I used to like [siscon->boku-wa-imouto-ni-koi-wo-suru]… but I hate it now. Because most of the time, especially this year, siscon wins, and my pick loses.
Let me count the ways (possible SPOILERS for those not watching)
true tears
This was the beginning of my frustration. After building up Noe for most of the series, some kind of wild deus ex machina led the guy back to Hiromi. Not that I hate the siscon in this one, but I hate the emoness of Hiromi. She is dark, moody, always looking sad. Noe is the light, positive, warm and fuzzy. Okay fine, I admit that in terms of story, true tears is actually well balanced. Equal opportunity was given to the two main girls, and also surprisingly a short but sweet oneshot for the third girl. But still, summing it all up, I choose the bright over the gloom.
[Kimikiss->kimikiss]
Technically still a siscon for me, because the guy calls her “Mao-neechan”. I don’t see how the guy would like Mao-neechan. It wasn’t fleshed out as much as I would have liked. Also, the shift just began out of nowhere, and in the final episode no less. In any case, as I said in my review, this anime seems open-ended enough to have some sequel, maybe college kimikiss rabu dorama is good.
Da Capo II
Well I forgot. Did he pick one here? I think it was some generic no-girl-wins anime. I played the [game->dc2] to death and so I had all the girl fix I needed, so I didn’t care who wins who in the anime. Besides, the ones in the running are “two” sisters, so I can never win here. Ah I know, the reason I was fawning about this anime was the lack of Nanaka. She had no arc. A whole half-season with Koko as girlfriend… and NO NANAKA ARC. Underdog Koko wins. Kotori fans lose again.
Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka
The latest addition. This is one of the worst reversals I have seen yet. The episodes are clearly aiming for my pick, the kawaii tsundere himesama Yuuhi. It had the best episode at 10, one that I myself was surprised. Usually in anime like this, girl or boy confess, then next day, tadah… they’re a school couple acting like they’ve been together for 5 years. In this one, it mirrors real-life feelings of worry. So, they said “I love yous”, now what? They don’t know how to move after this. Embarrassments. Not knowing how to act. Some things still not set. It’s cute! They really acted like a new couple madly in love but they still have some lingering worries.
But then the imouto starts to go emo over his nii-san. Out of the blue, because there was not enough focus for this kind of angle. I know the guy always mouthwaters over his sister Minato, but really, the WTF comes from the guy’s best friend (the sidekick guy). HOW DOES HE KNOW THE SISCON? He’s forcing some unneeded drama, saying “can you live without your sister”. HA? Suppose the brother has a gf, does it mean bags-a-packing separation already? Madness! Also, what the hell is the main guy… a worthless dependent? But he can cook and take care of himself even without Minato. He’s just lazy, so he depends on Minato for the chores. So I blame the sidekick too. That was out of line.
Insight (end spoilers)
There is a pattern with siscon:
Well most of the time, the imoutochan or oneesan seems eternally close to the guy. Typical setting is the unbelievable they-live-together-without-their-parents-style, and 90% of the time, they are not blood-related. Then there comes some exchange student / outsider person / some fiancee, a girl who will suddenly sneak into the guy’s life. Most of the time I tend to like the “outsider girl”, because the main guy in the anime is usually lousy, lazy, indecisive and irresponsible. 90% of harem male leads are this way. They always rely on their imouto/ane for food and house work while they idle around the house watching TV or bitching about their latest adventures with the other bishoujo girls. An outsider girl’s mission always seems to be to take the guy out of this norm. she will be an inspiration for change and an aspiration for the guy to try to be a better person. All the while the sister looks like she approves for some girls and relationships, while hiding her slowly changing feelings. After all, if you live together for some years, then some new thing comes barging in, there will be some distance slowly opening between you and your sibling. Changes. This is where the drama kicks in, because the years-old foundation will start to crumble. What will the guy choose… change? Or more of the same? (oof not election-related I hope)
Another problem with male leads like this is that they’re “too kind”. I guess kindness is what’s left after all the negative traits I mentioned earlier. That even if this guy has already established a relationship with one girl, he still acts as if he has a harem. Why not focus on your new relationship? This just gives the other girls, and most especially the sister, the wrong idea. Gah, even anime and eroge puts this error in dialogue. Many-a-bishoujo will say “You’re too kind” to the guy. The guy still looks indecisive EVEN with the decision already there. The sister gives in to the pressure, that slight light of hope that she can still “steal back” her beloved brother. And then, the limit will be reached, and so the emotions will flow…
…BAM! So I have summarized the sister viewpoint for 90% of all the bishoujo or harem anime out there. I’m starting to wear out of this. The siscon genre (genre?) needs some bright new angle soon, or else I shall cast them all to [choke sakura petals->da-capo].
