melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 8
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In the spirit of this episode, I had to fake a haruhigasm this week.
Continuing from episode 6, the island murder arc comes to a disappointing close. We start off with the gang confronted with the dead body, and we see a shivering Mikuru-run. Burn that image into your eyes, because that’s Mikuru’s high point of the episode. Anyway, they go through the motions of declaring K1 dead, and they note that the window was locked with no signs of forced entry.
Haruhi starts to unravel the mystery by acquiring a few facts: K1 and his brother were feuding, and the younger brother is no longer present. Haruhi also overhead the brother making plans for a getaway the previous night. That makes him prime suspect number one. The two want to further CSI the crime scene, but the butler cockblocks them saying that it’s best to leave it to the police. He also reveals that he and the meido are just here part time.
(This is the second clue of this episode, and Kyoto does a quickie Kyon montage to highlight this fact. Of course, since the previous half aired two weeks ago, we probably forgotten about the significance of this fact. Maybe that’s why they put a frickin’ extra week in between and distracted us with fumoffu giddiness. I’m convinced.)
Mori the Meido confirms that she saw the younger brother take off the previous night, and Itsuki and Haruhi go out into the typhoon to check if the boat is still there. The two detectives brave the elements and see that the boat is indeed gone. However, something or someone catches Haruhi’s eye, and the two try to climb down the sea wall, only Haruhi slips and tumbles down like 30 feet with Kyon. I’m amazed that Kyon didn’t suffer any broken bones there, and I’m even more amazed at their lack of judgement. “Hey, there’s a typhoon… there’s 100kph winds… we’re wearing only T-shirts and shorts and woefully unprepared… let’s try to climb down this narrow, treacherous path!”
Then the two dry their clothes/hash out the case in a nearby cave. Haruhi coyfully goes along with it when Kyon suggests that they use body heat to keep each other warm. ;) Speaking of body heat, Haruhi revels that when she touched K1’s dead body, it was warm, so he couldn’t have been dead long. If the younger brother did kill him, the timing would not have been right. She tosses out the theory that he stabbed K1 but didn’t kill him. Instead, the younger brother freaks out and runs aways leaving K1 badly injured. K1 then gets up but falls over, impaling himself on the knife and delivering the deathblow. There’s only a big problem: no killer lolis were involved. Actually, he was found face up, so there’s no way he could have impaled himself. Haruhi then enters Seed mode for a second, then she goes into Melancholy Haruhi mode and wants to give up the case. No fun.
Kyon then goes to the kitchen where he loli heists his sister. (I’m guessing Kyoto was thinking that people would be too busy moeing at the heist to realize the next clue. Think chopsticks.) After Kyon returns to his room with Itsuki, he reveals the “truth”… that Haruhi’s theory is mostly right, only that he, Itsuki, and the butler killed K1 when they burst through the door with K1 leaning against it. Uh-oh. (For this to be true, you’d think you’d hear a loud, “AAAAAAAARGH!”) Anyway, to cover his tracks, Kyon decides to bribe Itsuki with some hawt sex kill Itsuki. Meanwhile, no killer lolis to be seen. Not a one.
Afterwards, Kyon’s little sister distracts everyone by saying that Itsuki’s been brutally killed, and Haruhi and Kyon use this opportunity to make it look like K1 was killed by the younger brother in a vicious attack. And that causes K1 to stand up and fess up. Will the real Slim Shady please stand up and put one of those fingers on each hand up? It’s all a game, courtesy of Itsuki.
They’re all in Itsuki’s association, and they have been putting up a show for everyone, mainly to keep Haruhi entertained. Then Haruhi breaks it down for everyone Phoenix Wright-style, only no one seems to care.
