Review: My Teen Romantic Comedy Too!, Episode 3: Quietly, Yukinoshita Yukino Makes A Decision

Screenshot taken from: http://www.crunchyroll.com/my-teen-romantic-comedy-snafu/episode-3-quietly-yukinoshita-yukino-makes-a-decision-678743

Review:

The darker, dramatic tone that began with last week’s episode continues into this one, as Hikigaya’s typical approach to handling situations begins to wear on Yukino, as evidenced by her staunch rejection of Hikigaya’s proposal for handling a new job that has been brought to the Service Club. It turns out that a fellow student has been nominated to run for Student Council President as some sort of prank, and since she’s the only candidate her election is basically assured. The problem is, she doesn’t want to be the SC president, so she turns to the Service Club to help her out. Hikigaya immediately jumps to a plan that appears to be headed in the usual direction: take the brunt of the bad stuff onto himself so that the client can get out of her problem without having her social life negatively impacted. Yukino harshly rejects his plan, moving to instead suggest a direction of her own.

In all reality, the set up for this kind of plot was done at the end of season one, with Shizuka (the Service Club adviser) lamenting that Hikigaya always hurts himself to help others. It makes sense that these feelings would eventually boil over and start affecting his friends, as well; however, starting on that path almost immediately at the beginning of the second season is a bit jarring. As far as this writer can recall, the first season ended on a relatively positive note—which is understandable, especially if a second season wasn’t initially planned. The disconnect is in having a relatively content group of individuals suddenly fall into contention over Hikigaya using the same motives he has always used. Using the first portion of the season to build up the tension before having it finally boil over would have seemed like a more balanced approach.

None of this is to say that the show is bad; on the contrary, it is actually enjoyable to watch a high school anime that isn’t a constant barrage of flowers and sunshine, with a male protagonist who isn’t typical of a romantic comedy (although, calling this a romantic comedy almost seems like lying at this point, as both the romance and the comedy currently seem to be absent). In any case, the current events make one want to see how this conflict is resolved, as Hikigaya cannot possibly continue on the same path anymore—at least, not without severely damaging or even losing the friendships he has finally made. Perhaps that’s what needs to happen, though. Maybe he has to lose it all to realize how much it means to him, since his usual cynical attitude may not place much value on friendship. That’s just a theory, of course. How this will play out is still too far off for anyone to tell, so one can only hope for a satisfying conclusion.

A Christian Perspective:

Proverbs 26:11 – As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

Sorry guys, no positive perspective this week. I think it’s fairly obvious where I’m going with this, but I’ll go there anyway. As we have seen, Hikigaya’s methods for solving problems (basically, putting himself on the line for the sake of sparing others any personal embarrassment) are starting to hurt those closest to him, and they are starting to get vocal about it, and yet Hikigaya continues to use this approach. While this plot point is still in its infancy, it stands to reason that if he doesn’t change his ways, then he may lose his friends—not because they dislike him, but because being around him would become too painful. Grant you this is all speculation, but it is a likely scenario based on what we’re given.

The verse above makes it clear that to persist in your folly is foolish, and at this point it is pretty clear that Hikigaya’s methods are foolish. He takes the brunt of anger, embarrassment, etc. onto himself, which of course sets the stage for contention between himself and others. It’s true that he doesn’t seem to have too much trouble with his fellow classmates, although it is also obvious that he doesn’t exactly have a friendly relationship with them. Ultimately, though, it is never wise to continue making enemies for yourself, and that is precisely what Hikigaya’s methods have the potential of doing. Instead of being wise and looking at other methods, though, he is obstinate and insists on using the same tactics over and over again. Whether this is simply because they work, because he doesn’t care what people think of him, or because of some other variable that we do not yet know of, I cannot say. As Christians, though, let us practice wisdom and actually consider our methods of doing things, especially when they are clearly hurting those closest to us.

Content Guide:

Language: 1 “Oh my G–”

Alcohol/Drug Use: None

Nudity/Sex/Fanservice: Hikigaya stares at a girl’s chest

Violence: None

Blood/Gore: None