Sometimes you just want to be alone. Sometimes for your entire high school career.

What They Say:
So exactly what’s going to happen when Hachiman Hikigaya, an isolated high school student with no friends, no interest in making any and a belief that everyone else’s supposedly great high school experiences are either delusions or outright lies, is coerced by a well meaning faculty member into joining the one member “Services Club” run by Yukino Yukinoshita, who’s smart, attractive and generally considers everyone in her school to be her complete inferior?

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The second episode had some strong material for me with what it offered in the first half as it explored some of the things going on in a high school life for a loner, but it pretty much went off the rails in the second half with the introduction of a certain someone that just made the whole thing feel out of place. But those things in the first half were hugely appealing in seeing a character that felt so disconnected and dealing with the problems that comes from it with the cliques was really engaging to watch. We get a little taste of that, and the problems that he has, with the prologue here where he’s just practicing tennis by himself but feels himself obeying some basic social conventions that inadvertently open him up a little. But it’s his self criticism that stands out because he can’t believe he did it.

Hikigaya’s solitary nature is rather enjoyable to watch in a way as he’s not exactly poetic in his internal dialogue, but there’s an assuredness and comfort in it. That doesn’t always last since others do intrude, such as Yui who finds herself comfortable around him after all that’s gone on so far. We see others that are a little solitary in nature as well getting close to him, again when it comes to tennis since you do have to play against others and team up in some ways, but while Hikigaya is willing to allow some of it to happen, there are some amusing boundaries that do come up and we see more of his level of discomfort, particularly when dealing with Saika. Saika’s a bit amusing since he’s a he, but raher feminine looking and that just makes Hikigaya all the more uncomfortable.

There’s some fun with the group as a whole when Saika comes to them for help, especially since Yukino points out Yui isn’t actually a member, but it’s when it shifts back to tennis that it turns up a few notches. Pairing up Hikigaya and Yui to go against the popular clique here to try and set things right is pretty much high school mentality stuff, but neither are good players so it can only go so far. Yui at least smartly tries to get some help by going after Yukino to step in for her, and she’s definitely a skilled player when it comes to this high school kind of level, but unfortunately it shunts Hikigaya off to the side too much which reduces his impact in the episode, something that I had hoped would be more. He does have his moments though but admittedly it’s all pretty in character and really does work well rather than having him suddenly turn into the hero.

In Summary:
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU redeems itself a bit here after the missteps I felt it took in the previous one with regards to a particular character. He’s barely got a presence here and the less said the better. We get some good time here with the core trio, but the focus really is on Hikigaya and that works to the shows advantage as he has a good narrative and an appealing approach to his inner monologue and style of speech, both there and out loud. It makes him an interesting character to watch as there’s a more realistic angle to it all, even if it is touching upon the harem angle just a bit. What we get is a core group of kids that you know will continue to come together, and there’s an appeal that Hikigaya will provide in some ways, but it’s not a big fanservice or over the top fest of silliness and stupidity. The grounding that the series has continues to be its biggest advantage.

Grade: B

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.