“Oreimo 2” is a fantastic conclusion to this fun and entertaining anime series! “Oreimo 2: Limited Edition Complete Box Set” is recommended!
Image courtesy of © Tsukasa Fushimi/ASCII Media Workshop/OIP 2. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Oreimo 2: Limited Edition Complete Box Set
SERIES AIR DATE: 2013
DURATION: 13 Episodes (400 Minutes) + 3 ONA episodes
DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 Letterboxed, Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Aniplex
RATED: 13 and Up
RELEASE DATE: August 5, 2014
Directed by Hiroyuki Kanbe
Originally created by Tsukasa Fushimi
Original Character Designs by Hiro Kanzaki
Series Composition by Hideyuki Kurata
Music by Satoru Kousaki
Character Designs by Hiroyuki Oda, Fumitoshi Oizaki, Gou Suzuki, Jimmy Stone, Kumi Ishii, Nozomi Goto, Shougo Hanagami, Toshifumi Akai
Art Director: Koji Okamoto
Anime Production: AIC/AIC Build
Featuring the following voice talent:
Ayana Taketatsu as Kirino KÅsaka
YÅ«ichi Nakamura as KyÅsuke KÅsaka
Akeno Watanabe as Yoshino KÅsaka
Fumihiko Tachiki as Daisuke KÅsaka
Hitomi Nabatame as Saori Bajiina
Kana Hanazawa as Ruri Gokou (Kuroneko)
Saori Hayami as Ayase Aragaki
Satomi Satou as Manami Tamura
Yukari Tamura as Kanako Kurusu/ Meruru / Kurara Hoshino
Kyousuke brings Kirino home from America where she attended a special track and field camp. Surrounded by her friends, Kirino gradually gets her life back to normal. In stark contrast to her friends is Kyousuke, who is unhappy with Kirino’s attitude towards him. She has been ignoring him since she came home, as if their relationship had gone back to how it had been a year earlier. But then Kirino does something for Kyousuke…
Sis-Con. The shortened word for “Sister Complex” and is typically showcased in anime as a strong brother and sister bond and of course, in extremes, it can be showcased as incestual relationships.
But “Sister Complex” has been featured in anime and while the most extreme form is usually reserved towards hentai anime, writer Tsukasa Fushimi along with illustrator Hiro Kanzaki decided to give a comedic, upbeat spin to the whole topic in their 2008 light novel series “Ore no ImÅto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai” (shortened name: “Oreimo”).
A manga adaptation of the light novel was featured on ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki G’s Magazine and in 2010, the 12-episode anime TV series received its anime adaptation, with four additional episodes streamed on the official website and on video streaming sites in the Spring of 2011. Followed by a 13-episode sequel in 2013 and the three final ONA episodes.
Aniplex has released “Oreimo 2” on DVD in the U.S. featuring a limited edition complete box set featuring all 13-episodes, 3 ONA episodes, 16 postcards, 44-page booklet, poster and 2-sided DVD cover.
What is “Oreimo” all about?
“Oreimo” is a series that takes place in Chiba and focuses on a 17-year-old named Kyosuke Kosaka.
Kyosuke and his 14-year-old sister Kirino have not gotten along for years and often wonders why he never is treated with kindness like other younger sisters and their brothers. In fact, each time she looks at him, it’s as if she is repulsed by him.
And the more he hears about younger sisters, it starts to tick him off.
But one day, while Kirino was leaving to join some friends, she accidentally drops a DVD of an anime series and inside the DVD is an eroge (erotic/adult) video game. This can’t possibly be Kirino’s DVD. Afterall, she is the top of her class, she is popular in school, she’s a track star, she’s a model and she has no connection to anime/video games at all.
But it does interest him to see if there is a possibility that the anime or game can be hers. So, when he starts to tease about the situation in front of Kirino, Kirino tries to pretend its not hers. So, when he asks if Kirino can throw it in the trash, she is unable to. And for the first time, Kyosuke’s little sister reveals her double life. She’s an otaku.
She loves a magical girl anime series and she is also an otaku that owns a lot of eroge and moe (hardcore fan of younger girl style of characters in anime, manga and video game series).
Afraid that her brother would blab about her secret otaku life, she is surprised that Kyosuke accepts her the way she is and has no problems with it. And because he is open to her sister’s hobby, it opens things up for a true brother and sister relationship that Kyosuke had wanted (as well as what Kirino has wanted).
