Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO! is the second season of the anime adaptation of the novel series by Wataru Watari. It continues the story of Hachiman Hikigaya, a cynical loner who is forced to join the Volunteer Service Club with the beautiful and cold Yukino Yukinoshita and the cheerful and friendly Yui Yuigahama. Together, they help other students with their problems, while also dealing with their own complicated feelings and relationships.
The second season improves on the first one in many aspects. The animation is more fluid and expressive, the music is more fitting and memorable, and the direction is more impactful and creative. The ... characters also undergo more development and growth, as they face new challenges and conflicts that test their bonds and beliefs. The comedy is still present and hilarious, but the drama is more prominent and emotional, as the stakes are higher and the consequences are more serious.
The second season also explores more themes and issues that are relevant and relatable to the target audience, such as identity, self-worth, expectations, communication, and love. The characters are not perfect, and they make mistakes and hurt each other, but they also learn from their experiences and try to change for the better. The dialogue is witty and realistic, and the interactions are dynamic and engaging. The story is not predictable or cliché, and it keeps the viewers invested and curious.
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO! is a rare example of a sequel that surpasses its predecessor. It is a well-written and well-executed anime that balances humor and drama, and delivers a satisfying and meaningful conclusion to the main arc. It is a must-watch for fans of the genre, and a highly recommended anime for anyone who enjoys a good story with complex and likable characters.

Quite frankly, these teens are really awkward and I just wanna give them all a hug.

As other reviewers have already mentioned, this is not a show that is for everyone, and not everyone is going to understand it (specifically season 2) because it is very cryptic. This is not me trying to say that only some "enlightened" or exclusive population of anime watchers is capable of enjoying this show; quite the opposite actually. SNAFU is for the broken; people who looking back are not satisfied with their past selves or are utterly incompetent at expressing what they are going through.

The 3 main characters are ... frustrating yet endearing for me. Hachiman in particular does things that make you cringe and dislike his style, until you realize that you once acted in similar ways in your youth. Maybe that scenario doesn't pertain to everyone, but the fact remains that he is begrudgingly relatable for many people (specifically young adult males I'd say considering that this is a Seinen). For female viewers, I can imagine a similar scenario when comparing themselves to the 2 main girls and their awkward story lines. Truth is, these three "friends" suck at communicating, yet it is very clear that they appreciate each other's company and don't wish for their time together to end. It doesn't sound like a particularly unique premise, yet somehow it sets itself apart in the way it's delivered.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this show is that it isn't clear who the antagonist is, which in my experience is uncommon for this type of genre. Of course, I have my own ideas as to who it is, however you could make an argument that every character is in some way contradicting themselves and thus impeding the progression of the plot. Sometimes this situation simply means that it is bad writing on the creator's part, but I'll let you decide that for yourself if you decide to watch this.

In summary, this show has me thinking about many things. Some people don't enjoy "thinking" and instead prefer the story or plot to be handed to them. Stories that "show" and don't "tell" often hold more weight, and if you agree then maybe SNAFU can get the same reaction out of you.

After seeing so much hype and praise for this series as a classic of the romantic comedy genre I am still left flabbergasted as to how this consensus came about. Is it from the lens of nostalgia? Is the original light novel significantly better? I don't see that in any of the other reviews so I am genuinely confused. This anime certainly wants people to believe it is a deep and serious show... except once you look beyond the surface level you will find a crumbling foundation built upon boring, unrealistic story arcs, with emotionally crippled characters that would of been better off going to ... therapy to resolve their issues since they still cannot talk through them with each other after 2 seasons.

The entire point of mixing romance and comedy together is to balance each other to improve the experience for the viewer. Comedy can serve as an emotional release valve to the drama of romance and the romantic situations can serve as comedic fodder given the situations the characters will be put in. This is the basic formula for every romcom. Even series that are purely dramatic romance, as opposed to romantic comedies, will add some humor to them for that very same reason. A show doesn't need to be called a comedy to have humor in it. Unfortunately for Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku (SNAFU), this show was both not funny in its humor, AND had zero romantic development for the entire season. Never mind having a balance, this show had neither element at all!

So, what is left in a romantic comedy show that wasn't funny and had basically no romantic development for a SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON? Not much...

Story/Plot - 1

There is no overarching plot beyond what the synopsis states. The 3 main characters are part of a volunteer service club, and the story follows them around as they help with the requests of other people in their school. It can be summarized as an episodic slice of school life. Since it calls itself a romantic comedy there is romantic tension in the show, and it makes it very obvious to the viewer, but this always gets ignored by the MC because if he actually paid as much attention to it as he "reads between the lines" with everything else the show would of ended after the 1st season and you gotta milk that cash cow for everything it's worth! This leaves the audience with little more than unresolved romantic tension and zero romantic development.

