Ore ga Suki nano wa Imōto dakedo Imōto ja nai

Virtual NTR – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ OVA 1 Review

Virtual NTR – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ OVA 1 Review

This post contains some NSFW imagery.

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. OVA 1 (Episode 11) Review.

Wait. I thought you were taking a hiatus from seasonal anime reviews, and hasn’t this god-awful abomination of a show already ended?! What’s going on here?! Calm down buddy, I thought I’d make an exception and review the 11th episode (it’s not the 11th episode, it’s an OVA, but whatever) of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ since Crunchyroll decided to stream it.

That’s kind of rare in of itself, isn’t it? Crunchyroll doesn’t usually put OVA’s up on their service, do they? You’re oddly well-informed in this regard, and yes, that’s true they usually don’t. And what’s more remarkable is they’ve put up the uncensored version of the episode!

Mai putting up a good case for a new ‘best girl’ from this show.

Ah… and now we come to the real reason you’ve come out of semi-retirement–the pursuit of anime nipples! Do you really think I’m that shallow?

*cough*, *ahem*, *mumbles*… Okay fine, you got me. But obviously I wouldn’t be talking about this episode unless it had something noteworthy about it, would I? Something I felt compelled to share with my lovely readers.

Oh yeah? And what’s that… It’s ~really~ funny, both ironically and unironically.

Okay, so what’s the OVA about? Right, so the gang is all gathered at a non-descript meeting room because Double Peace Sensei has asked them there. Turns out the “company” she works for has developed an ultra realistic deep VR game that they want to beta-test on Yu and the girls. Turns out the game is a ‘GNTR’ or ‘Gender switched Netorare’ which for the innocent among you basically means Yu’s going to act out being a married man at the center of a cucking harem. That’s not a typo by the way, ‘Netorare’ is a genre of fiction and eroge that deals with a married person (usually a wife, but in this case husband–hence the “gender switched” bit–who is sexually pursued by others with a modicum of consent on the part of their partner).

I’m already confused and annoyed. Shut up, it gets better. So basically the whole episode is each of the girls interrupting sexual encounters that Yu has with each other girl in a kind of knock-out round situation. So after Double Peace Sensei (who “luckily” rolls the role of Yu’s wife) tries to get Yu to enter her back entrance Mai crashes the scene with a more powerful ‘card’ and so the shenanigans continue with each girl getting a chance to get their boobs out and generally be sexy for no apparent reason but to give the audience the fan-service they deserve after sitting through 10 mostly mediocre episodes of the show!

Send this pic to someone who doesn’t watch anime and show me their reaction. I dare you.

Aside from pandering to your perverted proclivities I fail to see how this episode is entertaining. Listen, it’s a genuinely funny and occasionally well-written episode and it’s a darn sight more self-aware and tongue-in-cheek than the series was. I wish the rest of this series had this level of playfulness and frivolity!

Right. So you’re settling on? This is probably the best episode of the series from a sheer entertainment perspective (assuming you have no issue with excessive fan service and nudity). The animation is passable and never dips to the horrendous levels it did during the show’s run which I know for some people who watched this show as a spectacle train-wreck rather than appreciating it for what it is will be disappointing. But for the rest of us who genuinely enjoyed this amateurish exercise in anime–punctuated with professional level fan service–this is about as good as it gets for ‘My Sister, My Writer’.

Jiggles + nipples through shirt. What a time to be alive.

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

Family Matters – Episode 1 Review
“I’m Not Bad, I’m Just Drawn That Way” – Episode 2 Review
Schrodinger’s Panty Shot – Episode 3 Review
All Roads Lead To Bikini Fan Service – Episode 4 Review
A Sister’s All You Nude – Episode 5 Review
Sibling Bondage – Episode 6 Review
Lewding From The Heart – Episode 7 Review
The Best Offence Is A Good Incest – Episode 8 Review
Keeping Face – Episode 9 Review
Sis-Confession – Episode 10 (Finale) Review

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Sis-Confession – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 10 (Finale) Review

Sis-Confession – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 10 (Finale)

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 10 (Finale).

