「ともあれ、夏休みなのに休めないのは何かおかしい」 (Tomoare, Natsuyasumi Nanoni Yasumenainowa Nanika Okashii)
“Either Ways, Not Taking a Break During a Break Summer Break is Weird”

I know that I must sound like a broken record by now but I can’t get over how much I love this show. Not only did it overcome a more than lackluster start that was barely able to grab my interest but in the face of shows like OreImou and RailgunS2, which are both in their second season, it never fails to impress me how it consistently eats up a lot of my weekly anticipation.

With a huge shift in how the writers are choosing to pace things comes a whole new way for Hachiman to really flex those analytical skills of his. For starters, I hope I wasn’t the only one who was expecting him to leap into action and solve Rumi’s problems by the end of the episode only to get hit with an abrupt ending sequence. Then again, I probably should have saw it coming when he didn’t really act on any of the little pushes that were coming from everyone around him — be it Hamaya trying to use “The Zone” or Yukino sympathizing with Rumi, it probably would have been clear if I was paying attention to the time.

But boy was it interesting listening to Hachiman describe just how off the way some of his peers were thinking. For me, it was honestly a little eye opening thinking about how his words could be applied to just about everyone I’ve ever encountered (myself included). This is just my opinion but after seeing things through his eyes, it’s pretty scary thinking about how most people view being isolated as a negative thing without thinking about the means of how it occurred in the first place. Just like Hachiman said, Rumi was isolated by her peers maliciously, not by her own accord. Which makes you wonder, when was the last time you followed along with the pack and pushed someone out of your circle? I’m sure most of us don’t think about it but I can remember a few times I followed the pack in-order to not become the next one targeted. But what if I wasn’t slick enough to keep their attention off of me and ended up like Rumi? Scary thoughts guys, scary!

And in typical Yahari fashion there was also a bunch of humor thrown in amongst all that serious talk. But hands down the funniest moments always involve either Saika or Komachi with Hachiman. Either he’s having an internal struggle to remember that Saika is actually a guy or letting his inner sis-con get the better of him — both of which is just sometimes too funny to watch. But what was a bit unexpected was did any of you expect him to be a loli-lover?

Honestly though, I have to commend the writers for doing such a stellar adaptation. By changing things up while still slowly feeding us details about our main characters, things have been continuously moving at a steady pace and hopefully by the end of the season either Hachiman or Yukino will have some stark revelation about how they view life. Or maybe Hachiman will ask Saika out LOL.

 

Preview

68 Comments

  1. The way Yahari is going, I have no clue what will happen next. It’s good enough to just enjoy the ride!

    Thank you for covering this series! I wouldn’t have known about it without Random Curiosity.

    ichigo_daisuki
  2. Hachiman’s sister love is overrate and backfire.
    I lol so hard when he said that komachi and Yuikahama’s greeting( Ya halo!) is retard but when Seika does the same thing he said “he” is so cute!

    1st

    pokpok
    1. Hachiman is vulnerable to traps… heck, many of us commenters have to struggle to keep our knowledge of Saika’s gender in our heads when he starts radiating moe…

      ewok40k
  3. Man, this show may not have explosions, giant action scenes but, it doesn’t need them cause its still awesome! I’m amazed this found a big place for me among all the other big shows this season. I love the cynical yet somehow seemingly correct view of the social world (Seemingly, because we ARE following Hacchiman). Hacchiman having a crush on the trap makes me think of baka to test xD

    Catsrofl
  4. This was my favorite episode this week because in a way I could relate to Rumi’s situation. Although I was never pushed out a circle maliciously, I could never relate to any of my classmates whether it be bad puns or daily discussions; so a result, people were already forming their own circles and I became left out and ignored(and teachers thought I was too shy to talk to anyone but on the contrary I had tried talking many times, but I was either ignored or I could not connect to anyone). Eventually, this became a part of daily life.

    Sometimes loneliness does not occur as people might expect it to be and I’m glad you address this Takaii, because sometimes there are various courses that lead a person to loneliness, and the relationships that are carved into others can unpredictable.

    Seeing as far as the issue goes, I can’t help but wonder to how Rumi got into the situation and why the other girls give Rumi harsh looks? I can’t wait for the next episode.

