Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai - Episode 11

For someone who had no interest in it at the start, Kyousuke seems to have developed quite a taste for eroge these days judging by the start of this episode... not that I can particularly blame him, mind you.

Anyhow, with Kyousuke's parents away on his day off, he decides that this would be a perfect opportunity for him to invite childhood friend Manami over, although seemingly only with an eye towards getting some cooking and cleaning done, which perhaps isn't the most 21st century "new man" idea in the world.  Regardless of his intentions, Kirino treats Manami's arrival with disdain, acting as bitchily and rudely as usual to their guest despite being inwardly impressed by both Manami's cooking and cleaning.  Just when it looks as if Kirino has calmed down somewhat, Kyousuke soon finds that she's actually simply been looking forward to watching him fall into her trap, as he invites Manami into his room only to find her laptop running in mid-eroge session with porn mags strewn across his bed.  Manami takes this surprisingly well, but it's clearly something Kyousuke isn't going to be able to live down any time soon, especially given his preference for girls with glasses...

From here, the second half of the episode fast forwards to Kirino's "anime launch party" as arranged by Saori, which finds Kyousuke greeted with both an unexpected banner and some unexpected clothing choices from the fellow guests as those maid outfits from a couple of episodes ago finally get an airing.  Long story short, the whole party is little more than a ruse to cheer a despondent Kyousuke up a bit, and more importantly to give Kirino an opportunity to (quite rightly) thank her brother for everything that's he done to help her out of late.  It's all quite touching, and before the party is our Kyousuke is reduced to tears at his sister's sudden apologetic and grateful turn.  Awwwwww....

Ignoring that genuinely slightly touching finale for a moment, it's probably more important to note that much of this episode showed this series at its absolute comic best, proving to be frequently hilarious from Manami's reaction to the contents of Kyousuke's room through to the receptionist at the place where Kirino's party was held, with the latter in particular showcasing an expertly timed vein of visual comedy that could happily grace any show, anime or otherwise.  That aside, Kirino continues to blow as hot and cold as a faulty hand dryer, with her bitchiness early in the episode making her later apology feel a little sour; yet, somehow, it still moved me ever so slightly, with my emotions running away from my logical detestation of her behaviour in a way which probably explains how this show can be so enjoyable despite having an abhorrent main female character.  Oh, Ore no Imouto, sometimes even I don't understand why I like you quite so much, yet like you a lot I do.  I am towards this series what Kirino is towards her brother I suppose - what delicious irony...