The latest installment of the Haganai epic centers almost entirely on the Sena-Kodaka relationship, as seen by others. The episode kicks off with the beginning of filming, which would later have it’s own issues. Kodaka then runs into one of Sena’s classmates named Yusa Aoi. She assumes he is dating Sena, spouts a bunch of stuff about how the two of them are perfect while she is second best, then storms off. Kodaka later runs into Pegasus and shatters his illusion that he was dating his daughter. The next day, Sena grabs Kodaka and reveals that their fathers had arranged a marriage between the two of them and had a picture of the two of them playing together as toddlers. As Pegasus had run his mouth to numerous people, Maria ends up revealing this to Yozora and Rika, whose morale is totally shot. Finally, Kate and Kodaka talk about the movie the club is making and how she says it is similar to a cult classic. Kodaka watches that movie and finds a creepy similarity…
There was a lot that happened in this week’s episode. I think first it would be best to start off with the insight into Sena’s character that was provided by Aoi and later Kodaka’s own internal monologue.
Aoi provided that commonly held view of Sena’s character. She has all the attributes that one needs to succeed. She’s intelligent, beautiful, athletic and on top of that her family is rich. In Aoi’s mind, this absolutely must mean that she is popular. Since her taste in men is well off the norm, Aoi believes that it is no wonder that she ends up with a cool guy like Kodaka. Given this massive boost of confidence Kodaka went back to the clubroom and talked to Sena while thinking more about her.
I think Kodaka hit all the marks on Sena. It isn’t that Sena is much more talented than everyone else, it’s that she is able to focus entirely on anything she cares about. If she wants to be the top student, she knows she has to pay attention entirely in class because that is where the test material is presented. She doesn’t focus on any other portion of the school experience. She doesn’t need to worry about the rest of her classmates because she could spend more time on those things she cares about. Say what you will about playing galge, lusting over Kobato, stalking Yozora and spending time with Kodaka, it’s clear that she puts total effort into each of those.
The other aspect of this episode I found interesting was Pegasus. He presented the classic case of wanting something to come true and not even considering the actual truth. It’s clear from the history between he and Kodaka’s father, plus the whole arranged marriage business that he really wants his daughter to marry Kodaka. The 2 trips to Sena’s house by Kodaka in the series to date have made Pegasus happy and allowed him to connect to his old friend. Sena’s talk about Kobato only confirmed the desire in his mind to see them together. To interpret her comments as anything other than literal would destroy that illusion. In addition, he had to tell everyone he knew about it because if “everyone” knows then it must be true. So for a while, he happily lived in a world where his daughter was marrying his friend’s son and no one was questioning this. That is until Kodaka began asking.
As for the rest of the episode, there were a few other points worth talking about:
- Have we reached the point where it is obvious that Sena “wins”? Rika and Yozora are now openly talking about how distant they are from Kodaka right in front of him.
- Kate may be the person who saved the club from doom by watching cult teenage angst films.
- Did they write an entirely new character just for that scene? That’s Urobuchi-esque contrivance there. At least it didn’t feel like they read a book right before writing Aoi’s character, though.
- Pegasus. Leaping through the air.
- Was that shot of Kobato necessary?
Next week, everything gets scrapped and they just film the OP. That’s easy enough and it’s going to turn out terrible. But fun to make? Hell yes.
Lower Mid-Table 
“Did they write an entirely new character just for that scene? That’s Urobuchi-esque contrivance there.”
Short answer. No. Given this is NOT anime original, but an ongoing Light Novel, the vast majority of Named characters often ends up with a recurring role. Aoi would make an appearance several more times.
I’m wondering where Hagani Next will stop at, considering that they are approaching Volume 8. There are alot of excellent places for Hagani to stop in Volume 8 – a major development in the Sena-Kodaka subplot is actually an excellent place to stop at. Or, it could end on a high note, with the movie screening.
I never actually got that far in figuring out where the story goes from here. It’s now entirely spoiler free from my point of view. As for Aoi’s character, it did seem pretty random that she appeared. I guess I just need to see her more than just the first half of an episode late in the season.
It is such a shame that ‘arranged marriage’ couple never works out well in anime. Sena and Kodaka are best couple. 😛
But yes, Pegasus-san is indeed a very fascinating, interesting guy. He seems really obsessed with Kodaka’s dad for some reason.
I’ve been careful not to endorse a particular couple. Mainly because I’d get in trouble with any of the other factions. As for Pegasus, he just wants further attachment to his friend. It seems like he doesn’t have many either.
Good Point on Pegasus. Poor guy. He has money and an entire school to call his own, but no friends. 😦
As for getting in trouble, screw that! Puff out your chest and laugh at the sub-par choices of everyone else!
I do like how as this second series has progressed we are beginning to see how different perceptions of people evolve, and often how different they are from reality. In this episode for example we have the ‘reality’ of Sena, and the public perception of the kind of person she is. Neither of them are entirely accurate since they are all parts of the same individual as seen by different people.
It’s been a really good season. I half expected it to peter out into pandering after a few episodes, but if anything the character development has gotten stronger.
Rule number one of reading multi volume works.
If the first few volumes are not masterpieces, but good enough to remain publish, expect the author to improve as each volume goes on.
I will say that ironically, light novel authors show a lot more growth from volume to volume than other authors and other forms of literature. This isn’t the standard literary trend where an author pushes out a masterpiece, peaks, and suffers from a declining level of writing ability from then on out.
Yeah, I figured light novels were a bit different considering the fact that the standard is pretty low for a first volume. If it’s barely publishable it will work, but the access they have to having an actual editor and some staff can only make them better.
Wow, great insight on the contributing reason for why Sena is so good at the things she’s good at, which also ties into why she’s so bad at the things that she’s not good at (such as dealing with other people). I have believed the same thing about people in general (that they become good at what they choose to focus wholeheartedly on) but hadn’t tied it to Sena and the corresponding deficiencies in the rest of her character.
Personally, I have no shame about being a Kodaka x Yozora supporter (as Reising up there knows), and while I don’t dislike the other girls, I’d just rather see him end up with Yozora. But I have really liked the quieter Sena that shows up in her private conversations with Kodaka – in the restaurant and in the chapel (the blouse unbuttoning was a bit gratuitous, tho). But given that it’s an ongoing LN series, and apparently there’s no projected end in sight, I have to think that there’s going to be something that monkey-wrenches the way Sena and Kodaka’s relationship is going right now and brings Yozora back into the picture as a plausible candidate (unlike Rika and Yukimura now, who are almost assuredly permanently friendzoned).
I am slightly worried about how this concludes. If it drags on for as long as it could, it may turn into a frustrating experience for the viewer/readership. It just seems like it’s one of those things that they could conceivably continue to pad for a long, long time, unfortunately. Considering how much attention I’ve put into this, I honestly don’t have a horse in this race. As long as it feels right, I couldn’t care if he ends up with Yozora, Sena, Rika or hell even Stella.
I do agree with you that whoever he ends up with, it’s more important that it feel right than who it is. It may be mostly that I have a preference for Yozora’s personality and looks, as well as her narrative.
I agree also with the frustration if the story continues going, but unfortunately I fear that’s what’s going to happen (some other people have mentioned that the LN author considers the 8 volumes out to be the ‘prelude’ to the story, but who knows what that really means). I prefer shows that end up with a couple. I really prefer that they get to a couple sooner or later (this was one of the reasons I really liked Sukitte ii na yo, and really disliked Kimi ni Todoke). And seeing other shows that just string it along forever does start to annoy me.