Overall Review: Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru

With a lead as snarky as Hikki, is it any surprise that this series became weirdly popular?

I'll say this for Oregairu; I have never seen a series approximate what it's really like to be a pessimistic and lonely teenager so accurately until now. I realize that I'm only one among a huge number of people who found themselves in Hachiman this season, but as one of those people, I can say quite clearly just how long I've been waiting for such a depiction. See, lonely characters in anime always tend to be seen as problem children, as people who should and will learn how to become more socially apt and gain friends along the way. Their pessimism is often looked at as erroneous and twisted, and they are made to change their views through interactions with others over time. While that's a nice message in some ways, in others it's woefully inadequate; adolescence is never that simple.

Hachiman really acts as a lens, as an angry point of view from which the rest of society can take a look at themselves and see how the loners aren't the only ones at fault. There are plenty of things the loners simply can't do that society takes for granted as something simple and easy, and there are times where those who are lonely really would rather be lonely than deal with all that stress. It's not about being sick, or being otherwise incapable; being yourself sometimes really is painfully less stressful than being a part of the pack. Yui and Yukino are other such examples of the issue at hand, but though they too are loners, Hachiman is the only loner without a real choice. Yui prefers trying to fit in, whereas Yukino is the sort of loner who is too proud to step down to the level of the rest, for better or for worse. Hachiman has some of this hubris too, but really there isn't much he can do because he's too awkward. But even so, what makes Hikki different is that he doesn't want to change. He simply wants to be himself, with friends or without; he's not angry at himself for being alone, which, I think, is a really refreshing way to look at this.

Regardless, if it weren't for Hikki, I'm not entirely sure Oregairu would have been as enjoyable as it was. Though the art can be a bit flawed (and I have a feeling that's intentional for the most part), there's also a lot of conventional details lurking in the background that make this feel like the romcom it pretends to be. Thankfully Hikki's perspective generally shatters those things, and we get to see lots of those conventions completely differently than usual. Cute imoutos stay perfectly platonic and frankly annoying little sisters; the trap is a legitimate love interest and character rather than a joke; problems are solved without anime-styled happy endings. It's that twist that really makes this series special, and that twist really is Hachiman himself, whether you identify with him or not.