Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「ユキトキ」 (Yuki Toki) by やなぎなぎ (Yanagi Nagi)
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「こうして彼らのまちがった青春が始まる」 (Koushite Karera no Machigatta Seishun ga Hajimaru)
“Thus Their Misguided Youth Begins”
I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of covering a show this cynical throughout my entire blogging career. And if this first episode is any indication on how the rest of the series is going to pan out, I am super pumped to see just how awkward both the story and the characters will get.
Starting with the basics, I just have to comment on the art style that Yahari is using. It may just be my personal taste, but it’s taking me some effort to enjoy the eye style they decided to use on the Hachiman. I can understand that this decision may have been selected to accentuate his awkward personality but compared to everyone else it just seems a bit out of place. But the moment you get passed it, there’s an abundance of quality in almost everything else. From the gorgeous up-close face shots to the frames that appear during Hachiman’s flashbacks — they’re full of crisp lines, smooth movements, and most importantly no random “cut and paste” graphics like another show that tackles the whole “friendship” thing.
I’m sure that everyone who’s reading this post right now is saying “This is nothing like Haganai!”. And I’d have to completely agree with you — it’s far from it. At the same time, I can’t bash on Stilts for using Haganai as a point of comparison because there are a decent amount of similarities. Besides Yahari’s premise of outcasts coming together, its characters could be described as a messy fusion of different personalities from Haganai. Unlike the loveable Kodaka, the awkward Hikigaya Hachiman is almost his polar opposite. Snarky, sarcastic, generally unlikeable and not only does he openly embrace his friendlessness but he actually strives to keep the status quo as is. Then there’s Yukinoshita Yukino, the person most people would say is Yozora’s stand in. But once you get passed her exterior features, you’ll see that she’s like a weird combination of Yozora’s cool and composed demeanor with all of Sena’s snobby behavior and a bit of Rika’s common sense. Finally, you have the curve ball — Yuigahama Yui. The happy-go-lucky character who seems to serve as comedic relief when things get too tense. Almost like a certain unko loving sister…
With a bunch of characters that somewhat resemble Haganai’s cast you may also be asking, “Takaii, what makes this show actually worth watching?” And that my friends, is where Yahari makes it dramatic shift from Haganai. Unlike Haganai where everyone seems to like one another, Yahari embraces each character’s unique personality by making it as awkward as possible for everyone. Almost to the point where you’d think that everyone flat out hates each other! For me personally, I love it whenever Hachiman sets himself up by revealing something embarrassing yet manages to recover and somehow end up on top of things — a feat most males in romcom’s wouldn’t be able to do even if they broke the fourth wall! And let’s not forget how Hachiman and Yukino could care less about social norms and are always at each other’s neck!
Even though this first episode didn’t leave the biggest impression on me, I did find myself wanting more as the credits started to role. Judging from what happened this week, I feel pretty safe in saying that this first arc seems to focusing on the Volunteers Club as they attempt to help others overcome/achieve things. Something that once all the formalities like character introductions are out of the way, should get really interesting or really funny. I hope.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「Hello Alone」by 雪ノ下雪乃（早見沙織）& 由比ヶ浜結衣（東山奈央）(Yukinoshita Yukino (CV: Hayami Saori) & Yuigahama Yui (CV:Touyama Nao))
Preview
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Wish they didn’t cut the scene when Hiki tried to skip club, but gets caught by sensei and she punches him and threatens that he won’t graduate in mere 3 years.
And then he got called masochist for coming…
I’m loving the snarky, sarcastic male lead. A refreshing change from the usual chivalrous perverts and softies that are genre staples…
A likable male lead that isn’t a spineless wuss? Color me impressed.
the thing is he IS stalwart spineless wuss – he would not abandon his spinelessness if he had to pay his life…
You must have not watched Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? :p
What I got from this is that the world sucks and bitches can be sluts.
That’s even more realistic than what Aku no Hana was going for.
Well those are both very important truths to know in life.
I like the show because im tired of violence and i like smart characters that are not just after a womans baby canon or girls that just wana have fun.
Right now, this is at the top of my list for this season. A very solid first EP IMO. I didn’t once think of Haganai when watching this, and that isn’t a bad thing at all. Yahari Ore no Seishun has its own unique charm – one which so far I like just as much as Haganai.
It’s only one episode, but I can’t help but reset my expectations for the show to “high”. Takaii, I seriously hope you plan to continue reviewing this show.
Quite a departure from seeing the typical male lead. I’m adequately impressed. It’s probable that his cynicism arose from something that happened in the past, as I’m led to believe from the flashback. There’s little doubt we’ll be seeing more of those even for Yukino as well since the two are somewhat alike. Add in Yui and we have a rather colorful and perhaps balanced main cast. The OP though, felt a little fluffy for me, especially if we’re talking about the supposed cynical nature of the show.
