Tens: Star Driver, Ore no Imouto

Star Driver 10 is pretty straightforward, well, for a show such as this. Baseball, jealousy, spells, and a battle.

We start as usual with school activities, a baseball game between classes, the Onederberry Stars and the Twober Fighters. It’s even more lighthearted than usual as the animators have some fun playing around with baseball drama clichés as well as setting up a love triangle: Takuto, Marino, and the other team’s pitcher, Takeo, who is in love with Marino and of course is “Sword Star” from glittering crux. Takeo, enraged that Takuto ran into his beloved Marino running to first, uses some sneaky magic to strike him out Takuto to end the game.

So we already know what’s going to happen: Takeo is going to go to Zero Time and fight Takuto. But there’s plenty of time in the episode, so we get some character background first. Marina and Mizuno were first abandoned by their father, then their mother, many years ago. Naturally they grow very close, almost telepathic, though how Mizuno can not know about Marina being Manticore of Glittering Crux I don’t understand. Never mind. It’s easy to tell why Marino doesn’t want Mizuno’s identity of Maiden (I forget which direction) known.

We also visit the Vanishing Age lounge for some darts, though it’s a foregone conclusion what’s going to happen. Then it’s fight time. Is there anyone out there who watched this who did NOT expect Takuto to recite “Katami, Wakachita, Yagadanse” at a crucial moment? Really, they’d been hammering in that phrase for the entire episode. Pointless, too. Why didn’t Takuto just use his rockets before? Oh, well. The fight once again was great eye candy.

In Ore no Imouto 10 Ayese wants to give Kirino a nice otaku birthday present, because she pissed Kirino off while discussing figure collecting.

I've often wanted to ask the same thing.

And so a bizarre plot is hatched. Kirino’s friends figure a one-time collectable that’s not for sale would be the best. All they have to do is win a cosplay contest. The scenes where they come up with this are rather long, and it’s followed by another overly long scene where Kyousuke tries to convince Ayase to enter, playing a specific character.

I don’t know why Kyousuke even tried suggesting that. He knows fully well that Ayase hates otaku anyway. Was he hoping that guilt-tripping would make her do it? Fortunately for him, Ayase has her own solution. A friend, model and would-be idol singer named Kanako, who’s all cute to her fans, but to her inner circle …

Poor Kanako is conned into participating in the event. And she shocks everyone with the best performance and an easy victory. I’m not sure I like the ending that much. Ayase gets the collectible, Kirino is pleased as punch, but Ayase was left stranded at the venue, where she caused a scene and was apparently arrested. All available on the Internet! Sure, she was a brat, but she didn’t deserve that, especially after the hard work she did to make someone she didn’t know happy.

Continuing the nines: Star Driver, Ore no Imouto

Star Driver 9 begins work on a new story arc, meaning I’m confused as all getout again. But more importantly, it introduces two new characters.

Here's Mizuno, coming right atcha!

Mizuno makes a grand entrance. She hops from her bedroom window onto her bus, charges into the men’s room at school, talks to crows, and leaps into trees. Everyone else in school is familiar with her. She’s the school freak, or school witch, or both. It’s only Takuto (and us) who have never seen her before. More fun for Takuto: she has an instant crush on him. Later we learn that she’s the West Maiden. Surely Sugata (shown bathing with Takuto, later fighting with him … They made up) and Wako would have known that.

The other character is her sister Marino, a member of Glittering Crux named “Manticore,” and temporary leader when Head decides to take a vacation (never heard of evil organization members taking vacations before). She announces that she is going to find the West Maiden so they can use her to get to Third Phase, bypassing Second Phase, I guess. I dunno. What gets me is that they hadn’t thought of this before. Since they don’t have the power to gain the North Maiden because Takuto keeps beating them up, why NOT try for one of the other two remaining Maidens? Seems a lot easier.

