Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.

Alternative Titles

English: My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected

Synonyms: Oregairu, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

Japanese: やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。

Information

Type: Light Novel

Volumes: 18

Chapters: 168

Status: Finished

Published: Mar 18, 2011 to Apr 20, 2021

Genres: Comedy, Romance, School

Authors: Watari, Wataru (Story), Ponkan⑧ (Art)

Serialization: None

Statistics

Score: 8.84¹ (scored by 15,021 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #27²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #175

Members: 56,895

Favorites: 3,653

8.84

Ranked #27Popularity #175Members 56,895

Light NovelWatari, Wataru (Story), Ponkan⑧ (Art)

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Volumes: /18

Chapters: /168

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My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected (light novel)
Volume 1
$7.99

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Synopsis

Hachiman Hikigaya, a student in Soubu High School, is a cynical loner due to his traumatic past experiences in his social life. This eventually led to him developing a set of "dead fish eyes" and a twisted personality similar to that of a petty criminal. Believing that the concept of youth is a lie made up by youngsters who face their failures in denial, he turns in an essay that criticizes this exact mentality of youths. Irritated by the submission, his homeroom teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka forces him to join the Volunteer Service Club—a club that assists students to solve their problems in life, hoping that helping other people would change his personality.

However, Yukino Yukinoshita, the most beautiful girl in school, is surprisingly the sole member of the club and a loner, albeit colder and smarter than Hikigaya. Their club soon expands when Yui Yuigahama joins them after being helped with her plight, and they begin to accept more requests.

With his status quo as a recluse, Hikigaya attempts to solve problems in his own way, but his methods may prove to be a double-edged sword.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. placed first in the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! ranking in the best light novel category in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The series has been published in English as My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected by Yen Press under the Yen On imprint since September 27, 2016.

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Related Manga

Alternative version:	Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.: Monologue, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. @comic
Spin-off:	Yahari 4-koma demo Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.
Adaptation:	Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru., Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. OVA, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku OVA
Sequel:	Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Shin

More characters
Characters

Hikigaya, Hachiman

Main

Yukinoshita, Yukino

Main

Yuigahama, Yui

Main

Isshiki, Iroha

Supporting

Hiratsuka, Shizuka

Supporting

Totsuka, Saika

Supporting

Hikigaya, Komachi

Supporting

Kawasaki, Saki

Supporting

Yukinoshita, Haruno

Supporting

Hayama, Hayato

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Sep 22, 2020

163 of 168 chapters read

Overall Rating: 5

abystoma2 (All reviews)

97 people found this review helpful

I was promised a masterpiece. A novel full of well crafted dialogue and deep story with a social commentary. Needles to say I got none of that.

The whole time while reading this I was waiting for the breaking point, the part when it gets good, the big twist or something, as I couldn't believe this is what the huge amount of people are praising. Yet here we are.

Oregairu is a harem light novel. No matter how much it tries to hide that with pseudointellectual monologuing, it is still a harem LN. Of course, I'm not saying that anything harem is inherently bad (look no further than Monogatari Series or Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), but Oregairu certainly failed to make the genre interesting.

In other reviews, you can see "this isn't your typical romcom novel" being noted a lot. That's a lie. This is your typical romcom novel. The only difference there is that the protagonist is (self)described as a loner and loser. A loner and loser yet he gathers supporting characters around and 2+ girls hinting theirs interest in him (this is a romantic comedy after all). You guessed it, it's just a self-insert character at his core. A character for the unpopular folks to identify with and to fantasize how they'll get surrounded by girls too. And Hachiman is self-insert not only for the reader, but also for the author, as the author himself even mentioned that in the afterword. Everyone else is just a background character for the MC to interact with, really. Yes, even the secondary lead consisting of the two girls. And have I mentioned considerable chunk of the whole content of the novel is the MC fawning over a trap? If that is your thing, good for you, but otherwise be beware you might cringe a lot.

I suspect that the reason for mostly positive reception is that almost nobody who didn't like this from the start is going to stick around to actually finish it. And it is the right decision, there is no improvement or reward for forcing yourself through the novel even though you do not like it. The only reason I haven't dropped this is because of my personal no drop policy, and even then I was tempted to just drop this numerous times. It's not outright awful, but it is boring most of the time.

The social commentary, the bellowed philosophical and psychological aspect of this franchise. It just turns out to be a shallow "people are bad and people in a group are even more bad" rambling. The philosophical level of Oregairu is unironically on par with "We live in a society" memes. It brings nothing new to a table for your understanding of society if you made it through a highschool. As mentioned above, all of this really feels just as an excuse for the reader themselves to feel cool - "Those normies don't even understand how cruel society is", "I'm actually totally smart and capable, I just hide it because I'm a lone wolf", "Girls would totally like me if they got to know me more" etc.

