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School. What do you think of when you hear that 6 letter word? Some people think it's a place for education to secure a future. Some people think it's a place to hang out, make friends, and enjoy the experiences there. Then, there are some people who absolutely loathe school and think it's like prison, a place for people who are forced to go there because their parents told them something along the line of “it's for your own good!” Well, I'm not sure what category I belong to along those options but for a certain young man by the name of Hikigaya Hachiman, hetakes distortion to a whole new level.
The series is called My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU in English terms. The SNAFU part is an abbreviation for “situation normal: all fucked up”. No, I didn't make that up. On the other hand, the Japanese title is Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru that can also be abbreviated simply as Oregairu for easier writing. Regardless though, the series is adapted from the light novel of the same name written by Wataru Watari.
I have to admit, this series took me by quite a surprise. The first episode took off with a rather blend start from my point of view as the series seemed to follow more of a slice of lifish style of narrative. As mentioned before, the series stars a cynical and anti-social young man by the name of Hachiman Hikigaya. He is in his second year at high school but unlike most people who thinks about sports, girls, or academics, he seemingly rejects reality so much that he wishes his existence was never present. He maintains his life as typical with no friends, associates, or a girlfriend. This could be a understandable given his past with how he is often made fun of by his classmates and peers. Even the teacher never stood up to him when the time calls. Poor kid...
However, this is about to change because Hikigaya meets a girl who by the name of Yukino Yukinoshita. Unlike him, this girl is completely out of his league. (typical for him huh?) Yukino is seen as a girl who is admired for her beauty, academics, but also with a cold personality. Thus, she earns the title of “Ice-cold beauty”. At the same time, she plays the role of the president of a club known as the “service club”, a club created to help others in need. But of course, a club is difficult to run with just two people right? Well, that's where Yuigahama Yui comes in. On a completely obstacle scale, Yui is cheerful and often puts on a smile while enjoying the times of her life at school. Together, these three forms the trio of this series in a romantic comedy that's depicted as a complete “illusion” under Hikigaya's eyes.
In this series, I find perhaps the character interactions to be one of the strongest points of the show. In fact, our three main characters gets seemingly gets off to a rocky start in the beginning. Hikigaya stands isolated at many occasions in events while voicing out thoughts in his own mind. He seems to detest romance and likely reality itself. His 'deadfish eyes' represents a physical side of this because in essence, fishes have no personality. In other words, Hikigaya plays the role of a cynical man. Yukino on to other hand seems to have a similar personality and at the same time often makes sarcastic remarks to Hikigaya's responses. Her way of speech mannerisms shows why she earned the nickname “Ice-cold beauty”. This side of herself is further illustrated through her brutal honesty. In fact, Yukino is someone who goes against lies and speaks the truth at times no matter how forceful it may be. However, Yukino and Hikigaya does occasionally interact in agreement with various people. This usually relates to their 'love life' where the either of them immediately declares themselves as 'nothing more than friends'. Finally, in my view, Yui represents the middle girl of the trio. She is neither cold or cynical. Instead, she is cheerful and often brings a bright smile to the gloom and doom of the club.
The pacing of this series seemingly becomes a problem at first but then, I realized it's not about romance but rather the way these three characters live out their lives through young in their school lives. I'm sure some of us felt this way one point or another in our lives as life seemingly moves way too slow. For Hachiman though, he just wants it to be all over. At the same time however, Hachiman does seem to have some interest in his life. He does seem to find both Yukino and Yui to be attractive in physical terms. However, he doesn't seem to actually want to date them because from his perspective, romance is a false reality; a lie.
The romance in this series is actually presented in a different way; no random fan service or breast groping. Rather, there's more of a slice of life pacing that depicts our three main characters' daily lives around others and around school as well as other places in later episodes. I personally find the romance in this series to be unique and even at times realistic. Although there's some obvious hints, it's rather presented in a conceptual style through its dialogues. Rather, the dialogues of this series also remains one of the strongest points in all of its episodes. Hachiman reflects them in his mind with his thoughts on the world and those around him. At one point, he goes over a long monologues that depicts his way of thinking against a certain type of girl. It's realistic because it can be related to anyone at school. Yes, I do mean ANYONE.
Throughout the series, there's also seemingly development with all three of our characters. Hachiman seems to change outlooks on himself while also influencing others. Yukino's cold heart also seems to melt at various points as she reveals more of her vulnerable self. Additionally, Yui shows more of her fragile self as well. The dynamic trio plays out their roles in a recognizable way that depicts their characters throughout each episode.
Of course, high school always has to drama to complete the formula right? The drama sometimes comes from the trio of our main characters. At other times, they are influenced by outside parties such as Yumiko Miura, a popular student at school. She and Yukino are like oil and water as the two never seems to get along. Among other factors, there's also drama involving Hachiman and his interactions with others that seemingly puts others in an uncomfortable zone. It's a zone of drama and in this series, it's definitely there.
