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
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)
About Sumairii
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
The Final Boss: Mrs. Yukinoshita.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
well we’re still a lot in the dark, the anime has now just step into the latest novel and no clear information has come regarding that.
but yeah, most speculation is that yukino and hayama have an arranged marriage, but also note that its not confirmed, we could be reading too much into this.
also it has already been confirmed that yukino and hayama know each other from long ago and are even childhood friends. last season I believe sort of touched this when hayama said he doesnt have the right to help out yukino, implying they had a falling out at some point. which leads to some speculation that they might have liked each other, or hayato perhaps did, but this is also not cleared yet.
well whatever for that, im just glad that they didnt rush iroha’s train scene like the rest of this ep as well as improved more of her scenes such as hachiman calling her a proper president.
and hopeful that they do vol 10.5
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Odd, the mouseovers work fine in Chrome, but not in Firefox…
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 105 comments
The show has made references to Yukino and Hayama’s relationship before, I know there was some material about that during the camp arc. This isn’t a spoiler, but in the Novels Hachiman comments on how he is aware of a shared history between the two that he is unaware of. He states it more as a fact than an opinion, but it implies their is a relationship between the two that we the viewers are unaware of.
And I still can’t see the mouseovers since I use Firefox
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hmm, I was discussing possible arrangements with Sumairii, and it seems like a betrothal between Hayama and Yukino is something that could be done, but I would think that such an arrangement between two people who don’t seem to want to be married to the other wouldn’t end up in a marriage.
Although… perhaps Hayato’s “I’m not as good a guy as you think I am” warnings to Hachiman are indications that he’d like to marry Yukino, even if she doesn’t want to, and even if there was more declared love between Yukino and Hachiman. I don’t see him doing that, tho. In the end, he might not be a ‘good guy’, but I can’t see him being a Reki Kawahara villain.
I do wonder why Haruno wouldn’t be married off in a similar situation, perhaps even to Hayato.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 26 comments
A simpler take on it might be that Hayama did something when they were younger which created the rift between him and Yukinoshita. That would explain his comments about himself.
As for this episode, oh so rushed. The key scenes were there and done well, but I would’ve loved to see just a bit of extra time dedicated to the resolution of Tsurumi’s story.
Yukinoshita’s look of panic at Hikigaya at the end though…
(Also, Firefox here, mouseovers not working).
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
keep in mind guys that yukino usually makes quite a big deal of things, so personally im not really that concerned nor pity her.
it could just be as simple as yukino being a rebellious teen and wanting to be independent from her family, who just want to celebrate her birthday.
remember how haruno was like required to the festival last season while yukino wasnt? well you could look at this at the other way, that haruno is burdened by responsibilities for her family while yukino is basically free to do whatever she wants.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
8man PLEASE SAVE YUKINON !!!!
PD: I also think that haruno is a victim here…
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Dear readers, thank you for bringing to my attention the issue with my webms in Firefox. I have tracked down the root of the problem and corrected it. Future webms from me should play properly in Firefox as well, but if this still isn’t the case, please let me know.
Unfortunately, I will not be retroactively correcting my past webms.