So how’s this episode? Oh boy, here we are at the final episode of ‘My Sister, My Writer’… I swear it was touch and go for a while there, I didn’t think we’d make it! So, how’s this episode you ask… well it starts off with a solid 10 or so minutes where the animation and art is among the best and most consistent it’s been–which if you’re like me and have been watching the show not just to make fun of it–was a good feeling. I mean hey, the show’s finally come good in the 11th hour, let’s give it a round of applause. Alas, that feeling doesn’t last…

Oh dear. Before I go into what went wrong with this episode I’ll at least set the scene first. So after Suzuka runs off after witnessing Sakura confess her feelings to Yu she ends up in a hedge maze garden-thing and reminisces about a similar time when she was young and did the same, only for her brother to come find her. History repeats and Yu finds her again and decides it’s time to confess his ~true~ feelings. Not about her, but rather his feelings for brother x sister romance in fiction–turns out he loves it and always has but has kept as much secret out of not wanting to alienate his real life sister and put a strain on their relationship.

Hey look, the show can look good sometimes! Just don’t get used to it…

So he’s into fictional sibling lover but she loves her real life sibling. Correct. And I like the idea of this, that the reason he’s been so nervous and awkward about his sister having written a best-selling siscon romance isn’t because he’s ~secretly in love with his blood sister~ but just that he likes siscon light novels and anime but is too afraid to admit the fact because he has a real life sister himself. That’s a relatable stance, after all I have a real life sister and love siscon anime but I want nothing to do with my real sister.

The “debate” they have was pretty well animated too, until it wasn’t.

Uh-huh, thanks for clearing that up… so you said something about the animation taking a dip after the first part? How bad does it get?! Why do I get the feeling you’re relishing this? While it doesn’t quite dip as far as Episode 9 did, it’s still pretty bad. I’d say its perplexing how the first 10 or so minutes looks so great and the rest not so much but I think it’s clear now that the important “confession” scene was handled in-house at a reasonable production pace and the rest of the episode was either rushed or completely outsourced to meet the episode airing deadline.

In any given crowd scene Ahaego Double Peace always ends up looking the best, which I appreciate.

And what about the plot of the episode (aside from the relationship between Yu and Suzuka) didn’t that have something to do with the anime adaptation of Suzuka’s book being re-written by an over-zealous director who thought Yu didn’t understand “little sister moe” enough? Wow you have been paying attention! Yes, and we get the reason for the director’s outburst in Episode 8. Turns out he’s Sakura’s brother meaning that the “creepy sister obsessed brother” that Sakura spoke of and was the reason for her running away from home is the director. Turns out he was jealous of Yu for having such a close relationship with his own sister and decided to make trouble for him because of it. But as soon as Sakura shows up in the meeting room and tells off her brother the situation is resolved! As far as this being a final episode and a resolution to a multiple arc story it falls pretty flat, but then again it’s certainly not helped by the fact that as this meeting scene goes along the animation continually deteriorates.

Just a bunch of normal faces, nothing to see here!

So overall thoughts on the finale? The first half was undoubtedly stronger than the second both in regard to story and animation quality. Overall I think the story was kind of weak but ultimately it was the characters that had me coming back week after week and they were still quite good in the finale too–even if there was too much of a focus on the main pairing for my liking.

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

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Keeping Face – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 9 Review

Keeping Face – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 9

Warning: This review contains some nudity/NSFW imagery.

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 9.

So how’s this episode? Remember last week when I heaped some praise upon this show for looking like a decent anime again?

Oh boy… I know where this is headed… Yeah, it’s back to looking pretty terrible again. And like I said in the episode 7 review, I’m not going to start shit-talking the animation because I do genuinely feel sorry for the animators in their poor working conditions (on this show in particular) but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it. Is this the worst the show has looked? Unfortunately, yes. But I’m going to leave it at that and talk about the plot and the characters and anything other than the animation.

