I didn’t write about the first episode of the True Route OVA. That’s because the differences between it and the actual episode 12 were so minimal it didn’t warrant a post. The actual changes were:
- A man played porn games in the street
- Kyousuke rode a bicycle
- Kirino didn’t headbutt Kyousuke
- Kuroneko said Senpai.
Besides, it would be hard to top my tsundereview from episode 12, so I had decided then not to write about the True Route OVAs.
Then episode 13 came along and essentially gave me exactly what I’ve been asking for all along. An Ore no Imouto spin-off where Kuroneko is the main focus and absolutely no Kirino whatsoever. So hey, why not jump back into the boiling pot that is blogging Ore no Imouto.
It’s strange getting back into the Ore no Imouto mindframe. There are a couple of things that you need to remember when watching this anime. One is that Kyousuke is a siscon. Well, perhaps his fetish is a bit broader than that. He likes younger girls looking up to him and calling him respectful names while they suck his knob. His sister just so happens to fall into that category and she’s an easy target, so good on him. The show is frustrating and baffling if you try to pretend his brotherly love is anything else. I know this because I’ve tried to think otherwise. It didn’t work. Anyone who tries to claim otherwise is deluded to the extreme. Or they weren’t paying enough attention. Once I remembered that simple fact, it was quite easy to sink back into enjoying this show. Because, even though this show is, at its core, an otaku handjob to the extreme, it still can be incredibly clever and witty.
Well, when I say ‘can be incredibly clever and witty‘, what I actually mean is ‘can have scenes that feature Kuroneko‘ . She is still the best thing about this show, and the only one whose character remains seemingly intact and coherent throughout (apart from that scene with the cat ears because what self respecting Code Geass Maschera fan would do that). Since when was Saori the type of character to grope her own breasts in Kyousuke’s room anyway? At least with Kuroneko, it’s easy to see why she’s fallen for Kyousuke. Older sister character who has to look out for her younger siblings yet shunned by her classmates because she’s an anti-social bitch, he’s the first guy to look out for her instead. With that, they’ve kept all the other parts of her character intact that I liked. The ever anti-social bitch side, the spouting great lines about otaku hobbies and actually having some though put into the tsundere aspect of her character.
Kuroneko is a tsundere that actually has some correlation between the tsun and the dere. Kirino isn’t a tsundere. There’s no similarity between tsun and dere and the jump has nothing to do with character personality as it has to do with simply having two totally different personalities altogether. Kuroneko’s character has some actual correlation and logic behind her changes in emotions. I thought the tsundere had died after Mayoi Neko Overrun. Before that anime, I had considered the tsundere character archetype to be the one that required actual effort to be put into making the archetype work. You needed to construct the wall behind which the tsun side hides, the reasoning as to how the wall would get broken down and what the dere side looks like too. Until fucking Mayoi Neko Overrun killed the tsundere for me with one simple line. When introducing the token tsundere, the main character described her as thus: “She says the opposite to what she means”. And that was it. The extent of her characterisation was just that line. Nothing more. But *poof* you have a tsundere. I’m pretty certain I’ve written about this before but it’s worth repeating to remind you guys what doesn’t make a good tsundere. Kirino is not because there’s no correlation between the two sides of her personality. That twat from Mayoi Neko Overrun isn’t either because that’s just saying the opposite to what she thinks. Kuroneko is a proper tsundere. The archetype isn’t dead yet!
These guys were awesome.
…
OK, back to fanboying over Kuroneko.
Imagine that huh. All you needed for this show to be good again was get rid of Kirino and focus on Kuroneko. It’s not because I’m attracted to her in a typical fanboy sense or anything (she’s waaaay too loli for my taste). She’s just a well written character. In fact, the show in general is still well written. From Saori’s little bitch over Kirino not writing to Kyousuke wondering what on earth Kuroneko’s real name is, it’s still got some competent writing behind it all. There’s obviously poor parts too, such as the extremely annoying bouncy music that comes on when Ore no Imouto wants you to laugh now ‘kay. But I did genuinely enjoy this episode. Now we’ve just got to wait for Kirino to return next episode for the entire show to be ruined! But it would still be more fun to write about than Fractale or Bakuman. Damnit, I need to pick better shows to blog next season.
But Kuroneko. He died at the end of the series.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CART DRIVER!!!