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"Reality is cruel, so I'm sure lies are a form of kindness. Thus, I say kindness itself is also a lie". Let me start my review with that quote since I think that is the general theme of this series. It must be nice living their everyday lives as normal, but Hachiman does not want that and is now in search of something genuine. That's why maybe this series has a lot of feels in it especially in this season that is geared towards the end. Now before I truly begin, let me just say that this is my first time writing a review ever ... since I joined MAL in 2013, so the format and my choice of words may not be understood as I am writing what comes into mind, but I will do my best to convey my thoughts properly to write a decent review. Although I already did a 20-paged review in MS word when I finished the novel, I felt like I had to do the same when I finish the anime but not to that point. Another reason I did this is because I feel like I want to make my mark on something that I have been anticipating ever since I watched the anime back in 2014. I feel like I need to properly send it off as appreciation for all these 6 years. Also I read the light novel before the final season came out so I might mix something in this review with some parts of the novel but I will again do my best to convey majority of my thoughts to an anime-only perspective. Now without further ado, lets begin.

Story: 10/10
The story is absolutely great for me. Starting from the lighthearted theme of the 1st season, progressing to the point to where there are now. This is not your typical average slice-of-life, Rom-Com you see nowadays where the majority of those series focuses on the happy and relaxing atmosphere of school life. This is more focused on the negative side and probably somewhat close to reality. But what is surprising to me is the slow but gradual shift in atmosphere. The earlier episodes of the 1st season has a light theme then started to shift in a more serious tone. The author, Mr. Wataru, Watari did a great job in executing the story. And upon finishing the anime, I can say that I felt really satisfied. Usually when I finish a slice-of-life anime, I can feel a deep emptiness inside especially when I invested myself in that series. In this case, I can only feel satisfaction and genuine happiness.

Character: 10/10
"If I let go of you now, I will never be able to get you back". Let me begin with that line since that struck me the most when it was said at that moment. Now this would be a bit biased from me especially when you look at my profile, I am a big Hachiman and Yukino fan, with Hachiman as my most favorite male anime character and Yukino for the female counterpart and both are in my Top 1 and Top 2 respectively. But aside from that, I can feel that the other characters aside from the main cast are involved in the story whether its a minor or major one. There is only one character I hate in the series, but I still appreciate her part in making the story better. This series does not need a whole bunch of side characters that ends up like a tree prop in a stage play. With the limited amount of characters, it makes the story bloom effectively as they use their connections with the main cast. I also like the way the author portray Haruno in the series. Most people hate her but that is understandable. For me, she is one of the characters that I like in the series because of the fact that she only wants something genuine. Like what I said in my quote in the introduction, truth hurts but lies kill. Nonetheless, I think every character did a great job of progressing the story, whether it is in a positive or negative way.

Art: 10/10
When I first heard the news way back before the release of Season 2 that the art changed greatly from season 1, I was having doubts whether I would continue enjoying the series since at that time, I like the artwork of the 1st season fits its light-hearted theme. Also, most of the characters looked suddenly mature in the preview pictures of season 2. I just thought that maybe this change will be more likeable if I continue to watch the series once it release and I can now say that I was right. I liked how studio Feel did their artwork in this series. it fits the tone and atmosphere, as well as advancing its way towards the modern era. Even if the time gap is short, every year technology is advancing. That is to say there were lots of changes in the art between 2013 and 2015. And I am glad that Yahari moved towards that change since there are many anime with beautiful artwork at that time, I believe that if they did not take that step, then Yahari would act like a sore thumb at that time. Change can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the person who views it and I believe that this series would be the former.

