Literature / Oreimo

There is no way a series with a title so long could be taken seriously! Or could it?

Kyousuke Kousaka is, by his own admission, a completely and extremely normal seventeen-year-old high schooler who values normalcy, to the point that his goal in life is to ultimately have a completely normal one.

The catch: his relationship with his younger sister — extremely brilliant fourteen-year-old middle schooler Kirino — is, to put it mildly, bad... so bad neither of them even bother acknowledging each other's existence, except when it's absolutely necessary.

That "absolute necessity" came the day Kyousuke picks up a DVD case Kirino dropped — specifically, one of Magical Girl anime Stardust Witch Meruru. This surprises him, but not as much as what was actually in the case — an H-Game titled Imouto to Koishiyo! (Let's Love Little Sister!). This sets off a chain of events that leads to the Kousaka siblings' first actual conversation in years, with Kyousuke learning that Kirino is a closet Otaku — a "little sister" fangirl, to be exact — and getting dragged into increasingly hilarious situations, most being started in some way by his sister.

Oreimo (short for Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, or "There's No Way My Little Sister Can Be This Cute") is a comedy Light Novel series written by Tsukasa Fushimi and illustrated by Hiro Kanzaki; the main story was published under the Dengeki Bunko imprint from 2008 to 2013 for 12 volumes, with a series of side stories focusing on other characters that ran from 2019 to 2021 for another five volumes.

A 12-episode anime adaptation aired in fall 2010. It had an anime-original ending which was called the "good end" by AIC, followed by a 4-episode "true" ending that followed the novel more closely and aired as webisodes before being released to Blu-ray/DVD. A second season that follows the True End aired as a part of spring 2013 season. Both of the two seasons and three-part episode series finale can be viewed legally at Crunchyroll under the name Oreimo here. Aniplex USA licensed the anime for a North American release.

A manga adaptation of the same name ran from 2009 to 2011 in Dengeki G's magazine, while a Spin-Off manga starring the popular Kuroneko titled Ore no Kouhai ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai! ("There's No Way My Junior Can Be This Cute!") by the same mangaka has begun in 2011. A PSP (non-canon) Visual Novel featuring a route for each girl has been released, with a full fan translation of its expanded version. A second visual novel (for the PS3) has also been released. A clean copy of the original light novel is available here.

The author, Tsukasa Fushimi, and Kazuma Kamachi have co-written a crossover web series between this and A Certain Magical Index called Ore no Imouto to Railgun Collaboration Project!

Kirino was chosen to represent Oreimo in the crossover Fighting Game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax by Sega, where she uses several cosplay outfits in battle. Kuroneko was chosen as one of the support characters.

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There's no way this anime can be this Troperiffic!

