Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.

Hachiman Hikigaya is an apathetic high school student with narcissistic and semi-nihilistic tendencies. He firmly believes that joyful youth is nothing but a farce, and everyone who says otherwise is just lying to themselves.

In a novel punishment for writing an essay mocking modern social relationships, Hachiman's teacher forces him to join the Volunteer Service Club, a club that aims to extend a helping hand to any student who seeks their support in achieving their goals. With the only other club member being the beautiful ice queen Yukino Yukinoshita, Hachiman finds himself on the front line of other people's problems—a place he never dreamed he would be. As Hachiman and Yukino use their wits to solve many students' problems, will Hachiman's rotten view of society prove to be a hindrance or a tool he can use to his advantage?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hikigaya, Hachiman Main

Eguchi, Takuya Japanese

Yukinoshita, Yukino Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Yuigahama, Yui Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Hiratsuka, Shizuka Supporting

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Totsuka, Saika Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Hikigaya, Komachi Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Kawasaki, Saki Supporting

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Yukinoshita, Haruno Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Hayama, Hayato Supporting

Kondo, Takashi Japanese

Zaimokuza, Yoshiteru Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Maruyama, Hajime Producer

Hirano, Tsutomu Producer

Tanaka, Junichirou Producer

Reviews

Jul 10, 2024

Joe_Devaney

Recommended

Note: This will be a review of all three seasons.

Overview:
"Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.", roughly translated as "My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU" and generally abbreviated as "Oregairu", is, as the name suggests, about as unconventional as romantic comedies get, to the point that it can hardly be called a romcom at all. In truth, it's more of a study of youth, honesty, the difficulty of solving problems instead of avoiding them and the inner workings of relationships and social acceptance in general. The result is a very unique, interesting and complex series that I am truly proud to have spent my time ... watching.

Story (9/10):
"Oregairu" tells the story of Hachiman Hikigaya, an isolated, friendless boy in his second year of high school who, at the start of the series, has given up on society. Having suffered one social failure after another for most of his life, Hachiman has grown to believe that youth is nothing but a lie created by hypocrites, for hypocrites. After submitting an essay that essentially just amounts to being a rant about society, his teacher coerces him into joining the newly-founded Service Club, a club dedicated to helping others solve their problems, in the hopes that exposing him to the goodness of others will alter Hachiman's worldview, and by extension, make him a better person. Once there, he meets Yukino Yukinoshita, the smartest and most popular girl in school, who has founded the Service Club with the intention of "changing the world", as she puts it. Not long after, Hachiman and Yukino are joined by Yui Yuigahama, a friendly, sociable girl and Hachiman's classmate. From there, the series follows one year of these three teenagers' lives, as they gradually get to know each other and their schoolmates, while also helping them with any problems they may have (or at least trying to).

One thing you'll quickly notice is that the series rarely goes out of its way to explain anything, with character's personalities frequently being shown via expression rather than dialogue and the exposition pretty much never being obvious. While there is plenty of dialogue, the series also has a lot of lines that seem honest and deep, but are really just ways to highlight characters' major personality flaws. No better is this shown than with Hachiman himself, given that the story is told from his point-of-view, meaning it's up to us to figure out which of the things he says are true and which are just his own biases. However, while the series is never boring, it does have some minor pacing problems at times, with the first season following a generally episodic structure with little story progression and the third season having a single, long story arc that feels like it goes on for a few episodes longer than it needs to. The second season, however, has no such problems, having both multiple arcs and plenty of progression, as well as a ton of character development for each of our main characters and many of the supporting ones too.

As a whole, the story is just fantastic, particularly in how it shows that cynicism will only make you even worse off in the long run. I tell you what, if "Evangelion" wasn't enough proof of where the "never be hurt again" approach to life will get you, this series definitely is. Initially, Hachiman's methods to solving problems almost always have him play the role of a villain, often ending in others hating him while the people around him get closer, which he doesn't care about since he's used to being an outcast anyway, and it doesn't hurt him to know that others hate him- if anything, he welcomes it. Overtime, however, not only does he realise that other people care if he gets hurt even if he doesn't, but he's forced to face the fact that his solutions to problems really aren't solutions at all, since he's only concerned with making the immediate issue go away with zero concern for the bigger picture. It doesn't help that his methods generally involve him stepping in to solve a matter personally, which goes against the very philosophy the Service Club was founded upon i.e. lending a helping hand and getting people to solve their own problems. At its core, the story is about one boy's journey to finally gaining what he had long thought didn't exist, a seemingly simple concept that is nevertheless executed in a way that is extremely touching, complex and compelling, culminating in a very rewarding conclusion.

