melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 13
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Fourteen minutes of Itsuki, nine minutes of Haruhi, one minute of Yuki, and absolutely zero Mikuru.
All of the explaination that would have been useful ten episodes ago is presented now. Only, since we’ve seen the outcome, none of it is really surprising… or useful. Episode 13 continues after episode 10, which left off with Haruhi excited that Ryoko transferred and dragging Kyon off like a sterotypical caveman with a cavewoman. Only Haruhi is the caveman.
Haruhi and Kyon (just the two of them… alone) go visit Ryoko’s apartment (surprise, same as Yuki’s!), where Haruhi wants to investigate for clues. The apartment is cleaned out, so Haruhi changes course and interrogates the landlord, who tells her that he doesn’t know much about Ryoko… only that she moved in three (!) years ago, and that she paid for everything with a lump sum of cash. Then the landlord starts hitting on Haruhi. Good times! I was hoping that she would drop kick him, but alas.
Upon leaving the apartment, the two bump into Yuki, and Haruhi notices that Yuki’s glasses are missing. Yuki warns Kyon, “Kiwotsukete.” And that’s it for Yuki this episode. At this point, Haruhi has lost all her peppiness from the end of episode 10, and she definitely looks down. She suddenly opens up to Kyon, telling him why she is only interested in aliens, time travelers, and espers. When she was about to enter middle school (about three years ago), she went to a baseball game with her parents, and she saw a sea of people (“squirming grains of rice”). This made her realize how insignificant she was. Not only that, it shattered the happy knowledge of her world… she thought that she was special and unique and so were the people around them. No, she, her parents, and her classmates were just like any other person on the planet.
(Off-topic: I remember having a similar feeling of un-uniqueness when I was growing up. I think everyone had a moment like what Haruhi had… but what makes everyone different and really unique… which Haruhi is finally realizing, is not what we do, but defined by the people we meet. Nothing feels quite as unique as the first time being in love… and that’s something special.)
Haruhi then goes on to explain how she decided to change in middle school (three years ago) because “nothing fun will happen if you sit around waiting… I’m not a girl content with sitting around and waiting.” The funny thing is, of course, is that the entire SOS Brigade sits around waiting for Haruhi to instigage the “fun.” Like Futurama, most of the plots are driven by either The Professor or Haruhi bursting into the room going, “Good news everyone! [I invented a ‘What-If’ machine!] [I signed us up for a baseball tournament!]”
Haruhi, with her soliloquy, gets across her feelings of, well, existentialism pretty well. “Nothing ever happened. Before I knew it, I was in high school. I thought something would change.” Then she crosses the tracks and leaves. Kyon tosses in a few thoughts, but I think Haruhi’s words and body language is strong enough and needed to be left alone… kinda like an Iron Chef letting his ingrediants speak for themselves and not owerpower them with garnishes. Kyon was an unnecessary garnish. I think if Kyon didn’t think his, “How do I fill this silence?” life until after Haruhi left it would have had more impact. It was quite poignant nonetheless.
(Of course, I enjoyed how Kyon stared at Haruhi’s ass when she left.)
(Also, why did they cross the tracks… then backtrack across them? Symbolism? Am I thinking too much?)
After he returns home, he finds Itsuki stalking waiting stalking him. Itsuki had promised back in episode 5 that he would show Kyon his powers (and I’m glad these powers didn’t involve anyone’s pants). They go for a long cab ride, and Itsuki talks about things way over my head. The gist is: Haruhi is God. (God Knows, after all!) She created this world three years ago, and they could possibly in an eternal loop for all they know. But what else they know is that Haruhi is a rational actor. Even though she desires aliens, time travelers, and espers, her rational side doesn’t allow it. That’s why even though they exist, she doesn’t notice. Again, so dark the con of Haruhi.
According the Itsuki, the world has been fairly calm the past few years, but recently Haruhi has started up again. The blame? Kyon’s idea for the SOS Brigade. To show Kyon the consequences, he takes him into closed space.
(During the taxi ride, since Itsuki was beyond my level of comprehension, I was paying attention to the passing cars and wondering if Kyoto blew a chance to include a cameo from TSR‘s l33t van. I’m disappointed in them.)
Then there’s a very uncomfortable scene where Itsuki takes Kyon into closed space. If I knew someone who enjoyed talking too close to my face, would I close my eyes and hold hands with him?
