Oregairu Season 3

Oregairu Season 3 is the final season of the anime series as it adapts all the way until the very end of the original light novel run. I say original since the author has decided to continue the story with a few apparently short volumes narrating what happens after. Whether this culminates in their graduation of high school or extends beyond is anyone's guess.

I really liked Oregairu's first two seasons so it only made sense to binge the third and final one too. Unlike Monogatari and Konosuba though, I haven't actually read any of the Oregairu novels. So my thoughts are purely based on what is presented in the anime.

Season 3 continues right where we left off at the end of season 2 with the cast splitting off after having a rather unsatisfying conversation regarding their currently established but fleeting school relationship with one another. At least, that's what I remembered to be the gist of it.

I'm going to be honest, I've forgotten most of the plot points about the show since all those years ago when I watched it. And I definitely did not want to spend more time to binge the older seasons again. Instead, I focused on the one thing I did remember; Hachiman's relationship with Yui and Yukino and how it's evolving from something superficial to something genuine to something fragile, yet realistic.

The main driving force for the characters this season involves them preparing a prom for their school's graduation. As you would know, proms aren't very common in Japan and a huge change like this tends to bring about its fair share of problems. Yukino wants to commit to this and see it through to the end by herself but Hachiman wants to help her as he always does but what 'helping her' means for him is what is discussed throughout the season.

We see a lot of Yui's side of things and while her relationship with Yukino was a major thing in the older seasons, this season presents the girls as entirely separate, again lending to the fact that this is truly the end of their coming of age. Most of the episodes tend to explore Yui and Hachiman's growing relationship with one another but whether or not it becomes fruitful is only revealed at the end of the season. I won't outright spoil it but I'm very sure we all know who Hachiman ends up with.

Throughout Oregairu's three season run, we have seen Hachiman grow from a cynical, pessimistic boy to a cynical, pessimistic yet-constantly-trying-his-best-to-improve man. He goes from seeing the selfishness in everyone to the selfishness within himself to understanding and accepting that everyone is selfish but how we act on it will determine how life goes on. That is what is truly considered genuine.

I have to say though that while the fanbase seems to love Iroha, I stand by my initial thoughts. I do not like her. She's sneaky, conniving and while cute, is extremely manipulative and tropey. Unlike the other characters, Iroha seems the least likely to deserve any of the attention she gets yet everyone seems to just fall for her on sight.

It was therefore not as interesting for me this season to spend half of the time with Iroha on screen. Granted, she's the sole reason the plot is even moving forward but I'd much rather get more interactions with Yukino than with her. In fact, Yukino gets left on the back burner until the last two episodes. While she's a major aspect in Hachiman's growth as a character, we never get enough of her. The focus on Yui was fine by me despite fan backlash but bringing Iroha into the picture detracted quite heavily from the two heroines of the story.

All in all, despite my complaints, I see Oregairu Season 3 as a great send off to the series. It's definitely not perfect but much like the theme of the series, I don't think it was truly ever trying to be perfect. What's important is that it's genuine.