My 3 biggest issues with this story are that it is a romcom that I found neither funny, nor romantically interesting, the main character is poorly written, and the requests the group gets are unrealistic in their premise and resolution.

As I stated previously, there is no romantic development, just tension, so there is no character progression with romance. This might of been fine if there was something else going on in the story, but the boring and unrealistic arcs the club takes up just drag things along while we wait for some kind of romance to develop. Beyond the lack of romantic development, the author seems to have basically given up on doing anything more than a little sarcastic humor from the MC and a really dumb running gag with the new character, Iroha. This is actually an improvement from last season, which had such atrociously unfunny comedy that I would of normally dropped it after the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd episodes of the first season were it not for the hype of the series. The biggest offenders last season were Ebina and Yoshiteru. Fortunately, they have transformed into fairly normal characters this season and are no longer eyesores that I want to skip watching entirely.

The author's decision to write a smart MC that is good at reading people continues to be an issue. Hikigaya being good at reading people continues to make no sense in the context of the story. How did the most antisocial character in the show become better at reading people and persuasion than the more socially experienced characters? Magic! You think I'm joking, but that's honestly my best guess. He was terrible at it in middle school, as the show repeatedly demonstrated through flashbacks in the first season, and he is also shown failing at it in high school now too, but through the power of deus ex machina, he is now magically amazing at it! Isn't that how it always works in great story telling? Snarky sarcasm aside, this ruins the story being told, as the basis for resolution for the requests the club gets are based on the MC successfully analyzing social situations and providing a solution for them.

Additionally, the premises and resolutions to the issues presented to the volunteer group have continued to become more unrealistic, much like the last arc in the first season. We get a confession arc between 2 side characters nobody in their right mind cares about. Some more drama about the resolution of the arc between the club members that is apparently impossible for them to talk through because than the drama wouldn't be able to linger on for a major emotional moment later. An arc about the school presidential election in which we have to believe that the only candidate is an unknown underclassman that was put up as a prank (Seriously. Come on!). A short dating arc that I found unrealistic in its execution. The Christmas arc from hell. Lastly, an actually well executed Valentine's Day event.

The recurring family issues in the Yukinoshita family that have been present since season 1 continue to exist, but are never explained. This would of actually been a very interesting story thread to explore throughout the season, but much like all of the other underlying drama, instead of the three main characters talking it out together, it has to be ignored to continue to create friction and drama within their club. C'est la vie.

Art/Animation - 6

I found the art much prettier in this season compared to the first season. The overall production also seemed a step up compared to the first season too.

Sound - 6

The VAs themselves did a decent job with their characters. There is only so much emotional range you can show in a character that is flat or 1 dimensional so the weakness of the characters weakens the VA performances too. This is mostly an issue with the side characters that didn't get any development.

Characters - 5

I was pleasantly surprised to see the side characters level up a bit compared with the first season. Iroha was fairly interesting for a new character. The teacher, Shizuka, stopped hitting/threatening to hit students and served as a good mentor figure to the MC. Komachi remained loveable and Hayato got some screen time to develop a bit. Haruno continued to antagonize things whenever possible, but we still have no idea why. Beyond those side characters, none of the other ones matter.

The 3 main characters experience a little more growth this season compared to the first season, but it is frustratingly slow and remains bogged down by the inability of any of them to speak honestly with each other about anything. I would understand if it was limited to their feelings for each other, as making yourself vulnerable to someone in that way is very scary and difficult to do, but it extends to much less heavier topics which makes most of the drama feel melodramatic to me.

Enjoyment 4

I didn't hate this season as much as the last season. The side characters improved. The main characters were a little more interesting and actually grew some over the course of the season. While the situations that made up the slice of life were largely boring/unrealistic, there was enough there for me to make it through to the end without hate watching it. If the drama didn't feel so melodramatic most of the time the emotional moments would of landed better too.

Going back to my original question of what is left in a romcom show that I found not funny and had no romantic development I am still left with this conclusion: Based on the title of the show, the creator purposefully created a romcom with no romance, while also failing as a comedy, to subvert expectations.

The JoJo metaphor from my season 1 review continues to feel apt. It's as if the author thought up the title first, then decided to create a series based around that subversion, to be different from other series in the genre and stand out. It's like taking the energy from an "It Was Me, Dio!" meme and inserting it into a romcom. Unfortunately for the creator, much like Erina, when I want Jonathan Joestar, and I instead get nothing but Dio Brando the whole time, I'm going to be disappointed, because what I wanted was Jonathan (a good romcom) not Dio (a boring slice of school life that blue balls any romantic development, isn't funny, and feels melodramatic).

I wouldn't recommend this show to anyone that wants romance and comedy in their romcoms, since there essentially is none, so who can I recommend this show to? I'm going to stick with frustrated lonely adolescents that want to feel validated, but if you don't fit that demographic, you will probably feel as disappointed as I continue to be with this series.

Thank you for reading.