    Dualash
    1. There are many children that share the fate of Rumi. Heck, I was one myself, always trying to act seriously, diligently and responsibly, looking down on antics of the “brats” around me. Small talk was a foreign language to me. I eventually ended up spending more time with the books (it was before the internet era) than with my peers. Most of my 12 years of school went as liaison with library in each and every class…

      ewok40k
    2. gets only worse in college when everyone’s vocabulary increases. Hell, right now I’m living in a dorm for summer classes and my floor mentor set up this meeting where we all introduced each other. It was about to end when he actually forced us to do small talk and wouldn’t let us leave until we talked to three different people. I already knew from teh introductions I didn’t have anything in common with these people and the extroverted popular kids were already talking to each other. It’s just annoying for people to assume that the loners will get along right away with complete strangers, especially is you force them into talking so suddenly…ok, well I’m not a loner, I just happen to be the only person out of my friends who stayed for college over the summer and I’m ok with being alone for that time. Its a shame though that a lot of floor mentors impose on their students like that, what my floor needs is an RA that’ll share the same views as Hachiman/a majority of us posters on here because I for one would talk to my RA constantly if it were Hachiman.

      SDFSDG
      1. Oh god, it feels like I’m reading a page of my life back when I was 18. That little assignment actually pissed me off enough to nag at my mentor about it. We got along great after that. He was a loner himself – & an expert at facades. It’s much easier to fake things when you’re around a bunch of people just like you.

        I was really a precocious kid back then. I could detect BS from a world away – but that meant I was hardly in my own world 😛 My personality never allow me to be a loner though, even though I actually preferred to be alone.

        Megas
      2. People that insist you do something “for your own good” anger the hell out of me. Suggesting it is one thing, forcing it is another. Especially when it comes to human interaction.

        Bear
      3. Like both of you said, and in the case of Bear, he really did that “for our own good” because as he put it “He didn’t want us to walk by one another awkwardly and not say anything to each other” But now it still has the same effect, those who didn’t do that well during the small talk are being looked awkwardly as they walk through the hall while the popular ones all know each other. I mean for peat sake, I’m going to be a junior when fall starts so I don’t need any of this “I’m going to help you make friends” stuff.
        In the case of Megas, ironically I did the same thing with my RA during my sophmore year. Though it was because no one wanted to do anything as a floor with him despite his efforts (they weren’t loners, they were just pricks). So I was literally the only one who talked to him personally about things and how they can improve, throwing around Hachiman-esque (before the show started) ideals at him and it got to the point where he actually put in a good word for me to become an RA next year because as he said “I have a unique and different way at looking at the world”, did I accept…no…because if I did i would lose all financial aid and I don’t have that kind of money….but it would have been interesting especially after watching this show. Wow…that was a lot. But this has been about is that this show, despite someone’s concerns (though lets face it, those who have concerns for this show were never put in these character’s positions), really does get to the core of modern social issues that not only happen in highschool but form in your younger years and carry on into college, so I’m thankful a company finally got the balls to adapt this show, its refreshing.

        SDFSDG
      4. You’re right. If “such and such” were like Hachiman, I’d definitely be talking to them as well. Just a shame that they won’t be talking back… I just crushed my own hopes, LOL.

        ReverseTales
  5. It’s funny how Hachiman’s negativity about everything went completely south as soon as Saika pops into the scene

    ahh… Hachiman, how far have you fallen for the trap lol

    lol
  6. I gotta say…. Yahari is what SHAFT’s monogatari series is to me. Fell in love with it the very moment episode 1 started. Just loke monogatari, I’m lovingthe character interaction espicially between HachiHachi and YukiYuki. HachiHachi’s similar to Arararagi ( oops… I stuttered) while YukiYuki is simikar to Hitagi (though she’ll never dethrone her). I’m not sure where YuiYui and Saika would fill in if they’re superimposed on monogatari characters.

    HachiHachi’s sis-con and loli”e”-con tendencies is just hilarious. But his trap-con (or Hideyoshi-con) tendencies take the cake.

    Anyway, loli curry anyome?

    c2710
  7. i feel bad for those populars guy they always antagonized by Hachiman and Yukinon but ironically i’m also like Hachiman and Yukinon in real life and know exactly how their feeling
    so i won’t blame them at all.

    Ajira
  8. “What if it’s your turn?”

    As a kid, what if your friends left someone out of the group, and after some time, another friend of yours would bring that person back into the group? Well, if that’s all that happened, then there might not be a problem, but what if this happens multiple times? What if it happens to another of your friend and another after that? Well, as long as someone bring the person back into the group, then no one will be left out in the end. But what if it’s your turn to be the one left out? In that case, what would you do?

    Rumi seems to believe that since she went along and left people out of the group in the past, she doesn’t get to complain when it’s her turn to be left out. Since she never helped people back into the group, she doesn’t think that she gets to ask for help.

    Obviously, this needs to change, but we’ll have to wait one week to how this changes.

