Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Mistressy]

Yozora face expression after she heard the engagement = Priceless $$$

I just love how she was sulking. Made me think that she gave up.

I also lawled at her when she was laying on the grass, saying random things.

[AC-Phoenix]

That was... unexpected oO.
I expected for the marriage thing to come out sooner or later and Yozora making exactly that face; I also expected that her film was copied in one way or another, but The amrriage going ways back into Sena's and Kodaka's childhood was totally unexpected.

Pegasus san's 'whats going on?!' while being in the air -> Priceless

Sena in the chapel:
She was obviously disappointed when he said that they shouldn't care for their parents contracts lol.
But yeah the point where they were talking about it shows that the story is again leaning towards Sena instead of Yozora.

Either way if he ever chooses one the other ones grudge will be ... amusing...

[frivolity]

I'm a bit surprised that no one pointed this out, but does anyone find Yukimura's acting a little... underwhelming? Each time Yozora or Rika shouted "cut" after a scene was acted out, I keep expecting them to ask for the scene to be redone instead of accepting it

[mironicus]

Originally Posted by frivolity

With regard to bullying, let's be careful about imputing real-life values and social norms into the Haganai universe. Many things in the anime are not meant to be taken literally, in the same vein that "Team Rocket's blasting off again" is not meant to attract arguments about whether Ash is going too far in thwarting their plans.

What depends is the characters social norms and not the norms of the audience.
So if Kodaka never tells what he really thinks he will actually reveal his thoughts about Yozora's behavior at the end of the show. And I am quiet sure he will do this because Kodaka also has a "list of complaints" about Sena in his mind. And he is really picky because he remembers every mistake someone makes.

[Kanon]

Wasn't Kodaka already aware he was engaged to Sena? I thought his father let it slip last time they spoke to each other on the phone. Maybe I'm misremembering.

The revelation they met each other when they were kids is hardly surprising. Their fathers are very close so it's obvious their kids met at some point. That picture is pretty adorable. It seems like they got along well.

Sena finally has an edge over Yozora thanks to this, but it's doubtful she will use it. As she said, what matters is the present, not the past; even though it's obvious she wouldn't have minded getting married with Kodaka. It would have been unwise to force him into that marriage, however. She should conquer him with her own power, fair and square!

The new girl Aoi didn't make a very good impression on me. She was kind of annoying, in fact. It was interesting to learn how the rest of the world views Sena though. I understand why she has no female friend, especially since her own attitude is quite nasty. She didn't even bother remembering the name of her classmates. She seems to believe people should naturally flock to her because she's so superior. And of course in her eyes, the girls who do not get along with her are bitches (which is everybody since she has no friends). Yep, she definitely has some serious issues.

Originally Posted by frivolity

I'm a bit surprised that no one pointed this out, but does anyone find Yukimura's acting a little... underwhelming? Each time Yozora or Rika shouted "cut" after a scene was acted out, I keep expecting them to ask for the scene to be redone instead of accepting it

Underwhelming? More like horrible
Kodaka's acting was pretty bad as well. Only Yozora's and Maria's were decent.

[DragoonKain3]

Originally Posted by frubam

Really? Can you actually call those two childhood friends, when neither of them were old enough to remember anything? That's like saying every person at a child's daycare are childhood friends with each other =0\. But I guess what WE think doesn't matter to the chars in the story does it? Nonetheless, I still felt compelled to say it.

Hey, it's not me who makes the definition up. I mean, the very characters in THIS story consider them as osananajimi. Who are we to contest them?

But yeah, you nailed it on the forehead with the bolded part. There's really nothing 'special' about the term osananajimi in terms of length of time they have known, how close your relationship was, or heck even if you remember them. As long you have meaningfully interacted (played with, exchanged gifts, etc.) with that person even once during your childhood years (aka before middle school), you're considered osananajimi.

Spoiler for for details concerning ~10 year old anime:

For example, Yuna from Maburaho is considered a childhood friend despite having only met the MC once when they were kids, where he used one of his extremely limited magic uses just to cheer her up. Happiness! back story is kinda like this as well, where they only met when the MC saved her from bullies but people still label them as childhood friends.

Actually, the closest thing I can relate Sena and Kodaka would be Love Hina, where NONE of the childhood friends remember each other. Heck, they would've interacted with each other as children only a few weeks, tops. Mahoraba is another where the main couple had no idea they knew each other as children, but people have no qualms labelling them as childhood friends. There's a reason why there was an entry in the Forgotten Childhood Friend in Tv Tropes (until the unification of all the Childhood Friend Romance tropes like last year or something), because really, remembering them or not doesn't change the fact you're osananajimi.

