Recap: Kyousuke and Kirino’s parents are starting to get suspicious as the two seem to be getting along really well. As a result, their father decides Kyousuke should temporarily live on his own so he can focus on his studies. All out Harem Warfare breaks out as he is visited in succession by Kirino, Kanako, Ayase, and Kuroneko at his new apartment.

Jel’s Thoughts: At this point Oreimo has pretty much thrown things like “plot”, “character development”, and “established relationships” out the window and turned into a straight up dating sim. Kicking out Kyousuke temporarily on his own was just a downright lazy way to buy him some alone time with the girls. Since the writer doesn’t want to put any effort into the story anymore, I’m going to follow suit by skipping further formalities and saying a few words about each girl and why their part of the episode was bad:

Kirino: Why did their parents automatically assume she was gettin’ it on with Kyousuke just because they’re getting along better? THAT’S NOT NORMAL. And no, I don’t care about that heart sticker they keep carting out, that’s still not enough to assume your kids are romantically in love with each other. The most cringeworthy bit of course was Kirino’s promise to do whatever Kyousuke wants if he gets an A on his test, both for how terribly cliché that line is and, of course, the incest thing. Sadly if you’re still enjoying Oreimo I suppose that argument is falling on deaf ears at this point.

Kanako: While part of me wanted to appreciate Kanako being somewhat pro active with her feelings and smart enough to figure out who Kyousuke was, that was pretty much ruined by the fact that A. her interest in him is totally out of left field and serves no purpose to the story and B. they apparently needed to give her some personality and carted out the old “I’m learning how to cook will you try it for me” move. Kanako does not need to be anything more than one of Kirino’s “normal” friends and Fake Meruru. That’s it. Anymore is a waste of time.

Ayase: If there was any question about Ayase’s intentions last week, they seem to be pretty clear now. Rather than being cute, her inability to come out and say it was just frustrating. Nice job upping Kyousuke’s creep factor by having him google “Aragaki Ayase Erotic Photos”, I know he’s never made out to be a paragon of virtue but his obsession with her seems out of character. Speaking of which…

Kuroneko: I was surprised to see Kuroneko make an appearance, and if there was any positive to this episode it was her verbal smackdown of the tongue tied Ayase. Everything else about their encounter though was SUPER DUMB. I mentioned this before, but didn’t she break up with Kyousuke? Why is she still basically acting like his girlfriend? Also the logic of both her and Ayase’s argument about who was the better friend to Kirino was mind numbingly stupid. Ayase thinks she’s better because she supports Kyousuke not dating and hurting Kirino’s feelings, and yet has been subtly coming on to him for two episodes? Kuroneko thinks she’s better because she would gladly let Kirino have sex with Kyousuke if that’s what she wants? It boggles my mind how this stupidity ever got published and turned into an anime. By the time the completely shoehorned Chuunibyou style imaginary battle started, I could only laugh to try and keep my sanity. Needless to say, the train is officially wrecked, and I’ve already written more words about this episode than I wanted to.