Yosuga no Sora

Summary: >

Haruka and Sora are orphaned after their parents are killed in a car crash (ever heard that before?). The two move to the countryside in hopes of rebuilding their lives. Haruka is reacquainted with many girls who have grown a lot since he last saw them years ago. Romance seems sure to bloom, depending on which girl Haruka sets his heart on. One of those is a forbidden love which may force the twins to leave the town for good.

Thoughts: >

Yosuga no Sora (Sky of Connection) is a product of the times. Warped hardcore otaku shaped anime to their more perverse wacky interests. This one is very sexual. Normally when people describe the guy "banging all the chicks" it's sarcastic, and they'd never show that on TV anyway. In Yosuga no Sora he really does bang all the chicks... and I'm like, "they can show that on TV?". Apparently yes. Aside from that, this anime has become notorious due to the topic of incest. I've come across many rants passed off as reviews bent on flaming Yosuga, so I figured I'd give it a shot and try to write one that's objective. We'll see how that goes..

The production quality of Yosuga no Sora is very good. The character designs, and backdrops look fantastic. There's no action, but it's well animated for what it has, with the occasional great visual too. Complimenting this is a soundtrack that fits the romantic feel very well. The studio making this absolutely knew what they were doing, and they're good at it. You wouldn't expect an anime this well produced to feel as sleazy as it often does.

The source material is a visual novel, but unlike many adaptations, Yosuga no Sora stays true to the material... too true in some ways. The visual novel obviously has some great story points, and this anime doesn't blunt them at all. With 4 girls each given their respective story, there isn't enough time for them to fully develop. This is further hampered by air time eaten by the extra comedy segments at the end. (I'm guessing for budgetary reasons). With just a little more room to breathe I think the stories could have been much better. Even in their compact form aren't too bad though.

As it starts, Kasugano is a blank slate male protagonist with no qualities making him noteworthy. Every girl he meets blushes and can't stop thinking about him. As lame as this sounds, the stories go in good directions. Each girl has major issues that Kasugano helps resolve. It's dramatic, and that part is good. The predictability in him winning their heart, then nailing them put me off a little. Not because I find that objectionable, but because ... it's predictable. Each arc is followed to its conclusion, then Yosuga no Sora backs up in time to follow another girl's story. It's a little confusing, but at least doesn't water down the material by doing each story half assed. The last girl is the problematic one this title is famous for. She's got issues. Kasugano helps resolve them. Then he nails her. But she's also his sister. Nooooo!

Oh yes. No dancing around the topic like some titles do. No adopted sibling, no coincidently living together since childhood: these two are twins. How this would play out had been suspense for me since I knew it was coming, and Sora had been circling her brother like a shark since the beginning. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Sora's story turns out to be the best of them. Part of that is having the guts to tackle the incest topic in the first place. I expected it to play out in the pseudo-romantic fashion the other stories had, but Sora's story takes an unusual twist. Sora seduces her brother, and basically steals him from another girl. These two then go at it constantly. Other characters take note of the two getting "too close". Then they're found out. Everyone who knows the secret is completely disgusted and it tears at the twins in different ways. I won't say it's great, but it is different and... disturbing. Whether or not you can accept this at fantasy or are completely disgusted by the concept is something only you can deicide.

Overall I think this title was weak, although it could have been much better. The stories and characters have a lot of potential, and ALMOST get there, but never make it. Aside from that the sex scenes lack tact. Some nice music is played during those parts, but that doesn't make them tasteful. The extra end segments eat up valuable time that could have been used to better develop the story. They also often push sexual content trashy enough to wreck what little tastefulness the story did manage to build up (which isn't much).

Aside from the controversial point, little is memorable about this one. It's unfortunate because in the right hands I think this could have developed into a great title. I imagine Yosuga no Sora will continue to be great flame bait material in the years to come on Internet forums, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it.

Ok, I'm going to hell now that I've given Yosuga no Sora a semi positive review.

Screen Caps: >