Ore no Imouto - Light Novel & Manga Discussion Thread

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by KronosPlasma

She wasn't told to bottle it up her feelings. Simply put from what Manami said get over it. She could have talked to Kyousuke at the time.

No, I think it's pretty clear that she could not have talked to Kyousuke about it at the time. She was told by Manami that her feelings were abnormal and something she should never tell to anyone because they'd think it strange. So, in her mind, telling Kyousuke about her feelings risked ruining whatever chance she had of making things work -- because, given that he was already sort of in "alignment" with Manami about his behaviour, he could just similarly dismiss her feelings as abnormal and that'd be a barrier she could never cross again. So, instead, she did a sort of strategic retreat.

You may wish to re-read the scenes with Kirino's audio recordings to better understand her thinking here.

[Drakkar77]

Regarding the discussion on this page, the posts are too numerous for me to attempt any quotes, so I'll just summarize my thoughts.

I don't know that it was stated directly in the LN but if it's true that Rock was a siscon at the three years previous to the beginning of the story, then the reason for Kirino calling him a traitor and him telling her to 'grow up already' are probably one and the same.

It seems to me that Rock and Kirino must have some how got into a discussion about having feels for each of their own siblings, and agreed that they would not tell anyone about that discussion. Rock being the siscon that he was and Manami's ability to read people she's close to, he must have confessed the discussion to Manami.

After the eventual confrontation of Manami to Kirino about the latter's feelings for her older brother, Kirino would have known immediately that it was Rock that betrayed her. Thus the reason for what they said to each other when Rock and Kirino met before the meeting to help Manami and Kirino improve their relationaship in volume 11, chapter 1 at the Tamura home becomes clear.

Rock was very surprised. Seeing Rock, Kirino said in a blank tone.

"Ah, traitor."

"——"

After he recovered (which took a while), Rock timidly asked:

"…Could it be… you still do it…?"

Rock's meaning, "you still pine for your brother?"

"Hmm, it doesn't matter anyway."

Kirino… Did she just call Rock a 'traitor?'

I didn't understand the situation, but Rock muttered:

"…Isn't it better to say it out loud… Really...? Ah… really…"

Rock's meaning, "why don't you just tell him already?"

Rock sighed… and then he spoke as if he was talking to a kid.

"That… It has been a long time already. We are both in middle school now, right?"

I couldn't believe my ears… Rock was treating Kirino like a kid.

Rock told Kirino to hurry and grow up…

The point about Rock taking some information to his grave must have been this very secret.

"………"

Kirino didn't reply, her was expression blank. I sighed and asked Rock:

"What happened between you two?"

"Ah, that was! We —"

" — Try saying it."

Kirino interrupted.

"Ugh!"

Interrupted, Rock turned to Manami —

"A a a a a a a a! I can't!"

He screamed. I was even more puzzled than before.

"Hey, what is going on?"

"Sorry Kyou-chan! Please release me! I will take this secret with me to the grave!"

What could be so important that he'd take it to his grave? Until now I didn't know.

I didn't understand all this at the time but after reading this page's discussion it seems clear to me now that this must have been the reasoning behind those exchanges between Rock, Kirino, Manami and Kyousuke.

It's my firm belief now that this is how Manami knew about Kirino's true feelings for Kyousuke, and thus why Manami counseled Kyousuke to change his behavior after the whole Sakurai incident. Thus resulting in the cold war and the beginning of the story. Manami, albeit wrongly, thought that separating the siblings might be the best way to cool Kirino's feelings. I could be wrong, it's really hard to tell if Manami was planning that far ahead or was just trying to stop Kyousuke from being the reckless superhero he tended to play at the time. It could have also been for both reasons, this story is full of double reasons/meanings like that.

Edit: Maybe I'm just showing how dumb or how much or an inexperienced read I am but Hiro Kanzaki seems to have a lot of material that requires a thorough examination in order to truly understand/appreciate everything within the story. Honestly you don't see much writing like this anymore in novels. I know it's kinda cliche to say but a lot stuff nowadays is really to watered/dumbed down. It's very refreshing to see novels with this level of complexity still being created today!

