‘Once the magic is broken, won’t the happy end be waiting for me?’Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru Episode 5 Image 0000

Summary: N/A

 Episode 5. Did I like it? Hell yeah! Do I like Hachiman? You bet! Is Yukino growing on me yet? Nope. Nuh uh. Am I the only one that doesn’t like her? There’s being dandere and then there’s being a bitch and right now Yukino is just a bitch. She treats Hachiman like shit! The poor guy goes along with everything she says and does pretty much everything she tells him to do and all she can do is ridicule him and point out his flaws! Sure the guy may seem dull and uninspired, but he has feelings! Even though he’s pretty much given up on people at the moment, I’m sure that deep down he just wants friends, friends who aren’t simply hanging around him because their thankful that he just so happened to save their dog… wait, what do you mean that’s Yui? Oh right, yeah, I’m ranting about Yukino aren’t I? Anyway…

 Episode 5 is all about Saki Kawasai, which, might I add, is an awesome name! Saki is seemingly your average delinquent, who wear black lace panties and has white hair… Just saying, if I wandered into school with my hair dyed white, I’m pretty sure I would be bullied for life… and besides I Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru Episode 5 Image 0013go to a catholic school… I’d would probably be expelled… but I digress, Saki is just Yukino with redeemable features. For example, whereas Yukino does nothing but criticize those around her, Saki only criticizes people when the need arises. She’s a ‘take no shit from anyone’ kind of girl, y’know? When Yukino starts criticizing Saki’s way of life, Saki quickly (and I’ll admit, harshly) puts her in her place. So Yukino is a rich girl who seemingly doesn’t want to be rich but is rich anyway and so is therefore a rich girl, who is rich and something has probably happened in her past to make her the way she is, probably a bad father or just bad parenting in general and if you read that in the same fast, carefree, speculative tone that I wrote it in then you gain 1000 man points! If you’re a man that is… if not then I guess you’re just awesome? Bit I (again) digress, Saki isn’t my favorite character by any means (no, that title goes to Hachiman!), but she’s definitely a better character than Yukino! And until Yukino gives me a good reason to like her, my feelings shall remain unchanged and my resolve shall be made full proof.

 So yeah, basically in the end it turns out that Saki is working so that she can pay for summer school… a plot twist that I totally saw coming… oh and by the way, the maid cafe things? Didn’t that just happen in Hentai Ōji to Warawanai Neko? I recognize the scene immediately, hell the maid cafe even looked that same! I guess I’ve become just like Zaimokuza… able to recognize typical anime patterns and trends because,  just a he thought it would, in Hentai Ōji to Warawanai Neko the scenario that Zaimokuza thought up is EXACTLY what happened. If this was a mockery of the show I will never know. But I (again, again) digress, the plot has never been this series’ strong point and that’s okay because the characters and the humor are what keep me going! Like, seriously, for some reason this is becoming one of my favorite shows this season and I don’t know why… I really look forward to it every week y’know?

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 I’m glad that they’re dealing with the whole Yui and Hachiman situation now and in the way that they’re doing it because A. it’s mixing things up, B. it’s making things for interesting and C. it’s great to see Hachiman’s cynical side again (at full strength, I mean). For some reason I knew that Hachiman would have a negative reaction to finding out that Yui was the dog owner from the opening ceremony and I really loved how they handled it. Hachiman has been betrayed too many times in the past and to find out that Yui may only wish to be friends with him out of gratitude and sympathy is basically a catalyst for his distrust in people and humanity. Even though the main focus of this episode was meant to be Saki, I found myself more interested in the latter half because of the sharp change in tone that the episode took. The humor was gone and the old Hachiman was back (hence the title) and that to me is a good set up for the next episode. I mean, Hachiman has made so much progress, hell he’s even making friends, and for him to revert to how he was before the club… it just break my manly heart, y’know?

 And I know there are a lot of Komachi haters out there and I guess I can see why you hate Hachiman’s sister, but come on, she’s not THAT bad. Sure Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru Episode 5 Image 0007she’s a little hyper and sure she’s a tiny bit self centered, but isn’t that the whole point of the ‘sister stereotype’ in anime? In this episode alone I felt as though she redeemed herself with that little speech about how much her brother’s kindness means to her. I want to see more of her and I think it will be interesting to see Hachiman and her’s relationship evolve but until then I shall say that she’s an alright character and she’s cool with me! Whilst on the topic of side characters I’d just like to mention Totsuke quickly… she he doesn’t do much anymore other than being cute and calling Hachiman his friend does he? Now I know this tends to happen quite a lot in romantic comedies and I know he’ll probably feature again in a future episode but why can’t they be more inclusive with characters? They always sideline that one character who everyone was just starting to like in favor of the episodes focus character (and sadly Yukino) and it annoys me to no end. Why can’t everyone be included? It’s not that hard! But that’ just me complaining so if you don’t agree with anything I just said… well that’s you problem!

 So yeah, Episode 5 was great and episode 6 looks set to be even better… you know what? I can hardly contain my excitement (no really, I’m actually finding this all quite interesting). Next weeks episode looks set to shake things up and some comedic drama is sure to come pouring out, and so, with that, I end this review. Goodbye.

 P.S  Where’s my romance! I need some romance… isn’t that the whole point of this show…

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