So, Kyosuke tries to help his sister with her hobby by finding otaku friends which includes the mecha fan and “Anime Girls Unite!” club leader, Saori Makishima and Kuroneko, a girl who is a tsundere-type (a cold attitude) that dresses up in gothic lolita outfits and the complete opposite of Kirino (thus the two having a not-so-friendly relationship). Meanwhile, trying to balance her life with her real friends, fellow models Ayase Aragaki and Kanako Kurusu.
And for older brother, Kyosuke will do whatever it takes to have this strong relationship with his sister, but this relationship tends to freak Kirino’s friends who joke around that the two have a “Sis-Con” type of relationship.
“Oreimo 2”
For the sequel, “Oreimo 2”, Kyosuke wants to be be truthful about his feelings towards his sister Kirino, and Kirino the same for her older brother. But what happens when Kyosuke’s female friends start to confess their love for him?
The main characters of “Oreimo” are:
- Kyousuke Kosaka – The main character. A 17-year-old who lives a normal life and wants to have a real brother and sister relationship with his younger sister Kirino, but for years, she has acted as if she is repulsed by him. But he still wants to protect her and he starts to develop.
- Kirino Kosaka – Kyousuke’s younger sister. She is mature for her age but acts very cold and even repulsed towards her older brother. She is a model, top student in her class, track star and is popular but she has a secret double life and that is that she is an otaku who is passionate towards a children’s anime series “Stardust Witch Meruru” and loves moe and eroge games. She often uses her modeling money to fund her hobby and tries her best to keep her hobbies secret from her friends. She is easily frustrated when Kysouke is around other girls, especially towards Manami.
- Manami Tamura – Kyousuke’s childhood friend. Manami is a girl with glasses and is described as being a plain, normal girl. She likes Kyousuke and her family tries to do all they can to get Kyousuke and Mani together alone. Kyousuke thinks that Manami’s mannerisms are like an older lady.
- Saori Makishima – The leader of “Anime Girls Unite!”. A big Gundam fan, big otaku with big glasses and has a great body. Always trying to keep the balance between Kirino and Kuroneko.
- Ruri Goko/Kuroneko – The complete opposite of Kirino. She loves dark things, can’t stand sugary magical girl anime and it leads her to be at odds with Kirino. She is also the older sister two two younger sisters and envy’s Kirino of having an older brother who takes care of her. So, she starts calling Kyousuke “nii-san” (brother).
- Ayase Aragaki – Kirino’s best friend, classmate and a fellow model. She’s rather quiet but when someone lies at her, she gets very upset and violent. She dislikes Kyousuke, thinking that he is responsible for Kirino being an otaku.
- Kanako Kurusu – Kirino’s friend, classmate and fellow model. She has a photographic memory when it comes to memorizing songs. She also has a bratty attitude.
- Daisuke Kosaka/Yoshino Kosaka – Daisuke is Kyousuke and Kirino’s strict father and Yoshino is their loving mother.
- Kohei Akagi – Kyousuke’s classmate who also tries to support his sister’s otaku hobby.
- Sena Akagi – Kohei’s younger sister who is a brainiac when it comes to programming and fixing glitches in games. She’s also hardcore into yaoi (guy and guy action) and often has dreams of her guy friends doing yaoi things to each other.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Oreimo 2” is presented in 16:9 LB and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0.
AIC has done a solid job with the animation for “Oreimo” in the fact that it’s one of those series that doesn’t reuse scenes constantly over and over again. Each scene, it’s like there is something new for the characters and the colors are vibrant and for the most part, the characters are often mobile, going outdoors, going to events, so it’s a pretty cool series when it comes to the overall look.
I also like the creative endings shown after each series and showcasing various artistic styles. And the styles are featured in the included postcards that come with the “Oreimo 2” limited edition box set.
As for the audio, the audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. For me, I chose to have stereo on all channels in order to have a more immersive soundtrack but for the most part, audio is crystal clear and the optional English subtitles are easy to read.
So, for the most part, I was pleased with the anime series and I hope that maybe Aniplex considers this title for a future Blu-ray release.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Oreimo 2” comes with the following special features:
- SD Character Preview – (6:32) SD versions of the characters Kyousuke and Kirino.
- Galge Style Short Movies: New Year’s First Shrine Visit/Valentine’s Day – (44:08) In Eroge fashion, the story plays out like an erotic video game with two different storylines (note: A lot of reading with some vocals).
- Web Previews
- Textless opening and ending themes
EXTRAS:
And this is where Aniplex really went all out! Included in the “Oreimo 2: Limited Edition Complete Box Set” are the following items: 16 postcards, 44-page booklet of character designs and original DVD/BD cover gallery, Original Poster, 2-Sided DVD Cover.
