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「そして、由比ヶ浜結衣は宣言する。」 (Soshite, Yuigahama Yui wa Sengen Suru.)
“And Then, Yuigahama Yui Makes a Declaration.”
Every week I keep thinking it will get easier to blog Yahari. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. Is that a bad thing? Of course not! This show just keeps getting better, boasting character depth and interactions that rival even the most serious dramas, digging deep into the inner struggles that every character is facing, with a wide enough depth that it’s impossible to focus on every single character.
In pursuing that tradeoff of clarity for depth, let’s focus on Hayama Hayato, with a few passing notes concerning the other characters.
First off, you go Hayato. Dayo neeee. Neeeee~ There is sweet satisfaction in seeing him tell off both Orimoto and Nakamachi, especially after having to go through half an episode of their shallow and insensitive speech and actions. It reminded me a lot of how seiyuu would often converse with one another in improv anime shows such as gdgd Fairies, except exponentially more annoying and disrespectful. Orimoto and Nakamachi don’t have intentional malice against Hachiman, but at the same time have no respect for his person either, content to use him as the butt of their conversation. This sort of casual conversation hits hard for anyone who’s had to play third wheel or much worse, be that person in a group of ‘friends’. Thus, when Hayato finally speaks his word, there’s immense satisfaction in his deed, but it also represents an important pivotal point.
For Hayato, this was not just standing up reasonably for Hachiman, whom he dragged out in the first place to help him with this ‘issue’. Heck, this wasn’t even Hayato showing that he can’t handle his curse of popularity alone (thus breaking his perfect persona). In my opinion, the real kicker is that Hayato surprised Hachiman, not by standing up for him, but for his social sacrifice. His first social sacrifice in the entire show. For the entire series thus far, it has been Hayato that has reaped many of the social benefits that Hachiman deserves. Ranging from crowd cheers from tennis matches, compliments from the cultural festival for saving it, or even just the consoling of a friend after Hachiman did the brute work, Hayato’s agreeable personality makes him an easy magnet for attributed success than Hachiman ever will. Thus, the significance of Hayato’s intervention is an apparent reversal of roles–it is a reversal that marked the beginning of a chain of many other reversals, in a pinpoint moment that changes the entire dynamic of Oregairu dramatically.
Several other commentators have mentioned the similarities between Hayato and Hachiman. They both value stability in the status quo, both can see the pain that those in isolation would go through, but until today, they have gone about that in very different ways. However, Hachiman is now so connected to a specific network that ignoring this clash in ideals can’t be tolerated anymore. No longer can Hachiman be the sole unspoken pariah, not just because he now has relationships to value, but that those relationships are actively fighting against him. It’s not out of malice, but rather the opposite: a fight for him. Hachiman’s self-destructive attitudes do not mix well, and so Hayato set up a plot to presumably achieve two goals. At surface, he wanted to distance himself away from these two girls, but on a deeper, more strategic level, give Hachiman a taste of his own medicine. Apparently it worked, since it affirmed Hachiman’s own self-worth while also illustrating to him the pain that his methods cause to those he cares about. It is unknown how Hayato will play a future role in Hachiman’s continued reformation, but he definitely pulled the trigger in order to do so.
That trigger though was in part initiated as a team though, behind an individual who has been pulling more strings than Hachiman’s own sister. Yukinoshita Haruno is one sly mastermind. Considering how she was the connector for Hayato and Orimoto, then subsequently shipping Hachiman onboard, her ability to create these scenarios is quite scary. However, these connections mean a whole lot more, especially considering the exposition we received from Hayato today. We know for sure that Hayato likes someone with the initial of Y. Well, Miura Yumiko sure has a Y in her initials, but that’s just boring. Same goes for Yui or Yukino, since their interactions with Hayato have been fairly slim. Knowing Yahari, the more interesting and illustrative answer would have to be Yukinoshita Haruno. It explains why Hayato would answer her call to come out to a restaurant late at night. It also explains why Haruno knew about Hayato asking Hachiman to accompany him and her subsequent role in bringing them together. It also explains a specific scene where Haruno looks towards Hayato and states, “There’s nothing interesting about someone who can handle everything flawlessly,” indicating a previous rejection of Hayato’s feelings confessed once before. I’ll be disappointed if the answers turns out otherwise, but this logic seems to fit in with the visual clues the show has given us thus far. I hope that we can see more of Hayato’s character in the future, since the breakdown of his entire persona to analyze is always fun to do.