Perhaps one of the strongest points I enjoyed in this series is Hachiman's character. His personality is the type of “I don't give a damn” about anything, whether it's himself, others, or even the world around him. At the same time, he has strong opinions about the world. Like I mentioned before, this is usually expressed through his monologues. They have a reflexive sense of language that is philosophical, deep, but at the same time to the point. It illustrates the fact that Hachiman is cynical and at times even mean as demonstrated in one of the conversations he has with Yui. His view on his family also seems to be indifferent as shown through her interactions with his sister. The way Hachiman describes her as “brat” and “annoying” again reflects his personality. However, I find this to be very well done because it is realistic. It is how siblings act in real life because who am I kidding, no brothers and sisters can get along perfectly. Don't believe me, just take look at Oremio.
Throughout the series, there's also a visual sense on how lonely people behave. The interactions that Hachiman goes through seems to be forced by himself as often or not, he is unwilling to participate unless asked for. Even then, he concedes in a reluctant way. It's not always easy to relate to him but there at many times I find his personality to be refreshing, realistic, and in the way of how his character is portrayed right. He isn't the typical harem protagonist who can't decide on what's right or wrong. Rather, Hachiman is an opinionated young man with his own views on the world. Those views are in the words of his dialogues that makes up the humor and personality of his character. (oh and who am I kidding here, who can ignore those deadfish eyes and antenna like hair?)
The series does fall under some common themes though despite its refreshment. The concept of 'students forming a club' is not a new idea. Anime series such as Medaka Box, Haganai, and Okami-San and Her Seven Companions has this idea of students coming together at school to form a club to help others or for their own purposes. It's been done before. At the same time, there's also the common sister trope used in this series. Furthermore, this series doesn't avoid some fan service or the 'festival' mood. Although the fan service is toned down, it's still there with the swimsuits, cos-play, and even maid outfits. There's even a trap in this series that distract the viewers and who am I kidding, Hachiman as well with his thoughts. The poor kid sees everything as an illusion and almost at times can't tell differences between fiction and reality.
As regarding artwork, this series has some generic visuals. However, I find it to fit within the themes of the series by the way it's drawn to be simple and to the point. The most obvious that stands out is Hachiman and his deadfish eyes. In fact, his eyes are never portrayed as normal but rather as the type that stands out the entire show. Am I surprised? Of course not. It fits him perfectly with his cynical personality. Then, there's cold beauty Yukino who is drawn with electric blue eyes and long hair; a true beauty indeed. It's definitely memorable because of how they look so differently from others in the series. It's also important to note that because of their looks, they are different in general. I felt that the mood of this series was achieved with this portrayal of visual artwork. It sets the realism and style of our main characters that are easy to be told apart. It's appealing and this series pulled it off right. There's no stupid deformed characters or inconsistency. It's down to the point and I'm grateful for that.
The soundtrack of the series has a light touch to its themes. I felt that the voice actors and actresses did an outstanding job with their performances in their roles. Hachiman's tone is completely straight forward with no hesitation on what's on his mind. His monologues are from his personal thoughts and I felt that Eguchi Takuya did a great performance. The cold tone and brutal honesty is also reflected in the voice of Hayami Saori. Finally, Yui's voice actress protrays the cheerful voice to balance out the trio. The atmosphere of the show is lighthearted and thus the OST remains so as well. It's orchestrated with slow pace and connects everything well. There's that sense of realism to go along with it with that pacing and soundtrack makes it match. The OP song, "Yukitoki" by Nagi Yanagi shows montages of the characters and how they come together as the Service Club. Similarly the ED song, “Hello Alone” shows more of a bonding that is memorable at heart.
All in all, My Romantic Comedy SNAFU was a refreshing show for me. It's like taking a deep breath and thinking back about youth and school life. It can also be related to many of us who has gone through the high school years along with those experiences of youth. Whether you were the popular kid, the loner, or somewhere the middle, there's always something you can dig out from this series related to school. The main character Hachiman is one of my favorites from the Spring 2013 lineup with his personality. Whether it's his character, his dialogues, or just himself, I loved the way he is portrayed in this series. Of course, I do feel a bit sorry for him as well at various occasions.
Regardless, this series stands out as something that definitely in my estimation to spent time on. Even if you don't like the idea of the typical school life setting where a group of kids are in a club doing stuff to help others, I think this series right here may change your mind a bit. It may start off slow paced but that's also how life is. For Hachiman, youth is an illusion. For me, this series' illusion is reality that has been quite an enjoyable experience. After all, we all been through youth with a different outlook, no?
