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「きっと、誰しも等し並みに悩みを抱えている」 (Kitto, Dareshimo Hitoshinami ni Nayami wo Kakaeteiru)
“I’m Sure Everyone Has the Same Worries”
Yahari is definitely turning into one of those shows that have the ability to hit many different notes all at the same time. Some people may see the serious side of things while others may die from laughing too hard — pretty impressive for an anime don’t you think?
After witnessing Hachiman’s brilliance toward the end of last week’s episode, something inside of me started to question just what kind of person he is. It’s obvious that he’s endured some traumatizing events throughout his childhood which led to some awkward tendencies but deep down inside of that twisted mind it’s clear that there’s a good guy just waiting for others to call out. Last week, I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d say that he’s a good guy since helping a pretty girl can have its ulterior motives, lewd or not. But fast forward to this week and there was a moment that caught me so off guard that I wasn’t sure how to proceed. Remember when Hachiman, after a few moments of deliberation, tried to help Yui as she was getting forced into a corner? Yes, it was a little wimpy, completely ineffective, and ruined my view on Hachiman as a man but something brilliant happened afterwards — Yui thanked him. Something about that genuine thank you for something that most people wouldn’t have even noticed was so touching that I’m still having difficulty trying to express my feelings about it.
And that right there is one of the greatest things about this show — there’s so many ways to interpret what happens that the person next to you might see things completely different than you do and you’d both be correct. Because after listening to my fellow writers live-chat as they were watching the episode, you wouldn’t believe that what they watched was the same thing that I watched! But if sentimental feelings aren’t your thing, how about another rampant case of eight-grade syndrome?
With the appearance of the heavy set fellow Zaimokuza Yoshiteru ( Voiced by the amazing Hiyama Nobuyuki who also did Viral’s voice from Gurren Lagann), I incorrectly guessed he might actually be someone cool with that Hoenheim-style overcoat he was rocking. Seeing how he ended up being the complete opposite of that, I was rather impressed how the writers handled such a rampant case of eighth-grade syndrome. They did such a good job with the way he spoke and moved that the awkwardness the characters were feeling hit my brain so quickly that it tempted me to look away in a vain attempt to make it stop.
Two episodes in, and I’m starting to really enjoy Yahari. Not only are we starting to get a feel for who the characters really are and what makes them tick but it seems that they’re all harboring something deeper than just being socially awkward. While it remains to be seen whether or not Yui has more issues to face, I can’t wait to see how Yukino and Hachiman tackle their inner demons!
Preview
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I want to be a bear in my next life.
-By Hikigaya Hachiman
Best quote ever.
Bear FTW
Been there, done that. 😉
A bear you say? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L3DMJB8yGM
How on Earth could you look at Zaimokuza and think he was anything but a total dork? <_<
I LOL'd hard at Hachiman getting shut down by that blonde chick. Good episode.
Only thing i got from this episode is that Hikki has interest in somebody’s chest lol. Unfortunately i think Yoshiteru as a character has drop the value of this series for me.
Stop starring at my Shizuka!
He really didn’t have to do what he did; it was awkward as h*ll for him and he would’ve been better off personally not doing it. He knew full well beforehand that it would turn out to be wimpy and perhaps completely ineffective but decided to go for it nonetheless because, like you said at heart he is an good person, regardless of whatever self-contradictory thought processes were running through his mind.
It wasn’t to his benefit to help someone but he did it anyways, the very definition of a selfless person- and Yui’s sincere thanks reaffirms this fact.
For this show, I have it in spades. A member of my family was just like Yukino in his younger days, so I can kinda relate…XP
In every anime I’ve seen recently there is always a chuunibyou character. Is it the new trend?
Yeah its kinda the “in” thing these recent seasons. Remember when almost every anime had a small bitchy tsundere (Shana clone) a few years ago? Just wait a year and we will be onto some new fad.
“shana clone” it’s funny because they all have the same seiyuu. Kugumiya Rie, right?
The most famous of them yeah. Shana (Shakugan no Shana), Louise (Zero no Tsukaima), Nagi (Hayate the Combat Butler!!), Taiga (Toradora), and Aria (Aria The Scarlet Ammo).
New fad must include hair fetishist.
But that’s still being tested with this season’s Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge. Chuunibyou has already proven successfull with Chu2koi and OreShura 😛
If you ask me, it’s just people’s awareness of the term increased tremendously because of Chu2Koi. But the chuunibyou itself has been in anime/manga/LN long before now. For example, Kuroneko is a chuunibyou (Kirino even mock her ‘way of life’ in the LN). Another example is Haganai’s Kobato who fits the term perfectly.
My point is, I’m pretty sure most people won’t even notice that term were Chu2Koi did not exist. Just my 2 cents though.
Indeed.I guess it took an anime that specifically focused on and was named as such to make more aware of chuunibyou’s existence in general.
What was up with the dog? Was it a past incident involving his pet dog getting hit by a car?
Sorry, that should have been a reply.
*Shouldn’t.
Damn, I need an edit button.
That is more than 2 cents, that is at least worth a nickel :3
Somewhat interesting related to that is that the Date A Live novel had a chunnibyu thing in it but it was left out from the anime, most likely because it’s been overdone recently.
Second episode definitely let a better impression than the first. I thought chuu2 dude was a bit overly dramatic but this hardly matters when you have an entirely class of characters who look like they could star in their own series with their own specific weird nuances as well.
