Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today, we are at long last returning to Oregairu, where things are currently going so well that it’s making me nervous. Normally, watching Oregairu is a sensation not unlike being tortured on a medieval rack, where each new episode’s awkwardness and drama stretches your limbs just a few centimeters past their breaking point. But recently, pretty much all of our principal characters have been getting along, and supporting each other with their various endeavors. What does this mean? 

It’s pretty simple, actually: these kids are finally growing up. Yukino is learning to set aside her brittle pride, Hachiman is becoming more comfortable admitting he cares, and Iroha is earnestly committing herself to the projects she’s passionate about. The crew have grown so much that they might not even need Yui to act as a social moderator anymore – a fact that Yui herself is keenly aware of. With the end of high school approaching, the artificial closeness of the Volunteer Service Club will soon end as well – and at that point, our stars will have to decide what they truly mean to each other. Let’s return to the rich drama of Oregairu!

Episode 4

“By Chance, Yui Yuigahama Thinks of the Future.” Yeah, this isn’t gonna be an easy episode

The prom video was a big success. Hikki cannot handle instagram’s dog face filters

Interesting to think that just within the time Oregairu has been running, the ways teenagers communicate have already changed substantially. The services and styles of communication we used in 2013 are significantly different than those of 2020. With technology and culture evolving this quickly, any long-running narrative either features heavily compressed tech evolution, or becomes a period piece by default

“I’d like you to look through the pictures we’re choosing to put on the official site.” This show sure does feature an unusual amount of paperwork! I appreciate that it honestly portrays “leaning in” and investing in your world in such a mundane way. You don’t do this stuff because it’s cool; it’s only once you’ve set aside insecure, prideful perspectives like that that you can really make a mark on your world. Hachiman in particular had to dispense with a whole lot of false pride to become an effective student council member

He’s still plenty insecure in other ways, though! He can barely look at the photos of him and Yui dancing

Yukino dismisses them gently, making sure to note that she’ll call them if she needs more help later. Her careful language here emphasizes that she’s no longer unwilling to seek help from others. Instead, this dismissal ends up calling attention to how Hikki and Yui are basically just here because they’re used to hanging out together. As responsibilities grow and the year moves towards its end, there will likely be more and more moments where they quietly drift apart like this

A clear tension rises between Yui and Hikki as they walk down the hall. When they’re working on a project, they don’t really have to confront their feelings

Hachiman actually asks her to hang out! And he’s even kinda smooth about it! My boy!

It really does seem like we’re gearing up towards an ending where Yui steps aside and lets the other two be together, and I’m not exactly thrilled about it. Yui is too good of a character to be relegated to the childhood friend role, and her inability to embrace “selfishness” and accept that she also deserves happiness is her biggest emotional shortcoming. Stepping aside feels like it’d just be an affirmation of old, bad habits

The two discuss the perils of gift-giving as they search for something for Komachi. In spite of his grumbling, Hachiman has always been a very thoughtful big brother. Also like how their conversation lets Yui’s more blunt side shine, as she agrees that she’d prefer cash over a useless gift

Hachiman gets inordinately excited about a coffee can-shaped vending machine. Everyone has these distinctive, offhand quirks that give them a real sense of personhood – and here, the fact that Hachiman is willing to nerd out like this speaks to his comfort level with Yui

Aw, his genuine smile as Yui forwards him her picture

Seeing another couple at the store prompts Yui to ask how Hachiman will be living once he’s attending college. Could the two of them share domesticity like that?

The character acting isn’t ostentatious, but it’s extremely good at conveying undertones in expressions. Yui’s got this quietly proud smile as she successfully gets Hikki to sit next to her

The next day, Iroha recruits them back in a panic. Yukino’s mother and sister are here!

