AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I haven't put out a review for some time so I guess I'm glad to be back. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru (aka Oregairu) was an anime that was recommended to me as one of 2013's better romance/comedy/slice of life genre. Of course, I was instantly turned off just by the genre, but I've caught up with my weekly animes so I took my chance to run with it. First, I browsed through the reviews which were filled with praise as being a very clever, comedic anime about life, youth, and pessimistic analysis of high school life. Sounds enticing. Since I've just finished the anime, I will attempt to analyze this anime and give you the reason why it deserved the rating.
STORY (6/10):
Being a greenhorn to romcom/slice of life animes, I've come to a point where I will predict a vague, boring storyline, as the genre tends to stray far away from it. Actually, I was quite surprised how unpredictable it was. But that doesn't mean it will be a good storyline. In fact, due to its confusing and sudden change in character development, do we have a mess of an anime like Oregairu. Let's elaborate. At first, we see a underdeveloped and a quite negative character brooding in the shadows that defines high school as despicable and fake. With such a perverse attitude, his teacher introduces him to the Volunteer Club which only consist of another anti-social, in order to straighten his behavior. Hilarity ensues as the two students that refuses any social interaction, work together to help their fellow peers with issue that are questionable, and sometimes, completely unrelated to the plot. Another character decide to join in the fun and also becomes part of the club. The anime focuses on the trio as they live out their boring, lonely, and quite depressing lives as high school students. But wait a minute...when did the characters change their personalities so suddenly? What was the intervention? The cause and effect? During most of the anime, we see our main hero whining about how he's against society, then spontaneously, he has a change of heart in his own philosophy. Our main heroine(s) never get any chance to enhance their development until the last couple of episodes. It feels like the characters are doing whatever they want as the audiences sits there, thinking to themselves: I thought this was an anime about growing up so why is it so stagnant? In addition, the social and psychological concept behind the main character is quite elementary, nevertheless challenging. Social psychology? Nay, we are dealing with a self-conscious high school brat who decided to put walls around himself because of a few bad experiences.
Art (7/10):
Coming from Brains Base, whose producers have created imaginative animations in the past, the background and character designs are impressive. Each character has their own unique characteristics and it's not hard to tell who's who. But I can't ignore the obvious laziness within the drawings in some scenes that do require the extra-boost.
And their noses. No matter how detailed the creators have tried to make for each character, EVERYBODY HAS THE SAME, NON-EXISTING, FLAT NOSE.
SOUND (6/10):
"Yukitoki" by Yagi Yanagi is the OP and the EP is "Hello Alone" by Saori Hayami and Nao Tōyama. Both songs have a J-pop feel which is fluffy and positive. But to tell you the truth, I've heard them from the first episode and since then, I've just skipped them and went straight to the show. The vibes were not tantalizing enough for me to sit there and listen to the whole song(s).
CHARACTERS (7/10):
As many romcom/slice of life animes should provide, the characters are the most outstanding and prevalent. But with so many characters introduced in the anime, it was quite hard to really follow through which character development was the most powerful. I've sat and meditated on the characters and I've come to realize that within Oregairu, all of the characters are quite stationary, to the point where I question the past reviewers how they managed to give this anime a "10" or a "9". I will focus on the trios, as they are the main characters in the anime.
Hachiman Hikigaya is the ultra-straight man with a pessimistic personality. His aptitude as a social outcast allows him to be a cowardice figure that can only be pitied...so why is he complaining when his peers do? He loves to fly solo, bragging about his spirit animal: the bear, a solitary animal within the animal kingdom. He justifies his actions as someone who refuses to function in a society that wears masks, when in reality, his real intentions lie in helping others. Sorry, Hachiman: you can't help others if you can't help yourself. I just destroyed your flawed logic. At first, I was quite fond of his character, as he reflected me while I was in high school. But then, looking at him only reminded of how I acted and began to annoy me to a great extent. I really wanted to punch Hachiman (me) in the face. You see, I've been in Hachiman's shoes, literally. But as I grew older, I've learned that if you act in such a manner, you are not only destroying the relationships around you, but you're also destroying yourself. It is impossible for humans to survive alone. But to have sparked such a realization and emotion towards the audience, Hachiman can or cannot be one's favorite character in the anime.
Yukino Yukinoshita is our "Ice Queen" and the condescending beautiful tsundere. Quick with the tongue, Yukino's dialogue between Hachiman has a few hilarious moments, although the jokes quickly grows stale by each passing episode. Her personality is quite easy to identify: a self-conscious girl who has a inferiority complex and believes in hard work, rather than raw talent. Though I beg to differ, as Yukino seems to excel on everything that gets in her way. Many of her interpersonal problems syncs with Hachiman though she changes herself for the better. In my opinion, Yukino's character development was the strongest as her complex was triggered within her family, but gradually learns how to depend on others to solve her problems.
Yui Yuigahama is our typical fluffy, energetic heroine that annoyed me ever since she was introduced. Slow-witted and the clown of the trio, Yui is usually left out in the cold whenever Hachiman and Yukino battle out with words. Thinking carefully, Yui is the borderline between Yukino and Hachiman, the one who rides the fence. While assimilating into society, Yui is attracted by the solitude that her friends (?) share, as she gains more affection and trust from them. Ultimately, Yui is a third-party character that attempts to wiggle her way in a world (the loner world...) where they won't accept her.
OVERALL (6/10):
I'm serious. This anime is not a head-turner at all, and I could not make myself more clear. I flew past the episodes, surviving off the comedic standoffs alone. If the comedy was not there, I would not have recommended this anime since most of the characters have a strange knack for clinging onto cliches. The supporting characters do not reinforce the characters whatsoever, and I felt like I was watching a rip-off of the popular anime, "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". If you really want to know what this anime is about, I suggest you recall your high school days and think about those social outcast, who thought that the world was against them. Now imagine their pea-sized brains that cannot comprehend macro-societal issues and then imagine whining about how life sucks. Now proceed to the watch the anime. Maybe it will spice up the comedy effect. And to the person who recommended me this anime: "Ehh..."
