December 22, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Finale: Where We Are Least Alone
It is highly probable that in the past, incest wasn’t very much a frowned upon relationship. It does sort of depend on what degrees of blood relations qualifies as such, but in the past even the monarchies of Europe practiced intermarriages within cousins within the ruling class. Perhaps this might go even further than that before the acceptance of a concept known as morality. I still believe that in the dawn of humanity incest was likely prevalent when we as a species were but a few thousand strong, in order to keep the species alive.
Incest as a global taboo really became widespread when long distance communication, and thus the exchange of ideas, propagated. We now live in a world where it is generally not accepted. What then would become of this incestuous love between Haru and Sora as their tale comes to a close?
December 14, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep11: There Is No Turning Back
And today the brother and sister have breached the point of no return. The deed is done and… being done at least twice a day from what I gather. Behold carnal pleasure and all that. I just assume they know what they’re doing or at least some of it, so maybe I can assume that for the most part the entire taboo issue of their relationship has sunk in and that they are willing to accept the outcomes of their choices.
And for god’s sake use a condom Haru!
December 10, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep10: When I Think About You I Touch Myself
I reiterate my previous assertion in Animesuki that they would never have censored Sora’s breasts if they weren’t related. It’s very plausible to say that they only did it because of the incest theme, otherwise if she was any other girl we’d have seen her in her full naked glory.
That or they’re saving the goods for the DVD release.
November 26, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep8: Once You Pop You Can’t Stop
If you’re going to do it in the middle of your living room, I think it’s best to make absolutely sure that there’s no one else in the house who’s:
1. A clingy sister who gets off while thinking about you.
2. Completely fucking hates your girlfriend.
3. Isn’t likely going to want to jump in and join the two of you.
Sadly these things didn’t pass through Haru’s horny manhood, which leads him to have his loins busted by Sora who promptly throws Nao out of the house. While we didn’t see the conclusion of their carnal relations, we got some pretty good character development in the process.
November 18, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep7: Young and Doing It
In most countries there probably has something that’s the legal equivalent of a woman raping a guy. Here in the Philippines AFAIK there’s no law stating that a woman can rape a man, and the law for an act like this without consent seems to be punished differently, so it might really be different depending on the country. In Japan… well I can’t speak for it, considering for episode 7 it’s an underage girl mounting an underage boy of all things. The shotacon description might be apt, but then again kids and teenagers seem to be doing it even younger these days.
Apparently there was consent in this episode. Sort of.
November 10, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Arc Review: Akira’s Heart
You know… if they’re already going to go that far with what they want to animate, wouldn’t it be better than beating around the proverbial bush and just make it downright hentai? It’s not like hentai automatically makes things bad because there are some VERY good hentai with actual stories out there. Yosuga no Sora was based on an eroge anyway so it really doesn’t do much of a difference to go all the way. The series has a pretty cohesive if standard storyline anyway, and that alone sets it apart from most hentai out there. They’re already toeing the line, might as well cross it right?
Or maybe I just want to see Sora’s naughty bits eventually. I don’t know.
November 3, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep5: A Forgotten Memory
Kids born out of wedlock probably have it tough, especially in highly conservative societies where such children are frowned upon if not outright scorned. You do have to feel a bit of pity for them; it wasn’t their choice to be born into such a condition, yet they are the ones who have to suffer the burden of such a predicament. Life doesn’t always give the Win Card to everyone, like Kazuha. Like Akira, it’s the Suck Card.
It’s an entirely different matter the way some are able to face it and live on, despite the fact that there will always be those who will scorn you and throw you aside for what you are: a bastard child.
For that reason, you have to respect the amount of effort Akira gives just to live life in a positive way.
October 26, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Arc Review: Kazuha’s Heart
So it’s an omnibus format. If you also watch Amagami then you’ll know that the omnibus format is really just a technical term for a cosmic reset that allows the story to redo itself down a different path from a specific point in the story. Amagami does it, and so did Tatami Galaxy, as well as a bunch of other shows I can’t seem to name right now.
As for the show itself, if it can carry itself having to reset at the end of every path… well time will only tell. As it stands, with Kazuha’s route first, I think it might be able to do it at least adequately.
