Last arc ended in the same place as where it started, with a couple of variations. That is to say, the “normal situation” has been maintained, so “nothing changed”. Except that this time Hachiman knows that he messed up, and Yukino actually said so herself, though understanding why was hard until the final scene with Meguri (write-up on episode and breakdown), and the other change is that Hikki is still trying to change, while considering his friends’ feelings.
Incidentally, since I quite like it, here’s my single paragraph summary of OreGairu, specifically S2, and specifically episode 5, which deals with where we’re at, theme-wise:
Hachiman’s mature realization – Since his personality can’t change so rapidly, faced with the same situation, he’d make the same choice every time. It might be wrong, but one does not have a choice when one only has one option they know how to pick. And that’s Hikki’s story in a single line. And trying to grow out of it or dealing with the ramifications is what this show is all about.
Thoughts and Notes:
1) Frozen Smiles, Caving Hearts:
1) Hikki, still sitting far away from the girls, but listening, because he wants to, even if he can’t allow himself to turn his body fully towards them. But he’ll admit it when called on it.”Our frozen daily routine, just like Yukino’s smile, fighting the desire to run away.” – Hikki knows they all would like to be elsewhere. Run away, or run ahead, to progress? He’s aware they’re now maintaining the often loathed “comfortable social lie”. We’re actually spelling out the stuff outlined in episode 3, how “nothing changed, everything’s normal” is a lie – the more actively “normal” things are, the more it hides the realization it’s not.
2) “You’re staring too much,” with that semi-blush, a cute moment. Hikki trying his hardest to understand, and to look at social interactions and compare them to his. Do note, Hikki always spoke badly of those who try to maintain the status quo, when that was all he was doing, and now the group he maligned is organically moving on, with each person doing their own thing.
3) “Feel free to drop by, even if you don’t need anything.” – An answer to Hikki’s question, of why was he looking at this happy group – he wants his own social context filled with people he feels comfortable with. He wants to spend time with people, and is taking to heart that he doesn’t need an external reason to do so, the lesson learned from Komachi’s motivation and Yukino’s failure to communicate her desires.
4) “Let’s go to the club together.” – This small moment ties it all up. I actually thought that Yui came to Hachiman for help, as her second community is also fraying at the edges, as each member asserts their individuality over the communal spirit. But as Totsuka pointed out, she usually doesn’t speak with Hikki in class, which symbolizes both that the glue of the “class-community” is falling apart, and her desire as an individual to save the “club-community,” or to fight for Hikki(‘s happiness).
2) A Fragile Unpeace:
1) This episode is leaning very heavily on eyes and looks thus far, about characters looking at one another. Well, when they can’t speak, but wish to, all they can do is rely on their eyes. That’s part of “can’t make a different choice,” as none of them can bring themselves to speak, but can only blame the others when their unspoken desires aren’t met. Of course they can speak, but they don’t see it. To be a teenager again.Hot damn, seeing Yui steel herself before entering her “comfort zone” to meet with her “friend”, just as Hachiman has done in episode 3, and him being able to see it too. Things are so bad.
2) “We gave it a shot, but it’s not really working out.” A perfect metaphor for this show, and the truth behind relationships. I remember a married friend giving a similar observation, in how keeping the marriage is about putting in the effort to make it work. “We gave it a shot but it didn’t work” is what you say when you don’t really care. You do a lot more than give it a shot otherwise. And no, playing along as if nothing happened isn’t putting in the work, that’d be actually talking it over. Except that hurts, and Hachiman and Yukino’s society of broken hearts is all about avoiding being close enough to get hurt, except that now they are.
3) “So just like old times!…” and that horrified look. Because it’s not old times any longer. Bringing it up might draw attention to that fact. Also, old times weren’t all that hot.
4) This is progress, even if it doesn’t seem that way. Two fronts. First, Hachiman understands that he needs to let people rely on themselves, and succeed or fail by their own hand, or they will not grow and will not learn to work on their own. Of course, it could just be a cover for his natural inclination to sit by, but let’s be optimistic, eh? And more importantly, he realizes he needs to help two groups, and can’t just do it by sacrificing himself. He’s going to have to help one group by leaving the other out of it… by sacrificing himself. Except, he’s not sacrificing himself, he’s offering to help. Baby steps.