As usual with light novels, unless I'm reading an official translation, I'm unsure if the writing style is a fault of the author or of the fantranslation, but I'll have to make do. The writing is bland and there are almost no descriptions, just a string of dialogue and inner monologue of the protagonist - even more than usual with light novels. Contrary to what their recommendations might try to convince you of, the style is in no way similar to Monogatari series. If anything, it's more Hyouka-tier, and that is no compliment either. Popculture references are sprinkled over the novel in attempt to make it more interesting, yet (especially in the first few volumes) the references follow the pattern of "What am I, X from Y?!" or "I see, you know about X as well". This is not a hyperbole. The beauty of references is that you get them only if you know what it references, this is just smashing them in your face. Thanksfully this reference "humor" is used less in later volumes.

The illustrations are amateurish and unimaginative. It's mostly just the characters, well, standing there. As if to complement to writing, the art style is also bland. And just a little pet peeve and again mostly in the first few novels, the boob physics are hideous and on a level of bad ecchi. Though to be fair after finishing the series I can say that the art actually improved, so at least that's something positive.

Overall, there seems to be a lot of readers enjoying this, so you might very well become one of them. Just be warned that there is a chance you might be unpleasantly surprised.

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Sep 20, 2020

163 of 168 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

cchigu (All reviews)

88 people found this review helpful

"Yeah, I'm being stupid. I know that it's out of question. I know how this will end. I'll be left with nothing. Even so, I want us to think, writhe, struggle... and find... something genuine." - Hikigaya Hachiman

Oregairu is a pilgrimage destination for people who set out to quench their thirst for finding something genuine. It takes its characters, and you, the reader, on a journey to explore the themes of self-realization, inferiority complex, cynicism, and social awkwardness.

The seasons have changed. Compared to my teenage-self, I have gotten better, become more open-minded, met new people, found people that I love, and have stopped hating myself. But one thing that has remained the same, is my love for Oregairu. Its bittersweet aftertaste still lingers. Even though, sadly, I no longer relate to Oregairu.

[Story & Writing] The story and setting of Oregairu is a simplistic high school club-themed slice-of-life, which is good, considering what it is trying to achieve. The story is just a device to dig deep into the psychology of teenagers, in order to explore its themes. Going in expecting a prioritization on romance will disappoint you, but for me, it is the least important aspect of Oregairu.

The novels are written from the main character's point of view so that the readers can see and judge the thought process behind every action he takes. Additionally, Oregairu is written in a roundabout manner, the monologues and the dialogues are all very vague and open-ended which means that the reader is free to form his/her own opinion on them. So even if you think that it is all bullshit, it doesn't mean you are wrong, it just means that Oregairu is just not for you.

That being said, Oregairu did not know where it was headed for the starting 3 volumes, and hence these volumes feel disjointed from the rest of the series. Mind you, they are still entertaining but they certainly lack the true Oregairu essence. Needless to say, they could have easily been compressed.

[Art] In the author's own words-- "The story is penned by the author of the light novels in order to create cute scenes for the illustrator to illustrate". Luckily, Oregairu had the pleasure of being illustrated by Ponkan8 (also drew Shirobako's character designs). Their art kept on improving with each passing volume and is certainly an eye-candy. Although, the last couple of volumes suddenly saw a huge downgrade. I still wonder what happened.

[Character] Oregairu's characters follow the basic archetypes that you will find in similar light novels, but what differentiates them is the layer upon layer of characterization the author has put with each chapter. The way the characters grow throughout the series is nothing but a sight to behold, it is subtle and yet significant enough.

Hikigaya Hachiman is my teenage-self. He is a pessimist, a hypocrite, a coward, an edgelord, cynical, anti-social, and a loner. Until high school, he tried to be a normie but failed. Now, he has completely given up and has ended up deceiving himself in believing that his current self seeks and needs no modifications. He performs actions in a way that, even though produces the outcome, ends up sacrificing himself. He is adamant about not forming new relationships and maintaining the status quo but slowly by slowly, he comes to self-realization that he is the way he is because he is afraid of getting hurt.

Yukinoshita Yukino is another loner teenager, with a lack of self-esteem because of her exceptionally talented elder sister. Even though she herself is talented, she constantly keeps on comparing herself with her sister. She keeps people at bay because of the consequences of her own talents and beauty. Throughout the series, her self-esteem gets hit more and more.

Yuigahama Yui seems to be your typical normie teenager and has developed a crush on the protagonist. The novels do an exceptional job to flesh out her characters by guiding the readers through her actual personality.

Most of the side characters in the novels are given enough screentime and a proper characterization that separates them from the original archetype they were originally based upon.

