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Growing Up Is Hard To Do: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU


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AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 1410
Location: End of the World
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:28 am Reply with quote
...wow
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鳳凰の王



Joined: 02 Jul 2013
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:42 am Reply with quote
This show, among many others, create changes in psychological states through initial engagements which are obviously probabilistic in real life. Now not everyone is lucky enough to have those initial engagements. The assumption taught here is that someone is out there who's similar enough to make the initial engagement worthwhile, which is no more than a hopeful assumption originate from the law of big numbers. Maybe someone is like that northern white rhino. He can hope there are ones like him out there, but that doesn't de facto make it so.

Moreover, SNAFU doesn't tackle other social separations such as racial and economic status. It's an idealized show in its own way, like having ceteris paribus at the end of it.

Just for the record, I very much enjoy the show, but I only see it as only partially applicable to real life.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:29 am Reply with quote
That was an interesting breakdown of the possible underline motive behind the franchise (oh, the intended irony), or at least one of them.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:36 am Reply with quote
Okay, but I identify with Hachiman because, much like me, he's super into Non Non Biyori right now (he's quoted Renge at least five times since book eight).
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bobob101



Joined: 28 Jun 2013
Posts: 201
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 10:47 am Reply with quote
You can't make a work like Snafu without having been a Hachiman yourself, so I assume Wataru Watari has definitely been there himself. As for what you actually wrote in this piece, I completely agree. While Hachiman may be the Main Character here, he isn't the protagonist. And I don't say that because he isn't that likeable, but because this entire show (though mostly the second season) has been crafted to show the flaws in his worldview. I like to think I wasn't as bad as Hachiman as a high schooler, but I totally see shades of myself in him.
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MajorZero



Joined: 29 Jul 2010
Posts: 359
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:09 am Reply with quote
I haven't seen anime yet, but I'm curious about one thing, why are there so many shows about school life and teenage psychology? Is it fascinates the audience, or japanese people cherish the time they spent in school? Don't get me wrong, GTO is my all-time favorite anime, but I like it because GTO shows how screwed up educational system can be, on the other hand I probably never gonna understand what so special in school life and usual teenage problems.
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Paulo27



Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Posts: 400
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:38 am Reply with quote
MajorZero wrote:
I haven't seen anime yet, but I'm curious about one thing, why are there so many shows about school life and teenage psychology? Is it fascinates the audience, or japanese people cherish the time they spent in school? Don't get me wrong, GTO is my all-time favorite anime, but I like it because GTO shows how screwed up educational system can be, on the other hand I probably never gonna understand what so special in school life and usual teenage problems.
I think it's mostly nostalgia, I didn't quite get it when I was in high school either but when I went to college and things started getting tougher I totally saw why anime treats high school in such high regard, "those days were nice" I still remember wanting to grow up faster then and now that I'm a bit older I wish I could go back and maybe live things up a bit more, finishing high school is a huge change too, this is just me speaking for other people because where I live things didn't change that fast since I live in a rather small country but in most places you're going to start working or going away to some college and suddenly you can't hang out with the friends you spent all the time with in classes anymore.
Not to mention most anime fans are in high school so they can relate better.
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Shippoyasha



Joined: 28 Aug 2007
Posts: 459
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:10 pm Reply with quote
While I do admire the depth of the psychology of searching for genuine relationships (I would say most of us had those moments several times in our lives), I think it is a bit sad that the show does not have much comedy in season 2. It used to balance the serious and comedic moments better in season 1 in my opinion. And Hachiman constantly pondering his existentialism and social life seems a bit overboard the past 5 episodes or so. Though I suppose it works well in focusing that element, the show has lost some of the balance of the earlier episodes.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1789
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:20 pm Reply with quote
While I still don't think the show is such hot shit as I see everybody else on the internet claim it to be I can respect what this article has to say in what the show is trying to do. A lot of this story doesn't really grab at me much personally but I can see how it tries to depict human interaction and I like the second season a lot more than the first because we start getting into the flaws of Hikki's world view (even though I understood the first season on a re-watch I didn't find it that interesting.)
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ChrissyC



Joined: 17 Jun 2015
Posts: 541
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:50 pm Reply with quote
I Personally had a distaste for the protagonist in SNAFU, So I never continued. There are many of these cynical and pretentious folk that he reminded me of in my school, which I didn`t like.

But, this article you written here is a very strong one at pointing out exactly what the series wanted to let out. And, you go into a understanding of those who feel left out at school and want to belong but don`t necessarily want to be with the people they are around.

I thought your section on growing out of it and growing up was a strong but emotional piece. Being accompanied by the still-frame of "For You kids, right now feels like everything."

That was sad, like that kinda sad where you gaze out in the distance, with a moment of silence. Lol I mean it, I MEAN IT!

Everyone, I truly mean every individual had something understand them or comfort them through growing no matter the age. I remember in 5TH Grade "K-ON" was out and it helped me get through my horrible experiences. With Cute girls, cakes and instruments, at the time I thought it was a "Girly" show and marketed to girls, so I was very secretive about it. HAHA!
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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:05 pm Reply with quote
& to think that all I get out of SNAFU is that being smugly self-indulgent in your feelings of superiority & self-pity makes for a pretty tedious protagonist, particularly when it starts implying that being a broody dick is actually catnip to people who really wish they could say what they see about the world but have to carry on with the facade because peer pressure sucks, man.
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Sahmbahdeh



Joined: 05 May 2015
Posts: 712
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:42 pm Reply with quote
The reason I dropped this series after 4 episodes was largely because I couldn't stand Hachiman. I thought he was pretentious, arrogant and far too cynical for my taste. He reminded me of the worst attitudes of my own youth, but magnified. From this article, though, it seems he gets better and the show is more nuanced than what I originally saw of it. I still probably won't watch it, though, as I've largely grown out of high school romance/slice of life stories like this, but good to see it got better.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:47 pm Reply with quote
I wanted a review, but instead I got a lecture from a shrink.

Gee, thanks.
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Clodus



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 497
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:39 pm Reply with quote
Its hard to do a just review on this show. Great attempt though. Theres so many interpretations of their encounter and how they deal with the psychological aspects that you can't possibly cater to every crowd. The show evokes a plethora of different emotions. I've seen many variations of the show and noticed you didn't watch commie subs from the screenshots. I'm not criticizing you but there is a world of difference between them. If your fluent in Japanese then I guess the subs don't really matter since you understand the actual meaning of his words but for this specific type of show then you really do need accurate subs.

If anyone is interested in the song played when he does his infamous monologues then you can find it on my channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-YziTukuqc
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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:45 pm Reply with quote
Nick Creamer wrote:
There's a reason Oregairu is compared to Catcher in the Rye, and there's a reason Catcher in the Rye is mainly beloved by teenagers.
When I read Salinger's "Catcher," the only thing that I could conclude was that I didn't get it. I ultimately had to go to Cliff's Notes in order to understand it.

Clodus wrote:
Its hard to do a just review on this show. Great attempt though.
Faint praise, indeed.
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