3) Iroha’s Reverse-Hachimanism: Plain Old Hikkinism:
1) It’s entertaining to see Hachiman banter with Iroha, because he can’t parse romantic advances, while she parses everything as romantic advances – she’s sort of what he’s afraid of being, except she hasn’t been burnt as he was. Or were she? “Enough with the foxiness already.” – This actually matters. Iroha always keeps up a front. She’s never genuine. Hikki withdrew to hide his true self, while Iroha became sociable, but for the same purpose, and perhaps for the same reasons – were she in fact nominated by 30 people to “soft-bully” her? I do seem to remember that when Hachiman came to her class, she was sitting alone during lunch break.
2) “Perhaps it might be better for us to spend our time without any trouble arising.” – That defeated look on Yukino’s face. “If so, what have we been doing all this time?” – Spending time together. No, the two aren’t mutually exclusive, Hachiman. You helped solve other people’s problems, but the point is that you also built a working relationship with someone. And as you just said previously about the situation with Iroha, what’s good for one party (being helped) might not be good for the other party (helping others at a personal cost).What you’ve been doing is finding an excuse to help others and spend time together. A reason to act. The acts are what mattered, not the excuse that led to them.
3) “How many times do I have to be rejected by her?” – And does he mind? This isn’t where he confesses to a girl and gets rejected, and isn’t the same situation as with Tobe either. It’s just him and her, and her being silly. It feels more like Hikki’s gained another younger sister than him truly getting rejected. He doesn’t mind because he sees no subtext here, as opposed to everything else.
4) Business-Wisdom Stupidity:
Make him shut up. Please.
1) Someone sure read too many “business” books, and sees himself as an adult. How cute(ly annoying).
2) Orimoto, did she come just to say hi because she’s so very social, or did she come hoping to get more laughs out of Hikki, or to see who he came alongside with? Because once she’s seen he’s alone and got her laugh, or finished her pleasantries, she moved on. That laughter though, it seemed like a sort of “social laugh,” one that obviates the need to actually say meaningful and connect with the other. She’s coming off as a mirror to Iroha, who’s using cuteness to keep people from actually seeing her, and Hachiman, who’s using his anti-social nature to keep others away. I mean, after you laugh at nothing, it sort of breaks the discussion and allows you to depart or strike a new conversation.
3) “We need to wear logical thinking hats while adopting a logical mindset.” – Funnily enough, this is exactly the issue – you’re putting on the appearances of thinking and maturity without actually doing it.
4) “Well, I guess they’re talking about pretty complicated stuff,” – No, they’re talking about simple stuff in an overly complicated manner. True understanding is to put something as simply as possible without losing anything. “Well, going “Wow!” or “I’ll do my best too!” seems to be working,” and this is exactly what her cuteness is all about, what Hachiman always speaks against, and what he’s been busy doing – smoothing things over without actually fixing the underlying issues. Yes, he’d get kids to play along by getting them to stop ostracizing someone rather than act as if no one’s ostracized, but he’s not solving why people were ostracized, so it’s just different depths of potato (not a typo, “potay-to”, “potah-to” analogy).
5) The Return of the Cultural Festival Double Ungood Unwork (Go go Doublespeak!):
Unfairness or dressing down in a single shot.
1) “I’m not aware, I’m just self-aware.” – A good line, and of course, a lie. Well, Hikki knows what biases he suffers from, and even recognizes them as biases, he’s just unable to see without them. Then again, who can? He pays attention to everything, it’s true, but filtered through his lens.
2) This is a repeat of the Cultural Festival arc, where the “leader” talks about all the things to do, and then leaves all the actual work for someone else. Except here it’s an entire contingent of people who speak about how important it is to work and think properly, but all they do is talk. And here is the downside to Iroha’s “roll-over tactic”, that she ends up with all of the actual work, which probably includes actually thinking of how to make it work. And Iroha? Her classmates, more specifically.
3) “Will this do?” – “I’ll check.” – This is exactly like the Cultural Festival arc. I take it back, those kids aren’t just aping middle management, they’ve nabbed it perfectly (or at least the stereotype) – you don’t do any of the work, but you get all the accolades when it succeeds, and those you have do all the work for you even have to come and ask you whether it’s fine. You get to lord it over them, you get to tell them whether their work is fine or not without actually doing any yourself. Seriously, Iroha, if you do all the work, you should decide whether it’s good enough or not.At least Iroha knows things aren’t going well, so made a move to help her remedy the situation. Guess that’s something.