Inside closed space, Itsuki explains that it’s kinda like Shakugan no Shana‘s fuuzetsu, and he compares it to a “pimple, and I’m the cure.” This analogy is even too much for me. Also lurking in closed space are these huge giants that seem to be ripped from Princess Mononoke, and the danger is if left unchecked, the closed space could expand and devour the world, and when that happens, the world will cease to exsist. (Of course, if the world ends, Mikuru wouldn’t be possible, so we kinda know one outcome already.) Itsuki then takes off and battles it with his friends in the least action-packed battle sequence this anime has to offer, and rejoins Kyon. The two then watch a romantic sunset the closed space re-integrating with the real world together.
The episode ends with Kyon saying that he didn’t know at that time what would await for him tomorrow. I hope he has breath mints!
The SOS Brigade Awesomeness Index
DOWN DOWN DOWN Mikuru… or lack there of. Even when Yuki didn’t have a line, she was at least in the episode. Episode 13? Nope. Nada. Zilch. How is this even remotely acceptable? Who are the wizards who thought of this? Heads will roll! I demand my weekly dose of Mikuru-run, especially if there’s only one week left! (This is literally 20 times worse than Cagali not appearing in the original Gundam Seed Destiny 50). Why couldn’t they walk past some random apartment, Kyon peaks inside, sees a changing Mikuru? Too much to ask for? My blood pressure is rising… breathing exercises… breathing exercises…
UP Reverse foreshadowing… when Haruhi decided that she was insignificant and wanted to change and make her life more unique and exciting… that was three years ago… at a baseball game. Maybe this was why she didn’t want to lose earlier. Then when she was interviewing Ryoko’s landlord, Kyon makes the, “Hey, maybe she should be a detective” aside. Since we saw the end result before the foreshadowing done… I have no clue why did they did this way. Still puzzles me. (Yes, I’m familiar with all the theories… I’m just waiting for Kyoto to come out and say it.)
UP Aya Hirano… A+ on Haruhi’s soliloquy.
UP Haruhi… normal Haruhi ain’t bad. I loved her random, “Do you know how pathetic and insignificant your life is on this planet?” Then she, of think skin and wall, just opens up to Kyon about her boredom and attempts to spice up life. Kinda disarming when taken into perspective of how closed off she is normally. This does seem to indicate that Kyon is becoming more important to her…
UP Kyon… ample sarcasm, but given his copious amount of screentime and lack of screentime for Mikuru, he better deliver the goods. I was worried when he got into the car with Itsuki… very worried if you get my drift. (If you don’t, don’t worry. Not important. Not important at all.) And what was he thinking in the beginning? “I’m now living out my dream… I wonder why I’m not happy.”
DOWN Itsuki… his face was too close. Honestly, Itsuki is best in short, controlled doses. Not for fourteen straight minutes without any Mikuru cleavage recess periods. My head felt like it was going to explode trying to understand his technobaubble.
DOWN “Open the gate!”… so the whole premise of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is quickly boiling down to Gatekeepers. So when Haruhi gets unbalanced, she creates these closed spaces and this monster inside rampages and expands the closed space. When the closed space gets big enough, the world will end because the world will become closed space. Itsuki and his Merry Friends are the only people who can stop them. (If Haruhi can destroy Earth, she can probably destroy the whole universe, which begs the question why Yuki’s faction isn’t doing anything. Then there’s the question of what is Mikuru’s faction doing… oh, wait… she wasn’t in this episode. OTL.)
The whole setup reminds me of the early Gonzo series Gatekeepers, where the evil in the hearts of men turn them into these zombie shiftshaping creatures (they’re called “aliens” in Gatekeepers, but in Gatekeepers 21 it’s revealed that they’re the dark side of humanity), and the only people who stop them are Gatekeepers who open gates to this world where these creatures also draw their power, but from the good portion. So the good Gatekeepers try to stop the bad ones. I have no idea where I’m going with this tangent… oh, yes… Itsuki jump serving fireballs or flying around in a DBZ-class energy circle is nowhere as awesome as Ruriko lifting up her miniskirt to grab arrows.
UP Toyota Prius… random cameo.
