Hi all! What kind of tea party is this?? Third or fourth? In any case, I have gathered you all here again to talk about the “painful issues”. If we talk briefly about what’s coming, it will be sad, a little funny, sometimes life-like, sometimes very abstruse or fantastic. Thoughts conveyed through feelings – that’s what this “teenage drama” roughly means in my understanding. Written through the prism of life experience, but at the same time relying on the emotions of the viewer/reader, these “Japanese cartoons” touch on rather banal, but at the same time important topics that you don’t really think about in ordinary life: friendship, change, memories, life and death, and, of course, everyone is tired of “teenage romance”. The characters here play the most important role by showing emotions and talking to each other. Their monologues and dialogues are structured in such a way as to show their uniqueness and significance, their ability to think and feel, their "humanity". However, we delayed something with the introduction. Although this is a tea party, any drinks are welcome now. For example, I would advise taking hot chocolate or cocoa with oatmeal cookies/marshmallows. Tasty, filling and very sweet! :3
P.S. Consider this a bit of a preface to what I’m working on right now. And yes, as always, I remind you that my column aims only to analyze the plot and characters, as well as to reflect a little on the topics covered, notice small details and express my own opinion about the work (SUBJECTIVEAAAAAA. ).
"A Silent Voice" – open up to others and others will open up to you
Let’s start with the popular? In any case, even if you have already seen this wonderful work, this is just a reason to remember or review it again!
So let’s start with the plot. Needless to say, there will be spoilers here? We are immediately introduced to our main character – Shoei Ishida, who decided to commit suicide, finally leaving all his savings to his mother. However, at the last moment he changed his mind, remembering something important. Something worth living for. But what led our hero to such an almost sad outcome?? To do this, let’s go back to when he was still in elementary school.
Then his life was quite ordinary: cool friends who followed him through thick and thin, interesting events happening here and there, a feeling of freedom and a great time that never left him. And so, the day came when a new transfer student was supposed to appear. She turned out to be almost deaf and unable to pronounce words correctly Nishimiya Shoko. Did she know that the rest of her classmates had already blacklisted her?? Of course, at first everyone came up and was interested in her, but after they learned more about her, most simply stopped paying attention to her. But there was also someone who still continued to communicate with her using her notebook – Naoka Ueno, one of the main character’s friends. But she was not the type of person who had much patience or desire. And in the end, Ueno’s irritation grew into bullying of poor Nishimiya. Shoya, who never paid much attention to Shoko, also began to mock her along with his friends after that – Shimada Kazuki And Hirose Keisuke. He considered her the cause of all those problems and changes in their lives, like Ueno, and simply hated her forced, false smile that she showed every time, despite everything that was happening. The only one who at least somehow tried to make friends with her and began to learn sign language was Miyoko Sahara. But she didn’t last long either – constant bullying due to communication with Shoko forced her to move to another school. And here our friendly team also found a reason to mock: “Congratulations Nishimiya-san! Sahara-san left because of you. ". The last straw was when Ueno and Ishida started throwing out and breaking her expensive hearing aids. Only after 8 lost and broken devices Takeuchi finally decided to pay attention to the problem of bullying in my class, and only because the mother herself called the school about her daughter. (me too, class teacher). Of course, our main character became the scapegoat, who after that began to be poisoned by his former “friends”. Kawaii Miki, who only pretended to be kind in front of her, but in reality was only trying to assert herself at her expense; the weak-willed and rather cruel Naoka Ueno, who can only show her superiority over others, dividing everyone into “friends and foes”; disgusting Shimada Kazuki, about whom there is not much to say. Our main character realized everything only after his single mother Miyako Ishida, who worked as a hairdresser, took off huge ones for them one and a half million yen from her bank account and went to apologize to Nishimiya’s mother, and then came for him with only one earring, when blood was pouring out of her other ear. One day, entering his class, he found Shoko cleaning unpleasant inscriptions from his desk. For what? Did she really want to be friends with him?? Or did she just think that no one deserves this kind of treatment?? But it doesn’t matter anymore, she soon transferred to another school, and Isis remained an outcast until high school.
