02.06
You know, Oreimo (or “Ore no Imo-to ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai” or “My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute” for you people who like stupidly long names that invoke disturbing imagery) is really easy to like or hate depending on your tastes in anime. While watching this anime, the only thing I could think of was how it could easily cross the line into either quirky awesomeness or into the usual moe awfulness. The weird part is that it’s actually both of those things. Which lead me to try and think how I was going to approach this piece without either dogging on it or cautiously praising it. I think I’ll try both this time.
I’m not going to slight it for being a moe show despite it still carrying all those usual tropes that I will not get into here (if you want that, go and read my K-On! piece), both because that’s redundant and because this show is actually at it’s best when it’s not a moe show. You see, Oreimo is a show about a cute girl named Kirino Ko-saka who likes anime at a depth defying, disturbing, mega-otaku level and simply struggles to come to terms with it with the help of her brother Kyo-suke who is just a normal guy trying to live a normal life.
And that’s pretty much it.
There’s no high concept like The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya, no pointless randomness like Lucky Star, and no meaningless and unexplored gimmick like K-On!… It’s really just a slice of life show about someone with an addiction and trying to come to terms with what it means to be an otaku and how to fit into society with the help of only her rather normal brother to help her. Now, in my opinion, this is when the show is at its most interesting- when it explores how other characters in her life deal with it when they find out this girl actually likes this weird stuff that only “pedophiles” and “NEETs” can possibly enjoy. Yes, otaku are described as both and many more in the show. Her parents’ reactions to this discovery is actually quite hilarious in how they react to it (Kyo-suke’s attempts at explaining what an otaku really is to his father is easily the best moment in the show) and can be quite disturbing when someone who doesn’t understand it at all attempts to “fix” them. It can get interesting in these moments.
Yes, this scene actually was pretty amazing.
The best part of this is that those characters (while obviously are tropes for the otaku crowd) are actually fun to watch without being full of empty headed gestures and stupid reactions to the situations in the story. One of her friends named Ruri Goko- is a gothic lolita (and is actually made fun of for dressing like an idiot, which is nice for a change in one of these shows) and actually has fun anime-related discussions with Kirino that usually devolve into an argument. One where she calls Ruri a “post-Evangelion biter” for liking the stupid nonsensical philosophy and fake depth of many anime nowadays, and she in turn mocks Kirino for liking retarded moe shows that are vapid and empty is one of the highlights. It was in this moment where I realized that the people behind this show know exactly what they’re doing. They understand full well the tropes and problems with anime nowadays and are not above calling them out on how shallow anime has gotten as a whole in recent years. For a moe show, this is beyond surprising.
Beyond the characters and story, the music is phenomenal in this show. The majority of it is well placed and performed ska music that really adds a layer of charm to the proceedings and is just fun to listen to… Unfortunately the opening and closing themes (well, when there is a closing theme) are pretty generic and forgettable, but at least they aren’t totally awful and take nothing away from what great music the show has. Sound effects are loud and punchy without sounding tired or cheap, and in a moe show, that’s quite the accomplishment considering how chintzy they usually are. The animation is pretty standard, unfortunately, but considering the budgets theese shows tend to run on, it works surprisingly well. It’s also directed in such a way to hide any flaws in the budget that might normally arise, (most moe shows don’t even try) but it’s also directed in quite a punchy manner without having those boring scenes where nothing at all happens… and when it does have a slow scene, it is purely for dramatic effect. A lot of care went into Oreimo, and it shows.
You might be thinking at this point that this is all a good thing and that Oreimo surpasses all the problems of the moe genre to become something special that transcends it’s classification… but there are problems that hold it back, and unfortunately quite hard. First thing’s first, while I said most characters are actually fun to watch such as Ruri (despite being a trope, she “plays” the trope which is actually quite amusing on its own) and the main pair’s father (who is hilarious in how much of a curmudgeon he is), the main characters are actually the biggest problem with the show. Kyo-suke is a boring dork who adds no flavor to the show and is basically just the “generic main character who the girls want for no real reason” guy, and the show hurts for it because if he were a better character, the show would hold itself together in a much more consistent way. If he even had definable personality, that alone would pull the show up from its bouts of boredom, however he just doesn’t have much to offer. But even he’s not so bad in comparison to the show’s real issue; Kirino Ko-saka herself.
