First Impressions – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT

Sena and Yozora want a peaceful season two…

 Today is the best day of anime ever with the return of Boku wa tomo or better known as Haganai season two! Last season kind of ended on a strange turn with Yozora chopping off her hair and Kodaka finally remembering she was his childhood friend, but things also developed between Kodaka and Sena at the same time? Even though I think most of these pairings feel more one sided than anything…and like last season Kara is joining me for the fun, so look forward to our awesome posts!

 Foshakuri is back! Karizzel? Whatever. The main point is that I’m finally back to tagging a show with Fosh again. Man, it seems like it’s been forever ago since Lagrange aired. Anyways, it’s season two of Haganai and that means more of Sena and Yozora at each other’s throats and hating each other’s guts. Isn’t friendship wonderful? Oh, and I guess it’s the return of the other socially awkward characters as well. So on to the fun~

The Melancholy of Kashiwazaki Sena

haganai (2)

Double meat for the win! Wait never mind just a troll.

haganai (6)

Rika-“Behold my greatest creation! Mt Sena!”                     Sena-“Not sure if this is real or a horrible joke.”

 I think most of us are fairly familiar with the character interactions from the first season, but this new season is slowly showing us the other side of our favorite faces! Like why did Yozora team up with Rika just to troll Sena with that alternate hairstyle? I was starting to wonder if Yozora promised to do something perverted for Rika later. While that was going on I thought it was kind of funny when Yukimura started to sneak his way over to watch the girls play with Sena’s hair which makes me believe the creators are trying to make him more of a girl this season? Either way it is nice to see some character changes and I would think that Maria and Kobato might get along this time…just kidding I don’t think that will ever happen between them. Judging from the opening I guess we will get three new characters named Hinata Hidaka, Kate Takayama and Aoi Yusa? I wonder what those three add to the already massive cast of characters, but I know one of them is related to Maria and one of them is the student council president; however, as the saying goes more the merrier, right?

Character changes

haganai (4)

Rika-“Anime science.”

 Well, this was nice kind of introduction to the characters again after the long break between seasons. I don’t know if it’s just because of the break and this episode in particular, but Yozora is definitely less of a mean spirited bitch, and Sena is much less of a haughty oujou-sama. They still have what made them unique from last season, but it’s definitely been toned down. …On the other hand, it seems like Kodaka is still viewed as the scariest person ever (yet with an adorable ringtone) outside of the club and then everyone’s go to guy inside the club. It looks like from the OP that there are going to be a few new characters (like that nun that looks like an older Maria) and then some of the old characters are going to go through changes. It looks like Rika ditches the ponytail and glasses?! …Well, she certainly seemed uncharacteristically subdued this episode. I mean, the only off colored joke came from Sena’s butler person. In any case, the club and characters certainly seem much more friendly around each other. Even Yozora and Sena …to a certain degree. Stalking can be considered friendship, right?

What the hell is going on?!

haganai (7)

Kobato-“Ku Ku Ku…I…am…not…feeling…very…moe…today.”

haganai (8)

Kodaka-“Uh what the hell is going on!?”              Sena-“Oh just screenshots from season one…”

 Besides the continued trolling of Sena every day, things are strange because we have Yozora saying sorry to Sena for messing up her hair and Sena’s dad apparently still spanks her? Uh I think that is kind of weird way to punishment for someone her age? Wait never mind every anime character is fifteen or something, but that was not even the strangest moment of the entire episode…I just could not stop laughing when Kodaka entered Sena’s bedroom and then he saw the celling covered in random pictures of Yozora which left me saying WHOA WHAT THE HELL? I know that scene was in the preview so I was not all that surprised; however Sena actually bought a wig off Yozora so she could smell it every night? I think there is some serious Yuri in the future. I know the ending video shows the famous red thread of fate thing for Sena, Kodaka and Yozora! Hopefully we get some drama or hints of romance between someone at least.

