melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 14
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“Am I dead?”
“Yes or no?”
“Is there a choice?”
“Is there a God?”
“Yes, and she looks great in a ponytail.”
The final episode (or sixth… fifth… whatever…) episode of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya begins as Kyon lumbers awake from his slumber with Imouto-san using him as a trampoline. A fairly normal day awaits him, only he’s not sure about the normalacy of being involved with an alien, an epser, and a time traveler who keeps telling him not to fall in love with her. Of course, he wonder’s why he’s special. As if there’s any other reason why a teenage girl would single out a teenage boy. Anyway, Kyon meets up with Taniguchi, who scores Yuki as an “A-” and assures Kyon that he is anything but normal for being part of Haruhi’s merry friends. (He scores Ryoko as an “A” earlier… would Mikuru be “S+++++” or would she just destroy the scale?) “I see… you’ve finally been infected by Suzumiya… stay away from me!” It’s a bad thing?
When Kyon enters the classroom, he sees Haruhi in her delicious gym outfit (oh come on… I can’t be the only one thinking, “thigh meat“), as Haruhi rationalizes her decision to wear her gym outfit in class. She also blandly and lifelessly thinks about new outfits for Mikuru, but she’s obviously out of it. She can only muster a “dumb face” as an insult to Kyon. She’s definitely melancholy after spending all this effort to find aliens, espers, and time travelers, only to have them show up right in front of her, yet she doesn’t know it.
After class, Kyon decides to dip into his precious Mikuru image collection and see if what All-Woman Mikuru told him is true about Mikuru’s star-shaped birthmark. Mikuru almost catches him in the act and notices a folder named “Mikuru”… anxious to know what exactly is in that, she starts playfully crawling over Kyon. Loved how Yuki actually pried her eyes away from her book and stared at the two of them… because she’s jealous too?
Then Haruhi opens the door… and… oh-uh. Her mood went from bad to moldy cheese bad. (I laughed as Mikuru scurries away from Kyon right after Haruhi’s scowl, like Mikuru were some sort of trained hampster.) Haruhi is obviously pissed, yet Kyon seems to be the only person who doesn’t realize it. I can feel the air thickening with her “so meido turn you on?” (Of course they do!) Haruhi then wants to change, yet Kyon doesn’t vacate immediately, leading to more anger from Haruhi… it’s obvious by now that Haruhi doesn’t view Kyon as a potato and actually has — gasp — modesty before him. All the while, Mikuru is making “NO NO NO” expressions in the background like what I did when I saw Mr Wong enter Nina’s room.
Then Kyon’s “normal day” continues with Haruhi who changed into her bunny suit giving a terrified Mikuru braids while complaining about the comfort of said bunny suit. Itsuki walks in and wonders “if there’s a cosplay convention.” Honestly, if I had the choice of joining a club back in high school that featured a megalomaniac leader in a bunny suit as well as its own moe meido, I’d join it. I’m confounded by why traditional males aren’t knocking down the door to join the SOS Brigade.
(That night, Imouto-san steals Kyon’s scissors… why do I bring up such a pointless event? The fact that she could be Kyon and Haruhi‘s love child. Why did Kyoto include such a pointless event? I’m thinking that they analyzed the previous few episodes and determined that they last few episodes had too little loli content.)
Kyon falls asleep… and is awakened by Haruhi. The two of them are alone, dressed in their school uniforms, in some sort of closed space. Haruhi is surprisingly calm herself… she’s not freaking out but instead taking everything in stride. Even as the two of them are trapped on campus. Haruhi looks adorable holding onto Kyon’s arm. Ah, master tsundere at work. The two eventually find their way to the SOS Brigrade’s HQ, and Haruhi goes off to explore a bit more. While Kyon is alone in the room, Itsuki’s red dot appears before him and tells him that this closed space is no ordinary closed space.
In fact, they believe that Haruhi is creating a new world. “We’re on the brink of Armageddon.” And that Kyon and Haruhi have transported out of the old world and into this infant new world. They don’t know what will happen with the old… or with the new… but one thing is certain, Kyon is the only piece of the old world tha Haruhi wants in the new world. She doesn’t want her parents or anyone else… just Kyon. And Kyon can’t accept (I think he understands but can’t accept it) the real reason why Kyon is the chosen one. Itsuki teases him… “work hard on repopulating the world.”
Itsuki then tells Kyon to switch on the computer, and instead of booting up to the normal Windows XP, it boots up to Nagato OS. Yuki communicates with Kyon, a bit of longing to not see the old world destroyed, and leaves him with a hint… sleeping beauty.
Right after Yuki is disconnnected, Haruhi returns to the club room, and both Kyon and Haruhi marvel at the huge giants rampaging throughout the world. Haruhi’s expression has completely changed… she’s very happy at the prospect of finding an alien. Haruhigasmic even. Kyon then leads Haruhi out of the building as it gets smashed to bits, and the two have a telegraphic argument… Haruhi is happy with this new world. She’s happy. And she believes that everything will be okay. “I’m having a really fun time right now.” Kyon, though, is not happy with the new world. He likes the old one. He wants to go back and see everyone again… like a jaded anime fanboy, he says, “I may complain all the time, but I actually liked how my life was.” (If I got to hang around two fabulous bunny girls after school every day, I’d like my life a lot too.)
“I want to go back.”
