HighWire: [Anime Review] My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Zoku

"...Even so, I.. I want something genuine."

-Hachiman Hikigaya

If you either haven't seen the anime or read my first review, I highly recommend you navigate here to my review of the first season of SNAFU for context on my thoughts of the first season and the setting of the anime.

This is somewhat awkward. I rarely stand here before you and review that I actually consider one of the best anime I have ever seen, because hell, how am I going to justify such a massive claim? Yes, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Zoku is not, in my opinion, only one of the best sequels of all time, but is probably up there in my Top Ten list of my favorite anime ever, and to explain something like that is somewhat like explaining why I chose Tsubomi Kido to be my waifu(trust me, I'm going somewhere with this). I know what I feel is strong enough to be justified, but the second I attempt to put it into words I can't quite seem to grasp the heart of the argument, or I feel I failed to explain it well enough to make the point I wanted to make. And that's frustrating. It's the reason why I sometimes shy away from reviewing the better spectrum of Eastern animation. It's easy to say why things that suck suck(because they suck), but explaining why something is truly great takes another whole level of mental organization and articulation to bring to fruition, levels likely more complex than my feeble mind can handle. But I've always wanted to give a shot to explain my adoration for one of my favorite anime. So today, I'm going to try my best.

Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I hope you've had a wonderful today thus far, and welcome to a new anime review, and my, is it a big one. Today, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Zoku, the sequel to 2013's My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Alright. Let me take a breath. And here... we... go.

Let's take technical first. Zoku was animated by Studio Feel, who aren't exactly in a positive light when it comes to their reputation. They've made some alright stuff like Outbreak Company and Mayo Chiki, but mostly their résumé consists of things like the softcore-porn OVA series KissXSis, the wincest epitome Yosuga no Sora, and the infamous ecchi So I Can't Play H! Needless to say, seeing such an entry like Zoku into the medium from this studio is more than unexpected. Hopefully this means Feel is turning a new leaf in their time as a studio, but then I remember that Bikini Warriors aired in summer. So... this is probably just a one-time thing.
Kei Oikawa steps into the role of director for this season, doing a surprisingly good job too despite only having major directorial work in Outbreak Company and Minami-ke Okaeri. The writing was handled by Shoutarou Suga, who has done scripts for anime such as One Week Friends, and Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, but also has done random episode scripts for many different titles, like Eden of The East, Nanatsu no Taizai, Eureka Seven and Blood+. Finally, the anime ran its 13 episodes from April 2nd to June 2th of 2015. Onto the plot, then.

Story

Life appears to continue as normal for Hachiman Hikigaya and the Service Club. They still receive requests from various members of the student body who need help with their problems. The relationships of all the students, including the Service Club appear to have gone unchanged, and the monotonous trudge of everyday life continues forward without change. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
Despite his sincerest efforts to avoid growing close to others, Hachiman finds himself stuck in between his own stubborn ideology and the threat of the unspoken words of the people closest to him pushing away the closest thing to true friends he has ever had. Standing at the crossroads of the purpose of youth and relationships, Hachimana, Yukino and Yui will all need to confront what is actually important to them, whether the things they feel are real, or just another byproduct of the superficiality that constantly surrounds their lives. The answer won't be easy to obtain, but as the Service Club watch the elements that make up the high-school experience in the students who walk in and out for their club-room, it might just be a lot closer and obvious than any of them think.

No comment. Just adorable.