Side note: bluemist has an imouto.
Siscon and Unrelated Siblings, only difference is that one is “safe”. ^_^’
The only type of incest I like is the one where they don’t know they are related…it makes for some good drama!! Too bad we don’t see it much…
Hmm…Now that I think about it, not a single series comes to mind…
I’ll never like Noe. No matter how many thousands of words you analyze TT’s symbolism, I won’t like Noe. She’s not realistic. But her surrealism is juxtaposed against Shinichiro’s down-to-earthness and the less freaky Hiromi, so it’s just like they made Noe hyperbolic for the sake of contrast. Seems panzy, a cheap way out of developing a realistic character (you did it for everyone else) that is just as capable of doing x, y and z.
But yeah, errrrr, I think that Koichi was hovering towards Mao for quite a few episodes. The final push was rushed yeah, but the ambivalence was set up well in advance. I don’t remember seeing an explicit reason for his shift to Mao other than that Hoshino was moving, but does there really need to be one? I guess it just happens, which is what happens in real life, maybe. The onee-chan was just to emphasize the cliche childhood friend part.
I feel like rewatching kimikiss now…AGAIN
53rg10: watch onegai twins (closest thing that comes to mind)
true tears is the only anime I will accept siscon in but I totally agree with you on the fact that bright people are so much better than the dull ones like Hiromi. Dude, she was so boring I would’ve slept through a minute of a conversation with her.
Anyway, it’s true what you say about the male leads being all the same lazy, dependable guys. I hate it how it’s all too typical and how there’s always that sister-person taking care after the guy like a bloody maid. I don’t think girls would do that in real life unless she was paid to be a maid. There should be an anime where the guy is cool … and then maybe I’d start liking these kind of shows.
I also hated how Koichi ended up with Mao … it was just all too wrong … so very wrong …
@lelangir: Actually, the people I hang with are quite like Noe in some ways — erratic.
@53rg10
Da Capo made me love siscon actually. Actually this is a double-siscon so you can’t escape either. Maybe it’s the initial impact, because back then it was the first of its kind to tackle the issue head-on. Nowadays I just pick a side where I like the girl, but usually it isn’t the imoutos so…
@lelangir
Come to think of it, yup she was the supernatural being in a down-to-earth set. Never met someone as weird as her in real life, but such is the charm of this character.
@blissmo
There’s an unspoken (or spoken) rule about how these animes should cater to their otaku audiences by making the male lead to “be” an otaku. This is for their wish-fulfillment. The otakus dream that they live these impossible circumstances in real life someday. Like a girl handed to them in a platter.
But you have a good idea, make the guy really lovable, as in “really”.
Your thoughts on True Tears have summoned me from hell!
You all forget that Hiromi was actually very bright and cheerful before her parents suddenly died and she got stuck with a foster-mom who hates her guts. Clearly instead of grieving and being upset that her chance with Shinichiro got perverted in this way, she should have lied to herself and been a genki nutcase like Noe.
Hiromi might be boring and sad for much of the series, but she goes and does something about it on her own. Noe just lies to herself about her pain until the pain of falling out of a tree drives some sense into her.
Furthermore, what does the inclusion of TT have to do with your point about siscon? You don’t really touch upon Jun and his siscon, which was immediately shot down; this disproves your initial thesis about how the siscon (Jun, but I suspect you are using “siscon” to mean “sister” when actually the “siscon” is the “person who loves sisters”) always wins.
Also, not all the girls had a chance, as Ai got totally screwed fairly quickly. I think it is silly for you to dismiss something like siscon simply because you always pick wrong. I’m not saying that siscon is great, but your reasoning is not convincing either.
People like siscon because it creates an easy duality of taboo and closeness. Siscon is basically the forbidden childhood friend with a dash of moe (typically).
Stop taking Akasaka so seriously. Besides all eroge are somewhat ridiculous, this one included.