Anyway, I suppose because Star Driver is no fun without a fight, they come up with an excuse for one. A Vanishing Age guy named Stick Star says they should show Manticore the extent of Takuto’s power, so it’s off to Zero Time. Takuto wins without much trouble—maybe he was warmed up from the sword training he was doing with Sugata at the time. Then it’s back for another tub scene, where we learn that Mizuno is the West Maiden and that Marino is devoted to keeping that a secret. So she’s with a group that is pursuing the West Maiden, but she won’t let them find her. Good thing she’s in charge.

Ore no Imouto 9 takes a break from story arcs, totally forgetting about last episode’s anime adaptation fracas, and does nothing but show us the main characters killing time on their own.

Kirino gets a new little sister eroge game and sets out to play it. Since this whole show is sort of a sendup of such things it’s fun to watch Kirino’s reaction to the little sisters, particularly Rinko. The fact that Rinko comes off as a Kirino figure is a little amusing, but it’s Kirino’s reactions to her that makes it genuinely funny. She reacts the same way that Kyousuke does when she insults him. Later she practically uses the same lines Rinko does after Kyousuke spots the panties she accidently dropped on the floor. But in fact most of the Kirino scenes work, talking back to the computer, face turning from bliss to frustration in a few seconds. The only trouble is there are too many such scenes and they begin to repeat.

To break it up, we visit other characters. The Kuroneko scenes are both sad and a little sweet. She’s left at home with her little sister. You get the impression that this happens a lot. You can also tell that she is lonely. However, she and her sister have a close relationship. Kuroneko keeps her distant, calm demeanor around her, but has no trouble with her sister sleeping with her head in her lap. It’s a gentle side of Kuroneko that we haven’t seen before. We also visit the fancy home of a elegant, presumably beautiful (we never see her face) woman, and it took me too long to realize that this is Saori. While she’s comfortable enough talking to her assistants about cosplay outfits, it’s clear that she keeps a strong wall between her presentable side and her otaku side. She ought to team up with Kuranosuke to work on the Kuragehime girls.

We also briefly see Ayase. We don’t, surprisingly, see Manami. And then there’s Kyousuke. He can hear Kirino through his bedroom wall. Needless to say it makes it hard for him to study. Bored, he tries calling people, even Kuroneko. He yells at Kirino to shut up. He gets insulted some more. Yet, he endures. Good episode.

Imouto 8, Zakuro 8

Ore no Imouto 8 feels more serious than usual. I think it’s because of these guys.

I must say that Kirino is simply incredible. Already a successful model, she turns to cell phone novels and gets one published, and now they want to produce it as a anime! Kirino is, not unexpectedly, ecstatic, and nervous enough that she invites Saori and Kuroneko along for the first meeting, leading to another “If you really want to …” and “Well, I’ll go because I just happen to be free …” scene. Saori’s just along for the ride. The fact is that all three are excited. The first meeting scene is amusing at the start, Kirino whipping out impossible requests for voice actors, artists and songs. Then it turns serious when she is shot down. She goes home to mope.

For the first time I can recall, Kirino runs into a wall of hard reality. We learn that the company had another show fall through and are looking for something they can easily churn out to take its place. Since we haven’t read Kirino’s novel (thanks heavens) we can’t tell whether the novel would need some changes in order to make it a work of dramatic art rather than a novel, but they also want to change the sex of the main character to appeal to the male demographic, rather extreme for an original work that has become a best-seller. So the choice is hers: bend over and let them make the changes and create a lackluster show, or stand up for her book at the risk of losing the project altogether. Kirino is too young and inexperienced to make that decision. Naturally, Kyousuke steps in, or rather, Kuroneko.

Unbeknownst to Kirino, Kyousuke and her friends attend another meeting, and he tries to argue on her side. It goes from bad to worse, the animators arguing that they need to make these changes, and maybe they should just cancel the production. Then Kuroneko steals the scene. Her subsequent speech sums everything likable about her character. She’s blunt, insulting, and absolutely right. She doesn’t spare anyone, not even herself. She admits to jealousy over Kirino’s apparently effortless success and hints that the scriptwriter is also jealous of this middle-school girl. Maybe the most fascinating thing about it is that she veers off-topic and asks Kyousuke why he’s making such efforts for her, and in the next scene, on the train, we see a hint of envy in her that Kirino has such a devoted brother. So an episode supposedly devoted to Kirino’s career includes a sort of character study for Kuroneko. Nice job. … I’d be jealous of Kirino, too.

