First Impressions / Imouto sae Ireba Ii.

「主人公にさえなればいい.」 (Shujinkou ni sae Nareba Ii.)
“Becoming the Protagonist Is All You Need.”

We’ve got another bombshell this week! This time, Itsuki fesses up that he actually does like Nayu. His reasoning for not committing to officially going out does align with his personality as he would rather be considered a “protagonist” in his own story than a side character in Nayu’s. Itsuki’s logic behind holding off on asking her out is indicative of his character in that he is willing to suppress his own feelings both for Nayu’s sake as a young novelist and for his own self-centered desire to have the world’s gravitational pull go his way. Whether the announcement of Itsuki’s LN getting an anime pushes him to open up to Nayu or causes him to move the goal post further for her will be something to look forward for the finale.

The last scene in particular is a good indicator in how tragically flawed the men of the show are; whereas Itsuki puts his love on-hold for a chance to be as successful, if not more so, than Nayu, Haruto is actively getting testier and pushier about getting the two together. Most likely, he was unable to shake off the negative feelings he’s had since Miyako similarly wanted to push Itsuki and Nayu together to rip off the band-aid of unrequited love. His own perspective wasn’t prominent in the episode, but I’d imagine that later on, Haruto will continue to let his feelings about the Itsuki/Nayu pair and Miyako fester overtime until it causes him to be far more aggressive towards Itsuki.

While the confession was the largest development in this episode, Nayu was the MVP of Episode 11. After finishing her last LN thanks to Miyako’s thighs, she provides the funniest twists in the next tabletop game they played. Seeing her come up with Itsuki growing a large enough member for him to eventually use as a weapon for him to fight against Titans with was outright hilarious. Nayu’s writers block also gave us some time with her cute editor who is comparative to Itsuki’s editor as having to come at odds with an infuriating writer. However, Nayu’s editor has a flip side to her as she perks Miyako up by saying how being her editor gives her the honor of being the first person to read Nayu’s books. Nayu also overheard Itsuki’s confession, so the aftereffects will definitely be felt by the time the finale rears its head.

End Card

9 Comments

  2. The final episode’s title, much like most anime that like to this trope of namedropping the show’s name, is “A Little Sister’s All You Need?”. Yet one small addition to that title makes it so much more poignant.

    That single question mark in the title along with most of the second half starting from Itsuki’s confession has left me feeling like a fuckin’ little girl experiencing love for the first time again. And I’m not even a god damn girl.

    Holy cow you know the show has done something real good when you feel this invested in what’s going to happen to the characters. In its flurry of lewdness and debauchery, ImoSae’s heartfelt realism strikes at you deep and as a result of that you can’t help but just root for every dysfunctional wackjob in this show. Nayu and Itsuki’s, despite being two of the most degenerate characters in the cast, relationship especially.

    Is it next week yet? The excitement is too much for me to handle.

    Finale
    Reply

  3. Who wasn’t expecting her to overhear? I just hope Nayu won’t do something stupid, like ending her own carrier for Itsuki’s sake. On the other hand, only this show could get away with mixing Shingki no Kyojin with a gag penis. Also, if Chihiro’s narrative is any indication, Nayu’s greatest opponent might just reveal herself.

    Weird d
    Reply

  4. That is not the face of a girl who thinks she’s just won. She’s embarrassed, but there’s not even a hint of a smile there.

    Functionally, Itsuki’s just ended it because he’s:
    – Shattered the illusion that the thing holding him back was her youth/innocence/shyness that was Nayu’s true state before they met. Which means she now knows he likes a girl who’s not her.
    – Set up winning conditions Nayu knows are going to be difficult/impossible to reach given their status differences in the industry as long as she continues to keep improving herself

    This is also why: “you’re too good for me” tends to go over like a bag of bricks when used as an initial response to an expression of interest in general. You’re basically shutting out the opinion of the interested party and putting your own self-absorbed reason ahead of theirs.

    Dave
    Reply

  8. https://randomc.net/image/Imouto%20sae%20Ireba%20Ii./Imouto%20sae%20Ireba%20Ii.%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2009.jpg

    Hmmm… I think I should try this… Be naked when I set my exam papers. That might help.

    https://randomc.net/image/Imouto%20sae%20Ireba%20Ii./Imouto%20sae%20Ireba%20Ii.%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    Shingeki no…. Penis???

    God another table top story telling game totally getting slaughtered. I was wincing in pain all the way man and all the hentai possibilities… Eren and Levi must be feeling dead inside right now

    https://randomc.net/image/Imouto%20sae%20Ireba%20Ii./Imouto%20sae%20Ireba%20Ii.%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2029.jpg

    Ladies and gents, we have our 2nd season of No PenisGame No Life.

    Velvet Scarlantina
    Reply

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