Now of course there's some weird things about osananajimi definition in certain shows where they specifically call themselves as such (like how the MC in C3 considers a 1000+ year old weapon as his childhood friend, or how the main characters in Cross Game are even considered childhood friends when they hated each other's guts as children) but that's outside the scope of this thread, and I'm already OT as it is.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Wasn't Kodaka already aware he was engaged to Sena? I thought his father let it slip last time they spoke to each other on the phone. Maybe I'm misremembering.

He brushed it off as Pegasus rambling while being drunk, so he never took it seriously.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Yeah, she grind and farm gear abd level, that's not being above the average player, that's just having better loot.

Sena herself said all she did was to do the normal stuff in class. Sure that can be called effort as well, but it's minimum effort and that's the point. With just that little bit, she can go a long way.

She well could be studying hard due to her father being strict but bluffs in front of her class.

[garbage]

Originally Posted by Dark Faith

Eh... I really don't think that qualifies as bullying. It's a rather harmless thing.

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

No. Just no. Some lost saved game data is not that big of a deal in the big picture of things. If you think that's bullying then you need to get your priorities straight.

well it's not as if we're talking about world war III here but what would you consider as a harmless thing? Thing is different people have different tolerance levels and circumstances. It might be harmless to you, or it might be ultralow in your set of priorities but that would not be for all people. whatever you call what she did, it still is not nice, and can be considered bullying in the context of their history. Seriously I'm not more sena over yozora (i actually prefer rika) but denying this action as inconsequential & dismissing it, is just as bad as those rabid sena fans/yozora haters. just look at her pose there, she kept her foot on the console switch, with arms crossed over and smiling.

Personally as a Gamer I do understand the gravity of what she did, there are games that you work on for hours, and that's hours of your life wasted by that malicious action. Let's put that in perspective what if it is someone who likes poetry, writing poems on her computer, or maybe Mashiro drawing manga, and you suddenly switch the computer off. whatever you were doing would still be the same time off on your life and effort wasted. Certainly Keima would disagree, same as with professional gamers and game Otakus

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

How is it re-balanced? Sena is still rich, beautiful and has good grades without putting in effort.

I don't mean you C2F per se,just using your post as a jump-off point,but it seems there is an underlying idea in the thread that somehow being beautiful, rich, athletic&smart is a bad thing and is somehow Sena's fault as if she had a choice there. Actually she's not too bad in those regards, i've never seen her rub the faces of people she knows in her wealth, social standing, and beauty aside from careless utterance of those truths at times which yeah could be painful to others (same situation with Mashiro) still being tactless is better than outright maliciousness. OTH i've known a lot of rich People IRL who are arrogant & are utter pricks,
I agree Mashiro is some other level of genius, but still 895/900 can't be that easy, that's 99.4%, you can see the difficulty of that test and the difference of Sena since the next, Aoi is just 853 (94.7%), 3rd at 844 (93.7%). I've managed to approach such scores at times, still they say Sena doesn't really do any extra studies, so that's quite an accomplishment, just listening at class & doing homework. I OTH tend to sleep at school nyahahaha
though I believe Rika is smarter than her.

Originally Posted by ogon_bat

If you want to find a comparison then I think Sena is more similar to Ichiko from Binbougami ga! ....

this.., wherein too their own awkwardness and social ineptitude works against them. still they're kinda cool once you get to know them. [but i think i like ichiko better than sena ^^]

Originally Posted by Kanon

... It was interesting to learn how the rest of the world views Sena though. I understand why she has no female friend, especially since her own attitude is quite nasty. She didn't even bother remembering the name of her classmates. She seems to believe people should naturally flock to her because she's so superior. And of course in her eyes, the girls who do not get along with her are bitches (which is everybody since she has no friends). Yep, she definitely has some serious issues.

yes she definitely has some major issues, though I feel this is not arrogance/superiority complex on her part but rather an attitude that was developed in response to how others treated her. Like she said "I learned the names of the girls behind & next to me...I shouldn't have bothered, (they're bitches)" I feel this has happened quite a lot in the past and it always ends the same way, with her being alienated because of her abilities.
Yozora also has this kind of issue, though it seems to stem from a different cause.
they would really be good for each other once they get past the animosity.
SO Sena X Yozora, which leaves Kodaka X Rika
SCRATCH THAT! Sena X Yozora can have that #$% MC let them go 3some, I'll have Rika

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by garbage

though I believe Rika is smarter than her.