In any case, grade yourself:
Kyouya-class if you figured it out during episode 6. Remember Haruhi’s “feint” when they were going to K1’s room? That was the first clue. I don’t think anyone pointed this out previously, with Skane the closest with “She didn’t know what room it was.” The problem was that we were so focused on Haruhi, we didn’t ask the right question… it’s not about Haruhi but about Itsuki instead. “Why did Itsuki know where the room is?” True, it’s not foolproof evidence, but it was a big hint.
Honey-class if you figured it out by noticing the prestine condition everything was in. I was distracted by Mikuru-run shivering to pay any attention to the surroundings… honestly, if they really, really wanted to trick us, they should have had Mikuru-run up and moeing the whole episode like if her luggage gets stolen so she has to run around in just her bathing suit. Or have her cowering and terrified with Kyon’s sister. Then we’d lose all ability to decipher the clues (first AoMM link to the BBC! Huzzah!).
Mori-class if you figured it out when the butler said that he was only working there recently, since Itsuki seemed to know him when they first met in the previous episode. If he really did start working recently, why is Itsuki so familiar with him?
Hikaru/Kaoru-class if you figured it out when Kyon notices that one of the lunch plates have been eaten. There was silverware on the plate, but in the previous episode, when they were eating dinner, only K1 used silverware. Everyone else used chopsticks.
Tamaki-class if you didn’t figure it out until the end.
Only the mysterious person whom Haruhi thought she saw isn’t solved… the real killer is loose! I think the episode should have left off with a newspaper fluttering by a few days later with the heading “MURDER AT ISLAND MANSION” with a picture of either Rena or OJ Simpson next to it (though I think Ayu is still the real killer). That would have been perfect. Anyway, disappointing episode, if only because Kyon wasn’t sacrastic, Haruhi was in her Melancholy Mode (Genki Haruhi >> Melancoly Haruhi), and Mikuru/Yuki had bit roles. And, of course, the complete and utter lack of killer lolis. Not even the great Phoenix Wright could have saved the day.
The SOS Brigade Awesomeness Index
DOWN Phoenix Wright… sorry, just inappropriate homage when they teased us with Higurashi. I expected better from Kyoto Animation. The problem isn’t that Phoenix Wright isn’t well known… it’s just that there could be better homages done, like some OJ joke. Higurashi would have been fine too. Couldn’t they at least give us Kyon’s sister walking down the hall holding a big machete and the head of Colonel Sander’s? Is this too much to ask? Though, the best homage would be a set of light bulbs that periodically turned on as the episode churned. Then, in the end, after all the bulbs turned on, it would be revealed that Itsuki has no penis who the real murderer is.
(Side note: scientists are now one step closer to creating an artificial penis.)
UP Haruhi and Kyon in a cave… I was rooting for Haruhi to jump poor Kyon in the cave, and she didn’t. At least Arika tried when she was stuck with Mr Wong. Oh, well, there’s something for everyone. Either Kyon’s hawt bod for the ladies and untraditional males or the camera lingering on Haruhi’s bra or her ample thighs for the guys and untraditional females. Nonetheless, why is Haruhi facing away from Kyon? Doesn’t she change irregardless of the men around? Or is she suddenly becoming more modest?
UP and DOWN Darmok and Jilad at Tanagra… while Kyon earned some points with Haruhi, there was just absolutely no tension between him and her in the cave. I’m disappointed. Even Cagali and Athrun had more sexual tension, and they were trying to kill each other.
UP Worried Haruhi… very cute Haruhi and infinitely better than Mikuru looking like she’s constipated when she was fidgeting in bed.
DOWN Kyon’s sarcasm… absent this episode. Normally, Mikuru could have salvaged things, but, sadly…
DOWN Lack of Mikuru-run… like Haruhi trying to deduce the murderer, I was trying to deduce why the episode was not up to par… well… Asahina-san was only in it for 30 seconds and had half a line. I’m positive that’s why. Looking back at the previous episodes, Mikuru always brought something to the table, and now that she didn’t, the show drags a bit. Let’s go over Mikuru’s contributions to the series:
One: All about BEAM ATTACK!
