Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru - 2

"All People Surely Have Their Own Worries"

KUMA NI NARITAI!

It's really unsettling how similar a person Hachiman is to who I was as a high school student. I don't know that I've ever expressly wished to become a bear (great idea by the way, hibernation does sound quite wonderful), but I do understand how put off he feels about teen society (and society in general, really). When you're not interested in conforming to the norms of being an adolescent, stuff just never seems to work out, and one of the effects of that is that you become increasingly put off by it all. Hikki is hardly the first teen to compare his peers to wild animals, and it's pretty fitting sometimes, considering how our social biology is programmed to make us stick together. You get natural leaders through that, and sometimes it's much easier to go with the flow than to speak your mind on the way things are. Though neither Hachiman or Yui are particularly adept at dealing with these situations, it's pretty clear that they wish they could, as we all do at some point.

On the other hand, Yukino is too good at telling people exactly what she thinks, and thus she forms the opposite extreme of the problem. Though she's right in being honest, she comes off as somewhat too strong when she does so, and this is her own form of alienation. While Hikki is unable to come forth and defend Yui properly, Yukino simply steps in and calls Yumiko Miura (Inoue Marina) out on her bullshit without even blinking an eye. Her straightforwardness is also evident in the way she deals with Hikki and the chuunibyou-affected Zaimokuza Yoshiteru (Hiyama Noboyuki), and to be honest, it makes her rather unlikeable. After all, there's a clear difference between speaking your mind and putting others down, and Yukino seems unable to tell where that fine line should be drawn.

All in all this episode seems to address facades and social attitudes within the conventions of what people consider normal. Zaimokusa is the most extravagant example of this, with his delusions and inability to speak to girls properly, as well as with his innate nature to stick out as much as possible. Hikki mentions that he's thrown away his own chuunibyou (much like a few other leads in romcoms as of late), but though he puts Zaimokusa down, he nevertheless seems to understand his strangeness and even encourages some of his dreams and goals. For all the "kimochi warui" accusations bandied about this episode, Zaimokusa probably has the best outlook on teenage life out of all four of them; namely, enjoy the heck out of it while you can, regardless what anyone else has to say about it. It's how you avoid wanting to become a bear (though that still sounds nice even now).

Note: I'm planning to catch up by this week, so episode 3 should be covered soon.