Last episode, I said we’d talk more about Iroha, but considering how she got only a few lines showing her cold true personality, that in-depth analysis will have to be postponed further. Rather, I’d like to finish things off with Hachiman once again, who has found himself on a journey that will flip everything he’s known upside-down. After Hayato’s own sacrifice, a dual sacrifice between Yukino and Yui followed suit, with both declaring their presidential candidacies. Once again this is a reversal of roles, forcing Hachiman to watch as others sacrifice themselves to protect him, but stuff gets really interesting once we mix in the other reasons why Yukino and Yui run. Yukino is constantly at odds with upholding her sister’s legacy and forming her own path in life, while Yui seeks to protect both Yukino and Hachiman by taking center stage for once. These details will expand later on next episode along with Iroha’s exposition, but already we have a huge mountain of character developments to keep us busy for weeks. Now, Hachiman must figure out his role in all of these developments, for as it is heading now, someone is going to get hurt badly, even if everyone else wins.
Preview
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That Haruno pretty ruthless… She must be bored or something.
Speaking of Ruthless…. I had to share. LOL I died laughing. XD
Spooky…I just watched The Dark Knight Rises yesterday night while writing part of this post. I wonder where Morgan Freeman fits in all of this.
I laugh out loud at Irohasu being Bane. Irohasu breaking 8man’s back. Now that would be a sigh to behold xD
I died laughing at Hayato being Two-Face. I really did.
LOL!!!! Two Face! And why is the new girl getting the Bane treatment? Where does it even show she is bane like? But for Morgan freeman, I would say Saki!
Wow, that’s so accurate it’s scary lol
Everything fits except for these two:
Hiratsuka senssei ~~ Alfred
Komachi ~~ Commissioner Gordon
This way, it still fits with the old comic meme as linked by Giorno Giovanna from season 1 episode 12 comments
Bonus points for having Yukino as Catgirl 😀
Bwahahahahahahha! Hayato… Hahahahahahhaha!
lol what I imagined Irohasu as Bane:
“You don’t fear isolation, you welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.”
“Let’s not stand on ceremony here, Senpai.”
“Speak of the devil and she shall appear.”
“Calm down Sempai, now is not the time for suffering. That comes later.”
“Crashing these Ships with no survivors.”
The deep relational setups in this show, always seem to amaze me. I do not envy Zanibas, having to break them down every week. Episode after episode, you basically are further introduced to characters, that are all tremendously flawed in some way or another. They are all, also, at least to some degree, aware of their flaws, but are unsure of how to change themselves to become who they really want to be. What we are able to watch here is no less than an intricate breakdown of the complex emotions that come with being one of many cliched anime characters, if they were to exist in real life, and I continue to be impressed each week, at how, almost disturbingly, realistic that they can get with their details. These are truly some of the most complex, while somehow at the same time simple, characters, that I have come across in media of any sort, much less just anime, and I commend the author for their courage to present such attention to detail.
I do have to say that Haruno really seems hard to pin down as a character. She is, at the moment, the closest that this series has to a “villian,” but whether she is intentionally so remains to be seen. Knowing this series, there is probably at least a little of that “wants to change but can’t seem to figure out how to” in her as well. She also may have a positive plan in this for the future. All in all, she remains, at least for now, in my opinion, the most complex character in this.
That line, after Yukino left, about Hikigaya understanding everything, seemed really pointed. it was almost like she warning him, that he was overstepping his bounds on this subject.
True, Harunon is somehow the “villain” but we still weren’t introduced to the final boss : Yukimom.
I also believe that Haruno has her own struggles that are more or less implied in volume 10 with the Memorandums (I won’t say more since it will be a spoiler).
I hope to see more interactions between Hachiman and Haruno since it’s my 2nd favorite “impossible OTP”.
Also, her line at the end could be just sarcasm.
We really haven’t been introduced to adults of any kind thus far, save for that one female teacher. It would certainly bring an interesting dynamic if they were to start bringing adults into this. Is there a chance that we’ll see some primary adult characters this season?
There’s a chance for Hachiman’s mother to be introduced.
Also, as a side note,
Screw those girls, knocking over Hikigaya’s bike! Cowards!
LoL
In the LN it states that it was the wind. Those girls didn’t do it 🙂
Oh, my bad then. I just came away from that scene with that impression.
8man is up against the wind too?!
Haruno is really a mystery. She is helping Yukino to grow in her own way but at the same time it looks like she’s enjoying being “the villain” and messing with people.
I also think that Hayama like(d) Haruno. Since he said he has never really fallen in love, he must’ve realized that it was probably just “a selfish, one-sided fascination” (like Hachiman). But back then he probably confessed to Haruno and got rejected.
This could also explain Haruno’s “so Yukino wasn’t chosen again” in S1. Maybe (just maybe) Yukino liked Hayama in the past and got hurt because of that. Of course I’m just theory-crafting, so there could be another reason behind this mess since the Yukinoshita family’s situation is quite complicated and still unclear.
Yui is such a sweet girl, it almost makes me angry at Hachiman for ignoring her feelings. If I didn’t know what is going on in his head, i’d probably have a long talk with him 🙂
She already has an adversarial relationship with her sister anyway. She does care, but given how little her sister wants to do with her this is perhaps the only way she can influence her.
Haruno must be bored with her private life so she probably enjoys messing with 8man and yukinon.
