Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends

“The Neighbors Club Chronicles”

Friendship can take many different forms. Some friendships involve powerful laser beams from a girl with orange hair in a white dress, while others are about being attracted to someone's personality and looks. The anime “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai," also known as "Haganai," explores the second type of friendship. It raises questions like, "What does it mean to be a friend?" and "Can we find true friends who will connect with us on social media?"

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Haganai is a Japanese anime series that aired from the 7th of October up until the 23rd of December in Fall 2011. It was produced by AIC Build and directed by Hisashi Saitō, while Funimation licensed the series for streaming on their website and Nico Nico, and later for home video release. An additional original video animation episode was released on September 26th, 2012.

Inoue, It, Yamamoto, Fukuen, Hanazawa, Iguchi, and Ryohei Kimura perform the "Kimi wa Tomodachi" (You Are My Friend) ending theme song. The anime consisted of 12 episodes, each with a duration of 24 minutes. It was based on the light novel series of the same name, which falls under the genres of comedy, romance, and ecchi, with themes revolving around harem and school life. It received a rating of R+ for its mild nudity.

Yomi Hirasaka wrote and Buriki illustrated the "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" light novel series. There were 11 volumes in total, and Media Factory published them between August 2009 and August 2015.

The series has had several manga adaptations; the first manga adaptation with the same title and plot began serialization in 2010. Itachi wrote and drew the illustrations, and Monthly Comic Alive published it. Misaki Harukawa and Shuichi Taguchi collaborated on another retelling of the series, titled "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai+." It was published in Jump SQ.19.

Kodaka Hasegawa is a transfer student at St. Chronica's Academy. Due to his unique appearance with brown-blond hair inherited from his late English mother and fierce-looking eyes, he has trouble making friends and is often mistaken for a delinquent. One day, he fatefully encounters Yozora Mikazuki, who is also socially isolated and has conversations with her imaginary friend "Tomo."

Recognizing their similar situations, they decide to create the Neighbors Club, an after-school club for people like them who lack friends and social skills. As the story progresses, other students with their own distinct backgrounds join the club.

Among them are Sena Kashiwazaki, a popular yet arrogant idol who only has male fans and treats them as servants; Yukimura Kusunoki, a younger student who admires Kodaka and aims to become more masculine; Rika Shiguma, a brilliant but perverted scientist; Kodaka's younger sister, Kobato Hasegawa, who often dresses up as a vampire; and Maria Takayama, a ten-year-old nun with a crude manner of speaking who also serves as the club's advisor.

The series thus follows the Neighbors Club as they participate in various school and social activities to practice making friends. Their adventures and interactions form the core of the story as they navigate the challenges of friendship and personal growth.

Make no mistake, this is a basic harem anime. It has an incredibly dense male main character, an outcast who is seemingly "bullied" in this case. The story is pretty straight-forward, to say the least. Starting with the club’s new member, things go down the ecchi-route pretty fast; before long, the man is surrounded by his newfound harem. It’s also unbelievable that such attractive girls have so much trouble making friends at school because looks do a lot in places like this.

The only notable aspect of the story was the fairly unique background Kodaka had concerning his former best friend, whom he never got to bid farewell to before switching schools. There’s also a minor plot twist at the end, but it becomes pretty predictable to most viewers because the creators hint at it a few episodes prior. Other than those, there’s nothing much here.

The initial impression of Haganai is one of nostalgia, but in a negative way. It honestly feels like a mishmash of overused tropes and jokes that have become tiresome. This is clearly seen in the opening theme, which suggests that the show aims to have many girls to cater to different preferences and fetishes within the anime community. Furthermore, the show lacks depth, relying heavily on offensive language and repetitive crude humor, particularly with "poop" jokes that aren't funny. It struggles to balance realism with unrealistic elements, leading to frustration as well.

The characters feel unrealistic and exaggerated, which undermines the show's attempt to address real issues. They lack any depth or originality and are treated more like jokes than fully developed characters. Only a few characters receive limited and clichéd development, making it hard to distinguish this anime from other similar ecchi comedies.

The cast does possess diverse interests and quirks, or, let's say, fetishes., such as a boy who dresses up as a maid for no particular reason, a young nun who looks like a child (a loli nun), a little sister character, and a perverted girl who spends her time in a science room. However, if they wanted to focus on outcasts, they could have avoided relying on such ecchi stereotypes so much. There are plenty of other titles in the same genre with similar characters that aren't treated as outcasts by other characters, so it makes you wonder what they’re trying to do here.

As for the comedy, it’s only funny on occasion, and those occasions are rare. The main comedic theme seems to be social ineptitude, backed up by some Otaku humor as well. Character interactions are sometimes enjoyable as well, with the various club activities and resulting antics of the cast.

On that note, the occasional humor and character interactions are the only notable selling points of this show. I will admit that the chemistry between Sena and Yozora was entertaining, as they play off each other pretty well. The remainder of the characters just aren’t funny, no matter how funny they try to be. I'll give Kobato an honorable mention for her Chuuni moments, but that’s about it.

Even with 12 episodes to work with, the entire cast remains shallow in characterization and one-dimensional throughout. This even leads to some interactions being repetitive, which is honestly terrible.

The same studio that produced Ore no Imouto also animated Haganai, so the production quality was respectable. I fairly liked the character designs because they had a simple yet detailed appearance, but I can’t really say the art style has aged well. While they had the potential to utilize a vivid palette, they chose to keep it pretty dull for some reason.

The overall animation was fluid and solid, and the visuals remained pleasing to the eye throughout the show. They did a good job with most of the facial expressions, so props to that. Except a ton of fanservice in many shapes and sizes too, because this is a harem anime.

The music in Haganai has its own charm and is quite enjoyable. The opening theme, "Zannenkei Rinjinbu," performed by the female cast, is a cheesy J-Pop song that talks about friendship. It's upbeat, catchy, and gives a good idea of what the show is about. The ending theme, "My Feelings," by Marina Inoue (Yozora's voice actress), is also catchy and fits the show well.

The accompanying visuals of Yozora and Sena in a rock band are a nice touch too. The voice acting is particularly excellent, with Marina Inoue's deeper voice for Yozora being one of the most noteworthy. Her rants and antics about Sena and social values add to the entertainment value of the show, so props to her!

While I understand why some people may enjoy this anime, personally, I find it to be just average and mostly unoriginal. I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for some deep and entertaining content. Instead, I suggest watching OreImo, High School DxD, or anything else that lives up to at least one of its stated genres.

It is amusing enough to keep watching, but it is very easily dropped, depending on your preferences. There are some funny moments, but the saturation of unfunny skits drowned those out. Yozora and Sena are the only two characters worth anything here, with the rest being decorations for the most part. Personally, I do not recommend this one, but feel free to give it a try if you want to find out whether this is up your alley.