[Enjoyment] Enjoyment is highly subjective. Personally, I was engrossed enough to devour two novels in a single sitting. Sometimes, the drama can get too heavy but honestly, that is the best part. A warning-- Initial 3 or 4 volumes might give a fake impression of what Oregairu actually is.

Oregairu might not be the greatest fiction on the planet, but for me, it is more than that. Oregairu is an easy recommendation for people who want to dig deep and want something genuine.

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Dec 7, 2020

168 of 168 chapters read

Overall Rating: 6

Loudas (All reviews)

37 people found this review helpful

Upon finishing the series, I found myself disappointed. I've seen enough bad shows, manga, and novels with high commercial success and merit to know that I should never have high expectations regardless of its public rating, so my experience with this novel was genuine - how I feel about this novel is genuine. While reading, there were moments where I was entertained, bored, disappointed, humored, agitated, annoyed - and in the later volumes, it felt I was reading only for the sake of finishing the story. But even with the annoying parts of the story, it sure was a ride. Note that there are spoilers further into the review.

The characters are the most flawed part of the story by far.

Our protagonist, Hachiman Hikigaya, is a character that leaned more on the pessimistic side of philosophy. Anyone who hates society or humans, in general, may have no problem saying he is a relatable character. And although a considerable portion of his philosophy brings justifiable points, a large portion of that comes off as pretentious. And when he does bring up good points, so what? It's nothing more than the basic philosophy we learn in high school. I often hear conversations about how Hikigaya is one of the most relatable characters in anime, but that is to their own subjective opinions where even they are fooling themselves. Hikigaya's character is flawed. His opinions contradict each other when given the situation. His whole character is constructed to appear what the author wants him to be when it only comes off as being, for lack of a better word, edgy. He tears down his image in exchange for nothing for the sake of the people he hates when, in reality, no one in their right mind would do that - a pretentious portrayal of self-sacrifice. His whole character is something no one will ever encounter, but you can find some parts of his character that are relatable to many people in our demographic (Weebs). So if you're reading this with your MyAnimeList account, chances are that you're an introverted otaku with no friends, so you'll probably find Hikigaya relatable - minus two hot girls slowly developing feelings for you.

Jokes aside, I think that Hachiman Hikigaya is the main selling point for this light novel and how it achieved its commercial success. His character as a whole is not relatable and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves. He is not someone who anyone can relate to, but someone who many people want to relate to, whether they're feeling existential angst or going through their edgy teenager phase.

And speaking of those two beautiful women, I feel like they are the most flawed among all the characters. Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita. First, let's talk about Yui. If I can describe her character with one word, it would be "convenient." She feels more like a tool than an actual character. An instrument to keep Hikigaya's and Yukinoshita's relationship from falling apart. She was there just for the sake of having a love triangle. On the other hand, Yukinoshita plays the role of our main heroine. A character so similar to Hikigaya, yet so different. Like our main character, she has no friends, but this time by choice. She was loved throughout the whole school despite her cold attitude towards everyone. A bleak and flat character. And despite receiving almost all of the character development in the story, her character is still flawed. She and Hikigaya, despite being heavily entitled to their ideals, were easily manipulated by a single word. The idea of codependency being a manipulative concept in relationships is completely false. Humans are beings who need others to survive - not only in situations for physical needs but also for mental support. Any human with relationships relies on codependence. The concept should not be villainized because it is the main pillar for supporting any form of relationship, and that is not a bad thing.

There are only three likable characters in my opinion, and one is Totsuka for totally non-gay reasons - I swear I'm straight (But seriously, he is such a lovable character). Next is Hiratsuka sensei who I honestly believe is a great role model. And the last one being Hayama. Now, if you're the majority of people who love Hikigaya's character, you're probably shaking your heads. But Hayama is the best representation in the show not only for a good character of a story but also for a good person in general. He is only disliked because his character is meant to serve as Hikigaya's rival. Possessing ideals and methods opposing the main character's. Wataru Watari put too much weight between Hayama and Hikigaya's relationship to the point where Hayama is villainized. He cares about his friends so much so that he asked help from someone he hates. He didn't reveal what his plans for the future are so his friends can make their own decisions, and Hikigaya tried to ruin that just because of a request.