UP “So dark the con of Haruhi”… I talked about how Haruhi is the only one who isn’t in on the happenings before, and, hey, we’re given a quasi-logical explaination (sorry if I seem a bit bitter this post… lack of Mikuru makes me unhappy). Apparently, Haruhi has a common sense logic block that overrides her wish for espers, time travelers, and aliens. Even though she wished for them, she also knows that they can’t rationally exist, hence why she doens’t notice the three low level peons in her club.
UP 美人… sadly, out of the four pantheon-class ones (Haruhi-Mikuru-LOL FANG-TAN-Ryoko) in Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, only one makes it into this episode. Still, what other anime can challenge Haruhi Suzumiya for its 美人 factor? School Rumble?
UP Loli Haruhi… um, for her mannerisms. Loved how she crosses her arms like Teen Haruhi. Megalomania at such a young age! Yet, she seems so… lifeless… but so kawaii! Cuter loli… imouto or Haruhi?
UP Wi-Fi Hotspots and some planning… nothing to do with the episode itself, per say.
DOWN Screenshots… not much eye candy this episode. Just not the same without Mikuru.
DOWN One… as in episode left. SOS Brigade 4ever.
68 Responses to “melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 13”
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If KyoAni doesn’t go for a 2nd season after Kanon, Heads will certainly Roll.
Then again, (Someone shoot me now) I don’t want a second season. Because people will expect too much of it. The reason of Haruhi’s success was a sudden uplift of “whoa! What the hell is this? It’s genius!” that spur it’s fandom. There was no set expectation for Haruhi, heck like most people, slipped under our noses until episode 2. Now that its explosion of fans has been established, they’ll expect more from the next season. I’m afraid people will begin to bash it because it cannot compare to the first one.
Then again, I craved for it.
Oh yeah, RORI HARUHI FTW. It’s a fight between Imouto and Loli Haruhi now! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME KYOANI?
I don’t think so Kozumura. FMP TSR was a 2nd (3rd?) season too and it was far better than the first, but well, it was KyoAni.
Despite the lack of Mikuru, I liked this episode, it gives another layer of interesting depth to the series and a message. Also, the “down” points are normal in a chapter just before the end. I really hope (Even when everybody knows what means the “Sleep Beauty” clue) that KyoAni surprises us, maybe they will.
I don’t think the crossing the tracks thing meant anything, Haruhi just suddenly decided to go home which was in the opposite direction.
If she hadn’t gone into her melancholic spiel she would have just dragged Kyon of only Haruhi knows where instead of taking her ball and going home.
They WERE “aliens” in the original Gatekeepers, which is why it was such a shock when someone turned out to be an invader. It was during the time inbetween Gatekeepers and Gatekeepers 21 that humans began turning into invaders. Ayane mentions this in GK21. You’re kind of reaching with the Gatekeepers tangent. There are probably better comparisons out there in the “Only certain people can save the world by drawing upon the same powers that could destroy it” cliche.
Very talky episode, which is kinda disappointing but not unexpected. Internal monologues in novels don’t generally translate well onto the silver screen unless it is delivered masterfully by the actors.
If KyoAni somehow manages to cram in a loli-Haruhi-in-a-duffel-bag appearance in the next season, I’ll personally go down to their studio and thank them for making my day/year/century.
my 2 cents on guessing on Haruhi walked across the track.
***maybcontian some minor spoiler from novel***
In the novel, Kyon say that after Haruhi finshed her long speech, her face expression was like a person that have say something, then reget that they ahve say it. Also note Kyon say that Haruhi turn around and that expression seem like she say “don’t follow me”. Well this fit well for her to walk back the track, a rail track is a cross way, a gate, now a get with a no enter sign.
As for KyoAni doing a 2nd season or not, I am wishing they do, but I am not too sure they will. From this season seem like they avoided the long stories form the Novel on propose, if this is true then there really isn’t much left (atleast not for a 14ep season) of contian left to work on, that is unless we wait for the next novel 9. Sigh…. novel 8 just came out not long ago, I don’t think the next one will be out in another 1/2 year…
heh… when the old apartment manager mentioned that kyon shouldn’t let her get away, i immediately wondered what adult haruhi would look like, in a bunny suit…..
and then i added adult mikuru in a bunny suit, and it got quite good :D
too much itsuki!!!! less man love, pls!!
The episode was quite spectacular for its almost GiTS: SAC explanation mode. But still, indeed, I personally have felt the way Haruhi does. Many, many, many times.
Big ups for the writers on this one. And Aya Hirano. My love for her grows more.
