Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku – 10

Oh, Hachiman. Least observant when it matters most.

Let’s quickly skim over the bulk of the episode, because basically the most important things happened in the last three minutes.

 

 

Cleaning Up

Take responsibility~ (mouseover to play)

Last time, I figured that Iroha would break down and cause a shitstorm after getting rejected by Hayato. Turns out, she took the blow in stride and stayed fairly strong. With Iroha still in the picture, the Volunteers Club and the student council are able to tag team Tamanawa and his lackeys, and the Christmas event ends a success. Along the way, Hachiman even gives Rumi a leading role in hopes of improving her relationship with her peers. Whether this worked out remains to be seen.

Final Boss

An awkward gathering.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s scrutinize the very eventful last three minutes of the episode. It begins when Yui and Hachiman are caught by Haruno (with Hayato in tow) while shopping for Yukino’s birthday present. Haruno, up to her usual tricks, uses Hikki to lure Yukino into joining the group. The reason for Yukino’s presence isn’t immediately clear, but Haruno’s ulterior motive becomes clear when none other than mama Yukinoshita makes an appearance. As we know, Yukino has been in a spat of sorts with her family. And now that she happens to be at the scene thanks to Haruno, mama Yukinoshita is able to force her into attending a lunch with the Yukinoshita and Hayama families using the pretense of celebrating her birthday. I think we can see where Haruno gets her manipulative personality from.

Slip of the tongue.

So this sequence of events is nice and all, but what does it all mean? To get an idea of what’s going on, there are a few significant events in the three minutes that we should examine. First, we have Hayato’s slip-up in referring to Yukino by her given name. Notice also that those two the only ones sweating (it’s subtle) immediately following the slip-up. This suggests that the two are either close (even though we’ve seen no such indication so far) or share some sort of history we aren’t privy to at this moment. Then we have mama Yukinoshita’s comments on Yukino’s friends. Mainly, she says that Hayato is the only schoolmate of Yukino’s that she knows. Now, I’m not surprised that mama Yukinoshita isn’t informed about the Volunteers Club since Yukino isn’t likely to talk to her about it, or about anything for that matter. But if Yukino doesn’t discuss her private life to her family at all, why would mama Yukinoshita know about Hayato. Well, the obvious answer is that their families are close friends as Hayato explained. But could there be more significance to mama Yukinoshita linking Yukino and Hayato? This could again suggest that there might be something between the two. But it’s also possible it just reaffirms the ties between the two families in a more general way. Even if it’s just the latter though, one has to wonder if the two families have plans to take their relationship to its ultimate stage. It might be reading too much into things, but this would naturally be realized as a very specific arranged relationship between two members of said families.

An exchanging of glances. (mouseover to play)

Finally, we have the very last ~20 seconds of the episode, which might be more significant than the rest of the last three minutes we’ve been analyzing. Even though only two words are ever spoken in those seconds, the silence is punctuated by two exchanging of glances that speak volumes for the situation at hand as well as what’s to come. First comes Yukino’s desperate glance at Hachiman as she finds herself unable to defy her mother’s will. The obvious implication is that she wants to escape the lunch between the two families at all costs, which should have been clear from the very beginning once we realize Haruno had to resort to some tricks to get Yukino where she wants her. The moment also calls back to the previous episode in which Yukino asked Hikki to save her someday. Perhaps this is that day when she cashes in her request. Once Hachiman meets Yukino’s gaze (meanwhile Haruno verbally intercepts the unspoken call for help), he immediately turns and glares at Hayato. Now, at this point we the audience don’t have very many clues as to the situation between Yukino and Hayato. But this, if anything, suggests Hachiman has reached the same conclusion that there is something between the two. Since he isn’t in a position to directly help Yukino as an outsider, the glare might be an attempt to enlist Hayato’s aid. Assuming all of this to be the case, it would appear that Hachiman failed as Hayato just avoids the glare with a diplomatic smile.

You don’t say no to mama Yukinoshita.

But what if we could interpret Hachiman’s glare differently. It’s likely that he knows just as little as we do. But, being the observant person he is, perhaps he has read into things and come across the possibility of an arranged relationship buried behind the smiling faces and the unassuming words. The big question, then, is who is involved in such an arrangement. Since it involves the Yukinoshita and Hayama families, the only options on the table are Haruno, Yukino, and Hayate. We’re not really given enough information to determine which of the two sisters might be in a potential arrangement, assuming such a thing even exists to begin with. But if we consider Yukino’s rocky relationship with her family, one has to wonder why she gets along so poorly with her immediate family as well as why she so desperately hopes to avoid a meeting between the two families. Can it all be explained by her inferiority complex towards her sister, or is there perhaps something more at work?

Extra Yui

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I don’t really have any answers to any of the questions I’ve posed here. And in truth, probably only the LN readers are in a position to know how things will unfold. So if that’s the case, I would ask them not to spoil anything in the comments and just treat my questions as rhetorical. But if there’s anything I can say with certainty, it is that SNAFU is really laying it thick on the subtext for this arc, even compared to any of the previous ones from both seasons. What a way to start what looks to be the final arc of the show. And what a final challenge for Hikki to face after just barely making it through the near break-up of the Volunteers Club. As resourceful as the guy is, I’m not sure if even he can do anything as an outsider when it comes to the affairs of two high-standing families. So it might really come down to Hayato to fix things himself, as I’ve previously said I’ve been hoping to see. If nothing else, the next episode title suggests that that he will play a big role in the events to come.

Foreshadowing? (mouseover to play)