[Spoiler-Free Review] Haganai

[derozio]

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

A review. Feel free to discuss the show in this thread, too! :D

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (or Haganai in short) is a decent anime. If its brand of comedy appeals to you, you'll end up having a fun time with it. If not, it'll end up being a disappointingly empty experience for you.

First off, if you're thinking of giving this one a go, you have to be ready to expect these:

• Ecchi content (well, duh)
• Vulgar Jokes
• Slapstick Comedy
• Lack of any meaningful character development
• A very bare-bones story

This anime follows the shenanigans of the members from the 'Neighbors Club' that is composed of social outcasts - loners who can't make friends due to one reason or the other. So they all get together to learn how to make friends and engage in activities that "popular people" (read regular people) probably do with their friends. The setting is basically an excuse to bring together a bunch of colorful characters based on different character archetypes and come up with gags based on their personalities. Follows a very Slice of Life-like episodic comedy routine that doesn't vary in episode structure from one episode to another.

The 'Neighbor Club' with its colorful members right there.

​

The characters themselves are one-dimensional but they're characterized fairly well. I don't quite think they're as well realized and likable as some of the reviews on the internet make them out to be but they're okay and serve their purpose well in entertaining you through most of its run-time. There's the awkward MC who scares regular people away but is awfully popular with some really beautiful but equally socially awkward females, the headstrong tsundere female MC, the busty blonde who is dumb but still the most intelligent girl in her class, MC's imouto who likes to role-play a character from an anime, the 10 year old church nun cum club advisor (uhh, yeah) and the perverted sex-obsessed genius scientist girl. Oh, and a trap. With a cast as colorful as this one assembled under one roof, their daily lives definitely do make for an entertaining ride. There's no overarching story at play here apart from the MC's relationship with his childhood friend - but that definitely isn't the focus of the series since it is rarely mentioned.

In the heat 24x7. No kidding. Also, BESTO GIRL.

​

The comedy itself is fairly standard for your run-of-the-mill harem comedy series. I personally ended up laughing a few times during some of the episodes but, owing to the nature of 'comedy' as a genre, your mileage may definitely vary. If the comedy on display in this series doesn't end up appealing to you in the first four episodes or so, you can safely drop it and move on to greener pastures since things stay more or less the same from then onwards with an odd character introduction or two.

This character. Prettiest evar. 'nuff said.

Production values in general are above average. Art is good and you probably won't notice moments of off-model art. It doesn't possess any sequence of standout animation and, looking at the kind of anime it is, it doesn't really need to. OST is fairly generic but fits the series and complements scenes well. The OP and the ED both deserve a special mention here - former is a very fitting track for the series due to the fact that it emphasizes the silly nature of the show very well while the latter is a catchy track that managed to stay long with me after I had finished the anime and I found myself humming it from time to time.

All in all, definitely worth a single watch if you're looking for a fun show with a decent amount of ecchi moments thrown in. Just don't go in expecting any depth and you'll probably have fun with it.

Original post: https://vclyfe.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/haganai-review/​

 

[Kenchiin]

Haganai! What a wonderful series. The adaptation had some "changes" due to some overtones the original light novel had (Volume 1, chapter "The Delinquent Samurai Returns to His Mother School" as an example).

I liked the 'idea', even though it was somehow similar to concepts already worked on other series (such as Suzumiya Haruhi) it was refreshing to read/watch.

It is also a seiyuu-fest, from HanaKana to Inoue Marina <3

And yes... no way I can't forget the most important part:

Yozora > Niku > Kobato-chama


Great review Derozio-sama :3


Now the final light novel volume is out we can hope for a final season (OVAs, TV or whatever) to conclude the anime story.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

This character. She's pretty. 'nuff said.

[/CENTER]

You shouldn't spoil this so bluntly, though :/

It is also a seiyuu-fest, from HanaKana to Inoue Marina <3

You know it!

Also, Kobato > Yozora >>>>>>> Niku is the proper order :P

 

[derozio]

Yozora > Niku > Kobato-chama
Great review Derozio-sama :3

Now the final light novel volume is out we can hope for a final season (OVAs, TV or whatever) to conclude the anime story.

For me its more like Niku = Rika > Yozora > Hot Nun Sister > Kobato > the other annoying nun. :p Yukimura is a totally seperate case due to special reasons. :p Like Yukimura a lot, though!

Thanks for the compliment, Ken-chan! <3; And I didn't know that the LNs were complete! That's good news. Hopefully this does get a season 3. I enjoyed this quite a bit and have been enjoying S2 as well so far (7 episodes into it).

