Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai 2 - Episode 13

As it reaches its last "proper" episode (prior to a trio of OVA episodes which arrive in August), Oreimo's second season changes tact for this finale by taking a look at the world through Kirino's eyes.

To be precise, this episode charts Kirino's relationship with her older brother from its very roots, meaning that we get to see a very different dynamic between a far younger pair of siblings.  As a young child, Kirino was in awe of her brother, who seemed like an amazing individual who could do anything that he set his mind to - so amazed was she at her siblings abilities that she'd spend time with him whenever possible just to soak in everything that she could about this wonderful person.

Of course, times change and so do individuals, and as the pair grow up so a distance begins to grow between the two siblings - Kyousuke wants to spend more time away from his little sister as hanging around with her becomes increasingly uncool, and what's more Kirino begins to see what she views as a change in her brother from the amazing all-rounder she knew and loved into a lazy, half-hearted slob who didn't want to put any effort into anything.  This ultimately all comes to a head, not helped by Manami commenting that Kyousuke was never the amazing person Kirino imagined him to be, leading to Kirino choosing to ignore Kyousuke whenever possible while molding herself into a person that could best even her idealised view of her brother.  Of course, her deep-seated feelings never went away, and her otaku proclivities proved to be nothing more than a way of venting them in a safe environment, until this became the issue which pushed the siblings closer together once again.

For all of this show's flaws (and boy are there plenty of them), this was actually quite a satisfying "final" episode.  Although it does nothing to gloss over the horrendous and now increasingly present incestuous angle of the series, there was something to be said for delivering Kirino's story in this manner and the result was a pretty engaging but suitably light-hearted one that (aforementioned incest angle aside) also felt like a satisfying representation of the two siblings at the heart of the show and their changing relationship.  It's a shame that something like this can even feature as a highlight of what has otherwise been a disappointing series, and by all accounts those final OVA episodes are going to do nothing to save the show - far from it in fact.  Roll on August, if only so that we can bring a franchise that has somehow imploded almost entirely during this second season to a close.