oregairu-vncafterword

Author’s Afterword, Part 2
Good day to you all, I’m working. Though it’s not the right time of day to say that greeting. Why does time fly so fast? And so, it’s the second part of the author’s afterword. The name of this volume is Oregairu.n, the continuation of the story started in the firts BD/DVD special Oregairu.a. You can assemble ‘an’ from these two letters. What would the next one be? Torou! Aww, I just wanted to show off my French skills I’ve gotten in my college and got a French joke instead. By the way, French is so complex one has to relearn it the second time to properly memorize In other words I hadn’t memorized it at all. The only thing I remember is “Jai’me pelle Pierre” which means “My name is Pierre” [Google Translate disagrees]. Also, the grasp of the language to actually compose your speech… I’ve forgotten! Besides, some memorized sentences alone are not enough to actually learn the language. At least if you only learn it from books. Well, anyway, sometimes it comes in handy at exams. It’s akin to memorizing the mathematical formulas.
It’s just my opinion of course, but lessons are mostly memorizing stuff. Originality and creativity are almost unneeded there, and if someone told me I was developing my skills that way I’d think they’re morons. Then you come to work and they ask you to “think of a plan no one had ever thought out before”. So you sit, think about all your studying and ask yourself why the hell you had memorized all that? By the way if you do think out a plan, you may very well get “We’ve never seen someone do it, so rejected” or “this method is unknown, we can’t implement it” in response. Why am I working here then? And so you’re standing there thinking “now really, just what am I doing here”? Sometimes you want to become the strict class rep and tell all these adults “no double standards, boss!”.
Though for me, the liberal arts student, this “learn=memorize” formula is obvious and I mistake it for real learning a lot. Or maybe it’s just me.
But again, that’s just me, and for me the preparation to the employment is “oh, piece of cake, I’ll simply memorize the answers they need and that’s it”. If I fail, then oh well. If the written exam at the employment agency is relatively easy, the interview is a really strange thing; you can’t just “pass” it. And even if you’re lucky with the first one, the second onwards becomes unreal, and suddenly you realize you’ve got rejection letters from 50 companies already. The first one to send it was Shogakukan by the way. I’m still angry at them.
Sometime between those attempts a thought came on my mind: what’s the point of preparing to the interviews? I’ve realized it way too late. Next thing I realized was “damn, I’m going to stay jobless after graduation… wait, I’m a ranobe writer already”. So I roamed from company to company, BSed everything everywhere and by the graduation time I’ve found the job-- a ranobe writer! Then I gained some muscles and found a girlfriend. Not really, I didn’t. There are some negative connotations in “lying at the interview”, but now I think they wanted not elegant answers for prepared questions, but own honest answers instead; the ones you don’t have to struggle to utter, or the ones they guided you to.
But the moment you throw this beautiful theory away you’re left empty-handed. Except you can use those empty hands to grasp something. Wonder what can I grasp.
Anyway, Oregairu.n is ready.
Aaand so, what to write next… I think you guessed that already, so hold your breath for the next volume. We’ve got quite a long story and it’s still five volumes left! It may seem slow-paced but things will speed up later. Ahaha, I’m like a rogue biker! You know, time flies so fast… probably because I myself will turn 30 so soon. I think by the moment you’ll read this afterword the anime broadcast would be over. Time flies so fast. And this anime season passed by in a blink of an eye! So, you liked it? I sure did!
You should know how good it feels to remember the good events from the past. You feel filled to the brim with happiness, but then you open your eyes to the reality and amount of work left and want to just die. But until that moment, you’re happy.
Anyway, I clearly have some problems with the space for text left, so I’ll go straight detailed anime episodes tall. This BD/DVD contains the second and third anime episodes, and I’ll share my impressions as a viewer, listener and also the original author. Ready?
Let’s start from episode 2, “His and Her Confession Won’t Reach Anyone”.
K-K-K-Komachiiiii! Komachi was a real cutie even before the opening. Finally, from episode 2 onwards, we’ve got our best little sister in the Universe Komachi Hikigaya! This week was so long. And it doesn’t stop at just Komachi. Totsuka’s cute too? Oh, stop it. My favourite was Kawasomething in the haunted house.
I’d like their journey be beautiful from start to finish, but… how did this happen? It’s all Hachiman’s fault. And Hayama’s. They were compared and contrasted before, but these episodes made it real and standing out. But keep in mind that “contrast” doesn’t mean they’re counterparts. Their differences are evident but they have similarities too. That’s why they both can’t comprehend their similarities nor differences. Though compared to the events of before Volume 6 Hachiman starts to understand Hayama a little bit more.