All this time he wanted to apologize to Nishimiya Shoko for everything he had done. He understood what it meant to be an outcast and realized all the sins he had committed as a stupid child. And the sign of their reconciliation and friendship became that very Shoki’s notebook, which Isis picked up in a small pond. Another symbolic trait passed on to Isis through that pain was crosses on people’s faces, but we’ll talk about this separately. His first true friend on the path to awareness and, one might even say, forgiveness was Tomohiro Nagatsuka – optimistic, but always interprets everything in his own way. His second girlfriend becomes Yuzuru Nishimiya – Shoki’s younger sister. She is rude and cynical with strangers, but with people close to her she speaks a little openly and is always kind to them. Later, he meets his old friends and girlfriends with whom he knew in elementary school: Miyoko, who has changed beyond recognition and learned sign language; Ueno, who became more open towards him, but still hated Shoko for what she did to their "friendly" team, considering her the source of all problems (maybe also just jealous with: ); Miki, who is now studying in the same class with Ishida, but only “supports” communication, without trying to make friends with him in any way; Shimada, who now works at an amusement park. And so, they all seemed to slowly begin to get closer and began to be friends, and Nishimiya even tried to confess her feelings to him, however, due to problems with speech, her feelings did not reach Isis, but the hero’s past catches up with him again, shattering all these dreams to smithereens. Shoya once again remembers that he is an outcast who has committed an irreparable sin, and constantly takes the blame upon himself. The last meeting on the bridge with his new “friends” turned into a quarrel between them all. Ishida, unable to bear all this, again began to assure everyone that it was his fault, but at the same time also pointed out the shortcomings of the others: Miki is a narcissistic egoist, Nagatsuka knows nothing about him, but already considers him his true friend, Miyoko is a coward and a weak-willed girl, Ueno is a selfish scum who decides everything for everyone. The only one he can rely on is Shoko, but. he sees that same smile on her face again. Again. She will again begin to distance herself from others, believing that this only brings them pain. Does he want to at least save their relationship?? And so, some time after this quarrel, they again go to different places with Yuzuru, having fun together. Shoko and Yuzuru invite him to go watch the fireworks with their family. Shoya, of course, agrees. And so, the day has come when Nishimiya and Shoya’s family go to watch the fireworks together. Kimono, takoyaki, yakisoba. What else do you need for happiness?? Later, Shoko decides to go home alone. Yuzuru asks our main character to bring her her camera, which she left at home. Arriving there, Shoya sees Nishimiya about to jump off the balcony. Jerk and. at the last second he manages to grab her hand and pull her out, but he himself falls into the water and gets a concussion.
As we later learn, he was rescued from the water by his former friends from elementary school – Shimada and Hirose. Did they understand the main character?? Maybe after a while they finally realized the burden of their guilt and in this way “repaid” him? Shoko Nishimiya also realized the selfishness of her action. How many problems did she cause to her family and friends by trying to take her own life?. And she didn’t even try to fix anything herself. All I could do was run away from problems. However, Ishida helped her realize something important. What made her change and face her problems head on. Ueno, who was most worried about our main character, of course, did not want to see Shoku in front of her, because she believed that it was her “fault”. Did she shift the blame onto others just because she couldn’t do anything herself?? Or I just didn’t want to take responsibility? Either way, she was in pain too. Maybe the fear of losing someone helped her realize something important. For example, that we can all disappear without a trace at some point, and therefore we should not waste time on meaningless quarrels. In the end, our hero still survives and, when he returns to school, his former friends again greet him with tears in their eyes, with smiles on their faces, with trembling hands. It turns out that Kawai wanted to make a thousand cranes for him, but didn’t have time. When she invited her classmates to help her with the assembly, they refused and began to make fun of her because she was communicating with an “outcast.”. And at that moment Miki realized how Shoya felt. It’s corny, but this reason marked the beginning of a true friendship. Nagatsuka did not lose faith in his brother and, like Ueno, visited him almost daily. When he checked out, he immediately went to meet him. As a result, all the characters in this anime have changed in their own way. And all this happened only because Shoya and Shoko were with them all the time. But has the hero himself changed?? Did he understand his mistakes and accept himself?? Finally, he decided to raise his head and open his eyes. And, unexpectedly, everything crosses fell off the faces of passers-by. The curtain falls.