Art & Animation (8.5/10):
"Oregairu"'s visuals evolve a lot as the series goes on. The first season, animated by Brain's Base, looks pretty average, with the character models being rather lumpy and rough-looking, the environments being not much to look at and the animations being pretty weak as well. Starting with season 2, however, Feel takes over as the animation studio, and the visuals improve in just about every aspect, from the character models and environments being much smoother and more detailed, the animations being much more fluid and there being plenty of great lighting effects, which come in handy during one particularly memorable scene. I don't know exactly what led to the change in studio between seasons, but I can certainly say it was a change that was very much for the better.

Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10):
The music in general is decent, though there aren't really any tracks that I found myself looking up after hearing them. Throughout the three seasons, there are three openings (all of which are sung by Nagi Yanagi) and three ending themes (all of which are sung by Yukino and Yui's VAs, Saori Hayami and Nao Toyama), and all of them are worth listening to, though none of them are ones I would rank among my favourites. The voice acting is very good in both Japanese and English, though some performances are better than others; of the main cast, I would say that Takuya Eguchi and Adam Gibbs do equally good jobs as Hachiman, Saori Hayami does a better job at voicing Yukino than Melissa Molano and Cat Thomas makes for a better Yui than Nao Toyama. Beyond that, both versions of the show feature a fair amount of great talents including Ryoya Yuzuki, Mikako Komatsu, Takashi Kondo, Ayane Sakura, Scott Gibbs, Luci Christian and even Monica Rial. Overall, the sound design is very good, but not particularly outstanding.

Characters (8.5/10):
It's obvious from the very first episode that Hachiman is a very flawed character, but that's precisely what makes him so compelling, more so than any other character in the series. We've all heard the phrase "be yourself" and there's nothing wrong with that. However, Hachiman is an example of what happens when someone takes the phrase a little TOO literally. He's resigned himself to being a cynical loner because he's convinced that's the kind of person he is, and sees no use in trying to be somebody he's not. Even early on, however, it's made apparent that he can't keep living the way he is forever, with just about everyone being annoyed, disgusted or disturbed (in most cases, some combination of the three) by his cynicism and senseless rants about society. Even his sister Komachi, who on the surface seems to be the only person Hachiman has a perfectly stable relationship with, is in her own way just as put off by his attitude as anyone else in the series, even admitting to the man himself that if she weren't related to him, she'd avoid him like the plague. His cynicism also hinders his ability to solve problems effectively, as he tends to approach them based on his own past experiences (unknowingly projecting himself onto others in the process) and, due to his lack of faith in human growth, tends to focus on making a problem go away altogether rather than actually improving the people around him. Deep down, Hachiman is well aware that he has issues, but just thinks it's too much of a hassle to actually do anything about them, which so happens to be exactly what I was like when I was his age. Eventually, however, Hachiman grows to realise that he wants to have genuine bonds with others, becoming more open to change and learning a lot of valuable lessons, most significantly that there's often a big difference between what someone wants and what's actually best for them. Essentially, "Oregairu" is all about Hachiman's growth from a guy you would hate to meet in real life, to someone you can easily relate to, to a thoroughly likeable and decent human being.

While Hachiman is my favourite character overall, Yukino Yukinoshita is easily second best, being very similar to him in some ways and the opposite of him in others. Unlike Hachiman, Yukino is very popular in school and works very hard, though it's soon revealed that she doesn't have any real friends, at least until she befriends Yui early in the series. While Hachiman believes that people don't actually change, Yukino believes that they not only can change, but should change, even making it clear early on that the Service Club's purpose isn't to solve people's problems, but to get them to solve their own problems. This belief stems from a history of being bullied by envious girls who resented her superiority, and would rather drag her down to their level instead of making an effort to better themselves. That she sees the ugliness in the world yet makes an effort to do something about it is certainly a quality to be respected, and her problem-solving methods do prove to be more beneficial than Hachiman's in the long term. That's not to say she's always right, of course. Indeed, in some ways, her own worldview is just as warped and messed-up as Hachiman's. For example, in the first episode, she claims that taking solace in trying your hardest at something even if you fail is nothing more than "a shallow sense of self-satisfaction". This in turn provides early, valuable insight into Yukino's pride, which proves to be her greatest flaw, since for all the lengths she goes to to help others, she has great trouble accepting help in return, which causes serious friction between the Service Club members on a couple of occasions. While she claims early on that it's impossible for her and Hachiman to be friends, by season 2 there's no denying that she cares a lot for him and can't stand to see him degrade himself for no good reason, and she's a really sweet and warm-hearted girl beneath her cold exterior, though said exterior is pretty much completely gone by the end.