Fun, hilarious and highly entertaining… “Oreimo 2” was rather interesting because the writers really tried to escalate the taboo nature of the sister complex that Kyousuke had for his sister.
If anything, the writers knew rather well how people would feel about the series as we see brother and sister become closer until the final episode when all is revealed and you can’t help but feel content of how the writers managed to conclude the series.
But I have to admit, there were times when I was saying to myself, “oh…don’t go there!” but I’m glad I stuck with this series from beginning to end.
If you stuck with both the first series and this second, “Oreimo” ended up being is a fun and hilarious take on an otaku lifestyle and one brother wanting to reconnect with his younger sister and have that brother and sister bond that he had desperately wanted for years. And when big brother Kyousuke discovers younger sister, Kirino’s secret otaku lifestyle, it ends up bringing the two together and possibly helping build that bond between brother and sister that had been lost for years.
In anime series, you often see the younger sister taking care of the older sibling when it comes to waking them up for school, serving them food and it’s a part of Japanese pop culture that I have seen in dramas, anime and manga series. Where there is a bit more family support as opposed to the individual perspective that we see in America.
When I think about it…sure, we used to see brother and sister bonding on ’70s and ’80s shows such as “The Brady Bunch”, “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Mr. Belvedere” and “Growing Pains” but the more I think about it today, those type of series have disappeared from American television. But in Japan, television still tries to show the connection between family especially between brothers and sisters and “Oreimo” tries to incorporate that.
And because these two are constantly arguing with each other, they do want to very much have a brother and sister relationship and because it seems anything but normal, their friends wonder what is up with these two and thus the “sister complex” jokes come up, especially since Kirino is into those type of video games that are moe and eroge.
And despite those games not being so “cool” or even disturbing for Kyousuke, he is open to playing them with his sister because it’s a big step in creating that brother and sister bond.
And of course, there is that otaku-lifestyle that the anime series tends to touch upon. We have seen it on series such as “Genshiken” and the otaku-lifestyle, especially one having a cool and popular lifestyle but then having otaku inspired tastes. Sure, there are stereotypes that all otaku are nerds but even I know a few people who try not to have those interests hidden and keep it a secret.
And in the case of both Kyosuke and Kirino, both have an obsession for eroge (erotic video games). So, it was rather fascinating to see how this series would play out in the end.
But it’s the way the stories are handles that makes it quite fun. But it’s the final three episodes that were not televised, that was rather interesting. And by episode 16, one can understand why these last three episodes were not televised but at the same time, all was necessary to provide closure for the series. And once again, I was quite content with how this series ended.
For those curious about “Oreimo 2”, one should not worry about any brother and sister action, this is not that type of series. Granted, there are moments where the two seem like they are going to engage into something unusual but the writers make sure that they tease the viewer than actually having the characters go through with any action. There is no sister complex scenes but possibly one when Kyousuke is holding a package that Kirino wants and the two fight over it that they fall. And of course, we get the fan service panty shot and Kyousuke landing on top of his sister while his hand happens to be on her breast while her friends look in shock.
That is probably the only scene where brother and sister get into any certain situations but outside of that, it’s a pretty tame anime series but it does have some mature language and a few fan service moments. But for the most part, for those wondering if it’s a sister complex anime series, “Oreimo” and “Oreimo 2” is not that type of series. The writers joke around the topic it but never gets serious.
As mentioned, you get all 13-episodes of the TV series, plus the three episodes that were only shown on the Website. But with this limited edition complete box set, you also get postcards, a booklet, poster and an irreversible cover.
While I did enjoy this series, if I had to think up of some negatives, it’s the fact that the series does not come with an English dub soundtrack. For me, I’m more biased towards watching anime in Japanese but I know a lot who are biased towards English dubs. The other thing that I can think of is for those who are wanting an HD release of this series. It’s out in Japan and I wouldn’t be surprised if Aniplex does consider this series for Blu-ray in the near future. I hope they do because there are not too many upbeat series like this out on Blu-ray in the U.S.
Overall, there’s nothing I can complain about this box set or the anime series. It was very entertaining and fun to watch and it’s probably one of the more fun anime comedies I have seen in recent years, especially one that is presented with so much fan swag. How awesome is that?
“Oreimo 2” is a fantastic conclusion to this fun and entertaining anime series! “Oreimo 2: Limited Edition Complete Box Set” is recommended!
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