My Teen Romantic Comedy: SNAFU

In a way, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected, reminds me of the Matrix trilogy. Not in terms of genre, of course, but in terms of the way it develops, yes: the first part is imaginative, entertaining and easy to watch, however, with the second part comes more philosophising and a significant change in mood, and the third part brings a conclusion that will mean downright disappointing for a large portion of the audience. My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected, is characterised by a plot that is covered by episodes largely set in a high school. It centers on the reflective and hard-bitten Hachiman, his sardonic comments and interactions with various schoolmates. The first season focuses solely on situational comedy, which is supremely enjoyable and intelligent, and features well-written characters. After that, however, it depends if you want to go deeper down the rabbit hole. The second series does throw away the comedic nature of the first season, the visual appearance of the characters changes, and the series becomes a regular coming-of-age drama, where, while there are still a few humorous moments to be found, the psychological development of the characters and their relationships takes precedence. In this respect, I can understand those who were disappointed by these changes, expecting another intelligent but simple piece of entertainment, and consider the second and third seasons as humdrum chatter about nothing. However, if you accept the rules of the game, and treat each season as an integral part of life’s great coming of age tapestry, as the characters gradually mature and realize what their priorities in life are as their senior year approaches, you can enjoy it immensely, as I did – including the ending. It is the final, third season that I consider in retrospect to be the most interesting season, and I can highly recommend the whole anime. I give it a better 4 stars. (03/06/2021)