Romance in the Air?

haganai (9)

Manly bath time with Kodaka

Manly bath time is the best. …Er, I mean, this episode seemed to have a lot of focus on Sena. Maybe this is setting up for some sort of romantic plot movement for her, Kodaka and Yozora? The OP and ED certainly seem to be saying that the two girls are the most likely contenders for Kodaka. Now that we’ve gotten the childhood friend plot out of the way, I think (hope) the chance of romance is likely. Or at least characters going through that awkward stage where they don’t realize that they like each other and attribute it to other things like illness. That’s still progress in my eyes. Pegasus certainly doesn’t seem like he’d mind if Sena and Kodaka got together. I really wouldn’t mind either. I’ve always liked Sena as a character , despite her being the stereotypical fanservice character and Yozora has always been too mean for my tastes. …Plus there’s the fact that Sena has the greatest anime father ever. Maybe Yozora will mature this season and redeem her character for me, but until then, I’ll be Sena biased.

Fun with meat

Haganai fun (2)

Father daughter time…wait…what…

Haganai fun (3)

I expect a lot of plot growth in the future~

Haganai fun (4)

Sena is very good at video games.jpeg

Haganai fun (1)

Sena plotting her ultimate revenge or lusting over Yozora you decide.

Opening

Show ▼

Ending

Show ▼

End thoughts

Season two starting off to a great start even though most of it followed Kodaka hanging out with Sena at her house and the reveal of her new obsession over Yozora? I have no idea what the creator has in store for us, but whatever it is I am really curious! I forgot to mention while Kodaka stayed over with Sena I thought it was hilarious that her father joined Kodaka in the bath? That whole scene was funny and a bit serious with hints that Sena is being bullied? NOW WHO WOULD DO THAT? The only character that was kind of left out was Kobato who stayed home. Overall, it really is quite nice to hear Misato Fukuen, Kanae Itou, Hanazawa Kana, Yuka Iguchi, Marina Inoue, Ryohei Kimura and I think Tofu and fans of Hisaka Youko because she is playing a new character! So yeah more of the same from the first season with some new characters thrown in for random fun, but I AM SO EXCITED! I love this crazy ass series, oh and enjoy this extra meat service picture from Jrow!

I had forgotten how crazy Haganai could get. The hair was one thing, but Sena’s Yozora obsession? I’d love to see that stalking play out in future episodes. The only thing the episode felt like it was missing was Rika’s crazy antics, but it was funny enough as it was. I don’t think this was a plot episode (though we did see a lot of Sena’s ‘plots’) as much as a reintroducing the character’s episode and showing that there are no huge problems at the moment. Maybe the flags raised with Sena here will pay off later, but mostly it just seemed like the episode was saying that these people started off as socially awkward, but here they are (kind of) getting along. Sena is comfortable with Kodaka at least. There was a strange lack of Yozora for the episode though. Maybe that will mean something later on as well since she’s the other main heroine. Oh well, for now things are peaceful, exams are coming up, and it’s life as usual for the characters.

Preview

haganai (1)

Enter the mind of Yozora the insane puppet master.

Wait Maria has a sister?!

About

We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
Blinklist BlogMarks Delicious Digg Diigo FaceBook Google MySpace Netvibes Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Twitter

99 Responses to “First Impressions – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT”

  1. skylion says:

    OK. Finally comment tonite before I go to bed.

    This episode did not thrill me. With all the hype, it felt very lackluster. Besides the revelation that Sena is a major stalker, it didn’t feed me very much.

    I know it had to introduce the characters again, but to do so in such a paint-by-number fashion was not in line with the insane creativity they pulled off last season. Oh, goodness I was so darned miffed.

    Which is not to say they cannot salvage it.

    THIS. IS. HAGANAI!

    ….s’all I gots to say…

    • Yukarin_YY says:

      humu first ep started off pretty dull, I guess they can afford to do that since it’s a returning anime though.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Truth the first episode made me laugh, but looking back there wasn’t really anything NEW besides the whole with Sena being revealed as Yozora’s stalker?

      Hopefully we get some romance between Kodaka, Sena and Yozora but I wont hold my breath for that because I think the comedy comes first.

      I want the side characters to do more this time around since we can p much skip character intros.

  2. Highway says:

    I thought the character introduction was actually really good, in that they barely did any of it. Just the name card. No explanation like “Yozora is the president of the club” or “Sena is the popular girl”… It was just a description over top, hardly stopping the show. That made it really seem like just another episode from the first season, and that it was just continuing where it left off.