# - G

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects:
  • For some reason, Kyousuke's drinking of tea in some episodes of the anime are rendered with what's clearly cel-shaded 3D instead of regular animation.
  • Every Eye Catch is a CG Anime DVD box that reveals a different Eroge DVD inside in reference to the incident that kicked off the show, Siscalypse game clips are shown in 3D, and the PSP game's Two Shot scenes are done with real time cel-shaded animation instead of the normal sprites.
  • Season two^note which swaps out the company of the first series with T2 Studio, who did photography duties on both seasons ups this with the Love Touch sequences in episode 2 being done entirely in cel-shaded CG. A similarly CG Astronomic Zoom also pops up at the end.
    • Episode 1 also has a scene with Kirino picking up boxes that are simply rotoscoped CG.
    • Episode 1's ending also features CG bubbles.
• Actor Allusion:
  • Possibly invoked with the character of Kurusu Kanako, voiced by Yukari Tamura, who also voiced Kurusu Tomari in Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl.
  • Then in episode 10 she gets stuffed into a young magical girl cosplay.
  • In episode 2 of the second season, the heroine of "Love Touch" (which is basically a parody of Love Plus) is voiced by Saori Hayami (also voice of Ayase), who voiced Manaka in Love Plus. To drive this point home, the heroine of "Love Touch", Ayaka, is a portmanteau of Ayase and Manaka.
• Adaptation Decay:
  • In episode 8 when Kirino's light novel is given an anime adaptation, the producers initially planned on doing this to it. See also the YMMV page.
  • Both fictional animes have in depth storylines, backgrounds, character designs AND character development, mostly fleshed out in the DVD commentaries, in which they also have good voice actors just for those interviews.
• Adaptation Distillation: The anime leaves some stuff from the light novel out, such as Kouhei, Kyousuke's friend, having romantic feelings for his sister Sena.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Most of the time, this is how Kyousuke shows his affection to Kirino. Sometime she claimed she doesn't like it, but she never actually tell him to stop.
• Always Someone Better: part of the deconstruction of Kirino's Ace attributes. She appears to be perfect at everything she does, but gets hit in the face with reality once she moves to America and realizes she can't just effortlessly beat the international level athletes she competes against there.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Several are given late in season 2.
  • Kuroneko gives him one in episode 7.
  • Kyousuke gives one to Kirino in episode 14.
  • Manami gives one to Kyousuke in episode 16.
• Animal Motifs: In the manga, it is not at all unusual for Manami to spout dog ears and a tail when she's feeling particularly happy or helpful, or particularly cute (in other words, most of the time). There's a panel where Kirino and Kuroneko's "fighting spirits" show as a white and black cat, respectively.
• Anime Theme Song: An in-universe example; the first OP of Stardust Witch Meruru is "Meteor Impact", performed by Yukari Tamura.
• Armor-Piercing Question: In episode 16 of season 2, Manami asks Kyousuke some. First, she asks them if they've thought about the fact that a blood-related brother and sister dating would be socially unacceptable, and if they were willing to face the consequences of such actions, such as if she went to their father to tell them about the illicit relationship. At first Kyousuke defends the decision and tries to sound confident in it. Then she asks him another one, what he would do if she got on her knees, begged him not to do it, and gave him an Anguished Declaration of Love. This one catches him by surprise and he's taken aback for a moment, but ultimately answers he'd still choose Kirino, prompting Manami to slap him as a result.
• Author Tract: During episodes 3 and 5, the anime goes through long monologues about why it's okay to be an otaku.
• Awesome McCoolname: Kirino's literary agent's name is Iori Fate Setsuna. Even Kuroneko states that it is an awesome name. However, novel Fate doesn't like to be called that precisely because it's like a name out of a novel.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: After Kirino and Manami's fight, they both have bruises on their face. Which magically disappear right after Kyousuke begs Manami not to tell their father about their relationship.
• Beta Couple: Kouhei and Sena Akagi's relationship is quite similar to that of Kyousuke and Kirino, with some important differences. Notably, Kouhei doesn't carry a pretense of hating Sena, and Sena doesn't put up as much of a front to Kouhei. They are as well rather open and accepting about it in contrast to Kirino/Kyousuke's Will They or Won't They? relationship.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Manami in a Volume 11 flashback is shown to be the reason Kirino and Kyousuke don't get along. Reaches Final Boss levels in the finale.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Kyousuke actually lost his at some point before the story begins, although it's heavily implied he and Kirino were close in the past. A large part of his character development is slowly getting his instinct back. Of course, this turns into Incest Subtext over time that most of the other characters seem to pick up on, to at least some degree.
    • Especially Kuroneko as she hints towards this very early on before it is even remotely hinted to be central to the intended plot.
  • Kirino wishes for a little sister to have a big sister instincts for. (In volume six she gets one... sort of.)
• Bittersweet Ending: Kirino and Kyousuke do get together. But in the process, he ends up hurting several girls who fell in love with him and ruining his relationship with Manami (albeit justifiable as she has been manipulating Kyousuke, mentally scarred Kirino, and was the reason their relationship went sour). The kicker is that after they graduate, they split up due to a prior agreement for this to be temporary. But they are still closer than they ever were and it's implied (more heavily in the novels) that they may secretly still be together as their feelings for each other haven't changed.
  • The after story, written by the author of the light novels, effectively confirms that Kyousuke and Kirino are indeed still together. They only ended the public side of their relationship as the ending seemed to hint, but continue in private rather successfully it appears.
• Blank White Eyes: A few characters display these from time to time.
• Bland-Name Product: While the light novels avert this, stating all brands and products as-is, the anime was forced to use this trope.
  • Kirino owns Mintendouu CS games, among other examples.
  • Saori's shopping bag at Summerket has some of these written on it, such as "Shark" (Sharp) and "Makibishi" (Mitsubishi).
  • Kirino, Saori and Kuroneko eat at a "McDonalb's" during Episode 2. Instead of the Golden Arches logo, McDonalb's features a Golden "S" on its fries boxes.
  • Kirino has an "AVIO" notebook computer.
  • "WindomsGXP" (Windows XP), "WindomsVisbo" (Windows Vista), and "Pendulum 4" (Pentium 4).
  • Episode 7 featured a department store called "SHIBUYA108" (its real-life counterpart is "SHIBUYA109") and a Web search engine called "Beegle".
  • In the manga, Google is featured as Googlo, and YouTube as YouCube.
  • In the second episode of the second season we get Love Touch, which is obviously Love Plus.
  • The same episode has a PS Wita.
  • Averted to one degree though, in the first episode when Kirino shows off her collection of eroge, if one looks closely at the titles, one can spot School Days and its' sequels Summer Days and Cross Days among other actual visual novels and eroge.
• Blind Without 'Em: Manami cannot see well without her glasses. A common best friend thing between her and Kyousuke in the original light novels has him playfully swiping her glasses while she blindly tries to take them back.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Kyousuke acting as the straight man to the various odd people around him forms the structure of many scenes. This is even turned into a game mechanic in the PSP Visual Novel, where during Two Shot scenes you have to choose when to tsukkomi (that is, rebut or counter) the person you're talking to.
• Bookends:
  • The anime both starts and ends with a scene of Kyousuke coming home from school and taking a carton of juice from the fridge while Kirino is lying on the couch and reading. The scenes showcase how the relationship between the two has progressed.
    • The OVA'd "real" ending of Season 2 differs though, as it shows the two of them arriving at Akihabara reminiscent of the other times she's gone, yelling "Aki-Habara" to the sky in the middle of the street. Only for it to end in a title drop on a billboard after hinting that the critical event immediately prior Kyousuke and Kirino ending their romantic relationship. was only for show.
  • The series as a whole both begins and ends with "life counselling". And of course the final line is a title drop.
  • The relationship issues between Kyousuke and Kirino begin and end with an intervention by Manami.
• Bishie Sparkle: Kyousuke stuns Kanako with this, a seductive tone and what sounds like the worst pick up line ever involving her underwear in episode 5 of the animated commentary. He is joking around though.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: More like shattering it and moving to the other side. The 'DVD/BD Commentary Track' is actually a video of SD versions of the characters watching the episode and commenting on it. Leading to several bizarre moments like:
  • Kyousuke and Kirino arguing over where in the anime this version of Kyousuke comes from (Answer: Episode 20 of season 2),
  • Ayase's yandeiru and deredere sides arguing with each other over how good or bad Kyousuke is.