Hear! Hear!
I think Sena is smart, but it has been overplayed, Maria (even though she is a brat) has skipped several grades so she is/will be smarter and Rika is so smart she gets an automatic pass. TBT Rika should already be at an university doing research instead of investing her time (i.e. She is doing all the editing and CG for the movie) in the neighbors club.

[Haak]

I change my mind. This is the best episode of the show...
>:3

[taichi-kun]

Yozora:" Whatever.I don't care anymore"

Is she going to give up ?

[Lexxus]

Originally Posted by takai

And Sena finally wins

What a productive episode . I'm still however, pulling for Kate just a bit more than Sena. But good for her she finally pulls way ahead of Yozora.

I can tell now this is going to be a contributing factor for the rest of the season. It'll be interesting how things play out.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Hint: Dense protagonist is dense

(In before LN readers correct me)

LOL yeah. He even mentioned last last episode that how can he even get a girlfriend if he don't even have a friend? It's going to be a long road for themmmmm

[Dark Faith]

Originally Posted by garbage

Personally as a Gamer I do understand the gravity of what she did, there are games that you work on for hours, and that's hours of your life wasted by that malicious action. Let's put that in perspective what if it is someone who likes poetry, writing poems on her computer, or maybe Mashiro drawing manga, and you suddenly switch the computer off. whatever you were doing would still be the same time off on your life and effort wasted. Certainly Keima would disagree, same as with professional gamers and game Otakus

Eh... she was playing a VN/Eroge. Autosaves aside, she can just toggle auto-read until the point where she was at, or skip to the next choice, etc. So at best she lost 5 minutes of her life. Hence me considering it was a harmless thing.

Now if she did that to me during a raid, bitch was going down
Perhaps in the big picture that could've been considered as bullying, but it's really such a minor thing that I don't think anyone could be upset by it for long.

[Lexxus]

Man, I think I'll use Maria's laugh as my sms tone It's quite hilarious

[Endless Soul]

Kobato beware! Forces are plotting your demise!

Endless "Dire warnings" Soul

[frivolity]

Originally Posted by garbage

well it's not as if we're talking about world war III here but what would you consider as a harmless thing? Thing is different people have different tolerance levels and circumstances. It might be harmless to you, or it might be ultralow in your set of priorities but that would not be for all people. whatever you call what she did, it still is not nice, and can be considered bullying in the context of their history. Seriously I'm not more sena over yozora (i actually prefer rika) but denying this action as inconsequential & dismissing it, is just as bad as those rabid sena fans/yozora haters. just look at her pose there, she kept her foot on the console switch, with arms crossed over and smiling.

Personally as a Gamer I do understand the gravity of what she did, there are games that you work on for hours, and that's hours of your life wasted by that malicious action. Let's put that in perspective what if it is someone who likes poetry, writing poems on her computer, or maybe Mashiro drawing manga, and you suddenly switch the computer off. whatever you were doing would still be the same time off on your life and effort wasted. Certainly Keima would disagree, same as with professional gamers and game Otakus

The main idea here is that these little interactions are intended to be played for laughs, and weren't meant to be taken seriously. If a character laughs at Team Rocket blasting off again, nobody is supposed to criticise them for being sadistic. In the same way, shutting off the game seems like one of those comedic moments, as opposed to the fortune-telling prank, in which it was clear that Sena was genuinely hurt and Yozora genuinely feeling guilty. Arguments could be made that the fortune-telling prank went so far as to constitute bullying, but definitely not for shutting down the game.

Originally Posted by garbage

I don't mean you C2F per se,just using your post as a jump-off point,but it seems there is an underlying idea in the thread that somehow being beautiful, rich, athletic&smart is a bad thing and is somehow Sena's fault as if she had a choice there. Actually she's not too bad in those regards, i've never seen her rub the faces of people she knows in her wealth, social standing, and beauty aside from careless utterance of those truths at times which yeah could be painful to others (same situation with Mashiro) still being tactless is better than outright maliciousness. OTH i've known a lot of rich People IRL who are arrogant & are utter pricks,
I agree Mashiro is some other level of genius, but still 895/900 can't be that easy, that's 99.4%, you can see the difficulty of that test and the difference of Sena since the next, Aoi is just 853 (94.7%), 3rd at 844 (93.7%). I've managed to approach such scores at times, still they say Sena doesn't really do any extra studies, so that's quite an accomplishment, just listening at class & doing homework. I OTH tend to sleep at school nyahahaha
though I believe Rika is smarter than her.