As for Otome Youkai Zakuro 8, I think the main story arc finally got moving. Kei and Susukihotaru (I’m sick of spelling that out; from now on I’m calling her Susu) meet up in town and get kidnapped.

The perps.

Actually, there are three things going on in this episode. The first is the search and rescue of Kei and Susu and the slow unfolding of the main story. The second is the affirmation of love and respect that the humans and spirits share. There’s two scenes even before the action starts where someone outside a couple comment to a member of a couple about the couple. Kei talks to Susu regarding Riken, and Riken talks to the twins regarding Ganryu, and there’s more to come. The third thing is Kushimatsu refusing to allow Zakuro to help in the rescue. Here we don’t know whether she knows something terrible or is simply behaving like a mother refusing to let a prized child out when she could get hurt. But the story wouldn’t move too much if she got her way, so Amaryoju overrules her.

The perps, sisters Daidai and Byakuroku, get some time showing off how evil they are. They come see Kei and Susu, locked in a cellar, to tell them they’re bait for Zakuro. There is no reason for them to do this; they’re just gloating. There’s also no reason when Riken and Zakuro show up (a little late because Riken has to thank Zakuro for loosening up Kei, and Zakuro has to tell Riken that because of him Susu is more confident—Come on, there are people to rescue!) to tell them that rainwater has been diverted to the cellar to drown Kei and Susu. All that does is REALLY piss off Zakuro.

After the rescue (and two more couple comments, Kei taking to Susu about Riken, and Susu talking to Kei about Zakuro, as they try to hold the door against the flood) we get some affirmations, the Kei-Zakuro scene being the best. Zakuro is mad that Kei almost died and shows her affection by crying and calling him stupid. He simply holds her. Then the contrast of a more sinister relationship between Lady Rangui (the Black Widow) and her failed assistants. One of them (I can’t tell them apart yet) says she hates Zakuro for having a happy home, and when you see how Rangui treats her and her sister, you can’t blame her for thinking that way.

Well, it’s good that the series story arc got some attention, since there’s only five episodes to go …

Sevens: Bakuman, Ore no Imouto

There are small events in Bakuman 7 but they take up little time. Most of the episode revolves around Saiko and Miho’s odd relationship.

By agreement they cannot speak to one another, and now they’re assigned classroom seats together. Nervous at first, Saiko starts scribbling innocent questions in his notebook and she responds. The nervousness goes away quick and soon Saiko want to break through the impasse. He does a mild faux-pas and Miho starts to cry.

To me it’s a little ridiculous, and it goes on too long. Having a romance in this story (actually there are two, but Akito hasn’t made any moves yet) is fine, but to set it up so that they can barely communicate, putting everything off until a dream is achieved, doesn’t make the current situation compelling, no matter if Miho is prettily weeping. So Saiko angsts out, Miho gives him her email address, he angsts some more, even running over to her house where he does nothing but turn and go home, and then gives her a note saying he’ll use the email, maybe, when they no longer sit together. This time Miho weeps tears of joy. Well, I’m glad they got that sorted out.

All this does manage to fit into the manga-writing business. Saiko wants to concentrate on winning the Tezuka Award rather than creating another longer work for submission. Akito is dubious until he sees that Saiko wants to impress Miho. That motivates them both, which pleases Hattori, afraid that their first rejected manuscript would break their spirits. And we meet the prodigy Eiji, who at age 15 shows himself to be a bit of an asshole. So it does sort of come together at the end, but events happen so infrequently in this series that it’s getting to be a strain to watch.

Two stories in Ore no Imouto 7. I prefer the first one because of the mix of characters.

