Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: A Sister's All You Need
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Mojave
 Posts: 178 |
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Yeah, Christopher really missed the boat with this review (again). It's clear that he had made up his mind long before hand that the characters were just so unlikable, that he was never going to seriously look at any development they got, and instead just write it off in the most dismissive way possible. Itsuki flat out says that he wants this to be a relationship of equals, not that he wants to be the dominant one in the couple. As others have said, he wants to be accomplished in his own right, instead of just being thought of as the nameless guy who married Nayuta. That's not despicable, it's understandable and possibly even admirable. The show has developed really nicely, but Christopher is still reviewing it based off of his first impressions, without actually seriously considering any of the development. That's disappointing.
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Chris didn't miss the point, he just has different values from you on this one.
The "alternative interpretation" being offered here is still the same self-serving bullshit just put into different words. But lets just flip this to the opposite perspective, you're a guy who's really talented at programming, you do it for a living let's say, and you openly express feelings toward a girl who happens to feel the same way. But for whatever reason she never reciprocates, she just casually insults you and treats you pretty crappy whenever you hang out (and let's pretend you just put up with that unfazed like you're an anime girl of some kind and not a human with self-esteem and dignity that can be wounded). Then you find out that the girl does feel the exact same way, she has a huge crush on you and even sees herself being married to you someday! But she's also a programmer and knows you're much better at it than her. So rather than express these fears to you, she wants to become better at programming than you and expects you to just put up with all the negging and emotional dishonesty and just wait for her. Then she expects to just be like "I get paid more than you to program at a better company, so I guess I'll give you a chance now." It sounds silly, but this kinda thing does actually happen to women all the time. This behavior is called "emotional withholding" (which comes in many flavors, but that's certainly one of the many). It's considered a major hallmark of a dysfunctional or even abusive relationship. Deliberately choosing to be dishonest about your feelings and push someone you claim to love away for self-serving reasons—while still expecting them to wait for you to be less terrible of all things—is absolutely heinous behavior that would only grow stronger in an intimate relationship. The situation actually becomes even worse in light of Itsuki's decision to focus not on personal accomplishment but how other people would view their relationship; he literally doesn't want to marry someone who would be more "famous" than him. He's straight-up putting the opinions of strangers over the feelings of someone he claims to want to love enough to marry. I called all this myself several weeks ago, based on just the very first episode, because this psychology is incredibly familiar to anyone who's ever made the mistake of trying to date terrible guys like this. It's definitely a (perpetually single) type. (Though I didn't think he'd literally use the words "protagonist of my own life", which is usually a term so aggrandizing that it gets used by other people to call out guys with horrible self-serving egos like this, not literally something they call themselves.) Anyway, free relationship advice for the day, I guess. If you decide to neg and reject and lie about your emotions to a loved one because you're jealous of their success and can only stand the idea of dating someone who you perceive as less famous or accomplished or talented than you, you're a shitty person and they deserve better than your selfish ass. You can disagree with that for your own reasons, but Chris's personal judgment of Itsuki's behavior seems extremely valid to me. |
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Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
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He doesn't want be more famous, but just equally famous/accomplished. Important point, you know. R-right? Sorry. Don't eat me. |
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Mojave
Posts: 178 |
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You didn't pay attention either, Jacob. Itsuki said "equals." Never more famous or more accomplished. He doesn't want to overshadow her, he just wants to feel like he's on equal footing with her. It's not abusive, it's not emotionally manipulative. He never said that he demands that she wait for him. If the genders were flipped here you would be applauding this as a stand for self worth and confidence.
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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I was speaking more to the real-world equivalents of this behavior, which are definitely "must be better than the girl." But sure, he said "equal" rather than "superior". So what? He's still using and deceiving someone to an unbelievably crappy degree.
The issue of lying to someone and treating them poorly until you reach some arbitrary personal goal that you think makes it "okay" for you to be honest with them is still emotional withholding. It's still pure egotism. His goal could be just to "be a better author", not even equal to her, and it would still be shitty. You could maybe rationalize it as "more sympathetic" (still doing a bad thing but for reasons that seem more easy to fall into), but his decision to compare them in terms of renown, of "what the headline will say", rather than personal fulfillment just takes whatever sympathy you glean from that and completely tarnishes it with the overwhelming selfishness of his preoccupation with other people saying Nayu is more famous than him. You bet your ass he wouldn't care if the situation were flipped and a less famous author wanted to marry him. Like, what a great story to tell people when they ask how you met. "Well I didn't want to date her until I was sure I was just as famous as her, and the papers would say my name first on our engagement announcement." Ugh. |
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klv
 Subscriber Posts: 84 Location: Ba Sing Se |
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@Mojave I don't think that @JacobC would view this as any less terrible if the genders were flipped. I just think that he is missing the subtle difference between [choosing not to return feelings for the sake of one's own fame and success] and [refusing to be seen as inferior to one's partner]. The second option is truly dickish, no matter your gender, but I think Itsuki makes it pretty clear that this is NOT him. I do think that @Mojave has not misjudged Itsuki, but is definitely misjudging @JacobC.