It’s time to talk a little about the small details and in general about the problems uncovered. There are quite a lot of these small details here, so I’ll probably describe only a couple:
1) The most noticeable and remarkable detail is the same gesture, playing an important role throughout the anime. This is both a sign of friendship and a special connection between two people. The main characters showed it only in certain, most important moments: the beginning of bullying, forgiveness and the beginning of friendship, reunion on the bridge after “death”. This is something special for them, which shows their affection for each other, the close contact between them, like Shoki’s notebook.
2) The same ones one and a half million yen. This is the same money that Ishida’s mother gave to Nishimiya’s mother for hearing aids and that Shoya accumulated all this time before throwing himself off the bridge. The accent on his right ear, which was covered in blood, may have shown that his mother pawned/gave away her earring to make exactly one and a half million yen. There is no obvious symbolism in them, but one can say with a stretch that this is some kind of redemption of the hero; what made him change.
3) Thousand Cranes. Why are they collected?? In short, this is how people in Japan wish for both longevity and a speedy recovery. Well, you can read the legend here.
Well, where would we be without the most important detail – crosses on the faces of others?. By the way, an interesting fact – there was also no cross on Yuzuru’s face initially, although he had never seen her before. What do they mean?? As for me, there are still quite a lot of meanings: from the banal “closure” from everyone to complete disgust towards others. But I would say that this is more of a conflict between the present and the past of the main character. As we know, Shoya was an outcast until high school, which, in fact, gave birth to these very crosses. But throughout the entire anime, he both removes crosses from others and puts them back. This is clearly seen in the example of Ueno, who tried to take him back to that same past, to the times when he was still a hooligan. Every time she did this, the hero gave up on her again. The quarrel on the bridge also returned him to a melancholy state, where he again began to blame himself. And in the end, the hero finally accepts his past, but at the same time he changes – he no longer wants to be alone, he does not want to become an outcast from society. Now he will stand firmly on his feet and look only forward, never looking down again. How, in fact, his friends change. Ueno, who was a selfish and greedy person, has become more open and good-natured, although she still does not show her real self: Miki is no longer a narcissistic and attention-hungry girl; Shoko realized that running away from problems in this way is not an option, so all that remains is to accept the challenge and meet them halfway; Miyoko, although still a coward, became a little braver than she was. And they all helped Shoya change and understand himself.
It’s time to talk about one of the important and obvious messages of the work – bullying at school and its consequences. This is indeed one of the main problems in schools in Japan. Teachers literally do not pay attention to the cruel behavior of students, and the students themselves, due to the principle of collectivization in the country, are divided into their own “groups” and weed out those who do not belong there, later spreading rot, humiliating and sometimes even beating them. But the worst thing about such an action is, of course, psychological pressure. You see, the Japanese mentality is a little different: if a person in Japan is insulted or humiliated in any way, then he first of all blames himself, not others. All this leads to the fact that such constantly recurring situations lead a person to suicide. but why exactly taking one’s life?? There’s no better way? Yes, it’s just that, again, Japanese culture is to blame. Suicide is not considered something so bad there, because since ancient times people, because of the “postulates” of Buddhism and the importance of honor, could easily take their own lives. Allegedly, then a curse will not await their family, and they themselves will then be able to reincarnate through the Wheel of Samsara in a new form. The same samurai did the so-called “seppuku” (in common parlance, hara-kiri). So this is why more and more authors in Japan are trying to draw people’s attention to such an important problem, while the number of suicides among schoolchildren is growing and growing.
So what is this work about?? About the problem of bullying? About changes in life? About important memories? Or that you need to live in the present and be able to accept yourself as you are? Maybe even everything at once. This is a very multifaceted anime, where everyone will learn something different. As they say, how many people have so many opinions. But everyone agrees on one opinion – this is an emotional anime that shows the story of creating friendly bonds between seemingly such contradictory characters. And indeed, all these bullying, quarrels, serious conversations and even assaults – all this was only so that in the end all the heroes could not only make peace and move on with their lives, but even build good relationships with each other. After all, dating, communication, spending time together slowly helps us open up to others, and they help them open up to us.
“I want to eat your pancreas” – what does it mean to live?
