Ore no Imouto - Character Discussion - Kirino

[Pellissier]

The purpose of this thread is to provide a place to discuss all things Kirino related.

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[serenade_beta]

I hope that by the time this anime ends, I will be able to understand what this title is supposed to mean...
My Sister Couldn't Be This Cute
That because she is an otaku, she is cuter than he thought? But she couldn't be that cute?
That the title is targeting the viewers and telling them real life sisters couldn't be this cute (which I would shout "Objection!" to)?

Anyways, about how she could consider that outfit Suigintou...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

I hope that by the time this anime ends, I will be able to understand what this title is supposed to mean...
My Sister Couldn't Be This Cute
That because she is an otaku, she is cuter than he thought? But she couldn't be that cute?
That the title is targeting the viewers and telling them real life sisters couldn't be this cute (which I would shout "Objection!" to)?

Anyways, about how she could consider that outfit Suigintou...

She is automatically cute with her insecurity and being voiced by a VA who also voiced the cutest anime character ever - cuteness carried forward.

I would think that most people would regard little sisters as annoying and irritating, but this anime was actually promotion family cohesion, starting with the younger sibling you never knew was that cute.

[Himeji]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

I hope that by the time this anime ends, I will be able to understand what this title is supposed to mean...
My Sister Couldn't Be This Cute
That because she is an otaku, she is cuter than he thought? But she couldn't be that cute?
That the title is targeting the viewers and telling them real life sisters couldn't be this cute (which I would shout "Objection!" to)?

訳ではない is used when the speaker is of the firm conviction that some circumstance really couldn't possibly be that way.
So the meaning would be: "This is my younger sister we're talking about! There's really no way she could possibly be *this* cute!"

[-Sho-]

Imagine if Kirino will have a little sister soon

[Hooves]

It could just be a random guess, but I think the first episode gives a big hint what Kyousuke thinks of his sister being "cute". He basically sees Kirino as (like said) cold-hearted towards him, cruel to him, and very bossy. His idea of cute is possibly "kind, loving, nice to him" but thats just a silly speculation

[Random Wanderer]

I figured the title just came from the dream he had in the beginning of the first episode, given that he was saying that exact sentence when his alarm went off and he woke up. Presented with the cute moe-moe little sister in the dream he insisted that HIS sister could not possibly be that cute. It shows that his personal view of Kirino is very different from what he considers to be the "moe imouto" character type.

[piratesof]

I think that Kyousuke's view is different before he return Kirino's eroge and after he knew his sister is an otaku. Maybe the "cute" part just flashed in his head right after it.

But having a cute sister isn't wrong, is it?

[Cyz]

Ah well, Kirino is definitely the tsundere type. Just a little sister can be, she's also...kinda spoiled in a way and somewhat acting childish despite producing an "adult" like atmosphere.

[DidCart]

Tsundere? Of course not!
She is more of a "what if Saki Kasukabe became an otaku" type. We can't consider it a tsundere because she is not cute inside...

[00-Raiser]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

I figured the title just came from the dream he had in the beginning of the first episode, given that he was saying that exact sentence when his alarm went off and he woke up. Presented with the cute moe-moe little sister in the dream he insisted that HIS sister could not possibly be that cute. It shows that his personal view of Kirino is very different from what he considers to be the "moe imouto" character type.

Well that scene wasn't in the novel, so that's definitely not where the title came from. Rather, it was actually a title drop.

But yeah, like was said before Kyousuke views Kirino as rather cold (at least towards him) so he doesn't consider her very cute. Sure, she may look cute, but her attitude towards her brother certainly isn't. I'm sure over the course of the series she'll open up to him more and show that she does have a cute side. The title is then showcasing Kyousuke's denial/disbelief about it. It's hard letting go of preconcieved notions

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by DidCart

Tsundere? Of course not!
She is more of a "what if Saki Kasukabe became an otaku" type. We can't consider it a tsundere because she is not cute inside...

Just you wait

[margafred]

Originally Posted by DidCart

Tsundere? Of course not!

Its obvious from the first episode. And its gonna get crystal clear with each episode, the fact that she is indeed a tsundere

[Undertaker]

Kirino Bio from novel:

Age: 14
Height: 165cm
Weight: 45kg
B/W/H: 82/54/81 (cm)

A fashionable middle schooler with dyed hair and ear pierce, treats her older brother Kyosuke with slight.

