"My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected" anime review

“Yeah, I'm being stupid. I know that it's out of the question. I know how this will end. I'll be left with nothing. Even so, I want us to think, writhe, struggle... and find... something genuine.”

One of the key components for a successful anime/manga is the lack of finality in the storytelling and My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected also known as My Rom-Com SNAFU is kind of the exception to this rule. Following the two previous seasons where our complicated protagonist Hachiman Hikigaya aspires to stall what he possibly only sees as an idealistic but flawed concept of coming of age, he is left with the heartbreaking realization that youth comes for everyone and love is unavoidable.

Characters, Themes, and Story

Something magical tends to happen when a comedy harem is spliced with an introspective slice of life narrative with dynamic and witty characters to populate the world and then set in a high school, what almost always follows is an easy to watch anime with interesting themes and likable characters. In the first view, you could be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t anything different with the characters in comparison to other Slice of life harem anime characters and that is because of one of the main themes of the narrative [codependency]. All of the characters are looking to find where they belong within the high school eco-system and Hikigaya Hachiman, though presented as a loner, looks to upset the status quo by (as he menacingly states) “changing the world” and when placed at the borders of the upper echelons, he is presented with the opportunity of rearrange what he deems a faux state of bliss and present the true nature of youth. Directly opposite to him is the “ice-cold beauty” Yukino Yukinoshita, A beautiful but distant student who shares the same attitude Hikigaya has to the world but believes the world is more redeemable and thus has created the volunteer club which her and Hikigaya use to push their ideas into the students searching for assistance. Yui Yuigahama is the closest thing to the character who was playing the audience role in the 2 previous seasons as the closest thing to an average teen. In the 3rd season, her character is fleshed out more than any other character as she decides to “make the first move” and try to change her world.

Changing the world for our benefit and the benefit of those we love is what we all aspire to do when we try. That is why we try every day, even when we not trying, we trying to try again and understanding that we constantly failing because we not trying enough. So, we give up in trying to change the world and we think, writhe, struggle and try to find something genuine instead, the one good thing about youth is that nothing is really final. My rom-com snafu is not just about high school romance, it’s also about the life experience in all its little gritty and uncomfortable nature and how we present ourselves to the world. I believe it to be absolutely essential for those of you who enjoy easy to watch Slice of life comedy anime and a good entry anime for those interested in getting into that genre.

I’m giving ‘My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected’ an 8.5/10