  • A surreal moment when Kirino invites special guest Ayana Taketatsu onto the show. This leads to Kirino interviewing her Seiyuu about what it was like to play Kirino. A similar event happens in the Volume 6 DVD commentary, with Kirino and Kyousuke interviewing Yūichi Nakamura, and Kirino simultaneously mocking Kyousuke and praising Nakamura's performance.
• Breather Episode: Episode 10 of season 2, which doesn't have much as far as plot, but gives much needed screen time for Ayase and Kanako.
• Brother–Sister Incest: The Elephant in the Living Room of the series. Confirmed as of the Light Novel's ending. As well as the afterstory taking it higher to previously undiscovered levels.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • Kirino and Kuroneko, sometimes. Other times they tend to hide their feelings behind either hardcore dishonest tsuntsun or impenetrable "poetic" speech, respectively. Kuroneko used both this trope and the aforementioned exceptions for most of her route in the PSP Visual Novel to try and keep Kyousuke from helping her.
  • In the finale, Manami is direct and realistic in her disapproval of the Brother–Sister Incest.
• Catchphrase: "Kimo" (teenager slang version of "kimochi warui," meaning icky, gross or disgusting) and saiaku (literally "you're the worst") are always uttered by Kirino whenever Kyousuke starts to say or do things that are slightly off-putting/provocative towards her true feelings.Especially in Season 2 Episode 14's ending scene.
• Cat Girl: Kuroneko cosplays as one in episode 11. Kirino hates to admit it, but she finds the ears and tail very appealing.
• Ceiling Banger: When Kirino starts squeeing rather loudly over an apparently hot scene in her new eroge, Kyousuke bangs the wall, telling her to be quiet. When Kirino finds out he heard the whole thing she's embarrassed.
• Character Development: Undoubtedly one of the best parts of the entire franchise, with the characters being more complex than they appear to the untrained eye. Although the Anime adaption removes more than enough content to the point that Kirino maintains a rather spontaneous and unlikable personality. Leading to Anime-based fans to be universally upset with her and the impact she has on her brother Kyousuke's.
• Cheeky Mouth: The beginning of episode 5 depicts Kirino with one.
• Chekhov's Gunman: In the anime, Akagi; Sena; and the Computer Game Club President appear in the Comiket episode.
• Chick Magnet: In the later novels in the series, Kyousuke has the romantic attention of Manami, Kuroneko/Ruri, and Ayase. Hints of his younger sister possibly having more than sisterly feelings for him are also abound. He's a non-otaku reliable guy who doesn't mind the otaku lifesyle of the girls, and thus a good catch. Although he does state that Kirino has virtually turned him into an Otaku at some point, which probably further cements this trope on him given his completely normal appearance. In the (non-canon) PSP Visual Novel, he can end up with basically any of the female characters in the show.
• Chuunibyou: "Kuroneko" is this, wearing Gothic Lolita dresses, threatening people with curses, and enjoying shows because they're hard to understand. It's a while before the audience even learns what her real name is.
• Closet Otaku: Kirino.
• Clothing Damage:
  • The entire point of Siscalypse, a fighting game-within-the-show in episode 4.
  • In the "cheer up Kyousuke party" in the novels, Saori made two characters modeled faithfully on Kirino and Kuroneko in that fighting game, and gets those two to use their respective characters to fight each other. The game goes into sudden death mode before Kyousuke casually points this trope out. Hilarity Ensues.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: See Chick Magnet above. Despite attracting the romantic interests of three different women (and probably his sister) he never seems to piece out their intentions until the end.
• Color Failure: Makabe is so shocked at Sena's dream where she dreamt that he was raped by the entire game research club, that he does this. It must have been severe, because a few scenes later he's still completely white and unresponsive.
• Cosplay: This overlaps with Cosplay Otaku Girl. In the PSP Visual Novel, there's a rather risque-looking minigame version of Arkanoid where you basically knock off the girls' clothes as you progress. They start off cosplaying as appropriate A Certain Magical Index characters (for instance, Kirino as Mikoto and Kuroneko as Index) and Index herself guest stars. They end up in bikinis for some reason.
• Credits Running Sequence: Kirino has a brief one in the opening title.
• Cute Little Fangs: Kirino has one on both sides of her mouth, and they appear sporadically, depending on the perspective or where she's facing.
• Dancing Theme: As part of the Evolving Credits, Episode 12b has a short and cute little dance segment (around :51) in the opening with Kirino and Kanako in bikinis and Ayase in a regular outfit.
• Date Peepers: Saori, her sister Kaori, and Kuroneko do this in episode 14 of season 2 during Kyousuke's date/outing with Kirino. He only finds out about this after they show up to help him when he loses sight of Kirino as she runs away. Conveniently after calling out for help despite not actually knowing about them peeping.
• Day in the Life: Episode 9 follows a normal day off for Kyousuke, Kirino, and Kuroneko along with a scene featuring Saori's as well.
• A Day In The Lime Light:
  • Episode 6 of the anime has Kyosuke spend a lot of time with his female friend Manami, to the point where he ends up sleeping over at her house, with a lot of encouragement from Manami's grandparents.
  • Episode 3 of season 2 focuses entirely on Saori, giving her much needed back story, and how she became interested in anime and manga.
  • Kuroneko gets all of Volume Five of the novel and the ONA webisodes devoted to her, which is when Kirino is Put on a Bus. She gets some more attention in episodes 7 & 8 in season 2, after her Relationship Upgrade with Kyousuke.
  • Volume Nine of the Light Novel is a collection of short stories that each focuses on different characters, including Saori, Kouhei, and Sena.
• Deadpan Snarker: Makabe.
• Death Glare: Kyousuke can give a seriously nasty one if he's in the right mood, at least in the manga.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Virtually all of the game club members in season 2. While they are the focus of attention during the True Route OVA's (episodes 12a-15) from season 1, during the second one they rarely have any attention and are barely on screen for longer than a few moments.
  • Manami and Saori (outside of episode 3) surprisingly, also doesn't get much too screen time in season 2.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In Episode 9, when one of her eroges brings the line "I love you, Onii-san!" Kirino grabs a pillow, plops down on the bed, and starts rolling around in ecstasy. After the cut, she says, while blushing, "Now I'm tired..."
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Kuroneko lashes out at Kyousuke when he seems to try too hard to help her.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Poor Kyousuke ends up on the receiving end of this a lot, especially from Kirino and Ayase.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Kyousuke goes through great lengths to help Kirino's secret hobby become accepted by their father and her best friend Ayase. He also helps her to meet Saori and Kuroneko, which she forms a strong bond with and would never have met on her own. And even though he didn't really want to, he plays the gal games and eroge that Kirino dumps on him. Despite this and more, she still treats him like dirt for the most part. In the afterstory she appears to have dropped the Tsundere attitude towards Kyousuke for the most part.
• DVD Commentary: Which takes the form of hilarious fourth wall breaking banter between two characters, see Breaking the Fourth Wall above.
• Eating Lunch Alone: Kuroneko does this at least once after she transfers to Kyousuke's school.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: "Kuroneko"
• Embarrassing Nickname:
  • Sure, Saori's chosen surname of "Bajeena" may be a well known Gundam character, but to those uninitiated to anime it sounds awkwardly like a prominent part of the female reproductive anatomy, so much so that Kyousuke did a massive Spit Take from shock when he first heard it.
  • The fact that at least one Fan Sub did not get the reference and spelled it "Vageena" did not help matters. This isn't surprising, spelled it "Vajeena" happens to him a lot too.
    • The official subtitled version on Crunchyroll makes the same mistake, though at least it helps non-Japanese-savvy American viewers get the joke.
• Entertainment Above Their Age: Kirino, a teenager in middle school, loves to play little sister-themed H-games.
• Evolving Credits:
  • The opening is not shown every episode - only when they didn't have enough animation to take its place. The opening is different each time it's shown, highlighting the characters featured in the episode. So are the endings. They are completely different each time, and sometimes, they even start over the body of the episode whenever they're too short, or the episode gets too long.
  • The opening in Season 2 will sometimes add clips or characters that are relevant to that episode, such as episode 4 showing scenes of Kirino's athletic rival coming over to visit/stay with her for a short while interspersed with some scenes from when they were in the US to do some training.
• Executive Meddling:
  • In-universe example. During episode 8, while discussing the anime adaptation of her hit book, the anime production team at first listens to her as she excitedly tells them how it should be done. Then one of the production team members mentions that they'll need to make a large variety of justifiable changes (such as not being able to get all the voice actors she wanted due to possible scheduling conflicts), and as they mention each one, particularly changing the main protagonist from a female to a male, since they claimed/argued that it would be easier for audiences to identify with, it seems to crush both Kirino's enthusiasm and spirit for the project.