    I’m in the apparent minority, liking Yozora far more than Sena. I’m not usually a ‘first girl’ kind of guy, but in this case, if there was someone that Kodaka had to get together with, it would be Yozora. I just think she’s a much more interesting character with more metaphorical depth than Sena (and Sena really doesn’t need ‘mooooo’ sounds when they focus on her breasts, come on, guys).

    The thing I really like about the show, and commented on in *my* first impression post (hey, I do have a little bit of shame about doing this, but not that much) is the big meta-joke of the series. These people who think they don’t have friends, who get together for an elective club that none of them have to go to, so they can hang out with the other people, and practice doing things that people might do with their friends, with the idea that then they’ll be able to do it when they have friends. And what it really is is that they ARE friends, doing the things friends do, hanging out together.

    And to me, that’s what really keeps the pranks that Yozora (mostly) and other pull on Sena (mostly) and others from feeling too cruel or bullying. And we saw that kind of progress in this show. Sena was all in with doing that to her hair. Sure, they tricked her by playing to her overdeveloped vanity, but that’s what you do with your friends. You play pretty harmless pranks on them by appealing to their self-image. And ultimately, their prank on Sena was pretty harmless (she didn’t have to cut it all off or anything like that), and still we got a first: Yozora and Rika apologized because they felt bad about it. Because Sena’s their friend, whether they’d say that word or not. And Sena’s reaction, that she was more upset that they left her out of the joke than that they’d played it on her, is totally in keeping with this.

    Likewise, I see Sena’s obsession with Yozora about the same way, that Sena sees pulling a big prank on Yozora as a way not of getting revenge and hurting her, but of being accepted by Yozora as an equal, and as a friend. And I can easily imagine that a plot point this season will be that Sena thinks up a prank that really does go too far, and really damages the relationship that they have. Perhaps that might be what really brings home the reality that they are friends, and they both want the others’ attention and approval.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Yeah near the end of season one I was a bit more into Yozora because they gave us a interesting reveal with her and Kodaka, but I am curious to see when Sena reveals she likes Kodaka! Then again who knows if she can even beat Yozora in terms of GF material with the whole childhood friend disease xD

      I know right! THEY ARE FRIENDS it’s just none of them have realized this yet…I just laugh, but I hope we can see more friendships developing! Hell if they paired off Rika with Yukimura and got Maria and Kobato to become friends I would totally support that 😉

      Yeah it seems bullying is a theme Haganai enjoys running with, but it was nice that Yozora and Rika said sorry to her the next day! Even though we all know that wont be the end of them messing with Sena.

      LOL Sena as Yozora’s stalker was kind of hilarious for me, we just have to see where they plan on taking that…the only thing I can picture is yuri? But that doesn’t even sound THAT good to me…

      • Highway says:

        Well, I’m not so sure about Sena: She hangs out in a club with a girl who bullies her, a pervy girl, a guy whose imouto Sena just adores to pieces, including wanting to take baths with, a ‘guy’ who dresses up as a maid and dotes on the only other guy in the club, and a loli 10-year old nun. She spends her time in this club playing h-games in full view of everyone else – and not otome games, these are boy-targeted h-games – so she can get together with the girls in the games.

        Then we get to her home, and she’s not only got pictures of her club buchou plastered all over the ceiling, she’s got a wig that said buchou wore one time and she sniffs it and gets a thrill out of it…

        Oh, and she’s had lots of boys trying to get with her, and she treats them all like dirt and doesn’t want anything to do with them.

        What I’m saying is that Sena’s got some mixed up ideas about what she really wants in love.

        • Foshizzel says:

          Hmm true about all of that! I guess we will see how things progress for Sena, but also at the same time Yozora isn’t really making any moves on Kodaka and who knows what kind of secrets she is hiding ;P

  3. Yukarin_YY says:

    Yozora+Rikka Troll combo was glorious XD

    idk about this first episode, wasn’t too exciting, but next week looks pretty fun with Maria’s older sister appearing haha

    • BlackBriar says:

      Since it was the first episode, high expectations aren’t really a necessary thing. It’ll take time to build up the story. I’m hoping Maria’s sister isn’t an annoying fruit cake like she is. I can only handle so much in one sitting.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Yozora + Rika made me freaking laugh so much even though it was still the oddest pairing ever.

