[anime] Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
May. 31st, 2009 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grimorieBoy am I glad to be back home. Our family went on a beach trip and for three days I found myself without internet, not even the mobile kind surprisingly I enjoyed myself except for the part where the waves started battering me against the shore.
Okay, that's partly my fault since I was trying attempting something foolish and the waves in the beach were surprisingly big (sometimes it looks like the waves were 7ft tall!) and the thing of it was that the waves break really close to the shore! Usually the places I go to are calm and nice, the beach we went to was like witnessing a storm at sea. It didn't help that eventually storm clouds did appear.
And now my back really, really hurts!
But I had fun! And in pain.
--
Heh, I've been reading my reading list and I think I reached page 700. My flist is prolific liek whoa!
--
It seems that anytime anyone mentions a series/book/movie in LJ I would eventually come around to reading/watching whatever it is. This time the series in question is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I've seen it mentioned in a few journals but I think it wasredbrunja's icon that spurred my curiosity.
I started watching the series knowing nothing about the MoHS except that the heroine (Haruhi) really likes to threaten the hero (Kyon) and show him who's boss.
The anime
I was confused with the way the series kept jumping around episode wise and wondered if I skipped a few episodes until wiki informed me that the way the episodes were jumping around was intentional. Then I became confused about the premise of the series so much so when I was asked to explain what the series was about I ended up an incoherent mess.
I eventually came to realize that the series seemed like Buffy + X-Files + Eerie Indiana and the Bad Wolf. Only the Bad Wolf doesn't know its the Bad Wolf.
So, premise: The story revolves around Haruhi Suzumiya, a force of nature incarnate, who in the start of the series, is bored with everything and feels the only way to alleviate her boredom is to meet extraordinary individuals (specifically time travelers, aliens, ESPers, sliders & etc.,). Enter Kyon, someone who used to believe in those things but left the belief behind as he grew older. As fate would have it, Kyon is placed in the same class room as Haruhi and seated in front of her. From the first moment Haruhi introduces herself, Kyon is intrigued and after a false start eventually manages to strike up a conversation with her. Repeatedly. Something unheard of since Haruhi never talks to anyone.
This friendship is the catalyst for the series since it turns out her conversation with Kyon brings about an extraordinary, if baffling club: SOS Brigade or Spreading Excitement all Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade.
Haruhi manages to recruit an alien (Yuki Nagato), a Time Traveler (Mikuru Asahina) and an ESPer with a mysterious organization (Itsuki Koizumi). But as a twist, the true identities of her friends are hidden from her.
In the brigade Kyon is seemingly the only 'normal' person in the group.
Yes, meaning Haruhi isn't normal too. Not only does Haruhi have a Lina Inverse personality type it turns out Haruhi may or may not be: a) a Technologically advanced individual capable of autoevolution b) a Time-Space Conundrum and/or b) a God or the God of the series-verse.
And, again, the twist is, Haruhi doesn't know she has reality/world creating/ending powers. The reason given is, if Haruhi learned of her powers she might just end the world because she finds the world boring and create a new world more suitable for her.
According to the stories of the three SOS Brigade members they became aware of Haruhi 'three years ago' since she did something that caught the attention of... well, everyone with powers (in Itsuki's case, he claims Haruhi subconsciously created ESPers) and all three started monitoring Haruhi.
Enter Kyon. The narrator of the series and someone 'chosen' by Haruhi. Except it seems Kyon is in severe denial and doesn't get what 'chosen by Haruhi' means.
The series is wacky fun and surprisingly touching.
I liked seeing Haruhi's moments of melancholy and even though Kyon doesn't get that Haruhi actually likes him likes him, its fun to see how much the series could get away with the way they play with POV.
Watching the series as broadcasted was really fun and you can see how things sort of develop and then watch the character development actually, uh, develop. I suppose, to anyone that knows me its not a surprise I ship Haruhi/Kyon with a bit of Kyon/Yuki and that my favorite character is Haruhi.
TV Tropes mentions Haruhi will eventually be sidelined and that makes me sad since she really interests me.
Next in the list, of course, is Yuki. I'm not so sure about Asahina although I do find Asahina's older counterpart interesting (in that how much Asahina is doing is an act and how much is 'real') and then there's Itsuki, who I feel knows a lot more than he's letting on and I really don't know if he's there for the good of the Brigade or just out to serve the interests of his mysterious Agency.