Okay, good for you, take the moral high-ground! But it’s really hard not to mention it you know? Like seeing how good the show looks in the credits, and how decent it looked in Episode 1 and last week its just so disheartening to not being able to get the proper experience of this show. I mean maybe they’ll fix things for the blu-ray they have delayed its release by two months after all so that might be a good sign? But for a seasonal watcher like me that’s kind of too-little, too-late.

Omg, Sakura looks like the girl from Sleepaway Camp.

Well do you want to explain why you feel the need to talk about it more than you already have? It’s because unlike say a comedy (like Teekyu, which has purposefully inconsistent animation and has off-model characters every second) where being off-model and weird-looking can be a joke in-of-itself, here characters are trying to emote and have scenes where they’re conveying things with more than just words but I don’t know what the tone of the scene is because their faces are so messed up. There’s a scene on a Ferris Wheel between Yuu and Suzuha, and it took me more than half through the scene to realise that Yuu was supposed to be flustered and anxious in the scene and not excited eager and excited because Yuu’s face is just kind of has a blank expression and is looking directly into the ‘camera’. It’s so unbelievably off-putting, not to mention just ruins any kind of investment in the scene.

And I’m guessing it’s not just relegated to that scene, huh? Nope, nearly every scene is affected and removes all the nuance from character moments because you can no longer rely on facial expressions to convey emotion. It’s like talking to a someone who’s had too much plastic surgery and can’t emote, except their face randomly goes off-model every time you see them.

Yikes. So uhh, is there anything good you can say about this episode? There is but it’s buried beneath all the bad animation and character art. Umm, so the backgrounds look impeccable, the theme park (which I think is modeled after the one in Yokohama) looks fantastic, it gave me nostalgia just looking at it. Ahaego Double Peace sensei is an undoubted highlight as she goes full “loli-dere”, sits on Yuu’s lap and fellates a churro. And even the ending scene, where Sakura confides in Suzuha about her own sis-con older brother and his creepy ways and the way that his book helped her understand that not all brother-sister relationships have to be like that, was genuinely interesting! And then she confesses her love to him and Suzuka overhears it and runs away, sure its contrived but it’s interesting character drama and I like it all, it’s just packaged in such an unfortunately poor way.

So you’re conflicted then, huh? Pretty much. I mean this show was never going to be able to compete with the likes of genre giants such as ‘Eromanga-sensei’ and ‘A Sister’s All You Need’ but if the production company had given the time and money and care to the show that all anime deserves then it least could be something I could recommend. I said earlier in the review that I probably wouldn’t look at the blu-ray to see if the issues were fixed but I take that back, I will because there is a good show hidden beneath the mountain of production-related animation issues. I believe that much to be true.

This flashback was genuinely creepy, I did feel sorry for Sakura.

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

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The Best Offence Is A Good Incest – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 8 Review

The Best Offence Is A Good Incest – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 8

Warning: This review contains some nudity/NSFW imagery.

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 8.

So how’s this episode? Would you believe me if I said this is the best the show has looked since Episode 1? Like, I don’t know what miracle happened but compared to previous weeks this episode was positively gorgeous!

I thought you said you weren’t going to talk about the animation quality of this show what with all the ‘behind the scenes’ drama going on with it? If its positive, of course I’m going to mention it! Give this show the boon it deserves and all that!

Look! She looks like a person! Call that a win for the animation guys this week!

Right. Any reason why you think it’s better? Could be the week off they had, also could be that this episode features two nude bathing scenes… if there’s one thing this show does (almost) flawlessly it’s the nude fanservice!

Ugh… I don’t even know why I’m surprised at this point. Listen, I may bang on about stupid things like uncensored nipples more than any (seemingly) same man should but I kid you not this episode actually has some really interesting things to say about the siscon, “little sister moe” anime genre. Like it drops some straight up truth bombs as well as makes a point about the genre better and more succinctly than I ever could.

Is this going to devolve into a defense of incest kind of post? You’d think so, but no. In fact (unless I’m greatly mistaken) this show actually takes the stance against incestuous relationships but in favour of there representation of anime within the space of a single scene!

