Story Writing
From reading around, viewers of this show typically fall into two categories, those who see Hachiman Hikigaya as the hero of all lonely teenage boys and those who see him as nothing more than the glorification of edgelords. I don't think either of these interpretations are what the author intends for.
Hachiman serves to demonstrate the absurdity of the mindset that many young boys today adopt. Whilst I would not call Hachiman an ‘incel’, many young boys who might be labeled as such, likely shared a very similar mindset to Hachiman at one point in life. You are not meant to like Hachiman; you are not supposed to idolise him nor are you supposed to sympathise with him. I feel that many viewers have completely missed this. In my opinion, it is made obvious through how the show puts Hachiman at the butt of all jokes and insults. Though his methods are effective at achieving the goals he is set by others, he personally circles the drain time and time again, always ending up as the loser in whatever situation he finds himself in. It could not be clearer that the show does not promote or endorse the methods or mindset of Hachiman. It is actively trying to demonstrate that his attitude is futile, immature and that his refusal to acknowledge his own faults is the reason he is stuck in this cycle of humiliation. It’s too presumptuous to say that the writer may have once held this mindset himself, but it certainly feels that the message he is trying to convey to his viewer is “Hachiman’s way of thinking is wrong, don’t be like Hachiman”.
I said that I think the way most people interpret this show isn’t what the author intended, so it might logically follow that the author did a poor job of conveying his message. I would disagree. I have my theories on why so many people interpret the show the way they do, but won’t expand on these here at the risk of digressing severely. Suffice to say that I do not believe it to be the result of poor writing on the authors part.
While I think this demonstration is worthwhile, the story writing overall is not particularly strong. The setting is cliché, the forcing of Hachiman into a club and the willingness of the female leads to deal with him requires some suspension of disbelief. Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 5 are the biggest culprits, as all of the scenarios that play out here feel not only contrived and ridiculous, but boring. Beyond this, the writing of the mini-arcs that make up the second half of the show is passable. Each follows a path that feels believable enough, while being considerably more interesting than the first half, even if how Hachiman finds himself in each of these situations still feels contrived.
The show leans on the typical clichés of the swim suit episode, the fireworks episode etc. which is eye-rollingly disappointing. I have seen the show criticised for a lack of story progression. I acknowledge that the ‘story’ does not effectively progress over the 13 episodes. I feel that this is a direct and intentional result of the nature of characters we are dealing with, those who are so deeply ingrained in their own shortcoming that they cannot effectively grow or advance, rather than a writing gaffe as others have interpreted it. I’ll touch on this again later. One element I found particularly painful, was the 'secret' shared history of the main trio, which feels totally contrived and included solely to make you believe these 3 would hang out together. What baffles me is how late this is revealed, as you are already required to suspend your disbelief in episode 1, so the effects of this inclusion are too late in the game to mitigate this suspension of disbelief.
Character Writing
The overall cast does not feel particularly strong to me. There are plenty of characters that just don’t stand up on their own, characters like Zaimokuza and Saika are just cliché gimmicks inserted into the show to tick boxes. Even from the main cast, Yui and Yukinoshita are not very interesting alone.
The obvious standout is Hachiman. A cynical, bitter young man who is simultaneously highly aware of the social dynamics and behaviours of his peers and utterly blind to their personal feelings. A walking contradiction, Hachiman projects an outward image of satisfaction with the way that he is, while internally viewing himself as beneath others and unworthy of their concern. Hachiman is a wounded, flawed human, who believes himself to beyond redemption and that his best course of action is to isolate himself from society. Yet the way he willingly throws himself under the bus for the benefit of others, betrays his longing to be valued and appreciated.
Whilst I don’t rate the cast overall, I think that the dynamics between the characters are where this show really shines. Hachiman acts as the centre point of these relationships, in spite of his own belief that he is on the outside. How they interact with one another, the way their shortcomings brush up against one another leading to conflicts feels like a genuine representation of high-school teenagers. The show quietly establishes a web of interconnected relationships, even pulling in and involving side characters such as Ebina and Miura, who I really expected to amount to nothing more than background characters based on past experiences with the genre.
These dynamics really lead the events of the whole show, as interactions between characters send ripples through the web that build tension and eventually result in situations where Hachiman resorts to his gross methods of social suicide to resolve the tensions between other characters.
Though I was not impressed by the cast as a whole, I was impressed by the portrayal of the 'popular kids'. Many shows typically portray these characters as unsympathetic, hateful, stupid bullies who behave like Saturday morning Cartoon villains. However Oregairu doesn't resort to that at all, which honestly surprised me. Instead the show paints them as flawed human beings, who are still capable of caring about one another and are smart enough to keep up with Hachiman. This feels like a far more realistic and genuine portrayal of the character type relative to the real world, than the standard Anime approach.
There is not a huge amount of development here, but as I’ve previously explained I believe this to be by design and as a result of the nature of the characters. This is a cast of characters who want to maintain the status quo, some out of a fear of what may happen if they rock the boat, others as a result of deep seeded defensive behaviours.
Art / Animation
There is really not much to say here. The animation is ok to substandard, there are plenty of lingering still frames to go around which can get a little grating. The only positive thing I have to say about the art style is with respect to the main character design. The art style really draws out the ‘lifelessness’ of Hachiman and the ‘dead fish eyes’ comments he receives don’t feel out of place at all. It feels like the entire decision to use this art style was made solely on portraying Hachiman in this fashion. Beyond him, the art style feels generic and uninteresting, characters are constantly drawn off model in wide frames, the backgrounds are dull, the costumes are bland. I could go on but I think I’ve made my views clear enough.
Sound
The OP and ED are catchy enough that I don’t skip them, but once we’re in the show itself, I really couldn’t comment on the OST. I don’t recall a single track or the use of a soundtrack within the show. Utterly forgettable is the only comment I can make on the soundtrack.
The voice acting is decent with a few good performances, but nothing notable enough to specify.
Conclusion
Oregairu is a show that feels simultaneously under and over rated by differing groups of viewers. I feel like the show is too easily dismissed or written off as unoriginal, boring and lacking any value by some and massively over hyped by others who appear to idolise Hachiman and Yukinoshita. By my estimation, this is a decent and worthwhile show, but it has plenty of shortcomings. Overall I would say that I enjoyed it more than it annoyed or bored me, but not by a particularly large margin.