Two: The classic busty moe lolita line.
Three: Bunny girl Mikuru plus the “ruined for marriage” line.
Four: Cheerleader Mikuru? Cowering Mikuru? Win.
Five: Debut of Meido Mikuru and “day-to ja nai!”
Six: Terrified Mikuru.
Seven: Asahina-san lower body exercises.
What do we get in 8? Mikuru fainting and doing zilch the rest of the episode. It’s like Kobe shooting zero times in the second half of a game seven. WTF? Whenever Haruhi or Kyon stumble and have an off-segment, Mikuru is usually there to save the day with her moeness. She can’t if she’s frickin’ unconscious. And Yuki didn’t do much either… she’s the big X-factor for the series. While Haruhi, Kyon, and Mikuru are known quantities, Yuki can really swing an episode from great to haruhigasmic very quickly, like how she did in seven.
(The “let us in!” joke was a bit forced. When Haruhi walked out originally and gave Yuki her instruction, you knew that was coming. It’s kinda like if suddenly Honoka has an emo facial distortion in The Third, you just know I’m going to toss up a post for it.)
UP Keeping Haruhi busy… so far, both Itsuki and Yuki have hatched plots to keep Haruhi busy and not bored. I wonder what Mikuru has planned? (Though I’m dying to see this “Kyon sends Mikuru back 8 days in time” story animated as well as the “Vanishing of Haruhi Suzumiya” arc… seems promising… sigh, why can’t they kill off Ayu instead?)
DOWN Episode skipping… you tell the new puppy to stop pooping in the living room, and she just did it again. You know that face? Well, I had that face going when I saw the next episode preview.
(I’m still convinced they inserted episode 7 just to make us forget about episode 6. If you wanted the two back-to-back, the clues become much easier to figure out.)
UP Being full of yourself… an AoMM specialty!
UP Loli theft… epidemic levels! They need to get Detective Haruhi on this ASAP.
DOWN Plot contrivance… when you’re trying to play dead, it’s actually quite hard. Lying down like that, you still need to breathe… so wouldn’t they notice that he’s not dead because his chest would be compressing/decompressing with each breath? Besides that, that is waaaay too little blood for being stabbed in the heart. You’d think it’ll gush out a bit more.
Also, did Itsuki fabricate the storm also? Wouldn’t has plans have gone out the window if the storm never occured? Or did he pay off Yurie-sama?
DOWN Ace and Gary… when Kyon returned to his room with Itsuki, and the two were sitting very close to each other, I was very afraid that something would happen. And I’m not talking about killer lolis showing up with machetes.
33 Responses to “melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 8”
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Hey its Damrok and Jalad at Tanagra, in regards to spelling mistakes “Sokath, his eyes uncovered.”
I guess I am under the Mori class. Imouto-san picking up Mikuru’s apology mannersisms surely derseves mention though hopefully when the series is viewed in order the experience will be less jarring.
Besides Yuki must be scowling for a reason, since she has access to all sorts of information perhaps she saw something that we did not. Mikuru was probably having bad dreams though I am very curious as to what she was having nightmares about. Haruhi’s concern mode begs the question on what major event caused her treat Kyon better than a mere potato, the Baseball game hinted at it with a Haruhi-sama smile now we have her as Goddess of Mercy…
Wait with ep 14 coming up does that mean we’ll see Kyon and Haruhi’s day-to?
Speaking of Bishi deductive capacity classes I am suprised you have not created a post more of the twin meido of Ouran who are dedicated to strings as bathing suits.
About the lack of Yuki…
Why the hell does Kyon even bother to question the lying knave that is Izumi?
Had Kyon asked Yuki “Who do you think is the murder?”, the entire case will be closed. I know we won’t have a story that way, but still… I want Kyon to respect Yuki more. Yuki isn’t furniture, she is a member of the SOS brigade. Even if it IS her life’s purpose to observe and do nothing, it doesn’t mean Yuki enjoy being left out of the conversation.