I realize fully that that description doesn't exactly tell you what happens in the show, but that's because nothing truly different than anything else you'd see in any other rom-com transpires, at least as far as the basic set-up goes. But to get this out of the way now, it doesn't really matter. SNAFU has always been a character-driven show, and it's thanks to that aspect that the show is able to transform what would usually be cliches into little pockets of development between the relationships of the characters. Even something as basic as Hachiman randomly running into someone in a cafe serves some sort of purpose in the forwardness of the characters, and it's able to do this thanks to the great writing. While the interactions between characters in the first season were mostly just great because they were witty exchanges of dialouge, Zoku takes it to a whole other level. I don't simply mean that by the dialouge is extremely clever and intelligent(because it still is), but now there's always another layer of conflict running underneath the dialouge. There's always something being left unsaid in the conversation, or something that is implied to be really said when the characters interact, and this adds a fantastic window for the viewer for the what the characters actually think about one another and the situations they get themselves into.... and what it simply being said on-screen. Zoku doesn't just do this through cheap inner monologues, you can see what is really being stated from subtle glances, to the range of expressions on the character's faces, to certain silent actions that for one reason or another have some sort of meaning within the unspoken narrative. Hell, even the cinematography occasionally chips in to show either division between characters or something similiar. Trust me, I would love to show you some examples of this, but the examples I feel best encapsulate what exactly I'm talking about would spoil huge chunks of development later on. It's exceedingly rare to see something as tightly written as some of the best interactions in Zoku, and it's actually quite amazing just how much is packed into these 13 episodes, and simply put, that's because no time is wasted.
Okay, so the pacing is admittedly slow, especially in the first few episodes, but just because the episodes are slowly paced doesn't mean they aren't important. While there is a very good arc running in the background of the first few episodes, I think they were also meant to establish the overall tone of this season and how it differs much from the first, which I'll go into later when I talk about characters. The point is, this seemingly slow start is meant to establish the stakes for this season, and I think you'll find, as the episodes progress and so too does the remarkably complex themes, this little period of stupor is quickly forgotten when compared to how much else Zoku has to give.

Yui doing an impression of me bathing in the glory of this show.

The show's resolution is the only part of this entire equation that feels a bit incomplete. I don't mean the thematic resolution, but rather the one for the characters that Zoku had been building up to until that point. I don't know if 13 episodes simply wasn't enough for that, or the LN's haven't quite reached their conclusion yet, but as it stands, with 2 seasons and a grand total of 26 episodes, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU hasn't been concluded, and that's a shame, because that would be the final piece to assure Zoku's dominance in the slice-of-life genre. All I can do now is sit back and pray that a season 3 will happen and conclude this story. If that season 3 doesn't happen, well... that... is a huge problem.

Some supporting cast to expect.

Characters

I'm actually going to talk about the supporting cast first, mostly because I feel I should save the best for last, but also because I want to preface with some things first that will hopefully lead in later. Now, SNAFU as a franchise has easily one of the best supporting casts out there in anime, and I realize that's a huge change to how I felt in my first SNAFU review, but allow me to explain here, because it's only while I re-watched certain bits of Zoku that I realized just how vital the supporting cast actually is. Occasionally I think that the supporting cast is meant to represent various faucets of society and youth, acting as a sort of possible eventuality for our main cast who are still very much in the process of figuring their lives out, but I almost feel like that doesn't give them enough credit. Nearly all of the supporting cast has at least one aspect of development to them that adds somewhere to the boiling pot of themes, and even in the case of characters like Hayato: the seemingly stereotypical "popular hunk", Yukino's older sister Haruno(who I honestly sort of despise), Iroha, a fantastic new addition to the cast this season, or Hachiman's crush from middle-school Kaori, who reveals in this season just what kind of person she is, are so well fleshed out that they are able to rival the main cast in some aspects. Of course not everyone gets the spotlight, the cast is so big that that exists as basically an inevitability. Totsuka very much remains the one-dimensional trap who is inexplicably infatuated with Hachiman throughout, Kawasaki, who showed promise in S1 gets basically nothing, and the chuunibyo-infected Zaimokuza hardly even appears. But I hardly think that matters. Firstly, it's impressive enough that the anime was able to do as much with the rest of the cast as it did, and secondly, the three above roles in this season are so trivial that is hardly seems to matter; the anime instead focusing on characters that actually have potential. Is it still a problem? Yes. But it's also one that is but a leaf in front of a mountain of solid characterization and development from the rest of the supporting cast. And also this next part.

Iroha is love. Iroha is life.

