Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai [Final Impressions]7

Summary:

The conclusion of the Fall season is always my favorite as the exciting final episodes come as a perfect compliment to the seasonal holidays. Of course, I hope your holiday celebrations were merry and filled with fanservice, but for me the best part is being able to sum up the great series conclusions with a short and sweet final impressions review. So on that note, enjoy your post-holiday reading!

I was definitely surprised by this amazing final episode, perfectly delivered through the interesting way in which we get to re-explore the events of the very first episode from Yozora’s perspective. Where there originally was no indication that the Yozora and Kodaka were related in anyway—adding to the complexity of putting two and two together in terms of Kodaka’s childhood flashbacks—we now clearly see a caring and compassionate side of Yozora that I never knew existed. From the look of things, it was a combination of her shyness and curiosity that prevented her from confronting Kodaka even after recognizing him the moment he made his first fumbling entrance into the classroom. Again, I’m almost speechless at the way the underlying story of emotion was so different that what was outwardly displayed. For example, Yozora’s enthusiastic suggestion to start the Neighbors Club to make friends, despite being somewhat uncharacteristic, seemed very genuine. But after she revealed that it was supposed to be a place for Kodaka and her to rekindle their lost friendship, the implications of its conception seem almost romantic Now add to the mix a vivid flashback and a wonderful use of memory to reveal the hidden relationship of Taka and Sora and the majority of the final episode wraps up satisfyingly, leaving almost nothing to be desired. . .almost.

As much as I was enjoying the cute and emotional side of the finale, I simply couldn’t bring myself to overlook the obvious let down in Kodaka and Yozora not rekindling their former friendship. You’d think that with the blindfold being pulled from over Kodaka’s eyes—not to mention finally seeing Yozora make her advances—that there would be more of an endearing conclusion. But the latter half of the episode pretty much reverted back to the everyday wacky antics of the club members, doing little to bring the two closer together—on the brightside this example of concluding a series with a nonchalant joke (or a horny Rika) more often than not hints at a second season~

Final Impressions

For me, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Haganai) was made successful by it’s characters that never failed to deliver an entertaining episode. With such a wide variety of personalities, compliments are bound to emerge to create laughs and develop into amusing relationships. As is the case with Yozora, the intelligent leader with a soft spot for Kodaka, and Sena, whose bratty rich-girl exterior hides her true identity as a full-fledged Otaku. Kodaka, with his blonde-topped dark hair gives the appearance of a delinquent while his nature is consistently kind-hearted; Rika is the extremist porno-yuri scientist; and Kobato is the cosplaying loli-imouto vampire at war with the equally underage Sister Maria (funny to see the seiyuu for Index take on the role of yet another side-kicking sister ). Take any of these characters and put them together and you easily have enough humor to last you the week.

And on that note, Haganai’s obvious selling point was undoubtably the fantastic humor that found its way into each and every episode. Whether it be Yozora bashing on ‘meat with big boobs’, Sena, or Yozora threatening to eat Maria as a horse-faced demon, there was never a shortage of hilarity to keep the series exciting. Even when things weren’t already on the verge of insanity, there was always Rika making a train manga sound like a heated ecchi novel. Needless to say, the show thrived on the non-stop laughs and perfectly executed character juxtaposition. As a whole or even in its individual parts, Haganai has easily found its way into the top seats of my favorite series I’ve seen in a while. And with the promise of a second season in reach, I can’t wait for the final season of Zero no Tsukaima to begin honing my boob-groping romantic/comedy viewership skill!