Anime Opinions: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai aka Haganai (Season 1)

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This post was written by Dark_Sage. He is Dark_Sage.

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This show is terrible.

Plot!

What do a bunch of attractive, intelligent, and popular kids all have in common? Why, they all have no friends, of course!

…Yes, that’s actually the premise of the show. I wish I was lying. Seven people form a club to make friends, and even after they’re all friends, they continue to insist they don’t have any friends.

Get it? It’s IRONIC. Great joke, Japan!

fucking haganai
If only the show were as good as this image implies it is.

Were you expecting anything else here? That’s seriously as far as the story reaches. Onto the characters.

 

 

Characters!

Most of these people have no redeeming qualities. And because I primarily watch anime for the characters, coming across a show where I can hardly stand a single one is torture. I would have dropped this fucking show by the second episode if I didn’t have to review the subs for season 2. But enough of my self-imposed misery. Let me impose it upon you now.

 

Kashiwazaki Sena

Sena is the only character in the show worth a damn, because she’s the only one that’s relatable.

If the only character the audience can relate to is an incredibly well-loved, beautiful, rich academic genius, something's off.
If the only character the audience can relate to is a rich, well-loved, beautiful academic genius, something’s off.

Unlike every other character in the show, there’s more to Sena than just her plastic anime face. At heart, she’s an honest girl who’s not as good at handling social situations as you’d think. Since she realizes this, Sena steadfastly throws herself into whatever form of self-improvement she can grasp onto. It’s that drive to actually improve her situation (which despite the stated goals of the club, none of the other members even bother an attempt at) that makes her so likable.

Sure, she’s not a unique character, but then again, what character is?

Because I like this picture.
Included because I like this picture.

When it comes down to it, Sena’s the best person in Haganai, which wouldn’t be an issue if she weren’t also the only decent one.

 

 

Mikazuki Yozora

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_02_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[45521EB8].mkv_snapshot_04.54_[2013.02.08_18.11.42]

According to the Haganai wikia, “The reason why Yozora doesn’t have any friends is because she’s a natural loner and dislikes ‘normals'”.

False. The reason why she doesn’t have any friends is because she’s a cunt. I’ll out and say it: this bitch needs to be slapped.

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_02_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[45521EB8].mkv_snapshot_06.24_[2013.02.08_11.45.25]
Or cut.
Yozora’s sole purpose in the show is to bully Sena. Now, I know what you’re thinking, you lucky bastards who have never watched this anime, “Dark_Sage is gonna cry about how anime characters are mean, while totally not getting the humor of the situation. That’s how anime works, you baka.”

But there’s no humor here and there’s no joking behind what she does. It’s just Yozora picking on someone who can’t defend herself. What makes it so uncomfortable to watch is that Sena sits there and takes Yozora’s abuse because she thinks maybe that’s what friends do (and she considers Yozora her first female friend).

But the kind of shit Yozora pulls is entirely malicious. She tries to break Sena’s shit all the time (PSP, cell phone, etc.), and takes every opportunity to humiliate her in front of others.

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_02_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[45521EB8].mkv_snapshot_13.58_[2013.02.08_18.10.16]

Every word out of her mouth is verbal abuse. It was funny in the first episode, but by the fourth episode in, you’d have to be literally retarded to not understand the intent behind everything she does is to hurt Sena. It’s really fucked up, but something I could understand if the show took one second to portray it in a negative manner. But it doesn’t. At all.

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_10_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[59D8EF30].mkv_snapshot_08.19_[2013.02.10_13.59.02]

What it comes down to is that I don’t enjoy feeling like a show’s insulting my intelligence. If Yozora spends 12 episodes bullying Sena, I want it addressed somehow. Doesn’t mean I’ll hate her character — in fact, I’d probably like her more. Have Yozora reflect for five seconds that maybe she’s being a cunt, and have her resolve to actually try to be a decent friend — that’s easy, easy character development. But when you play it off as a joke all the time, that’s when I feel you’re taking me for an idiot.

