Oreimo: Keeping Incest En Vogue

     After three years and 32 episodes Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (more commonly abbreviated to Oreimo) has come to an end.  This series continues a couple different trends currently seen in anime.  One: using an entire sentence for the title.  And two: incest.  The title translates to My Little Sister Can't be this Cute.  It is the story of an older brother, Kyosuke Kosaka, and his younger sister, Kirino Kosaka.  They have been estranged for several years when we are introduced to them and have a very tense relationship.  All this is changed one day when Kyosuke discovers an eroge (erotic/porn game) laying on the floor after a literal run-in with his sister.  He picks it up and takes it to his room so his parents don't find it and lay blame on him for possessing such filth.  That night Kirino goes looking for the lost game and ultimately reveals to her brother that she is an otaku whose primary obsession is imouto (little sister) eroge.  This secret reignites the bonds between the two siblings and they embark on a journey of personal growth while dealing with the taboo feelings that are slowly developing between them.

     When I first heard the name of this show I was already mentally preparing for the worst.  I'm not a fan of anime whose main story trope is incest, it's not a fetish that I'm into.  That's who these types of shows generally cater to, it's not my thing but "to each their own."  Surprisingly, after the first few episodes I was hooked!  I was enamored with the perspective they chose to take with Kirino's 'affliction' of being an otaku and how her brother decides to help her instead of shunning her.  I could relate to her on a few levels and that drew me in.  Over the course of the first season we see Kirino's social life blossom as she comes to be more open with her new otaku friends thanks to the aide from her brother.  We also see the bond between Kousaka and Kirino strengthen, even if their love for one another does take a turn that will make some uncomfortable.

     Season two focuses almost entirely on the evolving relationship between Kirino and her brother.  We also learn the back-stories of most of the supporting cast, an aspect of this season that I really enjoyed.  I'll do my best not to spoil anything so fret not!  They actually do a great job of exploring the love the siblings have for one another in a fairly tasteful way.  Things certainly do get uncomfortable and a bit creepy at times but it never really crosses any taboo boundaries.  When it's all said and done, both Kirino and Kyosuke come out of the experience as better people.  While I didn't enjoy season two as much as season one I really liked the series overall.  I would definitely recommend this show to people provided they can stomach a bit of incest.

     Now to address the real question: What's with all the stories involving incest in anime and manga?  The answer is more simplistic than one might think.  Real-life incest is just as taboo and illegal in Japan as it is here in the U.S.  The difference is that the Japanese seem to be superior when it comes to separating fantasy and reality.  There are so many stories involving incest because they accept it for what it is, a story and nothing more.  If the same story was played out in a news article most would find it disgusting, but when it is in the form of anime, manga, and/or eroge it is simply viewed as a sub-genre of entertainment and barely given a second thought.  Incest-centric titles may never be as popular with American otaku as they are with their Japanese counterparts but I hope this explanation makes the concept a little easier to swallow.  Cultural differences play a huge role in how topics are viewed.  What is taboo in one culture may be commonplace in another.  I try to keep an open mind but my cultural schemata makes accepting things like incest very difficult.  That's why I'll be keeping my family in the friend zone!

Main characters Kirino and Kyosuke (background).