OP Sequence

OP: 「芽ぐみの雨」 (Megumi no ame) by Nagi Yanagi

「やがて、季節は移ろい、雪は解けゆく。」 (Yagate, kisetsu wa utsuroi, yuki wa toke yuku.)
“In Due Time, the Seasons Change and the Snow Melts.”

I have to admit – as much as I love Oregairu, it’s been so long that I have no idea what’s going on. Yukino wants to move on from relying so much on Hachiman so that she can decide things for herself – and finally gain the resolve to properly communicate with Haruno. On the other hand, Yui’s intentions are two-fold. She wants Yukino to give up on Hachiman because she loves him and for the service club to continue. In short, she wants to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately for her, the writing is pretty clearly on the wall – Yukino’s looking like the clear favourite here, so I don’t blame her for trying to run intervention. But I can appreciate that she’s a caring friend towards Yukino and isn’t egregiously scheming or seeking to undermine her. I have no doubts that if things don’t work out the way she wants – not farfetched considering Hachiman didn’t even eat her cookies and stuff them into a drawer – she will continue to support Yukino nonetheless.

We had a really nice short featuring Kawasaki – who’s dealing with her burgeoning feelings towards Hachiman. And it was nice to see Hachiman spoil Keika – even if some of the undertones were rather questionable. Most importantly, this episode focused on the wholesome connection between Hachiman and Komachi – in the context of Komachi feeling well placed in succeeding on her highschool entrance exams. As an older brother, this episode really got to me. Sure, Komachi might tease and verbally brutalise Hachiman every now and then as the playful little sister. But it’s really clear their sibling connection is really strong. She’s also recognised Hachiman’s sacrifices and truly appreciates him for it – with her heartfelt gratitude moving Hachiman to tears. Throughout this series, Hachiman has been an underground operator who does things from the shadows – never getting any recognition and often sacrificing himself to resolve issues. Or being criticised for his cynical approach. Although he acts cold and aloof, he must have wanted to hear that acknowledgement for such a long time – and it must certainly come as an emotional relief, some form of validation from one of the few people that he cares about in life. That makes me feel really happy for him too.

While the start was slow by Oregairu standards, and a miniature recap actually would have been useful (for once), it was a really nice episode settling us into expectations for the final season – capping off the coming of age and resolving the remaining questions left regarding our cast of beloved characters. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post. Welcome to the final stretch – and let’s hope this series gets the ending it deserves.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「ダイヤモンドの純度」 (Diamond no jundo) by Saori Hayami and Nao Toyama

Preview

11 Comments

    1. uh last season I did not understand wth was happening last few episodes, honestly last 2 episodes I wanted to feel sad coz the air was sad but shit man it didn’t make sense to me.. Honestly someone explain to me what was that end of previous season was so I can move on and make sense of it,,

      Mi-chan
      1. You are watching literal haremshit v1.5 with protagonist slightly modified to better correspond to fantasy self-image your average loser hopes to project. Blahblah he doesn’t need nobody because he is oh so smart. Just a cope for being ostracized for whatever, with the caveat thta such conduct in real life usually leads to being beaten up and certainly absolutely no bitches.

        And in the end of previous season they had to reset the protag in regards to his two main bitches through the use of bullshit drama. Otherwise they would have nothing to continue with, as protag would just go with the long-haired bitch and it would mercifully end finally.

        Instead, we have a season more of this banal garbage.

        URGH
          1. I’d quibble with using ‘harem’ when there are really only two members of said harem. Also, Hikki was ostracised until sensei forced him into the club, creating a legitimate story path to accumulating said harem while still wallowing in drama.

            Mockman
      2. Yukino is struggling with living in the shadow of her sister (who was the student council president, etc) and expectations from her parents. She wants to learn how not to rely on Hachiman so she can become stronger as a person I think? And confront her own problems with her own strength of will.

        Yui doesn’t want Yukino to become independent because it will spell the end of the Service Club they’re all a part of. And she wants to maintain the status quo. She also loves Hachiman and while she bears no ill will to Yukino, she doesn’t want Yukino to whisk away Hachiman. Because let’s face it, no way Yui is going to win the harem ball at this point.

        Hachiman himself is after genuine things – which he found with the Service Club. I guess he wants to help Yukino without making her feel like she can’t achieve her goal of being less reliant on him.

        Other than that, I can’t think of much else? Might need to go back and do a refresh.

        1. OK at least your comment resonates with what I understood, my issue might have been that I never really saw Yukino problem as a problem that is a problem so I never identified with that scene. It dragged and misled me back then.

          Thanks for clarifying that!

          Mi-chan
  1. Had to re-watch season 1 and 2 over the past few days because I can’t remember who’s who in this show. Season 1 is a good anime rom-com, while season 2 seems to be an elaborate set up for in season 3 and yes I already feel bad for Yui.

    But damn this was a slow start and they even dropped the main plotline halfway the episode, which would have been fine if the season 2 to 3 gap wasn’t five years!

    dtzy

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