I mean he said a lot of things I didn’t understand too, but that just makes him sound all the smarter, right?!

You’re going to need to explain this in detail if I’m expected to take any of this seriously… Okay so the two major plot developments of the episode that you need to know is that the book that Suzuka wrote that Yu is pretending he wrote is getting an anime adaptation from some “big deal” anime director. And that Sakura, the voice actress who is besotted with the original light novel and has come to calling Yu “onii-chan” despite not being related to him, has run away from home after a fight with her real brother and is secretly living in Yu’s room.

Okay, I got that much, go on. So Yu and Suzuka meet with his agent, the anime producer and the “big deal” anime director. The director gushes about how much of a fan of the light novel he is, until Suzuka prompts Yu to introduce her, since he failed to do so at the start of the meeting. Instantly the mood of the room grows tense as the director learns that Yu, a light novelist who has written a love novel about his little sister has a flesh and blood little sister. The director begins to grill Yu on various intricacies of their “relationship” and after receiving some wishy-washy answers decides that Yu doesn’t understand “little sister moe” as a genre. The director leaves with the ‘bombshell’ that he’ll rewrite the characters to better suit the genre, something that absolutely doesn’t sit well with purist Suzuka.

I think I’ll start all telephone conversations like that from now on.

I, uh, I’m not sure I follow… Stay with me. So back at home, Sakura welcomes her “onii-chan” home with the naked apron combo and Suzuka learns that Yu was keeping her living their a secret from him. A very long winded conversation proceeds where we eventually get the most important point of the episode. Suzuka explains that she intends to get Yu to properly fall in love with her so that they can save the anime adaptation from being tampered with, it’s a transparent ploy on Suzuka’s part to get closer to her big brother but Yu being the gullible idiot that he is still goes along with it. Sakura then says something along the lines of “but it’s better if he practices on me because I’m a fake little sister, being related to you is only going to hinder him learning the appeal of ‘little sister moe’ as a genre”.

…And that means? It means that this show has recognised the fundamental difference between fiction and reality. Here’s how I see it: you can like siscon anime and have a little sister yourself but not be attracted to your actual sister because fiction and reality are separate things. Like imagine you ask someone what their favourite film is, and they say ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ your first immediate thought isn’t, “wow, this person must be into brutally murdering strangers with power tools!” so why should a person who likes ~little sister moe~ be branded as a person who wants to fuck their younger sister! Guess what, I have a younger sister myself, and she’s annoying as heck, we don’t get along and I text her on Christmas and her birthday. That’s the extent of our relationship, but I can still love siscon anime because, let’s repeat after me–FICTION AND REALITY ARE SEPARATE THINGS.

To the person who came up in my blog search terms 8 times to try and find nude images from this episode! Here you go! I’ll even make it easier for you to find “Nude My Sister My Writer Suzuka Bath Screencap”.

Okay, okay I get it! But aren’t you worried this show might be setting you up for a fall? Like that Yu and Suzuka will get together in the end and blow this little theory of yours out of the water. Hey, that’d be fine. You know why? BECAUSE IT’S AN ANIME! Yes, it’s one of those awkward shows where anime exists despite it being an anime and the line between fiction and reality begins to blur, but whatever, my point still stands! I enjoyed this episode and I continue to enjoy this show for better and worse.

The sideways shots are still annoying though.

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

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Lewding From The Heart – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 7 Review

Lewding From The Heart – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 7

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 7.

So how’s this episode? So here’s the thing, the show took a week off last week for “production issues” which given how the animation has deteriorated week-to-week isn’t surprising in the slightest. But rather than sit here and make fun of the fact that even with a week off this episode looks even worse than some of the previous ones I’m instead just going to review the content of the show.

Here’s the most detailed shot of the episode.

Why’s that? Because the animators working on this are having a hard time, the studio rushed this show into production with half the amount of time a show normally gets to prepare and the animators haven’t been paid for their work and are going to sue the production company to get their recompense. I feel bad for these guys–nobody should have to work under such conditions and therefore I’m refusing to make fun of the bad animation from here on out!