Mm disagree with the Hayato analysis, his action was not social sacrifice; Hayato made his move out as social sacrifice yes, but it was as Hachiman said, a near arrogant attempt at pity. Sacrifice implies something to lose, Hayato being one who already has it all had nothing to lose by telling the two girls where to shove it and how far (hell I’d wager it makes the girls want Hayato even more). Hayato approached the situation from a level of abundance, he could afford to drop the girls because he loses nothing from doing so (they aren’t in his social group) and it further solidifies his persona as a caring man with strong, community principles.
This is why Hachiman hated Hayato’s plan so much, it came off as condescending because Hayato can never relate to the immolation Hachiman experiences every time he chooses to take the fall for another’s wants. Hayato may have shown Hachiman that he has respect and care from those he would least expect it, but IMO Hayato’s plan hurt much in the same way as the girls’ chatter. Throughout the entirety of it Hachiman was the third wheel, and from a cynical approach Hayato could be seen as using Hachiman as a means to better showcase himself. Hayato may have pulled the trigger, but he may not like what happens next.
isn’t the self-sacrifice more of Hayato taking on a villain role in of itself? as he mentioned after, he disliked doing such a thing as well. so the loss he experiences is taking on others hate/dislike and not the fact that he won’t “get” 2 more girls. because you can argue for Hachiman’s case that Hachiman doesn’t have much to lose either. he doesn’t care for (at least he tries to convince himself so) others opinion of himself and thus he can take the most efficient route possible since he won’t lose anything from gaining anyone’s disdain either.
I have to agree about Hayato and the supposed ‘sacrifice’. When you think about it, it was a very safe situation for him. None of his social circle was around and they had no interaction with the two girls in question, so it’s not going to affect him in any meaningful way. Personally I think he did it for his own self satisfaction, not to help 8man.
The series was narrated by Hachiman. Did he told the truth or just another lie to blind himself ?
This week’s episode was very good. It fleshes out the other side characters and in effect actually nicely advances the story of the main characters along with it. Hayato in particular this week put into concrete action some of the things that was implied in the previous episodes. Mainly that while he did ask Hachiman to jump onto the grenade in the previous arc, he did so knowing the consequences and regretted them and is at least making moves to attempt to correct the effects of his request. Of course his efforts fail to reach the desired effect even if he mimicked Hachiman’s methods. Something you have to give him credit for as it’s completely unlike him.
Haruno is another interesting character. I don’t have my finger on if she is actually just playing around or is negatively pushing Yukino to “be her own person”. I hope it’s the latter but for now she is an interesting addition to the mix. Talking of Yukinon, she is now actually moving to advance her own agenda. In many respects, this arc is the other side of the School Festival Arc, where Hachiman has his image/ideal of Yukino demolished and comes to terms with it. Here it’s Yukino’s turn to do the same with Hachiman. As with anything else, people can’t be reduced to mere ideals and will never actually live up to those lofty ones.
On the third member of the club. I’ll confess and be honest that I’m surprised Yui is actually moving on her own as well. I had thought that this arc would be between Yukino and Hachiman with Yui being there but taking a back seat or supporting role much like in the cultural festival. But it seems this time she is gonna step up to the plate as well
Haruno IMO is doing neither, rather she is trying to force Yukino to come into her own. From an anime-only perspective we only know there is trouble at home, not in what form or how severe. Yukino is trying to be her sister more than Haruno already is, resulting in the incredibly naive and selfish path of doing everything which her sister does and nothing more. Thus the result of never running for the student council and the previous commentary (from last season IIRC) of Yukino planning on attending the same science academy as Haruno upon graduation.
To try and propel Yukino into her own path Haruno has turned to arrogance and hurtful teasing, which until shown to be malicious IMO serves to force Yukino out of her self-imposed one upping and come to think for herself for once. Since she refuses to accept that she can be her own person, Haruno (at least to me) looks to be engaging in tough love to compel Yukino to look at herself first and realize the only one holding her under her sister’s shadow is herself. Of course (barring LN readers) we won’t know if this is the reality until the actual family situation is (if ever) revealed .
Oops scratch the first sentence, I’m actually agreeing with your idea there Juan 😛
LOL! yup we’re pretty much on the same page and the whole “family situation” is one of the more intersting plot points that we’ve yet to really explore. I don’t think it would be good to do it in this arc as I think this one is pretty much the arc where the 3 mains actually go against each other and in effect become closer accepting one another more.
It’s pretty much the bedrock they need to move forward in resolving the individual problems that they have which caused them to turn out how they are.
A few things things:
1) I don’t think this was Hayama’s first social sacrifice. Judging by his interactions with him and Yukino, something must’ve happened in the past which ‘forced’ Hayama’ to abandon her for his own sake leading to her social exclusion now. Thus he questions how to fix things that are broken.