      • BlackBriar says:

        The pairing is weird since last season she wouldn’t go near her because she’s a big pervert.

  4. Highway says:

    Oh, I also wanted to comment on the OP and ED songs, which I was a little disappointed by. The first season OP and ED are some of my favorite songs, with the OP having a crazy, throw-everything-in sound, and the ED a driving description of the whole thing from Yozora’s point of view. And it doesn’t hurt that I love Marina Inoue’s voice when she’s singing. The new songs were better than most this season, but just didn’t have that “Grab you by the shoulders and smack you around” feeling that the old ones did.

    And Spammy’s got a couple of my comments, if someone could save them, please.

    • skylion says:

      with the OP having a crazy, throw-everything-in sound,

      You’re OP arrived in another anime!

      Edit by Kyo: fixed the link. 😉

      • Highway says:

        That one reminds me a lot more of the Joshiraku ED. While interesting (and what is GJ-bu about anyway? I haven’t tried that show yet), it doesn’t quite capture the same feeling of “a hundred musicians doing something only somewhat related” of this:

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RG7dYIrii8

        I mean, it’s even got a funk bass, ringing triangle and battling solos (that’s my favorite part, that the keyboard tries to start the solo, gets shut down by the drums and bass, and then the guitar takes it using the same runs). Just incredible.

        • skylion says:

          When I find out what GJ-bu is about, I’ll let you know.

          • Highway says:

            Is it at least interesting to watch?

            • Yukarin_YY says:

              I liked it :> 4koma light novel or something, how does that even work? XD

            • skylion says:

              For me it had a Taiga Aisaka clone. That may not be the best reason to watch…..but….I can’t seem to escape that.

            • Yukarin_YY says:

              Mao is just like, a bunch of lolis smashed up together

              bites people – Index
              club president – Mio
              hair – yeah pretty much Taiga
              embarrased about romantic stuff – INNOCENCE idk lots of lolis like that
              childish – once again tons of lolis

          • skylion says:

            Lolis smashed together

            Coming this Winter 2013

          • Highway says:

            “When I find out what GJ-bu is about, I’ll let you know.”

            I watched Ep 1 of GJ-bu and now completely understand this comment.

          • skylion says:

            FYI: Just watched GJ-Bu episode two. And I know what it’s about; and I should have known this all along. It’s about 22 minutes long ::budum ba::

            No. It’s cute. It’s really cute. The first show was mostly intro fluff, but they built up some interesting character/comedy moments here. Well worth the watch.

            Oh, and Yukarin? +1 on the katamari joke. That’s an image.

    • skylion says:

      Spam my loves the u tubes….

      • BlackBriar says:

        No, Spammy is fond of the Spammy Tamer and shows his affection by gobbling all his comments every chance he gets. Oh, how sweet. LOL

        • Highway says:

          More like we have an… understanding.

          • BlackBriar says:

            Hmm… an understanding… Based on what and which side loses ground in the agreement?

            • Highway says:

              I give him some comments every few days to keep him satisfied, and he gives me an excuse to pad the comment count with “Rescue my comment, please!” additional comments if they’re not noticed in a timely manner.

              If more Metanorn writers were in the #metanorn irc channel *coff coff*, I’d tell them there to save my comments. Heck, I’ve asked Fosh to save a comment or two through WoW.

            • Karakuri says:

              Oh yeah, the IRC channel is something that exists. I forget that it does

        • Karakuri says:

          He only eats your comments because he cares.

          • BlackBriar says:

            He has a funny way of showing it. LOL.

          • Yukarin_YY says:

            maybe Spammy is Yandere and eats your comments since he thinks you’re giving them too much attention

            • BlackBriar says:

              In other words, Spammy is severely jealous.

            • skylion says:

              Spammy doesn’t want to be fed, Spammy wants to hunt….

