Ore no Imouto - Episode 2 Discussion / Poll

[Francismeunier]

Giving away my old avatar since Illyasviel's death in Fate Night stay made me own her avatar for some time to honor her sort of like a living person. Here it is.......free to claim by anyone=>

[teachopvutru]

Originally Posted by Francismeunier

[CENTER]I will separate this into 2 parts. One being the OP thoughts and the other the episode itself.
[a pile of texts, bunch of links, and mountain of pictures]

Holy crap. You are hardcore!

Anyway, loved this episode. A lot of funny moments, and not only are the voices of the two siblings fit, I love Kuroneko's voice as well. This has already become my most favorite show this season as it cheers me up whenever I watch it.

Since there are only a few manga chapters (scanlations) out, I'm looking forward to watching the parts I haven't seen yet (which should be soon).

[msg]

I see, a story about a boy sister and young female friends who specialises in one form of "otaku" type like kirino who's into brocon, little sis theme and kuroneko who's into goth, shoujo clamp style theme (correct me if i'm wrong)...then there is shiori...

So far they introduce 4 of them including kirino.If i'm not mistaken they're more of 6 them.Poor kyousuke for being suddenly drag into their world but look at a bright side, he will get a "harem"

...this anime is interesting cuz it showcases about a certain type of "otaku" theme like yaoi/yuri, shoujo, etc and to some extend it's history of it.Probably you will learn something from it from each of the girls ^ and so does kyousuke..

No wonder Oreimo got a subforum

[Francismeunier]

Originally Posted by teachopvutru

Holy crap. You are hardcore!

Well not really. Just too much to mention in this episode. If you look at my other posts they are shorter. There were in fact tons of interesting things to mention including a synopsis of insult towards insult rebuttal. I think I gave a good example of how a reaction can go from a viewer TBH.

[Undertaker]

Not checking back for a couple of days and we got a sub-forum, Nice!!


Since I already reviewed the episode in the general thread, I'm just gonna c&p it here:

Just finished Ep. 2.

I have to said I was disappointed in this episode. Not that if was a bad episode per se. The problem is that both novel and manga where much better on the events this episode covered.

Two thing I did like about this episode. First, The part where Kirino was being isolated in the meeting and the second is the part in the end where Kuroneko and Kirino are enjoying their experience in Akibahara. Both novel and manga version just sort of sweep them aside and let Kyosuke take over the narrating, so those event were nice.

The problem I had was that couple of scenes were cut from the net-meeting and those were, in my opinion, the best parts in both the novel and manga and were necessary for transitioning between scene to scene. Also many of the in-jokes and culture shock on Kyosuke side were cut as well.

The worst part was the second-meeting. It is the highlight of the episode but it felt the most rushed segment in the episode overall. This is the meeting that establish the main circle and future story relation, yet it was also the part that was cut short the most and that is my biggest disappointment.


On the other hand, both the opening scene and ending scenes were unnecessary.

Start with the ending first, while I understand the dinner time is used to set up next episode t is was unnecessary and should just directly goes to yhe sub-sequent event where Kyosuke clears the Shiori Path.

Also, the opening scene is unnecessary as well. All the opening scene did was introducing Kirino's friends are yet to officially appear at this point in both novel and manga version and anime didn't reveal their name either. While this scene is actually taken from the the novel, the scene really didn't appear until volume 2 of series and by moving it up it and modified a bit it actually made the opening scene feel a bit out of place, especially the first scene after the opening theme can be used in that spot as well.

Personally I thought if they did away with some stuff in both opening and ending while extend the net meeting more, the episode would be much better...

Overall I gave 7/10, [actually more like 6/10] a bit disappointed since I was expecting at least a 8.5 or 9 after the 1st episode.




Great review by Fraeuncismnier here's some explanation to the episode in-jokes since according to the screenshot provided a few joke got losted in translation. (BTW, I recommend Mazui sub who fixed some of their earlier translations.)


- Saori Bagina should be Saori Bajeena, it's not her real name it's her handle name (though Saori do turn out to be her real first name). Bajeena is from Z Gundam character Quattro Bajeena, aka Char Aznable.

- Reason for KuroNeko and Kirino to be distracted by her handle name is because the name Saori is usually reserved for characters that were rich, pretty, polite, smart, aka. perfect in most anime and games and Bajeena is Char's alias, that's why they were so against Saori using that name. This is one of the part I mentioned that should be extended as the novel and manga make this eazier to pick out by stressing that on the net, Saori type like a well-mannered lady and couple with her handle-name all three [Kyosuke included] were expecting a pretty, well-mannered girl but turns out to be a stereotypical Otaku.