2) What Hayama did here was not out of selflessness. Note what he said at the end about how people who helps want to be helped. He simply wasn’t directing that to Hikki, he was trying to push his ideals unto him. Hayama wasn’t helping Hikkigaya because he’s selfless or because he’s pitying him. He’s helping him because he wants to be helped by someone else in turn (in this case, Hikigaya). So why does Hayama want to be helped? Well just think about what he said about his ‘love’. All we know is that it didn’t come into fruition and that her name starts with the letter Y. In fact, let’s take this “what if” into consideration.
3) The What IF. Hayama loved (loves?) Haruno. Of course, he would attempt to come into more contact with her but that would also be difficult due to their age gap. So being smart, Hayama would use a proxy. Someone at his age that he could easily get access to and close to Haruno’s life. Sadly, there’s only one person that fits this description perfectly. Now let’s dive deeper into the WHAT IF. What if, that during Hayama’s attempts to woe Haruno, he unknowingly captured the innocent heart of Yukino instead. What if, that then led Yukino to confess his crush on him years ago only to be met with a surprised face and a rejection. This is a really simple yet deep explanation as to why Yukino’s obsession with her sister runs so deep back in the first season. Always trying to imitate her, to surpass her but only to fail at the crucial moments. But why does Yukino fail? She’s clearly very talented and in fact I believe she’s in no way inferior to her older sister. So my explanation is this, she lacked the conviction that once drove her to rival her sister. Haruno is like fifty steps ahead of her. She’ll need a lot of motivation to catch up and even surpass her. And she might’ve…. had Hayama not rejected her. That, in fact, might have also led Yukino to her social exclusion. But I digress. So basically now, without a clear motivation anymore, Yukino is unable to surpass Haruno and Haruno sees that. That’s why I believe Haruno is pushing Yukino to run for presidency. Because then, BAM, Yukino finally gets something that Haruno never had thus ‘completing’ her journay that had already been halted allowing her to move on with her life… Anyhow, this is all a theory so take what you will….
4) Continuing from before, what Hayama did was an incredibly insulting action to Hikigaya. Now imagine someone who contradicts your very way of life trying to act benevolent in your face and ‘helping’ you out. That’s no different than pity at first glance (but in this case it was worse than pity). What Hayama did here was shallow and yes while it did imitate what Hikigaya’s methods of ‘solving’ problems, it was not pure. Hikki ‘solved’ problems what were presented to him to be solved. He never tried to act benevolent and went out of the way to do things. In this case, Hayama ASSUMED Hikki wanted help and he COPIED Hikki’s methods…. Very, very insulting if you ask me….. Hayama is probably the most selfish individual of this entire series. Gents, look beyond the words and actions of a man and you’ll see far more than just the horizon. Whether it’s something beautiful or fool’s gold, you decide. 🙂
5) Uhhhhh still have a shitton of thoughts but this is already dragging on for waaay too long lol. Just a quick recommendation. For the upcoming arc, there are some really important memorandums describing the thoughts of “someone”. Not sure if the anime will include this, but if not, will strongly suggest astute watchers to go read the light novel on Kyakka. I believe I’ve put 0 spoilers in this post and hoped that it brought some new ideas to the table or confirmed/rejected old ones! Thanks for reading!
I don’t think it’s wrong to call it a “social suicide”, even though it cannot compare to what Hachiman does. If Hayama was to drop his “perfect/nice guy” act he’d lose something too.
About the memorandum :
Show Spoiler ▼
Which makes it all the more interesting!
My impression of things is that he actually stood around and did nothing with regard to Yukino when they were in middle school even if he knew that she was having problems. I think that’s part of the reason why he has friction with Hachiman.
I like how classy this show is. Some shows would have milked the scene where Miura fell down and gave the viewers a 5 second panty shot but Oregairu doesn’t do that.
https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Love%20Comedy%20wa%20Machigatteiru.%20Zoku%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
Those thighs are enough. Those deym legs.
With each passing week, Oregairu raises the bar even further. Despite this being April, this show has my vote for Anime of the Year. Never before I see deep and well rounded characters in my anime. Now that’s out of the way, let’s go into the episode itself.
Speaking about their respective candidacies, between Yukinon and Yui, Yukinon’s reason seems to lie more towards proving her wrong and it’s nothing to do about shielding 8man like what some commentators may think. The one that’s doing that would be Yui only. Though sadly from the outset, if their motives and circumstances seems to imply, it may not be one that possibly gets burnt but all 3 perhaps.
As for Hayato’s intentions of doing what he did, it’s open for discussion. I am glad that he did that as I almost threw my keyboard into my monitor should those 2 “humans” open their mouths again. I am rather intrigued to who does Y refers to… Yukinon or Yukinon-nee chan.
Anyway, if there’s a showdown between Haruno and Shizuka, who would win? That said, any speculation about Komachi? She has shown her disdain for 8man’s suicidal ways. Why only now and not in S1?
Well… it’s like i enjoy this show but something about the tune feel off. Maybe I am shitty at reading between the lines.