Besides Hikki, Yukino really stole the show for the pilot episode. Her personality and attitude probably did the job. What made it more interesting was that her VA was also the same one for Izumiko in RDG, and what a contrast it is! Looking forward to more interactions and battles of the gab with Hikki.
On the whole, it looks good for a following for now. Many thanks for blogging this Takaii!
“it’s taking me some effort to enjoy the eye style they decided to use on the Hachiman. I can understand that this decision may have been selected to accentuate his awkward personality but compared to everyone else it just seems a bit out of place.”
There have been several cases in history of a male protagonist having a different eye style compared to the rest of the cast: ToraDora, Karin and Chobits for example.
This may be an entertaining show, so I guess I’ll start watching this…
YES! a nice replacement for sakurasou pet no kanojo.
An Angel hath descended!
I’m not impressed by not Haganai so far.
https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
what?
Hikki is kinda like Kodaka mixed with Houtarou
The genius’ and the privileged few of the world should realize just how much their presence affect normal folks like us.
I enjoyed this episode more than the manga and more than I expected. Hachiman (what a name lol!) is more funnier than I thought cuz the manga cant really execute the humor well as they talk a lot, back and forth with Yukino and the anime can really bring out the humor.
Especially found Hachiman’s constant rejections in the past to be hilarious, I cant blame the guy for getting his personality twisted after probably yearning for a youthful life with romance and friends, but to only end up getting rejected for love and most dont even stay as friends with him anymore after that.
Now I wonder what Yui’s relation with Hachi is, seeing as she did knew him before and they dont seem to be in the same class.
Actually, they are in the same class – Class 2F
You must have missed it during their introduction, its just Hachiman who doesn’t pay much attention to Yui’s presence in class.
As for their relation, there is an actual reason to why she knows him well enough but that time has yet to come to be revealed 😉
I love hachiman personality, he is not your generic mc that goes on sweet talk to solve other’s problem. He uses his own way and his own method to do that even if he becomes a villain that uses the worst way to solve a problem.
You forgot to ask the most important question.
How do we shorten that title?
Yahari?
Yaoseirakoma?
85rabukome?
Er, got my numbers confused.
Should be 80rabukome (à la 801 [yaoi]).
Hamachi (just like Haganai), or Oregairu
Oregairu seems to be the most popular one to me from conversations I had on other sites.
Oregairu seems to be the official contraction. All the official sites use Oregairu.
Did anyone else notice that the opening has a similar feel to the first OP of KimiKiss? It has a similar chorus, though in a different pitch/speed.
Was the first thing I noticed, haha.
That aside, I’ve got high hopes for this series so far. None of the characters are grating on me with their personalities yet. 😛
I wish people stoped compare this to Haganai. Any resemblence is purely superficial. Realy.
I wasn’t necessarily impressed by this first episode, though I see the potential for the show to be good, especially with Brain Base’s track record of decent shows.
This anime is really off to a great start! I kinda feel that Hachiman’s way of resolving issue is to just deal with the problem directly, while Yukino’s way would be to change the person instead of dealing with the problem . Its interesting to see how their contrasting methods will end up
Watching Hachiman and Yukino conversation really feels like I’m watching -monogatari at times lol. Plus Yukino reminds me of Hanekawa + Hitagi = Stealing the spotlight.
Tht and the ED is feels a little bit SHAFT-y too.
The Oreki syndrome is spreading XD Hachiman eyes ain’t even like Mitsuo/Zero caster one ==; That what I call dead fish eye 😛 Really like that Hachiman isn’t your average romcom protag.
Will definitely come back for more.
I’m already beginning to love this! The opening and endings are both amazing, the characters are lovable already (for me at least, and its making my eyes water off of laughter already xD
Loved it!Hachiman and Yukino’s interactions are great and I hope they don’t shy on giving us more 🙂 Add a pinch of Yui for more color and there’s your awesome main cast for a 12 ep show.
The fact that there’s a smaller number of main characters is also a good thing if you ask me since that should mean more character development for each as well as making them more easy to symphatize with and care for which is,in my opinion,better than throwing a bunch of filler character at us that’ll be easily forgotten – naturally holds value mostly for a 1-cour anime.
Looking forward for more.
When I read the descriptions of the Characters and considered how similar I was, I fell in love with this anime (pun intended) immediately. It did not fail to deliver. The personalities are very unique and quite enjoyable to see mixing together.
More so than Haganai, this reminded me of ToraDora! I really love the characters, all of them so far, and the quick, witty dialogue is pleasing and enjoyable, as is the animation.
The way Hachiman is drawn reminds me of Hyakko, especially their male teacher.
Hachiman is totally hilarious. Who in the world thinks of threatening someone and then just growls at them.
Not a bad first impression. And what is youth is something insignificant? I mean, YOLO right? You have to enjoy youth as much as possible!
Enjoyable first episode. I will go with most of the comments so far as I found 80k’s cynicism amusing. As his banter with Yukiyuki.
I haven’t read the source but did anyone get the feeling that Yuiyui wanted to make the cookies for 80k?