[Wilshere]

^ I think I summarized it in 2 sentences but with these citations it makes them more clear.

[Drakkar77]

Originally Posted by Wilshere

^ I think I summarized it in 2 sentences but with these citations it makes them more clear.

Ah, I didn't realize sorry.^^ I guess I read through your post too quickly to understand what you meant...

Edit: After read it again, I can see what you meant. I guess I was just trying to clarify it for myself. Thanks

[jasonhan416]

10 years after was disappointing...
Seriously disappointing.... Sigh

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by jasonhan416

10 years after was disappointing...
Seriously disappointing.... Sigh

I think it's just that people over-hyped it. It's a short story that comes with the first volume of the anime, so it was not going to contain spoilers for things that anime-only viewers hadn't seen yet. But people got excited by the title and the fact that one of the early summaries implied that the short story would somehow continue the story, but that was just something the summary writer guessed/made-up (the novel never said implied anything about it).

For what it is, I'd say it seems pretty fun (though I won't receive my copy for a little bit yet).

[Sakuratsuki]

Originally Posted by jasonhan416

10 years after was disappointing...
Seriously disappointing.... Sigh

Didn't expect anything from it anyway. This story can't be considered canon at all.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by mayid

Didn't expect anything from it anyway. This story can't be considered canon at all.

Why wouldn't it be considered canon, even if it's a side-story? It's written by the original author and published as part of official OreImo merchandise. There's nothing in it that contradicts anything canonical. Personally, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be "canon", even though it doesn't directly relate to the rest of the plot points of Vol. 12.

[Kakurin]

Chapter 3 is up on baka tsuki, the confession scene.

[iMACobra]

Hey, guys! I've been reading up on the Oreimo LNs and forums but I still don't get the question on how Kyousuke fell in love with Kirino in the first place. I mean, I understand how Kirino fell in love with her brother (ever since she was a little kid, looking up to her Onii-chan) but I don't see how Kyousuke outright fell for her. It only seemed like he just started to romantically love Kirino in Vol. 12, preparing his confession for her on their X-mas date. I could only see that Kyousuke fell for Kirino because he is a huge siscon (which he states multiple times). But for him to truly fall in love with Kirino just came so abruptly in Vol. 12. There were really no hints that Kyousuke really truly, romantically loved Kirino before Vol. 12 came out (at least that I know of). That's why many people would always brush Kirino off to the side when it came to which girl would win Kyousuke (and also the incest).

Anyways, I am saying this also to question if the end of the series was even good storywriting on Fushimi's part because it seemed like Fushimi just made Kyousuke fall in love with Kirino in Vol. 12, also revealing Kirino's secret messages in the same volume which we never knew about before this volume came out. Also, people seem to have been let on about the whole premise of the beginning of the story which was about how two hateful siblings would eventually mend their relationship through one's unlikely secret. They never expected a story that would lead to "somewhat" incest so I could see why this would garner some serious backlash and controversy. It kind of spoiled the "siblings get along better" relationships to a "siblings get together" one which left a bad taste in people's mouths who thought the story would just be about siblings getting along better.

Regarding the last 3 OVA specials or whatever they're called, REALISTICALLY, what do you guys think these last few episodes will be about? I am kind of hoping all 3 will cover Vol. 12 (most of it hopefully), maybe, with some parts in previous volumes if they are much needed, but I am kind of doubtful about it. I think that the last volume might be made into either 1 or 2 of the specials just to make room for other alternate paths just to make some the fans happy. I think this way because of the controversy and backlash the last volume and ending received by the fans, especially for such a more-than-average and popular series like Oreimo. With a popular series like this, people who only watched the Anime don't see the ending that's coming. If it totally ends like Vol. 12 then even more controversy and backlash might be created for this series because people were let on by the premise of the series (siblings get along better) and the incest. I even greatly fear that the Anime will give a totally different ending than the light novels just so they don't get the backlash as they did with light novel ending.