What a moron.
This is the main issue with the show, and the one that really holds it back from achieving its goal; Kirino is an annoying shrew who couldn’t possibly ever be popular in real life despite how the show tries to tell you she is the most popular girl in school. She has no social skills, she has no personality besides “lash out at people for no reason”, she never sticks up for herself despite that (the way she makes her brother fight her battles is really aggravating), and yet she’s supposedly the most popular girl in school? Sorry, I just don’t buy that. Sure, in real life the popular girls are usually shallow idiots who get by on their looks, but… they also usually have some semblance of social skill mastery that leads them to BE that popular in the first place. Kirino can’t even carry a conversation without screaming pointlessly. There is no way she wouldn’t already be a social outcast, despite constantly worrying about becoming one. It kind of ruins the point of the show’s plot. In addition to how awful Kirino is as a character, EVERYTHING in this show centers around her, so EVERYTHING is dragged down by her presence. Which is really a shame, because I know there’s a good show in here, but it really does get smothered by its problems of Kirino’s awful personality and the usual moe tropes that the show can’t quite overcome.
Yes, I know I’m avoiding the elephant in the room. Judging by the title of the show and the whole brother-sister relationship, one would think it was about incest. It’s not. Yes, they play with it a bit in certain points (mostly the early episodes) which leads to some weird and tired jokes, but neither find each other attractive at all and they have the usual brother-sister relationship full of fighting and begrudgingly acknowledging them when they do each other a favor. It’s a pretty standard relationship… though I’m sure there are talented artists who would be glad to prove me wrong. Ugh. The point is, the show is more about a brother trying to help his sister through a hard time in her life. The title is (thankfully) misleading and largely inappropriate for the show, and was obviously only used to hook in the moe audience.
All in all, Oreimo was a decent watch. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I like Haruhi, but I didn’t outright hate it as much as I hate K-On!- it was merely fine. The problem is in how it fails to meet the potential it shows in certain spots; both in its attempt to really skewer and parody the two big current genres in anime (empty headed moe VS philosophical idiocy) as well as being an engaging slice of life show that deals with trying not to lose your place in society- and instead relies too much on the safe moe backdrop that too many lesser shows revel in. Oreimo did surprise me in how it wasn’t as bad as the description (and stupid title) made it seem, and how it managed to actually have a plot beyond “cute girls doing cute things” while simultaneously exploring why otaku like things like that and how they deal with it in such a suffocating society like Japan’s is. Unfortunately, it does sometimes fall victim to its problems like an awful main character and how we are supposed to empathize with the twit, as well as how it can sometimes go overboard with its moe-leanings (though obviously, your mileage may vary here), but above all it is a decent watch.
… Or maybe you feel differently.
If you’re a moe watcher, then you really should watch this and appreciate how someone is actually trying something new in this stagnant genre and attempting to twist it into itself a bit. But if you hate moe, I don’t think you’ll be able to overcome your hatred over its issues in order to see the good it’s trying to do. It’s a shame because it isn’t poorly written or executed in its basic format, but the few issues it actually has are just so overwhelming that it is sort of infuriating to watch at certain times. When Kirino is not screaming like a moron and her brother isn’t blanding up the screen, the show can be enjoyable. Despite sometimes falling into the moe-boredom trap; the writing pulls it up, the production feels like the staff actually give a damn, and the music will keep you from falling asleep, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to catch the non-moe audience.
Either way, I actually enjoyed what I saw, yet can’t really recommend it unless you either enjoy the genre or have a really open mind. It’s… a weird watch, and it’s something I’m going to have to deal with.
Originally posted on Friday, December 17, 2010.