To say that Hachiman, Yui, and Yukino are absolutely great characters in their own right is a severe understatement. This is easily one of the best main casts I've come across in the slice-of-life genre, and I honestly don't think I have enough time to describe just how great all three of them are individually, since we'd be here all day, so rather, let's go for some blanket statements.
To describe the main cast of Hachiman, Yui and Yukino, in one word, I'd think I'd go with "human". One of SNAFU's strong-points from the very beginning of the first season was to point how just how flawed real people are, and in a medium where "perfect-waifus" and "moe-jesus" female archetypes exist, it's exceedingly refreshing. Even Yui, who is by far the most moral person in the entire show, turns from simply an unassertive well-doer in something much more interesting by the end, even if admittedly, the show leaves it a little late for the development to start for her. Yukino also receives fleshing out, but this time, she's not just a more realistic take on a hackneyed archetype, she's a real character, and that almost seems to be a parallel between this season and the first. The first season of SNAFU was a parody if anything, and though I loved it for its realistic depiction of highschool dynamics, the author undoubtedly intended the satirical take of a typical romantic comedy to be the main selling point. Hell, it's even in the name: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU(which is short for Situation. Normal. All. F*cked. Up.). Zoku takes a more straight-laced approach to the genre, and honestly it's for the best, because now instead of laughing at how the anime handles cliches, we can actually appreciate the great characters and storytelling. And speaking of great characters, I think I've put it off long enough.
To say Hachiman Hikigaya is the absolute heart and soul of SNAFU would be me holding back on a lot of words. SNAFU has always been pushed forward by the characters, the character are who initiate what little plot there is, and it's their actions which forward the thematic weight and relationship dynamics, unlike some other melodramatic highschool anime I could mention. Hachiman has always been the front of center of the anime: it's his inner monologues and viewpoints of life that brung the first season life, but in Zoku, we actually get to see that SNAFU is not just a relatible view of society through the eyes of a pragmatic loner, but rather an examination of human relationships. What I really love is that Hachiman's pessimistic view of life is by no means supported by the anime, if anything, it challenges it. By bringing in the viewpoints of Yui, Yukino and the rest of supporting cast, Zoku is able to paint an intricate tapestry of the viewpoints and experiences of one class in a random Japanese highschool, who are are trying to figure out this thing called life. As all of these separate strands entangle themselves around Hachiman's inner character arc, it resolves in a pay-off so absolutely brilliant that I can now say that Hachiman Hikigaya is one of the best goddamn main-characters, or hell, even characters I have ever seen brought to life by the anime medium. Seriously, I love this magnificent bastard.

S1 Design.

S2 Design.

Presentation & Sound

I don't have as much to say about the music of Oregairu Zoku as much as the animation, so I'll get the sound section out of the way first. Nothing really stands out from composer MONACA(known for Yuki Yuna is a Hero and Monogatari Second Season) quite honestly, the music acting as nothing more than a way to set atmosphere and not add to it. The heavy presence of the piano in nearly every song gives the OST somewhat of an identity; the notes punctuating the often slow and somber songs to great effect, even if nothing stands out. It's something I learn to appreciate more every time I listen to it, and maybe I'll grow to really love it in time, but for now, so much of the tracks sound so similiar to me (particularly the piano-centric ones) that it becomes hard to distinguish individual songs; the OST remaining a sort of singular entity of piano and slow-paced music. Let me just say it: it almost all sounds the same. Not that that is a bad thing when the offerings are good, it just isn't something I can get particularly excited about, though I won't deny it may be something I can listen to as I drift off to sleep. My mixed feelings about the OST aside, if there is one undoubted highlight, it's the OP: "Harumodoki" by artist Nagi Yanagi, a song that typically wouldn't be my kind of thing for its up-and-down precision, but yet I still really enjoy, particularly Yanagi's lovely voice and the meaningful lyrics.

