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| Our protagonist |
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU(At least that is
what they are calling it on Crunchy roll) is one of my favorite shows in the
spring season and unlike Attack on Titan and Gargantia I don't feel that it has
been hyped enough. I have found the show's biggest strength is that it takes
many of the tropes and characters you see in anime romantic comedies and light
novels and deconstructs them. I feel that this is very evident in the main
character Hikigaya Hachiman.
I remember a few years ago I was able to greatly alter if not
win a debate about feminism and Umineko no Koro ni with the idea that oppresion
does not make you a better person. The same principle applies to Hikigaya. All
too often in anime we have a main character who is not only dateless but also
bereft of friends, yet they suffer no emotional backlash from their sorry
state. Hikigaya is not only an interesting twist on the blank anime protagonist
his since of bitterness and negativity make him more relatable than your
average so called anime nerd protagonist.
Not only is he relatable to darker nature of many of us his
attitude is one that is perfect for novels. He has a lot of inner monologue and
narration, which is common for novel works. Such works are best served by a
main character which a strong voice and Hikigaya's unrelenting pessimism gives
us just that voice.
Yet another way Hikigaya makes (title) so even better is the
fact that his antisocial nature really does put the brakes on any romance
happening in the show. In most romantic shows the main relationship is dragged
out so the show can make more money simply by being longer. However with
(title) simply not emotionally capable of committing to either Yukino or Yui
until he makes some rather drastic personal changes. By the end of he show you
she the beginnings of those changes and a slight change in his relationships
but that feels natural. In short when it comes to romantic comedy protagonists
sometimes bitter is much better taste than bland.
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