- KuroNeko's suggestion were not "Ultimate Gundam" or "Bigzilla" It's "Psycho Gundam" and "Bigzam", both are HUGE-ASS mobile suits from Gundam series and to keep relevancy to Bajeena Gundam theme and obviously insulting Saori's frame.

- And yes the anime cut-scene is a parody to Code Geass and Darker Than Black, two real anime that can be categorized as the same type of anime Kuroneko likes.

- BTW Saori is suppose to be 180cm or roughly 6ft tall basing on Character bio on novel, same age as Kuroneko, a year older than Kirino and 5 cm (2 in) taller than Kyosuke. So she is a big girl.



Lastly, the part Fraeuncismnier didn't get was that most of the POPULAR all-age on-going anime are slotted during the weekends. Since they were fighting which anime is the better and more popular one, Kuroneko pointed out that the anime Kirino liked is not popular enough to be on during the weekend despise being an all-age battle-magical girl anime therefore Kirino's anime is the inferior anime to Kuroneko's Maschera is the better anime and is the featured anime for the timeslot they were arguing about.

[Solecs]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

Also, the opening scene is unnecessary as well. All the opening scene did was introducing Kirino's friends are yet to officially appear at this point in both novel and manga version and anime didn't reveal their name either. While this scene is actually taken from the the novel, the scene really didn't appear until volume 2 of series and by moving it up it and modified a bit it actually made the opening scene feel a bit out of place, especially the first scene after the opening theme can be used in that spot as well.

I think the opening scene did more than just introduce Kirino's friends. It also gave context to her school/social environment. Like she tells Kyousuke later, otaku are viewed negatively amongst her group and she finds it hard to talk about it with her friends. Saying it is one thing, but I think seeing it portrayed has more impact.

As for the dinner scene, I'm ambivalent about it it. Probably unnecessary but didn't take anything away either, IMO.

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by Solecs

I think the opening scene did more than just introduce Kirino's friends. It also gave context to her school/social environment. Like she tells Kyousuke later, otaku are viewed negatively amongst her group and she finds it hard to talk about it with her friends. Saying it is one thing, but I think seeing it portrayed has more impact.

As for the dinner scene, I'm ambivalent about it it. Probably unnecessary but didn't take anything away either, IMO.

I don't have problem with the scene itself, I thought the part where they add the two male student talking about Siscaly was brilliant. What I have the problem was the "timing" of the scene and how it was executed.

Like I said, the focus of this episode is the net meeting. Especially the second one where it was impotant due to the introduction of KuroNeko and Shiori. Yet that second meeting to me was the least executed due to some of interactions being cut.

Therefore I have to find segment(s) that were unnecessary for the the episode and the opening scene along with the scene immediately follows the dinner was the two scenes that stood out. The latter extended too much and can go directly to Kyosuke clearing the H-game scenario.

But the problem for me was really the opening scene. It is a scene that can be used at anytime to fill space and could be used better and tie-in better to latter episodes for more impact. Yet, that scene ends up on this episode where there is already a focus [net meet] and that focus ends up to be the most lacking segment compare to the original work due to the addition of that scene and that was my problem. That opening scene was utterly useless in "this episodes" since it did not enhance rest of episode 2 nor was it really relevant to this episode.

I'll admit though, I'm watching this series with background that I'm up to date with the novel so I know how the event flow, which is the main cause for my complain on this scene since the timing of this scenes really seems awkward to me and it takes time away from what I consider to be the highlight of the original material that was covered.

I'm going to wait for episode 3,4 to see what happen. Because in the novel and manga timeline that scene should be somewhere in episode 3 or 4 and before i say anything more, i should wait and see how they'll fill in the blank left by moving that scene up.

[ChainLegacy]

Quite a bizarre subject matter, but this show has been pretty funny so far

Spoiler for The episode.:

I too enjoyed the part where the little sister and goth girl got into a big argument. It reminded me of the type of flame wars you might see on 4chan's /a/ section The brother is too nice, if my little sister ever talked to me like that there would be hell to pay

[laksmkk]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

- Saori Bagina should be Saori Bajeena, it's not her real name it's her handle name (though Saori do turn out to be her real first name). Bajeena is from Z Gundam character Quattro Bajeena, aka Char Aznable.

