Alright Hachiman, how are we doing this? Last episode saw our quasi-hero taking clear steps towards establishing his anti-prom, as he conscripted a bunch of former allies to his planning committee, and even got Jazzhands hyped about a potential multi-school collaboration. Of course, all of his plans have been theoretical so far; he hasn’t even raised the possibility of a second prom to any school officials, meaning his greatest battles are still ahead of him. At some point Hachiman will have to face Yukimom directly, and I’m eager to assess the bloodshed.

Meanwhile, Hachiman’s personal life is such a clusterfuck that I barely have the strength to untangle it. Iroha will make it out of all this with her usual grace, but Yui is being set up for some kind of Fated Tragedy, which frankly feels terribly unfair. It was Yui’s kindness and generosity that essentially taught Hikki and Yukino to be decent people, and to desire the kind of sincere friendship they initially distrusted. But Yui isn’t some ethereal saint with no desires of her own; she instigated this whole situation because she actually likes Hikki, and having her bow out to ensure the others’ happiness would just be a repeat of the same self-sacrificing behavior she hates to see from Hachiman. I’m not sure how this show will make Yui happy, but I’m ready to hold it accountable if it fails. I’ve got my eye on you Watari; if you make Yui unhappy, I’m getting on a plane.

Episode 8

We waste no time with our cold open, using the gap between episodes to jump all the way to after Hachiman has explained the plan to Hayato. Episode breaks, advertisement breaks, and scene breaks all tend to possess a certain range of “expected time interval,” which skillful screenwriters can use for dramatic effect. Audiences expect less of a dramatic transition between scenes than over ad breaks, and less of one over ad breaks then between episodes – if you arrange your narrative intelligently, you can use the audience’s expectations of these breaks to jump directly between the key dramatic points they need to be present for

Unsurprisingly, Hayato understands the plan immediately

“Helping you out personally is the last thing I want to do.” I love these two. They each sort of complete the other – Hayato has genuinely mixed feelings about Hachiman’s cynical nature, but also appreciates having a friend with whom he can be honest about his own uncharitable instincts. Meanwhile, Hachiman doesn’t necessarily want the social plaudits Hayato has earned, but the fact that they converse so naturally emphasizes that Hachiman could have been a socialite, if he’d simply applied himself differently

Additionally, both of them have a unique personal relationship with Yukino. Reflecting back on her suffering during the first season’s festival arc, Hayato regrets not getting more directly involved, and thus forcing Hachiman to play the hero in his lopsided way

“Hikigaya, you’re taking the wrong approach here.” “You’re the only one who will tell me that. I’m so glad you’re Hayato Hayama.” They’re so good! Hachiman’s other friends care about him, but they’re not good at contradicting him – they tend to mostly just be bowled over by his machinations, or critique the morality of his methods rather than their efficacy. In contrast, Hayato is willing and able to call him on his nonsense like an equal, the only person aside from Yukino who tends to do that

“I need to prove it. If I still desire to help her, even if she doesn’t want help, then it isn’t codependence.” Oh, Hikki. God, Haruno really is a monster – she knows just how to play on these teens’ insecurities, and she does it purely for her love of schadenfreude. Most characters in this show are insecure and misunderstood, but Haruno just seems like a genuinely bad person

Yui requisitions her friends to help them get promotional footage for their beachside prom

Ebina’s another one who understands Hachiman to a certain extent, though it seems like she’s more or less resigned herself to waiting until after high school to express her true self. She admits that they’re “nothing alike” in that way

“You’ve got this pessimism thing going, and I don’t hate it.” Ebina can be brutal even when she’s being kind

The website is up, and actually looks pretty good! I like how Hachiman’s formal expression of thanks sort of just stuns the gaming club. At this point, Hachiman is already accustomed to being a project lead in a variety of quasi-professional situations, and the language of engaging with collaborators comes naturally to him, in contrast with these guys who’ve spent every afternoon playing videogames

Of all people, Hachiman goes to Haruno herself for help leaking the new prom info. And of course, Haruno just asks him why he’s doing this in the first place

“I’m doing this all on my own. I suppose you could say it is for self-satisfaction.” You’re just lying to yourself, Hikki! He’s so desperate to frame this action in any terms aside from “I’m doing it because I care deeply about Yukino,” all because Haruno has poisoned his mind into thinking that’s somehow a bad thing. Caring about others and wanting them to succeed is not codependence – that’s just the perspective of a lonely, bitter person like Haruno, who wants to drag everyone else down with them. Haruno is essentially just first-season Hachiman with a few more years of experience, and it kills me to see our Hachiman actually fall for her logic

