Secret confessions of siscon san
Although accredited with a siscon blogging license, I've been living a lie. The truth is I'm no siscon in the truest sense of the word. Unlike my bona-fide brethens, I don't get boners euphoric highs from seeing sweet sisters glomping their brothers (although kawaii imoutos going "nii-san" always gets to me).
That said, I do ADORE the sub-genre of siscon in anime. However, just as worshipping yuri does not make Zyl a fat yaoi fangirl lesbian, my considerable viewing of siscon series did not result in incestuous inclinations. Rather, I love siscon fare for the same reason fans are made of Honey and Clover: High emotional drama
Just as the Gundam franchise have mechas and mechandise, a true siscon treat would naturally be imbued with high drama and intense inner struggles. A skeletal framework of a siscon tale can be summarised as such:
- Growing attraction between siblings
- Sibling(s) fight taboo feelings, uses 3rd party
- Hurts 3rd party/self/sibling but acknowledges/faces forbidden feelings
- Reconciliation of such feelings between siblings
- Fighting external prejudices as an incestuous unit
As we can see, based on just the siscon premise alone, there is already tremendous potential for emotional confrontations and deep character developments. Many of these sisters are tsunderekkos (a favoured class of anime characters) for the reason that they cannot openly fawn over their brothers and need to mask their desired dere dere with tsun tsun. Oh, how I LOVE tsundere imoutos. Add a magical sakura tree (Da Capo) or Alice-in-wonderland theme (Kagihime) to introduce that unique flavour and you are likely to have an engaging story on your hands.
It may comes as a surprise to many but there are only 4 anime series (of those I've seen) that I consider to be worthy siscon anime.
- Da Capo
- Boku wa imouto ni koi wo suru
- Koi Kaze
- Kagihime Monogatari
with the following characters ranked according to their siscon-ness (ok bro-con if you want to be politically correct).
- 1) Kirihara Kiraha (Kagihime Monogatari)
- 2) Yuki Iku (Boku wo imouto ni koi no suru)
- 3) Asakura Nemu (Da Capo)
- 4) Nanoka (Koi Kaze)
This ranking takes into account how much of a 'sister' the character is to the brother with the social context taking precedence over the genetic affliation balanced against the intensity of their yearning for the brothers. For example, Nanoka ranks last because despite being blood related, she and Koushirou just got to know each other and are hardly practising siblings whereas Kiraha had longed for the brother since young despite being blood-related.
So where does this put characters like Maika (Magikano) and Karen (Onegai Twins)? Such characters are what I consider tier 2 siscons. They are infautated with their onii-chans but would never think of bonking them as opposed to tier 1s (the 4 listed above). Of course there are the pseudo-sister/cousin characters (tier 3s) like Primula (Shuffle), Elise (Canvas2) and Sakura (Da Capo) used to placate siscons during the drought of tier 1s.
Anyway, I digress.
Well, the purpose of this post is not to convince anyone of my 'unsiscon-ness' but rather to assure that siscon series (as defined on these terms) are not pseudo-porn detrimental to morality but actually anime gems to be enjoyed as Honey and Clover or Kiminozo were.
Still waiting for that 2006 siscon anime.
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July 23rd, 2006 - 14:24
stripy, ypur littlr disclamier saying you are not a sis-con will work as well as my disclamier saying i am not a loli-con.
I AM NOT A LOLICON
So what did you think of Kagihime? I gave it a B.
July 23rd, 2006 - 15:08
Not even a mention of Hitsuji no Uta? What kind of drama-loving sis-con are you?
July 23rd, 2006 - 16:42
The first step is always denial.
July 23rd, 2006 - 16:58
It is useless to resist you are a sis-con you know this to be true. You do not yet realize the importance of sis-con in your life. You have actaully graded the aforementioned imotous and gave Nanoka 4th, this came after some serious thought on your end, any pretender would have given her at least top three.
Besides if this is consularship where is the ambassador? Wait…If this not a sis-con blog why are there all these imotous? As it stands you are probably still eagerly waiting proof of the Mikuru and Kyon’s Imotou-san connection despite your obviously faked defection to Kanon.
Zyl tear this blog apart until you force out a confession. Bring me the tanuki I want him alive!
July 23rd, 2006 - 18:46
>>> Not even a mention of Hitsuji no Uta? What kind of drama-loving sis-con are you?
When it comes to dark passion without much violence nor revealing of skins, as drawn in the manga for I consider the manga to be immensely superior to the anime, few can match Hitsuji no Uta. One problem is that Chizuna has Antigone Complex, and her brother was initially viewed more as replacement for her father.
>>> It may comes as a surprise to many but there are only 4 anime series (of those I
July 23rd, 2006 - 18:57
Xellos-_^: THANK YOU for prompting me about Kaghime eariler.
Seriously, that was siscon at its finest. AA for drama. Unfortunately the story as a whole is deeply flawed but still manages a B+ in my book. It appears the director and scenario writer both worked on Da Capo… no wonder those intense confrontations gave me Nemu/Sakura vibes. 
melange: Ah.. grabbing Hitsuji next! Thanks for the highlight!
