Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru

Title:Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru
Hamachi
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
My youth romantic comedy is wrong as I expected.
OreGairu
やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。 (Japanese)
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , ,
Notables: EGUCHI Takuya
HAYAMI Saori
Hikigaya Hachiman is a grumpy male high school student who is sent by his teacher to the school's 'Service' club to be retrained into a more optimistic boy. One of the things that frustrated him was his lack of a love life; but that may be about to change.

[TV series, 2013, 12+1 TV episodes plus 1 OVA episode, 25 min; based on an ongoing Light Novel series for male audience with 9+ volumes since 2011; a second anime season has been green-lit but not yet scheduled; four manga series and a playstation vita game have been created as spin-offs resp. adaptions of this story. See series sequels: Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku and Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru. Kan.]

Note: 'SNAFU' is a WWII era term for 'Situation Normal--All F----d Up'
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 7 7 7 6 8 8 Ggultra2764 [series:2710#1552]
(Buy-/ Rent+)

Not sure what makes this a rom-com considering there's no major romantic developments or implications that take place throughout the course of A Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. I'd more consider this a mix of comedy and social psychology which explores the differing mentalities of high school students having differing social cliques, interactions and expectations that they wish to get out of their years in high school, the latter making for the more interesting bits in this series for me as the comedy is rather hit-or-miss here otherwise. SNAFU's main focus is on a trio of students who make up a school club called the Service Club who provide some sort of aid to members of their school student body. All three are social outcasts in some form due to their mentalities on high school life and/or personal flaws and develop unique chemistry with one another as they better understand one another.

This makes SNAFU unique from other high school rom-coms because it doesn't portray a happy and optimistic feel with its story, make the main characters popular or play up any shipping teases. Relationships with the major characters start off awkward due to their differing mentalities and expectations, yet gradually develop to a point where they would consider each other acquaintances. Differing social cliques are established in the high school setting of the series as well by having several outcasts beyond our three leads, Yui trying to fit in with her group of friends and a few characters shown to be opportunists trying to raise their social standing within the school. Hachiman's character gets prominent focus throughout much of the series as we are shown what led him to adopt his cynical mentality on adolescence and the self-harm he will inflict on his social image in order to mend situations that he and the Service Club become involved in. Much of what SNAFU has to tell on the high school experience isn't explored much in many titles and makes it a nice breath of fresh air in recent years as many high school-themed titles tend to pander to otaku audiences with more conventional premises. About the only issue I have with the approach that SNAFU does with telling its story is that it lacks a proper resolution as the Service Club members have yet to fully establish a close relationship with one another and come to an understanding with their experiences in high school. But I'm sure more of this will be addressed in the show's upcoming second season.

In terms of presentation, there is nothing that really sticks out with SNAFU. Visuals are standard quality with smooth lining and vivid color on character designs, which have a decent amount of detail though not too much out of the ordinary. The soundtrack consists of energetic and light music pieces that do their part at enhancing serious and comical moments within the series, though nothing sticks out too prominently with the music to the series.

Overall, SNAFU made for an engaging watch thanks to its solid and engaging focus on social psychology with its high school aged-characters and setting. I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming second season of this one.

Last updated Friday, July 11 2014. Created Friday, July 11 2014.
Rent 8 8 7 0 8 KBanger1 [series:2710#1694]
Hikigaya Hachiman, a high school student, a loner, and someone completely socially inept is this anime's 'protagonist'. I say that in quotes because if anything he represents himself more like the antagonist of the story. Well, he opens up the anime with a short interlude. In short, it's how he sees his own high school life in which he pretty much says that 'youth' and everything that's related is absolutely fake and how it will fall apart in the end. After that we see that the interlude was an essay that he wrote for his class and that sums up how he sees high school life in general. His teacher, disgusted by his lack of enthusiasm and for a messed up report, made Hachiman join a club called the 'Service' club in which the story really begins.

I find this anime to be really interesting due to Hachiman's character. Indeed, he is a loner...an outcast if you may. He represents everything you don't see in these particular romantic comedies. The side which some may actually find to be factual in a way. He basically has no friends, no social life, and prefers it that way. Everything around him he sees as either a nuisance or extremely fake. Hachiman is basically one step away from becoming a 'neet' (a person who's not in employment, education, or training). His negative outlook on life is basically a reflection of what his life was like before high school. Throughout the series, he basically has a mental disposition for every situation he's in. The thing that I found was that I can actually relate to some of the things he reflects upon. I certainly wasn't like him growing up in high school but some of the things he mentions I can actually relate to. This is why I found this anime to be very interesting, story wise. Outside of that, the other characters do stand out in a way as well. The dark haired girl on the left of the picture is Yukino Yukinoshita, almost like Hachiman socially but a long way from being a neet. She's probably the most outstanding student in her class but like Hachiman, is a social loner. The girl on the right is Yui Yuigahama, a boisterous student who seems to get along with everyone. She does share something with Hachiman that he knows about but doesn't reveal it until later on.

The story itself is good. To see the perspective of a social outcast is quite refreshing. You don't really see that in most RCs because everything starts off on the 'right foot' meaning all positive and stuff. Here we see how one person loathes his situation and it slowly progresses. When I say slowly, I mean to the point where it looks like there is no happy ending. The end of the series does have a realistic ending which I respect. Overall, it's definitely a series to watch. If you get tired of the same old routine with RCs, then give this one a chance. I for one certainly like seeing more of a perspective from an outcast than from a positive atypical protagonist.

Last updated Friday, June 28 2013. Created Friday, June 28 2013.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:2710#628]
(At least four episodes watched):

Lots of talk, but not much laughter. Still, the idea of a teenager show which might actually be about genuine romance rather than fanservice (there is none of that at all) is intriguing. 'Hikki' (as one of the two girls he meets in the Service Club calls him), is no pervert, does not oogle the girls, and doesn't even think falling in love is a possibility for him. At the end of the first episode there is no sign of any of the characters being attracted to another. Apparently a love triangle will develop: there's the black-haired girl who leads the club (were there any members besides her before this episode?), who is a stellar performer in school but remains distant from others (some would say she is outright rude) and tends to keep to herself. She hands out advice but may need some herself. Then there's the orange-haired girl, who is cheerful but needs some self-confidence. At the end of the episode I can't really say that I know any of them very well, but this show seems to be headed in the right direction with likeable characters who think and talk. I think I will watch this.

...or maybe not. After three episodes I see no sign of any interesting longterm plot coming together. Instead, the show seems to consist of shallow one episode plots (like beating a bitchy, stuck-up girl at tennis) without any overall message or character growth. Personality development demands fairly clever dialogue and storylines, and I'm not seeing those. Who cares about this guy's odd attitude towards friendship when nothing is done with it? He complains, but he's basically still a stranger so I'm not concerned. And what's the deal with the gray-haired guy who looks like he's around 60 yet is supposedly a teenager? Although it hasn't offended me, I can only conclude that Yahari isn't worth my precious time. It is simply uninteresting.

Last updated Sunday, June 16 2013. Created Monday, April 15 2013.

Community Anime Reviews

anime mikomi org