Harumodoki

Ketsuretsu

Yui no Ketsui

The animation for the show was already a big controversy even before Zoku had aired its first episode, obviously because production was switching from the acclaimed Studio Brains Base to the less acclaimed Feel. And let's just get it out there, the entire style, composition and design of the show have completely changed from the first season, with new character designs and whatnot, but believe it or not, it's actually all for the better. SNAFU's first season is actually one of Brain Base's worst effort in terms of animation in my opinion, the show really looked rough and unpolished, further punctuated by the mediocre character designs and artstyle. Now I have similiar things to say about the majority of Studio Feel's works(seriously, In Search of the Lost Future is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen), but apparently they realized just what they had on their hands on here, because Zoku is probably the best looking anime they have ever produced. Everything is much more smooth and fleshed out, with the colors used actually being somewhat attractive to look at for once. If the animation was ever choppy or unpolished, I never once noticed. Throughout, Zoku looks wonderful, and I have absolutely no complaints, so let's take this opportunity to congratulate Studio Feel for the bang-up job they did here. I know many(including me) were complaining about the deviation from Brain Base's designs before this thing had even aired, but when you actually see the show and see all of the new pieces come together, I'd say without hesitation that in every category, if only in this particular case, Studio Feel have topped Brains Base here in every possible area. Good jobu guys.

Verdict

It's probably obvious, but I really have a deep attachment to this series, because it took something I already loved and made it better. Zoku manages to juggle the duties it already has to its pre-established universe by further developing the characters, but also by expanding the ideas to simultaneously give me experience that reminded me why I loved the original series in the first place: its authenticity. Zoku is able to dissect the heart-aches and anxieties of the human experience that hardly any anime has even attempted to tackle since the medium's conception; that seemingly invisible bridge between people that we all try to truly cross; not by the superficiality of modern culture that has perpetuated into the pores of society, but by seeking that sense of human connection, that understanding, that we all long for whether we want to or not. And for, not just an anime, but for any form of media, to actually address these fundamental/existential problems with not just accuracy but with respect borders on something goddamn revolutionary, and before you stop me, no, I don't think I'm overselling this at all, cause when Zoku is able to reach its dramatic peak of these questions, it really becomes that good, particularly in an incredible scene at the end of episode 8 so potent with the essence of human emotion that I'd put it up there with one of the single best moments ever conjured by Eastern animation. Am I getting ahead of myself? Maybe. But when an anime is able to so deeply bring to light the emotions and struggles that I have wrestled with throughout my life... I'd be damned if I don't form some kind of personal attachment to it that warrants this kind of exuberant praise.

So, I'm going to stop and catch my breath here after that harangue of passion, because I'm pretty sure I'm getting into the thematic fundamentals of Zoku way too much, maybe at the risk of spoiling it for you the viewer. But I feel it's the only way for me to justify just why this is "one of the best anime ever made", because truly great narratives don't just make you love them through the characters or story, but rather through that little something extra that makes it remarkable. Remarkable. I'm just going to leave that word dangling in the air for a moment. If there was ever one word to describe this show, that would be it. Truly, it is remarkable for something, anything, to remind us all, that all we ever wanted was something genuine.

Final Verdict: 9/10

P.S: Dammit. I just want Hachiman to be happy.

Recommended Anime:

Saekono: How To Raise a Boring Girlfriend

If Zoku's thematic density was a little heavy for you, and you just want to return to an anime that good-naturally pokes fun at the tropes of harem and highschool anime, Saekono will serve you fine. You won't find much truly deep characterization or emotional touches here, but if you just want to lie back and be happy, look no further.

White Album 2

But if you're the kind of person who simply shrugged off the weight of existential philosophy and are ready for Round 2, allow me to recommended another anime that pushes the boundaries of what the slice-of-life/highschool genre is capable of: White Album. And don't worry about watching the first season, White Album 1 and 2 are basically unrelated, so if you wish to go right into this one, go right ahead. Actually that's better, because from what I can gather, the first season should be avoided like the plague.

Awesomely enough, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Zoku and the first season are available in their entirety on Hulu with limited commercial interruptions, if that is a website you are able to access. For happy watching, click here.

Goodbye for now guys.

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