4) Iroha, sitting far away from the rest of the council, that’s now how things will “get better eventually,” and another mirror to Hikki in his own club. His job description is to help with the activity with the other high school. His initial reluctance was that Iroha should stand on her own, not rely on him to bail her out each time the Student Council needs something done. This is why his actual job is to get Iroha to work effectively with the rest of the Student Council, so they could solve situations on their own, to solve their own social situation. Of course, he’s the worst man for the job.Also of note, in Hachiman and Iroha’s scene later, Hachiman basically says that Iroha being nice and cheerful is an act, a mask.
5) “I’d like to take this chance for us to really leave a mark,” – by not doing anything, just being there. just like the Cultural Festival arc.”Maybe we did decide on something too minor.” – I mean, why care about how much effort and time something takes, if someone else is going to be doing all the work anyway, right? Right?
6) Growing Past Constraints by Letting Others Work:
Humor as a cover for lack of empathy.
1) “In a brainstorming session, you don’t reject ideas that others bring to the table.” – If your goal is to jerk off, sure, not when you’re actually trying to get things done.”If our constraints limit us, then we move on to discuss how to deal with those constraints.” – That’s fine, but that’s not part of brainstorming, and is exactly the part where you move beyond brainstorming to actively pick something. Except you’ve never brainstormed, this is you picking a solution and going ahead with it, not raising multiple issues. But he does have a point, once you pick something you want to do, you check how to make it a reality, rather than only pick based on what’s already feasible. How else will you change, how else will you make your Club work, when you’re only willing to look by what’s already there, Hachiman?
2) Hachiman bullshitting with the best of them. On one hand, you can’t shoot down one objection and not another just because of how they’re presented, but there is a difference here – Before Hachiman shot down the suggestion for logistical reasons, and here he’s presenting why this solution isn’t one they even want. This is also how you can manipulate a situation to have your own solution accepted – just give all the reasons everyone else’s suggestions are bad ideas.
3) “In order to gain more eyeballs and a clear consensus, we need a partnership where we can transparently crystalize a manifesto…” Ok, now Hachiman is just saying nonsense, lol. Nothing’s clear here, and “more eyeballs” stands in contrast to transparency”. I guess he’s saying they need to agree on the ground rules before inviting more people, maybe?Why would you want to have grade schoolers on board? It’s more work for you, well, for Hachiman’s school. This is the problem with stereotypical “”marketing business direction”” – once they’ve set their mind on something, originally as part of the solution, it’s now become a goal in and of itself. I recommend everyone to watch The Expert (drawing 7 red lines, with blue ink, etc.).
4) Hachiman isn’t doing much. He’s not blaming others this time, to get them to do what needs to be done at a cost to himself, but he should, I don’t know, tell Iroha what she needs to do? Then again, this is the line I expect everyone to say watching this episode, but it’s… nonsense. Iroha knows exactly what the issue is, she just can’t bring herself to actually do what needs to be done. She brought Hachiman along exactly because she wants someone else to resolve the situation for her. What to do? I’d recommend getting his school’s Student Council to present a unified front.
5) And Hachiman is protective of the inexpressible thing that is his social environment, his friends, as he watches a defeated and lonely Iroha slink off, with one who treats everything she doesn’t understand as a joke, and thus, not in need of being understood and related to.
Shorter Notes / Asides:
- Everyone’s looking at everyone! Quick, do something!
- “If it’s just you I’d find it much easier to manip” – IROHA!”Besides, the “Adorably clumsy” act only works with simple tasks.” – IROHAAAAAAAAAA!
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻) - “Influencers,” “groundbreaking innovation,” “disrupt the established thinking.” – All this in a single sentence? Someone’s been drinking his own piss.”That said, a win-win for both us and the community is critically important core deliverable.” – HELP! I NEED EXTRACTION! MAKE IT STOP!
- “Let us reinitialize the brainstorming session!” – How to not get things done 101. Also, how committee leaders control their outcomes, they can keep seeking for new ideas until the one they wanted all along is accepted cause everyone gives up.
Post Episode Thoughts:
This wasn’t a very enjoyable episode. Now to think about whether that made it even better, or is related to it being a weaker episode. I did laugh quite a bit at all the aped business speech, but this episode was centered around the cloying atmosphere of weaponized soft power, social power. An analogy would be if we’d’ve spent an entire episode in the Summer Camp arc as one of the little girls, seeing all their interactions and little cruelty.
This episode was instructive though on how social power can be used, on how you can simply wear down the opposition until they accept your ideas, by shooting down their ideas, and shooting down their attempts to shoot yours, and how utterly exhausting it is when people run ahead with stupid ideas after making what was originally intended to be a tool into its own goal.
