Looking Back on High School Life is one of several essays/reports written by the main protagonist, Hachiman Hikigaya. It was assigned to him by his Modern Japanese teacher Shizuka Hiratsuka.
In Chapter 8 of Volume 1 he completes his revised version that Shizuka made him write.
Summary[]
It revolves around Hachiman's ideals. He believes that those who enjoy their youth are deceiving themselves. And that those who enjoy youth believe lies, secrets, sins and failures are simply the beginning of what makes youth interesting and valuable.
These people believe the more failures you have, the more "unique" you become. It is proof of the "teen experience". According to their values, he, himself, who failed to make friends should be at the height of his youth.
Yet their assertions are nothing but a convenient excuse to participate in "youthful indiscretion". Thus, those that enjoy their youth have poor morals and are evil. And people that don't enjoy their youth are righteous and just.
Hachiman concludes that those who follow/enjoy youth are hypocritical and evil liars and that they should die in a fire.[1][2][3]
This essay is representative of Hachiman's "loner" view of life in his first year of high school and into his second year of high school. At the end of the series (Volume 14) and of Hachiman's second year of high school, he has significantly reformed his outlook on youth and on others, and looks back on this essay with amusement when Shizuka teases him with the first and last lines of the essay.
Usage[]
- It was used as a monologue introduction in the first episode of the anime.
- It was used as a monologue introduction of the first chapter of the Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabu Kome wa Machigatteiru Mougenroku manga.
- It was used as the prologue for the first volume of the light novel.
Kanji & Translation[]
Kanji |
Romaji |
レポート提出用紙 |
repōto teishutsu yōshi |
「高校生活を振り返って」 |
kōkō seikatsu wo furikaette |
2年F組 比企谷 八幡 |
ni-nen F-gumi Hikigaya Hachiman |
青春とは嘘であり、悪である。 |
seishun to wa uso de ari, aku de aru. |
青春を謳歌せし者たちは常に自己と周囲を欺く。 |
seishun wo ōka seshi mono-tachi wa tsune ni jiko to shūi wo azamuku. |
自らを取り巻く環境のすべてを肯定的に捉える。 |
mizukara wo torimaku kankyō no subete wo kōteiteki ni toraeru. |
何か致命的な失敗をしても、それすら青春の証とし、 |
nanika chimeitekina shippai wo shite mo, sore sura seishun no akashi to shi |
思い出の1ページに刻むのだ。 |
omoide no ichi-pēji ni kizamu noda. |
例を挙げよう。彼らは万引きや集団暴走という犯罪行為に |
rei wo ageyō. karera wa manbiki ya shūdanbōsō to iu hanzaikōi ni |
手を染めてはそれを「若気の至り」と呼ぶ。 |
te wo somete wa sore wo `wakage no itari' to yobu. |
試験で赤点を取れば、学校は勉強するためだけの |
shiken de akaten wo toreba, gakkō wa benkyō suru tame dake no |
場所ではないと言い出す。 |
basho dewanai to iidasu. |
彼らは青春の二文字の前ならばどんな一般的な解釈も |
karera wa seishun no futamoji no mae naraba donna ippantekina kaishaku mo |
社会通念も捻じ曲げてみせる。彼らにかかれば嘘も秘密も、 |
shakaitsūnen mo nejimagetemiseru. karera ni kakareba uso mo himitsu mo, |
罪科も失敗さえも青春のスパイスでしかないのだ。 |
zaika mo shippai sae mo seishun no supaisu de shika nai no da. |
そして彼らはその悪に、その失敗に特別性を見出す。 |
soshite kare-ra wa sono aku ni, sono shippai ni tokubetsusei wo miidasu. |
自分たちの失敗は遍く青春の一部であるが、他者の失敗は |
jibun-tachi no shippai wa amaneku seishun no ichibu de aru ga, tasha no shippai wa |
青春ではなくただの失敗にして敗北であると断じるのだ。 |
seishun dewanaku tada no shippai ni shite haiboku dearu to danjiru no da. |
仮に失敗することが青春の証であるのなら、友達作りに |
kari ni shippai suru koto ga seishun no akashi dearu no nara, tomodachidzukuri ni |
失敗した人間もまた青春ど真ん中でなければおかしい |
shippai shita ningen mo mata seishun domannaka denakereba okashii |
ではないか。しかし、彼らはそれを認めないだろう。 |
dewanai ka. shikashi, kare-ra wa sore wo mitomenai darō. |
なんのことはない。すべた彼らのご都合主義でしかない。 |
nan no koto wa nai. subeta karera no gotsugōshugi de shika nai. |
なら、それは欺瞞だろう。嘘も欺瞞を秘密も詐術も |
nara, sore wa giman darō. uso mo giman wo himitsu mo sajutsu mo |
糾弾されるべきだ。 |
kyūdan sareru beki da. |
彼らは悪だ。 |
karera wa aku da. |
ということは、逆説的に青春を謳歌していない者の |
toiu koto wa, gyakusetsuteki ni seishun wo ōka shite inai mono no |
ほうが正しく真の正義である。 |
hō ga tadashiku shin no seigi de aru. |
結論を言おう。 |
ketsuron wo iō. |
リア充爆発しろ。 |
riajū bakuhatsu shiro. |
Submitted Report
'Looking Back on High School Life'
Class 2F Hachiman Hikigaya
Youth is a lie. It is nothing but evil.
Those who rejoice in youth are perpetually deceiving yourselves and those around them. You perceive everything about the reality surrounding you in a positive light. Even life-threatening mistakes will be remembered as single page proofs of your youth.
I’ll give you an example. If such people were to dabble in criminal acts such as shoplifting or mass rioting, it would be called ‘youthful indiscretion.’ If they were to fail an exam, they would say school is not only a place for studying. Their pursuit of ‘youth’ excuses even distortions of commonly held beliefs and social norms.
Under their discretion, lies, secrets, crimes and even failure are nothing but the spice of one’s youth. And in their corrupt ways, they discover something peculiar about failure. They conclude that while their own failures are generally a part of relishing in youth, others’ failures should be shot down as just failures and nothing more.
If failure is seen proof of one’s youth, isn’t it strange not to consider those who fail to make friends as experiencing the height of their youth? Not that they acknowledge that.
It amounts to nothing. This is simply opportunism. Therefore, it is a sham, full of damnable lies, deception, secrets and fraud.
They are evil.
That is to say, ironic as it is, those who do not glorify their youth are the truly righteous ones.
In conclusion: riajū, go blow yourselves up.
Trivia[]
- The line 'riajū, go blow yourselves up' is a reference to the Japanese internet meme - riajū bakuhatsu shirou! - based on a vocaloid song sung by Hatsune Miku. It is used to refer to someone who has a good life, a boyfriend or girlfriend and is popular with his or her peers. It is typically used by otaku.[4]
Credits[]
- 幻想殺しのnightskyさん for kanji input.
- googleさん for (unreliable) transliteration.
- NanoDesu(Wintermanceさん) for English translation.