My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!

Decent episode, but seemed like too many scenes were condensed.

Hachiman's aloof demeanour is dangerously seductive. As for Orimoto, I think she may have been even more irritating when she tried to make amends.

Hope we get some insight into Yukino and Hayama's family by the end of the season, their history...etc. I don't think Hayama has said anything that wasn't equivocal.
 
Episode 10:

Probably the weakest episode of the season so far. The episode really rushes through the material and after all the build up I was really disappointed with how things were resolved with the student council. The payoff was too short and unsatisfying for all the time spent on it thus far. Yeah, it was nice to see Yukino go in there and take care of business, but I wanted more.

That's not to say it was a bad episode because there was a lot of good stuff, but I got the feeling even the good scenes were rushed so we could get around to Yukino's family drama. It left the episode feeling messy because it doesn't have a consistent theme or through line the way most episodes do.

The episode starts with Iroha's rejection which probably could have been an episode unto itself. I may not like her, but her response of the train was well done. The way she fights to keep up her facade even as she's breaking down had an emotional punch to it. I didn't care for her showing signs of attraction to 8man, but it makes sense given the situation and their relationship over the past few episodes. I think both this scene and the opening conversation with Hayama could have gone on longer and given a little more insight. I think Hayama gets especially short changed here, but I assume that's because he's going to get some focus in upcoming episodes.

After that we have 8man spending some time with Yui and Yukino with some little pushes from his loving sis. These were both lovely scenes, but they were also just reconfirming the growth we've already seen over the last couple of episodes rather than covering new ground. I think some of this could have been cut to show more of the council and Christmas festival.

Orimoto is always going to be Orimoto and thus always kind of awful even when she's trying to be better.

Then we get to what this episode was really building up to with Yukino being forced to meet with her parents.

The episode was awkwardly paced and felt rushed in parts. I'm just hoping they're going to try to fly through too much material here at the end because the pacing has been good up to this episode.

I probably sound more negative about it than I really feel but that's just because I like this series so much that I have such high expectations.
 
yeah, I thought we'd at least get a few episodes like this.

the season is only 13 episodes and the anime touches on so many things it's hard as hell to wrap it all up neatly. as time wears thin we might be in for another jumbled episode but they did wrap up a rather big lingering topic so it could clean up right afterwards.

It's all high quality material, still enjoyable even if rushed but it certainly could have benefited from a few more episodes. It may not have needed a full 2 cour..............breaking from the mold of either 11 to 13 op's ore 21 to 24 ep's and find a nice unique center and around 16 to 18 episodes.

I think more shows should use enough episodes rather than trying to fit in with a seasonal time frame. But I guess reserved Tv time fees has something to do with the current system.
 
Yeah, I get where ZK's coming from here, even for someone like me, who adores this show did think it was probably too disjointed as a whole. I'd really be lying to say I would disagree with his assessment and after all, this season hasn't been filled with nothing but phenomenal episodes so it's hard not to notice the dip in quality among that. I do have to admit, I thought it was kind of lazy and weird how they just ended up shoving some montages in there to bypass a lot of content quickly.

Hopefully it really was all a minor slip up and whatever arc is coming for these last three episodes I'm guessing, is more well rounded and focused which I'm assuming here maybe Feel had rushed the episode to give whatever's coming more time? If it is going to be about Yukino's family and such though, it definitely better stick to it. I don't want to sound too critical of course either but I would be extremely sad otherwise if we get a weak finish resulting in me lowering my score.
 
EP10:
Well, this is was sweet. Like others I totally loved when they finally PREACHED the correct decision =)
And Iroha officially joined 8man's harem :D
Komachi is being a sweetie as always, I always enjoy all scenes she has, she definitely deserves a spin-off only about her xD
And dat insult xDDDD Now everyone's gonna say Hachiman instead of idiot xD

And the finale of the episode, so we're back to Yuki... well, it had to happen eventually.
 
