Speaking of overthinking, let's talk about the dialouge. Many criticize this anime for trying to be "deep" and ending up pretentious, and I think this is the fault of the dialouge. It's incredibly circuitous, and gets very convoluted and difficult to understand. It makes even the simplest of plot developments seem way more complicated than they actually are, which kills forward momentum. This is very hard to describe, so suffice to say it is not good.
Next, the characters, the major focus of the show. A lot of characters seemed like they were more important than they were, especially Hayato's group. They just kind of exsisted, occasionaly introduced conflict or helped resolve something, but really just were there to support our little bubble and that was it. Komachi and Iroha, and the teacher were fun exceptions; they had a plethora of good moments with our main character, both in the comedic sense and in furthering his development. They felt like they actually did something, like they had real goals and feelings. But that's too positive, so let's talk about Yukinoshita (Yuki). I have an intense dislike for Yuki in that she is one of the three characters in the "bubble," one of the characters with whom the entire story is centered around, and it feels like she goes nowhere. We are presented at the beginning with some character problems: she's indecisive, she's not super into other people, and her family relationships aren't the best. And at the end, those problems are resolved somehow, yet we don't really get to see moments where she develops to get to that resolution. There's the far too rare moment for the other two, but indescisiveness in particular just kinda dissapears. She doesn't have a strong personality or a lot of good interactions on her own, and the romance just comes outta nowhere. Yuigahama (Yui) on the other hand, was much better, even if she was somewhat tropey at times. She has clear motivations throughout, which make her way more fun to watch. The main character worked very well too, as he both had active and reactive moments that strongly developed his character.
The greatest strength of this show is when its leads all communicate with one another. This was true in season 2 when our main character confessed to wanting something genuine, and it's true when Hachiman and Yuki resolve how they will work on the prom. The drama is the part of the show that really makes it worth watching, as they interact meaninfully with one another and have takeaways from those moments. This is why season 1 was the worst of the lot--it was all slice-of-life and settup, without the drama that makes this show work.
Oregairu was not exactly fun to watch, but I wasn't tearing my hair out in frustration or boredom. It had value and meaning, it just couldn't hold onto that excellency for very long. It is a show I was fundementally incapable of understanding, and had to have explained to me to really appereciate anything that was done or said. As a result, I come out feeling somewhat disapointed and unsatisfied, but glad, at least, that I got the chance to make the journey.