Perhaps this is the only anime that is really worth watching only in the original voice acting, since the different notes in their voices, the lively, but almost always so sad voice of Yamaguchi (Lynn, my respect, hats off), the calm and somewhat emotionless voice of Shiga, sudden emotional scenes – all this clearly emphasizes both the character of the main characters and their “real” thoughts. Beware, a lot of quotes!!1!
So, where does this film begin?? Haruki Shiga, a high school student and part-time protagonist of this work, picks up a diary "Living Dying" Sakura Yamauchi in the hospital. Although we are all about the plot and the plot, let’s build it around the characters rather than the characters around it! We only have two main and two minor characters – Sakura Yamauchi, Haruki Shiga, Kyoko Takimoto And Issey Miyata, therefore, building a plot around them will not be so difficult. Let’s start from the beginning. Haruki and Sakura are like "Yin and Yang", but they also have something in common. And the first thing that immediately catches your eye is their names – さくら (Sakura) and はるき (Haruki). Sakura is immediately clear: it is a “cherry” tree, which has several meanings in Japanese culture – the ephemerality of life, the embodiment of the idea of mono no aware and others. But how do you pronounce Haruka’s name?? First of all, はる (Haru) is read as “spring”, and き (Ki), in turn, as “tree” or “season” (Yes, I decided to insert one of the important details, which is revealed only at the end, at the very beginning). Do you feel the similarity?? Sakura blooms only in spring, fleetingly falling after 7-10 days in normal weather. Her life is fleeting, but incredibly beautiful. Likewise, our heroine, unfortunately, knows that she has only one year left to live, because her pancreas is gradually failing. Haruki, on the other hand, is calm and often unemotional, but not because he doesn’t care, but rather because he had no experience of communicating with people at all. He never even had a friend. Therefore, when he first meets the energetic and overly loud Sakura, he immediately tries to leave. But she knows him too well, so she continues to impose herself, gradually getting closer to him. After a few walks and dinners, they somehow become friends (True, this friendship is still only one-sided).
If you want you can eat my pancreas! . After our walk, I looked, and it turns out that according to some foreign religion, if someone eats a piece of you, then your soul will continue to live inside this person.
But it doesn’t turn out well. Classmates begin to gossip, Sakura’s best friend, Kyoko, is jealous of the main character, and her ex-boyfriend occasionally looks at him with a very unkind look. Should they continue to be “friends” if it causes so many problems?? "Yes, definitely!" – Sakura would say to spite the others.
So who are these Kyoko and Issei?? As I already mentioned, Takimoto is Yamauchi’s best friend and at the same time the person closest to her. Miyata is Shiga’s classmate, but not his friend. Rather, it’s just convenient for him to communicate with him.
. You are probably the only one who can make me feel "real" and "normal". Doctors can only offer "reality". My family overreacts to everything I say, desperately trying to pretend everything is "normal". . You are the only one who shares normal, everyday life with me, while knowing how things really are. So hanging out with you is a lot of fun!
She continues to flirt with Haruka, sometimes taking off her cheerful girl mask a little at a time. Kyoko is still rude and cynical next to the main character, hating him with all her soft heart. Later, they go on a train journey to one of the hotels. There, Sakura invites Haruka to play Truth or Dare, and Haruka accidentally discovers a huge pack of medicine in her bag, pulling out oil from there at the request of Yamauchi herself. All this, although a little, reveals the characters and shows their real thoughts. At the end of the game, she asks Haruka a leading question:
But he dodged and chose action. This way they become one step closer in their relationship. When the summer holidays ended, Kyoko called him and asked him to meet. She tells him that if he is not going to take their relationship seriously, then he better leave her alone, because she is a very vulnerable girl. And it’s true – even though on the outside she tries to seem like such a brave and energetic girl, on the inside she’s just scared and she just wants to do things that she won’t be able to do in the future.
And her “duplicity” is precisely shown in the scene where Sakura and Shigi spent time together at Yamauchi’s house. At first she acted very assertively and as if jokingly, but when Shigi attacked her, remembering Kyoka’s words that she needed someone who would “take care” of her, but came to her senses in time when she got scared and started crying. Of course, because the joke almost turned into real rape!