And this leads to exploring the emotive work the show is doing here. Ironically, the show works by pulling a Hachiman on the watchers, something that often goes unnoticed. What do I mean? The other school’s Student Council President? The show is making him a jerk, it’s making us hate him and want to see him torn down, to see others rally against him – the show is doing to him what Hachiman does to himself, it’s painting him as a non-character to help foster “togetherness” and empathy to the other side on the watchers’ end.
But unlike Minami in the Cultural Festival arc, he’s not a character yet, so it feels a bit cheap. It’s up to us to realize that he’s just an insecure teenager like everyone else here. Still a jerk, but also a human. The emotive work done in this arc is to get us to think, “Oy, Hachiman, take him down!” but this is exactly part of Hachiman’s growth, that he will not. He also doesn’t have Yukino to protect here, but they’re slowly building up Iroha.
The backdrop for this entire episode. Setting the tone.
Wrapping up this part of the episode, it was the weakest episode in this season yet, and felt a lot like a season 1 episode, with characters not saying what they think, not saying what they feel, not taking action, and even their inaction not being as significant. It really does feel a lot like a rehash of the Cultural Festival arc. That arc did indeed lead to the best moments of the first season, and build-up is necessary, but when the episode is about dealing with a cloying environment, it ends up feeling cloying. The unprogress leaked over.
Ok, a final section about the Volunteers’ Club and everything around it. Orimoto’s laughter is exactly an example of “soft power” and “not dealing with the truth underneath,” as it serves her to deflect situations and as a replacement to understanding. Iroha is doing the same with her “cute behaviour,” except that rather than using it to avoid understanding others, she’s using it to hide her self from others peering into it. The Club is showing us why, because the silence where you can feel everyone’s pain, the silence when you’re not simply comfortable together, is hard to bear.
What everyone wants, and what Hachiman is asked to create for others while he can’t provide for himself is exactly the sort of environment where people laugh and act nice because they truly feel like it, an environment of trust.
Geekorner-Geekulture. 
Damn, your posts are very well-written and help me out with many things I miss or don’t pay attention to on my first go. Oregairu is seriously laden with insane amounts of subtext, which I believe really increases the replay value of the show.
Where would I be without you man, the first thing I do after watching the latest Oregairu episode is read your synopses.
Note that not everything he wrote is always correct. I saw someone pointing out some flaws in his write-up on reddit too. Just take it with a grain of salt.
This is sort of funny. It’s funny in the same sort of way that people whose core argument boils down to “That’s your subjective opinion” think they’ve pointed out some secret truth and won the argument, when it’s a simple assumption and realization most people should be aware of, “In my opinion” or “I think” could be appended to every single claim. I even flat out say so in many of my comments. This argument is only trotted out when people disagree, and they’re fine so long they do agree. It’s looking at the world through your biases as if they’re not the same ones everyone else has.
You, however, felt the need to come and post this, so if anyone here is lacking in the ability to parse the obvious, or who is unaware of how this simple comment makes them come off as an ass (yes, going out of your way to point out the obvious in this manner on someone else’s blog as “someone who’s just passing through” does make you come off an ass) is you. In other words, your comment says very little about anything other than you.
As to the comment on reddit, I wonder why I didn’t bother to keep talking to someone whose comment included lines such as “See how weak it is yet? huh? Is this simply my disagreement? LAUGHABLE.” A curiosity indeed.
I don’t care really. I just appreciate someone’s personal insight when it comes to when it comes to stuff like this, as I’m not good enough at reading between lines to form an insight of my own that is as deep or accurate. And man, is this motherfucker GOOD at reading between lines.
And I find myself agreeing and really just nodding off, actually, when reading his posts, so that’s not really a bother to me.
Yes I am an ass.
[Snipped. Considering the opening and closing lines, you can imagine the self-entitled rant on objectivity and all the bad argumentation that followed. See my reply for some quotes. I won’t lie, part of the reason for the snip is because it’d make this comment-giver even madder. -Guy.]
Oh shit why am I wasting time here again! phew~
Hahaha! Oh man, this is like a collection of bad argumentation and “I’m so smart and objective” lines. Finally, over a year, another chance to use this mesmerizing gif presents itself:
You’re the one who seems to not understand how the world, and discussions, work. You said so yourself:
The reason you got the response you did on reddit (assuming it really was you commenting on reddit and this isn’t just a troll being a troll on my blog who came here from reddit) and not another was exactly my explanation of why you’re not getting a different answer, because I know it’s not worth my time. That you’re not worth my time. Even if your points have merit (many do not, or not over my points, but stand as equal valid reads), your motivation and the way you go about it means it’d just devolve into arguing for points, and in a manner that isn’t conducive to my time.