Perhaps it’s not Yozora I hate so much as the show itself.

 

 

Kodoka

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_12_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[969856BA].mkv_snapshot_17.03_[2013.02.08_16.54.07]

“Oh, Sena’s getting bullied. Better put on an exasperated expression, shrug my shoulders, look at the camera, and then wait for the laugh track.”

This guy’s supposedly the main character of the show, but that appears to be his only purpose. I’m trying to think of something else to put here, but he’s so utterly forgettable I can’t come up with anything. Gomen.

 

 

The Rest

I’d like to spend some more time on these chara– Haha, fooled you. No, I’d rather not spend a second more talking about this show than I have to. All of them are quirky for the sake of being quirky and that’s it. There’s no character development either — they’re just there to fill up the arbitrary number of club spots the creator of the series wanted.

We have:

Ignore the two girls you already know.
Ignore the two girls you already know.
  • (Bottom left.) The perverted scientist/engineer/genius girl who thinks machines are just so lewd.
  • (Upper left.) A ten-year-old nun who’s also a teacher who’s also retarded.
  • (Upper right.) Kodoka’s sister. She thinks she’s a goth loli vampire.
  • (Bottom right.) Some girl who pretends she’s a guy and wants to be a manly man, but dresses up in a maid outfit for the majority of the show.

Goddamn, Japan. I know you like pandering to idiots, but there’s only so far you can stoop. These characters are a waste of anime space. Please stop.

 

 

More

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_NCOP_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[717BCBAD].mkv_snapshot_01.15_[2013.02.10_14.07.50]

The music in this show sucks, the lipstick on all the characters is gaudy, the only good episode was half-recap, and the humor is terrible.

 

 

Conclusion!

This show is shit and nobody should watch it.

[Coalgirls]_Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_10_(1920x1080_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[59D8EF30].mkv_snapshot_18.13_[2013.02.10_16.18.17]

But Sena is incredibly hot, so I’ll give it a 6/10.

79 thoughts on “Anime Opinions: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai aka Haganai (Season 1)”

  5. I was pretty hyped for the show after seeing the Ep0 OVA, but it was rather boring… It’s especially terrible when they try to pretend there is actually some kind of plot, lol. Buriki’s art is nice though.

    Reply

  7. I didn’t give the show much thought when I watched it so I never noticed a lot of the things you pointed out.
    This isn’t enough for me to drop the second season, but now it will be more difficult to enjoy it! Thanks dark_sage

    Also, I noticed fading subtitle on the PLOT in the last screenshot.

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  10. You couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. At least you got one thing right, and that’s that Sena is awesome. Oh, and for the record, I personally find this to be the funniest anime I’ve ever seen. I’ve looked for funnier ones, but haven’t found any. For some reason, you’re overanalyzing a fun, hilarious show by trying to take the comedy out of it and make it be about, what, relatable characters? Fuck that. I can’t relate to Rika’s love of mecha BL, but it’s still absolutely hilarious. I don’t see why “quirky” characters are a problem in a comedy, personally. Yozora brings out the best in Sena, just like Sena brings out the best in Kobato. My guess is that its humor is just not for you and since you weren’t laughing at the show, you assumed it wasn’t a comedy and spent the entire time watching it thinking about why the characters aren’t like real people, which would honestly be the most boring “comedy” of all time. That’s about all I can come up with. I can understand if you gave it a 1 because you didn’t think it was funny, but you gave it a 6 because it wasn’t deep or realistic enough? A harem comedy? I’d be interested to see what show in the genre you think is better.

    Reply

    • There have been very few anime to actually make me laugh, and even fewer have been able to make me laugh continuously. So I don’t really judge “comedies” based on humor.

      Instead, I judge these kinds of shows based on how much I liked the characters and how good the character interactions were. And because I didn’t like the characters or their interactions, I didn’t like the show. It’s that simple.