          • Foshizzel says:

            Would kicking Spammy be considered animal abuse? Hmmm….

            • skylion says:

              I raised him outside the hills of Hinamizawa, where the cries of cicadas lulled him to sleep every night.

            • BlackBriar says:

              It can’t be defined as animal abuse if can’t define exactly what he is. Until then, he’s fair game. Everyone, grab your torches and pitch forks.

            • skylion says:

              NOOOOOOOOO! Don’t you understand?! Don’t any of you understand?! Spammy has feelings toooooooo…..

            • Karakuri says:

              I can’t help but think you’re just asking for your comments to be eaten now with the pitchforks and torches. xD Spammy could murder you all in your sleep if he came from Hinamizawa. Worse, he would be animated by DEEN. Truly terrifying.

            • skylion says:

              No worries…..I raised him on the 2012 OVAs….should be fine…he even does windows.

            • Karakuri says:

              …So Spammy is a magical girl now?

            • Yukarin_YY says:

              Spammy = crossdressing yandere mahou shounen that has the power to consume comments

            • Yukarin_YY says:

              plot of Mahou Shounen Spammy: Spammy the yandere boy, was raised outside the hills of Hinamizawa by Skylion on the 2012 OVAs. When he grew older, he gained the powers to transform into a Mahou Shoujo ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶A̶i̶k̶a̶w̶a̶ ̶A̶y̶u̶m̶u̶ . But he was cursed with a power of destruction, he needed to consume user comments to sustain his life.

              Upcoming 2013 Spring Season Anime – Mahou Shounen Spammy
              his fight against himself, his powers, and adolesence.

            • skylion says:

              Happii happii happii yes yes yes

            • Karakuri says:

              Between Spammy’s tale and that 3 way BL thing between sky lion, BB and Highway, 2013 is looking pretty damn fulfilling.

            • skylion says:

              ::blush::

            • Kyokai says:

              Do I smell a tale of Spammy anytime soon? 😉

            • Highway says:

              You guys leave Spammy alone! No taunting him!

            • skylion says:

              In a writing seminar I took many many years ago, an instructor told us that the story shapes the form it takes. In other words, sometimes a tale just needs to be a short story, or a novel, or a screen play, or haiku, or a poem. I think the Tale of Spammy is being told right here, and right now, buy us.

              Awwwwww.

            • skylion says:

              by us…darn tablet autospelling feature…well, darn me for hitting “submit comment” to quick….

            • d-LaN says:

              Nope. Kick til you drop \(^.^;)/

  5. Tofu says:

    You do not know how happy I was when I found out a couple days ago that Hikasa Yoko is going to voice one of the new characters in Boku Tomo! I WAS ESTATIC! I literally let out a bit of a girly scream before I controlled myself because I was that surprised! x3

    Hikasa appearing in not only Boku Tomo but even Tamako Market!! I LOVE THIS SEASON!!!

  6. BlackBriar says:

    Definitely worth the wait because I couldn’t stop laughing so hard. This was very Sena centered and we all can see why. At first, I thought she just a lolicon chasing after Kobato because of how cute she is (good thing she decided to stay home) but didn’t expect a full blown perverted stalker. Taking pictures of someone who isn’t aware? Man, that’s creepy. Creepy yet a slightly more docile stalker than most. And if you take notice of the photos of Yozora, you’ll see they are all of her before her hair was cut, meaning that it was during season one. Where were we when this was happening?

    Second, she’s too naïve letting Yozora and Rikka con her into that heap trap. You could tell they were lying through their teeth and it’s possible they’ll only work together if their interests are aligned. Lastly, and correct me if I’m wrong because if I am, then I’ll need glasses. Was it just me or did it seem like Sena was “fapping” to Yozora’s scent toward the end?

    • skylion says:

      Falling?! Oh that thin line ‘tween love and hate…

      • BlackBriar says:

        I think than thin line has long since been blurred. Now everything has become unpredictable.

    • Highway says:

      Sena so much wants to be friends with Yozora and Rika, she’ll likely go along with anything they think up, even if it makes her the butt monkey. But I also think that Sena likes that sort of attention, because she’s had plenty of adulation, and seems to have given that up by choice to spend her time playing h-games in the Rinjin-bu clubroom and hang out with Yozora, Kodaka, Rika, and Yukimura.

