suffer criticism on why I covered show A over show B and possibly be put on the hot seat to justify those decisions. Well tough luck! I don’t feel the need to justify anything! Also, I don’t want to be called “Divine” in real life as it sounds pretty lame just thinking about it. I’d probably be more okay with “Div”, but even then… no. Just no. You guys can set up your own offline meeting. Now if you happen to be a younger sister who possibly can’t be that cute, then something can probably be arranged…

On that note, I find the solution to Kirino’s lack of otaku friends rather trivial, as there are surprisingly attractive girls on the ever-so-popular Japanese message board 2channel who are into anime and whatnot. Depending on how Kirino wanted to go about it, she could even put on a bit of a “display” if she felt there weren’t enough people interested in talking to her. Granted, she’d likely be targeting the completely wrong crowd for some meaningful conversation about her favorite anime and eroge, but there’s a good chance that they would be hanging on her every post. Doesn’t seem like a bad trade-off compared to having a face-to-face anime argument with one Gokou Ruri, better known as Kuroneko (Hanazawa Kana), provided that she never agrees to an offline meeting with those people. I gather it doesn’t come as any surprise when I say not everyone’s as supportive as they are in Densha Otoko. Bottom line: Cute, fashionable girl into anime and eroge? We have an instant winner! (…among lonely hikikomori.)

Incidentally, watching those two female otaku go at in their verbal fisticuffs like the other person had just denounced their religious belief reminded me of another reason why I wouldn’t want to discuss anime with zealous fanatics in person. (Oh I saw the punching, clawing, hair-pulling, and biting all right.) At least online, I can just walk away and have no part of it (or just delete the troll-like comments since I run this ship… mwahaha), whereas the same easy way out isn’t available when I’m sitting at a table in a public place without making a scene. Quite frankly, I may run have taken up the reins of a fairly popular anime blog, but people would be hard-pressed to know that I do if I didn’t tell them. (See here for why that is.) If anything, I’d probably be facepalming myself like Kyousuke was on the verge of doing if an anime argument broke out in front of me, though I’d probably be more easygoing like Makishima Saori, a.k.a. Saori Bajeena (Nabatame Hitomi), simply because I’d understand what people were arguing over. “Lelouch is alive! He was on the cart!” “No he wasn’t retard! And you call yourself a fan!?” “Please, don’t bring me down to your level of fandom.” Interestingly enough, I’m not sure if I would be facepalming or laughing my ass off over how heated people can get about anime. I will say that Saori’s a “unique” character who made me want to cry out, “Hail Neo Zeon!”, just for the hell of it though.

If it wasn’t apparently already, I was only being semi-serious about a lot of the above, but I’ll let you decide what was sarcastic to keep things interesting (yes, even at my expense). One thing that there’s no mistaking is that the opening theme “irony” by ClariS is god damn catchy. I love Kirino’s hair flick in the sequence as well as all the Akihabara locations shown in it — many of which I recognize from my visit there. Overall, this episode had me chuckling a lot at Kirino’s terrible treatment of Kyousuke too, so I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this series. It was a guaranteed watch and blog of mine for a reason.

P.S. Meeting local people that I’ve conversed with online is surprisingly normal in all cases that I’ve done it. 😛

 

I must say, it’s pretty ridiculous to be lectured about sucking at eroge. It was coming from the girl who made a confession about being helplessly in love with them too.

Manami will be forever labeled the “plain girl” even though she gives some good advice.

It’s not quite 2ch, but probably has a lot less suspicious people lurking about.

It’s a whole new world~ A new fantastic point of view~
(Must be hella annoying to be told to come along yet stay away though.)

There’s definitely one person who stands out in “Otakukko Atsumare-” and it’s not Kirino in her fashionable clothes.

Venturing into unknown territory. The rumored maid cafe. *dun dun dun*

That pissed off, staring you down look is something else.

Where the heck did the girl with the entranced eyes go? She could have talked up a storm about eroge.