Kabitzin: Ack… and I vehemently deny lolicon-ness too… maybe I need help…
Crusader: LOL!! If I ever stand on trial for siscon-ness, you and Zyl are the last folks I want in the courtroom. *shivers* And shhh… don’t tell Zyl about this post….
Wontaek: Now you’ve gotten me interested in Nonomura Ami… siscon-themed director? My academic thirst for this subject compels me to know more!
July 23rd, 2006 - 19:19
>>> Wontaek: Now you
July 23rd, 2006 - 19:54
Trial? You presume too much your sis-conness you are on no journey of redemption this time. These titles you have mentioned will be presonally inspected by me.
As for Kimi Nozo I enjoyed it as much as Reagan’s Tomb (aka presidential library, nary a book in sight) where as a friend put it a dark place where angry proletarians fight over the jelly belly that oozes from the stonework. I agree with Wontaek the pinnacle of bro-con is sister princess. Your feebale attempts at this declararion of denial is guilty of wasting my time, my verdict stands, guilty.
July 23rd, 2006 - 23:17
Wontaek: Agreed Hitsuji manga > anime anytime. The “viewing-brother-as-replacement-for-the-father” is definitely there and then it is further complicated by Kazuna’s “viewing-sister-as-replacement-for-the-mother” or as I like to term it his “Ajase complex (mother-son ambivalence) displaced onto the body of his sister” etc.. but still it is one of the better done brother-sister forbidden love manga’s out there… come to think of brother-sister love… what about Angel Sanctuary?
Stripey: As Wontaek mentioned, if you can go for the manga. Although the anime has Hayashibara Megumi voicing the sister it is a subpar rendition of the complexity of the manga.
July 24th, 2006 - 09:03
i can’t beleived i forgot Angel Sancutary.
Stripey, go get the manga. Angel, demons, dragons, tansvistes, lolis, incest, muder, rape and end of the world.
July 24th, 2006 - 10:02
I find the whole “siscon” thing kind of funny actually. Every single guy I know with sisters either deferred dating/marriage or never got married — not because they were infatuated with their sisters … but because the whole “female mystery” thing was completely shattered by the time they got old enough to date. The usual excuse given is that “girls are too high maintenance”… but I figure it is because they get to see them at their worst prior to the stage when normally guys get infatuated with them.
Example: my best friend has never married (he’s 49 now) and he has two younger sisters (both pretty cute actually) … though I suppose watching me and our other “best friend” adjust to married life didn’t help
The closest thing I personally can think of as per “siscon” experience is a cousin (4yrs older than me) and an aunt (8yrs older than me) who were/are both pretty cute and I had a bit of a crush on when I was a young teen. The cousin I got over pretty quickly after watching her choices in life and the aunt married such a cool guy that I’m very happy for her.
The stories tend to feel more probable when its an “older guy as head of household” situation and the pair are taking on functions that might be associated with a couple.
July 24th, 2006 - 17:14
Melange: I’m glad you liked Hitsuji manga. There is something good that came from the anime version, though: the ending theme song is one of the best song I ever heard, and I feel that the song conveyed the essense of the manga much better than the anime itself.
July 24th, 2006 - 19:19
Wah, I’m quite late to this party… of course you’re not a siscon, my good brother! You are so much more than that – the signs have been that you’ve evolved to the higher state of loli-meido-siscon!
July 24th, 2006 - 19:25
the whole time i was the hitsuji manga i was thinking those 2 are going to at least kiss if not have sex together. The manga was really good at building up the tension between the brother and sister.
July 24th, 2006 - 20:54
wontaek/melange: Great! HnU sounds like the drama fest I love siscon for. But… ack! I accidentally read the ending while ‘researching’ it. Anyhow will pick up vol. 1 soon. Thanks for the recommendation.
Crusader: Ah… if I can move even a single soul to check out any of the 4 siscon greats, I don’t mind siscon purgatory. Maybe you want to start with Boku wo imouto ni koi no suru?
Xellos-_^: Haha! Angel Sanctuary sounds like it’s bad for health although I like more than half the themes it encompasses.
vexx: Thanks for sharing a very personal experience and thought-provoking insights. Building on your thoughts, I also I believe that anyone can be siscon yet most people are not simply because humans sisters are flawed (as you have mentioned). I’d always imagine if Shirakawa Kotori was my RL sister, I would probably also remain celibate for life. I mean what does one do when the most most fabulous person you have encountered in your life is your very own sister? It almost never happens in RL but siscon series take it to that extreme. To reciprocate your sharing, I had a huge crush on my cousin too during my mid-teens (8 yrs younger) and I knew a couple of cousins who had crushes on me too. But we all grew out of it eventually because we all went on to meet other people and the lack of constant contact eroded the feelings (immature they might be). I just wonder if such feelings would have gone away so easily or matured to adult love were I to be living with a wonderful wonderful sister who keep constantly reminds me why she’s the most fabulous person on this planet.
