I hate the clingy incestous little sister Archetype so much in anime because nothings ever done with it outside of it being a male gaze fetish. Like wow ok the 50th little sister competing and hating with the other female cast while the older brother is uncomfortable and plays dumb and just HAPPENS to accidently be in situations where he sexualizes her. Im sure it'll do something the next 50 times I see it.
But one of my favorite characters of all time is Nanami Kiryuu. The concept of a girl who idolizes her brother and does the whole clingy incestous little sister song and dance, not nessicarily because shes incestously attracted to him but because she feels like if it wasnt for her connection to him no one would love her the way that they love him.
And them being blood related siblings is the only reason that not only everyone loves her, but her own brother loves her too. Like she genuinely feels she is so worthless and unlovable on her own merit that she needs to cling to touga for people to care about her. Like you would think in a situation where its revealed two characters like this are adoptive siblings nanami would be overjoyed so she can be with toga. But she isnt. Shes angry and distraught and in denial that that is her blood relative.
And then she is presented the opportunity to have sex with (and i say this loosely RGU clearly plays what happens as implied assault) touga she backs away in disguist because. Shes not attracted to him. She just wants someone who is guaranteed to love her no matter what. And your family is supposed to. Because thats your blood. They are the only people who are guaranteed to love no matter what. They should anyway. And she sees those lines blurred in real time by touga and thats not what she wants. She just wants him to care about her.
It breaks my heart to think about it.
[ID: Official Revolutionary Girl Utena art of Touga and Nanami at a dinner table; Touga is sitting back smugly while Nanami lays sprawled over the table with a pitiful expression. End ID]