The third and final main character is Yui Yuigahama, Hachiman's classmate who becomes the first client of the Service Club and joins them as their third member soon after. In contrast to both Hachiman and Yukino, Yui is very lively, energetic and optimistic, as well as being way more socially adept, as shown by the fact that she has some friends at the start of the series, though Yukino quickly becomes her best and closest friend. While not a genius like Hachiman and Yukino, she's by no means dumb, and is a lot more emotionally perceptive than the other two, often picking up on things that they miss. While she's something of a doormat in the beginning, being friends with the brutally honest Yukino causes her to become much bolder and more confident, both for better and for worse. As a whole, Yui is just adorable, being really kind and almost always cheerful, which makes the rare moments where she isn't all the more heartbreaking. However, while I do like her a lot (hell, I love her), she ultimately doesn't have nearly as much depth or development as Hachiman or Yukino, and her role as the resident "nice girl" becomes kind of irrelevant in later episodes, since by then it's clear that all the main characters are nice. They just have different ways of showing it.

Beyond the Service Club members, there are plenty of supporting characters, all of whom are more than they seem, though some do tend to get favoured over others. A perfect example of this is Iroha Isshiki, a first-year who is introduced in the second season and from there practically becomes an honorary fourth member of the club with the amount of screentime she gets. While she appears lazy and manipulative at first, she turns out to be a hard worker and very nice person, with Hachiman eventually admitting that his first impression of her was completely wrong. As for the male characters, one example would be Saika Totsuka, a classmate of Hachiman and Yui's who is basically a male version of the latter, and is so cute-looking he could easily be mistaken for a girl (doesn't help that he's a woman in both languages). He's so cute, in fact, that he causes Hachiman to question his sexuality, which makes for some pretty hilarious moments. Another male example is Hayato Hayama, a very popular student and former friend of Yukino, who eventually turns out to have a lot in common with Hachiman of all people. For a non-student example, there's Shizuka Hiratsuka, Hachiman's homeroom teacher and the one who got him to join the Service Club in the first place, who's insecure about being unmarried at her age (which is played for laughs at first, but becomes a more serious topic overtime). There's also the aforementioned Komachi, Yukino's dysfunctional family and a number of other students, but anything about them is best left unsaid.

Enjoyment (8/10):
While the anime starts off lighthearted enough, it really doesn't take long to get to the heavy stuff. It's practically an unwritten rule that a wedge has to be driven between the Service Club members at least once per season, and just when it seems like they've sorted things out, something else happens that drives them apart even further than before. It gets to the point where the title "My Teen Romantic Drama SNAFU" would be more appropriate, as by the mid-point of season 2 there's almost no comedy to speak of, and the humour that is there tends to be very dry. Even so, the series rewards viewers who are able to handle such things, and does manage to end on a mostly happy note.

Overall:
In spite of all that it is, "Oregariu"'s ultimate message is that pessimism never did and never will help anyone, and you can't let yourself be defined by the worst parts of your life. While it may not be the best slice-of-life anime ever, a truly involving story, deep, complex characters, good music and great visuals makes this a series well worth watching for those willing to see it through, or for those who simply want a twist on the typical school life drama.

Score:
9+8.5+8.5+8.5+8=42.5/50=8.5/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 2, 2023

Justykanna

Mixed Feelings

I finally got around to trying My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU after multiple people recommended it to me. I’m not entirely sure I understand the hype yet, but there are definitely some strong points to be found here.

Story & Characters: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU starts us out with Hachiman Hikigaya, an apathetic student who never shows his emotions, writes an essay at school that essentially mocks social norms. His teacher gets enraged by this and forces him to join the school’s Service Club, a club that aims to help students reach their goals. When he gets there, he meets Yukino Yukinoshita ... who shows just about as much emotion – though she lets her intentions be well known. It’s not much of a storyline, but the trouble they get themselves into leads to some pretty magical plotlines.

Hachiman is a really hard character to get attached to, at least to start. He doesn’t care about a thing and has such a dry personality. That being said, he has some very impressive thoughts about social norms. While this is all and good, he monologues entire way too much. We’re talking more than we’ve seen in something like Your Lie in April. It’s excessive and makes the series feel way slower than it actually is. He does go through some impressive development as the series carries on though. This is in part to Yukino, who, while also kind of dry, is much more of a do-er than anyone else. She has a strong work ethic, even though she has some details about her family that she’d rather not get out in the public. She acts like she hates everyone while, to herself, seems rather caring. This is an anime trope that’s sadly pretty common and really grinds on me. Yui Yuigahama joins the Service Club a little later on and gets heavily involved with the plot. She’s probably my favourite character here, as she has a much more outward attitude that helps bring out Hachiman and Yukino’s personality much more. She’s straight forward and tries her best, someone I’ll be rooting for if she continues to be involved in the story going forward.

