“This is how you’ve always done it, right?”

Impression

I wondered, for a couple of seconds, why on earth Hayato asked Hikki to tag along. He should know all too well that Hikki would be the last person interested in seeing Orimoto again, especially after what happened last episode. It’s one thing to chip away at his pride for the sake of his clique, but doing so for the sake of two random sluts is another thing entirely. Hayato is high enough up the social hierarchy to handle them. Then a still-angry Komachi throws Hikki the phone that night, and I hear a ‘yahallo’ from Haruno.

And suddenly, it all clicks. It’s her.

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If these characters were in a game or something, then Haruno would be the last boss. She’s last boss material not only to Hikki, but Yukinon and probably Hayato as well. I was genuinely hoping that we wouldn’t see too much of her for the time being, but the events of this arc seem to have piqued her attention. And as a result, she’s stringing along the entire cast for her own amusement. Haruno scares me. No way was Hikki involved in Hayato’s initial plans out with those girls. It’s pretty twisted of her to actively set things up as a ‘double date’ so she can listen in on the verbal abuse and get a laugh out of it – I can’t believe she finds entertainment from it. Haruno says that Hayato ended up raining on her parade, but why does she even have a parade to begin with? It was so painful to watch, just like an episode of Watamote. Hikki was basically used as a verbal punching bag by Orimoto as she taunted him whenever she could, while at the same time she flooded her panties over anything Hayato did. I’m not even sure what she was up to, honestly – was she trying to antagonize him or something? Or is she genuinely that arrogant of a person? Seriously, when Yumiko and Ebina appeared I was so happy to see them – I never liked them much, but they’re so much better compared to Orimoto. I was even happy to see Iroha and her thousand-watt fake smile. She probably places somewhere close to Haruno on the list of scary people you don’t want to cross. Although if I had to pick, I would rather be bullied by Irohasu than by Haruno.

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Oregairu 4 Img018I’ve said before that I can’t seem to make my mind up about Hayato. He says he felt bad saying what he did – that sounds like he recognizes they’re toxic bitches, but still chooses to tolerate and hang out with them nonetheless. I’m going to wave that tolerance off as being Haruno’s fault. But I really liked what he ultimately did for Hikki. He’s not so bad after all. For all he says, and for all the disagreements the two have, Hayato is actually on pretty good terms with Hikki, at least along the standards that the latter sets. He cares about him enough to not want him to mindlessly sacrifice himself – and his way of showing that is to demonstrate what it feels like to watch someone offer themselves up as a martyr, complete with Yukinon and Yui as witnesses. Even Hikki questioned whether it was the right thing for someone socially gifted like Hayato to do, notwithstanding that Orimoto and her friend are practically irrelevant to his social life. Hayato is essentially trying to do a Yukinon, and aims to set Hikki on a better path that doesn’t involve the self-sacrifice Hikki himself doesn’t think it is. But it’s not even that he’s alone, not any more at least. I’ve felt a lot for Hikki – I’ve agreed and disagreed with him, but now I also feel quite sorry for him. He needs to become more self-confident. Yui, Yukinon and Hayato seem to care more about him than just a mere acquaintance, and Komachi is angry because she cares deep down as well. At the end there, I wanted Komachi to give Hikki a big hug and tell him that everything was going to be all right.

Oregairu 4 Img038You know, I get a lot of satisfaction when some top-class Hikki banter hits home, especially when it’s directed at Haruno. She notes that he’s fighting with his sister, and Hikki brilliantly responds with, “nothing compared to your family situation”. Hikki is a long way from being able to defeat Haruno, but Yukino might not be so far off – and if she succeeds Meguri and becomes the student council president, she’ll have done something that Haruno never did. The thing is, it just feels like it’s all part of Haruno’s wider plan – after all, Yukinon was practically provoked by her into running for president. Yui is definitely a wild card though – I would vote Yui! Of all the implicit displays of affection she’s shown Hikki throughout the series, the one this episode was really sweet. I hope he understood what she really meant when she said she was in love. It’s kind of strange, really – instead of his friends(?) changing him, Hikki seems to have inspired even more people to sacrifice themselves for something they care about, and Yui is next in line. I don’t even know how it’s going to work for her, but I’ll keep believing. Yui is the most precious character in this series. Haruno must never be allowed to taint her.

This Post Has 15 Comments

  1. TheVoid

    If anything I see it as a sorta sign of her showing interest in Hikigaya that she sets all of this up to watch him. Plus some of her words about Hayato make me believe she doesn’t like Hayato that much, though she knows he wouldn’t decline her if she asks him to do something..

    1. Vantage

      Is that a good thing? I feel like Hikki would rather not have Haruno show any interest in him at all, for the sake of a more peaceful life. But yeah, she’s been doing some subtle jabbing at Hayato as well, even though she has him fully wrapped around her finger. It might be because she’s the one he likes – if he meant ‘Yukinoshita’ when he said ‘Y’. But it could also be a first name, in which case it could be Yukinon. Or Yui!

      1. Tenshi

        Y do all the major girls in this series have first names and/or last names starting with Ys. Seriously, Y. Haha but anyways, but I have a feeling is that it’s Yukinoshita. Or actually, maybe it’s Yumiko. If you really really stretch it, Yukinon, but some how I’m doubtful over that. Hopefully not Yui.