By the way I am speaking, I am pretty sure that I am in a neutral stance with the light novel ending as in I am 100% okay with it after understanding the "true" meaning behind the epilogue (e.g. the "kiss" and the life-counseling) which most people will never understand. Well, people will still argue that they forever stay siblings (with no romantic love between them) but I believe that there is much more evidence to think otherwise.

[GVN.Chaos]

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Hey, guys! I've been reading up on the Oreimo LNs and forums but I still don't get the question on how Kyousuke fell in love with Kirino in the first place. I mean, I understand how Kirino fell in love with her brother (ever since she was a little kid, looking up to her Onii-chan) but I don't see how Kyousuke outright fell for her. It only seemed like he just started to romantically love Kirino in Vol. 12, preparing his confession for her on their X-mas date. I could only see that Kyousuke fell for Kirino because he is a huge siscon (which he states multiple times). But for him to truly fall in love with Kirino just came so abruptly in Vol. 12. There were really no hints that Kyousuke really truly, romantically loved Kirino before Vol. 12 came out (at least that I know of). That's why many people would always brush Kirino off to the side when it came to which girl would win Kyousuke (and also the incest).

As pointed out before, this series is full of double/hidden meaning words. So a Kirino shipper can point them out and said 'hey, the author mentioned it WAY before'. My explanation is since Kyousuke is a big M and a siscon, since Kirino treated him like dirt, she automatically won
Joking aside, it's clear from volume 4-5 that Kyousuke like girl with long, black hair. And in Volume 10, he acknowledge that Kirino's action helped him a lot to get an A. So I think by this point, his feeling toward Kirino had changed from a sister complex to love.

Regarding the last 3 OVA specials or whatever they're called, REALISTICALLY, what do you guys think these last few episodes will be about? I am kind of hoping all 3 will cover Vol. 12 (most of it hopefully), maybe, with some parts in previous volumes if they are much needed, but I am kind of doubtful about it. I think that the last volume might be made into either 1 or 2 of the specials just to make room for other alternate paths just to make some the fans happy. I think this way because of the controversy and backlash the last volume and ending received by the fans, especially for such a more-than-average and popular series like Oreimo. With a popular series like this, people who only watched the Anime don't see the ending that's coming. If it totally ends like Vol. 12 then even more controversy and backlash might be created for this series because people were let on by the premise of the series (siblings get along better) and the incest. I even greatly fear that the Anime will give a totally different ending than the light novels just so they don't get the backlash as they did with light novel ending.

By the way I am speaking, I am pretty sure that I am in a neutral stance with the light novel ending as in I am 100% okay with it after understanding the "true" meaning behind the epilogue (e.g. the "kiss" and the life-counseling) which most people will never understand. Well, people will still argue that they forever stay siblings (with no romantic love between them) but I believe that there is much more evidence to think otherwise.

To tell the truth, when a popular series with multiple girls running for the same guys end, it will create a backlash no matter what. I don't see how they could make an alternative ending. I meant, I like Kuroneko myself, but another ending will basically force the author to write something entire different for the climax, which is a lot harder.

[iMACobra]

Originally Posted by GVN.Chaos

To tell the truth, when a popular series with multiple girls running for the same guys end, it will create a backlash no matter what. I don't see how they could make an alternative ending. I meant, I like Kuroneko myself, but another ending will basically force the author to write something entire different for the climax, which is a lot harder.

Wouldn't going the Kirino route make a lot of people rage, not because their favorite girl lost but because of the incest??? Plus, this is a somewhat popular Anime. Don't get me wrong, I am fine with the ending but I see lots of people rage about this b/c of the incest.

[Wilshere]

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Hey, guys! I've been reading up on the Oreimo LNs and forums but I still don't get the question on how Kyousuke fell in love with Kirino in the first place. I mean, I understand how Kirino fell in love with her brother (ever since she was a little kid, looking up to her Onii-chan) but I don't see how Kyousuke outright fell for her. It only seemed like he just started to romantically love Kirino in Vol. 12, preparing his confession for her on their X-mas date. I could only see that Kyousuke fell for Kirino because he is a huge siscon (which he states multiple times). But for him to truly fall in love with Kirino just came so abruptly in Vol. 12. There were really no hints that Kyousuke really truly, romantically loved Kirino before Vol. 12 came out (at least that I know of). That's why many people would always brush Kirino off to the side when it came to which girl would win Kyousuke (and also the incest).