Side characters are a mixed bag. Komachi is Hachiman’s sister and like Yui, is way more outgoing. She’s a fun character to watch. Saika, despite being male, has a remarkably feminine personality. There’s a lot of jokes around this and after the first time, they really didn’t hit for me. Hayato and Yoshiteru are seen sporadically and are also included for a bit of comic relief. They’re fine, but nothing special. Hina is another classmate that is seen every now and then, has a bit of a confusing personality, but she had some great moments – mostly with regards to watching the boys being in close proximity to each other.

Predictably, the plot centres around the Service Club going through their various requests – some more wider scale than others. The really strong thing that holds the plot together is the ability for our main trio to solve problems in a bit of a roundabout way. The best example of this is when Hachiman helps out Minami at the tail end of the cultural festival. Sure, it’s not conventional, and may come back to bite him, but did it help solve the problem? Yes. It keeps the series unpredictable, something that a lot of romantic school anime has issues with sometimes.

The messages that this series brings are really strong, many of which are free of any kind of malice or ill-intent. It fosters students being much strong together, than apart, and to always try and seek help from your friends if you feel you can’t achieve what you’re after if you’re alone. This is solid, though I wasn’t always on board with the execution. Sometimes it just didn’t feel impactful, even if they went for more unconventional methods.

The best moments are when the characters are all on their own, or at least without multiple other characters are in the vicinity. There are some really good character interactions and moments that are really light and are basically the reason that I like the genre so much. I wish there was more of it, but it makes sense why there’s not more. After all, there are two other seasons after this. You do have some inkling about where the story could go, but I’ll be prepared to be wrong. (Story: 7/10, Characters: 6/10)

Art: Brain’s Base is not a studio I’m familiar with, as this is literally my first viewing of their work, but it looks fine all-around. There are some moments where the camera zooms in on a strange angle and it makes the rest of the shot look a little wonky, but you really don’t need over-the-top animation for this kind of series. It’s passable, and fine for the most part. (7/10)

Sound: Similarly, the OST also doesn’t need to be terribly impressive and it was also fine here. Nagi Yanagi seems to do the OP for all three seasons in the series and she’s a good choice – her voice lends very well to the light mood that this series keeps. The ED, Hello Alone, was fine, but not terribly impressive. It’s sung by Yukino and Yui’s Japanese VAs. Voice work was unsurprisingly strong, as any work ADR directed by John Swasey tends to be very strong. Adam Gibbs (Hachiman) isn’t someone I’m terribly attached to, but he seemed solid, even if his character’s a bit flat. Cat Thomas (Yui) was likely the best of the crew, bringing life to Yui’s outward attitude. Andrew Love (Yoshiteru) always makes me laugh in these roles and Natalie Rial (Hina) was equally strong. Melisaa Molano (Yukino) was fine, but seemed awkward at a few moments. (8/10)

Overall: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU has some sections where you can see a strong story starting to blossom, but the lack of multiple exciting plotpoints, along with some subpart characters really doesn’t make me jump out of my seat. I heard it gets significantly better, so that’s an encouraging thought for someone always seeking more in this genre. (7/10)

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 15, 2024

BlackCrowGrows

Not Recommended

"My teen RomCom Snafu" says the title. Well, where the fuck is it then?!? This show is a disgrace to the RomCom genre!

Well, first off, there is no romance or comedy in this show. No, like for real the title of this show is a bunch of bullshit to bait you to watch a 13 episode trash with having no goal or objective in its plot. There isn't even a plot. There are just lifeless characters hovering around the map trying to force meaningless conversations with the most boring ass topics and thinking as if they are making some progress in the story. Pathetic honestly ... how the producers thought that this is even a least bit of entertaining. This is nothing more than some "not so funny business" if it was made into an anime. This is the most overrated anime I've ever seen.

Apart from the characters and the story being a bunch of baloney, the art and the animation really sucks as well! Its like I'm watching fucking tetris turned into an anime. Its absolutely horrible, everthing looks so dogshit. Having no plot or premise aside this show has some weak drama which looks so forced and cringy that only a robot can think of it as any good.

The only plus points might be the voice acting and the op and ed which I quite liked. Not sure if everyone would have the same opinion as I am an osu player. I am pretty sure that viewers rated this based of the "waifu" priviliges on yukinon cuz this is just garbage otherwise.

Peace.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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