What the fuck is wrong with you kids? Why can’t you let yourself embrace happiness for one goddamn second? Why you always gotta be martyring yourself for the sake of social conventions you don’t even fully understand? What is so wrong with having a good time with the people you love!?!?
Jesus cripes this show drives me crazy sometimes. The challenge to Yukino’s prom has been circumvented, yet our heroes are actually even more distraught than before, more certain they’re doomed to majestically drift apart. Kids, you’re only seventeen, you could fuck up for the next five years straight and still be ahead of the curve. And why would you take advice about relationships from a woman who’s destroyed all of her own personal bonds, anyway? Sometimes I feel like Ray dealing with Little Nephew when it comes to these anxious little devils, but it’s hard to fault the realism of teenagers thinking they don’t deserve love. I’m really hoping this is the low point of their journey, but I’ll be sticking by them regardless to the end. Let’s dive back into Oregairu!
Episode 9
“A Whiff of that Fragrance will Always Bring Memories of that Season.” With the end of high school so close, it seems our heroes are deep in nostalgia mode at this point, and already lamenting all that they’re leaving behind. While Hachiman and Yukino’s tendency to intellectualize their every feeling often results in great insights, it can also result in them being trapped in intellectual stasis, rather than actually engaging with and thus appreciating the time they have. That’s part of why Yui is so important, as someone who can drag them into actual engagement with the world. Initially they likely saw her headstrong insistence on pushing them forward as either stubbornness or stupidity, but now they know it to be compassion and strength
We open on Hachiman’s house and then a cut to his cat. No episode that starts with a cat can be bad, right?
Hachiman stares at his reflection in his coffee, a universal visual shorthand for internal self-reflection
His sister is weirded out by his genuinely straightforward answers. Hachiman must have been messed up pretty bad if he’s not offering snarky non-answers for once
Komachi gently prods him further, asking if he’s willing to tell her what happened. One of Oregairu’s greatest strengths is that it’s not simply a character study of the Hachiman or Yukino personality type; it encompasses a wide variety of different temperaments and worldviews, including exceedingly kind and thoughtful people like Komachi. The breadth of Oregairu’s characterization put the lie to Hachiman’s simplistic worldview right from the start, but rather than simply serving as a counter to Hachiman’s perspective, the diverse humanity of characters like Komachi and Hayato enriches both Oregairu’s drama and its overall celebration of human nature. This show with some of the most cynical characters I’ve seen also possesses some of the best portrayals of people who are simply kind, with no ulterior motives or narrative purpose to speak of
Apparently Komachi has some kind of surprise waiting for him
Like last episode, we’re getting more “bookend shots” that mirror shots from the beginning of the series, thus creating a greater sense of circular congruence across the whole production. Here, the initial shots of Hikki staring at Yui and her friends from the first season’s first episode are recreated perfectly, prompting the audience to consider both what has changed and what has stayed the same. Similarly to Hikki getting the whole band together to help with his prom, this is a bit of a slapdash solution to a fundamentally intransigent issue: the fact that Oregairu wasn’t actually designed as a fully cohesive work from the start, and was actually first released as a series of distinct volumes with no defined end point
One thing that’s clearly changed: Yui now has the confidence to step away from her friends, rather than go with the flow. Yumiko is not pleased by this character development
Hikki and Yui stop by a playground after school
“Yuigahama, tell me your wish”
“There are a lot. Like, I want you to be more normal when you start conversations with me.” I love this. Rather than getting flustered by the question, Yui just starts at the top of Hachiman’s Grand List of Failings
“Damn, I’m creepy.” “You’re just realizing that now?”
Hachiman can’t help but intellectualize this moment, reflecting on how both of them are making a conscious effort to keep this conversation light and friendly
“That competition isn’t over.” “No, I lost. In fact, I lost so bad it almost feels good.” Through “losing,” Hachiman was able to let go of all his adolescent preconceptions about human nature, and learn to love the people around him. Losing this competition was the best thing that ever happened to him
Because she knows Hikki would overexert himself if she asked the impossible, she’ll “only ask for simple things”
Gorgeous shots of Yui as she announces her desire to grant Hikki’s wish, as well. With the golden hour sun beaming down on her, the rapturous aura Hachiman assigns to her is visible for all to see
“Don’t be all half-assed about this.” I appreciate this beat of Yumiko looking out for Yui. She’s not the kind of person who’d ever like Hachiman, but that’s not really a personal fault; they’re just very different people. When it comes to her own friends, she’s loyal and protective
Even Hachiman is forced to admit “she’s a good person.” He’s grown a great deal
“Things aren’t going well enough to call it ‘smooth,’ so I struggled for a way to describe it.” It is extremely true to Yukino that she’d never consider misleading the others about how the project is going, and thus contort herself into pretzels in order to clarify that things are tough, but not outside her predictions
“By the way, I’m not an interpreter for you two.” Iroha is already tired of Hikki and Yukino’s melodramatic nonsense
“I’ll help if I’m free.” “You’re always free, so just say you’ll help.” Iroha’s even better at roasting Hachiman than Yukino, since she lacks the prickly self-seriousness of the other two
“I wonder if things are going well. Has she become better able to conduct herself? Is she comfortable in this relationship, like she was in that room?” A bittersweet thought by Hachiman. On the one hand, it’s good that Yukino is becoming more comfortable in general social situations – on the other hand, it lessens the “specialness” of the relationship they once shared in the clubroom
Yui sets up another sequence echoing the show’s beginning, as she asks Hachiman to come to her house in order to bake a cake for Komachi. Like with the series’ very first assignment, Yui is using the neutral premise of baking in order to get closer to Hikki, concealing her true intentions all the while
“Maybe we could make some cookies?” The parallel is made even more explicit
Like last time, Yuigamama is simply delighted to see Hachiman. She’s got such powerful embarrassing mom energy, simultaneously trying to relate to her daughter, and also fawning over the adorableness of her daughter bringing home a boy she likes
Yui getting jealous over her mom hand-feeding sweets to Hikki is so much. Really not holding anything back for Yuigamama’s second appearance
Her incredibly broad smile as she forces Yui and Hikki to talk about romance. She is so good
Lots of good Yui pouts this episode, too. It’s nice to see these two both somewhat in their element again, even if it’s an act they’re putting on
“If only I could continue living out my days like this, granting all her wishes one by one.” Oh my god Hachiman, put down the goddamn cross. Finding joy in making your friends happy is a gift, not some symptom of psychological reliance
Ahaha, I love that the two people who can’t help themselves and start breaking into tears during the graduation speech are Yumiko and Hachiman
It seems Tobe has forgiven Hachiman for his actions in season two, or perhaps forgotten about them entirely
And of course, Iroha has one last assignment for our hero
And Done
That was actually extremely charming! With Yukino largely relegated to the sidelines for this episode, her and Hachiman’s collective gloom was utterly banished by Yui’s earnest smile. Even if both Yui and Hachiman were using this episode’s activities to distract themselves from the end of high school, it still worked – the two seemed happier than they have all season, consistently demonstrating what effortless friends they’ve become. I’m sure things will get rockier from here out, but I greatly appreciated this last vignette of these two charming people sharing a day together. As Yui’s mom said, memories like this will last long after the cookies have been eaten.
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