Kuroneko has come over to view and discuss Meruru, Kirino’s favorite series, but they make the mistake of reading each other’s fan fiction beforehand. It’s amusing enough. Goth-loli Kirino wrote a cell phone type novel where a goth-loli is raped and murdered. Kuroneko wrote a dense gothy thing with appendices and errata sheets where a pretty model becomes a sex slave. Worse, both novels are Mary Sue stories. While I’m thinking “typical adolescent girl stuff,” the girls are offended. Kyousuke, naturally, is caught in the middle.

What I like about the Kirino/Kuroneko bickering is not only are they actually behaving like friends in their own way, but we get some perspective of different anime styles and their flaws and clichés. Kuroneo is especially blunt about the magical girl format, and watching bits of Meruru I see her point. You can argue that Meruru is a fictitious series, a strawman for those who hate magical girls, but you can’t argue with her comment that there’s too much mixing of “loli and ero” these days.

In the second story we get back to the sibling relationship. Kirino is writing another cell phone novel and drags Kyousuke out with her (on Christmas Eve) to do research, which involves her telling her brother to get hit by a car, buy her jewelry, and take her to a love hotel. And once again I wonder what’s going on in her mind. It’s clear that she at least subconsciously wants to go on a “date” with her brother. She’s thrilled with the earrings he’s forced to buy her. As for the love hotel, she deliberately splashes herself with water (research) and needs to shower to clean up. On this level it can appear a little disturbing. On the other hand, nothing comes of it. They just bicker as they always do. It’s part of the show to flirt with the incestal angle; I just hope they keep it at flirting.

More Sixes: Bakuman, Imouto

Bakuman 6 brings us to the dreaded manuscript submission moment. But we start with some character development.

Saiko and Akito are both so nervous about the interview that they show up at the station an hour early. To kill the time Akito gives us some background about his family, how his mother wanted him to achieve in order to “avenge” his father’s firing. What I liked about it was after Akito lashed out at her, she apparently lightened up. They could have kept the mother an unpleasant character, but the people in this show are rarely so one-dimensional. Anyway, that leads us up to the two nervous boys arriving at the offices and then waiting in a cubicle for the editor, Hattori.

Hattori reads. The boys sweat.

I’ve been on both sides of this situation. I’ve submitted works to live writing workshops and gotten hammered (and occasionally praised) by professionals. It’s nerve-wracking and sometimes humiliating. I’ve also done live critiques and can fully understand the need to state the flaws of a work without crushing the life out of an artist. This scene manages both well. There’s the moment above, with Hattori just reading, eyes glancing from one page to the next, and it seems to take forever. But that’s what the show intended. Draw out the agony! When he finally gives his opinions, they’re fair and thoughtful, and considering the boys’ working strategy, makes perfect sense. Saiko had thought that Akito’s writing didn’t allow the images to tell enough of the story, but the two had agreed not to critique each other’s work. Now they learn that was a mistake. They need to work closer together.

New seating arrangement.

So in the end, not good enough, but they show promise. The concept itself was good, the drawing just needs practice. Hattori thinks they show promise. He gives them his business card. It’s really the best they could have hoped for. I suspect that the next episode or two will bring Miho back into the story, judging from how the episode ends.

Ore no Imouto 6 turns away from Kirino for awhile and looks in at Kyousuke and his childhood friend Manami. It’s a relief after so much friendship-angst we’ve gotten out of Kirino recently.

It’s been obvious since episode 1 that Manami has a thing for Kyousuke. As for him, I don’t think he’s thought out his feelings. He denies any interest in her apart from their old friendship, but he’d beat up any guy that came on to her. The odd thing is, even after he articulates this he doesn’t seem to realize the mixed signals.

Manami's family can't be this cool.

Manami is dull and unassertive, usually, but the atmosphere when Kyousuke visits her home and winds up spending the night changes her a little. The family, two grandparents and a younger brother, are all fun people, and now that Kyousuke and Manami have reached a certain age the old ones can have some more fun teasing them. Even Manami joins in. It doesn’t take Kyousuke long to adapt and fire back in his own way, accepting Manami’s teasing offer to take a bath with her. The other family members jokingly support this turn of events, grandma from the other room, grandpa (the coolest grandpa of the year) from under the table. What’s fun here is you know Manami kind of likes the idea. Same goes for when Grandpa sticks their futons in the same room. This family rocks. Why is it that dull characters, like Manami, or Clannad’s Nagisa, always have the best relatives?