Sound: 10/10
It is time to talk about one of the best things that I like about the whole series. Ever since I heard Hayami Saori voicing Yukino, I felt the angelic voice in contrast with her icy cool demeanor made it more beautiful. Now I got to hear her voice again with the comeback of this series. Aside from that, ever since the first season up until the final season, I always listen to the background music. The BGM fits perfectly in all situations and hearing it makes me remember the events that transpired in that scene. It is also a good thing that they continued to adapt the previous OSTs in each season to the next one while adding something new to fit in with the current season. Even the OPs and EDs of each season reflects the theme that season presents with the final season being the notable one. The OP which was sung by YanagiNagi like with the previous 2 openings and The ED which were sung by Hayami Saori and Touyama Nao which also sung the EDs in the previous 2 seasons, strongly indicates that this series indeed is gearing towards the end. Also most of the BGMs were played using a piano which is the instrument that I play so that is a big bonus for me. Up to this day, I can play some of the OSTs in the piano with Diamond no Jundo - Yukino ballade as my next project. For now, this is the only anime that I payed really close attention to the BGMs, to the point that I can rewatch the series just to know what happened in that scene that used a certain BGM. I liked the mellow ones since it can either be relaxing or setting the tone for the serious atmosphere which highlights the story better. This gave life to the anime especially in the later parts of the series. Adding Yui and Yukino's ballade version of the ending makes it top notch as I can somehow tell how they felt in the episode. I think that's their way of singing their heart out to convey those feelings.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Even with the heavy and serious atmosphere not commonly found in a Slice-of-life and RomCom series, I enjoyed it the most compared to other Anime with the said tags. In-fact, I put it as my Top 1 in my favorite Anime. the Slice of life genre being my most favorite genre of all, I have lots of expectations prior to watching the Anime. and surprisingly, Yahari did a great job of exceeding my expectations. Since the ending of the 2nd season of Yahari is a cliffhanger, I was placed in the back of my seat for a long time until I read the light novel. I read it from the start up until the point to where it was last updated and guess what, it also stopped where the last episode of the 2nd season ended. Instead, I read the side stories while patiently waiting for the updates and finally read them when they came out. There were lots of scenes that were not included from the novel in the Anime but that was to be expected. Including every aspect of the novel in the Anime will make the anime significantly longer that is why it is not an option. And I think that goes for some people too when they compare the original adaptation to the Anime adaptation. But even so, the Anime adaptation did its part perfectly and even if I already read the novel covering the final season, I was still dying with anticipation. For me, I think seeing the characters move, hearing the BGMs and the character's voice is still the number 1 for me. It is a whole lot different feeling rather than reading and using your imagination. There is one episode in this series that I have to avoid using any social networking sites just to avoid getting spoiled for almost a day but it was totally worth it. The enjoyment I felt when I finished reading the novel was the same as to when I finished watching the anime. In the end, I can only feel genuine satisfaction. The total aspects whether it was a major or a minor thing, made the series truly alive. Since I am also one of those who participated in the shipping war, then the result truly made me more happy. But even in the perspective of the other side, I can still be satisfied with how the series progressed and how it ended. In every romance Anime, there are some ships that will sail, some will sink, and some will stay at a standstill. In this particular case, there is one ship that set sailed but in my opinion, I believe that the ending was satisfying for multiple parties, because of how the author wrote it to make it a satisfying ending. Now there are series that even though the couple I supported set sail, I was not satisfied on what they did to the other side, I imagine how those people who supported that side felt but luckily for me, that did not happen in this series. During the 6 years of investing the series, I can fully say that I enjoyed it the most. I already sort out my feelings about the end when I finished reading the novel, and now I can now finally say goodbye. But with that amount of time, I really indeed felt genuinely happy.

Overall: 10/10
With the things above in mind, It is not surprising that I give it an overall score of 10. Starting from the progression of the story from being a light-hearted them to a heavy-one, then returning to being a light-hearted theme, I think I really rode a roller-coaster of emotions. The amount of thoughts and feelings in this series are unbelievable, Things that are vague, happy, sad, truths, lies, satisfaction, pain, and all other things were conveyed in this series. And that makes it genuine. If I say one thing that I learned among all other things in this series, that would be pursuing something genuine. I don't know about what makes something genuine or how to achieve it, but I will always keep searching. If I can also point something negative to the series, it would be that they removed some scenes that I found interesting in the novel to the Anime adaptation. But as I said earlier, that was a very minor thing and both adaptations did their part perfectly. Although I felt a sense of completeness when I read the novel so I think that made it more enjoyable for me. However, not all people read Manga or Light Novels and even without doing any of that, the level of enjoyment remains the same. I will also have trouble watching Anime with the same genres as Oregairu if I have to set this as a baseline so I have to lower my expectations a bit. However, it is easier said than done. An ending for one chapter proceeds with the beginning for another chapter. The story started when they were second years and ended technically in their second years. There is an announcement of having a new light novel sequel to the series but that is another story altogether and that would be some time in the future. For now, I hope you found this review helpful. I am sorry if there are things that are vague since I wrote this while thinking deeply of the series. Oregairu will always be the best for me and I don't think any Anime will make me change that stand as of now. And Thank you for reading this review up until the end. I hope I was able to convey my feelings even though vaguely about how I love this series that I went on for 6 years.

"If wishes could be granted, if desires could be fulfilled, then I wouldn't wish or desire for anything after all. The things you're handed on a silver platter are never genuine, and never everlasting. And that is why I'll always keep searching." - Hikigaya, Hachiman