This theory popped into my mind. If all the members of the SOS-Brigade reflect a part of Haruhi’s personality, like Itsuki does, then perhaps Kyon is her rational side; which may explain why even though he’s set as the lowest ranking member in SOS, he’s the most important to her.
Also, I think the train tracks do have symbolism. Most likely how Haruhi brought Kyon to her side of the tracks, is how she brough him into her way of seeing things, obviously brought on by the monologue. When she walks back though, she’s abandoning that side of her in favor of her dreams and such, which is shown throughout the rest of the series.
Technically, I think of this episode as a episode 9. Save the budget and the goods for a climatic episode.
Having read the translation of the first novel, I am sure we gonna be delivered.
Should there be another season, I can see chapters like Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Snow Mountain Syndrom, The Melancholy of Mikuru Asahina AND the fourth novel to be ported. And this speculation is coming from reading a spoiler-heavy post in animesuki.
If it happen to come true, yeah we may see more Mikuru.
I did some research during Itsuki’s talk and basically he’s saying “The universe only exsists because we, as humans, recognise its exsistence.” Sorta like a “cogito ergo sum” thing, except this is about the universe, and the only person doing the recognising is Haruhi. What the clown comment boils down to is that if they don’t amuse the creator, they would all die. In short, if Haruhi dislikes the current world enough to want it to stop exsisting, it would.
Young Haruhi is win. Who’s cuter, Imouto-san or young Haruhi? Would Haruhi in a duffle bag be better than Imouto-san? Someone make a comparison!
Haruhi crossed back across the track because that was the direction she lives in, since they weren’t on their way home before, but on a stroll because Haruhi was feeling melancholic. I don’t think there’s more to it than that.
I like this episode’s preview. First, Kyon says “See you”, and then they start saying random things that doesn’t make any sense at all, like they know they won’t get a chance to do previews anymore so they’re saying goodbye and trying to get as much stuff in as possible. Props to KyoAni for paying so much attention even to a preview.
Is Haruhi’s “My SOS Dan will never die” a clue to the possibilty of a second season or simple megalomania? Only time will tell.
Hmm… I have faith in KyoAni’s ability to make a good sequel. If they can do it for ‘Full Metal Panic!‘ I believe they can do it for ‘Suzumiya Haruhi‘.
I mean… they did show all those ‘extras’ in the OP and ED( reindeer Kyon and X’mas hotpot)… and the bamboo shoots in their clubroom… and this… and that. It would be exceedingly cruel of them to tease us with such tidbits and not do a follow-up.
Not to mention that I soooo want them to do the Yuki-centric storyline. :)
“**** for ever” thinggy probably was started by final episode of Uruseiyatsura ( ep. 218 ) where its episode title ended with the line, ” We are to be forever. ” It is a common line denoting its claim to enternal fame. Itsuki has mentioned the Anthropic Principle, which I mentioned various times. The tenet of anthropic principle requires an observer who can see everything in as truthful detail as possible. In this view, the one who is doing the observing is not Haruhi, who is turning blind-eye to half the reality of her world, but it is the narrator, Kyon, who experiences all the essetial facts of this Haruhiverse as far as his limited intellect allows. The term ‘cogito ergo sum’ can be considered as earliest example of anthropic principle, but while anthropic principle is more of astrophysics concept, ‘cogito’ is more of phenomenolism and philosophy. Wikipedia has good condensed explanations of these concepts and I encourage you all to check them out.
It is clear that the writer of this novel is a serious intellectual for so many references to topics that requires some indepth studying in philosophy. Haruhi’s melancholy and her reaction reminds me of many writings of Albert Camus. Since many of Camus’s writings were popular during my college days of 80s in Korea and Japan, I would not be surprised if the writers read many of those books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Camus
no mikuru in this episode? so i unzipped for nothing?
Already got tired from looking too deep into the comments ….
I doubt Koizumi’s long speech is at all necessary at this stage … it reminds me of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Anthropic principle, Fine-Tuned Universe, Intelligent Designer, etc … Yet not analysis of overwhelming Haruhiism.
“KyoAni, just a slice of shinjin please.”
the Fight provides almost all the infos we need, 12 mins of what’s literally the same paragraph from book no.1 …. I would rather watch Kyon play Hard Gay for 30 mins.