My top episodes for the series are:
1. Live A Live, it starts out slow but once Kyon arrives in the auditorium things start to pick-up particularly when, to Kyon's surprise Haruhi and Yuki appear on stage and start performing with two other girls. I loved Kyon's expression going from preemptive embarrassment to gobsmacked. I loved how happy Haruhi seemed. Its not the manic sort of happy she usually displays.
I think this is something she found she really loved doing. I also love the effect on her afterwards, that she's truly surprised that people actually went out of her way to thank her. She's not used to gratitude and how that changes her.
2. Remote Island II - particularly the part where they hold hands and ending in the cave scene. Can you say 'squee' I know you can!
3. 'Season finale' or episode 6. From the moment Haruhi opens up to Kyon about the origin of her 'melancholy' to that ending when Haruhi wears her hair up and Kyon is smiling at her and then at the end when Kyon decides to reveal the truth about aliens, ESPers and time travelers to her.
There might be more on rewatch (and there would be a rewatch, the series is begging for a rewatch!) I might include a lot more.
All in all this series gives me a lot of warm an' fuzzies.
--
Volume 1-6 Light Novels
You might notice I haven't mentioned Kyon, well this might be because I think novel!Kyon is tainting my view of the character. Since I learned there was an online translated versions of the novel I downloaded the novels so I could read it during the beach vacation. Reading the books provide a good way to see things away, supplementing what I've already seen from the anime.
Unfortunately, it didn't help Kyon's character. I like Kyon but in the novel, well... He's kind of more of a jerk. Also, way more hypocritical than anime!Kyon. In the anime he protests Haruhi's harassment of Asahina but you could also see he's conflicted and eventually gets drawn in (he is, after all, still a guy) but in the novels it comes out that he's only angry because Haruhi could do what he's been dying to do to Asahina.
Also, I'm not fond of the way Kyon keeps putting Haruhi down, I mean yes, Haruhi could handle herself but I don't like the way Kyon underestimates Haruhi's intelligence (on the other hand I like the way his unconscious attraction of Haruhi manifests). Kyon eventually gets better particularly after the events of vol. 4 (My favorite volume!).
I do like the way the novels play with time travel and foreshadowing, seriously, I think this novel excels in foreshadowing like nobody's business... like, how in the first episode/vol. 1 where Haruhi demands if she's met him before and then a couple of volumes later you realize that its not just a throw away line its because Haruhi thinks Kyon reminds her of someone she met three years before she entered high school; and because this has timey wimey elements, Haruhi HAS met Kyon before.
I also love the development of Yuki from emotionless cyborg to something more and I love the consequence of an emotionless robot thrown into a world and into the vicinity of a character/s filled with emotions.
Although, I admit the 'highbrow' explanations sail over my head and sometimes I feel more like Asahina and Kyon whenever Yuki or Itsuki speaks.
Speaking of, Kyon's collecting quite a handful of admirers. While Haruhi and Kyon are the official couple there's no shortage of Kyon admirers around one of the more amusing manifestations happen during the time the Brigade are stranded in a snowy blizzard and each person is visited by the person they're most attracted to. For Kyon, physically, he is attracted to Asahina so a 'false Asahina' manifests and tries to seduce him (which eventually fails). What's interesting is the person that manifests for the other characters:
Haruhi -> Kyon
Yuki -> Kyon
Asahina -> Haruhi (heh)
Itsuki -> Kyon (heh)
I couldn't stop laughing when I finally realized the implications of that chapter. I guess now we know why Asahina tolerates Haruhi's harassments so much and why Istuki was awfully fond of speaking really close to Kyon. Heh.
--
The novels are a perfect supplement to the anime (if I think about it, its actually the other way around but since I watched the anime first, that's how I see it) and its nice to see what will eventually happen in the anime. If and when the producers get around to making the second season. But the more I read the more I felt a growing sense of dissatisfaction.
I understand the reason why Haruhi has to be kept out of the loop on the other hand I feel a growing sense of disquiet with the way Haruhi is kept out of the loop.
The more Kyon, Yuki and the others keep using the reasoning that Haruhi needs to be oblivious so as not to cause the end of the world the more convinced I am that Haruhi won't cause the end of the world when she does learn about her abilities.