Of course the whole thing is entirely innocent. Once Kyousuke and Manami get over the idea they accept it with no problem. Kyousuke makes an interesting statement: If a girl ever came on to him he’d turn her down. He likes a quiet life. That’s exactly what he has with Manami right now, though it’s clear she would like a little more. A refreshing episode before we get back to whatever Kirino throws at us next.

Fives: Imouto, Zakuro

After Ore no Imouto 5 I’m wondering just how long Kyousuke is going to demean himself for his sister, especially one who keeps acting as selfishly as she does. The episode also hints at why he’s doing it.

Returning from Comiket they run into Ayase, Kirino’s best friend, who discovers her otaku side for the first time. At this point I’m not sure whether she’s offended because of that part or because Kirino’s been lying to her about it. There’s something not quite right about Ayase’s feelings here. Exposure to incorrect, biased media about otaku is forgiveable, but her insisting that Kirino give up the games for her sake strikes me as the act of an emotionally needy girl who must be loved without distraction—or else.

So now they’re no longer friends. Naturally, Kirino blames her brother. Without a reason to, he tries to repair the damage, even to Saori and Kuroneko, innocent bystanders in the first scene. Ayase remains the big problem. Kyousuke confronts Kirino about it and we get a typical unforced but overly-long scene where Kirino spits out the line above. They’ve lived for years indifferent to each other, so what IS he doing now? Maybe he’s trying to make up for lost time? Later Kyousuke manages an answer.

You never know how Kyousuke's interventions will turn out.

He talks to Ayase again and provides some further detail about a so-called otaku attack (which doesn’t change the situation much. What does one isolated incident prove?). Then up pops Kirino, who delivers her own impassioned (and too long) speech about what she is. Still no luck. Ayase still can’t accept the hobby. Step in again, big brother! And he does, with another speech from Mars that would normally get him locked up or moved to a different household at least. But in the middle of it he mentions the games Kirino has made him play, that they’ve allowed the two, for the first time, to develop a bond. The one true statement in a speech filled with incest talk. So it ends happily, except that Kyousuke has made himself even more of a social pariah, at least among his sister’s friends. I don’t know whether to tell him “good job!” or not.

In Otome Youkai Zakuro the gang gets to go to a fancy dress ball to track down some sort of spider woman. But that’s almost a side point here.

Susukihotaru and the twins are excited (and nervous) because they get to wear western-style clothes. Zakuro is pissed off for the same reason. And off they go. I had thought that this episode would feature Ganryu and the twins, and there is plenty of that, but each pairing gets some time of their own. Riken and Susu get the least, but they had an entire episode last week. The most interesting comes from Kei and Zakuro, the latter being crazy about Hanadata (who ironically is the next one bewitched by the black widow), the former, jealous. In a nice turnaround it’s Kei who rescues Zakuro from some bigoted soldiers.

Spirit Affairs representatives on patrol.

As for the trio, they’re supposed to be keeping an eye out for the black widow using flower petals, but they seem to be spending more time goofing off. It gets more frustrating when we know Hanadata has already been led away. And when they get the sign they dally some more. It’s one of my least favorite things when characters who should be racing to the scene stop and talk about things not important to the matter at hand. Railgun and Asobi ni Iku Yo are good examples. One good thing comes out of it. Ganryu learns that the girls get hurt if their petals are destroyed. His first thought is to keep them out of danger. Noble of him. But …

Ganryu might be noble, and brave, but against a giant spider made of bones his size and strength are no match, and it’s Bonburi and Hozuki who have to rescue him. It’s a telling and humiliating moment for a young officer who has nothing but noble intentions and aspirations. I wonder what the show will do next with it. Oh, the others are waylaid by those folks in robes, and the dying black widow spouts some prophetic lines about Zakuro’s past, proving the show remembers there IS an overall story arc. Apart from the dallying instead of acting, this was a good episode.