Hastily grabbing his things and running away from home, he met Takahiro, Sakura’s ex, along the way. He, naturally, ran into him when Haruki pointed out the truth to him. However, Sakura arrived on time. The dialogue in the rain was another step towards their “love”. Having given Shigi the promised book "The Little Prince", she promised him that they would be friends until the day of her death. After 4 months of fun walks and fulfillment of her wishes, Sakura ends up in the hospital. Shigi visits her and they play Truth or Dare together again.
–What’s for you. what does it https://fabulous-vegas.uk/bonus/ mean to live??
–Definitely so serious?! Live. Let me think. Yes, here it is. For me, living means being connected to others. I guess this is what it means to live. Paying attention to someone, loving someone, hating someone, having fun with someone, holding someone’s hand – this is what it means to live. If you’re all alone, you can’t say you exist. Your relationships with others are what define your life. I know my mind exists because I communicate with others. I know my body exists because other people touch me. This is where the purpose of existence comes from. Just like the fact that we both decided to live this moment here and now.
Live. Such a capacious concept, but at the same time so simple. It’s different for everyone. Different, because each of us has our own views, ideas, thoughts, character. But what does it mean to "live" for a person who knows that he will die in a few months? On the one hand, she tried to help him understand, change, conveying this idea to him. On the other hand, she poured out all her thoughts about her progressing "illness". Her sudden "Lately, I want to feel the warmth of other people" suggests that she is really thinking about the future. But let’s continue. Then they go together to watch the fireworks. There the hero finally admits to himself and to her that he wants her to live.
The day of discharge has arrived! Their relationship can hardly be called friendly, but still they are still far from “love”. On the way to the cafe, Shigi meets Issei. At first he refuses the gum, but then, seeing how much fun he has with his brothers, he decides to take it anyway.
–I thought again and decided that I still wanted.
Having reached the right place, Haruki, having speculated about her actions, character, their relationship, decides to send her one very symbolic message: “I want to eat your pancreas.”.". After sitting until the evening, he still doesn’t meet her. There was some news about a serial murder on TV again. Shigi, looking at the report, sees that the victim of the criminal was. High school student Sakura Yamauchi. She was found with a stab wound and died from profuse bleeding in hospital. Terrible, painful death.
In the end, Haruki decides to visit her house and make an offering. There he asked her mother to lend him her diary – "Living, Dying". He learns that, it turns out, she was very afraid of dying, and when she was told in the hospital that due to complications she had half as much time to live, she decided to write her “Farewell” to all her friends. And the hero also got his own. There she expresses her true feelings towards the main character. Of course, it was “love”, but not the usual melodrama, but something else. Sakura “looked up to him” – she depended on communication, on acquaintances and in general on other people, and in Shigi she saw someone who understood himself, had his own interests, hobbies and thoughts, without relying on communication with others. He was "himself".
. And on that day when you were sincerely concerned about me, when you told me that you wanted me to live, for the first time in my life I was able to imagine myself as the one and only. I always thought that I was just like hundreds and thousands of high school students, albeit with a shorter life than everyone else. But you cared about an uninteresting girl like me. You who are not interested in relationships like friendship or love. You chose me. I probably lived 17 years waiting to be needed by you just like cherry blossoms wait for spring.
. I wanted to tell you before I die that I want to take a leaf out of your book. But I shouldn’t use such expressions. It would be a shame to describe our relationship in such ordinary words. That’s why I came up with this. I know you might not like this idea, but I decided. I want to eat your pancreas!
The letter he sent to her still reached her. Were they really thinking the same thing?? That their relationship is something special? The way they described them tells us that they were "looking at each other" all this time. She taught him to open up to others, and he helped her find herself. When she wrote her “Farewell,” Sakura already knew that she was able to understand him and, most importantly, understand herself, accept her inevitable death and look only at the happy moments in life. Accept the fact that she life was worth "living".
There are so many things that this anime tells us: the ability to meet your death, and also the fact that death can come when you don’t expect it, that life is really fleeting and you need to have time to do what you want. But this is only one of the main topics. Here others are also revealed – it is necessary to open up to others, accept yourself, look at things from all sides, whatever they may be. Some may find this anime boring and obvious, others may find it interesting and touching. Does this say anything about our perception?? Sure, but sometimes people just look at the wrong angle. Some see in it only a linearly constructed plot, without a single catching moment, and the denouement for them is a drawn-out, meaningless, empty “nothing”. They see in it only ordinary romance with drama, like the same “Your Lie in April”. And I understand these people, because they just see what they want, not really expecting anything interesting from it, and that’s why they skip such little things.
