Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R
Maybe 0utf0xZer0 is right, and she's not even a tsundere.
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That's what I'm banking on myself. I don't think Kirino's a tsundere; I think she's just a bitter, resentful girl that's still hung up over whatever happened in their past. That line in episode 5 along the lines of "Why are you pretending to be a good big brother
now?" sums everything up, I think. We don't know what happened yet that spoiled their relationship - maybe it was something dramatic like a fight, maybe it was something else - but I wouldn't be surprised if Kirino finds it difficult to move on from whatever happened. It's been pretty firmly established by this point that she's hyperemotional to the nth degree. Molesting that dakimakura pillow and rolling around the floor with it, falling sick over having her work stolen (I'm ignoring the stupid anime version of that storyline here)... if Kirino gets that worked up over a fucking eroge, who knows how deeply a familial conflict (Regardless of whether it was a cold war or otherwise) of potentially several years might have effected her? Kyosuke says in episode 8 that he 'hates' Kirino, so maybe he expressed that hate at some point, maybe he said or did some hateful, nasty things (Or at least acted coldly or passive-aggressively at certain points, which might be more in-character than outright belligerence... though who knows, Kyosuke showed this episode that he can lash out whenever frustrated, and over a pretty trivial issue in Kirino being too loud and horny at that) in years past that continue to dig at her (And which might make the shit he's put himself through for her sake resonate less sincerely; 'Yeah, you've done some nice things for me, but that doesn't take away or explain what happened back then'). Maybe Kirino doesn't want their relationship to get too warm or friendly because she's afraid that if she does, she'll lose her chance or her right to vent her misgrievings, that their former conflicts might get swept under the rug and never addressed. This is all idle speculation, not asking you to buy any of it, but I trust that this is all going somewhere and that Kirino's glacially slow shift from tsun to dere is all very calculated and methodical and doesn't indicate bad writing, because...
a) Kirino is, on the whole, a very friendly person. She's nothing but bright and cheerful to anyone whose name isn't Kyosuke or Kuroneko (And Kuroneko's the one who cast the first stone, if I remember correctly, though I'm glad she did since the snarkfest their friendship developed into rules). I think she would need some kind of heavy catalyst to treat Kyosuke with such animosity when it goes against her usual character. That might not change your opinion about whether or not the way she treats him is completely unjustified, of course, but at the least I think she's fueled mostly by hurt rather than just being a total bitch by default.
b) Ore no Imotou is just a well-written enough series that I have faith in it, and one characterization-related theme I think it does well is demonstrating how people show different sides of themselves depending on their company and how said company makes them feel about themselves. Kyosuke acts different around Manami's family than he does his own, Kuroneko treats her little sister much differently than she does most other people, Saori seems less quirky and goofy around her maids (The one with long brown hair is pretty fucking hot, by the way)... I think Kirino's different treatment of Kyosuke is just a very delibrate part of that theme, with the 'Why' to be answered later. I don't know, for the most part the writing just seems too competent to not expect good things.
Anyway, that's just my take on everything. Might be completely wrong. I'm not really sure how Kirino would act were she romantically interested in someone that she had less or no emotional baggage with, though. There's always the chance that she might be the anti-tsundere, that the hyperearnest attitude she showed when making all those demands for her anime (And which she possesses in general) might translate into romance. "We're already on our third date, why haven't you proposed to me yet?"