Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku – 02-03
Before the storm.
Ahoy mateys! There’s no real reason for the pirate greeting. I’m not sure why I did that.
Butting Heads
Those who care.
Hikki is at it again; solving problems by misdirection. And of course, he is the one who takes the fall every time. This has been a common pattern for the show by now (recalling the first season), so more of the same would start to get repetitious. Thankfully, SNAFU recognizes this and remedies the situation by focusing fire on Hachiman’s methods themselves. Episode two has Yukino setting her foot down and expressing her disapproval of Hachiman’s self-destructive ways. What’s interesting, though, is that due to her own antisocial personality, she has a hard time communicating her feelings to the guy. All she can do is glare and bluntly state that she hates the way he does things. Yui, on the other hand, is able to explain to Hachiman that he hurts those who care for him by ignoring their feelings and insisting on shouldering all the weight of the problems they are tasked with solving. This is a fascinating role reversal from the usually sharp Yukino and ditzy Yui. And it recalls the importance of social integration which has been a recurring theme of the show. For all of their intelligence, Hachiman and Yukino fall short at the most crucial moments in human relationships because of their aloofness to society.
Stubbornness
Yukino takes a stand.
If you thought things were awkward enough by the end of episode two, episode three raises the bar as the gang is given a new job to tackle in the midst of their internal dispute. The rift between Hachiman and Yukino grows ever larger as each insist on resolving Iroha’s problem their own way, leaving a bewildered Yui struggling to keep the group from falling apart completely. Our dysfunctional hero had essentially preserved the status quo of Hayato’s clique by sacrificing that of his own. That’s assuming you can call the Volunteers Club a clique to begin with, of course. Now, at this point it appears to me that Hikki and Yukinon are just plain acting like stubborn children. What they need to do is lose their tunnel vision and open up to one another. But of course, that’s easier said than done. Most people are more comfortable with sticking to their beliefs than having an open mind and considering the other side of the argument. So it’s going to take one hell of a mediator to help our quarreling heroes see each other eye-to-eye.
The mediator.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortuitously), this difficult task falls upon Yui. Her unsuccessful attempts to smooth things out in episode three didn’t exactly inspire confidence. But her ability to empathize with others might just be the thing to bridge the gap between Hachiman and Yukino. She just needs to be more confident in exerting herself and resolute in addressing the warring parties. And on the bright side, the next episode title suggests that Ms. Yahallo~ might actually pull herself together and knock some sense into the other members of the Volunteers Club. Having Yui gain some self-confidence would also be a great development for her character, so this would kill two birds with one stone.
I am pleasantly surprised that SNAFU has chosen to address the matter of Hachiman’s self-degradation so soon. It almost feels like an end-game subject that comes as a final arc of the show or even at the conclusion of the LNs that the anime is based on. Because after all, the allure of a reformation of or at least a change in Hikki’s character is probably what drives the story. If he remains the same old same old all the way to the end, that would be boring. So this shift in direction is a welcome and much needed one for the show to remain relevant and avoid becoming a “problem solving of the week” affair.
What will Yui do to save the Volunteers Club?
About Sumairii
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I haven’t seen episode 3 yet, but episode 2 gave the show a nice amount of depth with Hachiman’s solution to Hina’s request. I do think they didn’t need to add Hina to the harem, especially as a character I don’t expect them to include much of moving forward, although it was good that they made her more than just a fujoshi comic-relief character.
I did like what I perceived as the double meaning in Yui and Yukino’s disapproval of Hachiman’s solution. One that they don’t want him to be confessing to other girls, and the other that they don’t want him to put himself down. And it was good that Yui actually explained that.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
The greatest strength of this show, and by extension Wataru’s writing as a whole, is that these characters ALL have nuance. There is no one here that has only one motivation, everyone is constructed like an actual person. That is also why its hard to go back to other light novels after reading/watching this fantastic show/novel.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Having watched episode three now, I really don’t think Yukino is acting stubborn and spoiled. I see it more that she’ll do almost anything now to keep Hachiman from further degrading himself. She could see just as well as I could that Hachiman’s plan would end up with him on stage making the terrible speech, once again focusing the ire of classmates on him and saving someone else. And he might think that it doesn’t hurt him, but it does. That confession to Hina really seemed to hurt him, and the reaction of the girls afterward hurt even more.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I’m back after a trip to the Azores and finally caught up enough on the anime I missed to start commenting on them again.
While I think Yukino’s main reason for opposing Hachiman’s plan in Ep. 3 is because she’s opposed to his way of doing things that end up hurting him, I also think her plan is the better one. After all, his terrible speech could end up garnering the sympathy vote for the candidate he’s trying to derail with his speech.
I have to agree it looks like the anime is starting to head in the direction of getting Hachiman to change his ways and be less cynical and self-destructive. That is a needed development that should result in character growth for him, Yukino and Yui. It will probably be a long and difficult path that will occupy the rest of the season, but it’s a journey needed for the characters and for the audience to remain invested in them and rooting for their success in that journey.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Welcome back! Well, I think Hachiman still thinks of himself the deepest when he thinks of others, that really is the shell he has to crawl out of.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Thanks for the welcome back. The Azores were a nice place to visit with great seafood and servings that were more than I could eat! Whale watching turned out to be a bust the one day I tried it. The bird watching was great.
I think Hachiman is a more extreme version of many teenagers who think of themselves as world-wise and world-weary. And since he also feels he has no friends and can’t make any (not realizing that Yukino and Yui are his friends) he feels he might as well play the villain. Plus, there’s more than a bit of self-pitying self-sacrifice in his actions. However, it is time to move his character arc along, though his changing in just a few episodes would be too abrupt. Making significant progress by the end of the season is what’s called for.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think Hachiman is much more comfortable thinking that he has no friends, because then he doesn’t think he needs to act friendly to his friends. I think it’s actually an interesting point that at some point in the teen years, most people start to learn that ‘friendship’ is as varied and unpredicatable as anything, so even if you act like Hachiman, you’re going to get friends, because those people accept you for who you are. Hachiman may be the one who is last to understand this.