1. Why would Hachiman ever let himself be ordered around by Haruno anyway? Seems kinda flimsy when she threaten to go to him and he caved.
2. It took me a while to remember that Iroha was that girl from the last episode. Damn these people and them looking all alike. Did she even show such a personality from the last episode? I thought she was a throwaway character.
3. The Y, I have a feeling it means Yukino and not Haruno. Haruno would be the obvious answer but Yukino would be like climbing mount Fuji and failing.
4. I don’t get the whole social sacrifice aspect. Perhaps, I still don’t, this relate to my whole confuse still regarding episode 2 about he confused, he got burned, he knew she wasn’t going to accept him anyway. The method works. So with is Hayato doing here other then being a wing man?
5. I do like how Orimoto seems surprise that “whoa, that a cute girl talking to Hachiman…like Seriously?” With Iroha. But the appearance of Yui and Yukino were awesome except for the fact that Hayato spell it out saying . “Hachiman know girls of way higher caliber than you.”
It’s a pretty dick thing to say and those girls don’t like him anway, at least not in that way, maybe Yui but Yukino? That girl is like Ice, good luck reading something off of her.
In fact I found that scene was spoil by Hayato acting pretty gaudy about the whole thing. It’s like flaunting his wealth so to speak. Then the two girls just left, don’t even get the back story about Orimoto.
The Most interesting part to me is Orimoto: I can see why Hachiman would gravitate toward Orimoto, the girl apparently is very blunt. The girl is also out going and more importantly, she gave him the time of day. Does that make her fake or just have a “I really couldn’t give a fuck?” attitude?
The only difference that I see is that Orimoto didn’t seem to let it hold her down, she goes out into the world, thought she had a chance with Hayato. FOUND out, it’s a revenge seat up. She recognized it as such and was like. “ohhh… I see.” She didn’t get all offended like Yumiko would have, or hurt like Yui, it rolls off of her.
More importantly, Haruno have not destroyed her, like Hayato said in season one. Either she like you to one extreme or hate you and destroy you to the other extreme.
And further more, Hachiman even said so himself, it was on his side and he misread the situation. Then the flash back show that she was friendly with everybody and really give a shit about social status. She might have felt like she lead him on but thought he go over it. Remember she greeted HIM at the cafe from last week, not the other way around. Which mean she remembered.
I think she got a raw rap just because she was the person that dumped Hikki and we always get the protag back. Look at her after Hayato talk down. Cool as a cucumber and nod like “Oh… so you held that grudge, guess I deserved it.”
And left.
Other than that, have no idea on what’s wrong with Yukino and Yui running. What’s so bad about it?
1. He knows that Haruno would follow through with her threat of coming over, and that he would eventually cave once she showed up anyway. He’s very good at reading people, and he knows how that situation would play out. It’s less effort on his part if he just caves from the beginning.
2. Anyone who goes to the Service Club plays a role for at least that arc, and usually show up again later. Really the only characters I can remember who haven’t gotten much development at some point in the LN are Hayama’s two non-Tobe buddies, and Orimoto’s friend. Iroha’s personality was different in the club last episode, since she wears a playful persona most of the time. That’s why Hayama comments when she acts like herself towards Hachiman, since it’s unusual for her to do so.
5. As Yui said, she loves the club. It also is a place of importance for both Yukino and Hachiman, even if neither will admit it, but the situation would change if one of the girls became SC President. Yukino claims that she would be able to handle both, since the club isn’t too demanding most of the time. However, the other two both realize that she likely would focus on her role of president, and the club would change in some way. Yui tries to rationalize that since she’s an airhead, no one would expect much from her as president anyway, so there wouldn’t be a problem if she spent her time with the club. It’s hard to buy this argument either, since Yui’s main skill is the ability to read the atmosphere and go with the flow. I’m sure she would sense the disappointment from others, and she would eventually have to focus on being president. Even if she didn’t, she would be uncomfortable, and the other two would pick up on it anyway, causing the club atmosphere to change.
I really don’t get people on why they hate Hayato. Hayato is a very interesting character in this series including Hachiman, Yukino, Haruno, Both Komachi and Yui on a Lesser side. This episode even though it is slow-paced, proved that.
They say that Hayato gets all the credit Hachiman deserves. Which is true since it was shown all through out the series. This was especially shown on episode 12 in the first season where he “saved” Sagami from the bullying she got from the “evil” Hachiman. As a result, he got even more popular while Hachiman got even more notorious. I can only sense the feeling of jealousy for the sake of Hachiman. Yep I know it’s weird. But no matter what they say, Hayato, unlike the vast majority, understands what Hachiman do. He have felt Hachiman’s painful experiences more than you think. You can see it in this episode since he ask Hachiman if she had “shown” herself to you.
