Oregairu S3
Short Synopsis: Antisocial antihero manages to give all nearby girls/guys feelings. And doesn’t eat his cookies.
Amun’s review:
Five years after the 8-man rode the wave of adolescent antisocial nostalgia, our awkward triangle/trio returns – exactly where we left them. Now – first of all, anyone who says they remember who Saki was either a) just rewatched the series in preparation or b) is lying and just looked it up. It’s been a while. My feeling is this season will be a farewell tour – saying goodbye to characters one by one until the final trio is resolved; we already saw this with Saki and the little sisters. I’m curious what’s going on with the Western formal wear in the OP – there tends to be a main event each season, so that’s probably related. I guess the biggest point of speculation is the ending of the obvious final ship; Yahari, for all its sneering, is too vanilla for a yuri ending, but I could see some BS throple avoidance of a real answer. The just-friends route is still an option too, but that would be lame. I mean, last season’s 8th son managed a proper harem, so maybe this season’s 8-man will do the same.
And so help me, if Hachiman doesn’t eat his damn cookies, I will knock the stupid out of him, making him 4-man.
Potential: 88.888888%
Mario’s review:
It feels rather nostalgic to see OreGairu back on screen, on that very day, as the characters look the same and we’re now 5 years older and wiser. For me, while this premiere doesn’t really establish the arc to come as it concerns more about Hachiman’s everyday life, it displays many of the show’s core qualities, for better or for worse. There’s a mix between light comic moments where the characters make “smart remarks” about the LN tropes – they fire imouto tropes in all cylinders here and overblown drama that grabs your heartstrings – sister takes a bow to send her gratitude to her brother. Really? Individually each part can be grating but OreGairu has that quality of making them affecting nonetheless. The thing I like most about the series, its attention and love to the characters’ little gestures and movements are still there. Hachiman and his little sister has always been one of my favorites so every moment they are together is just gold to me, but I can’t say the same with the Saki and Hachiman’s pair – Saki remains the least memorable character out of this entire cast. It’s lovely to see our awkward boy back with all the girls (and boys), that’s for sure, and I’m in for the ride, wherever it leads me.
Potential: 60%
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!
Short Synopsis: Girl manipulates her lazy senpai into having fun.
Armitage’s review:
Let’s just talk about the elephant in the room. YES. THOSE BREASTS ARE UNREALISTICALLY HUGE. Moving on.
I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. If there was a section in our first impressions for ‘most charming anime of the season’, this would undoubtedly take the cake. Although, it’s facing almost no competition, but still. We have a cheery female MC with a great pair personality and her lazy-ass senpai who just wants to be left alone so he can have his chicken karaage in peace after watching a movie by himself. The chemistry between the two is what instills the charm in this story. It’s a loud, slapstick comedy with plenty of moments capable of earning laughs from the viewers. The production quality is satisfactory and the soundtrack is serviceable. The only caveat I have is the slight over-reliance on well, the boob jokes. But I guess one would know that’d be the case even before pressing play on an episode. If the show can tone those down going forward, then this can easily be a sleeper hit for the season.
Potential: 70%
Wooper’s review:
Here are the two conversation loops that power this dumbass premiere.
#1:
Sakurai: I regret having to spend time with you, but I guess it’s happening anyway.
Uzaki: Yay! By the way, aren’t you, like, kind of a loser? LOL
Sakurai: [visibly frustrated] Listen here, you little shit. My lifestyle is totally normal, and here are some Facts and Logic to prove it.
Uzaki: Naruhodou! You really are the coolest and most logical spiky-haired anime protag in recent times. But for real though, aren’t you still kind of a nerd? XD
Sakurai: [suppresses the hilarious urge to hit a woman]
#2:
Sakurai: I guess spending time with Uzaki isn’t so bad, after all.
Uzaki: [draws attention to herself]
Sakurai: Why are you so annoying?
Uzaki: [has large breasts]
Sakurai: Why are your titties so sugoi dekai? [TL note: “sugoi dekai” means ‘big plan’]
Rinse and repeat.
Potential: 0%
Kanojo, Okarishimasu
Short Synopsis: Loser MC wants to get laid, no matter the cost. Literally.