It’s no wonder incestuous relationships are a problem. You have to put up a good fight just to resist all the subliminal brainwashing.

It’s at moments like this that I would expect Kirino to act differently, but she never ceases to amaze me by slapping Kyousuke’s hand away. Tsundere power!

It’s the Magic Hand! After seeing what this baby can do in WORKING, I have to say that Kirino got a pretty good gift in the exchange.

Kuroneko said “handle name”, but all I heard was “handsonic” with the voice Hanazawa Kana used.

It could just be me, but I think our Neo Zeon supporter has a bit of masochism in her.
“Psycho Gundam? Pssh… It’s the Red Comet you ingrates!”

It’s BK-201! Hei! What’s this about Maschera ~Daten Shita Kemono no Doukoku~? Never heard of it.

Mainstream versus moe. Now where have I dealt with differing opinions about that before…?

I see sparks, but would probably take the irresponsible approach like Saori if there were an offline meet. Keyword, if.

Hmm, loli rape or yaoi. That’s a tough one…

It looks like Kyousuke’s virgin eyes were done in by the doujinshi. He’ll never see anime the same way again. As for Kuroneko, yes, otaku do cross-dress when they cosplay. *shudder*

Gotta love how no one gives a damn what Kyousuke was up to.

Well there goes resisting the subliminal brainwashing. Kyousuke just became a full-fledged incestuous gamer.

Yeah right Kyousuke. You’re not off the hook anytime soon.

Preview & End Card

I like the end cards. It sort of makes up for the lack of a preview.

86 Comments

  8. Best anime this season =D

    Btw,I heard that the opening was chosen from a contest on niconico where people submitted their stuff.I’m still kinda blurry on the details since it’s just hearsay.It would be pretty cool if it were true though.

    I got curious when I saw a video of Kirino’s voice actor asking “people” to enter a contest to chose what the anime’s theme song was going to be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=322_He99QII

    So I’m guessing it’s most likely the real deal.

    GodKnows
    Reply

  9. Even with all the awkward moments which basically make up the whole show, the relationship between Kyousuke and Kirino remains healthy (in fact it’s even improved) and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere…sick. Love how Kirino chose to stay true to herself and preserve a positive social image regardless of the fact that she’s an otaku. She has mentioned several times in the first episode how she liked those eroges solely because of how cute those 2D imoutos are, completely forgetting the obvious reason why people condone such games. If I got that right and it isn’t in fact something perverted that made her play them, the outlines of the battle between hentai and in-it-for-the-cuteness-nothing-else otakus can be seen as the subtext (me being the latter BTW).

    So far, I’m bedazzled by this anime, really hoping it won’t go near incest. Perfect animation and artwork, great music, cute and lively characters and plenty of intelligent otaku related puns. Just great.

    jpnwannabe
    Reply

  10. haha… love the argument about Lulu… Geass R3, come forth… wait, this is not about geass… my bad 🙂

    Kyousuke, you should definitely learn from our Keima, a.k.a. the god in galgame about the trick…

    I totally agree with the problems about arguments/fights about anime… but it is nonetheless funny to see it appears in anime 🙂

    This entire post made me laugh very hard…

    jrj
    Reply

  11. Um, wow. I’m currently pressed for time, have not watched this episode, and to top it off at work. And yet, that first paragraph on the main page managed to force me to read this post (0_0)

    Talk about grabbing. Divine, your writing surprises me at times.

    Can we have a ”Dairy’s of Divine” section? If it’s anything like that first section, then I can foresee some good times …

    Arabesque
    Reply

  16. Does anyone spot a cameo by Paul the Fortune-Telling Octopus of FIFA World Cup fame? 🙂

    Hanazawa Kana as Kuroneko = <3
    Even more so when she spouts out venomous words in her Angelic voice (pun intended). (I too nearly heard "handsonic" rather than "handle name". lol )

    Divine, Kuroneko's and Saori's real names are not supposed to be revealed yet. It probably isn't too important to be counted as a spoiler, but it might still be fun to let the readers find out about their names themselves.