Her mom is here as a representative of the PTO. Apparently some parents weren’t thrilled by the “salacious” photos of kids dancing in a room. Her appearance here basically acts as an extension of the general threat she represents – a force determined to mold Yukino into a specific, rigidly “ladylike” shape

“I don’t think it’s wise to forge ahead with prom when there are vocal detractors.” She frames all of these complaints as “certain elements within the PTO,” but it seems clear enough that she specifically is the one who objects

“I see. This is someone you can’t fight using logic.” Yukino’s mom is a master of rhetoric, capable of dismantling their positions without even revealing her own. Easy to see how Yukino got so good at debate and pedantry

Hachiman understands he cannot attack Yukimom’s position, and so he tries to circumvent it, by asking Sensei to pin down the school as approving the prom

Sensei with the save, offering the moderate “we’ll make the necessary adjustments, but the prom is still on for now”

“I know that you’re working very hard. But please, come home earlier, okay?” It’s all veiled or not-so-veiled threats with Yukimom. Rather than actually speaking to her daughter directly, she attempts to undercut the project her daughter has been working on through her control of the PTO. That’s not the relationship of a mother and daughter – that’s a show of force you present to a business rival

Apparently Sensei has some big career news, which Haruno prefaces with “they should know, considering the number of years you’ve been at this school.” So it seems she’s moving on as well, echoing the cast’s movement towards adulthood

It is a sort of odd quirk of narrative necessity that Sensei essentially represents the entire faculty. “Don’t introduce inessential characters” is a good general rule of storytelling, but it can have some interesting consequences

Yukino doesn’t want her friends’ help with this battle. And Haruno agrees, stating that her mother’s opinion of Yukino will only change if she does this alone. I don’t doubt that’s true, but ceding to her mother’s framing of this conflict already feels like a certain kind of defeat. Everything Yukino has accomplished this series is meaningless to her mother, but that doesn’t mean it was for nothing

“Extending a hand to help someone isn’t always the right choice. Do you know what the term is for a relationship like yours?” Even when she’s being kind, Haruno can’t help but also be cruel. But Yukino genuinely appreciates her help, as sharp-edged as it is

“I’ve pushed so much onto you and Yuigahama, all while claiming I wouldn’t rely on anyone.” Yukino sees herself much more clearly now

Some effective blocking in this episode, using the mise en scène to visually partition characters. They used the beams of the department store to draw dividing lines between Hikki and Yui earlier, and here, Yukino’s declaration of independence resolves into a shot of just her through the window, visually separated from all of her friends

Oh my god. Haruno later asks Hikki what he thought the term she was implying was, and he actually says “love triangle.” Incredible, Hachiman

Of course, the actual answer is codependency

“What exactly is she giving up to become an adult?” “The same as me, a whole lot of something.” Haruno wants the best for her sister, but cannot imagine disobeying her mother, and so all her “help” comes in the form of more gently leading her sister into servitude

With the group separated, the visual design echoes their grey mood, with heavy clouds sapping all color from the classroom

Yui notices Hikki’s low mood, and acts even more cheerful about Komachi’s present to compensate. She is such a consistent, considerate friend to all of them!

Iroha sends Yui a text saying prom might be cancelled, and Hikki calls Sensei in response. Apparently, Yukino didn’t want them to know this had happened

I’m glad Haruno’s not getting the last word on this situation. She’s just so jaded that even when she attempts to help, her “help” assumes that all relationships are ultimately transactional, and thus should not be counted on for support. Sensei is teaching Hachiman differently – and thus she’s happy when he chooses for himself to push back against what is expected of him, and declares that “I want to help because Yukino asked me to save her someday”

Yui breaks into tears. “I’m sorry, I was just so relieved I started to cry.” The worst part is that this probably isn’t even a lie – she genuinely loves both her friends so much that she’s actually happy they’ll be close again, even if this also means she and Hikki will drift apart. Yui is too good for this awful world

God, it kills me. Yui must have been so excited about spending the afternoon baking with Hikki, just like when they first spent time in the service club together. And yet she waves him off with a smile, knowing that their time together is likely drawing to a close

“I can’t be a girl that people feel sorry for. Because then he’d just come and save me again.” YUI

And even now, she still thinks this is her “punishment” for putting her needs on others. Yui, both of them love you! They want you to be happy, and you deserve to be happy! Please allow yourself to be more selfish than this!

And Done

Agggghhhhhhhhhhh. Oh my god I hate it, why do I watch this show, why do I invest in these goddamn characters. They’re all so fragile and kind and loyal to the point of disaster, as they waver between what they think is best for each other, and what they hope to claim for themselves. Yui has always been far too considerate for her own good, and it is absolutely devastating to watch her deliberately stand aside and let her heart be broken. This girl deserves all the happiness in the world, and if Oregairu continues to hurt her, I swear I am going to ship on over to Wataru Watari’s place and straighten him out myself.

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