It’s been a funny old season for Aharen-san wa Hakarenai. Palpably less engaging and less hilarious than the first for me, albeit still impossible not to like most of the time. Inexplicable amounts of time spent on trivial characters and their problems (we both know the main culprit here), all the more so given that the season is adapting at blistering speed. It reminds of the TV version of Horimiya in a way. Having to make major cuts to meet a schedule is one thing, but the material they chose to cut (and not cut) is a real head-scratcher.
With only two episodes left, if the show hadn’t focused on Reina and Matsuboshi now it really would be malpractice (and most likely original, since one assumes the manga does at the end). It is, and that’s great. And it’s OK in theory that this wasn’t really funny, because that’s what usually happens with school comedies at the end – they get bittersweet and reflective. But I think this is where the breakneck pacing really has an impact, because the material itself has less of one because of it. This hits, but not as hard as it should, at least from my perspective. With three seasons with of slow build to this, I think it would have been a haymaker.
Indeed it is the bunkasai we’re more or less ending on. And for third years facing adult reality, it has to be crazy bittersweet indeed – a kind of last hurrah for innocence. It coincides with the students having to hand in their career path sheets, and this generated my favorite moments from the ep. Raidou stating that his dream was to help Aharen achieve hers is so, well, Raidou. But it’s wrong. Everyone – much less high school seniors – needs their own dream. And I was glad Reina called him out on this. For one, it’s unfair pressure on her. But much more, he deserves to pursue something that’s important to him, something that doesn’t revolve around her.
That’s this relationship in a nutshell. They’re utterly selfless and devoted to each other, and obviously we love them for that. But Reina was right to put her foot down, not that it’s easy for Matsuboshi to connect the dots. Personally I think “teacher” makes all the sense in the world for him (he’s why she wants to do it after all). But first he goes back to his childhood journals to see if any of those old dreams – baker, mangaka, makeup artist (really?) take (they don’t). The quest continues even as the prep for the culture festival begins. And since Reina knows how to do everything that needs doing, she gets put in charge. She protests but it’s Matsuboshi’s turn to step in – if she wants to be a teacher, this is something she really needs to be able to do.
This being Aharen-san we pretty much know Reina is going to get through this fine, with the support of her classmates. It’s a world inhabited by unnaturally nice people, by and large. And indeed she does, even if she’s a bit too agreeable. But in the process she wears herself out so much that she falls asleep on the bus going to school the day of the culture festival. Fortunately Matsuboshi spotted her (talk about tunnel vision), so when she doesn’t show up at school he has a pretty good idea what might have happened. He heads off to the last stop while the others prepare the class activity (a chic cafe) for business.
In the end, Raidou writes in the exchange diary (though he wasn’t ready for Aharen to see it) that he wants to be more like her. Which is handy, as she wants to be more like him too. She even puts together a compilation video (along with a selection of her art pieces) expressing her love for the kids on her high school journey. It might all be a bit much in some series, but not this one – earnestness comes naturally to Aharen-san wa Hakarenai. I just wish that moment had been the emotional payoff it was intended to be, but didn’t quite achieve.