Also the author seems to like alliteration. Yukiyuki, Yuiyui and HH.
I really enjoyed this. My favorite of the season so far.
haha how many times he said bitch ?!!
A rushed but nonetheless nice start off the novels, too bad they skipped the part where sensei shows her shonen childish side.
I didn’t know that scenes were skipped ;/ That kinda brings down my impression of the first episode.
Well, there’s nothing I don’t like about the show, except the trope where the main male character is treated like shit, but it seemed more borderline in this episode.Like they wanted to go into the area where the main dude gets beat up by girls, but chose to resort to childish cliche insults to degrade him instead, which I also hate.
I have never really seen anything where a female main character is beat up by guys or girls or both for comedic effect on a consistent basis or the childish insults of degradation (did I spell it or say it right lol?), it’s usually the males that go through that and it pisses me off.
At a glance, I thought the art style was the same as Sakurasou’s, but it’s not, only the eyes of the girls look similar.
The episode felt kinda shallow, like there wasn’t a lot of meat on the bones, slow paced for lack of a better word.
Also, is anyone else reminded of Medaka Box with the Public Service thing?
Chunibyou abuse is spread across the gender. And plus, our MC is practically begging for some verbal abuse with that attitude of his, some at least its justified here.
That’s still not justified.
Last scene is so Araragi from -monogatari.
I am going to OD on Hayami Saori this season and it is going to feel soooooo good.
*brofists*
I would give anything to be insulted by Hayami Saori. That smooth, sexy voice invading my eardrums as she calls me disgusting and berates me for my behavior would just put me on the verge of org-
…
…
Ahem… *cough*… yes, more Hayami Saori is always a good thing.
Will continue watching to see how things turn out.
Always refreshing to see a non-typical male harem lead that’s actually still pretty believable overall.
Also cute with the little first name/last name bits; Yukino Yukino, Yui Yui, lol.
There has never been a protagonist I can deeply relate to in term of mentality and thinking process. Yeah, I am that cynical kind of guy. This and other shows so far make a promising fall season.
The funniest moment of this episode had to be when Hiki started started calling Yui a bitch and as a comeback she told him that she was still a virgin; I laughed so hard when she said that.
To me Hiki’s personality seems to be allot like Shizuku’s from Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun.
Love it! really like your review, too. I don’t have many reviewers that I actually enjoy reading on Random-C, so keep up the good work!
Thanks! I appreciate the comment<3
Purpose: Hikigaya Hachiban protect Yukinoshita
Hachiman Hikigaya acting better than Gosick. Analytical and simple minded guy
Yukino Yukinoshita acting better than Princess Resurrection clueless and doesn’t care about Hikigaya’s philosophy.
Yuigahama Yui aiheaded Yukino’s admirer and Hikigaya supporting character to develop relationship with Yukino.
Similar to Oreshura and Medaka Box idea. Foreshadowing earlier part of episode 1 later repeat
I actually really enjoyed this, the MC is very interesting and you cant help but feel sorry for him when he gets rejected hahaha
Very promising first episode. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Btw. Does anyone else get the JC Staff vibe from this show? I thought it was a JC Staff show with the character designs and color palette, and the story seems to up their alley as well. I sure was surprised to see that it was a Brain’s Base production!
At first I was expecting some kind of Catcher in the Rye Holden shittyness from hikki, but by the end of the episode I’m impresses to see what a legit main character he is.
This actually might be one of the anime I will really enjoy this season.
*impressed
This show looks pretty fun. The awkward dynamic between the characters gave me a few good chuckles. Hachiman’s failed attempt to intimidate Yukino was hilarious.
I really look forward to seeing further interactions between Hachiman and Yukino.
Ohhh boy, I’m very glad to hear Yanagi Nagi’s voice again! I still hope she comes back and sing for Supercell again.
I’m loving the OP. Listening Nagi is pleasure to my ears.
I actually didn’t even consider watching this show until I heard briefly in the Spring 2013 Mid-Season Podcast that was posted here at RC a couple days ago. + Hearing it was cynical, can’t say I wasn’t intrigued to go and watch it.
I was initially turned off from this series because of the animation quality and the fact that it was a RomCom, and I’m not really into those. I gave the first episode a chance the other day because of the cynical lead.
I was not disappointed. This was pretty interesting, and the exchanges between Hachiman and Yukinoshita are so hilarious. It’s so engaging, and sometimes I have to replay the conversation to catch what I missed (because I think they’re talking pretty fast, can’t keep up with the subs lol). To top it off, FFF is awesome with their subs, as I’ve seen with Hataraku Maoh-sama.
I really like the moral of this episode. The fact that it isn’t really the taste of the cookies that matters the most, but rather the time and effort that went into creating them for someone, while thinking about the person. Even if they taste bad, it’s not like the receiver is going to straight just throw it away, as Hachiman demonstrated.
Also, it might just be me but Yukinoshita kind of reminds of Senjogahara from Bakemonogatari. (Which is great!! Lol)