[omimon]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

Kirino Bio from novel:

Age: 14
Height: 165cm
Weight: 45kg
B/W/H: 82/54/81 (cm)

A fashionable middle schooler with dyed hair and ear pierce, treats her older brother Kyosuke with slight.

I'm surprised that their father didn't beat her ass in for dying her hair. Old-fashion ones like him usually does.

[DJLowrider]

Originally Posted by omimon

I'm surprised that their father didn't beat her ass in for dying her hair. Old-fashion ones like him usually does.

Doing so would actually show that he cares, which is something he has yet to show that he actually does for anyone in his family. I think this is a key point to understanding Kirino better, as well as the series as a whole.

Honestly I'm really underwhelmed by the discussion in here so far. Is she tsundere? Is she cute? Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. How about looking at Kirino as something other than yet another pile of fucking moe points?

She's stuck in a family situation that's less than stellar. Her father doesn't show any sign or sense of connection to his wife and kids, her mother (despite trying to create a semblance of familial unity) basically just gets overridden by her father, and her brother (until the series began) seemed to be perfectly content to just coast through life. They may as well be four strangers who happen to live under the same roof because they sure as hell aren't much of a family.

So she turns to a hobby that, in turn, becomes an obsession, but now she's on the verge of alienating herself even further due to the stigma that otaku have in Japanese society. She is a teenage girl at a very critical stage in her life. She knows she's not "normal" but she doesn't know what to do about it aside from continuing to immerse herself in the content of her fandom. So she plays a very delicate balancing game to try and maintain her outward appearance, but eventually your lies catch up to you. She's just fortunate it was Kyousuke who found her out first, as he's so far been willing to accept her for who/what she is and help her try to deal with her otaku status in a healthier way.

Kirino also, so far, represents a good commentary on fandoms of any kind, not just anime/manga/games. Fandom of anything can be a great tool to bring people together who normally would never even meet, case in point Kirino and Kuroneko. Fandom can also be incredibly ugly when used as a way to segregate people from each other, which is sadly what is most often the case. And not just from those on the outside of the fandom, but also from within. How many otaku out there revel in the fact that they're not "part of normal society" after all?

Furthermore, as an anime otaku Kirino has it particularly rough. These days many kinds of fandom are socially acceptable; even video gaming is fashionable these days albeit only to a degree. Anime otaku, however, have a major image issue that has been perpetuated by Japanese media at just about every level. So Kirino has to maintain this facade of a "normal" life or face being ostracized at school and possibly even at home by her parents (her father in particular). Once again it's fortunate Kyousuke is the one helping her come to terms with things. He's no kind of anime or game fan himself, but he is at least making an attempt to understand her and her hobby so he can help her adjust better. So many people don't even try to understand other hobbies or fandom; they merely label it and use that to classify people. But I digress.

Does Kirino have an attractive character design? Of course she does. How many anime characters these days don't? But there's more to her character and personality than any of the idiotic tropes and moe points you guys seem so keen to try and use to classify her with so far.

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

She's stuck in a family situation that's less than stellar. Her father doesn't show any sign or sense of connection to his wife and kids, her mother (despite trying to create a semblance of familial unity) basically just gets overridden by her father, and her brother (until the series began) seemed to be perfectly content to just coast through life. They may as well be four strangers who happen to live under the same roof because they sure as hell aren't much of a family.

That gives you a suspicious thought of how they even came to be, as you said, there seems to be no connection to the family whatsoever. The father always gives a reaction to the word "otaku" or anything close to games, anime, etc, etc. So that means he is very strict about his children "corrupting" their minds to that certain thing, and who knows what he will do if he ever found out Kirino is an anime otaku

So she turns to a hobby that, in turn, becomes an obsession, but now she's on the verge of alienating herself even further due to the stigma that otaku have in Japanese society. She is a teenage girl at a very critical stage in her life. She knows she's not "normal" but she doesn't know what to do about it aside from continuing to immerse herself in the content of her fandom. So she plays a very delicate balancing game to try and maintain her outward appearance, but eventually your lies catch up to you. She's just fortunate it was Kyousuke who found her out first, as he's so far been willing to accept her for who/what she is and help her try to deal with her otaku status in a healthier way.

