Oreimo and the “Negative ‘AHA!’ Moment”

One thing that I’ve been noticing recently about reading comments and posts on Ore no Imouto ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (yes yes, “why would I do that in the first place?”) is that I’m not liking them. And one such example is in regards to that scene from episode 4 that many, many other people have commented on. In terms of my impression of the “cliché male accidently falling on female while groping her in an always perfect state of undress for others to see scene” (which make me facepalm), it was unexpected, and an unnecessary distraction. Especially because of the epic dodge by Kyousuke that came before it, since the result sucks worse for him, one could say. Since it came from the source material, I could say that I thought that moment was a bad and silly decision on the author’s part to use that scene as a transition for Kirino and co. to go to Comiket. But I can’t say that it wasn’t an interesting way to somehow get Kirino to go. And I still have a thought in my mind that the point of that scene was mainly to provide a small bite to those who hope beyond all hope that There’s A Way Kyousuke’s Little Sister Can Fall In Love With Him. But I digress.

 

I can't help but think that guy in the background is somehow representing us, making a big deal about something not so much.

Oreimo and A Fan’s Identity

One of the things that I liked from episode 2 of Ore No Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai was the brief conversation that Kirino and her brother Kyousuke had regarding the former’s lack of camaraderie with fellow otaku given her circumstances. What got me was Kirino’s initial refusal to the advice of making friend with fellow fans, saying “They’ll think I’m the same as them.” It was less the fact that she would be the same as them (which she is regardless), but that she’ll be seen as the same as them. Given her background as a middle school student who’s hip with the times and squarely in the “cool clique”, and that being an otaku (as she sees herself) is most totally not cool in Japan, Kirino’s definitely in a bind keeping the two identities together, but not letting them mix. That difference in being a stylish middle school girl who’s also an otaku and an otaku who’s also a stylish middle school girl feels staggering.

A girl with a little internal turmoil?

Cat paradise concludes

by dm00

 

Cover of volume one, featuring Yumi and Kansuke

 

Yuji Iwahara (creator of King of Thorn and Chikyuu Misaki, character designer for Darker than Black) is a master of putting astoundingly cute characters into creepy situations.

Cat Paradise tells the story of Yumi and her companion cat Kansuke, as they transfer into an unusual private school which caters to cat owners.  Like many such stories, this school is dominated by a powerful student council — and the student council is the guardian of a secret: the school sits astride a gateway to the world of the Beast Spirits, the original spirits of wild animals.  1000 years ago the Beast Spirits were sealed away, and now they are trying to return to exact their revenge on humanity.

Yoshitoshi ABe creates Yotsuba’s evil twin

by dm00, not quite so cranky

 

Ryushika ponders the nature of personal identity and our place in the universe

 

I’ve been reading Yoshitoshi Abe’s Ryushika Ryushika, in which he creates a character who is half Yotsuba, and half Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes

.

 

...before going inside to yell at her brother to come see the sky that only she sees

 

Like Yotsuba, Ryushika is encountering the world for the first time. Like Calvin, she sometimes has an odd way of seeing things. In the chapter that concludes with the images here, she’s noticed that the world looks different when viewed from one eye or the other (parallax) — and wonders which world is the real one, and if the world looks this different to each of her eyes, it must look very different indeed through the eyes of other people. Another chapter sees her vowing vengeance on the world for a missing takoyaki, and suspects each of the people (plus a dog) she met on the way home of having snatched it (it was stuck to the lid of the box, as it happens).

Wake me next season?

by dm00, doing an impression of the Anti-TBN

 

Hikari is not impressed (from Hoshi no negai wo - Cold body X warm heart)

 

In a place I hang out, I’ve seen this season called outstanding by a couple of people, but I’m not seeing it. For me, a season that includes Tatami Galaxy and House of Five Leaves is outstanding, this season doesn’t promise anything like that.

Feh:

• Sounds like it’s a creepy little sister incest show. Sorry, I’m done with the whole otaku-wish-fulfillment premise, at least until Genshiken II gets animated.
• A certain Biribiri-deprived index. None of the previous incarnations of this world have measured up, though Mikoto and her incarnations tried really hard.
• Cirno-of-the-sea.  Futakoi Alternative did the whole squid-invasion thing much better, if somewhat inconclusively. Puke pasta did make me smile, though. (Made my mouth water, too. (Ugh.))
• The save-point God only knows. The otaku-centric premise strikes again.
• NieA Under Bridge. This series had already grown tedious halfway through the first season. Why does this get an almost immediate sequel when Bakemonogatari still has mono to gatari? My Shaft-credulity only stretches so far.

Two Quick Questions On Oreimo That I’m Sure Have Been Asked Already

These are from episode 1, mind you, so they might be answered on later on.

1.) Everyone seems to be talking about one implication (the obvious one, of course) of Kirino’s choice of games that she’s a fan of. Do they consider another implication given the game type (i.e. one main reason why people rag on moe), but just choose not to say it?

2.) Kirino demonstrates that she also has two R1 DVD versions of the Stardust Witch Meruru anime, as well as two DVD versions and a Blu-ray version that are domestically available for her in Japan.  Does anyone know how easy it is for reverse importation of anime to occur nowadays in Japan, or if Kirino was doing anything illegal in doing so?

 

Meruru stack.