After watching (and reviewing!) the first 2 seasons of „Oregairu“ i decided to finally finish the series. The first season was a lighthearted comedy with some serious undertone. The second season expanded on that and the final season is now a full on emotional drama with a very surprising ending.
Story – 6/10
Well, the term rom-com is definitely tested in this season. The drama has almost completely taken over and turns the show from a rom-com to a really hard hitting show about friendship, dependency,and helplessness, with some negative consequences. It felt really hard to come back to this series after season two because the roots of certain plotpoints are really hard to pin down. Every character in this show has issues, but the show doesn´t give them enough spotlight to really show their development. Sometimes i felt the show tried so hard to tell it´s message to a point were it feels overbloated and a bit too unrealistic for a highscool setting. I don´t think they portrayed the feelings of a typical highscooler right. If everyone in the show talks and thinks like Franz Kafka, it reads very well, but it doesn´t really represent highscool.
However i think that the topics the show covers are very important, and there is no other anime in which i have seen them. There are also some fantastic scenes throughout the show. The comedic part, although clearly in the background is still really funny and very well written. It kinda makes me wonder how this show would have turned out if they went the same way as something like „Love is War“.
The ending was….very devisive. I kinda get what they are saying, but it just wasn´t satisfying enough. Maybe another, slower paced season or a movie would have been a better way to finish this off.
Art – 8/10
Since studio feel. took over the production of Oregairu, this show has seen some amazing leaps in it´s animation quality. I also feel that there was still a jump up happening between season 2 and 3. The lighting is fantastic and captures the emotional scenes exceptionally well. I also prefer the slicc and fluid character designs by feel. to the more shounen like designs of studio Brainsbase. This is just personal preference though. The opening is animated fantastically and made me think that we REALLY need more anime about dancing.
Sound – 8/10
I think that the soundtrack has received a little buff compared to earlier seasons. Maybe because the emotional tracks hit a bit harder than the standard slice-of-life tracks. Like i said, the opening was fantastic although not as good as the first one. The show makes that up with fantastic piano tracks that you recognize playing throughout the show. Insert songs and of course the great ED also play a big role in the high rating off this section.
Characters – 9/10
The characters themself are still amazing. Hachiman is as unpredictable and insane as ever and delivers some of the most iconic lines of the show. Yui is the best she has ever been. I still think they could have given her a bit more of a sendoff in the final episode but she is still very important to the plot. The „main“ girl of the show Yukino is given the most development here. Like i said in the story-section, i do think it was a bit much for the show to tackle. The side characters were great, especially Isshiki received some needed attention in this season, going from a rather unnoticed side-character to a fan favorite. The best side character in the show is by far Miss Hiratsuka. She is now maybe my favorite teacher in anime and her inspiring teachings are really pushing the main character forward.
Also Yui´s mom > Yui
Enjoyment – 7/10
The ambitious ending, as well as the overbloated plot push this season down a little. But although it was flawed, im really happy to have finished this show. The characters were done really well, something that a lot of modern shows, especially shounen fail to do. I recommend this show to everyone who likes rom-com, drama and slice-of-life.
- Marco_Yooo
FINAL SCORE - 7/10