Armitage’s review:
Now I’ll be honest, I am not a fan of the bland-male-protagonist-hitting-it-up-with-the-gorgeously-perfect-girl-who-is-way-out-of-his-league subgenre of romantic comedies because well, when I am rooting for the guy to get the girl, I want to at least like the guy. Which, in such stories, is rarely the case. Does Ren-Kano fall under the same category? Most definitely it does. The male lead is highly unlikeable, the female MC has the overdone twin-personality trait and if the premiere would have only involved the two of them, I’d have passed on it instantly. But thankfully, this story or at least the premiere does have one saving grace: the supporting cast. Generic loser MC’s parents and grandmother fare much better in terms of likeability and the comedic moments the show churned out of their reactions did genuinely make me laugh. Of course, that by itself is no reason to watch this week by week. None of them may feature extensively in the coming episodes. But still, I’ll give it a couple of episodes to give me something or someone to root for before giving up on it entirely, even though now I don’t think this will become an in-depth look into the escort industry which is kind of what I was hoping for.
Potential: 55%
Lenlo’s review:
Surprisingly wholesome for what is effectively a soft-core escort service. Armitage basically hit the nail on the head, our leading pair are actually the worst, dullest part of the show. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before in rom-coms, and Ren-Kano doesn’t seem to be doing anything different to change it up either. The supporting cast, and all the gags they are involved in, are really the best part. Playing up the grandparents, the father and mother, all of that was the best the episode had to offer. Sadly unlike Armitage, I didn’t enjoy it near as much. My brand of comedy leans more towards gallows humor than this “Your grand-daughter is my fake girlfriend because it keeps you out of the hospital” shtick. Still credit where it’s due, Ren-Kano was actually not mediocre for around 10 minutes of its runtime. So if this is your wheelhouse, I figure you’ll be able to find something to enjoy here.
Potential: 30%
I agree with Wooper’s post on Uzaki-chan. This show is annoying, namely because Uzaki basically bullies the guy she pursues, emotionally manipulates him, and doesn’t apologize for the things she does to him, like stealing his food and belittles everything he does…and all of her behavior is depicted as cute. Uhh…no. I know I would never want to be near anyone like her.
Although as unrealistically huge as they are, I actually have seen people with that big a bust in real life. Not even kidding, though I think a lot of them were implants.
I won’t necessarily call it bullying, Firechick. I see it as more of an extrovert thing. Greatly exaggerated, but still. Stealing food out of your friend’s plate, dragging your friends around and even having a laugh or two at their expense are things most people do but their intentions are not of hurting others. And in this case, as Kaiser mentions it below, it’s meant to be played off as comedy. It might not be funny to everyone but it’s not ill-intentioned.
As for the breasts’ size. Well yes, people do get implants. But it’s rather rare for college students, wouldn’t you say?
Rent-a-girlfriends premise sounds strange to me.
Usually the paying someone thing, as in selling themselves is used as a sex thing, that it isn’t here in this show…is…well…odd….
I heard you can also rent mothers, fathers, brothers at certain services, again not knocking people who would do that, I just don’t really…get it.
Going to have to see how the next Yahari episodes pan out, the ingredients are all there, I just need to settle into it again and start remembering everything.
Apparently there might be flashbacks to scenes that were in the light novel but cut from previous season.
@Firechick If its played for just some jokey thing and comedy, I think that kind of softens it if its only a comedy and I can kind of just not be annoyed all that much by it.
As it stands large breasts fanservice is a million miles away from what I go for period.
Kaiser, that’s what actually had me interested – there’s a pretty famous article that came out about that kind of service available in Japan. Unfortunately, I disliked the premiere far more than my colleagues, so pass from me.
@Amun: I did notice that a German film-maker Werner Herzog did do a film about a teenager hiring a father, he’s a favourite director of mine so maybe I’ll check it out sometime.
It seems like a system that could be easily exploited.
“I could see some BS throple avoidance of a real answer.” Yeah that would be total BS. All Oregairu needs to do to stick the landing is bring an end to all the romance routes (can’t really put it a better way).
As for the excessively busty character from Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!, all I will say is that its infinitely better than the alternative. Yeah that’s a low bar but its anime…
Anime: we can always lower that bar for you! ^_^