A brother has to watch out for his sister perhaps, but it could also be the fact that Kyousuke wants to "atleast" give an attempt to understanding the things Kirino is addicted to, since he has been alienated from her for most of his life, Kyousuke probably wants to finally take the chance that has been given to him to try to finally get on good terms with Kirino.

Kirino also, so far, represents a good commentary on fandoms of any kind, not just anime/manga/games. Fandom of anything can be a great tool to bring people together who normally would never even meet, case in point Kirino and Kuroneko. Fandom can also be incredibly ugly when used as a way to segregate people from each other, which is sadly what is most often the case. And not just from those on the outside of the fandom, but also from within. How many otaku out there revel in the fact that they're not "part of normal society" after all?

Very little.. I also agree on the fandom opinion.

Furthermore, as an anime otaku Kirino has it particularly rough. These days many kinds of fandom are socially acceptable; even video gaming is fashionable these days albeit only to a degree. Anime otaku, however, have a major image issue that has been perpetuated by Japanese media at just about every level. So Kirino has to maintain this facade of a "normal" life or face being ostracized at school and possibly even at home by her parents (her father in particular). Once again it's fortunate Kyousuke is the one helping her come to terms with things. He's no kind of anime or game fan himself, but he is at least making an attempt to understand her and her hobby so he can help her adjust better. So many people don't even try to understand other hobbies or fandom; they merely label it and use that to classify people. But I digress.

Which is the downside for a majority of people, we simply do not wish to understand others' ways. If we did that, there would be less conflict that would go around the world, and everyone would live in harmony. As you said, "Gaming" is atleast socially acceptable, since its very addicting, but "Anime" addiction is another case; as you said yourself. People just do not understand much about Anime, and merely classify it as... Well I dont know what people generally think about Anime, but its defiantly on a lower scale then gaming.

[chaosprophet]

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

She's stuck in a family situation that's less than stellar. Her father doesn't show any sign or sense of connection to his wife and kids, her mother (despite trying to create a semblance of familial unity) basically just gets overridden by her father, and her brother (until the series began) seemed to be perfectly content to just coast through life. They may as well be four strangers who happen to live under the same roof because they sure as hell aren't much of a family.

I wonder about the father, he certainly seems strict and close-minded. While I don’t think parents should be close-minded, I think the most important point is whether he cares about them. Like his comments to Kyousuke when he mentioned anime on episode 1. Was he thinking of his own kids, as in if he didn’t wanted the otaku stigma because of worry it may be bad for his son future? Or was he only thinking of himself, don’t wanting the family name to be tarnished or something? If he ends up being the first then I think he is a good dad. One that needs to learn to be more open-minded but at least has the most important characteristic, genuine worry for his children.

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Kirino also, so far, represents a good commentary on fandoms of any kind, not just anime/manga/games. Fandom of anything can be a great tool to bring people together who normally would never even meet, case in point Kirino and Kuroneko. Fandom can also be incredibly ugly when used as a way to segregate people from each other, which is sadly what is most often the case. And not just from those on the outside of the fandom, but also from within. How many otaku out there revel in the fact that they're not "part of normal society" after all?

Furthermore, as an anime otaku Kirino has it particularly rough. These days many kinds of fandom are socially acceptable; even video gaming is fashionable these days albeit only to a degree. Anime otaku, however, have a major image issue that has been perpetuated by Japanese media at just about every level. So Kirino has to maintain this facade of a "normal" life or face being ostracized at school and possibly even at home by her parents (her father in particular). Once again it's fortunate Kyousuke is the one helping her come to terms with things. He's no kind of anime or game fan himself, but he is at least making an attempt to understand her and her hobby so he can help her adjust better. So many people don't even try to understand other hobbies or fandom; they merely label it and use that to classify people. But I digress.

Her case is quite worse than just being an anime otaku. She is a 14yo who is an imouto eroge otaku, which means bearing the lolicon stigma and also should be viewed by others as much stranger as she is a female. That’s a level higher on being considered hardcore, and can be easily looked down by more “normal” anime fans, as people tend to find satisfaction in thinking “Hey, I may be bad but at least those people are worse!”.