Except for getting some laughs.
Which I’m now getting.
Also, you don’t have need to waste your time further. While I got my laugh, I’d rather not get more out of you. Cheers!
^ lol, I fucking love this guy. Great analysis as always.
Whenever I read your analysis of Oregairu, it impresses me with its depth. But sometimes, I cant help but wonder if you’re reading too much into the show?
In my opinion, some parts of the show come off as typical anime/media screenplay, but you seemed to have interpreted it as an underlying issue. I cant remember nor have the luxury of time to scrutinise the scenes to detail as examples at the moment, sorry for that.
Reading your weekly anime rankings, I realise you’ve shot down every other anime for this season for reasons i think the average person would’ve casually overlooked. There are some points where I wholy agree with you, but as of late, i find your biasness towards Oregairu becoming somewhat overwhelming, resulting in your expectations towards other animes becoming a little… unreasonable. There are instances when it is clear that your comparisons are done based on Oregairu’s standards, which in your books, scored pretty high.
Might just be my 2 cents, but if you’re to give comparative analysis, a fair analysis based on the show’s own merits would be a better read. I know this is all about personal opinion, as you have emphasized time and time again, but I just want to point out that you might want to look back and retrace your steps a little.
All in all, brilliant analysis, though the sheer amount of depth has given me plenty of mixed reactions and doubts. Keep up the good work.
This doesn’t really happen. I’ve watched enough shows that I compare all of them to all the others, and to themselves, and to others in their genres.
I don’t compare Food Wars! to OreGairu, I compare it to Fairy Tail, Bleach, Claymore, Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, and other shows of its ilk.
I don’t really compare Ore Monogatari!! to OreGairu either, but to Sukitte Ii na Yo, or the Fruits Basket manga, or even to shows such as Nisekoi and Haganai.
Sometimes I like shows, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I like them overall but my write-ups still focus on what stood out, which could be negative.
If anything, the unfair high standard this season is compared to is last season’s top-end. I assure you if OreGairu came out last season, you wouldn’t have seen me suddenly shitting all over Shirobako and Death Parade, and even for those two shows, I pointed out when they had episodes I considered weaker a couple of times. There was no weekly round-up this week, but I actually considered this episode of OreGairu weaker than last week’s episode of Ore Monogatari (episode 5).
I will always tell you my thoughts on shows as I think them. Am I sometimes biased? Sure. Will other people sometimes not find issues with things I do? Hell yeah, but I don’t think I’m comparing other shows to OreGairu. When it comes to character interactions though, I always compare to the top, and almost all shows have character interactions. OreGairu is doing very well in that comparison this season, and other shows don’t, and rather they like to focus on things I don’t care for, which means that in my personal ranking, they’re going to suffer for it.
I think that only makes sense.
Perhaps. But there’s nothing with as much subtext as human interactions. Am I filling in the blanks with my thoughts on how people work, with what motivates them? Is the author leaving holes which people must fill? Certainly.
If this were people interacting in real life, then much of it won’t be all that indicative of the people interacting, because a lot of our actions fly under the “just because” clause, where it takes a great number of these gestures to learn anything about the person. But in a story, this isn’t really the case to the same degree, as everything was consciously written. This is doubly-so for an adaptation that consciously chose to excise a lot of the comedic hijinks from the light novels.
So am I over-reading into it to a degree by choosing to treat anything as if it has meaning? Perhaps. But meaning is given, and I think if the puzzle I construct makes sense, and I think it does, then am I truly over-reading? Besides, this is sort of what I like doing, and have been doing it for a while.
I’d rather call it “close reading” instead.
Oh, right–one part about this set of notes seemed wrong, but it took a few days to percolate, and then I went traveling and forgot about it. May as well post it before the next episode.
When Hachiman says, “If so, then what have we been doing all this time?”, that response seems to be because he interprets her statement as an abdication of her ideals. If the world hasn’t drastically changed, then people still need to improve… And to say “It might be better to spend our time without any trouble arising” is to say that Yukino’s given up on improving them. If Yukino never believed that people can and should change, then who has he been spending all of this time with? And if she did believe it, and he broke the faith that lead him to admire her, then what does that say about his actions?
In context, I really like that line. It says a lot with very little.