  • Both Kyosuke and Kuroneko end up pleading emotionally for her, although for Kuroneko it wasn't easy to do since she's a bit jealous at Kirino's success. At the end, it seems the animation team caves in to some of the things Kirino originally wanted, although we only get mention of an artist she wanted doing the character design.
  • The process itself is apparently based at least partially on the author's own experience with the first attempt to get Oreimo animated.
  • The ending of the series is a more normal example. In an interview with AkibaBlog, the author stated that he wasn't able to write a "Complete Kirino Ending" due to pressure from the publishers, Dengeki Bunko. They eventually got their way using intensely heavy, virtually undeniable implications in the afterstory that was later released.
  • And, although it isn't quite specified in the novel, the author wanted the final kiss to be on the mouth but was unable to convince the anime staff which leaves many to just assume it was on the mouth in the light novel since it was as latter stated, unspecified.
  • There are also many scenes modified or completely removed from the anime adaption that made Kyousuke's relationship with his sister seem overall unreasonable. Such as the blatantly implied sex scene in the final volume of the original light novel, but missing from the anime for probable shock-value reasons.
• Eyelid Pull Taunt: Done by Kirino in the opening sequence.
• Everyone Can See It:
  • Subverted in episode 6 of season 1. The whole episode is basically people ranging from Akagi Kouhei to Manami's grandparents to Kirino herself expressing their belief that there's something going on between Kyousuke and Manami. However, Kyousuke makes it clear that his feelings for her are platonic. Doubly Subverted in that he expresses anger at the idea of her going out with anybody and asks her how she would react if someone confessed to her.
  • In episode 7 of season 2, after Kuroneko and Kyousuke's Relationship Upgrade, the club members mention that they already thought the two were going out, and kills the suspense for them.
• The Faceless:
  • Saori. Either her eyes are obstructed by her coke-bottle Nerd Glasses, or her face is entirely hidden. The reader occasionally gets a peek through the otherwise impenetrable glasses-swirl in the manga.
  • In episode 15, there are a brief few frames showing her in normal attire and hairstyle, and when she walks past a mirror, her upper face can be seen.
  • In season 2 her face is finally revealed. It leads to reconciliation between her façade and her real self meaning Saori ends up needing her mask less and less. To the point in the afterstory that she no longer needs it at all, but instead has problems with speech patterns mixing between the two identities.
• Fake Kill Scare: Played for Laughs in episode 6. Kyousuke goes to Manami's house to help her family with some halloween party preparations. However, when they go into the living room, they find her grandfather laying on top of the table cold and lifeless. In an understandably panicked state, they think he's really dead, since his body is cold and he has no pulse. However, her grandmother goes into the room, then tells Kyousuke that he stayed in the store's refrigerator to get cold, and that his pulse has always been weak. She then tells him that if he doesn't stop his act, she's going to pull out his hairs one by one. The grandpa instantly revives.
• False Start: Kyousuke wonders about this in episode 1 of season 2 regarding the kiss Kuroneko gave him on the cheek earlier. When he tries to press the issue, she's saved by the arrival of Sena. He asks her about it again in episode 6, but this time they're interrupted by an annoyed Kirino.
• Fanservice:
  • Not nearly as much as you might expect with so many girls in the cast, at least so far. Kirino does become the target of some unusual viewing angles several times, and features in a bathtub scene. The manga, meanwhile, is considerably more Fanservice friendly, although this is usually more interesting camera angles, fortunate wind and midriff bearing over actual panty shots. Imagine Spots of various in-series doujinshi and eroge, though, are just barely this side of porn.
  • Episode 10 of season 2 has Kirino in a wedding dress. Her manager even rips it up a little bit to make riding Kyousuke's bike a little easier for her while he takes her to a Meruru festival. Needless to say it is quite risqué.
• Final Boss: The finale reveals that Manami is not only the Final Boss, but the first one as well.
• Foreshadowing: In episode 6 of season 2, Kirino spots Kuroneko and Kyousuke seemingly getting along a little too well for her liking, and she has a disgusted look on her face. She then delivers a Wham Line during their after-comiket party by saying she's going out with Mikagami, a boy they met earlier at comiket who works at the same agency she does. See Operation: Jealousy for further details on what happens next.
• Freudian Slip:
  • Kirino tells Kyousuke to buy a 30,000 yen (about $380 or so) ring for her in episode 7 while shopping and doing research for her novel. He refuses, and asks why she even needs it. She mentions that her main character in the novel was out on a date before a disaster's supposed to hit. And that the ring has emotional value and should therefore come from the one you love. Then she immediately blushes, turns away, and says she's talking about the novel. Kyousuke remains oblivious.
  • In episode 11 of season 2, while visiting Kyousuke at his apartment, Kuroneko runs into Ayase there. Both girls wonder what the other is doing there, and engage in a little Ham-to-Ham Combat regarding who likes Kyousuke and Kirino more. Kuroneko then states that she's better friends with Kirino, and that if Kirino wanted to have sex with him, she would allow it, which understandably shocks both Kyousuke and Ayase.
• From the Mouths of Babes: In episode 8 of season 2, when Kyousuke is visiting Kuroneko at her house, she disappears for a while, and when he goes to see where she is, he finds she's taking a bath. As he waits, her two little sisters arrive home and greet him. The youngest one seems genuinely happy to see him, while the older one is shocked that Kuroneko's boyfriend is real, and not just a figment of her imagination or a 2D character. Later the older one somewhat innocently asks if he's the brother of the "bitch" her sister talks to on the phone, and asks if she can call him "bitch brother".
• Funny Background Event: There are several. One that stands out is Kyousuke's reaction◊ after being led into the Boys' Love section of an Akiba shop.
• Game-Breaking Bug: In-universe example. In episode 14, Kuroneko is working on a game for an internet contest, and Kyousuke is beta-testing it. After a while, he runs into some pretty big bugs that either causes the game to freeze up, crash, or cause other unintended consequences. The other members of the game club mention that it would take at least a week to fix all the problems, which means they'd miss the deadline. She swallows her pride and asks Sena, who's a skilled programmer,(and whose own idea for a game got shot down earlier in the episode) for her help to finish the game and get rid of the bugs before the contest deadline. With Sena's help, they manage to make it in time.
• Gecko Ending: The TV broadcast version of Episode 12. In-series, this was suggested as a solution to the problem of making a 12-Episode Anime out of Kirino's novel, which has only one volume. For reference, the real show's broadcast season is based on four volumes, with the Webisodes depicting the fifth.
• Genki Girl: Ria, Kirino's athletic rival and roommate, who comes to visit her for a few days in episode 4 of season 2.
• Giving Up the Ghost: Kyousuke does this in one of the later opening intros after receiving a kick from Kirino. However, Manami panics and grabs his ghost, then stuffs it back into his body before it leaves.
• The Glomp: Ria gives a couple of these to Kyousuke. Kirino also always walks in on it shortly afterwards, causing her to accuse him of being a paedophile, despite his attempts to explain it's simply a Not What It Looks Like moment.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Kirino doesn't like how close Manami is to her brother and is rude to her. After Kuroneko develops feelings for Kyousuke in the later novel, she also acts in a similarly rude way to Manami.
  • Kirino gets especially jealous when Kyousuke spends the night at Manami's house in the anime.
  • Ayase also doesn't like what she interprets as Kyousuke corrupting her Kirino.
  • In the 7th novel, Kyousuke berates Kirino for her laughter at Manami's shock from seeing them both on their Not a Date. Later she also rubs the misunderstanding in Kuroneko's face. The tables are turned when Kirino later declares that she and an otaku guy are dating, bringing out Kyousuke's own Green-Eyed Monster.
  • In chapter 20 of the manga, Kirino starts to verbally assault Kuroneko the moment she starts to show interest in Kyousuke. She stops a few pages later because either she realizes what shes saying is generally mean or because it's actually bringing the two closer together.
  • Kuroneko is extremely jealous and vindictive in the PSP Visual Novel, going as far as to actively sabotage Ayase and Kyousuke's relationship by ratting them out to Kirino instead of confronting them about it. When asked why she did it, she (in her usual "poetic" way) tells them it was just because she was jealous and knew Kirino would be too.
  • Also in the PSP Visual Novel, Kirino is apparently so jealous of Manami going with Kyousuke on a class trip to Kyoto, combined with some other factors she stresses herself into getting Laser-Guided Amnesia. Despite forgetting all the recent events that brought her closer to Kyousuke, she still manages to be jealous of Manami.
• Groin Attack: Attempted by Kirino to Kyousuke in episode 4. She succeeds in episode 5. Also serves as a bit of a Kick the Dog moment as Kyousuke was trying to help her when she did it.