Too much to say since I haven't posted since ep5, but after many tense intervals I think it's coming together, and still keeping me guessing.

So many high and low points ...
ep6:
This was so depressing after Komachi's cuteness and the election fix in ep5, because it showed clearly that there are still rifts in the Service Club (as well as Hayato's clique) and Hachiman seems intent on making things worse - going behind their backs to help Isshiki on his own. Even worse, he's never seemed so powerless - I kept expecting him to light up the "cooperating" student council using his great people skills from last year's cultural festival but he never did.

ep7:
The joint school project is officially in a death spiral. The encounter with Rumi Tsurumi and other incidents call into question whether Hachiman has ever really helped anyone with his clever manipulations. However, seeing him realize this suggests there might be a silver lining ... will he figure out a better way to be with people?
But the final scene with Yukino telling him not to both coming to the club and pretending was grim - no more than he deserved, but grim.

ep8:
An amazing episode - not only reaching the turning point in more ways than one, but showing all these developments in such a moving way.
I was really touched by the scene with sensei, because not only did she point Hachiman in a new direction to heal the rifts between him and his friends, but also first she showed how much she cared for all the members of the service club - expressing her hope that Hachiman and Yui would be the ones to connect with Yukino and help her open up - and then Hachiman indirectly showed his affection for her, actually making her blush when he says that other men are idiots for not pursuing her.
Then Hachiman finally comes to his senses, admits he's failing, and asks his friends to help - both opening up to them which is the only way to bridge the gaps between them, but also going for the only way out of the mess that the festival project was in.
As icing on the cake, when he said that he wanted the real thing, I was stunned because he's never even hinted at emotional needs before. His friends were as well but this can only help.

ep9:
I was expecting this to go directly to solving the festival mess, but the tickets to the theme park did set up a lot of cute moments. Still strained, though ...why do Hachiman and Yukino make it so hard for Yui to make memories with them?

Hachiman's moment with Yui was touching - when he said it might be nice to visit the park again, and in context implied he'd be willing to go with her. Was he just cheering her up, or does he really intend to say yes if she makes the first move as she said she would in his flashback? Yui is wonderful but I have never expected that ship to sail, and I don't think she does either.

I did not expect Yukino to open up as much as she did on that ride, asking Hachiman to save her some day. It obviously meant a lot but the interpretation wasn't obvious to me, as often happens with this show - did she mean from her family issues, or from her loneliness behind her walls, or more prosaically from an awkward situation at school?
In my view Hachiman had already done exactly that in last year's festival.

Seeing Isshiki get shot down by Hayato was unexpectedly sad. She's always been prone to aim high and take chances, and it caught up to her.

And finally caught up to the current one -
ep10:
Yui and Yukino once again are overly considerate, giving Hachiman a nudge to stay with Isshiki on the way home. When she said she was glad she confessed and that it was part of her plan, and asked Hachiman to take responsibility, she proved herself a real contender.(No chance with H-man IMO, but nice to see the interaction - it's another way he's forced to rejoin humanity.)
After all the angst, the festival deadlock is broken and the plan comes together very quickly, almost an anti-climax. I did like the part where Hachiman and Yukino finally unload on the other school's prez, and Isshiki scolds them for spoiling the mood - both because she was right in a sense, and because she was growing into a true leader before our eyes. Even if our leads are the smartest in the room, it's not good for them to operate unchecked - which is what's gotten Hachiman in trouble all through the series.

I loved it when Komachi unloaded on Hachiman for almost spoiling her set-up of some time between him and Yukino, and how it make Yukino laugh.

The interchange with Haruno and Yukino's parents was interesting. When Haruno told Yukino that she shouldn't go home, that seemed to me to be one more demonstration that Haruno is really on Yukino's (and Hachiman's) side when push comes to shove.

They touched on a lot of notes, but it left me with a lot of warm fuzzies. There are definitely going to be some twists and turns on the way to the home stretch, but I no longer fear a meaningless ending.
 
