September 07, 2021

Lately My Sister Has Been Acting Unusual

Or Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga.

Oh dear, it's one of those "Sister Fetish but it's okay because she's unrelated" comedies. Only not exactly, because it's got some interesting twists. For one thing, neither of the principals are interested in each other "that way", however, there is a third party - the ghost of a girl who really liked the older brother, who can't get to heaven unless she resolves the issue of her love for the boy. She can temporarily possess the sister, but she has to use coercion to get her to help. And said coercion takes the form of a magical chastity belt.

Which might severely cramp the whole goal of getting her toes curled vicariously through the sister. It also sets a very odd boundary on the fan service (Which is annoyingly focused on needing to pee for the first two episodes, but that never really comes up again after that.)

However, that boundary serves the plot very well, slowing down the resolution of the boy (Yuuya) and his new sister (Mitsuki) getting to know and accept each other.

There are some expected elements that you get from comedy, like hijinks related to trying, and failing, to hide the belt. But secrets getting spilled are rarely as catastrophic as imagined. Yuuya chalks it up to being some kind of weird fetish underwear, rather than an accumulator for the energy needed to help Hyori, the ghost, get through heaven's gate. Even stranger, he can occasionally see Hyori, and assumes she's a friend, or even possibly a lover of Mitsuki's, who is just really into cosplay with those wings she has. He's not clueless, it's just that the most rational assumptions are not the case in this situation.

In fact, there are several others in the cast who can see Hyori, but for the most part don't interact with her at all. It's really kind of subtle. There's actually a lot going on with some of these secondary and tertiary characters that is never stated directly, or saved until the end. If you watch this, keep an eye on Neko and see if you can figure out what that book she's always reading is.

The ending, alas, isn't a final resolution, and leaves the story open to continuing, although after this much time, that probably means tracking down the manga. If you want to pretend it ended though, just don't watch the final scene, in which case it's pretty well wrapped up, minus a few sub-plots.

Of course, a lot of things could have been resolved more quickly if people would just talk to each other, but then there'd be no room for comedy. But nicely, the lack of communication has rational reasons. There's no major Idiot Ball in play.

Posted by: Mauser at 06:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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