INCEST IS WINCEST
Interesting that I supported the girls you ‘disliked’ in all the series 😛 It’s not so much about the siscon that the most compatible girl and by compatible I mean where the couple shares a bond/connection that no one can supercede. That’s the case for Hiromi and Mao. I love both Noe and Yuumi, especially Yuumi. But given the other girl’s long history, mutual understanding etc, choosing the childhood friend (note that the sister is a just an ultra powered up version of the childhood friend :P) is the right thing in my humble opinion. Essentially I support the girl that understands the guy most and that happens to be the sister in most well crafted romances 🙂
As for DCII, every one loses. XD DCIISS on the other hand was a great show where clearly Otome won 🙂 Hope you wouldn’t give up on good siscon just yet!
@lelangir: Onegai Twins did have that sort of incest, but they knew one of them were related to each other, they just didn’t know which one, and thus not as dramatic as not knowing until it’s too late…
Good series though! ^_^
@bluemist: Da Capo didn’t really tackle the issue head on, Junichi and Nemu weren’t really related and thus not really “siscon”.
I mean, yeah, he treated her like a sister and it felt weird seeing them fall in love with each other, but the anime that really tackled it and shoved it in our face making me feel weird, but oddly intrigued by it, was that “Boku ha Imouto ni Koi wo Suru” OVA that you reviewed.
But well, Da Capo was the first anime I saw that had that whole “I’m not related to my sister” type of siscon and planted the seed of my dislike for it. But will that make me stop watching anime with that all so cliche plot device? I think not! ^_^’
Good post and analysis–Akane-iro was definitely a letdown for me too…I agree ep 10 was good, but doing a 180 degree turn this late in the series to have him end up w/ Minato…ugh…
> Ah I know, the reason I was fawning about this anime was the lack of Nanaka. She had no arc. A whole half-season with Koko as girlfriend… and NO NANAKA ARC. Underdog Koko wins. Kotori fans lose again.
At least Kotori fans won’t lose for long–the Da Capo “If” OVA 12/25 will *finally* show us what would happen if Junichi picked Kotori ^_^
Sorry I’m late in approving the comments.
@Kabitzin
Hmmm, yup maybe I feel silly for dissing siscon just because the siscon (I mean the sister or the ‘siscon path’) almost always wins. Kinda shallow, but I’m also trying to make a point though about how cliche “sister” stories are in my insights. When the girl who wins always have the same story about her being the foster imouto or oneechan blah blah, I tend to cringe because it seems the same story from many other similar anime.
@IcyStorm
I only took Akasaka seriously because when it got serious on the story it finally became a good watch. The rest of the series was average IMO.
@53RG10
Well all my examples are actually non-blood-related. I mean “siscon” when the guy treats her as/like a sibling.
@suguru
WOW, that’s nice! Da Capo with Kotori focus? I hope it’s as good as the one-shot episode of Tomoyo in Clannad.
Hiromi is totally not sisucon, as with Mao. In both cases the couples view each other as close, but non-romantic friends at first. I would stress the term friends. That is not how you view your siblings–your sister is your sibling. It’s family.
I think this is a very important distinction if you want to look at a real sisucon pairing, say, Koikaze or Kimikiss’s Nana.
To split hairs, there are two very distinct types of sisucon factors. One is the taboo that someone mentioned, the other is actually the childhood friend stereotype. Of course, when the story plays with a foster setup it can get dicey, but it depends on the main character’s struggle as to determine the type of relationship.
> WOW, that’s nice! Da Capo with Kotori focus? I hope it’s as good as the one-shot episode of Tomoyo in Clannad.
I know…a “Kotori ending” OVA seems too good to be real, like the Anime Gods listened to what I really wanted for Christmas this year 🙂 Now my mortal fear is that no one will sub it, but I’m sure there are enough Kotori fans out there that won’t happen. I guess it’s actually a two-part OVA, 1st part 12/25/08, 2nd part 3/26/09…definitely looking forward to it.
LMAO, I feel the same way, but for tsunderes! When will the abuse stop!!
I wouldnt consider half the above series siscon =X
Y’know, that’s actually fodder for a good opinion poll: How many Siscon fans actually have an Onee or Imou?
I think -most- of the odds are anyone who’s into Siscon relationships probably doesn’t have one. Then again, I could never, ever understand why a lot of guys are hung up on Nuns and Catholic School Girls; they’re NEVER that attractive in real life (I studied in Xavier in my Elementary years, the ICA girls next door were hardly anything like the stereotype!)
Boo! Siscon rocks man 😉