        1. Shiki

          I think it was just a random pick of his to go for “Y”, since yukinon is one of the “(too) perfect” girls around which was her problem of why she is alone but nevermind that, or simply because of those requests in those past weeks going to that team and i think haruno didnt like hayato because he was easy prey like most other ppl and only hikki is able to fight back by beeing able to see through her facade and read between the lines

          1. Vantage

            Hayato can see through Haruno as well, but the difference is that he’s completely subservient to her, instead of trying to resist like Hikki does – which is either because a) she’s just too scary or b) he has some affection for her, lingering or otherwise.

        2. Vantage

          Yumiko! Now there’s an idea. It’s fairly clear that Yumiko likes Hayato (as do far too many girls in this series, including Irohasu) but I doubt it’s reciprocated. Hayato seemed pretty reluctant to talk love with Tobe actually.

          Hopefully not Yui. After ‘bye-bye, Hikki’ I ship her even harder with him now.

          1. Tenshi

            Yeah, Yumiko is kind of a wild idea. Just wanted to include all the girls though. As long as it’s not Yui though, I think I’m cool with it though. Because I ship her with Hikki so much. And like you said, especially after that moment.

            1. Tenshi

              Ohhh Yithar’s comment just made me realize something. “Y” could very well be Yukinon because I kind of forget their relationship from season one but now I remember that Yukinon hates Hayato and that makes a difference. So it’s probably one of the Yukinoshita siblings.

  2. Yithar

    I can’t say for sure but I think Orimoto is just that arrogant and Hachiman is seen as the guy at the bottom of the pole. I’ve never thought of Ebina as bad as I can sort of relate to having other problems you don’t want to share. But yeah as for Miura, she’s way better than Orimoto.

    I think Hayato really just wants to get along with everyone and he doesn’t like conflict. And I can relate to that as well. Yeah I liked what he did as well. He saw that he broke something so he tried to fix it. My guess as to why Yukino doesn’t like him is because when they were at the summer camp, he said he witnessed the same thing occuring in elementary school yet did nothing to stop it. He knew what was happening to Yukino when they were in elementary school yet he did nothing. I agree. I feel a lot for Hikki, because it’s like looking at a mirror image of my past self and it’s kind of sad watching someone sacrifice themselves for everyone.

    Haruno definitely has some wider plan. Hikki mentioned that she was going a bit too far. I think Haruno deep down really wants Yukino to be her own person, not like her. That’s just my guess though. Well I think deep down Hikki is a caring guy and everyone close to him knows this. Yukino looked really sad when she said “Thinking that everyone concerns themselves with you enough to hate you is overly self-conscious.” I don’t think he understood what she meant, because as I said he’s purposefully closing his eyes and trying not to read into what she’s saying and doing.

    1. Vantage

      I honestly wasn’t expecting to see Orimoto back again so soon. Not sure how Hayato speaking up has affected her (nor what she meant by ‘I see’ after glancing at Yukinon and Yui) but she’s easily Haruno’s best weapon against Hikki, so my hopes aren’t too high to be honest.

      Ah yes, they were childhood friends. ‘Y’ might actually be Yukinon in this case. I… I would like to believe that Haruno wants her to be her own person and stuff, but it’s an awfully cruel way of trying to bring that result about. And Haruno is the character I distrust most of all. It would come at the cost of having Yukino hate her as well – which is ironically a very Hikki-like way of doing things.

      1. Yithar

        I think the ‘I see’ is just an acknowledgement that Hikki isn’t as low as she would like to think.

        Well I’m not sure if it was stated that they were childhood friends but we know that they attended the same elementary school overseas and their families know each other. I don’t necessarily agree with her methods, but at the same time Hikki can see where she’s coming from. I don’t think Haruno can just go up to Yukino and say, “Be yourself.”

  3. Vange Chandran

    I’m confused about something. Maybe it was touched upon in season 1, but I can’t remember–why the actual fuck is Haruno so invested in tormenting Hikki and Yukinon? If I’m correct, she’s at least a few years older than Yukinon, right? Which means she should be in college or the work force. So why is she meddling in the lives of high school students when she could be, I don’t know, hanging out with people her own age?

    1. Vantage

      Because she is super bitchy. Yukinon is her sister, and tormenting her might be the result of their long-fragmented relationship… maybe she’s onto Hikki because of his connection to Yukinon? Or maybe she just finds fun in his warped ideals.

      it’s because Haruno has no friends

      1. BodaciousSpacePirate

        Sure, you joke about it… but in the novels, there’s AT LEAST a page of Hikki contemplating whether Haruno is only doing this because she is incapable of fitting in with people her own age.

        Of course, she’s also following them in disguise for the ENTIRE date, so…

        1. Vantage

          Crap. Following around two high school boys like a stalker does sound really off. It would be typical behaviour for a group of jealous harem members, but when you put it like that – it sounds like she’s gone far out of her way to do this.

          I can imagine people her age seeing through her mask and keeping their distance, especially if she doesn’t have any sort of hold over them. The irony of it all.

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