H - L

• Ham-to-Ham Combat:
  • Kirino tends to get into these with Kuroneko and especially Kyousuke.
  • Sena and Kuroneko do this to each other a lot in the True Route OVA's.
  • Ayase and Kuroneko do this in episode 11 of season 2 towards each other when both are wondering why the other is visiting Kyousuke at his apartment so early in the morning.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Kirino and her running. She was a pretty average runner, but trained really hard to get fairly decent at it. However, Ria, her roommate from when she trained in the US, has a rematch race with her in episode 4 of season 2. When Kyousuke sees them running, even he realizes that Ria, despite being two years younger than Kirino, is a prodigy and is clearly faster than Kirino. However, he notes that Kirino is at least facing her challenge head on, whereas when she was surpassing him in academics and athletics, he just gave up. So he cheers her on, and with that inspiration, Kirino nearly catches up to Ria before the finish line.
• Hate at First Sight: Ayase and Kuroneko instantly dislike each other when they formally meet for the first time in episode 11 of season 2, especially so early in the morning. In Ayase's case, because Kuroneko is his ex-girlfriend. While in Kuroneko's case, partly because of the cold treatment Ayase gave Kirino when she first discovered her Closet Geek tendencies, as well as wondering what kind of relationship Ayase has with him. She mentions sexual harasser and his victim, which he immediately objects to, but does tell Kuroneko he was being The Tease towards her at times before.
  • Ayase and Kuroneko get along strangly well in the later parts of the Light Novel, in a disturbing Master/Slave abuse style relationship, which both of them defend.
• Heroic BSoD: Kirino suffers one in episode 8 after the meeting for her anime. She also goes through one shortly after episode 5 begins.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The way Kyosuke takes the heat for Kirino several times, you can't help but feel this trope for him, compressed into 15 seconds.
• Hidden Badass: In the Manami route of the PSP game, she — of all people — unhesitatingly pulls a Diving Save to prevent Kirino from getting hit by a car. The scene is strangely out of place, as it's never referred to afterwards.
• Huge Schoolgirl:
  • Subverted big time with Saori. She's a cheerful leader type with excellent social skills, defying any height complex and the socially inept otaku stereotype.
  • Though this is shown to be something of a front, as she's actually painfully shy and has severe self-esteem issues. She dresses herself down to form something of an otaku costume to hide behind and seems to be self-conscious about her conventionally attractive and mature appearance.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • In episode 9 of season 1, Kirino gets extremely frustrated with a Tsundere character in an eroge she's playing. Yet she acts the same exact way towards her brother, and doesn't see any problem with that.
  • Sena often accuses the other members of the gaming club of being perverts, even though she's by far the most perverted one.
  • In episode 11 of season 2, Kuroneko brings some sandwiches over to Kyousuke's apartment early in the morning, stating that she wouldn't have time to do so after school. Ayase calls her out on it, saying she just really wanted to show off her uniform during a time where they'd more likely be alone. Kuroneko's lack of a response seems to prove Ayase's claim. When Kyousuke tells Ayase that she said the same thing about not having time after school just moments earlier, she responds by hitting him in the stomach.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All episode titles translate as "My ______ Can't Be This _______"
• If I Can't Have You…:
  • In the PSP-exclusive Visual Novel, Ayase (Yeah, BIG surprise...) stabs Kyousuke with a kitchen knife during her Bad Ending. Foreshadowed and outright lampshaded a few text blocks before. Kyousuke even breaks the fourth wall and suggests creating a savestate before proceeding to the Two Shot that determines the ending.
  • The situation that causes that bad end in the first place is caused by Kuroneko having a similar feeling, but instead of confronting Kyousuke about it she just tells Kirino, knowing she'd raise hell.
• Incest Subtext:
  • If not actually happening between the siblings which it eventually does, implied continued after ending, at least one of Kirino's obsessions keeps feeding it.
  • In the 6th novel there's some subtext between Kyousuke's friend Akagi and the latter's younger sister Sena. Naturally, Kyousuke is rather disturbed about it all.
  • The manga tones it up noticeably; or at least actually seeing Kyousuke blushing and panicking over his sister's antics and disturbing lack of respect for his personal space makes it far more obvious. Similarly, Kirino tends to blush a lot more and look visibly grateful for Kyousuke helping her out in various ways, even if her words and body language are telling different stories.
    • The Anime however tries to subvert this as much as possible by altering content or downright removing it to such a high degree that it actually undermines Kirino's character development and the siblings relationship.
  • At one point Kuroneko states to Kyousuke that she loves him as much as his sister loves him. He interprets it as none at all, the viewer however, can see her Luminescent Blush.
    • Even after he and Kuroneko start dating, he never once seems to make the connection; despite her making it plainly clear she loves him, and has made it equally clear she believes Kirino loves him as much as she does, if not more.
  • In the Visual Novel, Kyousuke outright confesses to her in a desperate plea for her to get her memory of her otaku hobby and repaired relationship with Kyousuke back, which she immediately rejects. When her memory does come back shortly afterwards, however, the first thing she does is frantically kick him out of her room while yelling "I can't believe it!" repeatedly.
• Indecisive Medium: All the Visual Novel references, like the choice screens, or the CG style ending frames.
• Insane Troll Logic: In the second half of episode 7, while helping Kirino out with her novel in Tokyo, she tells Kyousuke to stand in the middle of a busy street and get hit by a car. She also tells him that the bigger it is, the better, such as a bus or dump truck. Her reasoning for this is to experience emotions of what it's like to lose a loved one, and Kyousuke immediately points out how ridiculous and dangerous her idea is. So she settles for a picture instead.
• Instant Book Deal: When Kirino sends her novel to a publisher, it not only gets published immediately, but becomes a massive hit as well.
• Insult Backfire:
  • In episode 13 of season 1, Kuroneko tries to ridicule Sena's love for homoerotic games. Sena instead takes it as a compliment, and freaks everyone out. It's only after she tells them about a dream she had of Makabe getting gang-raped by the male members of the club that she realizes that she went too far.
  • During episode 11 of season 2, Ayase calls Kuroneko a pervert after the latter say some rather interesting things regarding Kyousuke and Kirino. Kuroneko says she doesn't care about that.
• Ironic Echo: Just after Kyousuke and Kuroneko become a couple, Kyousuke starts banging his head against the wall in excitement after imagining the two together, which attracts the ire of Kirino. Kyosuke then immediately counters that Kirino did the exact same thing before their Not a Date, and is seen blushing. The subtext is clear.
• Irony: The title of the OP theme, and possibly invoked in episode 9, where Kirino lambasts one of the heroines in her new eroge, Rinko, as being such a crappy heroine because she's "100% tsun and 0% dere", which fits anime Kirino to a T. Her manga and novel incarnation has much more dere-dere moments in her repertoire.
• I Just Want To Stay Normal:
  • Kyousuke starts out like this.
  • In episode 15, Kirino almost gives up on her anime obsession and even lets Kyousuke know by text. By the end of the episode, though, it is revealed that she was going to give up on it since she felt that her addiction was holding her back. Kyousuke bashes this belief and reverts her back to her old self. She then seemingly pretends like this never happened after returning.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Several examples:
  • In Kirino's case, she wants to have friends who are into anime and games like she is, without having to let her other friends at school know about it, since they shun such activities. Kyousuke helps her out with that and she meets Saori and Kuroneko this way. And even after Ayase found out about it, she more or less came to tolerate Kirino's hobbies due to Kyousuke's intervention.
  • In the later novels, Saori admits to being lonely, due partly to her wealth status, but mostly because of her height which caused many girls at her school to ostracize her for it. So she was quite happy to make friends with Kuroneko and Kirino.
  • While she's very subtle about it, and claims to not need any, Kuroneko seems to open up to many other characters gradually, and seems pretty happy about it as well. But she often tries not to let Kirino know about it. She eventually does make at least one friend at school, although whether it's a genuine friendship is questionable.
• It's All About Me : Kirino in a nutshell. She expects others (especially her brother) to be at her service, and to be thankful about it, and if she ever screws up something, then it's up to someone else to make it up for her. This also seems to build up her affection for her brother when he helps her out of his own will.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Kuroneko, in addition to being type A tsundere. Despite all her flaws, has a few points over Kirino in this regard. In episode 8, she actually stands up for Kirino (in secret) over the matter of the anime, despite her personal misgivings.
  • Kirino as well, at least in the manga and light novels. She shows her deredere to Kuroneko early on, punishes herself in public with cold water after being called out for being selfish by Kyousuke, then gets him a gift while wearing a maid outfit. The anime version changes some of these moments and outright removes others, making her less sympathetic, especially to those who haven't read the manga or light novel.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Kuroneko was rather hurt by Kirino's declarations of not knowing her and Saori, with the added comment of them being disgusting, despite Saori's assurances that she didn't really mean it.
  • Kanako being incredibly mean to Bridget (smoked at Bridget in the light novels and threw her wand at Kyousuke in the anime). In Bridget's words: Meruru has turned into an evil witch!
  • Kirino also does this to Manami in Volume 4 of the Light Novel and episode 11 of the anime. She does this by pretending to have forgotten who she is, badgering her at any opportunity, and then trapping Kyousuke by spreading his porn all around his room for her to see. Both Kirino and Kuroneko (who actually came up with the idea according to the Light Novel) realize they went way too far, and throw Kyousuke a surprise party as an apology.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia - Kirino catches this in her Visual Novel route when she jealously badmouths Kyousuke to Kuroneko, who points out that Kirino and Kyousuke are quite similar to the characters in the eroge featured in Episode 9 of the anime, and tells Kirino that she's going to lose her grip on reality at this rate. Kirino spazzes out, forgetting anything related to her otaku hobby, including Kuroneko, Saori, and (especially) her dealings with Kyousuke after their relationship thawed. The precision of this amnesia is pointed out immediately.
• Lap Pillow:
  • Subverted. Kyousuke is sitting with Manami on a bench when he mentions feeling tired. Manami immidiately dusts off her lap, opens her arms and tells him to "go ahead." He doesn't get it at all.
  • A more traditional example occurs in episode 9. Kuroneko lets her sister fall asleep on her lap.
• Lightning Glare:
  • Kuroneko and Ayase do this to each other in episode 11 of season 2.
  • Kanako does this first with Kuroneko in episode 12, then switches to Saori.
• Limited Wardrobe: While most of the characters rarely change clothing, the most prominent examples are Saori and Kuroneko. Although their clothing seems fairly normal at their respective homes, and Kuroneko does wear a school uniform at Kyousuke's school, out in public, they're rarely seen wearing anything else other than the otaku/goth lolita outfits they're first seen in.
• Little Sister Heroine: Three part: One, Kirino plays these kinds of games exclusively. Two, she is one herself. Three, the plot revolves around the trope and its implications.
• Love Confession: By the end of volume 10 of the Light Novels, Kyousuke has been confessed to (on different occasions and volumes) by Kuroneko, Manami, and Ayase.
• Love Epiphany: Expected, since both main characters are blood related brother and sister. Kirino was in emotional conflict about her Big Brother Attraction because of Minami scolding her as a child when she voiced her feelings, while Kyousuke took a while to realize his feelings and accept them.
• Lower-Deck Episode: A short story included with a special release tells the first day or so of the story from Kirino's perspective. Among other things, it shows that she actually thought about Kyousuke quite a lot even before their relationship thawed, and that the tsuntsun is more a desperate defense mechanism to hide her feelings or embarrassment rather than real dislike of him. A translation can be found here.
• Luminescent Blush: Every young female in the anime is in a perpetual state of blushing.

