Whatever your preferred flavor of English title, Ima Sugu ni Onii-chan ni Imouto da tte Iitai!—Ima Imo for short—is an all-ages Visual Novel created by Fairys (the all-ages branch of Sprite) planned for a December 2012 release. It is a sister work to Love, Election & Chocolate, and takes place in the same universe; like Koi Choco, Ima Imo has extremely high production values, with art by Akinashi Yuu, music by I've Sound and many popular bands and singers (Minori Chihara, eufonius, marble, Ceui, and Yuuki Aira), and an all-star voice cast.
Our hero, 15-year-old everyboy Mitani Rikuto, is currently adjusting to his new family life after his father Naoma's second marriage, moving in with his stepmother Ryouko and younger stepbrother Ayumu. Ayumu is small and delicate and generally looks like a girl, and life in the same household is a strange and heart-pounding exercise for young Rikuto. In spring, Rikuto and Ayumu are set to enroll in the same high school, Asaoka Gakuen—but for some reason, Ayumu has registered as a female student, and will be wearing the girls' uniform!
Unbeknownst to Rikuto, Ayumu is very much female, but her mother has instructed her to pretend to be a boy while at home so that she can stay in the same room as her brother in their small apartment. With the start of the new school year, it doesn't seem like the boy-in-the-household, girl-outside-it routine will be able to hold for very long—and above all else, as Ayumu comes to know and like Rikuto more, her distress at having to lie to him about her gender grows every day.
Meanwhile, as Rikuto starts high school not knowing which way is up, he and Ayumu become friends with three other girls—Matsuri, Mao, and Kimika. Rikuto slowly begins to understand that all four of his friends seem to be hiding things that are keeping them from moving forward...
The heroines you can romance are:
- Mitani Ayumu, Rikuto's stepsister. Age 15. Small in stature, but very cheerful and good-natured. Gets lonely easily. Especially skilled at housework. Forced to pretend she's a boy by her mother, much to Rikuto's confusion. Voiced by Chihara Minori.
- Nanase Matsuri, Rikuto's best friend since middle school. Age 15. Outgoing, very pretty and good at both school and sports. Gets lots of love confessions, but turns them all down. Apparently has an awkward family situation. Claims to hate children. Voiced by Kanae Itō.
- Shigemori Mao, a girl who enrolls in Asaoka as a boy and wears the men's uniform. Age 15. She is heir to a dojo, and her grandfather insists that she live as a boy until she earns her mastery. Skilled at kendo; ashamed of her love for cute things. Voiced by Kayano Ai.
- Haida Kimika, the class representative. Age 15. Is very shy, and has been bullied for being plain in the past; currently trying to change her image, but it's not going too well. Used to wear glasses. Was in the same class as Rikuto in elementary school once, but he doesn't remember her. Voiced by Hikasa Youko.
This Visual Novel employs the following tropes:
- A-Cup Angst: Ayumu's small bust is pretty handy, since she can pretend to be a boy without much in the way of disguise. Not that she's happy about that, of course...
- Acceptable Feminine Goals: Ryouko is a famous makeup artist.
- Ascended Extra: When the game was first announced, Kimika was supposed to be a side character, but by the time the official website opened she had been upgraded to heroine.
- Berserk Button: Rikuto really hates self-serving lies. During the scavenger hunt in Ayumu's route, their class barely misses out on the first place, because one of their classmates, who had to take a photo from a specific location, was too lazy to walk the extra five minutes to the correct spot and figured nobody would notice. When Rikuto hears this, his friends have to restrain him, so that he doesn't beat up the guy in front of their whole class (plus teacher). We eventually learn that his father Naoma was once scammed out of a large amount of money by a supposed friend of his. Since then, every self-serving lie reminds Rikuto of that incident.
- Bromantic Foil: Ryousuke Yokoyama, self-proclaimed gentleman and definite pervert.
- Continuity Cameo: Love, Election & Chocolate heroines Chisato and Satsuki, both in middle school at this point, both appear as minor characters. All four of this game's heroines also made periodic appearances in the Koi Choco anime adaptation. Ayumu and Chisato are cousins; Matsuri and Satsuki are Childhood Friends.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Mao is very popular for her cool personality, strong sense of justice, and boy's uniform.
- Family Versus Career: Ryouko's job is demanding and has resulted in her leaving Ayumu home alone a lot, making her hypercompetent at housework.
- Girlish Pigtails: Matsuri.
- Image Song: Each of the girls has one, which is used as her ending theme.
- Nice Guy: Like most Visual Novel protagonists, Rikuto is pretty much the saint of niceness sans miracles, especially to girls.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Naoma is a famous pâtissier.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Ayumu has to dress as and pretend to be a boy around Rikuto, so that they can both sleep in the same room. Of course, Ayumu is so feminine that only Rikuto's gullibility prevents him from seeing through it immediately.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Ayumu and Mao, who dress as boys.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Ayumu and Mao.