By the way, about the little things. Let’s see exactly what small details I managed to notice:
1) Sakura’s constant repetition about her failing pancreas and supposedly “accepting” her own death tells us that she really thinks about it – she’s just scared. A person who repeats the same thing usually talks about it only because: firstly, he is trying to draw the attention of others to himself and his problem, and secondly, he constantly thinks about it. This important and slightly annoying detail quietly makes us think about it and come to the same conclusion.
2) Joker card, which Haruki takes in the hospital. In fact, this is more of a reference to the tarot card "The Fool", which means "the beginning of something new" as well as "surprise, fresh sensations, spontaneity". This refers to Shigi himself and his attitude towards Sakura’s death. And in relation to Sakura, it means “inner child” and “infantilism”, attached along with “unpleasant surprise”, which, in fact, means her death. But “infantilism” means her attitude to life and to the situation as a whole.
3) Sakura’s constant request to be friends with Kyoko. This means that she wants to "leave something behind" – to form a friendship between her two favorite people.
4) Again, the names of the main characters, as I already wrote about above. They are symbolic and resonate with her “Farewell”, enhancing the effect of its perception.
5) Constant mention of a certain “serial killer”: first on TV, then briefly in the dialogue between Sakura and Haruki. This should have already aroused suspicion, which would have led to a sad outcome in the future.
6) And, of course, the well-known “Little Prince” by Saint-Exupery. The themes and allegories of this tale are closely intertwined with the thoughts of this anime: friendship and love, loneliness and loss.
And many, many others!)
And among those who watched, there are those who carefully follow the boring and not particularly noteworthy events in the lives of the heroes, noticing small details like these. Literally every scene, every frame tells us about the characters. Perhaps this is seen much better in the novel, but the film itself is simply amazing. The right angles, interesting details, rich facial expressions. All this helps to notice/realize everything that I described above. In short, look carefully for yourself and try to notice all this! I’m telling you, this anime is worth checking out.
"OreGairu" – complex relationships in the Volunteer Club
Wow, this series is really long, boring and not particularly eventful. But if you endure and watch to the end, you can follow the changes in the behavior of the main characters. Therefore, describing the plot is laziness, bad luck, long, boring, tedious and other excuses. Let me take my old but informative review from SPOILERS to this anime and I’ll just leave it here.
"But it all started so simply: an indifferent pessimist Hikigaya Hachiman as always, he sat at his desk and wrote an essay that bored him. How many times has he done this?? But it doesn’t matter, the world itself is unfair and as soon as you join a group, others will immediately crush you with their authority. That is why he considered loneliness the best outcome for himself. And so, walking along this corridor for the umpteenth time, he went into the teachers’ room to show his essay. Hiratsuka did not appreciate such a gesture, and, knowing about Hachima’s problem, led him to the door of the volunteer club, in which there was only 1 participant at the moment – Yukinoshita Yukino, smart and kind, but also cocky and rude. And so began the School Romantic Life of these two, seemingly completely incompatible heroes. Before we continue, it’s worth telling a little about Hachiman and Yukinoshita in general. Hikigaya is a loner with his own outlook on life, he is not particularly pleased to communicate with other people, which led to ridicule in his direction from his classmates. Previously, Hickey was a completely ordinary high school student, but certain circumstances and an unsuccessful attempt to confess his love finally made him withdrawn and “angry”. Yukinoshita Yukino, in turn, is considered the best student at the school and has good authority, but she herself believes that she is only following in the footsteps of her sister – Haruno, whom we will talk about later – and cannot get out of her shadow. After a couple of unfriendly days spent in the volunteer club, and a bet that came from God knows where, Yuigahama Yui – the most ordinary student of this school, who has an unusual character. But the deeper into the forest, the more firewood, so our team of 3 people began to help everyone, strengthening connections not only among themselves, but also with all the actors. They went through many problems, which Hikigaya mainly understood, solving them in a rather strange and complex way. For example, he confessed his feelings to Hina only to find out if she was ready to date any of Hayama’s boyfriends. It was a rather cruel and vulgar act, which nevertheless solved the problem. But there are other moments when Hachiman began to gradually open up to others. While Yukinoshita could not understand herself and her relationship with her mother and sister and, already ready to throw away all the memories that they had all received together, began to move away from Hachiman and Yui, Hikigaya said a rather unexpected phrase that is better to hear and feel for yourself. (season 2 episode 8, the next quote does not apply to it)
People by their mere existence unknowingly cause pain to someone. Whether they live or die, it hurts someone. If you have business with someone, you will cause pain, but if you try not to have business, you will make it even more painful. But if a person is indifferent, then you don’t even understand that you hurt him. You just need to realize it. When a person is dear to you, you understand when you hurt him. And to cherish someone means to be willing to hurt them.