Anyways, I am saying this also to question if the end of the series was even good storywriting on Fushimi's part because it seemed like Fushimi just made Kyousuke fall in love with Kirino in Vol. 12, also revealing Kirino's secret messages in the same volume which we never knew about before this volume came out. Also, people seem to have been let on about the whole premise of the beginning of the story which was about how two hateful siblings would eventually mend their relationship through one's unlikely secret. They never expected a story that would lead to "somewhat" incest so I could see why this would garner some serious backlash and controversy. It kind of spoiled the "siblings get along better" relationships to a "siblings get together" one which left a bad taste in people's mouths who thought the story would just be about siblings getting along better.

Regarding the last 3 OVA specials or whatever they're called, REALISTICALLY, what do you guys think these last few episodes will be about? I am kind of hoping all 3 will cover Vol. 12 (most of it hopefully), maybe, with some parts in previous volumes if they are much needed, but I am kind of doubtful about it. I think that the last volume might be made into either 1 or 2 of the specials just to make room for other alternate paths just to make some the fans happy. I think this way because of the controversy and backlash the last volume and ending received by the fans, especially for such a more-than-average and popular series like Oreimo. With a popular series like this, people who only watched the Anime don't see the ending that's coming. If it totally ends like Vol. 12 then even more controversy and backlash might be created for this series because people were let on by the premise of the series (siblings get along better) and the incest. I even greatly fear that the Anime will give a totally different ending than the light novels just so they don't get the backlash as they did with light novel ending.

By the way I am speaking, I am pretty sure that I am in a neutral stance with the light novel ending as in I am 100% okay with it after understanding the "true" meaning behind the epilogue (e.g. the "kiss" and the life-counseling) which most people will never understand. Well, people will still argue that they forever stay siblings (with no romantic love between them) but I believe that there is much more evidence to think otherwise.

Well, him gradually falling in love with her was not surprising and did not came out of the blue. You said you read the LNs,Volume 7 pretty much explains his situation. He got jealous when she brought the fake bf,he got irritated,he felt lonely and he doesnt anyone stealing his little sister,and then came his confession of that he cherishes her the most more than anybody,worries about her etc... anyway Volume 8 makes it clearer. If you want to take the awkward fall sign as an indication then so be it but most importantly is when she lent a helping-hand preventing him from getting depressed when Kuroneko broke up with him. She comforted him,assured that she will always be there for him and then she re-payed him by doing things that he did for her to him. And then there is the issue of Kyousuke not wanting Kirino to get a bf and vice-versa. This led to an infinite-closed loop. In Volume 10 he makes it clear that he has someone he loves,hence Ayase's rejection. Maybe these are not clear signs and Kyousuke is an unreliable narrator.

I'm sorry for shattering people's hopes of this being a normal story of two hating siblings reconciling;it being mainstream with no sexual themes doesn't necessarily mean there is nothing ''abnormal'' going on. How dense can you be? A little sister playing little sister based eroge and possibly not having ulterior motives? Maybe you have been caught of guard when she shrugs it off by saying ''they are just cute''. This has always been a love story and you can see it from season two, the fact of the bro-conXsis-con thing makes it clearer. If anything, you can take hints from Kirino of possibly having these kinds of feelings towards him,it was made clear in the anime from her interactions and how she acts around when other girls are around him.

As for the anime adapting a different ending, I don't want to think so and I think any ending other than in the novel is outrageous and even more misleading. People now think that its Kuroneko for sure(Kirino being the Imouto is a disadvantage of course) but there are signs and leads that its a Kirino end. Alternate paths?No,very unlikely. OVAs most likely will be all for Volume 12 since Kirino and Manami agreed on a little talk and fight at the same time(in Volume 12 they did ''talk'' and had their ''fight'' so yeah) and a flashback of events we have already seen(Ep13) and the omission of Sakurai(not reasonable bringing her now). Ep14 might be Chapters 1 and 3 (since 2 was Ayase's part and we had it) Ep15 Chapters 4 and 5 and Ep16 Chapter 6 and the epilogue. Its just me hopeful but I will go with this.