M - R

• Macho Camp: Used for comedic effect in the show's portrayal of yaoi games (homoge).
• Male Gaze: Happens in the manga a lot. There are at least eight glaring examples in the first two chapters alone.
• Manly Tears:
  • Episode 11, when Kirino finally at LONG last thanks Kyousuke for giving her a life, he breaks down and finally feels love for her as a sister, rather than someone he hated and helped out of familial obligation. In the (non-canon) Visual Novel, he breaks down a few times while struggling with Kirino's Laser-Guided Amnesia in her route.
  • Not to mention the absolutely adorable sequence in Episode 16 when Kyousuke flies to America to make sure Kirino is okay, and confesses to her just how lonely he was when she was gone.
• Master of the Mixed Message: Kyousuke in the light novels.
• Mistaken for Gay:
  • In episode 12, Kyousuke runs into his friend Akagi Kouhei in Akiba for a midnight sale. They both agree that neither one was there, and Kyousuke is shocked to find out he's there to buy a homoerotic eroge. Akagi corrects him, and says it's actually for his sister, and shows Kyousuke how much she loves them by screaming "I love them!". Unknown to them, several of the women in line begin clapping, thinking Akagi had just given Kyousuke a Love Confession.
  • After Ayase and Kirino meet in person for the first time in months during episode 1 of season 2, Kanako jokingly asks if the two girls are doing some Les Yay. She then immediately corrects herself, and calls it Yuri.
• Moe: In-Universe, it's what turned Kirino into an unlikely fan of H-Games. Kuroneko displays a dislike of these types of shows/games (and their fans).
• Murder Simulators: In episode 5 of the Anime. Ayase finds out that Kirino is into Eroge, and begins rattling off about some case of a guy who claimed to play the games, and killed a girl. She then proceeds to take it up to eleven, Jack Thompson style.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits:
  • Both Kyousuke and Kouhei feel this way towards their respective sisters, although in Kouhei's case, it's more because of Brother–Sister Incest hints.
  • Kirino tries to do an inverted example by getting jealous and angry at any woman she feels is too close to Kyousuke, especially Manami, and later, Kuroneko.
• Never Trust a Trailer:
  • The anime's episodes titles all follow the formula "there's no way my (noun) can be this (adjective)", and you can know what the episode's main plot will be by turning the sentence into the affirmative. So in effect you can trust them to lie.
  • A closer example to the trope is the teasers of Light Novel volumes, which often take things out of context to make things look more serious than they are. For instance, one has Kyousuke referring to Kirino as his girlfriend and waiting for her in a love hotel, only to reveal that it was research for her novel.
• Nice Girl:
  • Manami has been pretty amiable, and takes Kirino's jealous dislike of her in stride.
  • Saori, tall-eccentric-and-unfeminine though she may be, is a bright, cheerful, kind-hearted, tolerant and accepting mass of positive attitude who is willing to embrace anyone as a friend and able to take any and all insults on a non-personal level.
• No Romantic Resolution: The series basically ends with Kyousuke not really ending up with any of the girls.
  • The afterstory however covers what is happening around 6 months later. Although the author was still barred off from directly saying anything out loud, they put effectively impossible to deny implications that Kyousuke/Kirino only ended the public side of their romance to stop societal backlash, but continue successfully romancing in private.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Interestingly enough, Kirino gets into one with Manami, of all people, during episode 16 of season 2. The latter meets up with the former and Kyousuke for a final fight, and throws the first punch, hitting Kirino in the stomach. They then resort to slaps along with punches, with Kirino managing to hit Manami in the face, breaking her glasses in the process. Kyousuke tries to intervene, but ends up getting punched by both girls instead. So Kyousuke ends up finding out that what was supposed to be a heated argument turns into a fistfight, with Manami telling Kirino her punching is to vent her frustrations at Kirino constantly hampering her attempts to date Kyousuke.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Kirino, specifically her waking Kyousuke up by climbing on top of him. Note that she does this before they start hinting she had a crush on him; that's just how she wakes him up ever since she was a child.
• Not What It Looks Like:
  • Kyousuke often finds himself in these situations, such as when Ayase and Kanako see him on top of Kirino in episode 4 of the first season. Or when Ria gives him The Glomp and clings onto him, just in time for Kirino to see it happening in episode 4 of season 2. And especially when Kuroneko and Manami seem him arm in arm with Kirino in episode 5 of season 2, with the latter really enjoying the misunderstanding regarding the other two girls.
  • In episode 8 of season, Kirino returns home and finds Kuroneko's shoes by the front door. Sometime later she pauses the game she's playing, and hears what sounds like some rather erotic lines coming from Kyousuke's room. She then rushes over and angrily opens it, only to find they were playing a game on Kuroneko's laptop.
• Numerical Theme Naming: Kirino's anime's producers all have numerical kanji in their name. If their business cards as shown in Episode 8 are any indication, they realized this and decided to sit in numerical order. Or they're completely Genre Blind.
• Oblivious to Love: Kyousuke completely misses the cues that Manami is in love with him. In the later novels, however, he is quite a bit less so towards Kuroneko.
• Officially Shortened Title: When released in English, the title went from Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai to Oreimo.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When Kyousuke receives a package in the mail from Soari for Kirino, but the contents inside are not what the box looks like it holds.It contains Doujinshi and not the top-quality make-up kit the box is for. He then has a shocking revelation of what's inside the box as she and her friends are about to open the box in her room.
    • Then again when he hastily reacquires the box from them without Kirino understanding why. Which eventually leads to a struggle that results in Kyousuke falling onto of his sister, while groping her breast and her clothes being nearly removed... As her friends walk around a corner to see.
  • Ending of Episode 4, of course. Kirino, leaving Comiket with armfuls of doujinshi and otaku goods, runs into her model friend Ayase.
  • Kyousuke often suffers from this trope as well, such as when his mom was about to walk in on him playing an eroge, and in episode 7, Manami calling while he's in a love hotel with Kirino, and she overhears some stuff Kirino says about the place.
• The Ojou: Saori, when she takes off her glasses and drops her otaku persona.
• Operation: Jealousy: In volume 7 of the light novel and episode 6 of season 2, Kirino gets a boyfriend, Mikagami Kouki, who's a model just like her, as well as an Otaku. Kyousuke goes into Crazy Jealous Guy mode, and along with their father, is against the idea of her dating a guy, particularly as he's 3 years older than her. Turns out that he's actually just a fake boyfriend, and that this setup was largely Kirino's attempt to make Kyousuke see how she feels whenever she sees him spending time with Manami and Kuroneko.
• Otaku Surrogate:
  • Kirino; the fashion model popular middle schooler. Along with a group of girls, the "Otaku Girls Unite".
  • Kirino meets "Kuroneko" and Saori in that group. Sena is yet another.
  • Kyousuke admits at one point that Kirino turned him into somewhat of a minor Otaku, seeing as he is seemingly at all(or at least most) of their Otaku meetings it's not unreasable.
• Out of Focus: Manami in the novels. She starts off as being a pretty important side character and one Kyousuke interacts with regularly, seeing that she's his biggest port of refuge from all the wacky adventures he got himself into over the events of the series. However, starting from volume five, her appearance rate is steadily decreasing as the non-Kirino-involved parts of the story focus more on the computer game club and in particular, Kuroneko instead.
• Parental Bonus: In the kid-friendly Meruru show, the outfit of the character Thanatos Eros can only be this. You may want to review your choices more carefully the next time you ask her friends to cosplay, Brosuke.
• Passing the Torch: Kanata gives Saori the trademark glasses she's seen wearing throughout the show in episode 3 of season 2.
• The Patriarch: The moment Kirino's dad finds out about her otaku nature, he doesn't take it well. After some damage control by Kyousuke, he reduces the condemned material to hentai. Once Kyousuke takes the heat for ownership of the hentai (see below), the father follows up a Kick the Dog moment (punching Kyousuke in the face) with a Pet the Dog moment (grudgingly, reluctantly, and indirectly allowing him to keep the hentai). He has softened up a bit and helped Kyousuke despite his presentation of the problem being very... off-putting.
• Periphery Demographic: In-universe example: Stardust Witch Meruru is ostensibly for little girls, but it has a lot of fans who are adult males.
• Pet the Dog: Double subverted. Kyousuke'd father first punches him in the face for owning hentai and calls him a bastard, then right afterwards indirectly allows him to keep the stuff, knowing that Kyousuke's mother lets him keep the porn he already has under his bed.
  Daisuke Kousaka: You... you... bastard son! Do as you wish! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT IT!
• The Plan:
  • A few are done by Kyousuke in his attempts to help Kirino out.
  • Their mom does one in volume 10. At first Kirino and Kyousuke thought they were being separated because the parents, specifically their mom, thought they were getting into Brother–Sister Incest. But it turns out she wanted him out so he really could study for his exams, since she saw how much the sibling's relationship with each other had improved drastically, and that would help motivate him to study hard.
  • The ending of the series itself can be seen as such. Since it appears that the ending was planned by Kirino beforehand, and improvised into action after Kyousuke's unexpected confession.
  • The afterstory seems to imply this is happening behind Kirino's back. Referencing earlier in the Novels about dates that use public transportation being unromantic.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Two examples:
  • In the "Good" ending of episode 12, the game that Kirino and Kyousuke were playing ends saying essentially what Kyousuke wanted to say after he finds out Kirino was planning on going to the US for track training, but didn't say because of either pride or being mad at Kirino at the time. After hearing it, he still tells Kirino to go, which causes her to get mad and headbutt him. But at the end she decides not to go to America.
  • In the "True Route" OVA, episode 15, Kyousuke goes to America after Kirino sends him a text telling him to throw away her stuff. After talking to her for a bit, Kirino doesn't seem as though she wants to leave, but Kyousuke breaks down crying and essentially invokes this trope on her, having missed her all those months since she quietly left for America without telling anyone but their parents. This convinces her to come back to Japan after finally having the confidence and perfect reason to push her into completing the challenge she gave herself. Her rival also sees right through this and almost straight to the motivation that was finally able to push Kirino into beating her after constantly losses.
  • He does this again in episode 14 of season 2. Kirino says she's going overseas again after graduation, but this time she'll let people know when she's leaving, and that she'll come back occasionally. Kyousuke instead pleads for her to stay and to marry him, which she seems to accept. It is later confirmed that she does stay because of Kyousuke in the Light Novel and afterstory).
• Porn Stash: Both Kyousuke and Kirino have stashes. The latter actually spreads the former's stash around his room for Manami to see just to mess with her. Manami is, instead, pleased that one of Kyousuke's magazines she saw was a Meganekko fetish mag.
  • In episode 11 of season 2, Kanako finds the porn game Kirino gave him. When he states he was hiding it, she said she looked for porn under his bed, only to find the game. When he tries to state that it's not an adult game, Kanako points to the back of the box, asking what the girl is doing. Kyousuke gives this hilarious response with a completely straight face:
  Kyousuke: She's eating a sausage.
• Portmanteau Series Nickname: Used In-Universe with the fictional eroge "I'd Never Steal Something Like Onii-chan's Pantsu" and "3D Custom Imouto" shortened down to OniPan and CusImo. Kyousuke notes how weird the abbreviations actually sound.
• P.O.V. Boy, Poster Girl: Kyousuke and Kirino.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Originally a Light Novel series, the manga and anime adaptations take very different approaches to the material, with the manga cranking up to eleven the Fanservice, Male Gaze and Incest Subtext from the novels. While the anime actually removes most of it to the point of lopsided character development, not fully understanding their actions, or the seemingly uncalled for plot developments. This often shows that fans coming from different media having very different views on the series.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: As part of the Evolving Credits, any character that has a name and features for more than 15 seconds is likely to show up in the opening of that episode.
• Public Domain Soundtrack: During the scene in episode 4 when Kyousuke and Saori are IM-chatting, the background music contains excerpts of Minuet in G major (BWV Anh. 114). It's used again during the scene at Saori's home in episode 9.
• Real-Place Background: The town of Chiba is depicted in great detail; its typical monorail system and central park appear throughout. She show also contains shots of locations that are popular with otakus, like Akihabara (naturally), the Big Sight and Zepp Tokyo.
• Red String of Fate: There is one extending from Kyosuke's finger in the opening for the second season, but we never see who it's conected to. However, the camera zooms in on the string and the screen then fades to Kirino running...
  • This red string is also symbolism of Kyousuke's "pinke-promise" to his sister that they make in Season 2 Episode 15 about ending the public side of their romance to avoid social backlash.
• Relationship Upgrade:
  • At the end of Light Novel Volume 7, Kyousuke and Kuroneko start going out. However, They break up in Volume 8.
  • Kyousuke and Kirino go through one during the OVA episodes 14 through 16 of season 2. Then its subverted when they went through it just until their graduation, and revert back to normal siblings at the very end of episode 16.
    • The afterstory than pulls a Double Subversion and confirms that they only ended the public side of their romance and are normal siblings to the public. But are successfully still romantic in private.
  • Sena and Makabe do this in episode 16 of season 2. Her brother Kouhei isn't too happy about it.
• Revenge: Done with non-malicious intent in episode 4 of season 2. Ria, Kirino's roommate and athletic rival in the US, comes to Japan and spends a few days with her. She has a rematch race with her, and although Kirino loses, she nearly caught up to Ria after Kyousuke starts cheering her on. Ria later tells him that she wanted to see what suddenly inspired Kirino, who always lost the race, to suddenly win one, and confirms that it was because Kyousuke came to visit her, even though he wants to deny it.
• Ridiculously Average Guy: See Ordinary High-School Student above. He claims to be so average that he doesn't have a computer or a TV set on his room.