- Reason for KuroNeko and Kirino to be distracted by her handle name is because the name Saori is usually reserved for characters that were rich, pretty, polite, smart, aka. perfect in most anime and games and Bajeena is Char's alias, that's why they were so against Saori using that name. This is one of the part I mentioned that should be extended as the novel and manga make this eazier to pick out by stressing that on the net, Saori type like a well-mannered lady and couple with her handle-name all three [Kyosuke included] were expecting a pretty, well-mannered girl but turns out to be a stereotypical Otaku.

- KuroNeko's suggestion were not "Ultimate Gundam" or "Bigzilla" It's "Psycho Gundam" and "Bigzam", both are HUGE-ASS mobile suits from Gundam series and to keep relevancy to Bajeena Gundam theme and obviously insulting Saori's frame.

Thank you for your explanation. Now i got better understanding about "Saori". Also when Kirino talk about cosplay to KuroNeko, She says " Cosplay? Are you supposed to be Suigintou" Does she refer to Suigintou from Rozen Maiden?

[Falkor]

have been a bit busy the past few days. I don't think I have much to say. fun episode. liked the OP song, probably not the animation. and there were truly enjoyable interactions especially between Kirino and Kuroneko.

can't say that I like Kana Hanazawa's voice; but I didn't feel really bother by that. not enough Manami is just sad; and they had to cut some interesting interaction she had with Kyo. they better put that scene/conversation later on, but I can't get my hopes up.

Originally Posted by Undertaker

But the problem for me was really the opening scene. It is a scene that can be used at anytime to fill space and could be used better and tie-in better to latter episodes for more impact. Yet, that scene ends up on this episode where there is already a focus [net meet] and that focus ends up to be the most lacking segment compare to the original work due to the addition of that scene and that was my problem. That opening scene was utterly useless in "this episodes" since it did not enhance rest of episode 2 nor was it really relevant to this episode.

makes me wonder if you read my reply to your post. I will quote myself:

Notice in the classroom how Kirino's friends come to her and start a very amiable conversation; contrast this scene with the RL meeting where she feels very awkward and nobody really wants to talk with her---she is no longer the confident girl at the beginning. this does good job exposing her two worlds, one where she has no problems interacting with people; and one where she cannot quite communicate about the stuff she likes the most.

I do dislike repeating myself, but that scene is very important for the reason I had elaborated. I would also like to point out how difficult it is for her to conciliate her hobbies with her normal way of life, which that scene also exposes.

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

- BTW Saori is suppose to be 180cm or roughly 6ft tall basing on Character bio on novel, same age as Kuroneko, a year older than Kirino and 5 cm (2 in) taller than Kyosuke. So she is a big girl.

Wait what whoa, Kuroneko being older than Kirino I can believe, but Saori is as old as her hence still in high school and not college? Somehow I got the impression that she is, that she's the oldest out of all the girls in the group...maybe it's because her huge posture (seriously, she'll be great in basketball team) or maybe because she's a good leader of all the group, but that really surprised me...

[Cream]

What Genre is Ore no Imouto under as of now?
Wikipedia claims it to be Romance , comedy and drama.
Would the hint at romance be incest(Sex between blood relation)?
Or will is it hinting at something possible in the future for Kyosuke/Kirino?

[DragoZERO]

Just watched the first two eps and I am surprised how much I liked it. I read the manga and dropped but it focused a lot more on how cute the sister was. The anime seems to give the attention to everyone more.

And Saori Bajeena.

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

Just watched the first two eps and I am surprised how much I liked it. I read the manga and dropped but it focused a lot more on how cute the sister was. The anime seems to give the attention to everyone more.

Well, it is true that the manga does have more fan-service then it was intended to have, but the anime gets straight to the point, which is why I liked the anime more then the manga

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by laksmkk

Thank you for your explanation. Now i got better understanding about "Saori". Also when Kirino talk about cosplay to KuroNeko, She says " Cosplay? Are you supposed to be Suigintou" Does she refer to Suigintou from Rozen Maiden?

Yep, that exactly who Kirino were referring to.

Originally Posted by Falkor

makes me wonder if you read my reply to your post. I will quote myself:



I do dislike repeating myself, but that scene is very important for the reason I had elaborated.

Again, I also felt you didn't read my post as well. and I don't like to repeat myself as well. (if you want to play that way)

I clearly stated that I didn't have problem with the scene itself, and gave kudos to the stuff the added (boys talking about SisClays). What I did have problem is when that scene is taking away times for what I believe as the MORE IMPORTANT part of the episode and compare other segments of the episode, it is the MOST EXPANDABLE.

If you disagree, show me another scene that should be taken out instead to make room for stuff I thought shouldn't have being cut from the novel.




