So we come to the end of Oreimo for real this time, a series that’s had more endings than Return of the King.  Until we get a sequel, anyway.

The animated commentaries for this series have been among the most interesting of any anime I can remember.  They’re playful, smart, funny, and shed real insight on the series and its characters.  This is meta-reality at its finest, and while I’m disappointed we didn’t get a “MasChera” commentary after last volume’s “Mereru”, they still provided a nice cap on the series as whole.

Things were played pretty straight in the commentary for episode 15, but 14 was the usual craziness we’ve come to expect.  It started out normal enough with Manami joining Kyousuke, but nutjob Ayase shows up soon enough to shake things up.  She puts Kyou on trial for “changing girls like underpants”, but the only evidence she can produce is based on the game, drama CDs and the extras themselves.  Still, it’s enough to convict when your defense attorney is the witless Kanako.  The producers love to get the plugs and teasers in for all their other media, that’s for sure – I know I’m curious about this business of Kanako calling Mamami “Master”.

The final commentary featured all four of the main cast, and was really focused on bringing some closure to the main relationships in the story.  Saori is largely an observer in the anime in this area rather than a participant, which makes her presence in the commentary seem a bit odd – but she fills the role of agitator and troublemaker quite well.  Kuroneko’s scene on Kyou’s bed is presented as evidence she was trying to seduce him, and given that it might have been then hottest scene of the year I’m not prone to argue.  The tone of the commentary makes it pretty clear that the incest route is very much alive and well and has been all along, though.  There’s a nice moment as Kirino confesses her love for her brother (though she lamely tries to pretend it was a joke afterwards) and Kyousuke’s role as main character is acknowledged as the others leave the summing up to him.

There’s a little joke about “not being able to do a sequel” now that Kirino has confessed, but that would honestly defy every bit of logic and precedent.  Here we have a series that’s been hugely successful on DVD, is thriving in the LN and manga format, and remains a popular franchise among otaku.  Why in the world wouldn’t AIC make a sequel?  I’ll be surprised if we don’t see at least a couple of OVAs in the next year.   While we wait, this is a nice way to cap things off – I only wish all extras were as clever and entertaining as these.