I honestly loved the new episode. It juggled around more plotlines and themes than the episodes usually do but it felt well done. It's a happy dawn of sorts for almost two seasons' worth of drama and uncertainty and I'm just enjoying comparing where the characters began and where they sit now, as well as wondering how far they'll go yet.

As popular as Yahari is as of late - fucking hurrah for that, Japan - I sure hope we'll be getting a third season after this. But first, let's see how this one will end.
 
LinkSword said:
As popular as Yahari is as of late - fucking hurrah for that, Japan - I sure hope we'll be getting a third season after this. But first, let's see how this one will end.
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I'm sure third season will happen once enough volumes are written.
 
Ep 11...........

damn damn damn

There was so much going on this episode, and the theme is taking a drastic turn into romance territory right now.

If I may try to decipher Hayato as he is far from an easy read. I think he's in love with Yukinoshita, But he realizes that her eyes are for 8man.

Thats probably the thick of it, now we have this love triangle within the volunteer club.

this look says it all;


It's obvious Yui saw that moment between the other 2 club members and felt defeated. This is a repeating theme, both girls show jealousy towards each other from time to time and they are best friends so something has gat to give soon or there will be more problems.

Who they don't seem concerned with is Isshiki, who they repeatedly catch trying to attract Hikki. I thought it was real cute when she ran to him grabbed him, and then let him go when she realized they were there.

It's nice to see Hikki seems to be second to Hayato in fan girls, where as Hayato had the majority of the school, Hikki pulled a whopping 3 girls cheering him on, thats pretty darn good, especially since one is apparently the ultimate prize, worth more to Hayato than all the ones that did cheer him on.

I thought Hikki's question to Hayato was rather interesting. (If he was using the blonde chick as something to keep the other girls away). That might just be the case when you think about it. Hyatt seems more and more like someone you question what they say to you with a smile, after all, he's not as nice a guy as he's been portrayed...........those words are probably very true as he gave bloody some false hope.

well..........with the way this ep ended, it seems like the topic will be dropped for the moment. so no clue what direction the next episode will go.
Great episode.
 
EP11:
The deficiency of Komachi is devalue the anime :flip:

Okay, I was joking, holy damn, the quality is real, damn real here.
And who cannot love Iroha? :D She's so cute :D
 
ep11 - wow.
Well, I've thought from the beginning that this was the ship that would sail the farthest, but they sure jumped out of the gate fast.

Iroha was devilishly appealing in teasing Hachiman. I don't think she's playing for keeps but she is certainly not one to be shy about sending up trial balloons, and despite Yui and Yukino's reaction ("why aren't you saying anything?"), I think it was good for Hachiman to be forced to admit that he is not indifferent to the opposite sex. When I think back to his essay about becoming a solitary bear (literal not metaphorical) in s1e1, this shows how far he's come ... for better or worse, his life is now engaged on all levels with his friends and acquaintances, and the romance he denied and ridiculed for so long will catch up to him.

Hachiman setting up that chance to interrogate Hayama while running the race was pretty clever - I didn't think he had it in him to keep pace at all, and he got some serious digs in, especially about how Hayama was using Yumiko as a shield. But I don't get why anyone should care what course Mr. Popular goes for - certainly all the members of Yukino's club will think for themselves, right? Some good points about how real friendships won't be made or broken based on going to the same school.
Hayama proved he wasn't a nice guy at all ... naming both Iroha and Yumiko to make it clear that (a) there's nothing with Yukino (b) there's no one special girl for him. I felt truly sorry for Yumiko, althoughshe must have known it was coming - at least from when he announced that he wouldn't be around for Christmas a couple of eps ago. Iroha, of course, had already been shot down so it probably wasn't any worse.

But the real payoff for the race, of course, was in the nurse's office with Hachiman's scrape and Yukino's attentions. Those locked eyes said it all, and even if he shied away this time, he's a marked man. I'm cheering them on. There are obstacles unknown to be overcome, but the main one has always been "are these two both far too clever to ever trust and open up to another human being?" and I think we have our answer at last. This really seems like Beatrice and Benedict.