One criticism that I've seen in another forum is that Sena's traits make her a Mary-Sue. While that term has been thrown around a great deal in many fandoms, often as a misplaced basis for hating on a character, I don't think it's a valid criticism regarding Sena either because Haganai is a story about finding friends, and not about academic achievement or success in terms of amassing wealth. In this regard, Sena's other character deficiencies are flaws that make her imperfect in terms of finding friends.

Notwithstanding some form of necessary fictional exaggeration, I have to wonder how the school can have so many students scoring above 90%. The top score in my high school was generally around 85, since it is extremely difficult to achieve perfect scores in most essay-based subjects. I wonder what the top scores usually are in the elite high schools in Japan.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by garbage

Personally as a Gamer I do understand the gravity of what she did, there are games that you work on for hours, and that's hours of your life wasted by that malicious action. Let's put that in perspective what if it is someone who likes poetry, writing poems on her computer, or maybe Mashiro drawing manga, and you suddenly switch the computer off. whatever you were doing would still be the same time off on your life and effort wasted. Certainly Keima would disagree, same as with professional gamers and game Otakus

It's an eroge, not a 2 hour long Civilization match.

At worst you can fast forward the dialogue.

Originally Posted by garbage

I don't mean you C2F per se,just using your post as a jump-off point,but it seems there is an underlying idea in the thread that somehow being beautiful, rich, athletic&smart is a bad thing and is somehow Sena's fault as if she had a choice there. Actually she's not too bad in those regards, i've never seen her rub the faces of people she knows in her wealth, social standing, and beauty aside from careless utterance of those truths at times which yeah could be painful to others (same situation with Mashiro) still being tactless is better than outright maliciousness. OTH i've known a lot of rich People IRL who are arrogant & are utter pricks,

She literally does not remember people from her class, especially the one who got second place to her.

It's like their existence doesn't concern her, and that is as face rubbing as it gets without actually saying it in their face.

Being tactless is not better than outright malicious, it's just a different form of 'bad'.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by frivolity

The main idea here is that these little interactions are intended to be played for laughs, and weren't meant to be taken seriously. If a character laughs at Team Rocket blasting off again, nobody is supposed to criticise them for being sadistic.

I'll have to disagree. We all agree that this is a work of fiction and a comedy to boot, but that does not mean we can't take the interactions seriously; unlike pokemon and similar series, haganai is based on real world assumptions, no magic or super-technology, no secret organizations, no aliens, esperes or sliders. We have no reason to think of the haganai universe as anything but as a copy of our own. The cast is a bunch of oddball misfits, but they are the kind of misfits you can find in real life and people can easily relate to one or more of their daily problems. IMO the only part that lacks realism is how the author addresses nuns, but that is to be expected in a non.christian society, he could have researched it, but it would be less interesting if realistic.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

It's an eroge, not a 2 hour long Civilization match.

At worst you can fast forward the dialogue.

It is a game (not homework or RL work), having to fast forward thru what you have already played kills the joy out of it.

Being tactless is not better than outright malicious, it's just a different form of 'bad'.

The big diference is that I can be friends with someone who blurts out his thinking/feelings, but I cannot be friend of someone whose only intention is to hurt you.

[frivolity]

Originally Posted by ogon_bat

I'll have to disagree. We all agree that this is a work of fiction and a comedy to boot, but that does not mean we can't take the interactions seriously; unlike pokemon and similar series, haganai is based on real world assumptions, no magic or super-technology, no secret organizations, no aliens, esperes or sliders. We have no reason to think of the haganai universe as anything but as a copy of our own. The cast is a bunch of oddball misfits, but they are the kind of misfits you can find in real life and people can easily relate to one or more of their daily problems. IMO the only part that lacks realism is how the author addresses nuns, but that is to be expected in a non.christian society, he could have researched it, but it would be less interesting if realistic.

In saying that there's no magic etc, all that you've done is describe the slice-of-life genre. But just because Haganai is a slice-of-life doesn't mean that their interactions should all be taken seriously. Mao in GJ-Bu frequently bites Kyoro. Tsumiki in Acchi Kocchi does the same to Io at times. Taiga in Toradora often pokes Ryuuji in the eyes. These are all played for laughs. Sure, we can relate to their problems as well, but we have to take their actions in the context of the story itself instead of applying real-life social norms onto them.