Fair enough, so how’s this episode anyway? It starts off a bit slow for my liking–plus there’s the oldest cliche in anime with Suzuka getting sick on the day of their deadline for writing the doujinshi for the competition. With Suzuka out of commission it’s up to Yu to pick up the slack and write the doujin himself! The episode picks up when best girl Ahegao Double Peace Sensei stops by and there’s a nice little scene where she explains that despite his wishes for something more “vanilla” in the illustration department she can’t because she can only draw what she likes and what she likes is lewd eroticism!

Of course she does. So how about this competition? Well with their doujin complete they head to Comiket to compete against the doujin written by Double Peace Sensei’s rival–the sister duo known as ‘Ambivalence’. Things are looking bad for Yu and the others as ‘Ambivalence’–despite being against erotic doujin–have written one for the sake of the contest and this sparks interest from the Comiket fans who swarm to buy their book. But words spread of the overall quality of the artwork in the one drawn by Double Peace Sensei and the reviews are too positive even for their rivals to ignore! Yu and Double Peace win the contest!

Yay? Yeah, I mean as much as I enjoyed all the talk of doujin’s and what not this was a pretty empty episode. Only Double Peace Sensei’s scenes carried any interest for me, the rest kind of fell flat. And plus the show didn’t even bother to show or even mention what Yu and Double Peace Sensei’s doujin was about! Not even a passing word to its theme or setting or content, which was annoying. The most we got was Suzuka’s reaction to it as she read it on the train leaving the event and with how easily she flusters it could have been just about anything! I don’t hate this show, in fact sometimes I even like it–sure the brother/sister incest is the ~least~ interesting thing about the show which is a serious problem but it still entertains me week after week and not just ironically either.

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

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Sibling Bondage – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 6 Review

Sibling Bondage – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 6

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 6.

So how’s this episode? As far as ‘My Sister, My Writer’ episodes go it may be the most visually stable and narratively coherent since the first episode. Which doesn’t make for the most entertaining experience at least in regard to making fun of it in a review. Not that I ever outright do because I do honestly think this show has potential and I think it’s written by someone who’s at least familiar with the writing industry–though that’s not much of a stretch considering it’s based on a light novel about a night novelist… I’m not sure where I’m going with that thought…

Uh-huh, so what’s the episode about? Comiket! Or whatever this show’s equivalent of that is–and even though I’ve never been to a Comiket (for those of you who don’t know it’s basically a convention in Japan where doujinshi artists gather to sell their wares as well as exclusive artwork just for Comiket attendees–

And for those of us who don’t know what a “doujinshi” is? Well if you’ve gotten this far and don’t know then you really haven’t been paying attention but ‘doujinshi’ or ‘doujin’ for short are professional quality, fan-made comics that while not always pornographic in nature ~usually~ are. They often depict characters from existing manga and anime, though original doujin’s can get popular too and are sometimes adapted into hentai videos.

Great. Thanks for that. What, you asked!

So what does this show have to do with all that? Well Yu and Suzuka are there selling books but that’s not really important as Ahegao Double Peace sensei comes over (obviously there selling her own doujins) when we’re introduced to two new characters, because that’s what this show needs more characters. They are sisters Haruna and Akino Kanzaka, doujin author and illustrator respectively and bitter rivals of Double Peace. One of the sister’s makes some disparaging remarks about the book she illustrating (that being the siscon story that Suzuka wrote) and Suzuka being very proud about her book (which she’s still pretending Yu wrote) demands an apology from the more vocally bitchy one–she agrees to only if Double Peace and the others partake in a doujin competition, the subject being a doujin based on Suzuka’s novel and if Suzuka and the others lose they have to agree to never write another book again!