Also when Yukino compared him to a bacterium, it was said in such a loving way ...

You could also tell Yui could see what was happening when she showed up at the office. I expect she will confess but with little hope, and I think that will give Hachiman a real challenge, when he is finally forced to admit that you can't fix everything with cleverness.

Anyway, that's how I saw it ... and now I think I want to watch it all again. I love this show.
 
heh I routinely watch every episode at least twice from the two sub groups doing it.

I've been team Yui from the beginning but it's looking grim for us right now...........I mean, she does a good job of getting Hiki flustered, but When Yukino does it too, it just fees more meaningful somehow..................Probably those lingering thoughts of her being the 1st girl introduced........

Can't help but feel for You has she says maybe she should get a pair of those computer glasses right after Hachiman complimented Yukino on them, only to be awkwardly ridiculed for it by none other than Hachiman. His perception isn't always the sharpest.

we have two episodes to go and this love triangle has been building for far too long to settle in that time despite how good this show makes use of time, so yeah, I look forward to the next inevitable season.
 
Episode 11:

Well any fears I had after episode 10 were completely alleviated with this episode. This was a fantastic episode that moves along at a fast pace while taking time for the more intimate moments. It also works pretty well as the set up for the end of this season.

The best scene this week was the one between Yukinon and Hachi in the nurses office. It works best because it's something that's been built up over the course of the two seasons and feels like some real payoff. These two have finally started to open up to each other and their interactions do feel more genuine because they haven't gotten all cheesy, but instead are a more intimate version of their usual verbal sparring.

Hayama was great this week as well. I'm glad we're finally getting some insight into what makes him tick even if he is still playing his cards extremely close to the chest. At some point there's going to have to be a break there, but for now the slow bit of development and characterization is working well for me. The scene where Hachi was running alongside him was just so well written. The dialogue and the comedy there were perfect. I think at this point there are some obvious similarities between Hachiman and Hayama. It is probably another reason it's so difficult to get inside of Hayama's head. Although he is similar to Hachi in more than a few ways, he's not quite as smart or adept at reading other people which has made his life more difficult and has made him resent Hachiman because in his own words he doesn't want to lose to Hachiman. Instead, he's gotten himself stuck in a stale status quo that still means a lot to him. The blunt way he squashes the rumors at the end of the episode reminds me a lot of the way Hachiman would deal with such a problem or at least the early version of Hachiman. It's funny to say the two are so similar when on the outside their lives are complete opposites, but Hayama's popularity is a fleeting thing and difficult for him to maintain. He always has to be worried about appearances and rumors so he often has to go around putting out fires and reading situations ahead of time much like Hachiman. Hayama's popularity is a fragile thing and if it were stripped away then his situation would be much like Hachiman's.

Great episode and I am looking forward to what comes next.
 
Really interesting how hayama and hachiman have pretty similar personalities, but go around totally opposite ways to maintain them. Hachiman keeps people at distance by pushing them out and staying on the periphery, while Hayama keeps all the dogs on the same leash while feeding them all the same food. Hayama seems to have realized that Yukinon is more valuable person than all the shallow girls that have been hitting on him, and is jealous because he knows he can't possibly get her.

I expect she will confess but with little hope, and I think that will give Hachiman a real challenge, when he is finally forced to admit that you can't fix everything with cleverness.
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I expect this moment to be probably the most interesting thing in this show, and at the same time he biggest heartbreak, even for people who don't cheer for her.
 
I'm not so sure that Hayama would be quick to
dismiss the girls that have crushes on him as shallow because that would be like admitting what he's always working to protect is also shallow and meaningless. He just doesn't have feelings for those girls the way he does for Yukino. It's certainly another reason he dislikes Hachiman though. He probably feels it is pretty unfair that he's known Yukino from childhood, but here comes Hachiman out of nowhere and in a relatively short time has broken through to her in a way that Hayama could only dream.

