Opinions(A):

With the fifth episode of this season, we’ve gotten a conclusion to what could be termed as the second major story arc. Things may seem like they’ve calmed down, but the train has very much left the station, and there’s no stopping it until it reaches its destination, momentary pit stops aside.

And that, really is the best way to describe how I felt about this episode. It did feel like things came to a temporary stop for a bit, but things are very much still on track towards a rather intriguing end.

Hikigaya Hachiman was able to fix a bunch of things that had hit him in the past few weeks. The first of which, was patching up things with his sister. I was really quite surprised at just how chummy and close Hikigaya and his sister were. I could be forgetting things, but I don’t think we saw that much of their bond explored over the first season.

In a rather surprising twist, it seems that despite a rather cynical opinion of society and people at large, this series does hold sibling relationships in pretty high regard. I wonder if that’s just a Light Novel thing though? I’m not sure.

What I do is that a lot of what Komachi said to her brother made a lot of sense. The one thing about siblings, regardless of whether they get along with one other, is that they definitely understand each other. That’s true of most family members I suppose, because all that time living together gives a depth of knowledge that few other people can top.

What I like about Komachi and her relationship with her brother is that she not only understands him but tries to make it so he doesn’t actively screw himself. And say what you will about Hikigaya, the guy can do almost anything at a determent to himself.

I think Komachi hits the nail on the head, in that both Yui and Yukino definitely care for him, but understanding him? There’s still a lot of work to be done there. And that’s where a lot of the issues are stemming from, though in a rather odd twist of fate, Hikigaya is actually surrounded by a bunch of rather nice folks.

For all the people that dislike what he does, there’s still quite a few people he’s won over or helped that I’d say are firmly in the Hachiman ally camp. Seeing them all come together in the restraunt was pretty cool. It was also nice to see Saki get something meaningful to do beyond fan club regulars Totsuka, Zaimokuza. And all of these “friends” helped Hikigaya in what was definitely a time of need.

While Yui’s solution to the problem of losing the club and Yukino was to run for Student Council president herself, I have to agree that if either her or Yukino had won, that would’ve been the end of the club. So its Hikigaya’s vested interest is definitely in having neither win. Of course, in classic Hachiman fashion, he can’t act on it until someone else asks him to do it, in this case his own sister gives him the excuse to go for the choice that benefits him too.

And the solution he comes up with to the little problem? Convince the sleazy Iroha Isshiki to actually try and win the Student Council election. The exchange between the two of them is fascinating to say the least. In way, Hikigaya and Iroha are both polar opposites, one who does anything for others over himself, and the other pretty much puts herself above everything else.

I think its pretty darn obvious at this point that Iroha’s head over heels for Hayato (who isn’t? XD), and Hikigaya uses that to his advantage. He basically bluffs his way into getting her to run, with the added temptation of being able to go to Hayato whenever she needs to. In effect, Hikigaya gives her what she wants, while also giving himself what he wants, to not lose his Service Club.

The solution works, and gets everyone what they seem to want, or does it? I think the end of the episode is filled with some subtle little hints at how weird everyone’s been looking at the whole thing.

First there’s Yukino, who clearly isn’t as thrilled by Hachiman’s actions as Yui is. Neither Hikigaya nor Yui really get what exactly Yukino means with her whole “You thought you understood” thing, and to be honest, I didn’t quite peice it together until the very last bit of the episode.

Its the little stroll and talk with Meguri-senpai, the former student council president, that really gives us insight into not only what could’ve been, but Yukino probably wanted. I didn’t even consider it at first, but having Yukino, Yui and Hachiman as the student council would’ve not only made sense, but been great for all three of them.

Yet, I think given how weird and damaged all three of them are, and the whole love triangle thing too, I don’t think anyone except Yukino really even thought of it. Indeed, the ideal solution would’ve been for Yukino, Yui and Hikigaya to run for the student council president thing as team. It is a bit tragic that it never even occurred to them to do so. That’s also probably where the real rift between the three of them is starting to widen.

Yukino wants certain things, but is unable to ask for or voice them, while Hikigaya and Yui are trying their best to do what they can, in their own ways. I mentioned the idea in my first post for the series but now there’s even more so of an argument for Hiki x Yui.

Its true that both Yukino and Yui are both not really understanding Hikigaya at the moment, but for Yui, she’s definitely trying. The little scene that she and Hiki shared in the student council after Yukino left is pretty telling, and serious shipping bait XD

I hope I’m not being strung along, and that the series is building up to a Yui route ending, but there’s always that worry. The worry that with how cynical this series is, that there might not be any body with a happy ending. Or, the other option is a Yukino ending, but if that is indeed going to be the case, then the story has to really start developing and selling that idea.

Right now, I think Yui’s definitely trying and slowly but surely being more blatant in expressing her feelings. Its unfortunate that Hikigaya has the whole middle school trauma that’s preventing him from picking up the signs, but I guess the story would already be done if he did. The whole Yui, Yukino and Hikigaya thing is what the series continues to build to.

And that’s the one thing I liked about the resolution to this story arc. Yes, Hikigaya may have solved the current issue, repaired his relationship with his sister, and protected his club, but the issues between him and the two girls are far from resolved. We’ve got another 7 episodes to see how far the story goes, and I’m still pretty hooked. That’s not something I can say about a lot of shows these days, so yeah, its a pretty big deal XD

Preview:

No Preview Image again this time… So I guess there really is no solid pattern to when we see those. The next episode is titled “The Conference Dances Around in Circles” and I have no idea what that means. I’m totally curious though, so I’ll see anyone who reads these blog posts next week!