The way I see it keeping her oblivious to her powers only causes more harm than good. The incidents happen because Haruhi isn't conscious about her powers and things get out of hand. Case in point, the story about the filming of the movie. Because Haruhi isn't aware she has godlike powers the more she blurs fantasy and reality the more she unconsciously create things such as turning gray doves to white or making Asahina shoot laser out of her eye.
I know Haruhi has an outlandish, aggressive personality and her moods are sometimes erratic (which, come to think of it, isn't that the personality of the fey and gods?) but I don't think she would consciously harm the world. I mean, if she's subconsciously curtailing herself doesn't that stand to reason she'll police herself a lot more diligently when she gets wind of the consequences of her actions?
Also, this relates to how I feel about Haruhi getting sidelined in her own series. Because her friends are privy to secrets that bond them together Kyon, Yuki, Asahina and even Itsuki's friendship together seems a lot stronger than Haruhi's friendship to them. In the end Haruhi is shut out of the very group she created... Her friends have all these life altering things happen without her knowledge... and I feel so bad for Haruhi, who in the end only wants everyone to have fun.
Because of this I'm hoping in an upcoming volume the author would hint (as a plot twist) that Haruhi might actually (subconsciously) know what's what re: identity of her members. Or that in the end the 'shadowy figure' she keeps seeing is actually Haruhi herself time traveling back to 'clean up'.
I do have a few theories though:
1. Kyon is actually the one with the godlike powers. Its something that occurred to me reading the first chapter. All the things Haruhi wants to believe in Kyon believed in once also things always seem to happen around HIM and Haruhi is a conduit of his powers.
This theory while plausible is something I'm not sure I want to happen since it would reduce Haruhi's role even more.
2. Tsuraya is actually Haruhi. Or to be more specific, Tsuraya is Haruhi from the future, fully aware of her powers and thus travels back in time to serve as a 'guide' for the Brigade. I mean, Tsuraya getting on really well with Haruhi and her penchant for liking Asahina a LOT and her conveniently owning almost everything Haruhi or her group requires? Verrry suspicious.
3. Tsuraya is a 'slider' the final ingredient to complete Haruhi's brigade.
4. Itsuki would end up betraying the brigade.
5. Somehow Haruhi will learn the Secret (this time not as an alternate reality version but the real Haruhi) and miraculously, the world does not end.
One thing's for sure I can't wait to read what happens next.
x-posted: dreamwidth
Okay, that's partly my fault since I was trying attempting something foolish and the waves in the beach were surprisingly big (sometimes it looks like the waves were 7ft tall!) and the thing of it was that the waves break really close to the shore! Usually the places I go to are calm and nice, the beach we went to was like witnessing a storm at sea. It didn't help that eventually storm clouds did appear.
And now my back really, really hurts!
But I had fun! And in pain.
--
Heh, I've been reading my reading list and I think I reached page 700. My flist is prolific liek whoa!
--
It seems that anytime anyone mentions a series/book/movie in LJ I would eventually come around to reading/watching whatever it is. This time the series in question is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I've seen it mentioned in a few journals but I think it was
redbrunja's icon that spurred my curiosity. I started watching the series knowing nothing about the MoHS except that the heroine (Haruhi) really likes to threaten the hero (Kyon) and show him who's boss.
The anime
I was confused with the way the series kept jumping around episode wise and wondered if I skipped a few episodes until wiki informed me that the way the episodes were jumping around was intentional. Then I became confused about the premise of the series so much so when I was asked to explain what the series was about I ended up an incoherent mess.
I eventually came to realize that the series seemed like Buffy + X-Files + Eerie Indiana and the Bad Wolf. Only the Bad Wolf doesn't know its the Bad Wolf.
So, premise: The story revolves around Haruhi Suzumiya, a force of nature incarnate, who in the start of the series, is bored with everything and feels the only way to alleviate her boredom is to meet extraordinary individuals (specifically time travelers, aliens, ESPers, sliders & etc.,). Enter Kyon, someone who used to believe in those things but left the belief behind as he grew older. As fate would have it, Kyon is placed in the same class room as Haruhi and seated in front of her. From the first moment Haruhi introduces herself, Kyon is intrigued and after a false start eventually manages to strike up a conversation with her. Repeatedly. Something unheard of since Haruhi never talks to anyone.
This friendship is the catalyst for the series since it turns out her conversation with Kyon brings about an extraordinary, if baffling club: SOS Brigade or Spreading Excitement all Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade.