S - Z

• Scandalgate: Oreimogate happened when a leakage forced ANN to suspend streaming of Oreimo and Togainu no Chi for a few weeks.
• Secret-Keeper: Kyousuke is this for Kirino's little sister obsession.
• Secretly Wealthy: Saori.
• Serious Business: Both Kuroneko and Ayase consider them spending time with Kyousuke to be this during episode 11 of season 2 after Ayase objects to the former because she doesn't like it for some reason. They start off with a Lightning Glare which then turns into an epic battle with the two girls duking it out, before returning to the real world where they're just glaring at each other, and Kyousuke asking them not to start trouble in someone else's house. Which then causes both girls to look at him and ask in unison, who was responsible for this situation happening in the first place.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Arguably the whole series, seeing how it ends with Kyousuke and Kirino returning to being "normal siblings".
  • The Afterstory then subverts this subversion by making it clear through undeniable implications that they only ended the public side of their romance, and continued privately, which the endings originally only hinted, but never confirmed.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Spelled out by Kyousuke regarding Manami in episode 6. His friend Akagi calls him out on the seeming hypocrisy of his explanation.
  Akagi: So basically she's nothing more than a childhood friend to you, you're not going out with her, you have no feelings for her, but you won't allow other guys to make a move on her?
  Kyousuke: Yeah, so?
  Akagi: *sighs*
  • In the anime, both Kirino and Kyousuke often shout this trope when people mistakenly assume they're dating, such as Saori (who asked because he kept looking at her at a table nearby) in episode 2 when Kirino first meets her and Kuroneko.
    • Later on, Kirino instead enjoys the misinterpretation and flaunts it, while Kyousuke remains virtually oblivious, spiteful, or scarred about possible misunderstandings should their parents find out.
  • Used in Volume 8, Kyousuke asks Mikagami (Kirino's former fake boyfriend) when it would be okay to ask a girlfriend to touch her breasts, and Mikagami assumes he means Kirino. Kyousuke angrily corrects the misunderstanding later.
• Ship Tease: Lots. It's most egregious in episode 6 of the anime, which is almost literally nothing but. This includes the end song.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Manami's grandparents seem hellbent on a Manami x Kyousuke pairing, and even force them to sleep in the same room to encourage it. Manami herself encourages Kyousuke to go after Ayase in Volume 8 of the Light Novel and the Visual Novel.
  • In the PSP game's Manami route, Kyousuke's friend Akagi is also one for the aforementioned pairing, and pulls a Leave The Two Love Birds Alone at the start of their class' school trip.
  • In the last two volumes of the light novel, Saori has joined the Kuroneko camp, while Manami roots for Ayase and Sena roots for Kirino.
  • Mikagami has also been shipping Kirino since apparently before the fake boyfriend incident.
• Ship Sinking: Several are shot down in season 2 of the anime:
  • episode 11 of season 2 does this for pretty much every girl except for one which Kyousuke says he cares for. Particularly heartbreaking if you were hoping for an Ayase ending.
  • Episode 14 has him do one towards Kuroneko. She doesn't take it too well, ripping up the notebook of memories she had with him.
  • He turns down Kanako when she publicly asks him out in episode 15. She seems to handle it fairly well, then resumes singing and promising to be a big star so he'll come to regret that decision.
  • He turns down Manami in episode 16 after her Anguished Declaration of Love and No-Holds-Barred Beatdown with Kirino.
  • And in the end, even the relationship between Kirino and Kyousuke appears to have been only temporary.
    • Jossed with the new reveal from the afterstory. Vague terminology aside, the afterstory objectively confirms that they only ended the public side of their relationship, and kept going in private.
• Shout-Out: This anime can't possibly have this many Shout Outs!
• Show Within a Show:
  • Besides several fictional eroge, and the TV show Stardust Witch Meruru, there are also several real eroge that Kirino owns.
  • And Maschera: Lament of the Fallen Beast.
  • A Super Robot anime called Justeen 8 plays at various points in Episode 8.
• Sit Com Arch Nemesis:
  • Kirino and Kuroneko are these to each other. While they both love anime, they like different genres of it, and will often engage in Ham-to-Ham Combat to ridicule each other's favorite shows. However, despite this, they genuinely do like each other, and spend a lot of time together after they first meet in episode 2.
  • In the "True Route" OVA's (episodes 13-15), Sena takes over for Kirino as she and Kuroneko try to one-up each other in the game club.
• Spin-Off: In the form of a manga named "Ore no Kouhai Ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai!" ("My Junior Can't Be This Cute!"), starring Kuroneko. Another Spin-Off featuring Kouhei and Sena Akagi was teased in the Episode 13 DVD Commentary, but this may have just been a joke. Kouhei proudly claims this one would be named "My Little Sister is Cute!", which causes Sena to get very embarrassed.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is the heroine of the Show Within a Show called Meruru, or Merle?
• Status Quo Is God: Kyousuke tries to do this in episode 15 of the first season, ^note after Kirino left for the US without telling anyone besides their parents, and talks to Manami about this in the first episode of season 2 when Kirino seems to act exactly the same as before despite having been gone for months.
• Suicide as Comedy: Sena asks for this after accidentally revealing she's really into Yaoi, and mentions a little too much in the OVA.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In episode 11 of season 2, Kuroneko says she has to leave for school soon when visiting Kyousuke early in the morning. Ayase tells her to hurry up and to leave "onii-san" to her. Kuroneko wonders if she was planning on eating the sandwiches the former made for him. Which then causes Ayase to ask why she has to eat lunch with, and feed him, complete with doing the "say ahh" motion. Kuroneko then states that she never said that, causing Ayase to get embarrassed and leave.
• Sustained Misunderstanding:
  • In episode 7 of season 2, a bunch of misunderstandings occur in the club room, ranging from the club not realizing Kyousuke and Kuroneko only started dating the day before, and Mikagami thinking it was Kirino's breasts Kyousuke wanted to touch when the latter asked him about touching his girlfriend's breasts earlier. Sena immediately wonders if Kyousuke has a Siscon fetish, and Kuroneko wants to know exactly what they were talking about regarding the last statement.
  • In episode 3, when their father is about to throw out the hentai games, a list of options pop up. He could either let his father do that, he could try fighting (and likely losing) his father, or he could "save the little sisters". He chooses the third option, and claims the games are his, and that he's been using Kirino's computer to play them. Which earns a punch in the face from his father, but saves the games for Kirino.
  • In episode 5, when Kirino is attempting to make up with Ayase, he claims that he loves his little sister and that anime and manga brought them closer together. But he says it in such a way that to Ayase it sounds like he's corrupting her, and makes up with her immediately, while ruining his reputation with her...temporarily...
  • In volume 10, Kanako, Kuroneko, and Manami are all arguing as to who should make food for him while he's living alone in his apartment. He says that if the girls are going to be fighting over him because of that, he'll just eat out everyday. That option immediately gets rejected by all 3 girls simultaneously. So Saori jokingly says she'll take care of it, using her vast amount of money, which also earns the ire and some Death Glares from all of the other girls.
• Take That!: There are a lot of hints in the anime dialogue targeting those in the anime industry with sloppy business practices, especially within Episode 8, the whole episode discussing it.
• Team Mom: Saori to her otaku IRL group.
• Tears of Joy: At the end of episode 14 of season 2, when Kyousuke confessed to Kirino, she cried tears of joy and accepted his unrealistic marriage proposal.
• Tempting Fate: In episode 16, Manami talks to Kyousuke and Kirino regarding the latter two's Relationship Upgrade despite being blood-related siblings. Kirino takes the opportunity to really rub it in her face, taunting her that she "won" Kyousuke from Manami, and asking her how she feels. Kyousuke, for his part, gets extremely annoyed at Kirino's tone of voice, and as he's about to stop her, Manami lets Kirino know just how she feels. By delivering a literal Gut Punch, and then giving Kirino "The Reason You Suck" Speech about taking Kyousuke away from her. Manami strips off her usual nice persona, and gets into a huge fistfight with Kirino.
• Thanks for the Mammary: Kyousuke gets an accidental grope of Kirino in episode 4.
• That Came Out Wrong: In episode 5, while Kyousuke is technically telling the truth when he tells Ayase how much he loves his sister and how anime brought them closer together, he says it in such a way that Ayase interprets it as him having some kind of illicit affair with Kirino.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Kyousuke gives one to Kirino during his harem party in episode 11, right before her apology.
  • Kuroneko gives one to Kyousuke in the OVA, since she feels that she's a replacement for his sister after Kirino had left for the US without telling any of them.
  • In episode 6 of season 2 and volume 7 of the light novel, Kirino gives a subtle one towards Kyousuke. She claims that she's dating Mikagami, the guy Kyousuke, Kuroneko, and Saori met at the summer comiket, and who also works at the same agency as Kirino. She starts to spout off various "nice qualities" about him, such as being rich, an otaku, having a lot of talent, and listening to her. She also specifically mentions that he wouldn't cheat on her, unlike a certain someone, which she clearly meant Kyousuke. See Operation: Jealousy for further details.