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Honestly I'm really underwhelmed by the discussion in here so far. Is she tsundere? Is she cute? Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. How about looking at Kirino as something other than yet another pile of fucking moe points?

Does Kirino have an attractive character design? Of course she does. How many anime characters these days don't? But there's more to her character and personality than any of the idiotic tropes and moe points you guys seem so keen to try and use to classify her with so far.

I understand your complain, those word tends to be used to sparingly nowadays, and used as if it would resume the whole character, instead of just being a character trait. Also is very interesting to do like you did here and think about why the character turned out being like that to better understand him/her. But I believe words like that are also needed, depending of the time and place you need to use few words to get the message across, as people may not be willing to read tons of text for whatever reasons.

Now I do think you were too harsh there. For some people the how a character acts now described by those "tropes and moe points" is more important. And it's their right to think so.

[00-Raiser]

Originally Posted by omimon

I'm surprised that their father didn't beat her ass in for dying her hair. Old-fashion ones like him usually does.

He also didn't approve of her modelling job either, but he allows it because Kirino's earned it: she has great grades and is the star of the track team too. That's why she's able to get away with such things and is doted on quite a bit.

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Doing so would actually show that he cares, which is something he has yet to show that he actually does for anyone in his family.

Being strict is the way he shows he cares, though. As said before, he doesn't want his kids to be 'corrupted' by what he percieves as a societal evil. He's just extremely firm and stubborn in his views.

Originally Posted by DJLowrider

Furthermore, as an anime otaku Kirino has it particularly rough. These days many kinds of fandom are socially acceptable; even video gaming is fashionable these days albeit only to a degree. Anime otaku, however, have a major image issue that has been perpetuated by Japanese media at just about every level. So Kirino has to maintain this facade of a "normal" life or face being ostracized at school and possibly even at home by her parents (her father in particular). Once again it's fortunate Kyousuke is the one helping her come to terms with things. He's no kind of anime or game fan himself, but he is at least making an attempt to understand her and her hobby so he can help her adjust better. So many people don't even try to understand other hobbies or fandom; they merely label it and use that to classify people. But I digress.

While I sympathize in part with Kirino in her plight, at the same time I think she should step up and proudly admit that she likes what she likes. She's the one who's allowed the stigma to make her ashamed of her hobby. My parents probably don't like how I buy all these anime girl figures but I still proudly show it off to them. Going to that degree might be too much for her at the moment, I understand that, but the fact that she didn't even attempt to make otaku friends until Kyousuke suggested it just goes to show she didn't try to improve her situation at all. Forcing your brother into your hobby just so you can have some one to talk to it about is a start, I suppose

Spoiler for later on...:

When Ayase discovers her hobby, Kirino is quite resolute in telling her that her hobby and her friends are equally a part of her, so good on her there.

... Of course Ayase thinks Kyousuke 'corrupted' Kirino with the hobby and is trying to free her from his influence, but still

Originally Posted by Hooves

That gives you a suspicious thought of how they even came to be, as you said, there seems to be no connection to the family whatsoever. The father always gives a reaction to the word "otaku" or anything close to games, anime, etc, etc. So that means he is very strict about his children "corrupting" their minds to that certain thing, and who knows what he will do if he ever found out Kirino is an anime otaku

Like I said earlier, his strictness shows he cares. About Kirino, anyways. No one cares about Kyousuke But two episodes in I can see why you'd think so.

Spoiler for Later on...:

When he does find out, it's certainly not pretty He wants to trash all her stuff and she throws an ash tray at him =/

Of course after a lot of work, Kyousuke does get his father to acccept it. For the most part. He still wants to get rid of the 18+ stuff because it's, ya know, actually illegal. Genius as he is, Kyousuke steps up and admits all the porn is actually his and his father writes him off as a lost cause. Poor Kyousuke. Well, at least Kirino treats him (slightly) better because of it.

[Undertaker]

Yeah, father is just a stereotypical Asain father. They tend to leave household matter to the wife and only act or comment when something is wrong. They also tends to be strict on the outside but fluffy inside and in their father's case, his work is also part of the reason for his attitude. [don't want to spoil here at least until next episode which I suspect will answer all these questions anyway]