Recap: Kirino’s roommate and friendly rival from America arrives in Japan for a visit. The Kousakas show her around Akihabara before she proposes a race.

Jel’s Thoughts: As dumb as Oreimo can be, I usually defend it for keeping its perversions in check and generally hinting at things instead of smashing them in your face. Aside from an occasional rustle of Kirino’s fully clothed backside, I give them credit for taking on fairly low brow material with a little bit of dignity. NOT ANYMORE! This was by far the worst episode of the entire series and possibly the worst episode of anything I’ve watched all season.

The red flags begin immediately as the opening shot is Kyousuke walking in to see Kirino’s friend Ria totally naked, who it’s worth noting is only 12 years old and looks like she’s 8. The next two thirds of the episode manage to crank in more naked skin, panty shots and yelling “ONII-CHAN!” than the entire series combined. Perhaps the content itself is pretty tame compared to some other shows, but for a series that generally avoids that kind of thing it was pretty shocking. It doesn’t help that it all stems from incredibly dumb stock ecchi anime moments, like Ria bursting into to the bath to jump in with her new Onii-chan. SHE’S AMERICAN, WHY DOES SHE EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS????

What’s worse is after of all of that Oreimo tries to shoehorn in a supposedly emotional relationship development between Kirino and Kyousuke, in which he proudly proclaims he is not a lolicon, but a siscon! Really??? I know better than to take any relationship teasing between the Kousakas too seriously, but this was just so…. blatant. By the end when they are trying to explain that Kirino ran her best because of her brother’s love, I could do nothing more than laugh at how much of a trainwreck this episode was.

For the sake of balance I will point out the sole good thing this episode – Ria showing up Kirino. Taking her down a notch has been a long time coming I suppose, but it’s overwhelmed by how bad everything else was. Maybe I’m being naive but I really did think Oreimo was better than this. Even though I have a vague idea of what happens next, Kirino’s parting line asking Kyousuke to be her boyfriend was the final bullet that killed my desire to watch anymore. Even as a tease, it was probably the most appropriately awful way they could have ended this episode. I will try to stick things out for Kuroneko’s story, and least it can’t get any worse than this… right?

Lifesong’s Thoughts: Originally I wasn’t planning on watching this anime. I somewhat enjoyed the first season, but most of my memories are of how much I hated Kirino. All that said I hate being left out of the loop, so when Jel offered to catch me up on the OVA and new season I took him up on the offer. Then this happened… This whole episode is absolutely incredible.

One scene in particular really sums up this whole episode. Our poor unsuspecting American imouto wanders off in Akibahara. Well we all know that can’t end well, but it not ending well is not even the best part. She winds up in a place she really shouldn’t be and finds a book with a young girl on the cover that looks like herself. She opens the book and starts crying… yeahhh, but that is not even the best part! What really makes this scene is the look of judgement in the eyes of the other costumers. Do they break the 4th wall with their gaze? Maybe not, you can decided that for yourself, but it sure felt that way to me.

Dragonzigg’s Thoughts: Pointless, pandering tripe that exposes the dishonesty at the heart of Oreimo better than any of the episodes that came before it. The show has always tried to have its cake and eat it but the irony of Kirino’s repeated lolicon accusations accompanied by skirt flipping and bath scenes is surely lost only on the very densest viewer. This episode is just creepy and the attempt to attach any sort of emotional hook or core to it is laughable, especially since the supposed message (that while Kirino was in America she missed her family and friends) had already been resolved at the end of last season. Instead, we’ve got HILARIOUS jokes about exposing minors to hardcore pornography and barely concealed wish fulfillment that disappears into a taxi at the end of the show, thus perfectly fulfilling the no-strings-attached otaku fantasy. In conclusion…