      I don’t think there’s really been much time between Season One and the start of Season two. Maria is still being punished, Yozora’s hair still looks like she just cut it. And Sena was definitely excited by the thought of Yozora. I don’t quite know exactly what her angle is, because I really don’t think she wants to get together with Yozora… although, she does play boy-centered h-games to get together with all the girls there. Hmm. Maybe she’s not as interested in Kodaka as I thought.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Sena is awesome even though she was easily trolled by Rika and Yozora? WHAT? WHY ARE THEY TEAMING UP?! Something is disturbing about that combo…also Sena being revealed as a stalker was kind of shocking and not to mention sniffing that wig she wore? WTF! Sena! NOOOOOOOOOOO

      Yep Sena x Yozora for ultimate yuri.

  7. skylion says:

    Could have had more Kobata….

    • Yukarin_YY says:

      Needed to include some Reisys VI Felicity Sumeragi fufua

    • BlackBriar says:

      YES!! We need more of the vampire cosplaying loli!! Please!!

    • Highway says:

      For me, a little Kobato and Maria goes a long way. Kobato’s definitely better than Maria, tho… くっくっくっ

      • Yukarin_YY says:

        lol I like Kobato more than Maria too, but her older seems pretty chill, I’ll just have to see next ep

        Can you read Japanese Highway? °v° I can only read Hiragana

        • Highway says:

          At the risk of offending Japanese people (and others who can read it) with my horrible Japanese:

          私は少し日本語読ことができます.

          The intention is for that to say “I can read a little Japanese.” I am much better at reading it than writing it, and have been studying it for about 14 months, starting with kanji (From Nov 2011 to April 2012), then with sentences from then until the present. I generally study it about an hour a day, and then listen to J-pop / J-rock for music, and watch anime for entertainment. The goal is to be able to read and understand spoken Japanese, really. Not speak it or write in it, but read and listen. I probably hamstring myself by not trying harder at it, or extending myself, because I find it disconcerting to not understand all the things I’m reading. The biggest issue really is that I don’t know that many words.

      • BlackBriar says:

        High five! I prefer Kobato as well. Mainly because of her attitude due to her eighth grade syndrome. Maria is like a more annoying version of Index. They both have the same characteristics.

        • Highway says:

          A more annoying version of Index, indeed. And that’s a high bar to clear, because I found Index pretty annoying.

          • BlackBriar says:

            True that there’s hardly any known character that can clear that bar but the kicker is not only are Index and Maria similar in appearance and personality (especially where eating is concerned), they both share the same seiyuu, Yuka Iguchi who you know as Nisemonogatari’s Tsukihi Araragi.

          • Karakuri says:

            I found most of the characters of Index (title character included) to be so tsun, it was annoying.

            • Highway says:

              I barely managed to finish Index season one, and probably wouldn’t have if it didn’t have the Accelerator story in there to shove Touma and Index and the others to the side for at least a while.

              That’s the main reason I never bothered with season 2 or Railgun.

          • Foshizzel says:

            Yuka Iguchi should play all the loli nuns in anime 4ever.

            • Karakuri says:

              As long as they don’t start shoving pencils in their ears like the ones in Index did, I’m okay with that.

            • BlackBriar says:

              No! Not all. She needs some rest time to do more worthy roles like Mayo Chiki’s Subaru Konoe and Monogatari’s Tsukihi Araragi.

            • Highway says:

              I think I’ve seen about all the loli nuns played by Yuka Iguchi I need. 😉

    • Foshizzel says:

      SOON MY FRIEND SOON

  8. Jrow says:

    Haganai is back! Love the OP and love the Sena-service.

  9. d-LaN says:

    O__O The 2nd to last pic…. Her hand…. Welp. Yay for yuri hates0x?

    *goes back to marathon the 1st season*

    Nice ‘caps jokes as always, Foshie.

  10. PrimeHector says:

    Watch railgun up to the first 12 episodes higway. It is worth it.

Leave a Reply to Foshizzel