    Dea
  9. I liked the quick moments showing Yukino & Hayama’s facial expressions hinting that something’s up with them.I’m also eager to see if the “You couldn’t do it before.”remark from her to him will be further looked into.Since they’re both from wealthy & related families I wonder if they had a past relationship such as an arranged marriage – it doesn’t look like that would still be the case for the present though.

    At any rate,while Hikki could probably carry this show on his own,I hope we get some more depth to Yukino’s character as they try to solve Rumi’s problems.Next ep just can’t come sooner!

    MgMaster
    1. you would never know….heck, for Rinne no Lagrange? they did that short bit in that special with those three guys in a BL/shounen-ai moment so it wouldn’t be out of the park for a Hachiman + Seika + Hayato (Come on, you have to add the man candy) thing. I’m still waiting on an obligitory beach/hotspring ep and to see how Hachiman reacts to it.

      SDFSDG
  10. I have almost no doubt that the two main heroines of this series will follow in love with Hachiman, but how? I already have a feeling that Yukino is heading down that road, but how she will really open her heart to the our beloved loner will really surprise me. I want this series to be one where Hikky really chooses the girl he loves. I want this to be a real teenage romcom, but without all the indecisiveness that comes with them. I don’t want this series to end without Hikky actually choosing a girl. Oregairu could be so much more if he picked one of the two. That’s just my two cents.

    dytianquin
    1. Well,in a series where the protagonist himself is the main attraction of the majority of the audience rather than the girls surrounding him I think that’s very likely to happen 😛

      MgMaster
    2. I love the sentiment. However as much as I would like to see a romcom that refuse to take that indecisive route, I can count on one hand how many times that happened. I’ll go with MgMaster on this one. The only thing I can see Hachi & Yukino doing together is busting each others chops. But that might be more romantic then all the romcom from the last 3 years put together.

      I wouldn’t go putting my eggs in that basket. Prototypical romcom this isn’t. It’s just better to go with the flow.

      Megas
    3. They can keep showing Yui and Yukino in the with the wedding dresses all they want to, I still don’t find them cute, just annoying.An OP with Saika is something I can get behind though >:)

      Magoiichi
      1. Nobody is watching this show for them anyway 😛 I usually skip it. It’s about time the protagonists easily overshadows the girls – & it’s not because they’re 2 bits of the same byte either.

        Megas
    4. I too would love to see some romance develop and some sort of conclusion come from it, but I don’t see that happening. I really love all the recent light novel adaptations but the problem is that most of them are still ongoing (OreImo/Yahari/Hanagi/Hyouka/etc.) so they can only go so far with content. Some are nearing their end (like OreImo) but I can’t see them only animating a couple episodes to cover the last volume and an OVA wouldn’t cut it.

      I love watching these LN adaptations for the journey, but I know there will never be a real destination. It tempers my enjoyment of these anime a little (but just a little 🙂 )

      7godeohs
  11. “Hachi..man” If I was Hikky I won’t be able to sleep as well. Damn is Saika moe.

    It has always been the case where people pity or feel sad for those who are alone. Sometimes my friends go “Hey see that guy eating alone. I feel sorry for him” I’d tell them maybe he likes being alone but they never seem to get it.

    I guess people automatically assume you’re being maliciously bullied to the point where you’re left alone. I guess maybe it’s cause there are not many people with friends but want to be alone at times (Not sure about this since I’m like that)

    Also great to see Hikky’s thoughts on how they try to solve the problem. I agree with Yukino (even if it came off as very bitchy) that the “popular” gang had absolutely no idea how to help. Although the intention was good, the end result was terrible.

    Guess nobody can really help until they know more. C’mon Hikky show your genius!

    WildKaiser
    1. I can only relate to Hachiman in the way he sees society, but unlike him in the way that I know if I spent my days by myself (which I would enjoy really)it will attract attention, so I became someone’s who’s everyone’s friend but at the same no one’s. Though, its funny, one time there was this loner kid, and I tried being nice to her and then I somehow unleashed a monster, now that I think about it, should have left it alone, not every loner is worthy of anyone’s attention.

      Mi-Chan
  12. I spy with my little eye, two likable characters.

    This episode was great because it points out something important.’What goes around, comes around”.Rumi was one of those that “shunned” other kids, so she gets none of my symphathy.Treat other people the way you want to be treated.

    Using somebody’s sister as bait just brought you down to another level of unlikeable Sensei.That’s probably why you’re still single and take out your frustration on others.

    The Flag has been raised!”