In my opinion, Book 2 alone may be worthy of 10 episode series. I actually hope that KyoAni will tackle Book 2 in year 2007, and book 4 in year 2008, with other episodes filling in as specials.
Glad you managed to find wifi – I always enjoy reading your comments after watching an episode.
Itsuki’s longwinded, pretentious spiels can get tiresome, but for me, they’re worth it because they bring out the best in Kyon. One of the interesting things about their relationship is that Itsuki is basically Kyon’s confidant and closest friend, whether he likes it or not. Kyon is always snarking on the rest of the cast in the privacy of his own mind, but with Itsuki (and rarely Haruhi) he lays it out up front. It’s an interesting dynamic.
I enjoyed the car scene because Kyon picks it (and the generic scenario it’s modeled after) apart as they go along.
Itsuki: I am witty and deep. Let me pontificate about the Anthropic Principle for what feels like hours.
Kyon: What the hell are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything?
Itsuki: And now, gentle viewer, I spell out the grand secrets of our scenario! All is revealed!
Kyon: You keep saying these things as if they’re gospel truth, but there’s no basis for that… are you just making it up?
Itsuki: And now, to drop some delicious foreshadowing!
Kyon: Screw three years ago.
>Cuter loli… imouto or Haruhi?
No contest. Rori-haruhi FTW. Imouto could grow up fat and un-moe. We already know Haruhi grows up to be tsundere-megalomaniac. I go for the sure thing every time.
The whole philosophical angle this ep reminded me of Eva. Whilst the conclusion of Eva was that life was worth living in this insignificant world, Haruhi’s was something along the lines of this insignificant life in this huge world.
Long winded explanations can get boring at times (just watch Itsuki this ep for proof) but Aya Hirano/Haruhi pulled it off perfectly this ep. The appearance of rori-haruhi during that monologye was a way to offset Mikuru’s non-appearance I guess.
I marvel in awe at Itsuki’s anthropic principle and am amazed something as umm… deep has found its way into anime. More proof that this isn’t just your ordinary anime.
So, any non-spoiler guesses as to what happens next episode? I thought that huge monster thingy would be the big problem but with how easily Itsuki’s posse dispatched of the one this ep, I’m starting to have doubts.
O.o my messages are getting eaten again?!
>Cuter loli… imouto or Haruhi?
rori-haruhi ftw!
My posts keep on getting eaten up… :(
Does this one work?
Hey, the place where the fight against the shinjin occured looks familiar. Is it Umeda? It looks like Umeda to me? My backyard? Because that out-of-place ferris wheel reaalllly looks familiar to me. Considering the distance from Nishinomiya, it seems possible. Umeda? I didn`t know there that many tall buildings. But Umeda it is then? I`m sure that Toukyuu station replaced the real world Hankyuu one.
This episode makes me feel like going for a ride on a ferris wheel in the middle of the city though stupid it may seem. HEP Navio is for the filthy rich after all.
Despite her obnoxious behaviour, her being a 美人 might be the reason why I continue to like her. NO! Must resist! Must not turn to.. Haruhi-ism… GAAAAHHHH!!!!!
Don`t aggravate about Mikuru not appearing this time. You`ll get to see her flirting in action next week. Short it may be though. If that`s still not enough, just buy the Asahina Mikuru Adventures Episode 00 DVD then. You`ll not be bored of it.
Well, given that they already used up alot of the original book material for this series, and given that there isn’t another point in the story yet that could be used as a decent ending episode, a 2nd season of MoSH will likely turn out to be something non-linear like FMP: Fumoufuu (though it’s notable that Fumoufuu is also loosely based on the novel).
The end of TSR wasn’t what most people would consider a ‘decent ending point’ either. For a second season, all they really have to do is not end on a cliff-hanger.
Freddie said
>> “(Even when everybody knows what means the “Sleep Beauty†clue)”
Wasn’t it “Snow White”?
>> Haruhi has a common sense logic block that overrides her wish for espers, time travelers, and aliens.
Itsuki’s explanation of Haruhi’s rationality impeding her realization of the supernatural events around her reminds me of a quote by the mathematician John F. Nash who received the Nobel Prize after recovering from a 25 years of paranoid schizophrenia:
“So at the present time I seem to be thinking rationally again in the style that is characteristic of scientists. However this is not entirely a matter of joy as if someone returned from physical disability to good physical health. One aspect of this is that rationality of thought imposes a limit on a person’s concept of his relation to the cosmos. For example, a non-Zoroastrian could think of Zarathustra as simply a madman who led millions of naive followers to adopt a cult of ritual fire worship. But without his “madness” Zarathustra would necessarily have been only another of the millions or billions of human individuals who have lived and then been forgotten.”
