Jan 30, 2016
This novel taught me one important thing. That being that I can laugh so hard at a light novel. I have never laughed so much, to a manga, an anime or any other form of entertainment. This is seriously hilarious.
Reading this is like first reading one piece. There is a cool story in the background and lots of humour in the way to keep the journey fun. The humour in one-piece is slapstick while that in SNAFU is sarcastic and witty. I personally like the latter which is why this is my favourite story ever. Period..
If you like sarcastic, witty and satirical humour stop
...
reading this review and start reading the book. Till now I have not found anything better. Leave all prejudices about light novels. Yes most light novels are “op protagonist, harem , wish fulfilment, insert characters” but not this. This is anything but generic.
The setting being Hikigaya Hachiman is a loner in high school. He takes pride in being one. He also gives out some of the most hilarious social commentary ever. He may not be the most likeable but is definitely one of the most interesting protagonists I came across. Due to his loner tendencies and a particularly hateful and sarcastic essay he is forced to join the “service club” and hilarity ensues. In the service club there exists the female lead Yukinoshita Yukino (best girl) who is also a loner for totally opposite reasons. One being totally socially inept while the other being too outstanding. The thing in common is that they are both equally arrogant at heart. The conversations between them are some of the best verbal spars you will ever come across. If you like bakemonogatari, you will love this. they both and the other female lead try to solve people's problems as a part of the service club.
The best part about these novels is that they are completely in the perspective of our male lead. His inner monologues are a blast. Without them things wouldn't have been the same. It also helps us see his maturity increase as he progresses through the story and realises that he isn't always right.
The underlying romance is the cool part of this story. Funnily enough, nothing significant happens but it still is so gratifying. No holding hands, no kissing (not even close). The best that has happened so far is standing up for our MC in public. Yet these small occurrences feel so significant, because we wait so long and secondly because of how unnatural it is for our leads to even do this. Slowly but surely we are coming to a conclusion. So while the romance is as slow as spice and wolf (maybe slower), it diffrentiates itself by having a really large number of jokes in the way to make it a highly entertaining read. I honestly never got the middle-eastern economics of spice and wolf. In the end I found myself RE reading these small romantic parts again and again because of how gratifying it is. It took us 9 volumes to have our female lead tease our male lead. Whoa
In conclusion, oregairu is a must read for everyone unless they don't get the humour (then it is probably a chore) or are particularly averse to books. Try the first book. Like it, it will only get better. Volumes 8 and 9 are the very best. Volume 7 is the worst, since partly a large number of jokes are references that non Japanese people won't get, and it basically is setting up for volume 8 and 9.
Oh this light novel is filled with references to other works from one piece to code geass to even relatively unknown works.
If you have only seen the anime, understand that it doesn't even scratch the tip of the surface. People say season 2 had less focus on comedy. However the volumes season 2 were adapted from is by far the most funny (7,8,9,10,11). Reading is a different experience. Also probably in the anime some moments seem out of character. That's because we don't have enough time with the characters. That too doesn't happen with the novels.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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