[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I didn't think much of Kyousuke in this episode altogether. I thought his reaction to Kuroneko's confession was first clueless, then insensitive. She pours out her heart to you (though it should already have been obvious) and your response is "I'm off to see Kirino - thanks!"

Well, I already said before that I thought Kyousuke's reactions this episode weren't too stellar, but that particular time I don't blame only him. Kuroneko noticed that he was distraught before she went into her confession, and Kirino is valued by both him and her. So she could have made the choice to put the confession on hold and deal with it later after this Kirino deal was finished. Plus, she also pushed him to go deal with Kirino, so his response is not unexpected. Given the character we've been presented with in the story, it's not like he could just stop caring about Kirino. And I think that's pretty important to understanding/appreciating (not necessarily agreeing-with or enjoying the possible implications of) what was shown. It seems to me that Kuroneko still chose to go forward with the partial confession anyway because Kirino is coming back, even knowing it wouldn't have the desired effect given what was on Kyousuke's mind.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Here's another problem. Any reasonable person would, in Kyou's place, certainly prefer to be with Kuroneko over Kirino. It's not bloody incest, for one. Plus, Kurnoeko treats him far better. She's a nicer, more understanding person. She's simply a better character - the vast majority of the fanbase sees it this way, and it's a somewhat difficult reality for the series to deal with. [...]

And yes, that's the real issue you're driving at here. You don't like/understand how/why he continues to value Kirino so much for a whole list of not-invalid reasons. But I don't think we can only judge Kyousuke (and the show by proxy) simply because he doesn't do what we might do. This is why my comment before wasn't suggesting that this was the best choice for Kyousuke to make in my opinion (or the one I would have made necessarily if I were in his shoes), but I think it was a logical choice for the show (the author) to make given what we've been shown and told about these characters so far. This ending doesn't negate the character development shown, even if the characters (specifically Kyousuke) may be developing in a way that you don't personally agree with. I think there are still too many open questions to say for sure.

I think Kyousuke and Kirino's "feelings" for each other (such as they are) will always be nebulous and complicated. No matter how they develop the story, I have a hard time imagining that it could be neatly categorized as to what is "romantic love", what is "sibling love", and what is something else entirely. There are so many different elements at play. I think the ambiguity is part of what makes the story interesting, and deliberately hard to figure out. It makes viewers anxious that things may not turn out the way they want, and is a bit of a puzzle that everyone's trying to piece together. Sometimes I think people get more anxious about the way they think the puzzle will come together than what has actually happened so far. But because of all this, I'm sure that no matter what ending the author arrives at, it will cause much discussion and controversy.