    From the OP, it seems Kyousuke and Kirino live in Chiba City east of Tokyo, for the Chiba Urban Monorail can be seen. (You can view it in Google Maps)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiba,_Chiba
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiba_Urban_Monorail

    I have mixed feelings for AIC's expected special fan-contributed ED arrangements. There was much excitement about AIC asking for fan contribution for one ED per episode, turns out it's just Taketatsu Ayana (Kirino) singing the week's song in the background, with the singing largely obscured by the dialogue.

    On the plus side, we get an extra minute and a half of animation covering more of the story.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  18. Kirino vs Kuroneko! haha.
    Anime trashtalk with actual fight scenes FTW.

    I need to find out the answer for Kirino’s weird trance on people… does anyone know the reason for that effect?

    Dal
    Reply

  19. A very catchy opening indeed : ) I have been listening to it many times now XD

    I am happy to know that I am not the only one that loves Kirino’s hair flick in the opening. I am not sure how to explain why I love it XD

    Liberta
    Reply

  21. Oh forgot to mention that eye catches are look awesome and well done (AIC Ftw), I still get a voice in the back of my head constantly saying, “She’s 14, She’s 14, She’s 14, etc” I wonder how should I deal with this little issue XD

    Liberta
    Reply

    1. Surpress them or be a criminal undercover xD any you choose will have there dificulties xD.
      Now, the ep, I really liked it, and the animation still surprises me for the qualitie.

      Pazoozoo
      Reply

    3. No wonder how you felt about the end-of-the-show eyecatch because it’s actually not from AIC, but from an artist of eroge developper Windmill which has made an R-18 game named “Shukufuku no Campanella”. The anime version of the game had been aired this last summer as you guys probably know, and it “happened” to be from AIC too, btw.

      U Doh
      Reply

  23. “The last thing I need is some uptight person giving me an earful about covering shows like Kanokon and kiss x sis and how I should have some shame, before going off on a tangent and preaching to me about what’s morally acceptable in this world”

    Haha I agree so much! But I think that Kuroneko wasn’t being moralist, rather she was attacking the shows Kirino like because, well, the usual arguments against moe: lack of coherence, all about cute girls with no depth, etc (I side with Kirino by the way since I love such shows, and I’m not ashamed to say it!)

    Sergio
    Reply

  25. Kuroneko is so gothloli!
    Overall I was delighted by the off-line meeting and especially afterparty where Kirino and Kuroneko let their abusive personalities fly!
    Now can anyone make them SD for the PSP game by certain mad genius?
    And is it me or Manami is trying to signal something to Kyosuke?

    ewok40k
    Reply

  29. I’m in tears. Your post was just as funny as the show! If not, a bit funnier~ x’D I gotta catch my breath..

    Okay. ..lol

    First thing’s first. I absolutely LOVED Kirino’s outfit during her outing. She seemed trendy at first and I know she’s a model but wow. Gotta hand it to the artists. Stuff like that ain’t easy. Being an artist means being a little bit of everything! ^^d

    Next-ly, I coulda sworn I heard one of those girls swear. And in a Panty & Stocking kind of way too! xD

    Third-ness.. ROFLMFAO @ all your comments. C’:< (I love this place~)

    Shirt
    Reply

  30. w0w didnt notice that. handle name if you dont listen carefully you can hear it incorrectly = hand sonic. well hand sonic has echoed voice so i guess thats the reason for hearing it similarly

    Croosboy
    Reply

  32. Gorou Ruri, better known as Kuroneko
    Minor correction, Gokou Ruri.( ＾∀＾)

    It’s certainly amusing seeing random pop-up images in this show were done by various real eroge illustrators, each of those Meru and Maschera doujin, and the posters in the maid cafe. Nice eye candy indeed, gujjyobu

    An
    Reply

  33. oh good lord, i about died when i heard saori BAJEENA (vagina), and the argument between kuroneko and kirino was the best, especially kuroneko’s “art doesn’t need a ‘clothes off’ feature.” XDD

    diet otaku
    Reply

  34. Great Op I can’t wait to get the single, also looking forward to KOTOKO’s single. Back on subject is blush character the new moe? The constant blushing of every female character has me slightly bothered.