Especially since, by this stage of the story, Kyon is indebted to her. Yuki deserved better.
Here’s a transcription of what James and I said about this episode, which I in my stupidity forgot to post.
[23:50] Dave: Anyway
[23:50] Dave: Haruhi
[23:50] Dave: Man I like how the narrator is always angry at Haruhi, and then bam disaster strikes and he steps up
[23:51] James: yeah
[23:51] James: “the absence of anything suspicious is what makes this suspicious!”
[23:51] James: is the best line ever
[23:51] Dave: He complains about the closed circle thing, and then snap, stuff happens and bam, he’s all business
[23:51] Dave: Seriously though
[23:52] Dave: My prediction is that it’s all a charade
[23:52] Dave: That the esper planned, because Haruhi wasn’t getting a crazy mystery
Hmm… some comments, derived from other blogs that I have read.
..) It was speculated that they delayed this episode so that it was coincide with the anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle( author of Sherlock Holmes, 22nd May). Note that Haruhi made a Watson comment to Kyon towards the end.
If this is really true, and KyoAni actually PLANNED this, it would be the win on so many levels.
..) It was commented that Kyon’s bug-eyed mode( after Itsuki’s comment that they were the killers) was a homage to Higurashi. Highly debatable, but possible.
..) It was also speculated that Haruhi’s shyness in the cave was an indication that she no longer saw Kyon as a potato.
..) I figured it out when Haruhi tried to take Keichii’s pulse and was stopped by the Butler. That was… too blatant a clue. The Butler mentioning their temporary employment was another giveaway. I admit cluenessless on the following though,
i. Itsuki knowing the room
ii. The silverware
~~~~ ~~~~
Scenes that I liked in this episode,
..) Haruhi’s panicked look when calling out to Kyon. Oh if it only wasn’t raining… we could have seen whether she was tearing up. Hmm… moe Haruhi.
..) Kyon’s paranoia of Yuki. “Yuki did this! Yuki did that! And if it wasn’t her, it could have been!”
..) Kyon’s unleashing his dark side against Itsuki. Just look at his eyes…
~~~~ ~~~~
Things that made me go, “Huh?”.
..) Itsuki’s fascination with Kyon’s mole. I mean, really. KyoAni is giving lots of fodder for fangirls to work with, and as a guy, that thought scares me.
Just LOOK at the way KyoAni animates Itsuki’s stares, glances, wistful looks, etc… at Kyon. They could have taken the series down a VERY different route if it had been titled, “The Melancholy of Itsuki Koizumi”.
..) The Red Herring of the girl on the boat. Just who the heck was her? She got more screentime in that episode, than Mikuru had in this episode.
~~~~ ~~~~
Cheers.
Looks like Jason has gotten tired of the Haruhism ATM, at least the dreaded Kanon wasn’t somehow involved in this case….
It’s the mid-series slump – and for a slump it’s still better than the other series.
I guessed right with the fake murder thing – though, personally I think they should have squeezed this into one episode though that would be detrimental to the HaruhixKyon character development that this two-parter delivered – a development which will probably hit the all-time high with what looks like the HaruhixKyon ‘dai-to’ episode next week- an episode skip that I agree with – can’t have a wacky series end on a lovey-dovey note.
How could you not ‘gasm at the sound of Haruhi saying “Wattoson-kun!” ?! I melted…
I wonder why Yuki ended her “joke” when Kyon stepped up and ordered the door be opened.
If haruhi was god, then yuki who just disobeyed god, had just obeyed a mere mortal instead!
Perhaps Kyon > haruhi?
Its well worth noting that Haruhi has NEVER actually defied Kyon when he laid down the line on something. He doesn’t do it much, but she folds INSTANTLY.
