Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru

1st episode is subed.

There were some cutten scenes, which makes Hachiman look less twisted and more passive. Means closer to standart protagonist. Senseis quirks were also toned down. Still I consider it be better adaptation than Maoyuu for now.

Would reading the manga enhance the experience of watching the series, or would it make it hard to take the anime seriously?

I would say enhance. It provide better understanding of characters. Even better are original novels, but I read only machine tranlation and with dialog heavy series of almost like this it didn't worked well once I got behind chapters that manga covers.

On some forum they were comparing Hiki to Araragi and Yuki to Senjogahara, I think it help better look on it this way than seemingly obvious but irelevant comparison to Haganai.

edited 5th Apr '13 3:12:57 AM by Tenzen12

So far, seems a bit cliché, but it could get better.

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This is some QUALITY anime.

They tried to go SHAFT/Bakemonogatari for a moment there but they just don't have the skill to pull it off.

That aside, it's purely bland.

Where is all the substance? Where is any character relationships at all? Where is the dialogue and where is the subtext the implied background? Nothing?

I'm not sure I can call them dead fish eyes with the pupils that dilated (maybe it's a drug problem?).

Anyway, I don't think I'll be continuing this.

The characters don't have relationships because the characters don't have relationships. That's like... the entire point isn't it? Coasting through life without making any friends or enemies.

I do agree though that's it's shooting for Bakemonogatari but mostly failing. I don't mind Bakemonogatari-lite though, since that's a fairly high standard.

edited 5th Apr '13 10:33:41 AM by Clarste

I'm gonna have to say, nuh uh.

At the very least he is known by the teacher and that other girl.

I don't mean that they should prove to have deep understandings of one another, but the impression I have is that it's bad writing that's leaving gaps in or perception of his school life, not the fact that there's nothing there. Demonstrably not as we got a tiny amount of info about his past and at least two characters who should have am impression.

There are text links lacking any subtext to back it up.

edited 5th Apr '13 11:01:06 AM by UltimatelySubjective

I'm not saying no one knows that he exists, because frankly that's kind of absurd. Apparently he's made an impression as this snobby disgusting guy because, well, he is. However, since he looks down on everyone and doesn't talk to anyone he doesn't have any... um... drama in his life. The horrible memories that stand out to him are when he makes an awkward comment that everyone else has presumably forgotten by now. I think the opening scene makes this all rather clear. He just walks past people enjoying themselves, and people would rather continue to enjoy themselves than to directly confront him. I mean, why would anyone want to talk to him? They'd have to go out of their way to do so.

Therefore, the relationships he has are... nothing. He's got classmates, but he's not close to them nor does he antagonize them. He's not invisible because he's kind of a jerk, but there's no reason for anyone to either bully or befriend him. He just... exists, surrounded by people yet alone. Maybe not lonely though, or at least he would never admit it to himself.

Maybe this is horrible thing that I shouldn't admit, but I can relate to him. In my defense I'm not really bitter about anything and I'd like to think I'm not a misanthrope, but I know exactly how easy it is to go through school with no relationships. Maybe people recognize you, maybe they don't, maybe you even secretly have a reputation for something but you wouldn't know because you never talk to anyone. I'm consistently surprised whenever people I don't know know my name, because I guess I stand out more than I think I do? But I still don't have any relationships worth noting. It doesn't feel like bad writing to me because that's exactly my life. Super-realistic.

Maybe you just don't have enough empathy to imagine the circumstances of others? I mean, despite his comical disgusting-ness, the show does not go out of its way to say he's wrong. If anything, they're putting his "acceptance" on the same level as the girl's "solution". Neither is entirely right or wrong, and both are seen to have significant flaws. The girl's advice to keep trying until you succeed is just as important as his advice that the results aren't the only thing that matters.

edited 5th Apr '13 11:44:06 AM by Clarste

Gonna have to completely agree with Clarste. I've also been in the protagonists shoes to a lesser extent.

For the record, I'm not saying this is a masterpiece and I think that there's about a 75% chance that it will in fact become a romcom despite what it says. I mean, can you say "love triangle"?

But, I don't think it's appropriate to dismiss it purely because you think it's bad writing to have such an "empty" world surrounding the main character. If you think that's unrealistic then you're just missing the entire point of him.

edited 5th Apr '13 12:06:09 PM by Clarste

That's probably what I'm the most afraid of here. That they'll eventually lean in the same direction every other anime does, and say that if you're alone, you're always lonely.

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I'm really glad they went to the effort of distinguishing the MC by drawing his face in a different style. It always struck me as odd to have them emphasize "dead, fish-like eyes" when the LN illustrations and especially the manga drew him in the same style as everyone else.

(Though, Ultimately Subjective, a comment: Dilated pupils aren't always a drug thing. i.e, my dad's side of the family, including both my sister and I, who have tiny irises and very large pupils. It comes with fast-adjusting night vision and a lot of light sensitivity. It is very definitely genetic and inheritable. My sister has had a great deal of trouble with authority figures who made the same assumptions.)