Regarding Hayato, I have to agree with several other commenters that his actions were largely just self-righteous and condescending. He was frustrated at himself for relying on Hachiman to resolve the Tobe/Hina issue, and that morphed into an unwanted and unneeded pity. The line “Don’t you help people because you want someone to help you?” really highlights it as Hayato has gone so far as to create his own (false) rationale for Hachiman’s actions, just to justify it. The two of them are opposites, if not rivals, and Hayato trying to empathize with and “save” Hachiman is insulting to the both of them.
That said, I feel like the end scene with Yui deserves even more attention that what Hayato did. IMO this episode, in the wake of Hachiman sacrificing himself to maintain the status quo of Hayato’s group, has an overarching theme of the service club members (and Hayato, misguided as his efforts were) finding the resolve to face change, so they can protect what’s most important to each of them. We don’t know yet what really broke the last straw to make Yukino run for president, and Hachiman has his unspecified convictions as stated in-episode. Yui, on the other hand, laid it all out plain as day right in front of Hachiman.
She’s (rightly, IMO) scared of Yukino sacrificing the club as a consequence of her perfectionism, and scared of Hachiman drifting away from the club as his and Yukino’s methodologies clash more directly than ever before. At a glance it could seem like Yui’s afraid of change and wants to maintain the status quo of the club, but that all went out the window when she all-but confessed to Hachiman. There’s no way he could misinterpret that (as Haruno said just earlier in the episode, Hachiman always reads between the lines), so for Yui to say that I feel like she’s the bravest one of the three right now. She loves the club, and more importantly she trusts the club. Rather than try to forcibly maintain the status quo as Hayato’s group has done, Yui trusts her connections with Hachiman and Yukino enough that she can embrace change and expect the club to grow from it. That’s where she found her resolve to challenge Yukino for the presidency. This is just my take on it, of course, but it’s undeniable that Yui had some amazing character development this episode.
Regarding Yui, I think Hachiman knows that she likes him romantically after this scene
https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Love%20Comedy%20wa%20Machigatteiru.%20Zoku%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
You know why? Cause Hachiman is not Sir Densalot. But he may unconsciously deny it since you know… His past.
I almost feel like Hachiman would try to ignore Yui’s feelings. Hachiman’s contrarian persona was built up on his childhood traumas, not least of which was his romantic interest in Kaori. If he knowingly accepts the fact that a girl has fallen for him, then all of the pessimistic, negative convictions that he stands for could very well be meaningless.
I’m completely confident that he understood Yui’s implication, since I think Haruno was telling the truth when she said he knows everything and reads between the lines all the time. He knows he’s loved, I’m just not sure he wants to know.
I found an interesting analysis of what was happening during the school trip here regarding Yui and Hachiman’s relationship (around 1/3 down the page in a spoiler): http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?page=16&t=116320
In short, during the trip, Yui was trying to get Hachiman to notice her own feelings, and was likely going to confess sometime to him during the trip–hence the title for episode 2 “His and Her Confessions will Reach No One.” “His,” as in Tobe’s, and “hers,” as in Yui’s (“her” here really doesn’t make sense with regard to any of the other girls). And I take Hachiman calling himself the “biggest liar” at the end of episode 2 to mean that his rationalizations about confessing to Ebina to save their social group was only part of the reason for his fake confession, and that the other reason was to preempt Yui’s own confession (as was said, given how much he analyzes everyone, there’s no way he wouldn’t be at least aware of Yui’s feelings).
If this is really what happened (and there are some reasons to believe that it really was running parallel to the Ebina/Tobe situation, with more hints in parts I read in the light novel), then what happened in this episode is essentially Yui indirectly confessing to Hachiman (and given how scenario at the end of this episode played out, there certainly did seem to be a certain, almost hidden, weight behind her words, especially when she talks about “liking the club”). His own taken-aback-ness could be could be seen as a pretty reasonable response to that indirect confession too. If this is true, the title of the episode here, then, also has an interesting double entendre, where “And Then, Yuigahama Yui Makes a Declaration” could refer to both her declaration of presidency and her declaration of love.
https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Love%20Comedy%20wa%20Machigatteiru.%20Zoku%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
I held my breath here. Especially when the music swelled and then cut out. Yui, you’re gonna make me swoon.
https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Love%20Comedy%20wa%20Machigatteiru.%20Zoku%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
I have a strong feeling that the next episode is going to bring the feels. If Hachiman cried it would feel the same as Daryl from the Walking Dead crying.
Following this anime, I had some reservation about it after reading all the articles that detailed many changes from the first season. I’m happy that it had absolutely no effect on the quality of the anime. It still has much deeper depth in the character interaction and spectacularly directed scenes. The characters are showing some subtle changes they were struggling at season 1.
I used to dislike Hayato at season 1 but after reading various observations from the other blogs, I feel it’s hard to blame on Hayato to just stand by and watch Hachiman take the fall. Both people have similar way of looking at social dynamics but by far the latter always takes the nihilistic approach, sometimes quite utterly pointless to those around Hachiman. And I suppose Hayato taking the fall for him probably wanted to impress the girl he was crushing on. Another possibility is that Haruno would have totally destroyed those two girls mentally sooner or later, he stepped up to chastise them lightly before she can. He knew Haruno for a long time just how cruelly cunning she can be.