Haruhi manages to recruit an alien (Yuki Nagato), a Time Traveler (Mikuru Asahina) and an ESPer with a mysterious organization (Itsuki Koizumi). But as a twist, the true identities of her friends are hidden from her.
In the brigade Kyon is seemingly the only 'normal' person in the group.
Yes, meaning Haruhi isn't normal too. Not only does Haruhi have a Lina Inverse personality type it turns out Haruhi may or may not be: a) a Technologically advanced individual capable of autoevolution b) a Time-Space Conundrum and/or b) a God or the God of the series-verse.
And, again, the twist is, Haruhi doesn't know she has reality/world creating/ending powers. The reason given is, if Haruhi learned of her powers she might just end the world because she finds the world boring and create a new world more suitable for her.
According to the stories of the three SOS Brigade members they became aware of Haruhi 'three years ago' since she did something that caught the attention of... well, everyone with powers (in Itsuki's case, he claims Haruhi subconsciously created ESPers) and all three started monitoring Haruhi.
Enter Kyon. The narrator of the series and someone 'chosen' by Haruhi. Except it seems Kyon is in severe denial and doesn't get what 'chosen by Haruhi' means.
The series is wacky fun and surprisingly touching.
I liked seeing Haruhi's moments of melancholy and even though Kyon doesn't get that Haruhi actually likes him likes him, its fun to see how much the series could get away with the way they play with POV.
Watching the series as broadcasted was really fun and you can see how things sort of develop and then watch the character development actually, uh, develop. I suppose, to anyone that knows me its not a surprise I ship Haruhi/Kyon with a bit of Kyon/Yuki and that my favorite character is Haruhi.
TV Tropes mentions Haruhi will eventually be sidelined and that makes me sad since she really interests me.
Next in the list, of course, is Yuki. I'm not so sure about Asahina although I do find Asahina's older counterpart interesting (in that how much Asahina is doing is an act and how much is 'real') and then there's Itsuki, who I feel knows a lot more than he's letting on and I really don't know if he's there for the good of the Brigade or just out to serve the interests of his mysterious Agency.
My top episodes for the series are:
1. Live A Live, it starts out slow but once Kyon arrives in the auditorium things start to pick-up particularly when, to Kyon's surprise Haruhi and Yuki appear on stage and start performing with two other girls. I loved Kyon's expression going from preemptive embarrassment to gobsmacked. I loved how happy Haruhi seemed. Its not the manic sort of happy she usually displays.
I think this is something she found she really loved doing. I also love the effect on her afterwards, that she's truly surprised that people actually went out of her way to thank her. She's not used to gratitude and how that changes her.
2. Remote Island II - particularly the part where they hold hands and ending in the cave scene. Can you say 'squee' I know you can!
3. 'Season finale' or episode 6. From the moment Haruhi opens up to Kyon about the origin of her 'melancholy' to that ending when Haruhi wears her hair up and Kyon is smiling at her and then at the end when Kyon decides to reveal the truth about aliens, ESPers and time travelers to her.
There might be more on rewatch (and there would be a rewatch, the series is begging for a rewatch!) I might include a lot more.
All in all this series gives me a lot of warm an' fuzzies.
--
Volume 1-6 Light Novels
You might notice I haven't mentioned Kyon, well this might be because I think novel!Kyon is tainting my view of the character. Since I learned there was an online translated versions of the novel I downloaded the novels so I could read it during the beach vacation. Reading the books provide a good way to see things away, supplementing what I've already seen from the anime.
Unfortunately, it didn't help Kyon's character. I like Kyon but in the novel, well... He's kind of more of a jerk. Also, way more hypocritical than anime!Kyon. In the anime he protests Haruhi's harassment of Asahina but you could also see he's conflicted and eventually gets drawn in (he is, after all, still a guy) but in the novels it comes out that he's only angry because Haruhi could do what he's been dying to do to Asahina.
Also, I'm not fond of the way Kyon keeps putting Haruhi down, I mean yes, Haruhi could handle herself but I don't like the way Kyon underestimates Haruhi's intelligence (on the other hand I like the way his unconscious attraction of Haruhi manifests). Kyon eventually gets better particularly after the events of vol. 4 (My favorite volume!).