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Wouldn't going the Kirino route make a lot of people rage, not because their favorite girl lost but because of the incest??? Plus, this is a somewhat popular Anime. Don't get me wrong, I am fine with the ending but I see lots of people rage about this b/c of the incest.

It cannot be considered incest tho,since no actual proof of intercourse is stated but heck people can be sensitive

[iMACobra]

Originally Posted by Wilshere

It cannot be considered incest tho,since no actual proof of intercourse is stated but heck people can be sensitive

Ok, let me rephrase. people don't like how they were in a relationship together (and the kissing) because they are biological siblings.

Originally Posted by Wilshere

I'm sorry for shattering people's hopes of this being a normal story of two hating siblings reconciling;it being mainstream with no sexual themes doesn't necessarily mean there is nothing ''abnormal'' going on. How dense can you be? A little sister playing little sister based eroge and possibly not having ulterior motives? Maybe you have been caught of guard when she shrugs it off by saying ''they are just cute''. This has always been a love story and you can see it from season two, the fact of the bro-conXsis-con thing makes it clearer. If anything, you can take hints from Kirino of possibly having these kinds of feelings towards him,it was made clear in the anime from her interactions and how she acts around when other girls are around him.

Are you talking directly to me? I'm confused. I'm actually talking on behalf of people from other forums who had trouble understanding why Kyousuke suddenly fell in love with Kirino and how this series turned into a romantic comedy when it wasn't from the beginning.

[Wilshere]

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Ok, let me rephrase. people don't like how they were in a relationship together (and the kissing) because they are biological siblings.

I get you, but this is what the story is about, an incredible love story between the siblings. Blame the author for wanting Kirino to have a happy ending.

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Are you talking directly to me? I'm confused. I'm actually talking on behalf of people from other forums who had trouble understanding why Kyousuke suddenly fell in love with Kirino and how this series turned into a romantic comedy when it wasn't from the beginning.

No,not to you only but for the viewers in general. Its time to link the dots and clearly see where this is heading.

[kaigan]

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Ok, let me rephrase. people don't like how they were in a relationship together (and the kissing) because they are biological siblings.

firstly, sorry to butt in, but i'll add a few words as well. there will be always people complaining no matter what the ending is. and it's actually a brave part of the author not to give in to aggravation to some sectors of the fandom to write what he actually wants. it's not his job to satisfy the vanity of everyone. to please all is to please none.

regarding siblings in a relationship, mind you, this is not something new. i'm sure this was discussed multiple times, if not here in AS, in other boards as well. siblings getting together has been with us since ancient times. japanese have izanami and izanagi. greeks have zeus and hera. egyptians have isis and osiris (not to mention cleopatra and ptolemy xiii IRL). literature with themes like this didn't rage upon but is considered as classic! and i also believe oreimo will be a classic in time.

to add, oreimo is not even incest as pointed earlier above by others. that should be 'more acceptable' to some. but then again, others think otherwise.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by iMACobra

I'm actually talking on behalf of people from other forums who had trouble understanding why Kyousuke suddenly fell in love with Kirino...

you might not want to bother yourself speaking in behalf of other people who have trouble understanding the relationship between kiri and kyou. there are people who chose not to believe and understand. any attempt to cite evidence or reason will be in vain. their desire is much stronger than the author's intent, which is sadly in conflict with each other.

Originally Posted by iMACobra

...how this series turned into a romantic comedy when it wasn't from the beginning.

this is romantic comedy.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by iMACobra

But for him to truly fall in love with Kirino just came so abruptly in Vol. 12. There were really no hints that Kyousuke really truly, romantically loved Kirino before Vol. 12 came out (at least that I know of). That's why many people would always brush Kirino off to the side when it came to which girl would win Kyousuke (and also the incest).