On the other hand, Yui seems to have understanding of the dynamics between Hachiman and Yukino. Back then, she generally stayed out of the trouble and played the part in observer. Back when she first joined the Service club, she seemed shallow and just plain genki girl. I thought she was going to give up on Hachiman after she got rejected twice. As much as I like Yui, I did thought she cannot handle all the baggage that comes with if she dates him. Now it seems, she doesn’t even seem to put much precedence in status over everything. By far she feels like the most developed, ironically Hachiman seems the same ol’ cynical outsider.
Interestingly, I do believe that Oregairu, especially Oregairu Zoku may lead to a discourse on human interaction as well as social psychology… Looking at how the comments are going
the stunned looked hikki had after yui told him her plan; easily one of the best moments of the episode. This is why i prefer Yui to be with Hachiman. Some make the argument that Yui doesnt have what it takes to challenge Hachiman if they were in a relationship, and i disagree because Yui does challenge hachiman. She challenges him emotionally. That look on his face, the way he stays in the dark in dismay after yui’s psuedo-confession; Yui brings it to hachiman in the way that challenges him to reassess the way she feels. Hachiman has long sinced given up on anyone loving him, and there he has someone who’s physically comfortable with him and wants to connect with him further than just being friends. This is the type of connections hachiman runs away from which is why he needs someone like Yui to heal him. Yukino and Hachiman while they have good banter, dont have real chemistry in my opinion. Which is why i think the story hints more towards hachiman wanting to be friends with Yukino because she fits that mold for him much better; someone who is as cynical as he is and understands the framework of his mind enough to conversate with him on that level. Yui can conversate with hachiman as well, but it’s usually jovial banter and that’s what soomeone like hachiman needs
Man, was I the only one who felt like they were actually sitting among Hachiman, Hayato, Orimoto, and Nakamachi during their little outing, noticing the atmosphere and the way things were going, and feeling REALLY awkward? (Not in a bad way, but it just shows how effective the series has been in getting connected to the viewers.) Like you want to try to say something, anything to break all that tension and lighten things up a little?
When Yui was talking about how much he loves the club all I could think was: “Hachi, you do know she´s talking about you specifically?”. Hachi is way smarter than people think so he must know how Yui feels for him and that it´s genuine, if there is someone that could be a perfect match for him that is Yui, her personality is exactly what hachi need to improve his views on life.
The reason Hayato did what he did is because in a way, he respected 8man for being able to do things that he couldn’t, which is getting problems solved, even though he disliked the way 8man does them. Thus, this episode, he tried to do something that 8man would do and see if everything would work out, which it did, but ultimately Hayato just couldn’t stomach something like becoming the pariah.
The dynamic between Hayato and 8man is something really interesting, and should develop over the next few episodes.
Also, Iroha takes over the show.
Hayato youre DA MAN this episode.
Having those shallow wannabe popular girls torment Hachiman through 2 episoded in a row was hard. Then it was immensely satisfying to see Hayato not only telling them basically to go to hell, but summoning Yukino and Yui was brilliant to remind Hachiman that he has friends who really like him.
I dunno about that, I think he was trying to show off Yukino and Yui as high caliber girls who actually associate with Hachiman. The thing is though, Hayato went in with the mind set that Hachiman is a loser through and through. He presume that he can elevate Hachiman social status by just flauting better looking girls in front of the two he was with.
In particular, he never got the full story between Orimoto and Hachiman and just presume the girl was mean to him purposefully on some level. So he set out to get revenge for Hachiman.
Only thing is, Hachiman already absolved Orimoto of any wrong doing in the flashback. Now it makes Hachiman look bad because it shows Orimoto that he was still affected by her. The flaunting of Yui and Yukino can be view as another desperate attention grabbed like a “Hey, aren’t you sorry you turned me down.” Type of thing.
The thing that really stood out to me is Orimoto reaction. She did not get offended, she was surprise but unlike the really bitchy girls like Sagami and friends, Orimoto seem to realize. “Oh… this is revenge for Hachiman. Oh damn, you are still angry about that? I. see.” And left.
There was no victory for Hachiman as Orimoto never reacted negatively to it. She wasn’t all huff and puff. She wasn’t heart broken, she did not fled in tears, she was quite amicable about the whole thing.
Just saying, she could have just been keeping her composure, not all girls have to freak out/cry/have a B’fit. Because you sure are making a lot of assumptions over the fact that both of them didn’t have much of a reaction. Hell, if someone offends me in public I don’t snap/get angry or really give them an initial reaction (but I sure as hell start venting about that same event when I’m alone with my friends). Some people just swallow their pride and give a reaction later when they’re away from the subjects in question.