Zyl: Thaaaaaanks ah bro for your vote of confidence…. LOL!
July 24th, 2006 - 22:28
this thread is made of win!
July 25th, 2006 - 01:43
yay, got my laptop’s fan replaced at last.
i’m fine with (stripey being a) siscon as long as (he) doesnt becomes an activist waving the “Save our Siscon” “Respect for the Siscons” “Siscons are people too” type of banner
July 25th, 2006 - 10:01
Dervish_ibn_Candela: Haha! Wonder if they would ‘dramatise’ my blog content… Siscon otoko… I demand royalties!
crimson: LOL! Street rallies banned in SG. I doubt I’ll ever have a chance to wave any banner. At least I’ll be waving my “I’m a siscon” t-shirt at a foam party on Sentosa.
July 25th, 2006 - 17:18
If its any consolation I am firmly convinced that we are all going to hell, if you searched the billions of souls on this rock looking for saints scarcely 20 will you find. As for the first piece of evidence I am already on it using BT on free Wi-Fi ain’t fast.
In regards to the potential of every one bieng a sis-con or cousinphile I disagree. It largely has to do with your family environment. I love my family, but the discord within it can be extreme. I personally hit one of my older female cousins with a pipe as a child of 5 and bludgeoned my brother over the remote control. My parents are living out a typical anime script childhood friends and doormat-tsundere, actually it is rather disturbing. One of the reasons I volunteered for my job was structure and order, the latter is rarely true though. Strangely enough almost everyone that I have met in the military has some sort of family issue that they hint at.
Celibacey and consequently Virginity IMHO is 1% choice and 99% circumstance. As for the laws of Singapore its one of the places I may seek asylum since serving the Imperial Army is rather dissappointing as of late since W. is nothing like Lord Vader. At least with the Sith, Lord Vader would stomp around the command and execute the three dumbest zeroes…
July 26th, 2006 - 08:42
I just realize something with all those sis-con shows everyone listed. No one mention Final Appoarch.
Crimson, I agree we are all going to hell.
July 27th, 2006 - 23:11
Crusader: Again thanks for the personal sharing.
Yeah, anime romanticise many things especially how lovely sisters/cousins/loli/girls-in-general can get. 
But yet improbable as it is, some fellow out there might be the one in a billion to have a Kotori-esque imouto. Personally, it’s hard not to turn to the Dark Side under such temptations.
However your thoughts here do echo mine for lolicon-ness. I also realised I will never be lolicon because the reasons I ‘like’ lolis for in anime run contrary in RL. Show me a Fate Testarossa or Primula in RL and I may quit anime for the good of my mental health.
Lastly SG welcomes you! We have anime, figures and durians! Oh well an almost Vader-ish erm political figure too.
Xellos-_^: Ohhh FA.. yes Akane was really cute. She gave me Shinobu (Love Hina) vibes… I like…..
July 28th, 2006 - 10:22
Show me a Fate Testarossa in real life and I move to the middle east and convert to islam.
Reason: they don’t have age limits over their =P
July 28th, 2006 - 21:15
I just had the weirdest thought today. Has there been any anime in which the protagonist has siscon, but was not the brother… but a sister as well?!?!
July 29th, 2006 - 00:23
Stripey, if you had someone like Kotori as your younger sister, but had to change her poopy diapers, wash the bed sheets she wets, your shirt dirtied by food she threw at you and be yelled at your parents for making her cry when you didn’t do anything wrong, I doubt you will develope a crush on her; more likely, you might feel a desire to crush her head for every insult she made you suffer for. I don’t know anyone who got over the Westermarck effect and chances are that she might use her telepathy against you, not for you.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=3595&page=22
July 29th, 2006 - 01:57
Haha, the Westermarck effect was the reason why I asked Stripey in a previous post, on whether he had a sister or not.
July 29th, 2006 - 10:16
Skane, the closet anime i can think (non-hentai) with yuri sis-com theme is Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito and the twincest form FMP 2nd raid.
July 30th, 2006 - 11:23
Thanks for pointing me to Westermarck effect, Wontaek. Have a briefly interesting read on it at wiki. I’m just wondering if it’s a side effect of human imperfection.
I’m training on my ‘pure and honorable thoughts’ against Kotori’s telepathy. Should that fail, I intend to use my Jedi mind tricks. 
Skane/Xellos-_^: ahh for yuri-siscon, you will need the expertise of my good brother, Zyl.
August 2nd, 2006 - 01:42
so siscon = a relationship within ur family?
what does all those “con” mean… i’m confused lol.
August 2nd, 2006 - 01:56
ShinShu, you didn’t read this here and if the state secret police grills you, deny all knowledge of this blog.
Siscon is a abbreviated form of sister complex, just as lolicon is from lolita complex. Con because the Japanese phonetics doesn’t really allow for com so the pronounable form ”con” is used. Complex is a nice Japanese way of saying fetish. So siscon essential means an unhealthy obsession with your sister.
Now, I felt like the serpent in the garden of Eden.
Thanks for dropping by btw.