Gradually developing relationships among themselves, the club begins to help Irohe Ishike – the future head of the educational council, selfish and rude on the outside, but kind and understanding on the inside (definitely the best girl in the title). Some time later, while helping the club,. Council for the Christmas event, Shizuka gave 4 tickets to Hikigaya and the others so that they could finally unwind and have fun in Destinyland. Since Yukino already had a pass, Iroha did not hesitate and, taking advantage of the opportunity, invited Hayato there. They were running out of ideas for the event, so they finally decided to use these tickets to unwind a little. After entering the park and having fun, Hikigaya and Yukinoshita separated from the others, and after a short conversation, they headed towards the attraction. After sitting on the trolley and talking a little, Yukino said her most sincere phrase – "Save me, Hachiman. ".
Of course, this trip marked the beginning of the end of their normal friendly relations in the club. Iroha, in turn, decided to confess her love to Hayato, but received only a cold refusal. After some time, Hikigaya and Isshiki were already sitting in the same carriage, and she simply poured everything she had accumulated on him. Hachiman encouraged her in his own way and told her not to give up. Such simple words formulated by Hikigaya helped to collect a broken heart and focus on the event. All this was just a turning point that turned upside down and mixed up the relationship between the main characters. But they continued to deceive themselves and not notice all this. And everyone had a reason. And at the end of the second season, things get even more confusing.
This is how the third season begins, filled only with love relationships and problems between the characters. Unlike the first two seasons, the third does not go into everyday life and comedy, where the philosophy and worldview of Hikigai, friendship and mutual assistance between members of the club, as well as Hachiman’s attitude towards other people, were placed in the foreground. This did not prevent the third season from being quite dramatic, and even in the absence of the main component of these seasons, it focuses specifically on love and relationships between club members. This entire season puts a huge and bold end to everything that has been developing all this time, referring to previous seasons, which, in principle, is not surprising. The ending is simply gorgeous, it is staged well, it is very interesting to follow the constantly changing, tense relationships. And some scenes after the credits directly speak and reveal the position of one or another character in a relationship. But the most important and truly sensual moment comes when Hikigaya, trying to find the right words, confesses his true feelings to Yukinoshita.
It’s time to talk about the characters individually. Let’s start with the basics.
Hachiman Hikigaya – high school student, pessimist, cynical in almost everything, loner and outcast. Its amazing feature is solving problems through self-sacrifice. Plans in the spirit of “We will make something even worse so that what already exists looks more attractive against its background” is his solution. Seems self-sufficient and has a peculiar self-esteem.
Yukino Yukinoshita – smart and kind, pragmatic, but still so stubborn. Can’t communicate well with others. Prefers to deal with everything independently, without relying on the help of others. Always hides his true feelings, even though he has a lot to lose.
Yuigahama Yui – cheerful, equally kind and sympathetic, sociable and always knowledgeable. Prefers to hide all his emotions behind a smile. Is a thread connecting club members to each other.
Iroha Isshiki – a cunning and slightly selfish girl, she loves to tease and fool around, but at the right moment she becomes a responsible and reliable head of the student council. In some moments he shows his kind nature. Like everyone else, she prefers to hide her real feelings.
Shizuku Hiratsuka – the teacher will always support, give advice and a slap on the head when necessary, meets the students halfway and helps them with organizing events and other things. Perhaps the best character in all of anime.
And now about the minor characters.
