First Impressions / Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru

「つまり、彼は友達が少ない」 (Tsumari, Ore wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)
“Basically, I don’t have a lot of friends”

If there’s one thing that I can always count on, it’s definitely this show ruining any happy misconceptions I had about anime. While I doubt if any of you viewers will sympathize with me, I felt a little empty inside after both watching and listening to Hachiman destroy the image that years of anime had created in my head about “imoutos”.

Because when one talks about the innocent creature known as the “imouto” they end up on either side of the spectrum — they’re either extremely cute and fuzzy or a complete and total bitch who’s insensibility has no bounds. But after seeing through the eyes of the all-knowing Hachiman, it dawned upon me that a third category of “imouto” exists; the normal ones! All jokes aside, I was in total awe after listening to him describe just how emotionless he feels toward everything related to his sister. Maybe my mind has been corrupted by another show with “imouto” in the title but I was expecting a bit more than just “when I see her pantsu, I’m not even fazed.” I don’t know about you but I’d love to see more of Hachiman’s younger sister!

After last week’s stellar episode, I was wondering whether or not the show would be able to keep up with the pace it had set and it was a nice surprise to see that things haven’t slowed down a bit. Actually, the real surprise this week was how Hachiman handled things with Hayato. Or rather, how Hayato responded and accepted Hachiman’s methods. Because up until this point, I don’t think we’ve seen anyone acknowledge and accept Hachiman’s rather cynical way of thinking. Be it because Yui is too busy trying to impress him or Yukino trying to insult him with any opportunity she gets, it always feels like he’s trying to walk up an insanely steep hill. At the same time, Hayato and Hachiman’s new budding friendship brings up another interesting question — what would happen if a popular kid joined the Volunteer’s club? I can only imagine just how much the group dynamic would change with such clashing personalities being stuck together in a small room. Then again maybe Hayato would be able to utilize his passive “The Zone” to bring everyone together!

To round out the post, I want to end on a quick talk on the social commentary that this show provides as a whole. Mostly coming from the view of either Hachiman or Yukino, it’s quite eerie how spot on the two end up being. From commenting on people’s behaviors to how social “clicks” group together — it’s a refreshing yet disgusting reminder of how society forces specific roles onto people whether or not they like it. But in this week’s episode, I thought it was nice change of pace to see Yui trying to bring in something like girl’s talk into play. Besides trying to point out just how bad some girls are in terms of not keeping their mouths shut, you have to love how it’ll unleash certain people’s inner-desires without them even noticing!

And seeing how episode three and four both held up well, I’m excited to see what the writers have in store for us! Honestly though, I’d be content with more of Hachiman’s sister and any interactions where Hachiman and Saika are on the screen at the same time. Because come on, watching Hachiman get all flustered while talking to a guy is the definition of a trap that’s been well constructed!

 

Preview

67 Comments

  2. This anime is just so brilliant!
    “100 % cotton”
    as someone who has been doing laundry for younger siblings since their birth, I can only fully appreciate Hachiman’s disillusionment with pantsu… and imouto’s for that matter.

    ewok40k
    Reply

  3. Oh cruel world… Why does there have to be a trap in every show? Every trap (and I mean the ones which look EXTREMELY like a girl in every aspect) are reason why I feel confused every show about which heroine I want to see the MC end with (if there is a trap included). Because I don’t swing yaoi-style but every trap makes me pretty much want to change my entire aspect about anime (and prehaps life) and just root for the MC x Trap couple. Don’t you agree with me? Here are a couple examples:

    Example #1:
    https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
    Example #2:
    https://randomc.net/image/Haiyore%20Nyaruko-san/Haiyore%20Nyaruko-san%20W%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
    And of course, example #3:
    http://moe.animecharactersdatabase.com/uploads/chars/5408-1350963252.png

    I’ve made my point.

    Duelistdusk
    Reply

      1. I’m beginning to think you’re secretly a trap yourself..

        Takaii – remove the second ‘a’ and the two ‘i’s, swap the ‘k’ with a ‘p’ and squeeze in an ‘r’ between the ‘T’ and the ‘a’.. COULD IT BE MORE OBVIOUS?!

