OreGairu is back with its light content in episode 7 (well, most of episode 7) as Hachiman sketches out and then carries out his plan. That involves a hilarious rap battle and many one-liners and carefree humor, something that I feel appropriate after all the drama of the last few episodes. First are the members of the Gaming club: Hatano and Sagami, who help Hachiman and Yui on technical stuff, and who constantly remind (us?) how much of an oddball Hachiman and that “Yahallo” greeting are. But the real sense of fun is certainly Hachiman vs Tamanawa rants, who previously had a beef with Hachiman, and who OreGairu has the most fun to animate (and now: voice act). But it’s funny to see a much more scaled down version of this collaboration, as Kaihin Sogo Student Council only has Tamanawa and Orimoto (who, like Yui, is clueless in the matters) this time.
But episode 7 ends on a pretty serious note as it focuses back on the main trio. First is Hachiman and Yukinon as they share their precious little time together, and argue over the MAXIS Coffee (seriously though, it feels like a proper character this season as it appears in every single week). Yukinon knows how hard Hachiman does to support her, and their worries over “codependency” are still hanging over them. But the key moments in this episode 7 lie in Yui confronting Yukinon – then proceeding to hug her and say how much Yukinon means to her. Her action says a lot about her repressed emotions we learn in the past few weeks: she both wants to confess her love for Hachiman, AND she still values Yukinon and wishes the trio’s relationships never change. It’s all over the map, but it’s exactly why it’s utterly relatable.
Speaking of this codependency, Haruno reappears this week to further add salts to this open wound, to which Hachiman and especially Yui argue against. For Yui, “watching over” is not good enough but they always need to support each other, and with Hachiman, he wants to make a “proper closure”, whatever that ending might bring. For me that’s the right attitude these kids have, and doesn’t matter where everyone ends up, after this episode we will get down to the heart of this love triangle.
Saying all that, I feel that the prom conflict is resolved a little bit fast (like they must have skipped an entire volume on this). The key moment here is when Hachiman meets Yukinon’s Mom and decides to negotiate with her. As he puts it, she’s the “Queen piece” – not his true opponent. She’s merely a messenger, and he uses that to his advantage. But then we skip straight to Hachiman and Yukinon where Hachiman agrees that he’s lost and as a result will listen to Yukon’s request? That is way too abrupt.
As a last note, I really enjoy Hachiman and Hayato’s chemistry as they are opposite images towards each other and the way they deal with things is completely different. But amidst all that they have a mutual respect for one another since they know the other has qualities that they don’t have. We often see this through Hachiman’s point of view so we know Hachiman’s assessment of this, but for me Hayato is influenced by Hachiman’s actions is much more profound. Here their talk is the same. Hayato never sees eyes-to-eyes with Hachiman’s decision, but he acknowledges Hachiman all the same. All in all, I think your resonance with OreGairu lies in whether you think these kids’ struggles are “genuine” or not, and for me, it’s a resounding yes.
