By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

This may be a first for this series. For the first time, I got through an entire volume without wanting to throw Hachiman out a window. This isn’t to say that he’s all smiles and warm fuzzies, but his cynical “this is what teenage life is really ,like it’s a jungle out there man” monologues are kept to a minimum and his attempts to solve the problem of the book involve actually talking with people about the problem rather than, say, throwing himself under the bus again. This volume was adapted into the final chunk of Season 2, so also is probably the calm before the storm that will be the final arc of the series. Things are moving pretty slowly – you can tell the author wants to wrap this up before they become third years – but we are starting to think about the future, which in Japan means what “track” will the kids be taking, arts or sciences?

Haruno is on the cover, and actually has a significant presence in the book as the “not quite evil but close” antagonist. The main focus of the book, though, is Hayama, who is the perfect boy that everyone wants to hang out with/date, but he’s refusing to say whether he’s taking the arts or sciences track, which has thrown his group into turmoil. Particularly Miura, who has a crush on him but is also concerned for his well-being – nearly everyone by now can see that Hayama is wearing a mask to hide his real self. She asks our heroes to find out what his choice is, which proves to be a very tough nut to crack, and mostly involves Hachiman doing a lot of detective work. In the interim, though, there is an ominous cloud on the horizon, and we see part of that cloud here, as we meet Yukino and Haruno’s mother, who is exactly what you’d expect she would be like. Oh yes, and there’s a rumor that Hayama and Yukino are going out which has spread like wildfire.

It’s pretty clear that Yukino’s family issues are gonna be the series’ endgame (which is bad news for Yui, and indeed she once again doesn’t have much of a role here – this love triangle is a bit imbalanced). For the moment, though, we’re dealing with Hayama, whose feelings for Hachiman are very conflicted – at one point he holds out hope that Hachiman is concerned about him as a friend, only to realize that it’s for his Service Club after all. It comes to a head in the school’s marathon, where Hayama bluntly talks about how he hates Hachiman, who may be Hayama’s opposite but also has managed to draw people to his actual self, crappy though that self may be. I was also very amused at the discussion of arts vs. sciences, some of which is “what am I best at” but a lot of which is also “how can I improve my social image?”.

So yes, this was a strong volume in the series, and I also really love the brother/sister relationship between Hachiman and Komachi, which is realistic and sweet. I am totally ready for Book 11. Sadly, the author is not, so get ready for 10.5, more short stories, next time.

By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

The origins of this volume are rather tortured. Around the time that Season 1 of the anime was coming out, they had the author do an episode about the athletics festival, that was not in the novels. This was Episode 13 of Season 1. At the same time, he was asked to do exclusive stories for the BD/DVD releases, and decided to greatly expand this episode into one big novel (yes, despite the .5 in the title, this is NOT a short story volume). The story came out cut into thirds, one per release. It’s now being collected as this volume, which takes place between Vol. 6 and 7 (hence the numbering)… except for the bonus story, based on a CD drama, which takes place right after Volume 9. What does this all add up to? Well, a mixed bag, primarily because (as the author admits in the afterword) he really wanted to bring back a character that no one else really wanted back. (The anime was fine with having her disappear.)

No, I’m not talking about Kawasaki – she gets the cover, but is a minor presence in the book. The “star” of this book is Sagami, the sort-of villain from the 6th novel, who is still dealing with the fallout from the cultural festival. Miura is annoyed that Sagami’s drama is ruining the atmosphere of the classroom. Meanwhile, student council president Megumi wants someone (meaning our trio of heroes) to help her on the Athletic Festival Committee. Combining the two problems, they decide to have Sagami chair the committee, giving her a chance to get things right this time. Unfortunately, things do not go as well as hoped, this time due to two of Sagami’s friends, who are making it clear they are unhappy that the clubs are having to be part of this. Can Hachiman and company find a way to resolve this without sacrificing Sagami entirely? And can they find a way to make the athletics festival fun and interesting?

I’m gonna be honest here: a lot of this book is a retread of the sixth volume. This is deliberate, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Some might say that Oregairu is at its best when wallowing in teenagers being painfully abrasive at each other, and if so, they’ll love the first half of this book, which feels like fingernails on a blackboard. The payoff (Sagami finally doing her job and standing up against her friends) is not really worth the long painful slog we had to read to get there. Unsurprisingly, the best part of that section is the part that was animated – the festival itself. Fortunately, the adaptation of the CD drama works much better, and features Hachiman, Yukino and Yui at their closest. It’s a Christmas party that manages to be free of drama, and I will even forgive its heaping helping of “ha ha, our teacher is old and desperate” jokes because the ending was really sweet.

I guess I’m happy this is a .5 volume – if it had come right after Book 6 I might have thrown it against a wall. This series continues to have rewarding climaxes to excruciating journeys.

By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

The first half of this book is rough going, as it continues to mine the trough of awkward despair that our heroes are going through. Hachiman is still dealing with the unspoken fact that he screwed up the Student Council Election for Yukino, though honestly the bigger problem is that it IS unspoken. Isshiki is now student council president, but is having trouble dealing with the rest of the council and also out of her depth. So when she has to come up with a Christmas event with the help of another school, she naturally comes running to the Service Club. Unfortunately, Hachiman’s guilt makes him take on helping her on his own, and he has to confront not only the most irritating character in the entire series to date, but also Orimoto, that girl from middle school, who goes to the other school. And, as a result of his doing this secretly, the Service Club is falling apart. It’s all very depressing.

Thank God for Hiratsuka, then. Acting a bit more proactively than she usually does, the teacher is there to give Hachiman the push he needs to finally confront the club and show actual emotions. This is very much the best scene in the book, and a real emotional breakthrough, at least for him. Yukino is a bit of a tougher nut to crack (as always), but a trip to an amusement part even allows her to open up about her rivalry relationship with her sister… and with Hachiman. Yui doesn’t feature as heavily, basically reduced to her role as the emotional center. That said, solving the situation requires all three of them – Hachiman plans, Yui bonds with everyone, and Yukino takes a firm hand in telling people when to shut the hell up and decide. Which is desperately needed.

As I indicated above, I don’t think I’ve ever found a character quite as punchable as I did Tamanawa, the student council president from the rival school. Honestly, I’d almost have liked it better if he were evil, or at least doing this on purpose for some petty reason. But no, this just seems to be how he deals with things, with the rest of the council (sans Orimoto, who like Hachiman is a dragooned helper) joining in on his business-talk doublespeak. This is hilarious at first, with even Hachiman having trouble following the plethora of buzzwords, but gradually the reader gets as exhausted as he does, and by the end of the book you just want a steamroller to run over Tamanawa (this does not happen). It was also odd seeing the return of Rumi, the young girl Hachiman tried to help in a previous book, though it goes along with the theme of this book and the last one: Hachiman’s help doesn’t always really work. Rumi is still having troubles. Maybe the play will help.

This book is about as well written as the previous one, but the fact that it ends on a big, positive note makes all the difference, and makes it feel much better overall. Not having a sour taste in your mouth is key. Next time, we get another book of short stories as we leap back in time with Vol. 6.5 (which, in Japan, did indeed come out after Vol. 9).