This is something that has been discussed a number of times in this thread, but I guess the bottom line I would repeat is that the author was being deliberately tricky. It was written in such a way that someone could reasonably believe that all the romantic hints would be discarded in the end simply because they're siblings -- like, no matter how much they "love each other", it's really some other kind of "love". And it's made trickier because it's not like they cease being siblings just because they fall in love. Doing it this way kept the suspense very high because nobody could say for sure what was going to happen in Volume 12 until it was released.

Originally Posted by iMACobra

Anyways, I am saying this also to question if the end of the series was even good storywriting on Fushimi's part because it seemed like Fushimi just made Kyousuke fall in love with Kirino in Vol. 12, also revealing Kirino's secret messages in the same volume which we never knew about before this volume came out.

The important thing here is that the audio recordings had been properly foreshadowed, even if the contents were kept secret. We knew the album was there, and we knew the iPod was there. And also, you can go back and trace the steps of Kyousuke's transformation over the course of the story, really starting from the point that Kirino first leaves to go to America and he realizes how important she is to him. I don't think even he realized yet what that feeling really was until Volume 10 happened and he realized that he couldn't keep stringing people along without making his feelings clear. It was probably during the time when he was apart from Kirino (with Ayase taking care of him) that he figured out who he really had feelings for, but of course we don't get told until the last volume (to keep the suspense high).

At the end of the day, writing is about trade-offs. If the author had made Kyousuke's feelings even more clear than he did, there wouldn't have been the same suspense. It was written exactly on the line so that the last volume would be surprising, but still connect logically to the development of previous volumes. And preferences notwithstanding, I at least would argue that it shows the author had set this twist in motion a long time ago and was just being sly about it.

Originally Posted by iMACobra

I'm actually talking on behalf of people from other forums who had trouble understanding why Kyousuke suddenly fell in love with Kirino and how this series turned into a romantic comedy when it wasn't from the beginning.

Because of the above, I think this is the sort of story where knowing the ending influences the way you'd interpret earlier events during a re-watch/re-read. I think the story always was a romantic comedy from the get-go, but there was enough other things going on that you could ignore it in the subtext. This is also a common trait of the eroge that this story is parodying/emulating: the common route is often full of comedy and hijinks, but things become more serious in the second half as you start heading down a certain path. With this show, they didn't explicitly tell you from the get-go "hey, this is like a galge, and is going down a romantic path eventually", but you can see the flow transition particularly as you get into Volume 5 (episode 13-15 of the first anime season). (I noticed in the past that some of the people who found the transition more jarring had only followed the anime and actually somehow missed Episodes 13-15 of the original anime.)

[iMACobra]

Ok, I understand you all but what happens in the 3 OVA specials is what really bugs me.

[GVN.Chaos]

The OVA is promised to be released in the future. We can guess all we want here, but it wouldn't change anything thought. My guess (and most people here) is that they will cover volume 12, maybe added some scene from previous volume.

[Drakkar77]

The main thing to remember about Kyousuke is that at times he is not a reliable narrator. He's flat out lying to himself...and to therefore to us as well. This is more obvious when you look at places in the story when the characters say, 'I hate you' when they really mean, 'I love you'. A good example of this is the very last time we see Ayase in the story, Vol 12 Ch 2 at the very end.

After giving me a violent good bye, she smiled and said:

"See you later, Onii-san. I hate you the most."

Here's another example near the end of Vol 2 Ch 4.

Both Kirino and Ayase looked at me with their eyeballs stretched out of their sockets.

“W… What outrageous things are you running your mouth with-mmph!”

In an instant, I hugged Kirino and smothered her face, cutting her off.

She wriggled and squirmed in protest, but I wrapped her arms around her back and somehow also pinned those down.

As I hugged her tight out of “proof” of our mutual love, Ayase stared at us, dumbfounded.

“W-W-W… What are you…?!”

Just like Ayase had done back when she had gotten angry, I went on and on without letting her speak.