That's another thing I find flawed about the story - the service club, with a goal or duty to help students with their needs. The idea, in the beginning, was a breath of fresh air. A slice of life where the main character isn't part of a literature club. It was a great idea at first but it started getting out of hand. It was all just simple requests at first but then they started working with the student council. It was all logistics, logistics, and logistics. I could not have imagined that a span of several pages could be filled with vague logistics alone. It was one of the most annoying parts of the story, where instead of the story progressing, we are presented with several pages of useless information. If you were to read the story, I would suggest skipping over these parts as it holds nothing of importance to the story (Except the volume where their school collaborated with another to hold an event, where the logistics are actually an important part of that section of the story). They were working so much with the student council that the possibility proposed by the previous student council president of all three leaving the service club and move to the student council was a more preferable turn, as they still have a duty of attending to the student's needs. And then we get requests that were too personal. This was something more convenient than logical in the story. Normal regulations would cause to disregard personal requests like helping with a confession or finding out what choice someone had for their future even though they have explicitly said they don't want to reveal it. Hikigaya was a reasonable person with intellectual competence, so he should be able to know when a request is getting out of hand. He should know that some of these requests were an invasion of privacy and plain out insensitive. Yet he still went with them. What for? To show the struggles of adolescence? To show that humans don't need anyone's validation to make their own decisions? If so, then the message is exaggerated and poorly executed.

The dialogue and situations in the story felt way too convenient. I know I've been using the word "convenient" a lot in this review, but it is one of the flaws in the story. Instead of being believable or natural, many parts of the story felt like it was just conveniently and weakly planned. All the drama in Orgairu was just the source of miscommunication. The author chooses words for the dialogue to conveniently create misunderstandings and conflicts. There were also times when the conflict came out of nowhere, where no reason was given on why there was stress in the situation (e.g. the reactions when Hikigaya faked a confession).

For clarification, I understand that many things within a story have to hold convenience to devise a plot as what makes a good story good is meticulous planning. Many aspects of Oregairu had devices that only hold importance to a specific subject and not the entirety of the story or part of the story's development.

As I've seen from Wataru Watari's work, he is no doubt a great author, but his mistake was putting too much of himself in his work. Getting attached to your story, especially your characters when writing is common, but sometimes, it can be too much. It is okay to put your feelings into the story but it is also important to not put too much of yourself into it as well. Looking forward to reading more of his works.

I still would like to recommend this light novel to people despite the criticism I gave. The majority of people seemed to like it, and I can see why this is a commercially successful story. So if you like your basic harem but with a little bit of edginess, feel free to give Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru a read.

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Nov 1, 2020

163 of 168 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

Excalibur1702 (All reviews)

11 people found this review helpful

We all yearn for something genuine - relationships, emotions, feelings - but while doing so, we end up creating fakes.
The question that remains is - where is the line separating the genuine from the fake, and who gets to draw it?

Before going any further lemme say this - Oregairu is one of the most emotionally complex, deep, realistic, and thematically well-written story I've ever read.

On the surface, it seems to be a clichéd love-triangle (or even harem) romantic comedy, a stereotype further amplified due to the anime unfairly selling it as a harem-styled story, with skewed focuses on the characters. I expected nothing special when I started watching it, but I found something completely different and wonderful. Neither romance nor comedy is the prime focus here. The story is very deep and well-structured, and deals with themes that I haven't seen explored in any of the anime I've seen or manga / light novel I've read.

Story:

A simple and generic sounding plot it is, but it eventually grows much deeper and more complex. The progression and development of the story is steady and well-paced, things don't feel rushed or drawn out at any point. It has its fair share of anime and weeb-culture tropes, but those are now a part of the aniverse, and do not, in any way, jeopardize the quality of the story.

The most prominent theme here is fake vs genuine, the conflict the characters face when they seek something genuine in their relationships whose foundations themselves are fakes.

Further, questions arise as to what is it that you can call genuine, and what can be branded as fake? who gets to decide what emotions, feelings, ad relationships are fake? This theme is prevalent throughout the story, not only for the main trio's, but for many side-characters' situations as well. The ending (light novel) properly wraps up everything, and is a great thematic conclusion to the story.

Characters:

The characters are the highlight of this show, because they have many layers to them, and are very well written. The character motivations, thoughts, and developments are very well written - sometimes subtle, sometimes drastic, but always beautiful. These developments are in sync with the core theme of the story, which makes them much more endearing to watch.

Popular opinion out there is that this is the one of the most emotionally complex story in the aniverse, something I agree with, compared to others that I've read / watched. What the characters say, what they are thinking, what their motivations are, nothing is presented easily for the viewer to just accept, one has to to put effort into thinking about stuff to understand, comprehend, and appreciate it all.

There are many interpretations that can be drawn of some scenes and conversations, and there is plenty room for misinterpreting stuff, which I've seen many people do. There are also people who didn't understand the depth of this story, which is a possible reason for the relatively low score of the (insufficiently adapted) anime has on MAL, while the light novel is ranked at #15.

Overall, Oregairu has possibly the deepest, most intricate, and beautiful story out of all the anime I've watched or manga / light novels I've read. When reading this, keep in mind not to rush, and not to jump to conclusions. The story and characters have many layers to them, try to think about and understand them. It is a great experience, a very thematically intricate and wonderful story, one with pretty valuable life-lessons and an emotional impact that won't be fading away anytime soon.

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