As for Kirino's confidence level. While she was not aggressive during the gather, the main problem was not her confidence, it was that she was so out of place to begin with. Again, this was elaborated in the novel and should have been kept.

Kirino is part of the "cool group" in school, in fact, she is the "queen" were every girl looks up to. While she was reluctant to join conversation the main issue was because she noticed that other girls were not giving her a chance to join in not because she didn't want or try to join in.

In novel, Kyosuke's analysis clear up the meeting scene a lot. (and one of the part I thought should have been kept) He noted that just by looks along, Kirino doesn't fit in, and the rest of group are sending off signals like "why is this cool girl here?" "She is not part of us", what's with her outfit." ....

Kuroneko even noted in second meeting criticize Kirino's look saying that the look "would be fine going to a date or shopping in Shibuya [an high-end shpping district in Tokyo], but not casual meeting like this, and especially not an otaku meeting." and while anime didn't point that straight out it did say the fashion "does not belong in Akiba"

I would also like to point out how difficult it is for her to conciliate her hobbies with her normal way of life, which that scene also exposes.

Now obviously you didn't read the novel, (this series is barely 2 years old with only 6 books) otherwise you'll realize that it is exactly the part that was changed so the scene can be moved up just to become the weakest part of episode 2.

Let me just ask you one thing... Why would Kirino's friends thought she had a boyfriend just by her checking her phone?

It's not like she just turned Otaku, Kirino's been an Otaku for a long time and a hardcore one at that. Was THAT the first time she check anime blogs in school? Was THAT so out of norm that her friend asked her if she got a new boyfriend?

Originally Posted by Saturn Beaver

Wait what whoa, Kuroneko being older than Kirino I can believe, but Saori is as old as her hence still in high school and not college? Somehow I got the impression that she is, that she's the oldest out of all the girls in the group...maybe it's because her huge posture (seriously, she'll be great in basketball team) or maybe because she's a good leader of all the group, but that really surprised me...

Exactly why I thought the meeting was cut way too short. Yes, Saori is the same age as Kuroneko and a year older than Kirino, and both are actually 3rd year middle school with Kirino being 2nd year middle school and Kyosuke is 2nd year high school. These were all covered during the meeting in novel including Kyosuke being shocked after hearing Saori's introduction.

Originally Posted by Hooves

Well, it is true that the manga does have more fan-service then it was intended to have, but the anime gets straight to the point, which is why I liked the anime more then the manga

Agree, despise the letdown in ep.2, I still think this is better version than the manga and while I still think novel is better, I thought episode 1 was actually better than novel.

[Daniel E.]

Bumped with this show almost by accident and I am still surprised about how much I liked the first two episodes.

Don't know a thing about the source material, but if the focus remains on otakuness I may end up liking this show an awful lot more.

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

Just watched the first two eps and I am surprised how much I liked it. I read the manga and dropped but it focused a lot more on how cute the sister was. The anime seems to give the attention to everyone more.

And Saori Bajeena.

Saori is brilliant as a comedic character, and Kuroneko is just pure awesome.

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

Exactly why I thought the meeting was cut way too short. Yes, Saori is the same age as Kuroneko and a year older than Kirino, and both are actually 3rd year middle school with Kirino being 2nd year middle school and Kyosuke is 2nd year high school. These were all covered during the meeting in novel including Kyosuke being shocked after hearing Saori's introduction.

Okay, I've asked my little brother and he said that a 180 cm girl in 3rd year of Junior high does exist (and is naturally the star of her school's basketball team), but it's still really rare. Hmm, with Saori and Kirino who is about 160 cm tall herself...wow, the girls are quite tall in this series, either that or I'm influenced by the abundance of lolis nowadays.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

*snip*
...
Exactly why I thought the meeting was cut way too short.
...
*snip*

I think the drama CD covers most of the stuff you're talking about here. Maybe one of the reasons it's cut short in the anime is that anyone who's read the novel would have gotten hold of the drama CD, which spends 25 minutes on what the anime covered in about half the time, whereas viewers introduced to the series via the anime wouldn't know any better.

[Falkor]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

Again, I also felt you didn't read my post as well. and I don't like to repeat myself as well. (if you want to play that way)

hmmm... I don't think there was any ill intention behind the words "I do dislike repeating myself". you made a comment about a particular scene of the second episode and I replied to you; you brought it up again, well, I had to reply to you using, unfortunately, the same words. Thus I had to repeat myself, because well, you didn't reply to me the first time around. I could only assume that you had perhaps missed my post, since there was no reply.