Yukino’s bluntness is fun to watch and the theme of awkwardness is conveyed well.
Everyone’s been a Chuunibyou atleast once in their lifetime.
so, who were you? i was pretending to be terminator D:
i was once son goku, doing ka-me-ha-me-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! and stuff like that..
My friends and me were our own original characters; we collaborated on a comic book when we were 13-14, I was the writer and another friend who was good at drawing was the artist- the rest of the gang gave input and had characters based off of them. As you can imagine, I the writer and the artist made ourselves the most OP characters in the series…XP
I sure hope that dachshund in the flash back got saved. 🙁
I actually found Zaimokuza a very compelling character. Probably, even after he outgrows his Chuunibyou, odds are, he would retain his flair for the dramatic, and would be known as a heavy-set but hearty bro. So long, of course, as outgrowing his Chuunibyou does not remove that kind of bombast he posses. Really, I think had he not indicated he was Chuunibyou with his words, my impression of him would have been a very vivacious person with a strong force of personality.
The soul of a writer indeed….. I wonder if the author based him on someone he knew….
I got a friend a bit like Zaimokuza in RL. He is well into 20s, but still occassionally vents his inner Chuunibyou when with trusted friends (including me).
As for the writers complex, is it me or we have something of a subversion of Mary Sue(T)?
I’ve been talking to some people, and the show is getting quite a bit of hate because nothing “really” happens, apparently well written dialogue constitutes as nothing… I think it’s pretty good so far, and the dialogue and character interactions really carry the show. I’m sure we’ll get some romantic developments in the future too, so not worried. Impressed that we already have character development this early on- looking forward to see how it develops.
If someone is complaining that nothing “really” happens in a Japanese romantic comedy, then I think they need to pick a different genre to watch, as romantic comedies tend to be notorious for not really accomplishing anything half the time. For that matter, it’s the first 2 episodes in a 12 episode series. It’s a bit early to say nothing is really happening.
It’s a dialogue-centric series. I’m surprised they even got through cooking, chuu2byou, writing, light drama, development for Yui, development for Hikka, and introduced a few classmates in 2 episodes.
Can’t tell if this was better or worse than the previous episode, just meh. Maybe it will get better now that the trap is here.
So what I got from the Hachiman’s assessment of Zaimokuza is that he pretty much writes for self-gratification. The problem with this sort of approach he might be the type that tends to be inconsiderate towards his readers. Is it enough to simply write whatever you feel like writing? Well, it can go either way, I guess. I mean, you can’t write a good story if you can’t enjoy writing it, but you also can’t neglect your target audience if you want people to read it.
But what gets me is how that short line at the end tells us a good deal about Hachiman himself. He’s all about preserving individuality and staying true to yourself despite external pressure. On that note, I’d presume that Yukino would answer in the opposite extreme if asked.
More generic rom-coms are usually still decent enough in their 1st few episodes as long as they stick to their comedy & sillyness but tend to fail miserably when they try to dive into the more serious & romantic side of things towards it’s final episodes.
Not-so-generic ones however make me very eager to see the how things will develop as every episode seems to leave you yearning for more.This is one of those shows.
Of course,such series are usually better overall and what I said is in no way to be interpreted as me finding these 1st 2 episodes lacking.Hope Yahari will keep delivering as it does and eventually deliver even more.Got high hopes for this!
I like how he compared carnivorous and herbivorous animals to humans.
One definition of a pessimist is an optimist who’s been disappointed too many times. Hikki has just built a shell around him to protect a sensitive heart. If you don’t expect anything positive you won’t be disappointed. He still cares underneath his cynicism and sometimes he can’t stop those impulses.
I see him listening to Paul Simon’s “I am a Rock”.
Absolutely loving this show. The dialogue is great.
Oregairu is really interesting so far. I like the character interactions.
Hachiman’s essay was interesting~
Zaimokuza’s way of talking lol
So Hachiman used to have chuunibyou too?
Dunno if this is true for the LN, but in the manga version of this episode the part involving Yumiko was a bit more hard hitting since Show Spoiler ▼
Didn’t feel it as much as I should’ve in the anime version, but it’s still a great show so far.
Man, the character interaction in this show is an absolute joy to watch. Shame though that the animation quality is so poor. I’ll finally be getting my first listen to Komatsu Mikako next week though so I’m looking to that since I keep seeing people hyping her up.
I have to say, his human social analysis are very accurate, although he did not mention the omnivores, they are the rare kind.
But then there are herbivores that carnivores just don’t mess with. Lions don’t bother with elephants, rhino, and hippo because they just wind up stomped flat. Yukino might fall in that category. Mess with one of my herd, get stomped.
And I thought Zaimokuza is similar to Kouta Hirano…
I wonder how Yuigahama is even friends with that stuck-up girl in the first place. She obviously doesn’t seem to be the kind of girl that would be in the “popular” group, and she seems completely uncomfortable with them. Oh well, might get addressed later in the series.
Lol at Hachiman sitting down after being shot down by that stuck-up girl.
8th grade syndrome… Lol. I guess I had something like that in elementary. I thought I could be Charizard and use flamethrower if I screamed… Lol.
What’s up with the dog?
Overall, I’m really interested in seeing Hachiman and Yukinoshita’s character’s flesh out and how they began to think the way they do.
Looking forward to the next episode since it’s tennis centric!! Yay for tennis.