My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong As Expected was disappointing and that was unexpected. I’ve heard from so many online who love this series, but for me, I simply couldn’t enjoy it.

Oregairu Story: 6/10

Why did I expect an especially intriguing story from a teen romantic comedy? I don’t know; I feel pretty dumb about it. That being said, the story wasn’t bad, just not good either. As usual with the genre, there’s a male lead and several (mostly female) love interests, and the story is about their time together in highschool as they grow closer to each other. That’s a mediocre story.

However, a little bit about it original, in that the main male lead, Hachiman, doesn’t want to fall in love with anyone, and doesn’t believe youth is something to try to have fun with. Sometimes, the comedic, biting exchanges of Hachiman and Yukino made me laugh, and humor is part of a good story. So as a whole, the plot is fine/fair, a little above average.

Oregairu Art and Animation: 7/10

The art seemed good enough to me, though certainly nothing astounding. If the show came out in 2019, I’d call it average in terms of artstyle and quality, but this was 5 or 6 years ago, so I’ll give it some grace. The most important part of the animation/art for a story like this, I think, is to have cute, funny, attractive, cool, or otherwise appealing character designs, and a style that fits the feel of the plot.

Oregairu succeeds in this. Character designs are not the most unique you’ll see, but they’re nice to look at and I think I’ll remember most of them for a while. The style fits pretty well, like a good combination of the overly cutesy, colorful Kotoura-san and the more realistic and stunning Kyoukai no Kanata. (I mention those because they came out around the same time.)

Sound and Seiyuu in Oregairu: 7/10

While none of the music or songs really left any positive impression on me, I thought the voice-acting was great. It was wonderful to hear so many female seiyuu whose voices I know and love. Mai Nakahara plays Haruno, Yukino’s sister, and I know her best from when she played Rena in the Higurashi series. This is much more mature-sounding role, and Nakahara does a good job. Yukino is voiced by Saori Hayami, who I recognize as Shirayuki from Akagami no Shirayuki and Yumeko from Kakegurui.

The talented and memorable singer and seiyuu Nao Touyama plays Yui, and plays her well. I know her from a variety of anime, but most notably as Chitoge from Nisekoi. Ami Koshimizu plays a supporting role as Kawasaki, and she voiced Ryuko in Kill la Kill. I don’t know the voice of Hachiman that I’m aware of, but he performed well, too. Aoi Yuuki, possibly my favorite seiyuu ever, played the little sister, Komachi.

Oregairu Characters: 5/10

The characters were pretty average, all things considered. They weren’t bad characters, but they’re forgettable in some cases– I’m willing to bet I won’t remember anything about Yui or Yukino in a month, or I’ll confuse them with other characters. They lacked a sense of realness, too. In other cases, characters will be hard to forget, like Hachiman and Totsuka. But Totsuka’s character never went anywhere interesting, and Hachiman annoyed the crap out of me, as you’ll see if you keep reading. When I think of memorable and likeable characters in a school rom com, I think of shows like Toradora, School Rumble, or the very recent Seishun Buta Yarou. Oregairu doesn’t come close when compared to series like those.

Personal Enjoyment of Oregairu: 3/10

As I watched the series, I grew increasingly frustrated with the character of Hachiman and his infernal childishness. However, thanks to someones’ comment, I finally realized something. I was expecting Hachiman to have insights that were mostly correct, or at least ones I could relate to, and I was disappointed that all his opinions were so childish.

I had the wrong idea. The “beauty” in Hachiman’s character isn’t that he gets things right– it’s that he says what he really thinks. He’s genuine. Comparing to those who try to please others or be super-polite all the time, Hachiman is “real.” That makes him unique. It still doesn’t make him admirable in any way, since he chooses to use his realness to be a little shit.

I felt genuinely sick when in episode 12, the teacher was nice to Hachiman and said he was hurting himself to help others. What the fucking fuck? No, he unnecessarily hurt another person, and you’re telling me to feel bad for him because he hurt himself, too? I don’t have that level of tolerance for people. That episode is just one example of the times I got annoyed.

Oregairu Overall Score: 5.6/10.0 Average

I realize I’m talking about a pretty widely popular school rom-com and giving it a pretty low score despite most people I’ve talked to giving it 8 or 9 out of ten. If you love Oregairu and/or the character of Hachiman, please try not to hate me over this post. But if you want to discuss and civilly argue your side, feel free to comment. I always like hearing from readers. I thank you profusely for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day! Ja ne!