Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku – 04
Is this the end of the Volunteers Club?
It feels like this show exceeds my expectations every week.
Hayato’s Repayment
A misunderstanding.
So last time I figured Snafu would focus on Yui’s efforts to patch the Volunteers Club back together. And we do get that, but so much more happens in addition. To start things off, we have an unexpected move from Hayato in defense of Hachiman. Previously we were introduced to Kaori and her lacky, the former of which was once the subject of Hachiman’s middle school crush. I didn’t think much of it at the time because it didn’t appear relevant to the falling out between Hachiman and Yukino or the stuco election problem. Turns out, Snafu found a way to retroactively connect the dots by having Hayato “stick up” for Hachiman and tell off the girls for casually belittling the guy in front of his face. This came out of left field as I didn’t think Hayato of all people would get involved with the trouble brewing in the Volunteers Club. But in hindsight it does make sense since he feels a certain amount of responsibility for instigating Hachiman’s latest self-denigrating tactic in dealing with Hina and Kakeru.
Hayato isn’t having any of your bullshit.
An effective and efficient way of tying things together, this development also served to bluntly remind our loner hero that despite what he thinks, there are people who think he’s worth a damn. Ironically, Hayato’s method of directly confronting Kaori and co. actually reflects Hikki’s usual tricks to a tee. But he managed to get his point across all the same. It’s just a shame that Hachiman still refuses to acknowledge that he’s not completely alone in the world. I understand he’s had some hard times fitting in socially in the past, but does he really need to condition himself so strongly to believe that no one is looking out for him? The guy is so stubborn about it that I’m starting to wonder if anyone will be able to break down the walls he has built around himself. Especially since he always retreats into his own world and rejects others’ attempts to help as unwelcome and self-serving compassion.
New Contender
Yui takes a stand.
Moving along, we see Yukino enter the presidential bid thanks to some crafty egging on from Haruno. This wasn’t too surprising as we’d already heard the idea thrown around last time. What’s surprising, though, is Yui’s sudden declaration that she too will run for president. The logic behind this decision is simple enough: if Yukino becomes the stuco president, she won’t have time to participate in Volunteers Club activities. But I have to question Yui’s belief that she herself will be able to handle both simultaneously since no one expects much of her and she can slack off on her stuco duties as a result. That sounds like naive thinking, and I’m pretty sure both of the Volunteers Club girls would end up preoccupied as the president. So it’s a no-win situation in terms of keeping the Volunteers Club together. And notably, both “solutions” also take the “Hachiman route” of self-sacrifice. Looks like everybody’s unwittingly taking a leaf out of Hachiman’s book this episode. Though I’m not sure if all parties realize this just yet since both Hachiman and Yukino have an irregular view on society and Yui isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
As an aside, we get a near-confession-like moment between Yui and Hachiman as they discuss her plan to run for president. It was probably unintentional, and the structure of the Japanese language doesn’t help. But Yui’s second repetition of her love (for the club?) was left just a bit ambiguous. Of course, the moment went by unacknowledged by Hachiman since the guy was still speechless from Yui’s unexpected presidential bid. But at least we get to see Yui’s character grow. It’s high time she stopped depending on others and made decisions for herself.
I love how stunned Hachiman looked in this scene.
About Sumairii
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 26 comments
That moment when Hello Alone started playing in the background… glad to see this series back; I’ve missed it, and that song too!
So much packed into this episode. Following up from the last, looking at how each person looks at and tries to solve problems, and what are they willing to do, what are they willing to compromise on…
Yes, Irohasu is dangerous. Run!
POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments
i think it was mentioned early on in season 1 that yui is actually pretty smart as she scored pretty high on the entrance exam to enter the high school they attend if memory serves me right. She’s just not as perceptive or witty as Yukino or Hachiman even tho she has demonstated being very much aware that hachiman purposely throws himself in the line of fire for others happiness
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 105 comments
No, she is as dumb as the show jokes about her being.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 105 comments
I really feel that whenever Hikigaya talks about how he is correct to other characters, he really is just trying to convince himself. Not to mention how Haruno is really nailing him. I feel the music made her even more sinister than normal, which is pretty nice. Also, I think this is the first time I noticed her red tips, a very nice look IMO. I know what that look Orimoto gave right before she left meant, but I’ll save that tidbit for later. That scene where Irohasu had her subtext reading was pretty amusing. I like her and Tobe’s rapport. The show is laying it on fairly thick, but it is important to know just how similar Hikigaya and Hayama are. The difference as Haruno says, in how capable one is to another. Though I’m sure this only makes Ebina happy. So I could write way more, but this isn’t my post 🙁
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
That’s what I was thinking. If they really hate Hikigaya’s way of solving problem’s they are picking a poor way to demonstrate it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There’s a key difference in the ‘self-sacrifice’ of both Yukino and Yui compared to Hachiman. Hachiman’s self-sacrifice isn’t *ever* “I’ll make more work for myself so someone else doesn’t need to.” Instead, it’s always “I’ll make myself the villain / the bad guy / the demon / the focus of everyone’s ire.” One might call both things ‘self-sacrifice’, but they’re certainly different in kind. Hachiman’s is ‘self-denigration’.
I’ll also put Yui’s a little ahead of Yukino’s. Yukino being manipulated into it for her sister’s amusement, and really should have stood her ground, but I think she didn’t see a way forward without Hachiman doing his self-denigration (whether it works or not, it’s hard to decide which would be worse).