I have to ask, in what way do you think what you said above contradicts my notes, which makes my notes “wrong”? I feel you and I are talking about different things entirely, with you providing a reason why Hachiman could think the time was wasted or think Yukino think the time was wasted, and me answering the question, on why the time wasn’t wasted, talking to Hachiman, rather than for him.
I do think what you say factors into his response, especially on the level he’s aware of, but I think it’s only a small part of it, and the story I keep seeing about how Hachiman idolized Yukino, and which is a repeat of their clash from the first season. I think it’s more than that, personally, it’s exactly because Hachiman knows that aside from “helping people” and “living their ideals,” they also formed a bond, a relationship. If anything, I’d say what you’re typing above isn’t reflective of Hachiman, but of Yukino – who feels as if the Hachiman she hoped he’d be failed her, and thus, the time she spent was wasted.
But still, I don’t think this is it. Especially considering how episode 5 ended, with Meguri saying Yukino needed cases in order to spend time with Hikki and Yui, and the desire for no more cases is also the desire to not spend any more time together. Your read is legitimate, I just think it doesn’t necessarily mesh with things, and regardless, it complements my notes, rather than contradicting them, because it answers a completely different question.
“wrong” was meant in the sense of “incomplete,” not “factually incorrect”–I suppose–more disharmony than outright dissonance, to analogize. “wrong” on the internet carries a certain context, doesn’t it? Should have chosen a different word.
I don’t disagree with you, I think that’s a valid response to his question, but his words don’t feel like what he’s actually asking. He’s wondering how well he’s known Yukiko all along, and he’s wondering if the person she is now is still the person he knew. How much does that all time mean if he never really knew her, or if she’s changed beyond what he knew of her? The bond they’ve built up over all that time is the source of that insecurity, not an answer to it.
Err, I doubt people offline would’ve agreed with your usage of “wrong” either. This isn’t about internet versus offline, but about an incorrect usage of the word :P If anything, people are just less prone to actually outright calling others wrong in person.
What you’re saying is sort of right, but it’s what happened in the first season, after the whole situation with him finding out Yukino’s car is the one that ran him over. It doesn’t actually fit what’s going on in this episode, in this arc. Or, he is worried, and he is worried about her changing, but not about ideals, but the opposite, but of suddenly thinking she might not care for their social situation.
And suddenly, here is another possible interpretation to “Then what have we been doing all this time?” which I suddenly think is the correct one: Hikki is talking about all the effort he and Yui had put into stopping the club from disbanding, to make sure they can keep the club as is, and suddenly, Yukino is saying that perhaps she’s not interested in the club anyway, she’s rejecting the status quo he’s been trying to protect, and the effort he spent, and Yui’s too.
Hi! I wanna tell you that I love your analysis ,but there’s one point that is not clear to me. What do you mean by ”Hikki” and ”Hachiman” . I’ve tried to figure it out really hard,but all I can see is Hachiman adapting himself to the situation,not a real split personality.
Or maybe I would say that the all thing about antisociality is his ”Hikki” mask while its true self wants to be helped
I’m definitely not saying they’re two personalities in a clinical sense, more that it’s two different masks, or one mask and one real face. Here is another commentator’s guess as to what I meant, which is pretty close to what I mean by it, even if it’s not 100%. I’m not spelling it out on purpose, because it’s nice to have to put the pieces together on your own at times :)
NICE WORK with this analysis…
there was something i wanted to add
a monologue mentioned in the light novel but not in the anime and i think worth showing it here
it follows after the brainstorming section that leads to nothing
here it is
The expression that I had was completely different from those who were energetically involved in the discussion.
They had vivid and bright smiles floating on their faces.
That was when I noticed.
They were all enjoying this moment. That’s to say, they were enjoying this exchange between each other.
What they wanted wasn’t the very idea of volunteer service, but the self-acknowledgement of them doing these activities.
It’s not that they wanted to do work. They just wanted to be immersed with the feeling of working. They just wanted to feel like they were actually doing it.
And then, they would feel like they did everything that they could, where ultimately, everything had turned into nothing.
────Aah, it really irritated me how that was exactly like someone out there and how it seemed like he was showing off his past mistakes.
He thought he had accomplished something, but in fact, he really didn’t accomplish anything at all.
Even though he couldn’t see anything at all.
Hi there. Great blog. I’ve been rewatching Oregairu in preparation for season 3 and was pleased to find your blog which has helped me see some of the deeeper meanings that I missed.
I have a question that may be obvious but I would really like to know a possible answer to: Why did Hachiman take Iroha’s request alone and not let the club handle the request?
Thanks. And my apologies if I missed the reason in your blog😅