    Bluance
    Reply

  35. This show is awesome! Totally have to admire Kyousuke’s patience and understanding with Kirino’s uber tsundereness.

    For some reason I really like Kyousuke’s interactions with Manami, its cute 🙂

    Thanks for the great post!

    P0NCH
    Reply

  37. I actually went to download the OP when I heard it at the end of episode 1.

    Took me hours to find the full version actually, listened to it a lot, it was so catchy.

    When I saw the OP a week later, was so happy and I absolutely love the hair flick Divine said and most of all, the every beginning where we see Kyousuke and zoom out to Kirino. She’s so cute like that. moe…

    TheNewHorde
    Reply

  44. It is stated in the light novel that Saori is “probably” very good-looking without the otaku outfit… Well, I think we will see her later without it soon.
    By the way… Divine, I salute at your seiyuu-identifier ears. It took me forever to realize where I heard Kuroneko’s (Hanazawa Kana’s) voice… but after that “handle name” could finally become “handsonic”XD

    Linzermaster
    Reply

  48. The maid cafe scene was pretty funny. The omurice with something written and the maid does a little hand motion in the end. I had the same thing happen first time I went to a maid cafe so I guess it’s standard procedure.

    Gambler
    Reply

  49. kyousuke is like….HELL YES! I JUST BEAT THE GAME…..A GAME ABOUT…….love with your younger sister……that I was made to play by……my….younger sister….(who hates me)
    then he is like, finally I can enjoy my ero-hon peacefully, no more loli4me~

    supera
    Reply

  50. nice episode, not liking bagina-san, and hope there’s more to come, didn’t read beyond first volume of manga…

    but if divine-san doesn’t mind the posts to be published faster? even though good things are worth waiting…

    kaineng
    Reply

  52. Hahahaha that loli rape doujin looked like Mr. Hun’s art… haha…

    Black Reaper? yeah, I thought of Lelouch but Hei fits better.

    Guess I somehow understand you Kirino, maybe I have it harder living where I live.

    Lectro Volpi
    Reply

  54. That episode was fun to watch.

    「XL？」「メンス？」

    I couldn’t stop laughing at that for some reason. And the “My Figurines are better than your’s aren’t they cute?” “If it’s only about cuteness, why do they have a Cast-Off feature?”

    I wanted to drop the series because Kirino is SO HARD TO DEAL WITH, but I guess I’ll continue watching.

    Kamion
    Reply

  55. What this show has going for it is probably the fact that it’s the first
    close-to-realistic sibling relationship I’ve seen elaborated in an animu ever…
    Their entire dynamic is closer to a real life depiction of what a two sibling
    brother/sister relationship is like rather than just some generic ‘tsundere’ chara depiction…
    Now if only it’ll stay that way, hmm…

    Tiggerz
    Reply

  58. Kudos on the post I liked the “I run this ship” tangent that was epic+you did evil laugh in text win. Now,personally, as long as it doesn’t go towards “Hey you can see it all this is now hentai light!” I’ll be ok with whatever turns the show takes. Mainly because a) I can watch almost anything b) I like the characters. It’s all about the characters for me really. Kinda like the im-in-it for the cuteness except im in it for the story line. Though that doesn’t work anywhere near as well as the cuteness one simply because somethings just don’t have a story line. Also some of the best story lines actually come from eroge which I find high amusing,the fact about the story lines not the,oh never mind that one can’t be saved. So far so good though,hopefully we can get more episodes then just 13 out of this one. >< 13 episode seasons seem to be becoming a trend. To the above comment simply, well duh.

    ivan2160
    Reply

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