GLORIOUS.
Yes, I gave the most controversial and infamous episodes of 2013 an 8/10. Care to know why before downvoting? Read the review!
It will probably piss off the absurd majority of readers and will probably get buried under page 20~30, but I'll write it anyway.
[Note that this is a review for the "specials" released as eps. 14~16 and the conclusion of the anime]
While I'm still appreciating the afterglow of this series, I get me wondering if the reason why I could fully enjoy it is because I'm not part of the fandom.
This ought to be the most reasonable conclusion, given that it successfully made the entire fanbase look like fools.
...well not as terrific as Haruhi's Endless Eight, though.
OreImo originally had a lot of comedy, and I'm more than pleased to see that writers kept that ideal to the very end.
Throughout the whole 2nd season there are scenes with wonderful comedy tones and really good gags. Worth mentioning the skillful performance of the voice actors and animators that managed to get the best of these moments.
Luckily enough, I was one blessed being and wasn't spoiled about the "infamous ending" beforehand so I didn't have many expectations to these final episodes, just that the comedy might loose the spotlight for a bit of drama... or some kind of dark humor.
I wasn't wrong.
However it seems this "comedy" felt like a huge bitchslap for many, given the huge amount of rage-filled reviews here in this community.
It's often said that "you shouldn't turn mad at a story just because your get-a-girl game ended up with a pairing you disliked", but I can't blame these raging reviewers. In this case writers overdid it.
There's no need to review sound, characters, artwork or either of these textbook categories. This is a 3 eps. special and most likely those who are reading it already watched both seasons and don't need someone babbling about it.
You came here for the controversial story, and I shalt deliver it.
As many of you know, the OreImo TV anime is based on both the Visual Novel and the Light Novels.
Its story's setup is the classic harem with the some of most clichés characters it can get (i.e; the childhood friend, the outcast, the pretty and popular bishoujo).
It probably broke records in terms of Tropes in a single series and producers -well aware of that- even joked about it during some episodes.
But this isn't what makes people riot neither what makes it infamous -even though it should-
The true reason is because it decides to take a different path of harems and romances and assimilates more to bittersweet dramas. Usually when a eroge/harem VN is adapted to TV animation, producers choose to animate one "route" and therefore have a clear one-sided ending.
Sometimes they even deviant from the pattern and create an original ending, but there's always a slice of the fanbase that is happy with it, justifying the choice.
That's how the market works, that's how the harem VNs industry works.
But "what if...?"
OreImo -despite this being the shovel that would dig their monetary grave- as incredible as it gets, chooses to animate one single segment of the VN.
Why? Well, you'll find out if you consider external factors to the anime.
Otherwise, you shall not get fooled by this concept. They did took action to prevent a financial failure.
Just think about why it was released as a "special" and not part of the series and how much profit was made out of VNs and LNs and "extras" selling for those who eager for MORE.
I digress.
If you were spoiled beforehand of what happens in the final minutes, I cannot guarantee you'll enjoy this as much as you could, but it will sure be entertaining to some extend.
I'm too afraid of giving up spoilers if I keep writing so this will end here.
Let's just say that, as a HAREM, this series had a very distributed fanbase, with people "cheering" each one for their own waifus, so it's a rather unlikely scenario that everyone would riot like this, correct? Well, no.
They all got mad in the end.
If writers actions didn't have an explanation then people would indeed have a reason to rage, but considering how it was written, how it happened, the meaning behind it and how it closed up, I can't help but congratulate them.
They took the solution which would work the best for them socially and monetary, and performed this final troll act gloriously!
As an addendum, my apologies to formal norm-followers review writers/readers. Indeed "I" couldn't help but include first person sentences in this text.
It isn't meant to be serious anyway, so it's fine.
Maleficent marvelous.
Now you can downvote.