      Yozora and Sena’s relationship is predicated upon bullying, and that’s not something I’m going to ignore just because there’s a wacky soundtrack playing in the background. The show’s stupidly blatant about it too — I’d almost think the animators were mocking the fans, were there any sort of moral behind it.

      As for my “quirky” comment, there has to be a purpose for characters, even if that purpose is for there not to be one. Less confusingly: if you’re including a character in a series, there should be a reason for it. And I didn’t find a reason for any of the other characters to appear in the show beyond Sena/Yozora/Kodaka. Everyone other than those 3 are just filler, and I don’t like filler.

      Reply

      • Well, if you didn’t think they were funny, then you’re right – there’s no real purpose to any of the other characters besides the main 3, but I don’t think there’s any real purpose to the entire show other than humor. It’s not like there’s some crazy story involved. I wouldn’t like the show either if I wasn’t laughing for 3/4 of every episode. I only grew to like the characters because I think they’re hilarious together. If you’re gonna judge a comedy on something other than its humor, then I expect you’ll get similar results with these kinds of shows almost every time.

        You may consider the other characters filler, but I think Rika, for instance, is way funnier than Yozora, and I like her a lot better. No, she’s not integral to the story, but is there really a story? Not so much. As for the bullying thing, I don’t really see any problem with it. Yes, Yozora’s a bitch, but I don’t think that makes her antics any less funny. Maybe that’s me being a bad person, but I seriously don’t think it’s a big deal at all. That’s the routine that Yozora and Sena have. It’s not like we’re seeing Sena go home and cut her wrists or something after this happens – it’s all a joke.

        tl;dr What I got out of your reply is that you don’t like “wacky” anime humor, and if that’s the case, then I totally understand why you didn’t like this show.

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      • I’m vaguely interested to know what series made D_S laugh. I generally don’t watch comedy series either (because a lot of them are pretty unfunny) but there are a few good ones out there. You’d be hard-pressed to beat Sunred for humour, for instance. But generally, I think comedy is something that anime – in general – doesn’t do very well, relying too heavily on clichés and tropes and unbelievable situational comedy.

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        • Full Metal Panic Fumoffu. Nichibros gave me a few chuckles over the duration of the series but not many. There are a couple more but I can’t remember off the top of my head.

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    • You don’t even have to look hard to find a comedy anime that’s better than Haganai. There’s one airing this season. It’s called Minami-Ke Tadaima.

      Reply

    • What you’ve written:
      I personally find this to be the funniest anime I’ve ever seen.
      What I’ve read:
      I personally haven’t seen more than 10 series and I consider Naruto to be the best adult-oriented series there is.

      Reply

  12. The second season is surprisingly an improvement upon the first. The art is much better (thank god, I love Buriki’s art so the first season was painful for me) and the general exection is a tad more… exciting?

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  14. I totally agree. It’s really really rare for me to actually drop anime without any intention of continuing, but this was so bad by episode 3 I was thinking to myself: “Why the hell am I even watching this shit?”. Even after episode 1 I thought it’d MAYBE get better, but by episode 3 I just gave up.

    And this coming from the guy who still watched all of SAO knowing it was gonna keep getting shittier.

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  15. “Oh, Sena’s getting bullied. Better put on an exasperated expression, shrug my shoulders, look at the camera, and then wait for the laugh track.”

    But if he actually does do something, then people will complain his character is ruined and that it is never okay to beat someone.

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  24. you really shouldn’t call yourselves whine subs call yourselves troll subs better giving all those unprofessional reviews tat sound so one-sided most of the time almost like your making a mockery of those translators pointing out their mistakes n anime reviewers out there and probably who knows? u say such stuff just to feel good bout yourself like im better ur not i should probably ask a ‘real’ anime reviewer to see ur so called reviews and see what he thinks what a joke………..