More fours: Imouto, Yosuga

Ore no Imouto 4 has two stories with a tiny causal link between them.

Alas, the show went there.

The first one goes to a place I regret. It was fun thinking of the show as a sort of sibling comedy with unsavory undertones, but to actually put Kyousuke and Kirino in that position, even if it was an accident (and why is it in anime when a boy finds himself on top of a girl, hand accidently on a boob, does he just freeze up in shock until she realizes or they’re discovered or both, rather than leaping right off?) goes too far in the unsavory direction. I liked this show because it had avoided doing that. And even if my morals hadn’t been offended, I disliked the first half for another reason. Kirino comes off as a spoiled little brat, and Kyousuke comes off as a spineless wimp for putting up with her. But I did like the odd attraction between Kyousuke and Ayase. They exchange phone numbers as if they both understand something without saying it. But that’s about the only good thing. Let’s move on.

Part two is much better. Kyousuke and the girls go to Comiket. Much of it is the usual: complaints about the heat, the long lines, the smelly people, but grumpy Kirino, guided by Saori, manages to have fun. The mood lightens. Even Kyousuke manages to cheer up. Part of the fun for us, and for Kyousuke and Saori, is watching Kirino and Ruri bicker. When Ruri wins a coveted disk and offers it to Kirino, neither of them can take it as a simple kind act from one friend to another. The slightly older and wiser Kyousuke and Saori can’t help but laugh, and I can’t take Kirino’s nastiness so seriously anymore.

So let’s go visit that other show with incestal undertones, Yosuga no Sora. Happily, they’ve veered away from that theme recently and replaced it with a more usual type of romance, masked by a story of a girl forgiving her father.

Akira has collapsed. Kazuha, who says she’s dedicated to her illegitimate sister, blames herself and says it’s because she’s been hanging out with Haruka too much, putting a temporary brake on the romance. What happens next is pretty much straightforward. Akira knows the two like each other and wants them to get along, and so, obviously, does Haruka. But how to make her stop pushing herself for the wrong things, like hating her dad in spite of herself?

Akira lays it on the line.

The progression is pretty dull at times. On the other hand it was nice to see bubbly Akira’s thoughtful side. When she and Kazuha meet she pretty much explains it all to her, leaving Kazuha in a four-day funk that slows the episode down. Leave it to some snooping by Haruka and stumbling upon a scene between Akira and the father to break down Kazuha’s defenses.

Straightforward, sort of dull. I like the characters so it’s okay. All that follows is a viola solo by Kazuha for Akira and Haruka, and some sex. Both go on a bit long. This show gets kind of messy. It’s great to look at, it can be elegant, but the fanservice somewhat spoils the mood. Also, for all its prettiness the storyline is pretty routine. Maybe that’s why they’ll do a flashback from the end of episode 2 next time. Is this so Haruka can bag Akira next? Is the show turning into Amagami SS, only we get to see the consummations?

More threes: Imouto, Yosuga

Ore no Imouto 3 starts out happily enough.

She's not THAT happy. This is a photo shoot.

Kirino’s got her friends and Kyousuke thinks he can get on with his life. We get this for about a third of the episode, too long. They established this equilibrium last week; there was no need to see so much more of the cheerful otaku bickering or Kyousuke talking with Manami. Just a little would have been enough. It doesn’t help that the show’s biggest weakness so far have been drawn-out conversations (though that’s about to change). After a while I was just waiting for something to happen. And it does.

Their father discovers the sister eroge inside the anime girl DVD box and threatens to throw them all out. The episode picks up steam. There’s an actual good conversation where the siblings talk it out, Kyousuke playing the voice of reason (well, as far as reason goes with their dad) and Kirino defending her passions. Those anime and games are part of her; she can’t get rid of them and remain whole. We’ve heard this from her before, but, as Kyousuke says, it’s a good answer anyway, and we’ll hear it again, but from an unlikely person.

Well, if you put it that way ...