To Nash, sanity is a form of conformity, and rationality a barrier to his ability to explore the cosmos. He had claimed that the way his madness of alien messages came to him is also the way his brilliant mathematics had. So on the one hand, there is brilliance but not detached from madness; on the other hand, sanity but a forgotten life.
>> If all the members of the SOS-Brigade reflect a part of Haruhi’s personality, like Itsuki does, then perhaps Kyon is her rational side; which may explain why even though he’s set as the lowest ranking member in SOS, he’s the most important to her.
This is going to setup a very interesting choice for Haruhi in the last episode. Which will she choose? The rationality that is Kyon or the fun that is aliens and espers and time-travelers? Can’t wait.
>>>…but what makes everyone different and really unique… which Haruhi is finally realizing, is not what we do, but defined by the people we meet…
Probably that is why Kyon is so important to Haruhi; he is the “narrator” (remember the movie?) to Haruhi’s actions, therefore her existence, as Itsuki kind of explained, can only be recognized if someone notices it.
Ha! I remember hearing someone saying that we look for a couple because we want a “witness to our life”. I believe this is specially true in Haruhi’s case.
…
Just a tought…
actually… haruhi meet kyon 3 years ago on a sch nite… well.. all the tale begins from 3 years ago anyway..
tt’s y she is closer n more affilated to kyon.
haruhi is so cute!!!
unzipped for nothing. lol -_-“
those are your readers, jason
Build up is good; I always enjoy some some good existential foreplay before I haruhigasm.
Though hair-flipping Itsuki was a bit of a turn off ;_;
One episode left! *cries*
If there isn’t a second seaon, heads with roll!
Or at the very least a follow up special episode feature chibis of Haruhi, Mikuru, Yuki, and Tsuruya.
LO TSURUYA VE!
LO MIKURU VE!
LO HARUHI VE!
LO YUKI VE!
Well, my take is that you can’t just go around Haruhigasming all over the place full time and run yourself dry; this break should us some time to have a truly torrential Haruhigasm next week.
Sidenote: Yay wifi! Though sometimes the spots aren’t so hot and
When Haruhi ends, let us not cry… let us laugh. Let us laugh long, and hard, and show our single fangs. It’s what KyoAni’d want us to do.
***
You know, for an episode about killing giant psychic alternate reality demon god giants, a whole heckuvalot more could have happened. I mean, episode 9 was more interesting than this.
So… do we start bitching after next episode about the things that KyoAni has apparently completely dropped or forgotten about from the very first episode? Like Itsuki’s powers manifesting in the real world? Or Shamisen? or Nagato attacking Mikuru?
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I find that more hilarious than anything.
“That was ventiloquism” indeed.
You know, I do believe Yuki attacked Mikuru because Kimuru was about to unleash an actual Mikuru Beam.
Yuki saved the world from utter, total destruction. With much pain.
Spell check. Goddammit.
That’s quite the hilariously dyslexic mistake. :-p
Kiddie Haruhi-sama was adorable. Though the loss of energey from the last episode was understandable, I was disappointed with this one. Unless KyoAni wants to commit harakiri they will make that second season. I still hope for a going out with a bang and not a whimper. I hate Kanon even more grr…. Oh and a billet just opened up in Tokyo…
>>>So… do we start bitching after next episode about the things that KyoAni has apparently completely dropped or forgotten about from the very first episode? Like Itsuki’s powers manifesting in the real world? Or Shamisen? or Nagato attacking Mikuru?
I’m pretty sure that we will not in fact get the answers to the questions raised by “The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina, Episode 00”, as the story behind the making of the movie was a whole novel in itself (Volume 2, The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya).
If KyoAni does make a second season, I think Volume 2 and Volume 4 are the obvious sources for the main plot arcs. Perhaps they could fit both in a single 14 episode season, though if they also want to fit in some independant stories from other books (Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Snow Mountain Syndrome, etc) it might be tight.