This has potential, I think. I think it'll be good if they do two things: 1) They continue playing up the contrast in views between the MC and Snow Snow. Clashing ideals are interesting to watch. 2) Keep the dysfunction. The two of them wouldn't be there if they didn't have issues with interpersonal relationships.

Both of them are "don't veer into the typical," really. "Generic" will be a death knell.

Episode 1: Hmm... definitely not generic, but not interesting either. Found nothing notable, really.

EDIT: Manga's a bit better in the characterization department. Same with the flow. Yeah, teacher's more interesting in the manga.

edited 6th Apr '13 12:46:15 AM by fillerdude

I used to have dilated pupils, for drug related reasons. I have asthma, and the medicine for that is one of many that dilates the pupils. I almost never need medicine now, though. Got better through exercise.

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Hopefully I haven't offended anyone. I only meant that my opinion of the main guy's pupils is that they look more like the dilated ones from Angel Densetsu which are always mistaken for drug pupils (while actually being naturally like that) rather than Gin's "dead fish eyes" from Gintama which look like what I'd call dead fish eyes.

Eyes.

edited 6th Apr '13 5:43:39 AM by UltimatelySubjective

I just though, that when Hiki called Yui a "bitch"/"slut" it might have certain merit (twisted as anything he says of course), if you compare her uniform to Yukis it clear it were modified be more fashionable and to put her sexappeal on show. She is pretty much "Riaju" poster girl and when you consider her (not so unusual these days) belive that be virgin in her age is embarassing it tells lot about enviroment she is in as well.

Of course I wouldn't notice these modifications if it weren't explicitly stated in novels.

edited 6th Apr '13 8:25:39 AM by Tenzen12

So fashionable equals slut now? I mean, it's hardly a surprise that someone like Hikki (what was his real name again?) would think that, but that doesn't mean it's actually justified. It's simply a quick way to characterize both of them with one stone.

That's it. I obviously didn't meant she might be one, just reason why he actualy said that and why this term.

And that name is Hikigaya Hachiman

PS: Was that you on ANN forum?

edited 6th Apr '13 10:46:23 AM by Tenzen12

You mean the "Clarste" agreeing with the "Tenzen 12" over there? Yes. I'm trying to make a brand here.

Huh. Well, that was a promising first episode. Bit too obvious of a setup for the rest of the series, and they might have jumped the gun a little on providing backstory on both the male and female lead.

Other than that, this might be good. I like how Hiki and Yuki have such strong, perfectly valid, yet entirely different world views. There's some really good food for thought to find in such a thing. There's also very little that could make me like a male character more than a strict code of honour regarding the feelings of others.*

I can only hope that Yuki gets such a moment to show off her personality as well.

There's some really good ideas in here, and I can only hope they'll going the direction they seemed to have laid out here, with some romcom thrown in for good measure.

I don't think they've necessarily provided the relevant backstories for the leads yet. While both of them told a lot of stories about themselves, I didn't get the impression that they were complete and what they weren't saying struck me as nearly as important as what they were saying.

For example, Yukino seemed to get seriously upset at Hiki's philosophy not being able to "save" people, in a way that merely being bullied by other girls doesn't seem like it would lead to. And while a number of reviewers have summed up Hiki by saying he gave up on others after a romantic rejection, the sheer diversity of his flashbacks, and the fact that the most recent is also the most harmless (ie: the last time he talked to a girl was when he casually told a bad joke), tells me that there's something deeper there. Although that kind of thing may not spring from any particular event.

edited 7th Apr '13 2:43:54 PM by Clarste

Oh, I certainly agree there. It's just unusual to see them already provide that much in the very first episode, during the very first introduction. No reason to stick to the beaten paths, of course, but the path is usually there because it was a good route.

I sure liked the female leads Brutal Honesty and how she isn't all cutesey .

This seems to have promise, I definetly gonna watch the next episode.

edited 7th Apr '13 3:42:48 PM by Kiefen

Heh, I really liked the first episode. I guess I just enjoyed the deep cynicism that permeates this series, particularly in Hachiman and Yukino. Their banter with each other and with Yui was great.

Second episode... not as much promise as the first. The first half of it arguably had some sort of point and I certainly don't mind framing the story between a bunch of pretentious complaint essays, but the second half just took a nosedive. I mean, I guess some might consider it funny, especially the mockery of light novels, but it felt completely out of place and pointless.

Unlike the first "case" from the previous episode, it didn't seem to highlight the difference in philosophies which I had thought was the point of the show. I mean, I guess it was there, but only in Hikki's internal monologue afterward. Overall it felt like a one-off joke that introduces a one-joke character, rather than an exploration of the themes that made this show stand out, even if only a little.