Now Kyousuke takes action. We get an even better conversation when he confronts his father and does an excellent job convincing him that the okaku stuff isn’t hurting Kirino. However, there’s the problem that she owns games intended for adults only. In a series that plays around with the brother-sister dynamic Kyousuke must make an older-brother type sacrifice. You wonder why he’s doing it. He and Kirino aren’t exactly close, but he knows how much it means to her, BUT he’s already rescued her anime collection. That’s a decent compromise. Instead he places himself in the path of his father’s fist. Though it’s funny that he recycles Kirino’s speech from before.

Well, it’s certainly heroic of him. But now that they’ve played that card what is the show going to turn to next?

Yosuga no Sora 3 starts like the second—by explaining away the possibly embarrassing misunderstanding.

At least Haruka brings it up. When the issue is settled we get a little plot: Akira and Kazuha are half-sisters, and we learn a little why Kazuha doesn’t like her father and why she’s so devoted to Akira. This sets up a theme of protection for this episode. Both Haruka and Kazuha watch closely over people related to them, and with this similarity we see the two begin to fall for each other.

This falling is both smooth and a bit quick, but we have to remember that they are adolescents. Junichi takes the lead. He volunteers to help her prepare for the annual festival, and after her father visits takes her to a game center. The father, by the way comes off as a thoroughly decent man. You also get flashbacks of the young Kazuha getting praise from him. You begin to suspect he’s the reason she still plays the viola. She has every right to hate him, but, well, these things are complicated.

The quick romance works because Haruka outdoes Amagami’s Junichi in not only reading a girl’s moods and working with them, but knowing just the right thing to say and do. Also, the artists must have worked overtime to make sure Kazuha looks adorable in every scene she’s in. She’s adorable with she’s blushing, when she’s mad, flustered, whenever. And the next thing you know they’re making out in the middle of the road. The other characters stay mainly to the side. Every now and then Sora will give a dirty look, and at the end of the episode Akira collapses, so we know what’s on for episode 4.

Ore no Imouto 2

I suspect that the long scene in Ore no Imouto 1 may have been there to set us straight as to exactly what this show will be about and not be about. It will be about Kirino and Kyousuke and the otaku world, it will NOT be about incest or even the hint of it. Add to the fact that the episode was relatively calm and characters behaved normally, especially for a series of this nature, and I was pleasantly surprised. I’m happy to say that episode two not only keeps all of that, it’s funnier to boot.

We start with Kirino’s dilemma. She is a normal, nay, fashionable girl with normal friends, but none of them share her passion for otaku stuff. They would look down on her if they even knew about it. Kyousuke suggests she go to online social sites to find similar-minded girls, and the next thing you know she’s being invited to a real-life get-together of female otakus. No warning bells go off in their heads, nothing about the consequences of meeting people you just met online. Well, Kyousuke is forced to come along, just in case. The meeting place is, natch, a maid cafe.

So far so good. We get some fish out of water bits with Kyousuke and the maid waitress who calls him “big brother,” and the official meeting where it’s Kirino’s turn to feel out of place. She looks too fashionable for them. It looks like a bust until Saori, the leader, catches up and invites them to an after-party of sorts. It’s here that the episode takes off. Saori is tall, geeky and wears crazy glasses but she’s earnest about what she likes and eager for people in her group to be friends. I like her already. The other after-partier is a little gothy thing nicknamed Kuroneko who starts out by insulting Kirino and her tastes. Kirino fires right back. Soon the nasty comments underscore a sort of dueling anime sequence; it’s magical girl vs masked vampire noir while the soundtrack plays a catchy ska.

Saori is right. These girls aren’t just arguing, they’re bonding in their own way. Undoubtedly she’s seen it before and it’s what she wants to see: geeks making friends. They continue to bicker while visiting Akirabara stores, each side scoring points, and before you know it Kirino has made otaku friends. I now wonder where they’ll take the series from here. They’ve established that the father disapproves of all of this, so naturally we’ll eventually see them work with that. Kyousuke seems to think his work is done but you know that can’t be true. As for me, I’ve seen enough that I’ll trust for now whatever they decide to give us.

More ones: MM!, Samurai Girls, Ore no Imouto

To be honest from what I heard about these three shows I thought I could watch them in one night and have the pleasure of dropping three shows from my schedule. Trouble is, only one was outright bad.