I’ve only been spoiled on the novels’ plot through Volume 5, so I’m not sure how much of the material from later volumes might be appropriate to bring out early. From the timeline at http://www.baka-tsuki.net/proj.....i:Timeline (spoiler free) I know Volumes 7 and 8 have relatively large, coherent stories. Is it too soon to dream of a third season?
>> UP Toyota Prius… random cameo
I also saw a VW beetle before they passed the toll area or whatever it was. But none the less I am betting they are saving the best for last. Even though usually after the last episode you would be begging for more Mikuru…who knows maybe they will pull off like Shakugan No Shana did and that is make a Movie. If its so hugely popular then why not? Heck FMP should get a movie fgs as well!
I’ve been following along with this blog for well over a year now, and I always pick up on the suggested animes you point out. Haruhi has not only been awesome enough for me, but awesome enough for my friends who aren’t into anime as much. We have, however, a concensus: blog for the last episode REALLY needs to list the episodes in what order they should be watched in order to be chronological ^_^
Garten at Memento has already done it:
http://www.designchronicle.com.....meline.gif
As for Miruku’s existence meaning the world doesn’t end… that is such an illogical argument I don’t even know where to begin =D
Also, what about the talking cat from episode 00? Where does that come in? I hope KyoAni doesn’t just leave it unaddressed in the last episode. God, I can’t wait another week….I need the episode now!!!
People are totally missing the point if they say there are no long stories left to tell. Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, a series even made by the same company, existed entirely without a long story. It made for perfect filler material until the actual sequel came out. So is there really any problem if there is a Suzumiya Haruhi series 1.5 where there is no running plot?
>>> actually… haruhi meet kyon 3 years ago on a sch nite… well.. all the tale begins from 3 years ago anyway..
And at that time they made a promise, but were forcibly seperated… wait a sec… I think I’ve heard this one before…
And I’d also like to know what the talking cat is all about.
I would like to get a decent explanation of the anthropic principle out there, since I’ve seen a couple show abuse it lately. (I didn’t think Itsuki could get more tedious, but he did.) The idea behind certain parts of physics is to understand the universe in terms of its most basic constituants. Ideally, we’d like to have a theory where we can just sit down and calculate any number that we’re interested in, like the charge of the electron. Unfortunately, we can’t do that yet, and have to take some numbers from experiments. The funny thing is that if you were to change some of these numbers, like the electron charge, just a little bit, all of chemistry and the universe would be filled with nothing more complex than hydrogen (or even more boring than that – sports announcers). So if you think for a long time about why the charge of the electron is what it is, you might eventually give up and say, “well, if it was anything else, there would be no life on this planet, I wouldn’t be here writing a blog post, so that’s why it is.”
The stronger version is that the reason that these parameters in our theories have the values that they have, with all of the attendent consequences, is because Haruhi-sama… er, God decided it. That seems to be the version of the anthropic argument that Itsuki is referring to – but from what we’ve been told by Yuki about the Integration Thought Entity, many of Itsuki’s ideas make little sense. While it’s apparent that Haruhi does have some ability to manipulate information like Yuki and her cohorts, other than her ability to create closed space, with all of the outside universe that’s existed for millenia, it doesn’t seem likely that Haruhi has that much power to simply destroy the world or have started it from scratch.
> Freddie said
> >> “(Even when everybody knows what means the “Sleep Beauty†clue)â€
> Wasn’t it “Snow White�
Argh, that’s right. Well… it was 2am here.
Young haruhi reminds me of young Ruriko, sitting on a swing with a ribbon on her hair.
I hope the final episode would be longer than the usual 23-24 minutes…and I hope it shows a lot of Mikuru-run goodness. ^^
I quadruple posted >_>
More melopan plz. This ep was lacking Mikuru. Hopefully in the next season they recruit LOL-Tan for good.
Just a couple of days and there r already this many comments? Just how large is the fan-base for this series outside Japan? It`s not just thousands?
Just as this page implies, the city happened to be my backyard: http://kanai.dw.land.to/diary/2006-06-26a.htm
Hekk, these guys can even spot the places appearing in the small frames during the opening.
I though Rikumu already, using cartoon frames as an example, explained about time travelling affecting only the current temporal plane. Remember, time is not like the (Shukugawa) river OK?