“It’s just as it looks, Ayase. We love each other! That’s why we have to collect these stories of forbidden love! Don’t call our love for each other dirty! It’s literature, didn’t I say?! There are drawings of naked girls in there? There are passionate ero scenes in there? That’s not the true substance of these works! They aren’t as trashy as people like you claim they are!!”

As I continued to ad-lib, I gradually became more and more emotional, and soon wasn’t even conscious of what was coming out of my mouth… the line began to blur between where the act ended and where my true feelings began. Before I knew it, my mouth was moving unconsciously and the words were flowing out on their own.

“… Kirino’s hobby is what reconnected the sibling ties that had been broken between us. If I hadn’t found out about her hobby back then, we would have continued to have a cold relationship with each other. I couldn’t do anything to help the number one little sister by my side. I would say that it had nothing to do with me, and would only watch as my little sister cried…! So I’m thankful from the bottom of my heart! Thankful for all of this otaku hobby that you say is so dirty! Because this hobby existed, I was able to start a real sibling relationship with my little sister! And I stopped just standing by watching my little sister cry, making terrible excuses of how it didn’t have anything to do with me! … Can anybody dare to deny these feelings I have?! I’m not lying, these things are proof of our love for each other! So, just listen to me, because… I…”

A lot people believe that Kyousuke doesn't start realize his feelings until later, but he's lying to himself much earlier. During times of very highly emotionally charged situations, when we are angry and the like, the words that come out of our mouths tend to be what we truly feel deep inside. He even said it, "Before I knew it, my mouth was moving unconsciously and the words were flowing out on their own." And "the line began to blur between where the act ended and where my true feelings began" is another great example.

The reason I included the longer quote is because this a good example from Kirino's perspective as well. He talks about proof of their mutual love but Kirino's actions tell the true story. "She wriggled and squirmed in protest, but I wrapped her arms around her back and somehow also pinned those down." Kirino is not on Ayase's level but is no slouch. She is a very fit individual and I doubt that Kyousuke could have 'somehow' pinned her down so easily if she really didn't want to be. Another reason that I believe this to be true is Kirino never reacts violently or scolds him for this even if he is helping her with Ayase, normally she would get violent if he did something like this.

“I… I… I thought about what you said back then… and then… umm… that is… oo… this is hard to say… s-so… please just listen?”

After that, Kirino resolutely raised her head, and faced me directly. Then, she gathered her strength.

Y-You…! W-What are you trying to say?

“I… a-also love my aniki… maybe.”

“S-S-Seriously?!”

-

“…What did you think I would say? Why are you getting all worked up over it? You gross siscon.”

-

“Wha….. t-t-t-thi…. this……………”

My mouth and eyes opened wide, I couldn’t do anything but stand there in mute amazement.

I mean, just look at my face! Dammit! Daaaammit! Daaaaaaaammmmiiitt!!!

This is impossible! This girl! ….! Crap…!!

My head was burning up, and I grabbed it with both hands, twisting my body harshly back and forth.

“Kyahahaha! That’s so lame! Y-You’re such an idiot… you were actually being serious, weren’t you?! Grooooss~~! Ahahaha!”

Laughing uproariously and pointing at me, Kirino finally wiped away her tears, and poked my stomach with her elbow.

“Come on, how long are you going to stand there looking like an idiot? Let’s go, you siscon!”

She pulled strongly on my sleeve, and lightly turned around. A daring smile appeared on her face.

-

“You promised to play me in Siscali, remember?”

Knowing the end now, we can see that this is clearly Kirino's first confession to Kyousuke. But she hides her emotions quite well from him, and from us, by saying something akin to "gotcha", and like the idiot/s he/we is/are, he/we believes that it was staged.

I truly wonder if she would have said it was a joke if his immediate response would have been, "And I love my imouto too." I think his hesitation, and the fact of a lot more volumes to come, is what led to her response being the way it was. I think even Kirino believed what he said to Ayase was from the heart, and this ending was her gauging his true response. He hesitated and so she didn't have a choice but to say it was a joke. But they both were very convincing, at different times I thought both 'maybe they do love each other', 'maybe they don't love each other.' It was very confusing but fun to read.