Episode
12: With the help of Ikusu, Shogo has finally put the clues together
on who his real sister is. (Source:
Crunchyroll)
Spoiler
alert: Spoilers for
the entire Who Is Imouto?/NakaImo series can be found in this entry.
Read on with caution!
So,
I was wrong. I think? That's the problem; I over thought this damn
series and now all my theories and thoughts about WHO IS IMOUTO have
gotten mashed up in my head so I don't even know who I had
hypothetical money on for Imouto #1 - but I think my initial gut
reaction turned out to be the right one. So because the episode
itself was rather by-the-numbers for a finale and managed to wrap up
everything pretty plainly, let's go through some theories and talk
about what stuff this episode exposed as a whole.
Also,
let's talk about traps because we can and because traps are always
relevant.
I
had a suspicion about Yuzurina in the previous NakaImo post which
I'll quote here: My
bet is on this being an elaborate as hell revenge scheme for being
rejected by the Mikadono family and not being the proper heir to the
company. So . . . I
was half right, sort of. I found myself not caring about Yuzurina's
storyline once she revealed the blood test had been faked. Still, I
think everyone knew Yuzurina was a schemer - we just didn't know to
what extent she would go.
Actually,
the more I think about the Yuzurina and Miyabi scenes, the more angry
Yuzurina's lies made me. She knew
who Miyabi was and she played her like a bloody violin, all to
destroy Mikadono's company. I don't think she even factored in
Miyabi's feelings or Shougo's feelings in her scheme. She's almost
ruthless in how calculating this is.
As
for Miyabi? Damn, I should have called it. Well, at first I had
hedged it between her and Konoe. The fact that she refused to be
tested for her DNA by Shougo's little take-home swab kit was a red
flag but I was happy to dismiss it when the next Fake Imouto showed
up (I can't remember - was it Konoe or Sagara?). Of course,
everything is obvious in retrospect.
So
yes, there is an Imouto. Yes, she is a blood relation to Shougo. And
yes, it is Miyabi. Which, after a lot of angst on her part, Shougo
quickly diffuses with "let's be more than lovers - let's be
brother and sister" which um what. What is the logic in that
one? I guess to him, familial love is deeper than romantic love but
in the context of this series (and considering the odd sexual
fantasies Shougo had about Yuzurina when she was still Imouto) it's
weird bordering on ultra-skeevy.
The
one part that I actually enjoyed was so small, most probably missed
it, but it's when Shougo goes to cheer on Miyabi at her swim meet.
Even though Miyabi loses, she beats her personal record, and Shougo
gives her positive feedback and ruffles her hair in a very older
brother manner. We quickly see a glimpse of Sagara, Miyabi's
protector, looking on with a look of happiness on her face. Now that
Shougo has grown up and become strong enough to protect his sister,
Sagara has wordlessly passed on the role of protector and guardian of
Miyabi's emotional safety to her older brother, Shougo. It was sweet
and necessary and I'm glad the series didn't forget about their pact.
Most
of the characters got shoved to the periphery in this finale. For the
last episode, the stage was set mostly for Shougo, fake imouto
Yuzurina, and real imouto Miyabi. But the major catalyst of
everything was Ikusu, whose discovery of Yuzurina's past as a child
actor in Shougo's favorite tokusatsu
program led to the realization that she isn't Imouto. Let's face it;
she's awesome. Sometimes, I think Ikusu is the only one using her
damn brain on this show. She's the one who puts together all the
pieces and is smart enough to realize what it going on, because
Shougo really can't deduce his own name much less his Imouto.
So,
at the end of it all, we have our Imouto, we have our fake Imouto
lost to the wind, and we have Shougo in the middle of a trio of girls
willing to be the next Mikadono wife - one of which is his imouto. So
much for not boning his sister! The sad thing is, he has the most
chemistry at this point with
Miyabi. So I'd rather
he cause a scandal and hook up with Miyabi rather than get with
either Konoe or Rinka, two girls he hasn't really been spending much
time with compared to Miyabi.
And
now it's over and I can stop blogging about incest rou- wait, there's
an unaired 13th episode? And it's going to be coupled with the DVDs?
Crap. I guess it's not the end of it after all. But seriously, thanks
for sticking through it with me. I think we all deserve frozen
yogurts for sitting through all these episodes. And perhaps some
booze so we can forget NakaImo even happened. Having said that, I'll probably do a 'final thoughts' post on NakaImo in total because I can't let go of this damn series augh.
(And you know what? He should have eaten Konoe's strawberries. Come on, Shougo!)
You
can watch all twelve episodes of NakaImo/Who Is Imouto? on
Crunchyroll.
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