In the second episode Hachiman and Hayama already know the situation with the request, so they both had the reasons to do something. Initially they took different sides, maintaining the equilibrium with their actions. But after the talk at the Togetsukyo bridge it was destroyed and we’ve got what we’ve got. Had Hachiman not understood the situation they’ve got themselves into, he wouldn’t have come to his solution. After all, he’s not friends with Hayama, Tobe and probably Ebina, so he wouldn’t harm himself just because of the simple talk. So it wasn’t an expression of Hachiman’s kindness, just the mitigation of the damage. So his actions can be considered arrogant, done for self-satisfaction. Watching his actions you can’t help but say “Like, what the hell?”. Or let’s put it like this: if Hachiman, having encountered so many problems, chose this plan as the best, he certainly was at his wits’ end.  It’s similar to the feeling of  a player whose opponent has just revealed his deal while he himself will certainly lose; so he thinks “and what now?”
As a result we see all the characters’ reactions. Denial. Yukino’s denial, Yui’s denial, Hachiman’s denial. Of course each one has their own brand of denial. But they can’t attune to each other anymore.  My god, how boorish!
He himself didn’t doubt his actions. Him, her, them, all the boys and girls, they didn’t notice anything in their thoughts. Hm… Just read the original.
It all became even more entangled after appearance of the new player, Hina Ebina. She’s yet another mirror for Hachiman to look at. Though if you put it like that, every human being is a mirror for someone else… This atmosphere carried on into the third episode.Komachi’s such a cutie in the beginning! Cutie! Here I thought it and the friendly brother and sister had a quarrel. It’s all Hachiman’s fault. Jerk.
He’s lost his last oasis, Komachi. Usually cute Totsuka would appear, but not this time. This time, during his trip, Hachiman received a push into the different direction; I watched it in fascination, and even my usual coffee tasted strange at the time. He’s so boorish! Even the atmosphere in my room had changed.
And then the saviour appears. Well, not exactly a saviour. It’s the new character, first year student Iroha Isshiki. Just like ILOHAS[Irohasu is omonymic to ILOHAS, a drinking water brand]. Irohasu?.. Well, yeah, Irohasu. But her request reflects her own circumstances. The story is narrated from Hachiman Hikigaya’s perspective, so the details of her circumstances are not yet known. But as you should guess already, even as a background character she’s already a mirror for Hachiman too.
In the second part of the episode we see the symbol of Hachiman’s past, Kaori Orimoto. The events tied to her name were mentioned already. I hope the readers have seen her name already. No? Well, then… This girl, one of the causes of this story, doesn’t seem unusual in any way. Blatantly open fan of some subculture, and you think you’ll fall in love just by talking to her, but it’s not true. Source: me. Sooo, the new character has appeared on the stage, what’s going to happen? See it in the next episode. There are many points during these episodes I’d like you to pay attention to, but one key event hadn’t made it into anime apparently. The dreading atmosphere at the bamboo forest and on the roof was especially well-depicted, and Orimoto’s and Iroha’s weaknesses in regards to boys are shown even better than expected. I even had chills running down my spine. Watch these episodes several time, there are many moments impossible to describe in the books.
And seriously, where’s the romantic comedy in this anime? There’s none! It’s mentioned in the title and that’s it! So irresponsible on creator’s part. Of course it’s a part of the series’ structure, no doubt about that. So even a romantic comedy in these novels may be an important part, showing its true value. What direction will the plot head to from here on? I’ll be glad if you watch yourself to see.
So I’ve written here my personal impressions about anime episodes 2 and 3 . Thanks for watching them together with me. I’m going to write many notes and impressions in the next volumes too, so check them out if you want; I don’t want to waste paper for nothing. Read the next volume! This a-series is here to stay, so pay attention.
xxx
Now for acknowledgements.
Ponkan8-kami. Yahallo! I still wonder about that “kami” thing. By the way it’s the second BD/DVD volume already! Our battle is yet to begin! Let’s work for another day. Thank you very much and let’s continue to work together.
Executive editor Hoshino-san. Ahahaha! Laugh while you can. I’m sorry for the problems I constantly create for you. Though wasn’t it you who always said the chance appears amongst hardships? Well, here’s your chance! Sorry. Thank you very much. Looking forward to your editing of the next volumes. Although that’s gonna be a piece of cake too! Ahahaha!
Director Oikawa as well as the whole staff! Thank you for your broadcast efforts. I had been watching you create the anime all this time. It was very interesting! I’m sorry for causing so many troubles. I’m very very sorry for being such a troublesome author. Thank you for listening to all my stories and wishes. We’re almost there, please bear with me some more.
Takuya Eguchi, Hachiman Hikigaya’s voice actor, and all the other actors: I’m very grateful for the outstanding performance for these episodes. You excellently performed at all the scenes, even those not originally in the novels. Thank you very much. looking forward to working with you some more.
And finally, to the readers and viewers. Do you like the main novels, their manga and anime adaptations, and BD volumes? I managed to develop it in so many aspects all thanks to your support. So thank you. And I’ll still do more!I’ll be happy if you stay with me till the end. And so I’m out of reserved text space; time to put my pen down. See you!
Yours truly, watching the anime BD with a can of MAX Coffee,
	Wataru Watari.