*gasp* Yeah the stakes ~actually~ don’t matter, because Suzuka is the one doing the writing and it’s under a pen-name that Yu has adopted so like, even if they lose they could just continue writing under a new name but whatever, we need to get some fan-service shenanigans in! So Yu and Suzuka go back to Double Peace’s house (her bedroom looks a lot like my office) and in order for her to get “visual inspiration” for the doujin she has Yu and Suzuka act out some S&M.

Yes, this actually happens. It’s not a fantasy in someone’s head (well it was until they animated it!)

…Okay. This scene is genuinely hilarious, and that also raises something that no amount of bad animation can ruin–the voice acting which is honestly really great in this scene. Plus Double Peace sensei is just so much fun to watch her get caught up in the moment.

And the rest of the episode? Honestly, the second half of the episode is mediocre at best. Something to do with Yu and Suzuka going on a date at their culture festival and then having to step in for a stage performance as a Prince and Princess in love when the original lead actors get sick. This show is better when the side characters are around (any of them), when they are not the show suffers for it. And that’s all I really have to say, the next episode’s title promises more doujin related activities so I’m looking forward to that!

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

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A Sister’s All You Nude – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 5 Review

A Sister’s All You Nude – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 5

Warning: This review contains NSFW imagery/nudity.

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 5.

So how’s this episode? It’s a beach episode! And a really good one at that… well by really good I mean good for this show. I’ve said several times in past reviews that this show saves its best of its animation for the fan service scenes so it stands to reason that this is probably the best this show has looked since Episode 1 (opening scenes on the train to the beach not withstanding)!

Uh-huh, ‘made by perverts for perverts’. I get the idea. So dare I ask what kind of ~shenanigans~ do they get up to in this episode? The usual harem-y tropes, bikini shots, ample jiggling, applying sun-tan lotion to bare backs. It’s a lot of predictable fun that doesn’t stray too far from the formula. But the bulk of the fan service comes from after the sun-tan lotion scene as Yuu accidentally spills too much on her and so she has to go take a shower in Mai’s nearby beach house. Mai forgets her bag (which has her change of clothes) so Yuu goes after her and ends up walking in on her in the shower and well, hello uncensored AT-X version!

I don’t know how people manage to capture these “nude stitches” as they’re called but I sure do appreciate them!

You’re almost as shameless as this show, you know that? Hey, I know what I like and I like this!

Tch. So any ~actual~ plot happen in this episode? Yes, in fact. Mai is insistent on finding out Yuu’s secret and as we find out the reason she’s been so gung-ho about it is because she has a new editor who has been pretty ruthless about her light novels–most specifically her protagonists–and Mai is worried that if she doesn’t improve she’ll lose out on the planned anime adaptation of her books. So basically Mai wants to know how Yuu is so good at what he does, how we writes such convincing and strong protagonists so she can improve her own writing too!

But he’s not writing the books, his sister is. So how does he worm his way out of that situation? Well he asks his sister the very question Mai was asking him–how does she write characters so well and she replies somewhat honestly (though misconstrued by Yuu) that she “embodies” the protagonist–that of a girl madly in love with her brother–and it’s that devotion to “being” the character that helps her write so well. So Yuu decides to take this on-board, he ~confesses~ his love to his sister (his way of getting into the mind of the male protagonist of the literary series) and tells Mai to do the same with her book. Let’s just hope she’s not writing a serial killer novel otherwise this show would take a dark turn!

He’s handsome when he’s determined, also when his face isn’t melting due to mediocre animation.

Anything else? There’s also the standard Summer traditions like a festival with food stalls and games and the girls in yukata’s and fireworks. It doesn’t break the mould but it’s at least entertaining and that’s honestly all I need from this show–that and the nipples. Gotta have them nipples!

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

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All Roads Lead To Bikini Fan Service – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 4 Review

All Roads Lead To Bikini Fan Service – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 4

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 4.

So how’s this episode? My Sister, My Writer, my god this show is a rare and unique entity.

Is that a compliment to the show? I mean sure, why not. Before watching this particular episode I watched Episode 4 of ‘As Miss Beezlebub Likes’ and found myself fantasising about an anime that was actually interesting to ~any~ of my five senses. And then right after it I was treated to an anime that fully enveloped my ~sixth~ sense!

