Favorite Quote: "It's not empty words I'm after. There was something else I desired all along. Not mutual understanding, friendship, companionship, or anything of the sort. I don't care about being understood. I simply wish to understand. Understand, know, and rest easy in that knowledge, gain some peace of mind. Because not understanding terrifies me. Saying I want to understand everything is extremely self righteous. It's a dictatorial and conceited wish. It's shameless and repulsive. And I'm absolutely disgusted at myself for wanting that. But if we feel the same way, if a relationship exists where we can force that ugly self consciousness upon each other and accept it, I know there's no way that can happen. I realize that's completely out of reach. But still I want something genuine." -Hachiman Hikigaya
This is a long quote I'm sorry about that. As somebody who experienced some of Hachiman's troubles throughout school, this is by far my favorite quote from my all time favorite romcom character. But honestly, it had me in tears. There is so much truth to his speech it's almost scary. In my opinion, what he means is friendships, relationships, and interactions simply out kindness, guilt, or mutual understanding is fake, something that individuals wouldn't initially do if there wasn't some external factor involved. It has to be something that is real, something we always wanted not by maintaining an image, a status quo, or from guilt of any sort. Furthermore, this also gets me thinking about if these relationships between people can truly exist and if Hachiman's way of thinking is without a doubt negative, but scares and pisses everyone of because it's so true to many certain extents. Sorry that was just a few things I thought about after finishing this series. So now let's get into the review without any spoilers.
Story: The story in the Yahari Ore no Seishun Zoku is almost identical with the first season. Not much has changed at all. The writing and the plot are relatively similar. The Service Club still regularly does it's duty by completing other people's requests. However, the only big difference in this is that the plot becomes alot more complex and thought provoking as the series progressed. The writing is done extremely well allowing audiences to be engaged. It never bored me throughout the series. Also, it contributed to the plot by making it very realistic. It also becomes clear that the romance becomes alot more evident as the series progresses.
10/10
Art: There were a few differences in the art. There were obvious minor changes to the character designs of Yukino and Hachiman. Nevertheless, this didn't distract me from enjoying the series. The colors were also still done fantastically.
10/10
Sound: The opening and ending themes were still top notch. Although the opening changed significantly, it still captured the overall mood of the new season.
10/10
Character: The characters in the second season of Yahari Ore no Seishun continued to intrigue me. I mentioned before in my first review that the main character was what set it apart from allot of romantic comedies, but the other characters contributed significantly. Our main character is still very much the same except he begins to open up more than usual. Towards the ending especially. The character development of numerous characters made it very appealing. This is especially true for Yukino whom we see begins to soften up significantly when she is around our main character. In fact, the contribution of new characters also made it feel like a harem, but a completely different kind in its regard. The biggest difference between the "harem" in this season is that the girls, our main character interacts with eventually develop a crush towards him, not immediately like other harem shows do. The second season also brought many other character's life perspectives and love interests to the plot and it was done in such a way that it wasn't overwhelming. It flowed nicely with the story. This second season we also get to see the teacher's point of view as well which is great.
10/10
My Opinion: The return of Batman, the silent protector. I was extremely excited to continue this series. The second season had a more serious sort of feel to it compared to the first season which was something I appreciated. We see a bit more romance in this season and more complex situations. Overall, it is still thought provoking like the first season. At the end of the series it had me wondering who the main character was going to fall for, what is a genuine friendship, bond, interaction, or relationship? The second season of Yahari Ore no Seishun definitely ranks in my top five best anime of all time.
Thank you for reading. Sorry I felt I went too in depth with some of the philosophies that our main character spoke about or was curious about. I hope you guys find the second season as entertaining and thought provoking too! Also, if you guys ask me on my profile I could provide you guys with two reddit links that analyzes the romance throughout the series; I'm always open to discussion about this anime. Once again thank you for reading and hope to see you guys on my next review!
Final Score: 10/10 extremely well done masterpiece