Everything is under control!
Regardless of series or the genre, omnibussing will always cause a story to be compressed, and this is my biggest complaint with the series and this arc so far. It feels really, REALLY rushed, because the essentials of the Kazuha route it would seem only existed for 2 episodes, with the first two episodes of the series being the typical common routes of the series, with the end of episode two being the branch point where all other routes begin. For those not familiar with the Visual Novel format, consider it the point where the stories diverge depending on the choice of the player/main character, with each choice essentially leading to a specific girl.
That said, two episodes it really cutting it close, and though I am unfamiliar with Kazuha’s route I can still tell that it was rushed to fit two episodes, with the probable cuts here and there. Kazuha’s central drama as we can see is her guilt as a younger sister and her blaming her father for abandoning her half sister.
Shock factor.
And while Kazuha’s feelings may be understandable, I can’t help but think that it really all stems from a misunderstanding on her and her father’s parts, mostly because she thinks her father is abandoning Akira when in fact she is able to be there and see when he does show that he does love her as a father. Kazuha’s anger and hate seems misplaced to a degree because she made a hasty conclusion from faulty information, and immediately believed that their father abandoned Akira just because he doesn’t “show” it publicly.
Maybe we can say that he’s trying to do it discretely, but he’s trying to do it nonetheless. I can’t fault him for that because extramarital affairs are generally frowned upon, but that’s no reason to abandon your own flesh and blood. He shows Akira the same love he shows Kazuha, and it took Kazuha all this time to realize that love itself takes many different forms, and being different doesn’t mean it is absent.
Cliched, yet touching, gesture.
What episode review would be complete without discussing SEX.
Yeah considering the amount of masturbatory fanservice this series has already shown, I guess the creators thought might as well go and do it, which is pretty much bordering the line between ecchi and downright hentai. The fansubs I got obviously got butchered by censors, especially the breast massages and the finger actions. Well you got to give them credit for getting away with what they did, even if it’s likely to leave people more than wanting.
Which means we can expect the same level of controlled gratuity for every arc. For the Sora shippers, you know what that means.
Father-daughter talk.
Sex sells, but it doesn’t always save.
So in the end my point still stands that Kazuha’s central story problem felt a bit forced, slightly artificial and rushed. To me the conflict between her and her father felt a bit trite and convenient that could have easily been resolved years ago if he just told her, and if she didn’t simply jump to conclusions about her father and her half sister. Then again, we wouldn’t have a plot if it was that simple, so as the starter arc for the series I could probably forgive it for its weakness.
It just felt rather weak all around. Not terrible, not exactly good, and not bad either. Just absolutely average. I’ll hope that the succeeding arcs are stronger than this.
You didn't think I'd put screenshots of them doing it did you?
Next week is Akira’s turn, which resets back to the branch point at the end of episode 2, whichever it is. Here’s to hoping for better involvement and plot strength in her story.
October 19, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep3: The First Girl?
So… is he going to kiss and romance every girl he’s going to meet?
There are at least 4 viable women here including his sister, all of them almost head over heels for him, all slowly getting reeled in by the charms of an all natural harem lead. How this will end, should he actually romance all of them, remains to be seen.
The most important question, of course, is what Sora’s eventual response to all this would be. Much more when she learns that Haru’s pretty much got a girlfriend now that’s… well that’s not her.
October 14, 2010
Yosuga no Sora Ep1-2: In Solitude
As a manga reader (with what manga is out anyway) I was initially planning to blog this show as the rather risque premise was very interesting when to consider most shows who try to carry a bro-sis romance theme. A lot of shows try to use this premise but either end up doing it very shallow, throw the issue down the crapper or attempt circumvent the attached social issues by making them unrelated by blood. Suffice to say that while one expects these type of shows not to really make it big considering the taboo, there are those shows and series like Koi Kaze who can stick with its theme and bring it out with a deft and emotional touch. I was expecting this show to at least achieve some degree of this.
And while I was more or less unimpressed with the first episode, the second episode managed to restore some faith of mine that this series can carry an incest theme without making silly shortcuts.
The following post is really just the combination of posts I made in Animesuki. Just text, no images. Official blogging starts with the third episode.
Medical Student vs. Anime 