“Sixth sense”? What on earth are you talking about? Ah, but that sixth sense for trash anime, which this series absolutely embodies—and believe it or not I mean that as a compliment, because while this anime is absolutely trash it’s also absolutely boundlessly entertaining. And forgetting the fact that this anime occasionally looks like an amateur’s first draft pass at animating a scene and frequently melt downs if there’s a scene with more than three people in it. This show legitimately feels like someone with a brain wrote it—again that’s a totally backhanded compliment but this series is genuinely funny and well written—it just takes a long damn while to get to these moments!

I know you’re committed to this show for ~reasons~ but even still it seems like all you do is make fun of it. Why are you still watching, like really? Like “really”? Well its simple to be honest, incest is interesting. It’s as simple as that.

Uh-huh, so what’s this episode even about? Well it starts with Yu at a book signing, and right from the start this scene is just evident of how much this show is just trying to fill in the minutes between fan-service scenes. There’s not one but two one-sided telephone conversations that basically consist of static shots of a person talking on their mobile phone, with long gaps as they listen—but we don’t hear—the other side of the conversation. At which point they hang up and relay the information to Yu who’s just been standing their observing their telephone conversations. It’s ~incredibly~ lazy, visually uninteresting and tiresome. But that’s okay because after introducing a new character for the burgeoning harem—Sakura Minazuki an obsessed fan and anime voice actress who calls Yu “onii-chan” because she’s so into the characters in his book. After that we get to the real ‘meat’ of the episode.

Quick, doctor, we have another case of face melt over here!

Why do I get the feeling that “meat” comment was a— It’s time to try on swimsuits! Of course not before Yu and his sister Suzuka go on a date first.

Wait, the siblings are dating now? How’d that happen?! Well, it’s slightly convoluted but basically Mai (the red-headed light novel author who is stalking Yu to find out how he’s so good at writing) finds a manuscript for one of his actual light novels in his school bag. She immediately realises that this is nowhere near the quality or writing style of the book he “supposedly” published and her suspicions are intensified. So as to ~quell~ any suspicions Suzuka comes up with the idea that the two should flirt and date in order to sell the fact that he’s a sister lover and was indeed the true author of the book. Of course she’s just using this as an excuse to get closer to her brother but Yu is too oblivious to realise this. We even have Yu picking out underwear for his sister, as we ~obviously~ have to have a fan service appetiser before we can get to the main course!

I mean these are strictly fantasy sequences, although I’m not sure if they’re in his head or hers…

And when do we get to the swimsuits exactly? This seems like a lot of build up for not a lot of pay-off? As is sadly the case with a show that clearly has a small budget and spends most of its money on the fan service scene. Though thankfully the scenes with Yu and Suzuka “dating” are made genuinely amusing by Mai’s absurdly poor stalking abilities which involve her loudly narrating what they’re doing and even making brusque comments about Yu while he can clearly hear and see her.

And what about the trying on off swimsuits then? Well all but two of the female characters in the show just ‘happen’ to be at the same shopping mall so they decide to try on some swimsuits to ascertain Yu’s fetish level for types of swimsuits—though that’s mostly Ahegao Double Peace sensei’s doing since she came up with the idea. And once again there’s a marked improvement in the animation quality for this scene—but by now I’m not even surprised.

Okay maybe not here specifically, but the previous scene had good animation, I swear!

So are you happy with this episode? I was entertained, first laughing at the show and how poor it was at just existing, then with the show as it contained some genuinely amusing moments. Plus the fan service is well drawn enough! If this show wasn’t entertaining than the irlwaifu wouldn’t watch it but she likes this more than a lot of shows we’re watching this season and she’s not even a fan of incest storylines so that’s got to say something about the entertainment factor here. I think if you go in expecting bottom-of-the-barrel trash you’ll find something to enjoy about this show and despite the frequently poor animation and questionably slow dialogue, there is some inventiveness and even endearing qualities to the side characters who are all pretty much borderline insane.