    Hikki couldn’t handle the flag and had to make a run for it lol.I bet if that other guy wasn’t in that room, Hikki would’ve became a predator that night.

    Magoiichi
  13. Rather than seeing Hachiman happily ending up with someone, I would actually prefer seeing him being loner, at least until the end of current season. That would be realistic I guess. Additionally, though Hachiman himself seems to be pretty comfortable around Yukino (probably since she is “honest”), I, on the other hand, would prefer not seeing him developing romantic relationship with her. Her bitchy (aka “ice-queen”) attitude still continues to annoy me throughout season, though it’s just me. Though I’ve just realized that this whole Hachiman x Yukino situation strangely reminds me of Pride and prejudice with roles partially reversed :DDD

    Crake
  14. The problem with Yumiko idea is that Rumi is not a dumb blonde like she is.
    My elementary and middle period is not that bad, how innocent and friendly my generation is at that time. Only into the high school period where the circle occur. The higher the education level, the more frequent circles become.

    Tingster013
  15. The key is to change the context that Rumi sees about groups. It’s not that she doesn’t belong to a group, it’s just that she is currently a group of one. She should have a great time, seeing, doing, enjoying. That enjoyment will bring others into HER group, rather than trying to join up with the others. That turns the tables. She’s free to have a good time, and provides a place for others to join. If she leaves that door open, she doesn’t take the 8man route because she’ll accept others to join her. 8man has closed the door (screen door, actually, since he does interact with the Club) and doesn’t have a problem with that either, as he’s fine with looking out the ‘window’ at the rest of society.

    SmithCB
  16. “Hey, I’m totally an adult! I bitch and whine, I lie through my teeth, and I do things that are unfair.”

    At this point in the show, I shouldn’t be surprised by how spot on Hikki’s outlook on life is- but he totally got me with this one. Despite how cynical and bitter he is, I’m glad that he’s opening up slowly and surely to the people around him- life is just so much easier when you have people you can trust and rely on, and if those people happen to have a beautiful and smart tsundere, that’s just a bonus. =3 (also, Saika is too moe- it’s ridiculous)

    PS: someone seriously needs to marry the guidance counselor, she’s getting out of hand!

    katsudon
  17. Yukino can be absolutely ruthless, can’t she? Hachiman continues his race toward the top in my list of favorite anime protagonists of all time. I love hearing his interior monologues because they eerily echo mine throughout high school (not so eloquently spoken, mind you, but the jist was similar). I was fortunate enough to have friends, however, and I hope Hikki realizes how important this is eventually… just not now. He’s too entertaining at the moment.

    AqueousCactus
  18. 🙁 The studio didn’t anime this scene! Show Spoiler ▼

    StalkerSensei~~

    Beedle
    1. Of course that’s a picture of sensei 😀 See how picture 2 and picture 15 have about the exact “pissed off” look (for the first pic she’s probably pissed off at Hachiman for ignoring her texts and calls)

      Dualash
  19. There is too much in this episode that I can relate. But in the end, considering what I learned from this episode, and looking back on my life, I have this confidence that I will always be alone.
    I listened to a sermon from my pastor from church, talking about marriage. He said: “It’s best to marry a person with similar values as your own. If not, the marriage will fall apart.” That is seriously true with my family circumstances. If my shallow dedication of my religion is what prevents me from forming any circles at my church, then there is no point of me being there.
    Hell, even if my coworkers can tolerate how I talk to them( which I hold high respect for them), there is no way that I can ask them to be my friends.

    Karis
  20. Oh this show this show ! What an absolute pleasure it is to watch such an intelligent and realistic show.
    Every week it reminds me of myself and people around me, it also makes me learn things now and then.
    What more can you ask for, the way the characters of this show interact and how it is written is very smart.

    This episode was a bit darker for me than te previous one a little bit of self reflection has been done.
    The way that the little girl described her down fall and the way that groups work makes me quit sad.
    Being an only child I collected a lot of friends naturally because no one wants to be alone.
    Strangely enough most of my friends now are still the ones I made when I was young and most of them also have no siblings.
    But in high school things were quit tough there I came to realize that being yourself doesn’t always mean a good thing.

    Man I was quite like Hachiman myself always being not included but also I wasn’t bullied.
    The way to not being bullied is conveniently telling things and not telling things like : I like that club to it’s very nice ( fucking hate that club glas everywhere ) and not telling that I watch anime.
    I wanted to punch our leading man at the end of the episode ! If he thinks that everybody’s ideas to help Rumi are wrong.
    Than propose an idea yourself bastard !

    Hopefully next week a hero will arise !

    Silva

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