“That’s just a bunch of semantics, right?” Haruno is not impressed with Hikki’s evasions. And why would she be? The actual solution here isn’t to satisfy Haruno’s conditions of non-codependency, but to simply say “I don’t care what you think”

In contrast, Yui actually has a genuine counterargument. When Haruno says they should “just watch over” Yukino, Yui says that such an ask is unreasonable, as that really just means being passive, and letting a bad result play itself out

“Even if I were to reveal the truth, you’re not the one it’s meant for.” “That’s for sure”

Haruno admits that they might actually have a chance against her mother, mostly because “our mother doesn’t much care about the prom one way or the other.” So she’s just casually snuffing out the prom in order to assert dominance over her own daughter, with no real investment in the outcome either way. What an awful woman

And now Yui’s worried about the codependence thing. Goddamnit, Haruno!

Yukino’s mom finds out immediately after the leak, and Hachiman is called to the faculty office. This long walk down the corridor seems intentionally shot like the march to the executioner

Sensei indicates her support for Hachiman’s actions with an offer of ramen some time. Unlike most of Hachiman’s friends, Sensei isn’t considering this situation solely in terms of the relationship between the kids; it seems like she wants this prom to succeed for Yukino’s sake, so Yukino can actually escape her mother’s influence. But with Sensei’s hands barred as a member of the faculty, she’s using Hachiman as her instrument to help Yukino

“Setting up a dummy event wasn’t a bad move, but it seems to be of rather poor quality.” Oh wow. Yukimom barely even spends a sentence engaging with the prom as an actual event, before immediately addressing it as the feint Hachiman designed it to be. She is very scary

Sensei provides generous support for Hachiman as Yukimom attempts to steer the conversation in her favor. When Yukimom states that the fundamental problem of a prom has yet to be addressed, Sensei steers towards consequences, emphasizing that the students may host their own uncontrollable event if the PTO doesn’t accept the prom they have control over. The key issue here is controlling what they’re arguing over – is it “the existence of a prom,” or can our heroes change the terms of engagement?

“Well then, could we ask for your permission in attempting to persuade everyone else?” Aw shit, a bold play by Hachiman. When Yukimom stated that the problem was “certain members of the PTO are bullheaded,” she left an opening. In truth, she herself is the force of opposition, but her generous framing here implied that she’s actually on Hachiman’s side. Hachiman can use that, and either reveal or weaken her true position

And he even uses their former history to tactical effect! The reveal of his name prompts Yukimom to offer a fresh apology for the car accident, spicing his request with a hint of social obligation

He won her over! He’s a scoundrel, and she loves it. It seems like the whole Yukinoshita family are devils who only respect fellow devilry

Hikki’s nervous shiver at her “let’s meet again” is great. You realize how much you’ll have to see her if you end up dating Yukino, Hikki

Meanwhile, Hayato’s off scolding Haruno for being such a dick with the “codependency” stuff. Thank you, Hayato

Haruno seems to genuinely believe they have an unhealthy relationship, but considering Haruno herself seems to lack any meaningful emotional bonds, I don’t think she’s the person to be throwing stones

“Hikki is completely dependent on you, Yui. And because that makes you happy, you’re willing to do anything for him.”

“Since that’s how they are, you’ve had no choice but to be the mature one.” Well, that at least is certainly true. Yukino and Hikki wouldn’t have gotten far without Yui to guide them

Hikki stops by the clubroom, prompting a gorgeous cut of Yukino staring out the window, clearly reminiscing on her soon-ending high school years

Hachiman takes his usual seat, establishing a reprise of Oregairu’s most iconic shot: Hikki in his seat and Yukino at the window, trading barbs down the full length of the table

The revised prom has been accepted. Each of them simultaneously admit defeat

Yukino admits she was surprised how much she trusted Hachiman would make this work, but turns even that into a reflection of her alleged “codependence.” Haruno really messed these kids up – with one sentence, she all but ensured each of them end high school feeling miserable. Great work, you miserable joy-vulture

“I’ll be honest. I had fun. It was the first time that I felt comfortable spending time with other people. It made me happy.” Yukinoooo

“I’m okay now. You helped me. That’s why both this competition and this relationship can end with this.”

And Done

Well, that sure was a painful conclusion. As Haruno predicted, Hachiman’s semantic games didn’t change Yukino’s mind; she still understood that this prom situation would have ended in failure without his support, and thus she still feels she must make a clean break in order to establish her own identity. That’s all bullshit, of course, but our leads possess neither the experience nor the confidence to deny Haruno’s prescription. Fortunately, with four episodes remaining and the prom drama already subsiding, our leads hopefully have enough time left to sort out this disaster, and maybe seek advice from a less malevolent advisor. Believe me kids, the less you listen to Haruno, the better off you’ll be.

This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.