MM! is all about Tarou, a first-year student (like everyone in anime, it seems) who has a hardcore masochistic streak. The show gives us ample opportunity to see this in action, in fact, most of the show is Tarou getting abused and getting off on it (with a strange clicky button in the corner). Well, it seemed like most of the show. Maybe it was less. It just SEEMED like most of the show. And it is painful to watch. However, the pain I felt, unlike Tarou’s, was not a means to a pleasurable end.

This image is all you need to know about this series.

His sympathetic friend Tatsukichi suggests he talk to the Second Volunteeer Club about his problem. Now, many among you will say that it’s not a problem at all, that’s just the way he’s wired, but he sees it as an obstacle to confessing to Shihori, the girl of his dreams. So he goes to the club and meets Mio, who beats him up. Then she beats him up some more. The next day she beats him up again. What’s more, the two aren’t the only ones with issues. The nurse Michiru pours scalding water on him. Shy Yuuno beats him up when he accidentally touches her.

Tarou isn’t a complete loser. He shows kindness to Tatsukichi when his friend’s own problem comes up. And, with a sister and mother who smother him with love, we see why Tarou might want some pain in his life. The problem is the pain carried over to me. This was excruciating to watch. I haven’t had such a slow 25 minutes in a long time. Dropped.

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls isn’t as flat-out weird as Star Driver, but so far it’s running second. We start out with a montage of great Japanese samurai battles with narrator, but they take it a bit far, like into the 20th century. I mean, samurai girls not wearing much take down B-52s. All done in a far older art style. I’m interested already. Oh, and then there’s this:

Our hero, as yet unnamed, arrives in town to attend a Samurai academy and finds the dojo he’s to stay at infiltrated by Sanada and Matabe, who we learn are members of the “demonized” Toyotomi group. While much of this is your average infodump scene we’ve left the serious samurai world temporarily (apart from the artwork) to throw in some gags more worthy of a high school comedy. Boob jokes, stuff like that. It continues in this vein when Hattori, a Student Council (and, I suppose, local samurai) bigwig arrives with a gang of women warriors to take the rebels in.

There’s fighting and running around. While everyone uses swords there’s plenty of modern technology lying about too, but no guns. The hero sides with the rebel girls, the girl in the globe appears, named after a family that trains samurai, or something like that. We don’t learn the hero’s name but we learn his station. Boy, is Sanada in for a surprise! It’s episode one, so it’s very confusing, but just great to look at. I’ll keep this one for a while.

There’s not going to be anything exciting or innovative about Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (henceforth called Ore no Imouto or something shorter), but it has a couple of things going for it.

And a couple of things that don’t. Our hero, Kyousake, finds an eroge game disk in a magical girl box, which leads him to the usual scenes where he tries to hide it from his parents and at the same time figure out who owns it, even though we figured it out long ago. It’s a shame because up until then I had been enjoying the surprisingly relaxed pace. Maybe because it was a relief after Samurai Girls. Sorry to say that the pace later gets too relaxed during a LONG scene between the siblings.

On the other hand, for its slightly twisted situation (Kyousake discovers his younger sister Kirino is addicted to eroge games about younger sisters) there’s almost nothing in the episode suggesting anything really disgusting. In those little moments when it might Kirino gets disgusted and calls him names. “Don’t confuse 2-D and 3-D!” If it stays that way this dynamic between them could be quite enjoyable. They bicker well. Kyousake has enough snark to overcome his blandness. Kirino can be abusive and conspiratorial in turns. And though I complained about the pace I can toss out that long scene as an inevitable episode 1 infodump and hope it doesn’t repeat. Otherwise the show moved at its own peaceful speed with no slapstick or nuttiness getting in the way. It feels more sober than I expected. I got a strange Haruhi vibe from the classroom scene, with Kyousake channeling Kyon about having a quiet life, and the homeroom teacher wearing a tracksuit, or maybe that’s just me. I’m a little surprised, but I’m going to keep watching, at least for now.