Did they just copy+paste the brother and sister’s face here?!

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

Family Matters – Episode 1 Review
“I’m Not Bad, I’m Just Drawn That Way” – Episode 2 Review
Schrodinger’s Panty Shot – Episode 3 Review

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Schrodinger’s Panty Shot – ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 3 Review

Schrodinger’s Panty Shot – An Anime QandA Review of ‘My Sister, My Writer’ Episode 3

What’s the show? My Sister, My Writer. Episode 3.

So how’s this episode? Things are improving—which is to say this show is less trash than it was in the previous two episodes—but ironically enough, in getting ~better~ its gone from being ‘so bad, it’s good’ to ‘mediocre’.

Oh? That doesn’t sound good. Well it’s not all doom and gloom; the upside of the writing getting better is there’s a legitimately interesting exchange at the start of the episode before it devolves into a seemingly never-ending cosplay changing montage.

And what is this “legitimately interesting exchange” you speak of? Well Suzuka has come to Yu for some help with the second volume of her light novel series, her editor has told her that among other things the second volume has to include “panchira scenes” and Suzuka doesn’t know what this is. (I’m ashamed to say I didn’t recognise the Japanese term but should have guessed as much given the spelling). Yu awkwardly explains that “panchira” means “panty shots” and bless Suzuka’s innocent little self she didn’t even know boys were even interested in seeing a girls panties. So in order to better understand how a panty shot occurs she has Yu instruct her on how to best re-create an ~accidental~ panty shot by sitting with her knees up on the floor. Yu averts his eyes because he’s a gentleman (also that’s his little sister) but she insists he looks because “it’s not a panchira if someone isn’t peeking at them, right?”

Ah, so that’s where your review title comes from. Don’t you think that’s just such an interesting concept though? That fan service isn’t fan service unless it’s observed. That’s some deep stuff right there!

I mean maybe, if you’re twelve years old… Bah! What do you know?!

Much like last week, the *most* effort and detail put into a scene is the scene with the most fan-service, not that I’m complaining!

So what about the rest of the episode? You mentioned something about cosplay? Yes, another of Suzuka’s editors requests for Volume Two is a second heroine who ~isn’t~ the protagonists sister. But rather dryly neither Suzuka or Yu has any idea what kind of character they should be, so he invites Ahegao Double Peace Sensei and fellow light novel author and classmate Mai over for some ‘ideas’. Which basically means Miss Double Peace has brought a bunch of sexually suggestive costumes over which she models, and I don’t know why but for some reason the anime decides rather than having the slow pan up the length of the characters to give a full but visually kinetic view of each costume, it’ll just tilt the camera 90 degrees for every costume reveal. Which, well it’s efficient but it’s also just lazy and ugly looking and made my neck hurt for the many minutes this scene went on for.

Now just imagine watching a 5+ minute scene where it keeps cutting back and forth between normal oriented angles and these sideways atrocities.

Uh-huh, any more complaints? Not really, the rest of the episode just kind of happens with very little interesting moments. And a part of the problem is, once Double Peace and Mai leave around the halfway mark it’s just Yu and Suzuka and they don’t exactly make for the most dynamic couple to focus on. The most interesting thing about these characters is that they’re brother and sister—beyond that there isn’t much chemistry between them. Which isn’t helped by the stale animation, which, while improved from last week, is still lacklustre.

So thoughts on the episode as a whole? Are you considering dropping it? God no. I love this trash—I’m just kinda hoping it leans more heavily into the harem elements as that’s the most interesting thing this show is capable of at the moment. But I get the feeling it’s wanting us to buy the romance between Yu and Suzuka and yeah… not buying it yet. What I am buying is any possible anime merch that has Mai in that sexy little demon girl costume she dresses up in, more of that please!

Demon Girl Does Not Approve of Being Groped By Bunny Girl Senpai.

Previous My Sister, My Writer Reviews:

Family Matters – Episode 1 Review
“I’m Not Bad, I’m Just Drawn That Way” – Episode 2 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!