Some anime have a main character that starts out completely ordinary and throughout the show shows that he is anything but. Other anime have a main character with something different about him that sets him aside from everyone else, this is the type of main character found in yahari ore. The only problem I have with anime that contain these types of main characters is that they usually cause the characters' special trait to seem like an after thought that was tossed in to spice up a story that mirrors every other generic plot found in whatever genre it is ( in this case romantic comedy). As I delved further into yahari ore I was surprised to discover that this anime was a diamond in the rough, it doesn't have a generic plot and it does everything right.
The first aspect of yahari ore that makes it stand out is as mentioned, the main character's special trait, he voluntarily isolates himself from everyone because he believes they are not truly happy and are only conforming to what is considered "normal" in hope of becoming happy. This sounds very harsh at first, especially the way it is presented, we are lead to believe that hikigaya is wrong and that we will see his views change over the course of the anime. Before I mentioned that some anime make the MC's special trait seem like an after thought, in yahari ore this trait is made the main theme of the anime and a majority of the plot revolves around it, as it should. Hikigaya sticks to his views throughout the anime and continually makes very valid arguments on why he is the way he is, he doesn't hate himself and never apologizes doing what he does. All in all he is a very solid main character that remains consistent throughout the show, he understands himself better than most people and he is very interesting to watch.
Next I'd like to focus on how the plot follows a realistic order and stays away from arcs. Many romantic comedies get too eager to put the romance in and practically come out and say who the MC will end up with. In the first few episodes it will get to the point where they would be dating but a series of ridiculous events keeps them from doing so. In yahari ore we have 2 main love interests (3 if you count saika) and at the end of episode 13 the romance remains subtle and who hikigaya will end up with is still unclear. He's been on a "date" with both girls and they both have forces driving them towards dating hikigaya. Yukino is a fellow loner, she gives out subtle tsundere vibes but it is unclear if she likes hikigaya (if she does she probably doesn't fully recognize it yet) or that is her true personality, and she has a sister that is pushing the two to date. Yui already shows signs of liking hikiaya and is taking the initiative when it comes to going on dates, the only thing holding her back is that she won't confess. The direction the story is going in is unclear which makes it interesting, we don't know where it's going but we want to.
I said the story stays away from arcs, which is a quality I have come to appreciate in anime. I dislike painfully clear arcs because it feels like the story is being written with 1 challenge being overcome at a time and that is unrealistic. Life throws multiple challenges at people at all different times, it won't wait for you to overcome one challenge before it throws another at you. Some challenges never go away and remain constant while others may pop up repeatedly. The only arcs in the story are the requests the club helps with, but while they work on the requests the main problems in the story continue to develop. We want to know more about the accident hikigaya was in, we want to know who hikigaya will go out with, and we want to know more about the main characters, throughout the show we learn more about these things but they continue to raise more questions and cause more problems.
The last thing I want to point out about this anime is that is doesn't rely on cheap overused tricks for the comedy aspects. One of the funniest parts of the show are the scenes with saika totsuka who is a guy that looks and talks like a girl, it is something you don't see in too many romcoms and is pulled off very well. The anime also ridicules the whole romcom genre by pointing out that whats going on is the opposite of what would be happening in a typical romcom. Then when it comes to romance aspects it remains subtle and slow. The writter isn't afraid of putting more than just romance and comedy into the story, the plot is important and the characters are well developed.
If you enjoy romantic comedies but are tired of cliche's than I would definitely recommend this anime. I personally will start reading the light novels since they are further ahead story-wise. This anime is a romantic comedy done right and has unique aspects they aren't afraid to highlight.
