I'm going to assume that Yukino had requested to temporarily leave the family household, to find herself apart from what would probably be a relatively-speaking strict upbringing as she was born into a family which seems to have a name of rather high status to maintain. Haruno has made several appearances throughout, all for the sake of keeping an eye on Yukino, and perhaps gauging her progress in establishing her own identity which she probably claimed to set out to do. A rather vague measuring stick, but it makes a little sense at least, as it is easy to observe and see how someone approaches and solves a problem. However, Haruno may have deduced that Yukino had gone soft, and have strayed even further from finding herself, and probably blames Hachiman for that; which is why she arrives at the beginning to take her away back home to live with her and keep her under continuous surveillance as opposed to just dropping by every one in awhile- or rather, every day, it seemed like. She even takes the words right out of Hachiman's mouth later at Yui's place, when she calls her sister, as if to clearly show us that she is still relying on others to save her. Haruno either seems to pick up that those weren't Yukino's words or thoughts, or just assumes that Hachiman came with Yukino wherever she went. Either way, she tells Yukino to put him on the phone, and tells her what she believes is best for Yukino, probably. Man, if only she had waited a little longer. I wanted to see if Yukino actually could've built up enough courage to give Hachiman the gift that was in her bag. Anyway, I hope they go more in depth about the Yukinoshita family in season 3.
Now you gotta think: man, this ending to the season is pretty brutal, isn't it? Like you're a fan of this series, and now you have to wait what is it, 5 or so years for the next part after an ending such as this? Damn, I can't even imagine. Heck there probably wasn't even an announcement for the next season for a number of years, so there was that dread of having THIS being the end of the oregairu anime. I don't really get depressed, but that would've made me depressed asf.
Because what we are left with, is this. Yui, admitting defeat to Yukino, but still not going down without a fight. She's going down, but she will be taking Yukino down with her. Similar to Hayato, Yui is "not a nice (girl)", and sees maintaining the status quo as the next best option for her- because she is selfish. Yukino, still unable to make a decision for herself, is about to almost against her will, accept Yui's request..... only to be saved.... by Hachiman, who won't allow anyone to control Yukino's life, saying it's Yukino's turn to solve her own problems without the influence of others. At this point, the Yui fans have nothing. The ship has sailed, and what other way to prove that than to see Yui acknowledging that. She saw them together here at the aquarium, she was no doubt listening to them when they were in the infirmary last episode, and there is probably another instance or two in which could be counted as Yui seeing that it was Yukino who was meant to be with Hachiman, and not herself. That's how it ends for now, for FIVE YEARS FOR THE ANIME-ONLIES. YIKES. Thankfully I don't have to wait that long and will get to watching the 3rd and final season right after I watch this season's ova- which, I'll watch tomorrow, or rather, later today, because it's almost 7am right now and yeah you can probably guess whether I just woke up, or haven't slept at all. Time to read between the lines like it is mandatory for everyone to do for this show.
Anyway, upon this re-watch, I now appreciate it FAR more than when I first saw it, in which I actually almost hated it for being what I thought was overly dramatic and downright cringe. But I see now, this is a good show that deserves its praise. Is this good character writing? It's debatable, but the meter is strongly pushing toward "yes." And one thing's for sure: the scriptwriting with all its subtext and what not is LEAGUES beyond your standard rom-com which has almost depth for it other than to give the viewer a good time. Idk if this is officially labeled as a rom-com (it does have romance obviously, as well as comedy, obviously, and both words are in the freaking english title) but that should really just be some side-tag. This is a drama through and through. And even when put in the drama space, I still say the writing is above average. For me it's a mid-to-high 7/10, much higher than the 3 or 4 I had left it with at first. I was narrow-minded back then, looking for what I wanted in this show, and getting something different entirely, and hating it for it like a toddler having a temper tantrum. Heck, I still don't fully understand this show... but maybe it doesn't entirely matter. These characters are, almost like real people, I daresay. And people, well, can be hard to understand entirely themselves. What drives them? What are their motivations, their goals, and aspirations? There are still questions left unanswered even as of this second season, but I'm going to go as far as to say that even the characters themselves are still unsure of who exactly they are- I mean, take Yukino as a prime example. She called herself a fish swept away by the current in this episode. That said, I still wish for some things at least to come to life in this third season. For now, I'm glad I re-watched this, and have finally appreciated this series for what it is.
7.7/10
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