        JayDrink
        Reply

      2. I’m terribly sorry for accidently downvote your comment >_<

        Yeah I agree Ruka is one of the best trap of all time lol. Gotta thk S;G for this line too: "*insert desciption*, but he's a guy."

        D-LaN
        Reply

  5. I just had to laugh to how Hachiman reacted to the hand gesture XD

    In a way, I feel Hachiman has the personality that could attract friends but at the same time he was delt with unlucky circumstances which ironically eventually gave him friends. Hachiman kind of interesting to observe when his own thoughts kind of portray what people want in their youth, yet he also is more aware than most because he initially didn’t have any friends. Truly, the title of anime speaks how Hachiman’s highschool is.

    Dualash
    Reply

  6. Guess that the glasses girl from his past will probably show up later on? I wonder what her character (flaw) is like.

    Yuuki Aoi (his sister) with her Ben-To voice. Am I the only one who finds that voice grating?

    boingman
    Reply

  7. https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
    Siblings will always do something similar eh?
    And Yukinon’s interpretation of those 3 guys is simply hilarious!
    He’s a really nice guy! -Hayato
    So he’s slow and indecisive huh/Opportunist who’s always worrying about what others think huh – Yukinon
    LOL

    Kyle
    Reply

  9. I think one relevation was found in this episode, it was that the dog that ended up getting Hachiman into an accident was actualy Yui’s, (we see her in the background), so what did she want to say, thank you? Another relevation is that the texts weren’t probably from the 3 guys but the white haired chick, after all Hachimann doesn’t say he caught the culprit, he just solved the problem.

    Thank you for your review, this anime might just be the anime of the season for me 🙂 so much origanlity that I think many animes are missing, and even relatable for me. Cheers, M.

    Mi-Chan
    Reply

    1. Another relevation is that the texts weren’t probably from the 3 guys…

      I’m thinking it’s more like cycle. Since both of those three guys want to be with Hayama, it’s inevitable that one of them must not be in the group. So one person make the chain mail for the second, the second person target the third, and the third person attack the first person.

      Kevin Yamagata
      Reply

      1. It was pretty obviously from the beginning that it was all three guys.

        Then the girl shows up at the end. Presumably the twist is that it is her rather then the three guys.

        moridin84
        Reply

  12. I am surprised that I laughed much more than I am supposed to be.

    This is the reason why only girl are allowed to do ‘Tehee’ pose

    A really solid series, it could even be the top of the season if there are no other epic-tier series like SnK and SnG in this season.
    Hikki totally carry this show with his monologues, silly actions, tropes reversing and surprisingly sharp actions(when needed). Hey, it’s been a while that I saw a romance comedy show which has the main male as the best character! The other characters are also very interesting so far (most of them are interesting AND relate-able) and have a large room to be explored.

    Don’t forget : OP by Nagi is also a huge plus.

    zeroyuki92
    Reply

  14. Hachiman’s definitely what makes this show.It’s also kinda’rare when the male protagonist in a RomCom is the the most entertaining character(not to be implied that Yukino and Yui aren’t)of ’em all.I’d even call it an achievement!

    MgMaster
    Reply

  17. Oregairu does a great job of capturing how social interactions are really like among groups of people in high school- and the dialogue has been great throughout, it really makes the show.
    Two things: I loved the s-CRY-ed reference, someone let me know where I can find an attractive guidance counselor that would do that while telling me to re-evaluate my life choices! And can I ship Yui/Yukino? Because Hachiman appears to be too infatuated with our friendly neighborhood trap to notice either of them… =P
    Also, guys that are nice as Hayato get friend-zoned in high school, this is the only un-realistic aspect I’ve noticed so far in this show’s breakdown of high schoolers interactions with one another- everything else has been fairly spot on.
    If Oregairu can keep up this momentum, it’ll be my favorite comedy of the season- cynical male leads that you can relate to ftw! 😀
    And yes Takaii, we do need more of his imouto- for one so normal, she’s adorable.

    katsudon
    Reply

  18. It is something that this show brought forward the “normal” imouto classification. Can certainly understand his feelings there. Sometimes alright and sometimes incredibly irritating. I suppose it’s good to have some variety to the other imouto types.

