SPOILERS BEWARE Oreimo was certainly an experience but let me tell you whether it was the good or bad kind. Before watching this anime I only recognized the title and had a slight idea that it will somewhat slightly imply an illicit brother and sister relationship since the word incest is thrown around at times to describe this anime. I can with confidence say there is no incest in this season but there are events which seem to foreshadow such a conclusion. Oreimo does not waste time beating around the bush as it only took half an episode to get straight into the main plot of the anime following Kirino and how she deals with her truly admirable hobby which are little sister Eroges...on a day to day basis. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1117933099708334120/image.png Most of this animes score will suffer due to one character. There is one sister which made this anime infuriating to watch. I seriously dislike Kirino quite a lot Im not going to use the word hate since its quite strong but I seriously cannot stand this obnoxious annoying and selfcentered brat. If youve read my previous works then you would be aware Im not particularly fond of the tsundere stereotype and oh boy is she one of these in the truest of words. Kirinos personality is god awful and abusive especially towards her brother which became quite tiresome after seeing the same antics from Kirino time after time. She managed to prevent digging her grave deeper by actually apologizing for all the abuse shes caused her brother but at this point its too late. Ive garnered so much dislike for this brat that one small adorable act doesnt really hold enough value to me. Kirino starts off 100 tsun and shows very little of the dere which makes this stereotype sweet. Her seiyu also happens to be Ayana Taketatsuhttps://anilist.co/staff/101996/AyanaTaketatsu whos also voiced Ninohttps://anilist.co/character/126372/NinoNakano from The Quintessential Quintupletshttps://anilist.co/anime/103572/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets/ so she can certainly nail some incredible tsundere characters. Nino was my least fav quint at first for the same reasons I dislike Kirino both their personalities suck at first but they grow on you. Nino grew on me with her redemption arc so much that she went from rock bottom to the best quint in my eyes but Im not seeing any redemption from Kirino at the moment. Shes about the only character thats awful and I couldnt stand throughout the watch. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1117579010436763789/image.png My favorite character of the anime appeared in the second episode. Voiced by the super talented Kana Hanazawahttps://anilist.co/staff/95185/KanaHanazawa whos also voiced some of my absolute favs including Kanadehttps://anilist.co/character/22369/KanadeTachibana from Angel Beatshttps://anilist.co/anime/6547/AngelBeats/. She can nail her kuuderes so it shouldnt be of any surprise to anyone that knows me that Kuroneko is my fav character of the anime. Shes cool distant and mysterious while speaking gently and not often all very fitting of the kuudere stereotype which I once again instantly adored. Her fate as my fav character was sealed the moment I saw her in the otaku meeting from the appearance and vibe I got. For starters I dont feel angry seeing her on screen which I can say about pretty much every character except the aforementioned sister. Kuroneko is also caring for her friends even if she denies it as there are plenty of scenes which show a tint of her tsundere side and its simply adorable. When alls said and done Kuroneko is best girl and always has been since her introduction in the second episode 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1118966137078685797/image.png Manami is Kyous childhood friend who even managed to get an entire episode dedicated focusing on her relationship with him. Is there any potential in this ship? Probably not as we all know where this series is really heading and that doesnt fill me with excitement in the slightest... Well Manami needs to be honest with her feelings for starters for there to be any chance. Her episode was sweet and wholesome but her presence outside of it hasnt really been felt that strongly in the anime as of yet and likely wont be as the aforementioned illicit relationship will slowly bear fruit in the sequel based on the title of the series. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1116126267746558012/image.png Saori hasnt really stood out so far except this random and sudden glowup in this episode showing her in a completely new light? Her face still wasnt shown so they must have a reason for doing so. Can/will I see more of this Saori next season please? 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1117573986981789798/image.png Kanako hadnt really made any impression until her performance... I certainly wasnt expecting to have a sudden idol moment in the anime but damn was it stunning and fantastic. The song and performance were truly banging as I vibed along. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1117577309961076876/image.png https://www..com/watch?v=iI1MjWINYabchannel=AdamMohtar Ayase would be the last character to mention before I touch on the brother she had a short episode arc when she found out about Kirinos lewd and indecent hobby and initially stated she cant be her friend anymore. In the end the girls made up thanks to Kyousukes lie that he loves his sister which I will keep reiterating as it will probably become a fact in the sequel. He said the words I love my sister which made Ayase feel that she now had to protect her best friend from her siscon brother. There hasnt been much shown of her yet but she has potential to be better in the sequel. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1118611081535959141/image.png The last character would be Kyousuke who by sheer coincidence gets dragged into Kirinos joyful otaku life. For the amount of good he does for her he truly doesnt deserve the abuse she inflicts. As I mentioned above shes a full on aggressive tsundere and since shes reacting the way she is will he slowly become her love interest? Its not farfetched to speculate the series will head down this premise which is quite unfortunate as firstly this relationship is not technically legal and secondly he picks Kirino of all girls? The spoiled bitchy brat of all girls REALLY? Simply the worst choice possible tsk tsk. This fate has already been sealed hasnt it as although these words he said in this episode were to cover for her in reality its a foreshadow to S2 which can very easily become a shitfest focusing on their relationship. His seiyu is Yuuichi Nakamurahttps://anilist.co/staff/95513/YuuichiNakamura whos also voiced Tomoyahttps://anilist.co/character/4606/TomoyaOkazaki from Clannadhttps://anilist.co/anime/2167/Clannad/ so hearing the same voice for two astoundingly different characters like this makes me feel uneasy. One is one of my all time fav characters in anime whereas the other will start looking at his little sister with lustful eyes... Its safe to say the voice acting cast for this anime is surprisingly stacked 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1116088130848690286/image.png 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1116087440092962926/image.png I did find some niche references in this anime so I wanted to list these firstly in the first episode Kirino has a Final Sister IV which is clearly a reference to the Final Fantasyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinalFantasy games. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1115040867535814757/image.png Her collection also includes the likes of School Dayshttps://anilist.co/anime/2476/SchoolDaysTV/ Summer Dayshttps://anilist.co/manga/54907/SummerDays/ and Cross Dayshttps://anilist.co/manga/53438/CrossDays/ which I found fascinating. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1115033808681570314/image.png Call me crazy but I think this may be a Kotonohahttps://anilist.co/character/3359/KotonohaKatsura and Makotohttps://anilist.co/character/3358/MakotoItou cameo from School Dayshttps://anilist.co/anime/2476/SchoolDaysTV/. The moment I saw her I instantly thought I recognized this character less so for Makoto but it has credibility since the anime was already referenced in the first episode. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1116118189177311303/image.png Since I watched this anime in a group watchalong we found it hilarious how this shot from the OP reminded us of the distracted boyfriend meme and honestly now I cant unsee it. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1108841141606027265/1116126855691501578/oreimomeme.gif Speaking of the OP I didnt pick up on it immediately but after watching the OP sequence I realised it wasnt quite the same and I verified this theory by looking at multiple episodes and it is in fact true. Oreimos first season has a unique opening for each episode. A simple change like this goes such a long way in my eyes so small yet so valuable. I really enjoyed the fact it changes since the opening sequence differs depending on which characters will appear in the episode as well as the scenery and locations that will be visited. Ive linked it below which includes the ONA OPs as well but I cant exactly say its spoilers since well Oreimo isnt the kind of anime to contain spoilers. Also yes its in English since I couldnt find a collab video such as this one that was in Japanese so it will have to do. https://www..com/watch?v=uhvo5KpEeN8abchannel=MikeTheAnimeRunner One thing I can only praise Oreimo for is its soundtrack. Its genuinely fantastic from the large range of EDs for each episode sung by specific characters seiyus or even a random idol song that I mentioned above which goes hard. This anime has a unique ED for each episode and some are truly outstanding. My personal favs of the bunch would be ED4 sung by Ayases VA. https://www..com/watch?v=BRlyTSWwp8slist=LLindex=15abchannel=KirinoOreimoEndings ED6 sung by Manamis VA. https://www..com/watch?v=QEaJmr2CmTslist=LLindex=7abchannel=KirinoOreimoEndings ED10 sung by Kanakos VA. https://www..com/watch?v=vhLVY1BkiPolist=LLindex=3abchannel=KirinoOreimoEndings And ED12 sung by Kirinos VA which is a song that feels almost nostalgic that Ive heard but if thats the case then where? https://www..com/watch?v=EEXWa3dIadElist=LLindex=2abchannel=KirinoOreimoEndings To conclude I cant exactly call Oreimo a good anime since Kirino really made the experience frustrating at times but on the other hand I cant call it terrible as a whole since I couldnt get enough of Kuronekos character. These two characters I wouldnt be able to place any further apart on a scale had I wanted to. Its painful watching Kirino until the last couple episodes where she shows a possibility of redeeming herself compared to Kuroneko whos been fantastic from the beginning and only got better. Supported by a charming cast of friends which Im interested to see their development in the future. Will there be a potential harem or is the fate of the anime sealed as the title suggests? The voice acting cast is ridiculously stacked and the OST is phenomenal making me have mixed feelings about the watch. The OST and voice acting cast greatly triumphs over the story and writing but maybe there is still hope for this anime in the sequel only time will tell. Kuroneko really is this animes saving grace shes such a gem. 300https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/1117575263975387298/KuronekoKitty.gif 300https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/953620600553881600/1118962192012812409/KuronekoKitty2.gif ONA Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/21278 S2 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/21587 S2 ONA Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/22356