Normally, I’d agree but the girls that are shown to be one notes typical bitches are girls like Sagami and Yumiko. Girls that actively dislike Hachiman and show their disgust. By virtue of Orimmoto not showing that, it shows she’s pretty different from other girls. Then there’s the “I see.” comment that raised her IQ points in my eyes. Even Hayato was like. “So that’s the type you like huh? That’s surprising.”
Hachiman who always hate the falseness of the world does not really begrudge the girl might be attracted to that type.
I was of the opposite mindset, I think Hayato got pissed off by the girls denigrating Hachiman all the time, and went on to show them that Hachiman has better friends than they would ever have been, and to remind Hachiman himselfhe has someone that cares about him…
Yet… Hayato let Sagami comment fly among others. All he did was take an unknown girl on a date, and show up with two hotter girls in tow and say. “See, these girls are better then you and Hachiman associate with him.”
Is that really suppose to be a super awesome thing Hayato did? He ignored everything in school but can tell two girls who really just giggle at Hachiman off for what? It merely confirmed that Hachiman is a looser and that Orimoto had gotten underneath Hachiman skin.Which she never did. She got under Hayato skin because he can’t stand people like Hachiman, and in turn, Orimoto might be one of those.
Orimoto was also feature in the first season, not shown up but her attitude was there. She never said “Ew” but instead why not just be friends instead. Of course she said friends but friends back then were merely acquaintance. She smiled and laughed in surprise when she saw Hachiman in the last episode.
Then there is the more glaring error at all, the two girls that showed up, Yukino and Yui had no idea what the hell is going on. They looked confused.
Everything Hayato aimed for blew up in Hachiman face and he didn’t even KNOW it was happening. That’s like a sucker punch of the highest order.
as a “follower” of hachiman, it pains me that he is being tormented by plain humans… 😀
seriously, i became a pessimistic because of this anime…
Why did Hayama call over Yui and Yukino to the restaurant also? They didn’t show up there on their own, they said Hayama called them in order to supposedly talk about the student council president plan.
And it turns out, he manipulated them in order so he could show them off and say “Here look, Hachiman knows even better girls than you” to Orimoto?!
WTF that is messed up! Very condescending and chauvinistic! I don’t know why they stand for it, being called over on a false pretense in order to be shown off like a trophy to make someone else jealous! WTF
Haruno is also a manipulative bitch, especially to Yukino. WTF does she think she’s doing, showing up and messing around with the lives of high schoolers. It’s creepy. Not to mention how she antagonizes Yukino and Yukino goes along with it. Just get the hell out of their lives and stop stalking your little sister you creep!
Did FSN and OreGairu switched genres? FSN suddenly became a romcom courtesy of Shirou, Rin and Lancer while OreGairu is becoming grimmer and grimmer in every episode…
And kudos to Zanibas for the splendid take as well as all commentators here.
Comparing Unlimited Budget Worksand Social Kamikaze the Anime, I’d rather watch the latter
Definitely. I’ll pick OreGairu too.
Hayato only try to show off with Yukinon. He wants power, the power that have Yukino.
Because is a man with no value. But Haruno knows this, this is why, she call him “boring”. And tease with him because is close to the family Yukinoshita. But, Haruno likes Hachiman and knows that Yukino likes too. She wants Hachiman be with Yukino, because he´s the man that Yukino needs to grow as a woman. Haruno knows that Yukino has a great future, but is she stops to follows her in everything she does. And the catalyst to break the bad fate of Yukino is Hachiman. Right?
wow. what an episode. I’m now witnessing an uphill climb to a more complicated web of plots. But damn, Haruno really is a master manipulator already expanded her clutches on the likes of 8man and Yukinon.
Komachi is the best imoto! Acting like a real sibling and always there to support her brother.
All the hypocrites and fakes wants in on Hachiman to use for their own selfishness. Only a few people(Yukino, Yui, Shizuka, Komachi, Haruno; and maybe few others) respect and care for him. This EP sure presented a lot of issues which wonder how will Hachiman solve in his own style. Haruno is a very interesting character; though I don’t consider her even a villain.
She is like a senpai guiding those that she cares about. When she offered her hand to Hachiman it was an invite with a warning if she every choose to have him to her with her own struggles. Back to main issue of the EP; I don’t think Hachiman can solve solo and will need guidance from the great Komachi!
I am not sure if Haruno actually cares for Hachiman, the verdict is still out on that one. Yui affection meter is maxed level already. Yukino is 1/5 which is better than everyone else -5 out of 5.
You’re missing the teacher in that equation. I think inside she actually likes 8man in a mildly romantic way, although in this show there will never be anything more between them I’m sure.
What about Saika!? 🙁 How can we forget about best girl!
I see a lot of people judging Haruno in a negative view way too early. Just sit back and see where she takes us. She is one of the few characters besides master Komachi that shakes things up to be fun and interesting.