“I JUST SAW EPISODE 13… WOW!!! I LOVE IT. I MISS EVANGELION.” xoxo
got this from a friend. i guess you all know what i’m trying to implicate =)
[that if this was shown in the beginning who knows how many more worshippers haruhi would have]
I really liked this episode. Yes, the action was inconsequential- as I understand it, the blue giants don’t even try to fight against the psychics, they just ignore them and are easily killed. But I like that Itsuki at least tries to discuss the nature of Haruhi, even if it seems like he doesn’t really understand it all that well himself (outside the knowledge of closed space he was granted), and Kyon can’t even understand what he can say.
What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for random philosophical babbling.
I have not much to add to the philosophical musings going on here, but for those who find Itsuki tedious, I can’t second that. Because he’s *got* to be one of the most handsome anime characters there is. And eye candy, as a rule, dispels all boredom for those who appreciate it.
One more episode to go… And the cat is still bugging me~
The cat appeared when they were doing the movie for the festival…. Hmmm…. That means Haruhi knew about “talking cats” after the movie was made right? Or did she ignore it because of her common sense logic block?
The cat had a name right? When it talked, Kyon said, “Shamisen! Cut it out! Hoy!” or something like that. Then Yuki tapped Shamisen’s head with her fake wand to stop it from talking.
So before her concert, she filmed a movie with talking cats in it, and espers blasting Yuki into space too? Because if you remember the movie, right after the scene where the teachers ran out on the rooftop of the school, a cardboard Yuki was blasted away by Itsuki using the true power of an Esper… (yes I paused the video just to see if the real Yuki was flying away… but it’s just a cardboard~).
Don’t tell me Haruhi did not notice Itsuki glowing and releasing energy because of her common sense logic block??
And also, Itsuki said he can only use his power inside the closed spaces right? So where they filming it inside a closed space? If so, then Haruhi would have freaked out!!
My gosh, plot hole goodness. I do hope they can explain everything in the next episode…
Not plot holes. Try to remember that the anime is based on the novel. Wait for the anime to catch up to those scenes( probably in another season). ;)
Is there a translation for the novels that’s further along than the baka-tsuki project, or do all the cryptic mutterings I hear on subjects like the cat come from the bilingual?
Annnnnd, sorry to double-post, but it’s debatable whether Haruhi ‘cannot destroy the world because Mikuru is around.’ Remember, Mikuru implies that there was a metatime when Mikuru’s people could travel back before Haruhi’s awakening. If Haruhi’s ability to affect reality extends through time and does not just operate in the present, her effects are not constrainted by any rational requirement that they cause any known future.
Plus, depending on what version of time travel exists in the Haruhiverse there may not be a requirement for the past to create a future it is linked to by time travelers anyway.
I was hoping for another Mikuru nameplay on the last post. There`re already Kimuru, Miruku and Rimuku.
As for the behind-the-scenes of the first episode, go google all those series speculations that have been around since the first episode. Along the way, you might find spoilers from people who`ve either read the original novel, the Taiwanese version, or Baka-Tsuki edition, so you`ll understand that there`s more to the series than just what is currently being aired. That`s why I liked it as a novel, but KyotoAni managed to make it also likeable as an anime.
About the movie plot holes: I think it was just kyon filming (this scene at least); Haruhi was probably somewhere else.
Zeboim: I thought it was explained at the end of the original Gatekeepers series that he ‘Invaders’ were originally created by a rogue gatekeeper?
Nemo_N: Well, we see Haruhi yelling at the Mikuru just before the teachers burst in just a few clips before, so the ‘Ultra Director’ was at the roof for at least part of the filming, which makes it most likely that she was around for all of it.
Oops, typo: Not ‘the’ Mikuru, just Mikuru. -_-;
Oh wow, I’ve read the explanation (Googled it) how Mikuru in the movie had a different eye color, and did an actual beam attack (watch the movie again and you’ll notice that Mikuru actually made an eyebeam, she was crying too.
Also, why Shamisen the cat could talk, and that Nagato is the one responsible for Itsuki’s power because Itsuki really could not use his powers outside the closed spaces. I guess they should show the explanation in the anime… cause a lot of people are really confused now.
IMO Itsuki’s ‘perhaps it was decided that this much would suffice’ while looking at Nagato in episode 7 established, if subtlely, that Nagato can enable Itsuki’s powers by changing the nature of the space he occupies to be alike to closed space.
Actually, it was
“Good news everyone – I’ve invented the Fing-longer”
“What’s that over there?”
“Oh, that’s just the What-if machine”
quik cash quik cash