    I do love how the one person who has the MC’s interest the most is Totsuka. That guy really is one heck of a trap. The cuteness factor in that one is extremely dangerous!

    FlareKnight
    Reply

  19. There’s someone at my school who had me trying to decide, for a whole semester, whether that person was a boy or a girl. Traps probably exist in real life. As for the show itself, I love it, but I hate that violence against Hachiman from girls and the teacher, no less, is treated as something acceptable.

    CTT
    Reply

    1. Why so serious? The whole thing is played for laugh… Ofc its not OK to do tht IRL but this is an anime….. Plus you try talking tht way to your teacher… In my place doing tht can lead to some pretty serious consequences…

      D-LaN
      Reply

  23. https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2006.jpg

    Tee-hee! =P

    https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2011.jpg

    Too bad it didn’t work out. She was cute.

    https://randomc.net/image/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru/Yahari%20Ore%20no%20Seishun%20Rabukome%20wa%20Machigatteiru%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2032.jpg

    ….STOP IT, JAPAN!!!!! *dies* lol

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  24. …So did anyone else notice the dog owner being Yui?

    At least, judging from the hairstyle, I’m thinking it’s fairly likely the owner of the dog Hachiman saved was Yui unless they have two female characters with short salmon hair, but then it doesn’t make sense why she wouldn’t have thanked him already. Unless she didn’t recognize him… which is a fairly cliched plot point

    NKNKN
    Reply

    1. Yui recognized “Hikki” right away even though he never interacts with anyone in the class and nobody else knows who he is.

      Yui asked for help from the club to make cookies. Who was she making them for?

      moridin84
      Reply

  35. I’m so glad I picked up this show! It’s weird how much of it ‘hits home’.

    Regarding the story: I’m enjoying all these smaller plot threads, and I’m excited to see them converge. For a fairly light-hearted comedy there are a lot of engrossing and powerful themes and stories at work. Long ramble begins now:

    1. Based on the allusion to the car accident 1-2 episodes ago, and its explanation this episode, I get the feeling questions and plot points will be resolved bit by bit every episode.

    2. Which leads me to wonder who wants to thank Hikki for saving their dog. My first guess would be Yui, which might be part of why she wanted to make cookies in episode 2. Going on this, she seems to either like Hikki, want to thank him, or both. It would make a lot of sense for her to have an idealized or unique view on him if he saved her dog- not a lot of people know of his heroic side…yet. Seeing as who she wanted to cook for was kept ambiguous, I strongly believe this theory.

    3. One of the running themes is obviously that the volunteer club is comprised of people who need problems solved, and who were probably gathered for this purpose. From the little we know, I think Yui thanking Hikki and being open with her feelings (with him as well as her obnoxious girl friends) would resolve her (slightly vague) problem. Hikki too will probably be recognized by his classmates, maybe the school, for his self-sacrificing tendencies: I think him helping out with the tennis match means a lot more than him falling for a Trap.

    4. As for ‘Yukinon’ (hehe), she clearly had a lot of scarring experiences earlier in life. She also seems to be unexpectedly motivated in helping Hikki with his loner problem: in the first episode she rather indignantly said that she won’t be able to him if he refuses to change. I thought her choice of words/tone was strangely kind, and I’m interested to see how and why she is invested in helping Hikki and the others.

    5. Hikki clearly showed in this episode that he wasn’t always cynical. He had bad experiences in middle school and earlier, but he was excited for high school. He wanted to make friends, but he blames his lack of them on being in the hospital for the first few days. We can already see his conflict with his cynical, self-absorbed views and the entrance of people who see him as a friend. I want to see how this core theme will play out!

    6. When you think about how everyone was brought together, there is only our old, single guidance counselor to point to. What are her intentions? She is (seemingly) the adviser for the volunteer club, but why did it only have one member at the beginning of the series? Did she intend for it to be the odd, charming group of people it is now? Did she make the club for the express purpose of helping people who don’t know how to go about their lives? What is her connection to Yukinon and how/why did she scout her out first? I think she has a lot better intentions then she wants to let on.

    7. Best Trap I’ve ever seen. As a guy I have never been so confused.

    nohm nohm
    Reply

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