I'm going to preface this by saying part of the reason this show is so highly rated by me is because it hits so squarely in my wheelhouse. For those whom this is not the case, i would not blame them for loathing this show. This is a biased, subjective review (as are all reviews).
But still, there's something here. Something strong and weighty and I can't help but keep turning it over and over in my mind because it keeps sticking with me.
The three central protagonists of this show are desperate for intimacy, for a connection, for something real and meaningful, but they're not sure what that means. They're desperate for a connection but they don't know how to say that, and then when there's something there, something real and potentially strong, they are afraid to act and ruin what they have. Or what they think they have. Or what they know they don't have but want to pretend they do.
This show does something incredibly interesting, by acknowledging, through subtext, that each of the characters knows the state of their relationships and what is distancing them. Hikigaya understands, despite his self-loathing and self-doubt, that there's something that Yui feels for him. and that Yukino feels something for him as well. And that he has emotional connections to both of them, and that he can't quite navigate how he feels about he two of them, but there's something there that will inherently change the relationships established in the first season.
Or rather, it already has. A large part of this season is dedicated to the acknowledgement that things are not as they seemed to be in the first season; it's a deconstruction of those relationships and how trying to continue on, maintaining the status quo is false and dishonest. The characters eventually slip back into their mannerisms from the first season- teasing one another, clever word play and insults, but there are these hesitations that make it clear there's something else that needs to be said. Or wants to be said.
This is a show where every character is desperately searching for the words to say something, anything, and half of the meaning is in finding the subtext, recognizing the things they don't say, the things they can't understand.
I'll restrain myself from writing a full essay on relationships and communication; despite my degree, this is not the place for that. Instead, what I'll say is that this show manages to take it's time and explore the ways in which we communicate beyond the verbal, beyond explicit declarations, and the ways that selfishness and kindness can blur into one another.
It's ambitious in its ambiguity, willing to let that be part of its weight. I hope there's a third season, really, I do. But if it were to end here, I think there's something powerful and interesting here.
tl;dr- This is a show that is full of ambiguity, complex relationships, and struggles navigating them and communication. If you're looking for something with a definite ending, with clear final relationships, with a happy ever after, this is not the show for you. If you're looking for something rough and perhaps unpolished but interesting and complicated, this is a show worth looking at. It will give back what you're willing to put into it, even if it won't rest easy in the pit of your stomach.
If the first season was more comparable the less masturbatory, more comedic parts of Bakemonogatari, then this season is closer to the parts lightly brushed on in Bakemonogatari- those rough, complex, and genuine relationships.
It's a 9 out of 10, if we're ascribing numbers to it, but I feel weird doing so; that means nothing to anyone else but myself, and even then, only myself in this precise moment. Take that as you will. If nothing else, I do recommend this show, but I understand if you don't enjoy it. There's a scene that's simply 15 minutes of a single meeting. A lot of times, 'nothing really happens' because all that's happening is people talking. But that's where we see these relationships play out, because it's a show all about talking, and not talking. This is something i loved, but definitely not for everyone.