I clearly stated that I didn't have problem with the scene itself, and gave kudos to the stuff the added (boys talking about SisClays). What I did have problem is when that scene is taking away times for what I believe as the MORE IMPORTANT part of the episode and compare other segments of the episode, it is the MOST EXPANDABLE.

If you disagree, show me another scene that should be taken out instead to make room for stuff I thought shouldn't have being cut from the novel.

To be very clear, my problem with your post is nothing more than your assessment of the opening scene, which I completely disagree with.

I do understand the point that you are trying to bring up; I do understand that you wanted scenes to be taken out because it was taking time and space from the stuff that mattered the most for you. But when you are saying that the opening scene was "unnecessary", "utterly useless", "did not enhance the rest of the episode", "nor was it relevant", and "the most expendable"; do you really expect me to agree with your assessment of that particular scene if you put it in those words? I had elaborated on the importance/significance that scene plays within the episode; I had tried to bring in the bigger picture and how it relates to the development/exposition of Kirino's character---although in very few words. do you agree/disagree with my assessment/interpretation of the scene? do you still think is "utterly useless"? I'm not exactly trying to argue anything else besides this.

As for Kirino's confidence level. While she was not aggressive during the gather, the main problem was not her confidence, it was that she was so out of place to begin with. Again, this was elaborated in the novel and should have been kept.

Kirino is part of the "cool group" in school, in fact, she is the "queen" were every girl looks up to. While she was reluctant to join conversation the main issue was because she noticed that other girls were not giving her a chance to join in not because she didn't want or try to join in.

I tried to show the two "different" Kirinos that appeared on this episode, so I used the word "confident" to describe the character/personality of her usual self, in contrast to the awkward one of the RL meeting. I do agree that she didn't fit in; however, I was under the impression that the lack of confidence, while not entirely the issue, may have been part of it. At school, her friends are the ones who approach her and start a conversation; she responds and interacts with them without any problems. At the RL meeting, she tries to have conversations with people of similar interests, but it does not work out very well. I think part of the issue lies in Kirino herself for not trying more, for giving up too easily. it's not like she doesn't have anything to talk about---she does know her stuff, otherwise she wouldn't argue with Kuroneko---it's just that well, she doesn't seem very confident about it; given her personality and her expectations that others will be the ones to break the ice, it doesn't help very much. of course, this is just how I understood the scene.

In novel, Kyosuke's analysis clear up the meeting scene a lot. (and one of the part I thought should have been kept) He noted that just by looks along, Kirino doesn't fit in, and the rest of group are sending off signals like "why is this cool girl here?" "She is not part of us", what's with her outfit." ....

Kuroneko even noted in second meeting criticize Kirino's look saying that the look "would be fine going to a date or shopping in Shibuya [an high-end shpping district in Tokyo], but not casual meeting like this, and especially not an otaku meeting." and while anime didn't point that straight out it did say the fashion "does not belong in Akiba"

I was aware of this issue from the novel, but I did not really find it very important to my enjoyment of the episode. I think the information can bring a different view to the anime, but I want to believe that the anime itself did well developing Kirino as a character by exploring how she interacts with different people, especially ones with similar interests.

Now obviously you didn't read the novel, (this series is barely 2 years old with only 6 books) otherwise you'll realize that it is exactly the part that was changed so the scene can be moved up just to become the weakest part of episode 2.

a slip of the tongue. I have not read all volumes so far released of the novel; I apologize if I gave that impression. on the other hand, I have been able to read what has been so far translated into English (3/4 or half of the first volume) and I also listened to the Drama CD, which is exactly what the anime has covered in the second episode. Although I cannot remember all details of the story (except for the most important ones), I think I can still make an assessment/comparison based on the stuff I'm already familiar with. However, I'm trying to take the anime as a different being and not just as an adaptation of the source material. I believe, so far, it has done a very good job telling the core of the story, while also giving subtle hints of the underlying cues relating to the characters---which the novel, Drama CD may go into more detail. Yes, there's some stuff that has been cut out, but I think we got the basic premise of the story, which feels very cohesive to me.

Let me just ask you one thing... Why would Kirino's friends thought she had a boyfriend just by her checking her phone?

It's not like she just turned Otaku, Kirino's been an Otaku for a long time and a hardcore one at that. Was THAT the first time she check anime blogs in school? Was THAT so out of norm that her friend asked her if she got a new boyfriend?

I think I wasn't very clear. what I was trying to say by conciliating her hobbies with her normal way of life, is the fact she has to hide her hobbies from others. "normal way of life" wasn't perhaps the right way to phrase it; let's change it with the way people see her.