I do like the way the novels play with time travel and foreshadowing, seriously, I think this novel excels in foreshadowing like nobody's business... like, how in the first episode/vol. 1 where Haruhi demands if she's met him before and then a couple of volumes later you realize that its not just a throw away line its because Haruhi thinks Kyon reminds her of someone she met three years before she entered high school; and because this has timey wimey elements, Haruhi HAS met Kyon before.
I also love the development of Yuki from emotionless cyborg to something more and I love the consequence of an emotionless robot thrown into a world and into the vicinity of a character/s filled with emotions.
Although, I admit the 'highbrow' explanations sail over my head and sometimes I feel more like Asahina and Kyon whenever Yuki or Itsuki speaks.
Speaking of, Kyon's collecting quite a handful of admirers. While Haruhi and Kyon are the official couple there's no shortage of Kyon admirers around one of the more amusing manifestations happen during the time the Brigade are stranded in a snowy blizzard and each person is visited by the person they're most attracted to. For Kyon, physically, he is attracted to Asahina so a 'false Asahina' manifests and tries to seduce him (which eventually fails). What's interesting is the person that manifests for the other characters:
Haruhi -> Kyon
Yuki -> Kyon
Asahina -> Haruhi (heh)
Itsuki -> Kyon (heh)
I couldn't stop laughing when I finally realized the implications of that chapter. I guess now we know why Asahina tolerates Haruhi's harassments so much and why Istuki was awfully fond of speaking really close to Kyon. Heh.
--
The novels are a perfect supplement to the anime (if I think about it, its actually the other way around but since I watched the anime first, that's how I see it) and its nice to see what will eventually happen in the anime. If and when the producers get around to making the second season. But the more I read the more I felt a growing sense of dissatisfaction.
I understand the reason why Haruhi has to be kept out of the loop on the other hand I feel a growing sense of disquiet with the way Haruhi is kept out of the loop.
The more Kyon, Yuki and the others keep using the reasoning that Haruhi needs to be oblivious so as not to cause the end of the world the more convinced I am that Haruhi won't cause the end of the world when she does learn about her abilities.
The way I see it keeping her oblivious to her powers only causes more harm than good. The incidents happen because Haruhi isn't conscious about her powers and things get out of hand. Case in point, the story about the filming of the movie. Because Haruhi isn't aware she has godlike powers the more she blurs fantasy and reality the more she unconsciously create things such as turning gray doves to white or making Asahina shoot laser out of her eye.
I know Haruhi has an outlandish, aggressive personality and her moods are sometimes erratic (which, come to think of it, isn't that the personality of the fey and gods?) but I don't think she would consciously harm the world. I mean, if she's subconsciously curtailing herself doesn't that stand to reason she'll police herself a lot more diligently when she gets wind of the consequences of her actions?
Also, this relates to how I feel about Haruhi getting sidelined in her own series. Because her friends are privy to secrets that bond them together Kyon, Yuki, Asahina and even Itsuki's friendship together seems a lot stronger than Haruhi's friendship to them. In the end Haruhi is shut out of the very group she created... Her friends have all these life altering things happen without her knowledge... and I feel so bad for Haruhi, who in the end only wants everyone to have fun.
Because of this I'm hoping in an upcoming volume the author would hint (as a plot twist) that Haruhi might actually (subconsciously) know what's what re: identity of her members. Or that in the end the 'shadowy figure' she keeps seeing is actually Haruhi herself time traveling back to 'clean up'.
I do have a few theories though:
1. Kyon is actually the one with the godlike powers. Its something that occurred to me reading the first chapter. All the things Haruhi wants to believe in Kyon believed in once also things always seem to happen around HIM and Haruhi is a conduit of his powers.
This theory while plausible is something I'm not sure I want to happen since it would reduce Haruhi's role even more.
2. Tsuraya is actually Haruhi. Or to be more specific, Tsuraya is Haruhi from the future, fully aware of her powers and thus travels back in time to serve as a 'guide' for the Brigade. I mean, Tsuraya getting on really well with Haruhi and her penchant for liking Asahina a LOT and her conveniently owning almost everything Haruhi or her group requires? Verrry suspicious.
3. Tsuraya is a 'slider' the final ingredient to complete Haruhi's brigade.
4. Itsuki would end up betraying the brigade.
5. Somehow Haruhi will learn the Secret (this time not as an alternate reality version but the real Haruhi) and miraculously, the world does not end.
One thing's for sure I can't wait to read what happens next.
x-posted: dreamwidth