Sacrilege! But it does beg the question of whether Kyon’s orders are capable of overriding Haruhi’s? XD
the Kyon > Haruhi theorem makes sense, since Yuki’s mission is waiting for Kyon instead of Haruhi (though *ultimately* it’s for Haruhi), plus Yuki actually prefer Kyon to anyone else (well enough to preserve his memories).
As a novel reader, I figure out the scene’s setting way before any clues comes up. And for Kyouya-class reasoning, a potential flaw is that Haruhi DOES know where the room is ? Because remember the pillows she snatchs, Itsuki said in ep6 “she grabs them from the second floor” (in UK it is 1st floor but whatever). She could deduce the master’s room without entry (since it’s the only entering forbidden room)
I think a big clue is the bulter stops Haruhi from feeling K1’s pulse.
& as a side note, Phoenix Wright is not the only one they have parodied, in my opinion, http://blog.ticktag.org/wp-ima.....snow01.jpg
ARRR… I regreted, the scene was on the thrid floor, Itsuki must been looking closely to stop Haruhi from entering the crime scene…
Then I wonder why Itsuki mention that in ep6 …
kyon’s mole…mikuru’s mole…neck…boob…must find mole on haruhi’s ass…or kyoani just likes moles.
episode 7 with kyon hinting that yuki staged the emblem corruption, was hint that death was staged imo.
kyon simply rivals rena’s observative skills.
These are the things that gave me the answer:
1. In ep 6, Itsuki kept talking about how Haruhi wished for a murder-mystery. It looked like everyone on that island were either Itsuki’s relatives or people he knows, and he was happily talking about how Haruhi wants someone to get murdered? Obviously something is wrong there.
2. If he doesn’t engineer some kind of murder-mystery game for Haruhi to play detective with, someone might really die, and it would be Itsuki’s fault.
3. When his relative does appear to die (and again it would be Itsuki’s fault), Itsuki didn’t seem to show too much remorse.
Of course, all of this only works if Itsuki has a conscience.
I also thought that there was too little blood, but that could just be a mistake of the animation studio.
The only reason I wasn’t too sure about all this was because I didn’t understand the purpose of that girl (with a big hat) in the beginning of ep 6. I kept wondering how she figures into all this, but it seems that she was just there to distract me.
From Blacktail’s post on WannabeForums,
Another Phoenix Wright picture
Just saw Higurashi ep 8 raw. I was thinking you should use the Killer Loli SOS Brigade Chances of Survival … err, I mean Awesomeness Index there too when you blog that ep.
Here’s another crazy theory from me.
Haruhi made the world revolve around Kyon. Why? I don’t have a clue. That might explain why Haruhi gets submissive when Kyon tells her to toe the line. If you;d want to make someone happy, you’d do pretty much EVERYTHING to keep him/her happy. And since Haruhi is the female representation of God…
You get the picture.
Why isn’t Haruhi’s shirt / underwears soaked to show some degrees of translucency? :)
Becuase you touch yourself at night.
But seriously, we’re talking TV here. We can’t show any goddamned nipples, can we?
A couple of thoughts about this ep:
1) I wonder if Haruhi’s power manifested to get this “happy ending”… So when Kyon and Itsuki debate about the shadow Haruhi saw, at the end of the ep, maybe they got it wrong: there actually was another man (the murderer), and then in the cave Haruhi rewrote reality (the “shazam!” distortion). The weird Itsuki answer on Kyon’s question about how Itsuki swore that the Agency wasn’t implied in the trip also give credit to this idea (“I couldn’t possibly have told you the truth now, could I?”)
2) As someone notated on Animesuki, right before Haruhi and Kyon fall to the ledge, there is a tilt-up view, and the cliff is completly smooth… (around 8:00 in the subs)
All in all I now think it was a good ep, with even more interesting details than usual.
> Becuase you touch yourself at night.
“Now that you know, it would be best to have you killed…” -Kyon ;)
> But seriously, we’re talking TV here.