You shouldn't spoil this so bluntly, though :/

See, I hadn't even seen NEXT when I had written this review. So I wrote that comment while being totally oblivious about what Yukimura's gender actually was. XD;

Spoiler:

I meant to say that Yukimura is the trap from the show, basically. The "she" was supposed to trick readers into thinking she was actually a girl but was, in reality, a guy. But in NEXT we find out that she's actually a she. So yeah. XD; I have changed the caption, though. To make it more gender ambiguous.

Kobato was annoying tbh. Liked Niku a lot. Rika is also awesome. So is yozora. But the younger characters annoyed me :p HanaKana's VA work was impeccable, though. Can't fault her despite that annoying role she received here.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

See, I hadn't even seen NEXT when I had written this review. So I wrote that comment while being totally oblivious about what Yukimura's gender actually was. XD;

Spoiler:

I meant to say that Yukimura is the trap from the show, basically. The "she" was supposed to trick readers into thinking she was actually a girl but was, in reality, a guy. But in NEXT we find out that she's actually a she. So yeah. XD; I have changed the caption, though. To make it more gender ambiguous.

Crap, I should have believed my hunch when I posted it... xD

 

[derozio]

^ yeah, you really should have.

As for the series, I just finished NEXT. I was gonna write a review on it but I'm not really all that sure now. Miiiight just do it because I promised a guy on my wordpress account that I'd do it XD; But yeah, it was more of the same. Except those three episodes in the end. They really reminded me of the situation that's going on in Oregairu right now. Though nothing quite as serious but yeah.

I'd definitely love to see a continuation to the series. Some of the stuff I've read in the "plot summaries" of the successive novels are bad but some of them definitely seem like they'd make for an amusing watch. I even looked up translations of volume 9, 10 and 11. Despite the series being finished, seems like the translators were hit with a DMCA attack that forced them to take their works down. A shame. I was really itching to read this one, too.

But oh well. The wait. At least the cliffhanger at the end of S2 is still an okay-ish one rather than that horrible, horrible one at the end of Oregairu Zoku. ;____; </3

 

[JustJeff]

Dangggg!!, that latest post of yours... spoilers!

But I gatta say, nice review. It sums up pretty much everything it has for it. A comedic harem slapstick featuring ecchi doings (as taken from the op).
And all in all, an average anime that selects its viewers from the 1st episode in. I really don't want to repeat what you said in the 1st post so yeah~ Nice review!
#NicuBestGirl

 

[derozio]

Dangggg!!, that latest post of yours... spoilers!

But I gotta say, nice review. It sums up pretty much everything it has for it. A comedic harem slapstick featuring ecchi doings (as taken from the op).
And all in all, an average anime that selects its viewers from the 1st episode in. I really don't want to repeat what you said in the 1st post so yeah~ Nice review!
#NicuBestGirl

Does it have spoilers, though? I don't quite see any! I kept it very vague (assuming you're talking about the statement about the last 3 episodes) and I thought I was successful in keeping any spoiler from creeping into this thread as a whole lol. Care to point out exactly where I went wrong? :o Spoiler tag that part, of course. :p

Thank you for the compliments, though! :3

 

[JustJeff]

Does it have spoilers, though? I don't quite see any! I kept it very vague (assuming you're talking about the statement about the last 3 episodes) and I thought I was successful in keeping any spoiler from creeping into this thread as a whole lol. Care to point out exactly where I went wrong? :o Spoiler tag that part, of course. :p

Thank you for the compliments, though! :3

Spoilers!! ROFL I think this conversation is done. I usually like my anime knowing nothing about it or know what i'm getting into that's why. Not knowing why it's that astounding or horrible that's why.
And may I ask, are you going to review any more anime? I would to see more, especially the one's w/ crazy plots, and 1's that I have not seen before.

 

[derozio]

Spoilers!! ROFL I think this conversation is done. I usually like my anime knowing nothing about it or know what i'm getting into that's why. Not knowing why it's that astounding or horrible that's why.
And may I ask, are you going to review any more anime? I would to see more, especially the one's w/ crazy plots, and 1's that I have not seen before.

Well, if you don't like knowing ANYTHING about the work in question then there's really no point for you looking into a review, is there? :p I mean, a review needs to talk about the work in question a fair bit even if it is kept spoiler free for the most part. Reviews aren't really reviews if all they contain is a "its good watch it" or "it sucks; pass", yes? :p

Like, I tried to keep mine as spoiler free as possible - I've only glossed over the general things. But if even those count as spoilers then I don't quite know what I'm supposed to do, I'm afraid. XD;

And yes. I'm going to keep reviewing anime. May or may not post them here but yeah, definitely writing more. I like anime and I like writing. So that's definitely a done deal XD;