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AholePony
 Posts: 330 Location: Arizona |
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Lol these replies. I'm with you Jacob, as someone that prefers the lazy life (think Oreki from hyouka, or better yet Ikta from Alderamin) having a wife far more successful than me that can support my laziness would be a dream come true! Unfortunately I'm too lazy to find a sugar mama. Priorities, priorities.
Itsuki has been a garbage character from episode 1, I've only made it this far with this show because the company he keeps is far more compelling than he has been and I like me some crude humor. |
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Cam0
Posts: 4888 |
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Personally I think Jacob is being a bit too harsh on Itsuki but in some ways I do agree with him. Itsuki not wanting to be with Nayu just because she is far more famous than him is pretty egotistical and crappy. I mean like in that one flashback Itsuki lashed out at Miayko for not "getting" his novels and called her a slut and an idiot. Then he gave her the most nonchalant apology ever just saying "Oh, I guess I went just a bit too far, but just a bit!". So obviously Itsuki's just not the nicest guy in the world but I do think he has chemistry with Nayu and I think he just wants to chase him dreams, not be like intentionally be malicious or anything.
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Calsolum
 Posts: 898 |
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humm this is tough one to argue against since it seems like I'm pushing my inferred opinions and interpretations onto the series because of how I want it to be. To start with I'll agree that Itsuki is making a risky gamble, one that assumes that Nayu will wait for him to be equally successful to her or even more. That is without a doubt a bad choice and shouldn't be imitated. Now that I've acknowledged that poor choice I can honestly say that his other reasons, as well as his train of thought, are not something that should be criticised but supported while acknowledging that he's choosing one over the other and guaranteeing neither. Given that this is anime/LN adaptation we can assume that if it follows regular conventions she is going to end up waiting for him and he will someday be successful but I'm trying to rate his actions on if he were some random guy in real life where nothing, not even his future(in this niche genre) is guaranteed and for that he has my respect. Again the biggest hindrance to this is that the series itself does not even consider the possibility that Nayu could find another love interest, someone 'better' than itsuki both professionally and emotionally who would be a better match for her. As for the example provided in the above quote I'll give the same response, the female programmer is playing a very dangerous waiting game in expecting the male one to wait until 'she's' ready. The guy should not be expected to wait in the same way that Nayu shouldn't either. And with the section about how he focuses not on personal accomplishment but instead values the opinions of strangers more hits far closer to reality than anything else. How many people can actually live while ignoring the opinions of the media? Not that many people in a profession where popularity is directly proportionate to your success in a craft. To explain why popularity is important here's an example; what are the most famous books you can think of if you were asked to say your answers in less than 3 seconds? For me its: Twilight, Harry Potter and 50 shades of black. Do i like or have I read them? I've read HP but I haven't Twilight or 50 Shades and I don't have any burning desire to do so yet they're talked about and so well known that they make my first 3 without knowing anything else about them(content wise). Ughhhh I wish there was just a big ole stop button to hit so I can get my post out before there are any more replies but I suppose this is my fault for taking so dang long to type lol
uh, how is he using her? by not reciprocating her feeling and expecting her to wait? I won't focus on this since I already mentioned it above and it just hadn't been posted yet which is my fault but that's a bad decision on his part and Nayu has every right to fall in love or pursue someone else if he doesn't want to acknowledge her feelings right now. ... wow I'm probably more stunned than anyone else about Twilight and 50 shades making my first 3. I need to find and read more popular stuff and push that wayyyy in the back. |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13229 |
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Quick question Jacob: whenever some one in the comments criticizes the reviewer it seems you pop in to speak on their behalf. Do their contracts forbid them from posting in the forums or something and you have to handle the PR? They never seem to speak up for themselves.