Also, I'd point out that even though I don't like her Iroha isn't really shallow once you get to know her. Iroha's outward facade is strong but no impossible to get through and if anything it shows a failing on Hayama's methods if he thinks she's just shallow.
 
^Maybe I'm just slow, but I never thought
Hayama had done anything to show he's had a crush on Yukino all along.
I'll take it seriously because several of you seem convinced, and I agree it would be an interesting twist and that it would explain some of his remarks to Hachiman ...
but when in his school life has he taken time to pursue Yukino?
And hasn't most of his school life put obstacles in his way?
Being the popular guy everyone likes and apparently pairing off with Yumiko (and his interest seemed very sincere in the tennis match ep way back in s1, ep2 I think) could only interfere with his slim chances at meaningfully interacting with her.

I'd find it more plausible that he's been struggling with a crush on Tobe.

But maybe I'm projecting the fact that I don't find Hayama as interesting as most of the other characters.
 
FireWalker said:
^Maybe I'm just slow, but I never thought
Hayama had done anything to show he's had a crush on Yukino all along.
I'll take it seriously because several of you seem convinced, and I agree it would be an interesting twist and that it would explain some of his remarks to Hachiman ...
but when in his school life has he taken time to pursue Yukino?
And hasn't most of his school life put obstacles in his way?
Being the popular guy everyone likes and apparently pairing off with Yumiko (and his interest seemed very sincere in the tennis match ep way back in s1, ep2 I think) could only interfere with his slim chances at meaningfully interacting with her.

I'd find it more plausible that he's been struggling with a crush on Tobe.

But maybe I'm projecting the fact that I don't find Hayama as interesting as most of the other characters.
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yeah for me...............

the dialogue in the previous episode was the only tip off, it seemed like a pretty strong one because it came from multiple angles, but yeah, there was nothing previously shown that would have tipped it off, even the fact that he grew up knowing Yukino and her family came as a sudden surprise in a recent episode. they really have't had much interactions for the majority of the series.

The thing is, the only character Hayato ever showed real interest in is Hachiman. he treats every other character the same, and no one, not even bloody ever felt more special to him than the next guy or girl.

He's a hard read and now they're giving us more to try to read him than they have ever in the past.
 
ep 12..................

this episode was painful to watch..................

It felt like a sending off party for all the Yui x Hiki ships............. Her change in actions makes it look like she's given up.

other stuff happened but it's hard to think right now..........

I might need help on deciphering this one.

oh man so I hate Haruno................I'm gonna officially black list her.........I've had enough of her games annoy me to warrant it at this point, and her intentions never seem to be anything more than her own entertainment.

well 1 more episode to go......................:crying:
 
tootalls said:
oh man so I hate Haruno
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Usually I'd disagree on this one, but
I couldn't help to all spit the word "bitch" at the screen during her scene at the end of the episode. Up to that point it had been such a pleasant episode with everyone having a nice time together without any drama for once. I think what makes it worse is she was absolutely correct in what she said, but it doesn't make her any less of a bitch for shitty all over a nice event that way. Yes, it's true that the event was only possible because everyone consciously accepted the lie behind the event to preserve the social order, but so the fuck what? Was it really hurting anyone that everyone got at least a little of what they wanted by compromising a bit? Even if the intent behind the event wasn't genuine doesn't mean the fun they were having or that all the little cute moments were not genuine. It was a nice little interlude where everyone got to forget the usual social pressures for a few minutes and have a good time. It was not her place to come in to shatter the moment.

Just because everyone decided to ignore their various individual situations for a moment doesn't mean they were just forgetting their troubles.
 
I guess I'm the only one who's a fan of
Saying wrong things for right reasons. I think they need some kind of push. Haruno was pretty brutal, but that was needed.
RIP Yui ship though. Really sad to watch her.
Still a big fan of Haruno. One of the most interesting characters here.

ps. Iroha best girl.
 
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