Haruno Yukinoshita – Yukino’s older sister, a very extraordinary character, but one thing is for sure – she cares about her younger sister, although sometimes she is jealous of her freedom. Quite headstrong, knows how to manipulate other people and will do anything to achieve her goal if this goal pleases her or irritates her.
Hayato Hayama – a popular student and part-time athlete, an ideal guy and always keeps himself in good spirits. But he considers himself not such a nice guy as everyone thinks about him. Hates Hikku with every fiber of his being, but helps him with some problems.
Kawasaki Saki – formerly a diligent student, but due to some circumstances she was forced to abandon her studies. He knows how to sew quite well, helps the volunteer club almost always, albeit reluctantly. Actually quite shy, albeit rude.
Shiromeguri Meguri – former head of education. advice, optimistic, cheerful, knows how to work in a team. Able to get along with all people and coordinates council members well. Almost all students love her as a good leader and friend.
Komachi Hikigaya – Hachiman’s younger sister, open, lively personality. Loves to tease his brother, but always shows care and kindness towards him.
There are many other characters worthy of attention, but they are not often on camera, so there is no point in talking about them. As we can see, they are all quite versatile and hide something of their own. It all looks real and feels like these are actually real people.
To sum up, we can only say one thing – this is a special work. She is like an oasis in the desert, like a breath of fresh air, like a rainbow after the rain. You will not miss anything by passing this work by, but if you look at it, you will experience almost all shades of emotions that can be. As you become immersed in the stories and follow the development of the relationships between the characters, you will gradually begin to empathize with them, and at the most important moment, at the end of their journey, you will feel the delight and emptiness that grips you after watching. This anime will make you think about friendship, your relationships between family, friends and acquaintances. Rethink the essence of mutual assistance and accepting help from others. And in the end, it will give you a story full of sweet, tense and sometimes even powerful moments. This is the story of high school student Hikigai Hachiman, a man who changed himself thanks to his friends; a person caught in such a cycle of lies that it will be quite difficult to get out of it; a person who has made the most important choice in his life; and finally a person who dared to accept it all. This is the story of his Failed High School Romance Life. Goodbye Hikigaya! It was a long journey, 7 years long, which we experienced together with you! Thank you for reading and I hope that it caused or will cause similar emotions in you. I sincerely wish you good luck and may everything be fine with you!"
Additional
Here I have collected those examples that either fit in, but only partially, or are similar to them.
"Adorn your farewell morning with flowers of promise":
This anime will tell you what motherly love really is, gradually revealing other topics such as the cruelty and senselessness of war, violence and slavery. I recommend.
"Connection of Hearts":
It’s very similar to OreGairu, its own genres and events, but, naturally, conveys its own thoughts and subtext. Recommended for those who love psychological dramas, the duplicity of one of the characters, discussions on the topic of personality and oneself.
"Plastic Memories":
Truly a legendary piece. A touching story about an android who doesn’t have long to live, because after a certain period of time she will lose something important that will unite two future lovers. For those who want to cry over the usual melodrama, and also who liked the philosophy of “I want to eat your pancreas”.
Afterword
Thanks to everyone who stayed with me and looked at these amazing works of cinema through the prism of my perception. Maybe I’m making things up too much and seeing things that aren’t there, but the main thing is that I like it. Am I ready to accept someone else’s point of view?? Definitely. Will this change my attitude towards these works?? No, but it depends on the answer. Again, where some people see slag, I see precious metal, and where they see something masterpiece, it seems ordinary and unremarkable to me. Therefore, you have the right to disagree with my opinion, challenge it, or simply silently leave your minus and go home. But think about it: have you really looked through them well?? Maybe you should rewatch these animes, taking into account what I wrote? I know more than one case where this really helped change an opinion. But if you are not interested in anime itself as a genre, then I won’t argue, everyone has their own tastes. Well, those who still decide to write/dispute some points – please! I am always ready to talk with you on various topics, about philosophy, about how such views change the lives of others, etc. It’s a tea party after all. This means we are all equal here and everyone’s opinion is important. A calm atmosphere, delicious tea/cocoa/hot chocolate with cookies/marshmallows and comfortable chairs create a pleasant atmosphere, so I expect that you found it comfortable and pleasant to read such a ton of text, and I look forward to your comments! :3