“Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai” is a long damn title – so I’m going to go with “Oreimo” which seems acceptable to the manga readers who probably realized they were wasting hours of their life using the full title.

That was…weird. I will give the series some points for originality. No question that incest and shota traps are the “new moe” – the big trends in anime in 2010. But here’s a twist on the wincest theme – it’s an imouto who has an imouto fetish! She – brown-haired girl she is – even says “Imoutos should have black hair and twintails!” She has a rather tsundere relationship with her big brother Kyosuke – she treats him like dirt, but when he accidentally finds out about her secret – she’s hopelessly addicted to imouto-themed eroge – she suddenly seems to see him as a life coach. She has another secret too – she’s a highly successful model, which is how she funds her R-18 Jones. Kyosuke is rather mature about the whole thing – he tells her she doesn’t needs to be ashamed of her hobby and that he’ll help her hide it from their prudish dad – but things get a little weird when she forces him to play one of her games in her presence.

If all this sounds incredibly creepy and highly bizarre, I suppose it is – but you know, it somehow worked for me. I enjoy this kind of meta-humor if it’s done well, and so far it is – the dialogue is sharp, the situation comedy well-timed, and AIC’s animation quality is reliably good. I had vibes of B Gata H Kei, actually – a show that appeared on the surface to be going for shock-value and titillation ended up being something smart, funny and genuinely moving at times. Thing is, I’m not at all sure where they’re going with this – is this going to be a wincest story, something more wholesome and heartwarming, a straight-up sex farce? I’m definitely interested in finding out the answer to that question, though I feel like I should take a shower after admitting that fact. Sign me up for episode 2!