This week's episode of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected (SNAFU) continues with the theme of Hikki realizing he's screwed up at least twice, and having to live with the consequences and wondering if there is anything he can do about it. The books show there's some compromise coming, but that's not the same thing. Solving a problem is different from having healthy relationships, as much as those are possible in a high school. Some of the most important lessons in life are learned in high school, and the trouble with Hikigaya is he learned them already. The people around him haven't, and what he knows to be true are hard to deny in the face on nearly constant reinforcement. The trip to Kyoto got nasty comments from the popular kids who just want to maintain power over others for their own comforts and amusement. The anti-date with Orimoto in Full-Bitch mode was perhaps meant to show solidarity, but whose idea was that? Haruno's? Hayato seemed pretty angry with the whole effort and the comments from the bitches didn't make him feel better about women. What was the point there? Telling Hikki he is worth more than he thinks is useless. The election goes wrong thanks to lousy planning by the former president who SHOULD have told them what was up but failed. So Yuki is hurt, Hikki is doubting himself, and Yuigahama is confused in the middle. That mess continues, and this sort of agony is typical in post-high school relationships and never ends well. Even knowing the outcome of the xmas party planning committee arc isn't going to fix their relationship and I still get the feeling that the entire series is going to end with Hikki even more bitter over being forced to interact with these messy kids, more convinced he was right in the beginning, that Youth is an insult and a lie. I found the text online. Here it is:
Youth is a lie. It is nothing but evil.Those of you who rejoice in youth are perpetually deceiving yourselves and those around you. You perceive everything about the reality surrounding you in a positive light. Even life-threatening mistakes will be remembered as single page proofs of your youth.I’ll give you an example. If such people were to dabble in criminal acts such as shoplifting or mass rioting, it would be called ‘youthful indiscretion.’ If they were to fail an exam, they would say school is not only a place for studying. Their pursuit of ‘youth’ excuses even distortions of commonly held beliefs and social norms.Under their discretion, lies, secrets, crimes and even failure are nothing but the spice of one’s youth. And in their corrupt ways, they discover something peculiar about failure. They conclude that while their own failures are generally a part of relishing in youth, others’ failures should be shot down as just failures and nothing more.If failure is seen proof of one’s youth, isn’t it strange not to consider those who fail to make friends as experiencing the height of their youth? Not that they acknowledge that.It amounts to nothing. This is simply opportunism. Therefore, it is a sham, full of damnable lies, deception, secrets and fraud.They are evil.That is to say, ironic as it is, those who do not glorify their youth are the truly righteous ones.
In conclusion: Youth, go F&&& yourself.
This was the opening essay in the opening scene of the first episode of SNAFU. And what got his teacher's attention and forced him to join the service club and suffer further proof, episode by episode, that he is right about people.
I think that at the end of this series Yui and Yuki will be broken hearted, Hikki even more alone than before, and everybody even more angry at the tragedy of their own hypocritical greed. High School is nasty. It isn't something one should miss. I think his teacher may not be evil but instead incompetent. She THINKS she can reform him through exposure to frail humans needing help, but instead each person just confirms how debased they are, and it makes him feel more cynical about them. Her efforts are making him worse, or more realistic. I think in psychology they call this "confirmation bias" actually. The concept of objecting to life experiences contrary to your wishes is delusional, however, and is also bias. Whatever the case, he's going to end up alone and even more bitter for trying.
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