    Reply

    • @saviourshadow
      It was obvious (TOO much, I might add)that Dark_Sage was clearly trying to troll the readership by picking on one of the currently most successful and popular franchises. The whole point of this site is to make unfair one-side opinions and mockery, that’s the appealing of this site.

      @Dark_Sage
      I don’t think I can congratulate you on that, though. It was pretty clear that you went for the troll on this one, it felt like reading one encyclopedia dramatica article. I didn’t enjoy it much.

      On a serious and personal note, I hated the anime. Too much skipped material. Even the manga is better. To anyone attempting to watch this show for the first time: READ THE NOVELS. Skip the anime.

      Reply

      • The genesis of this article was the Haganai conversation we had in the Review Queue. http://crymore.net/review_queue_winter_2013/comment-page-1/#comment-24803

        I mentioned watching the show was uncomfortable for me, and then others said they felt that way too. Like it or not, the scores I give in my Anime Opinions articles are actually my honest opinions. Yes, I write like an asshole, but that’s how I always write. Don’t assume an article is trolling you simply because you disagree with it. You may find that not everybody thinks the same as you.

        By the way, I don’t particularly appreciate you samefagging on my site. If your opinions have merit, they’ll stand on their own.

        Reply

  25. Well, I like Kobato (goth loli) but don’t think Sena is somewhat better or more special than others. All in all though characters are retarded and anime is quite pointles so +1.

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  27. This is one of the best shows I’ve ever SEEN. Thanks Dark_sage for talking (and trying to troll your readership) about this wonderful show! Now, I’m reading the manga and the light novels and I’M LOVING it. No wonder this title was a BEST SELLER in Japan.

    Reply

    • Really? Three identities? Also, Japan has shit taste (how the fuck is Shinsekai doing poorly?), so that’s a pretty terrible metric to go by.

      Reply

  28. I don’t understand how people who like Haganai can’t like Shin Sekai Yori.

    The latter has lesbians. This should be a natural progression, dammit!

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  29. Holy fucking shit you shit eating cum guzzling faggot ass mark ass trick bitch. How the fuck can you think Sena is tolerable. The only way you can think that is if you like to run tricks on the corner of crenshaw while your mom gets fucking #rekt by indian penis. Holy fuck, this anime is shit but you are a retard and should eat shit cum and die out your ass.

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  30. Haganai was a decent show. i liked it. just sayin. maybs different tastes? it was quite amusing though it relied a little more on fanservice then comedy then the LN. But i didn’t mind. its k. actually hoping for season 3.

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  31. Seems more like your lack of intelligence and your obsessive need to have blonde girls be happy, invincible, and unemotional psychopaths at all times is insulting the show.
    It’s quite hilarious to see your chinbyou brain squirm in your skull as I read the frustration in your words about someone having had the gal to create a black-haired anime girl who totally humiliates a blonde anime girl and gets away with it.
    I mean, a story in which a fictional black-haired girl gets to make a blonde girl feel so utterly miserable that she wants to kill herself is one of those wonders of nature like a falling star or a clover leaf of four. 99 percent of all fiction is exactly the other way around, because people like you need the industry that way to keep from falling apart.
    But as a totally blonde-obsessed chinbyou you actually managed to get caught by surprise by this wonderful almost mythically rare story where a black-haired girl gets to have the time of her life utterly ripping a blonde girl’s sanity to pieces. Kudos to you.
    Among all the millions of anime where blonde girls are constantly portrayed as utterly unrealistic nazi-dreamgirls who are never unhappy or insecure and are always better at everything than anyone, you landed on the one anime who said: fuck that shit.
    And because you feel that it is so important that every story in the world should always be only about Godlike blondes and black-haired girls who are never able to taste succes or do anything without being saved by others, you decided to dedicated a webpage to let everyone know how self-important you are and how angry you are that you had such bad luck to be made to watch one of the probably only five stories ever created where a black-haired female character gets to totally fuck a blonde female character up and enjoys the heck out of it.

    Reply

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