> We can’t show any goddamned nipples, can we?
Come on, she’s wearing her bra et. al. So we should be able to see everything legal other than nipples and…
Right? :)
I figured it out when I saw that he got stabbed through a book.
1. I wish people would stop being silly puppies and whimpering about the episode order. Episodes out of order is a definite plus for this series. Just lie back and enjoy it.
2. Yes, too little Mikuru. But the faint was so golden it makes up in quality for the lack of quantity.
3. I figured it out (or at least saw the possibility) when braincraft did.
4. I liked this ep better than part one of the mystery. The animation and Haruhi’s softening raised it for me to the usual high level.
5. Yes, I’m full of myself, too. Glad to be in good company.
I kinda agree with Seyluun in:
> and then in the cave Haruhi rewrote reality
> (the “shazam!†distortion).
’cause until now, NOTHING in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu has been random or Otome-like. Everything has had a purpose so far and I believe this one could mean that the reality just “rewrote itself” as Yuki has pointed out it’s the ablity of haruhi.
Also I agree with hashihime in the episode order thing. I like it, that’s how it is. I know it must be a pain for the novel readers but I see it as if it was a Tarantino movie. And as I said, everything in haruhi has had a purpose so far.
btw, sorry for my english, I talk spanish.
Another funny thing I just spotted. At 0:40 in the subs, when they are checking the body, Yuki almost close the door and seems to check its back. Maybe she instantly made the reasoning explained at the end by Haruhi, and is checking for a dent…
In the end I really like this ep, i discover a new thing each time I watch it.
I’m basically fine with the episode skipping too, but I do wish they had put Mysterique Sign first instead of in the middle of Remote Island Syndrome. If you read between the lines, it explains why Yuki played along with Itsuki (and her “joke”) in a way more natural and convincing than the novel did. But there’s no reason to interrupt the story just to point that out.
I’m also a little disappointed that they’re framing the season around the first book, with a lengthy intermission in the middle. Personally, I don’t think the end of the first novel works particularly well as an end to the series, though it is the closest thing to a conventional climax. I’d rather see the series end on a quieter, “life goes on” note than with action or wacky hijinx.
Well, the Phoenix Wright montage is one I actually liked, especially making Itsuki act the part of Misturugu (Edgeworth)… and more appropriate than the OJ reference, since I doubt that was big news in Japan, whereas Gyakuten Saiban is more well known as being one of the first and only of its genre (lawyer games)… and the dramatics suit Haruhi particularly well.
It was either that or Sherlocke Holmes, and I think that’s been ripped off once too many times…
What do you mean there was no sexual tension in the cave? Haruhi’s fingers on her braw strap – hesitating as she decided whether or not to take it off – were absolutly delicious.
Anyways, I figured it out last episode too or at least it being a fake was what I thought the most likely explanation was. Mostly its just that a real murder doesn’t fit in with the tone of the stories so I can’t claim to be a genius or anything. I was half expecting the guy to stand up and announce it was just a joke in the first 5 minutes of the episode, but seeing the butler prevent them from checking the wound confirmed my suspicions.
Has someone noticed that in episode 8, when Haruhi and Kyon holding hands… Haruhi’s hand look like a mans hands… guess its hard to draw female hands…
Hard to not call the writer of this post a moron, since he choose to judge the quality of an episode by the amount of fanservice in it. I don’t want to all him shallow, but I also don’t want to call him anything else
DOWN Ace and Gary… when Kyon returned to his room with Itsuki, and the two were sitting very close to each other, I was very afraid that something would happen. And I’m not talking about killer lolis showing up with machetes.
I liked that scene though. Clearly for the girls (not just fangirls, hahah). Haruhi has enough of fanservice for the girls and guys. (And I think Haruhi/Mikuru scene is more extreme than Kyon/Itsuki, as she Haruhi goes all physical on her?)