Today is John’s birthday! This is one of the reasons I married him. With a birthday just four days before mine, he’ll always understand what it’s like to be overshadowed by Christmas.
But today, I’m not writing about my husbando. I’m writing about my favorite 2D waifu, at least formerly— Kuroneko from Oreimo, the show also known by the name My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute!
I wasn’t all that enthralled with Oreimo, but Kuroneko kept me watching. I loved her attitude, her opinionated nature, her endless creative endeavors from cosplay to fanfiction to art. Have you ever watched an anime where one character made the show for you? That was how it was for me with Kuroneko, and no doubt with plenty of other viewers.
I watched the second season for more Kuroneko, but I shouldn’t have bothered. Her personality is completely different. Kuroneko builds a new cosplay—to get a boy’s attention. She painstakingly writes a book—of things she wants to do with Senpai. I was even disappointed when we learned her real name; the old Kuroneko would have seen that as a privacy violation.
There’s no getting around it—in season two, Kuroneko was ruined. She went from a well-rounded character with plenty of endearing personality traits and imperfections, to just another part of the harem. There’s never any reason given for why she’s even in love with bland everyman Kyousuke in the first place!
Then again, I don’t know what I expected about an anime about dating your sister. So long and good riddance, Kuroneko. I’ll always have my Nendoroid figure of you.
This post is the fourth installment of The Twelve Days Of Anime, a blogging series in which anime fans write about shows that inspired or impressed on them this year.