Anyways, it's nice that others have already said what I wanted to. It's a simple matter of Itsuki wanting to be "Itsuki the author" instead of just "some guy who's Nayu's husband." Is he supposed to just toss aside his pride and dedicate his life solely to making Nayu happy even if he's not? Should he be grateful he has a hot wife and not be allowed to want anything more? Obviously that's bullshit. Jacob aside, this reviewer would definitely not have an issue with it if it was a girl saying she didn't want to just be some dude's wife. He already has a history of double standards. Her criticized Haruto for falling for Miyako because she got upset he was being treated poorly, yet has no issue with Nayu liking Miyako for the exact same reason. Now in regards to the question of likability, that's really besides the point. Likable people or unlikable people, the emphasis is that they're people. They have their own quirks and fetishes, their own hopes and dreams. They can be rude and snarky one moment, but kind and understanding the next. They have bouts of laziness and unprofessionalism, but they can also be dedicated and passionate. Just like the rest of us. |
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switchgear1131
Posts: 219 |
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I agree with everyone siding against the reviewer in this case. While Itsuki is generally a terrible person, what he is trying to do he is not at all what the reviewer is suggesting. As someone who dedicated his life to his craft and struggles just to be a marginally successful author, Itsuki is trying to reach the highest levels of his career path and he wants to know if he can make it on the merit of his own skill and not because he is related to someone else in someway. He never says he wants to be more famous than her or even as famous as he, in fact he says he never will but her wants to try and close that gap as much as he can which is why we get that conversation about what he considers being close enough, and he never says "I need to be better than her", he isn't sure either but he just wants to be in the same tier as her or as close as he can.
As for their personalities the reviewer seems to have a reel vendetta out of the characters and I wonder if they should even be reviewing the show at this point because they obviously don't care about what is actually happening and have long since made up their mind about the characters. Every creative has a different type of relationship with their manager/editor/producer/agent and many times this is a realistic portrayal. She is incredibly talented and she doesn't need her editor to step in the way Itsuki does, and her editor is fine with things being that way because she loves the works that comes out of it, but she does regret not having the type of relationship Itsuki and his editor has, but she sounds more like she would rather have it with another author. The reviewer acts in this review as if this is the first time Nayuta has been shown to be kind of lazy in her writing habits. It is not, it is not even the second time. Every time Itsuki's poor habits are brought up in comparison to Haruto's habits she is always in line with Itsuki's. It has been mentioned more than once that she is terrible with deadlines. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18192 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Think you're forgetting that I do on a regular basis and Rebecca does on a semi-regular basis? We (and Jacob and Zac, back when they were reviewing things regularly) have always been the exceptions, but I don't think it's so unusual. If you looked at the roster of site reviewers over time, I think you'd find that the proportion of them who post at least semi-regularly in forums would be similar to the proportion of site viewers who post at least semi-regularly in forums. |
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Melicans
Posts: 620 Location: Canada |
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Not that I disagree with you or Christopher (I find that the reviews being different to what I take from each episode opens my perspective for the better), but given how often Nayu has "express[ed] feelings" to Itsuki, if this was an opposite perspective would that not have many people expressing themselves about arguably stalking behaviour? In that instance wouldn't such insults, after numerous rejections (including polite at the beginning, which I believe was his initial tone of response earlier in the series, please correct me if I'm wrong on that), actually be understandable? |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4378 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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that i can get. there is a thing called power corrupts and i cant blame him. he probably doesnt want to be famous cause of the massive baggage it carries. not to mention that he might have to give up his sister complex let alone change who he is. rather be an average writer and be able to stay as myself than be a famous writer which turned me into a former shelf of myself. |
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Calsolum
Posts: 898 |
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God dammit itsuki everytime I think you take a step forward you then take two steps back. Or you make a cartwheel backwards and then make a half roll forward.
I have a good idea of what the next review will focus which I assume isn't out yet cause they're busy with other stuff so I'll just keep things brief and mention the series as a whole. All in all its been a really fun ride watching this series, I learned a few beers found out about some neat real life board games(that I bought) and learned about taxes. Yeah there's something I never thought I'd learn about in anime. That said while I personally enjoyed the series there were alot of spots that needed to be better or just cut which I why I do think that some reviewers can be rather harsh on it they're not wrong. My best hope is that should the series get a second anime the author uses some of the (valid) criticisms of the anime to fix up the direction of his novel and hopefully that makes it more popular and gets a second season. Nonetheless I'll definitely get the light novels when the come out in English. It was a fun ride a sister's all you need and I hate to break it to you but you do need more than a sister here's to hoping you find that before its too late. |
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