• The Scape Goat: In the beginning of the story Kyousuke took the heat for Kirino's ownership of H-games. This is particularly hilarious as this means Kyousuke admits he is (1) using Kirino's computer (2) in Kirino's room (3) to play H-games (4) of a siscon nature. He does it again to salvage Kirino's friendship with Ayase by pretending to be a sis-con. The Light Novel states that even he doesn't know how serious he was with the latter, though.
• The Internet Is for Porn: A mad Kirino confronts Kyousuke about this after finding out that he used her laptop to surf for porn in episode 7. She punishes him by making him go with her to Tokyo to do some research for her novel.
• Those Two Guys:
  • There are two extras in the game research club. The anime takes it to extreme by making them not only completely identical in looks, but also does everything at the same time side by side.
  • Inverted example, at least in the anime, with Kirino's two model and school friends, Ayase and Kanako. While they generally get more screen time than other examples in this trope normally would (especially Ayase), much more focus is given to Kirino's two otaku friends, Saori and Kuroneko.
• Title Drop:
  • Subverted at the beginning of the series. There's no way my sister is this cut- *Wakes up by alarm clock*. Eventually played straight at the end of episode 3, after Kirino blushes and calls Kyousuke "aniki" for the first time.
  • Subverted again in the beginning of the first episode of season 2, during the flashback to when the two were younger. My little sister can't be this- gets hit by Kirino
  • This happens in a couple of endings in the PSP Visual Novel—it's actually an "item" you have to use to get Ayase's best ending.
  • The final line of the final novel. Naturally.
• Tsundere:
  • This might as well be Tsundere: the Show. A good third of the cast shows tsundere tendencies at some point or another, including both main characters. Kirino in particular, is heavy on the tsun-tsun, light on the dere-dere, in the anime at least. Even when she forces her brother to do something for her, she implies she is only there to humor him and because she has nothing better to do.It's really just a defence mechanism she uses to cover up her true feelings. She's a type B as well, focusing most of her tsuntsun on Kyousuke and Kuroneko, the two people she's closest with. The tsun/dere ratio is a bit more equal in the novel, and actually goes more heavy on the dere-dere in the manga thanks to all her Moe blushing mannerisms.
  • Kirino and indeed Kyousuke takes after their father Daisuke Kousaka, who after discovering his children liked anime looked into stories of what watching anime might do to them, after which he spouted verbatim the Tsundere creed.
  Daisuke Kousaka: but don't get me wrong, I didn't do this for your sake.
  • Kuroneko, by contrast, is a type A who is usually pretty sharp/cool to most people, but shows her deredere side to Kyousuke.
• 12-Episode Anime: Plus four OVA episodes.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Looks like Manami is being set up as one. She has an obvious crush on Kyousuke, but he thinks of her as nothing more than a childhood friend. He also thinks she looks plain; so much so that he thinks to himself that even were The Glasses Gotta Go trope in effect she'd still look plain. That said, Kyousuke does mention how much he appreciates her being plain and normal since that's also how he describes himself. He mentioned that he wanted to go to the same college with her, not because he was in love with her or anything, but because he finds his relationship with her close and comfortable.
• Unreliable Narrator: Kyousuke, somewhat, in the light novels. He is frequently interrupted by events in the story from narrating, and chooses to leave information out and push the authors implications further since Executive Meddling stopped them from downright saying them.
  • Such as his true feelings being left out of the mix, only narrating his negative feelings up until the last few bits of the series. He also chooses to leave key parts out of the narration in the afterstory, nonetheless the author very clearly gets the message across anyway without clearly stating it and running afoul of the Moral Guardians.
• Unwanted Harem:
  • To his bewilderment, Kyousuke somehow manages to get one in the later novels.
  • He also gets a harem party in episode 11, eliciting some odd looks from the receptionist.
• Visual Novel: The PSP game is one of these, complete with a route for each girl and Multiple Endings. The route plot details are mostly on the Character Sheet.
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 3 of the season 1, after Kirino and Kyousuke's father finds an eroge game hidden inside one of her game cases.
  • Episodes 4 & 5 of the season 1, after Ayase unexpectedly bumps into Kirino visiting comiket, and finds out about Kirino's hidden Otaku life.
  • Episode 12 True Route of season 1, when Kirino suddenly leaves for America without telling anyone aside from her parents.
  • Episode 6 of season 2, when Kirino claims to have a boyfriend, and later brings him home to meet her parents. At the end of that same episode, Kuroneko asks Kyousuke out.
  • Episode 8 of season 2, Kuroneko suddenly decides to break up with Kyousuke without any obvious reason.
  • The entirety of Episodes 14 through 16 of Season 2. Quite literally.
• Wham Line:
  • In the manga, "I'M...DEEPLY IN LOVE WITH MY SISTERRRRRR!!", only because the chapter ends on a Cliffhanger.
  • In episode 4 of season 2, Kirino delivers this whopper to Kyousuke at the very end:
  Kirino: This is hard for me to say, but... be my boyfriend.
  • Kirino gives another one in the very next episode again, saying she's going to take her real boyfriend next time after Kyousuke says he's tired of faking being her boyfriend. And while she doesn't reveal who it is, at the very end of the episode, a boy whom none of them have met so far calls out to her at the summer comiket.
  • Yet several more in episode 6 of season are heard. The first is with Kirino telling Kyousuke, Kuroneko, and Saori that she's dating Mikogami, whom they met earlier at Comiket. The second one is given by Kuroneko, when she asks Kyousuke out at the end of the episode.
  • Two more in episode 8 of season 2. The first is when Kyousuke tells Kirino he's dating Kuroneko. Although she smacks him a bit hard after treating what appears to be mosquito bites on his face, he's surprised by her lack of reaction regarding that. Kuroneko delivers one in written form at the end of the episode, when she opens her notebook, revealing the line "Break up with senpai.", referring to him.
  • The ending moments of Episode 14 of Season 2.
    • Then the next episode starts off with an abridged version of that scene.
• What If?: The aptly named "If" routes of the Visual Novel. Among others:
  • What If? Kyousuke constantly treats his relationship with Manami as an eroge? She leaves him and becomes an idol duo with her little brother.
  • What If? Kyousuke and Kouhei open a mysterious door in their inn during their class trip to Kyoto? They find an 8-bit hidden shrine and end up being killed by Cute and Psycho versions of their sisters.
  • What If? Kyousuke and Kirino are Not Blood Siblings? After Kyousuke finds out, he starts noticing his sister's rather eye catching outfits and can't stop looking at her. After he tells her the news, they shack up that very night. Unlike the other If routes, this actually has a really sweet ending.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Kyousuke gets called on this by a few characters when he's helping out Kirino, such as their father and Ayase.
  • Saori laments about this trope when Kirino goes to the US without telling anyone aside from her parents. She tells Kyousuke that she's actually a bit angry that Kirino never told her, as well as being upset and saddened because they can't hang out anymore.
  • Kyousuke once again gets this treatment by several characters during episodes 14-16 in season 2. Most surprisingly is one given by Manami, who outright tells them that their relationship wouldn't be accepted so easily by society, or their parents, whom she threatened to tell. Kirino does this to him immediately after Manami leaves as well, asking him why he's turning down all of these girls.
• Will They or Won't They?:
  • However, for most viewers, this is not so much in context of "Will they or won't they get together?" but more so toward "Will they or won't they enter an incestuous relationship?". It's essentially one of the main draws of the show, whether the audience wants to see it or not.
  • Pertaining to the novels, Volumes 4-6 invoke this trope, and takes it to its ending by the cliffhanger of Volume 6.
  • And we get the answer in the final 12th novel and the afterstory - yes they successfully do, although it gets publicly ended and continues privately.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Kyosuke finds the implications of his little sister playing H-Games about little sisters disturbing. To his peace of mind, Kirino makes clear that she can tell 3D reality from 2D fiction fine, and her obsession with them comes from the over-the-top Moeness of the characters in an extreme case of Periphery Demographic. However, in a later (anime-only) episode it's still implied extremely strongly that she enjoys the H-scenes exactly as they are meant to be enjoyed...
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Manami
• Yandere:
  • Ayase, for Kirino.
  • Kuroneko seems to develop quite an If I Can't Have You… tendency in some routes in the PSP game. It's jarring to say the least. Just listen to her Audio Commentary associated with the Gallery pic showing Ayase kissing Kyousuke. She's pissed. VERY pissed... This also shows up occasionally in the original Light Novel, although not as scary as the PSP game's self-proclaimed "Yamineko" (Dark Cat).
  • Ayase becomes a full-blown Yandere during her Bad Ending in the Visual Novel, stabbing Kyousuke to death in a If I Can't Have You… moment. May count as It Was His Sled, since the fanbase was expecting such an ending.
  • Kirino does this as well in a Visual Novel side route, arguably even creepier than Ayase's bad end. See What If? above.
  • Ayase hilariously stabs Kyousuke with the sheathed knife she brought him as a gift in episode 11 of season 2 after Kuroneko comes over to visit him while the former is there. She is suspicious of his ex-girlfriend visiting him so early, causing him to ask why she sounds like she's his current girlfriend. She then does the stabbing.
• Yaoi Fangirl: Akagi's little sister, Sena.

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