Creative Staff
Original Story: Wataru Watari
Art: Naomichi Io
Character Design: Ponkan⑧
Translation: Jennifer Ward
Lettering: Bianca Pistillo
What They Say:
Hachiman, Yui, and Yukino are back on the same page (more or less), and now the Service Club can devote its full attention to salvaging the joint Christmas event with Kaihin High School. But even they’re having trouble with the stranglehold Kaihin student president Tamanawa has on the planning, with his endless parade of pointless meetings! Hiratsuka-sensei might hold the key to breaking through, and it’s…tickets to Destiny Land theme park?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Hachiman gives Yukino and Yui a rundown of the meeting. The situation isn’t looking too good. That’s why he needs their help! Granted, things are still awkward between them. They don’t seem to be able to come up with a solution so they decide to ask Shizuka-sensei for help. Her advice? Take a trip to Destiny Land! Okay!? She remarks that they could probably use the break. She’s not wrong. Shizuka also happens to have four tickets. Where did she get these tickets? Well, she won that at a wedding afterparty. Her friends told her that she could go alone, twice! Dang, that’s cold. Poor sensei. Anyway, Yui is really excited! Hachiman and Yukino, not so much. They’d rather not go during this hectic time. That makes Yui sad. Hachiman notices and makes up an excuse that he actually does want to go to Destiny Land. He totally needs to buy his little sister a Christmas present. Yui is happy again! Such a good guy that Hachiman.
The plan was for Hachiman, Yukino, Yui, and Iroha to go to Destiny Land. However, they’re joined by Hayato, Yumiko, Hina and Kakeru on that day. The more the merrier? Anyway, everyone heads to the amusement park to have. They check out the sights, go on some rides, and take some pictures. There’s a funny moment where Yumiko and Iroha are arguing over who gets to sit next to Hayato on a ride. In the end, Kakeru ends up sitting next to him because he asked first, haha. Eventually, the group ends up at the gift shop. Oh yeah, Hachiman still needs to get a gift for Komachi. Yui helps him look for one but ends up asking what he’d like for Christmas. Hachiman thinks about it and then starts blushing. When Yui notices that, she also starts blushing. Blushing intensifies! It’s clear that they’d both love for everything to go back to normal. After teasing Yukino a little bit by putting cat ears on her, Hachiman and Yui have a little talk outside. By the way, Yukino with cat ears is adorable. Hachiman once again makes it known that he dislikes crowds. It would have been better to visit Destiny Land when there was no crowd. Yui remarks that she’d like to come here again. Hachiman adds that she can come here any time she wants. It’s close by. You dummy! That’s not what she meant! He redeems himself though when he says he wouldn’t mind coming back either. As long as it’s not crowded! Smooth. Someday they’ll come back here together, someday.
While looking for everyone else, Hachiman gets separated from the group and ends up alone with Yukino. After some texting, everyone agrees to meet at the exit. The fastest way to get there would be to hop on the ride in front of them. However, it’s apparent that Yukino is nervous about getting on the ride. She may even be a little bit scared! Hachiman suggests going around but she refuses. He knows this is how she acts when she’s facing something she doesn’t understand. She’s usually so bold. They end up going on the ride and Yukino starts opening up about her relationship with her older sister. Haruno is loved by everyone and possesses a lot of good characteristics. She often found herself wondering why she didn’t possess those traits. Why were they so different? Yukino even compares her sister to Hachiman. They’re both consistent in their actions. That’s something she admires. She’s constantly searching for something, something real. That’s when Yukino turns to Hachiman and sincerely asks him if he’ll save her one day. And then the ride proceeds to go down a steep drop. What timing, am I right? But hey, at least Yukino was able to share some of her feelings. It’s nice to let them out every once and a while.
And you know what? There’s still more feelings to be shared! Hachiman finally meets up with everyone for the fireworks. He also spots Iroha running away in tears. Hachiman, being the nice guy that he is, can’t ignore that and chases her down. Iroha calms down after they board a train back home. She admits to confessing to Hayato earlier and that she was rejected. Yeah, it always sucks when that happens. Hachiman reminds her that he did tell her that it’d turn out that way. But she still had to try! Why did she go for it though? Iroha admits it because she overheard Hachiman, Yui, and Yukino talking on that fateful day. She wanted something real, too. That’s why she had to try! I respect that. Things didn’t go her way but she hasn’t given up yet. In fact, it’s all part of her plan! By the way, she says all of this while holding back tears. D’aww. It’s okay to cry! She’s a fighter, that’s for sure.
With Destiny Land behind them, it’s time for the dreaded meeting. Hopefully, things go better this time around. Unfortunately, they don’t. Hachiman’s group keeps getting their ideas shot down. Naturally, he’s annoyed. But this is making him more irritated than usual. Why? He realizes it’s because this reminds him of the incident involving Yui and Yukino. It’s hitting a little close to home. Hachiman calls out everyone for having a lack of responsibility. They’re scared of rejection. They don’t want to be blamed if something goes wrong. Their words are fake and that’s the one thing Hachiman hates the most. HE JUST WANTS SOMETHING REAL, YOU KNOW!? Yukino backs him and demands that everyone stop wasting their time. They’re not here to play make-believe. Their words finally get through to everyone and they agree to do a concert and a play. About time! Thankfully, the concert and play go well. The Christmas event is a success! That’s one less thing our trio has to worry about. Now, all they have to do is work out their feelings…
In Summary:
It feels good to let your feelings out, doesn’t it? But what’s real and what’s fake? That’s a tough question to answer. When Hachiman said he wanted something real, the girls had different reactions. Yui was just glad that he was willing to open up to them. On the other hand, Yukino seemed to push him away. Perhaps for his own good? We know Yukino doesn’t trust people and such a genuine request by Hachiman probably confused her. She’s not used to such honesty. But she’s trying her best to understand her feelings! That’s why the scene on the ride where she asks Hachiman to save her someday was very powerful. Iroha admitting that she also wanted something real after eavesdropping on their conversation was another emotional scene. Again, what’s real? What does Hachiman want? Another good question. In the meeting, he’s confronted with a whole bunch of fakeness and it irritates him. Nobody wants to take responsibility. Everyone is scared of being rejected. But you know what? That’s life! You’ve got to take the good with the bad. If at first you don’t succeed, try again. I think the situation really opened Hachiman’s eyes. He truly wants a genuine relationship. Don’t we all? I hope he finds it. But before that can happen, everyone has to stop lying to themselves. They have to be honest with their feelings. But will they? Only time will tell. What we do know is that Hachiman is constantly changing the people around him.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: December 17th, 2019
MSRP: $13.00 (US), $17.00 (CAN)
