So, to be more clear, Oregairu is a story about loneliness. Hachiman’s particular pathology is that society has so thoroughly rejected him that he feels the need to reject society back, and he rationalizes that need in stupid ways. Yukino is someone who has been alienated by her excellence, by her values, by being true to her beliefs, but also by her family. Haruno, meanwhile, is alienated by having a life that’s been decided for her. What sort of person with a healthy social life is so involved in her high school sister’s friend group? Hiratsuka is constantly mocked for her loneliness, which helps establish the theme.

This is what the story is about more or less — loneliness, and what people will do to escape it. It’s hard to boil it down to a simple moral, other than Hachiman’s own answer: the answer to loneliness is to find something genuine, a genuine relationship of some kind. But I didn’t feel like posting “find something genuine” lol