“I don’t understand. Weren’t you fed up with that boring world? Don’t you want something more interesting to happen?”
As the giants rage on, Kyon thinks through his head… both what he wants and how to get out of this mess… “What does the person Haruhi Suzumiya mean to me?” And then he saves the world.
“Actually… ponytails turn me on.”
“What?!?”
“That ponytail that you had back when we met looked so good it was criminal.”
“Baka ja nai no!!!”
Cue Mahler’s 8th… and Kyon saves the world by kissing Haruhi.
He wakes up, not knowing what exactly happened. Dream? Reality? New world? His first clue should be when he entered the classroom, Haruhi is sitting there in a ponytail complaining about her awful nightmare (even tosses in a trademark “zenzen”). “I had a nightmare last night. I couldn’t sleep. I’ve never wanted to skip as badly as I do today.” To which Kyon simply replies… “[the ponytail] looks good on you.” They’re officially the AC Slater/Jessie Spano of the anime world.
(We’re not done yet.)
To tie things up, Itsuki is relieved that they’re all back… but are they in a new world or a continuation of the old? Or does it not matter? Yuki gets her only three lines of spoken dialogue telling Kyon that he was gone with Haruhi for some time last night, and that she’ll protect him. Mikuru goes into her Crying Mikuru moe mode and gives Kyon a Class 3 Haruhi Jealousy Storm Hug. (If Haruhi was willing to reboot the world because of her jealousy of Mikuru/Kyon, maybe Ryoko should have tried seducing Kyon instead of killing him…) Kyon then tells Mikuru of her birthmark, and Mikuru confirms it for herself, and is extremely embarrassed because Kyon knows. Embarrassed Cowering Mikuru 4tw. Haruhi interrupts the pair’s flirting again, and she proceeds to costume rape Mikuru one more time.
(We’re still not done yet.)
Kyon goes through and runs down some administrative items, and suddenly, for their next SOS Brigade patrol, it looks like everyone bailed except for Haruhi and Kyon (see Panic, Full Metal, chapter 18). He then contemplates what to talk about on their day-to.
Fin.
(Remember to check out AoMM’s Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya wallpaper stash.)
The SOS Brigade Awesomeness Index
UP The Goddess of Moe, Mikuru… new moe mode to add to her pantheon-class collection… Playful, Flirty Mikuru. About time. Too bad it almost ended the world… at least the final image of her cowering because Kyon knew about her star-shaped birthmark with Haruhi approaching for yet another costume rape was appropriate and awesome. Though I feel cheated we never got to see Nurse Mikuru in this episode. So is her fear of Haruhi why Kyon can’t fall in love with her? Or something else, because she tells him that she can’t be with anyone else from this time plane?
(If Mikuru ever went wow-wow or bou-bou, I think I’d faint from the loss of blood.)
My top five favorite Mikuru Moe Modes?
5. Crying.
4. All-Woman.
3. Bunny Girl.
2. Cowering.
1. Meido.
Honorable mention: everything else.
UP The Goddess of Victory, Yuki… she ends up doing most of the heavy lifting. Let’s see… she defeated that beetle, saved Kyon from Ryoko, guided the baseball team to victory from defeat, played guitar very well as a fill-in. Plus, she rounded out my summer reading list. She’s probably the SOS Brigade’s most dependable member, even if she is with the literary club.
My top five favorite Yuki scenes?
5. Yuki trying to use an optical mouse.
4. Yuki’s day-to with Kyon.
3. Yuki’s fight with Ryoko.
2. Any scene with Yuki in that witch outfit.
1. When Yuki wouldn’t let Haruhi into the room during the Lone Island Incident.
UP The Fangirl Hero, Itsuki… after reading more of the novels, it’s safe to say that Itsuki is most definitely not a traditional male. He has women tossing themselves at him, yet he chooses to hang out with Kyon. Just like Duo Maxwell, he’s not here to move the plot… he’s here to sell novels and DVDs to the fangirls. Just wait for the first ever Kyon and Itsuki character album… it may even top Hare Hare Yukai sales.
My top five favorite Itsuki moments?
5. When he suggested that board game, and Kyon shoots it down.
4. When he tries to kiss Mikuru in Mikuru-run 00.
3. R&GAD.
2. FUMOFFU!
1. Anytime Kyon tells him that his face is too close.
UP The Reluctant Hero, Kyon… for his unmatched sarcasm. Does a great job playing Haruhi’s foil as well as her occasional hero. And all this, he gets no respect, and we don’t even know his real name. Is it like Earthsea where if one knows one’s True Name, they have power over them?
My top five Kyon sarcastic remarks? Brain overload trying to think of them all… though “I have a long list of complaints about Haruhi†comes to mind.
UP The Goddess, Haruhi… for being Haruhi, the megalomaniac, self-centered, selfish, jealous, quick tempered, no patience, abrupt, disrespectful, rude, egomaniac, yet oh-so-cute tsundere.
My top five Haruhi phrases?
5. I’m looking for aliens, espers, and time travelers.
4. Moo… ii!
3. DAY-TO ja nai!
2. Zenzen!
1. Mi-ku-ru-chan!
DOWN 14… I’m happy that the series ended well, but I’m sad that I won’t wake up next week and see another episode of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. And, of course, I’m hoping that it won’t be a four year wait before seeing more of Haruhi’s epic exploits. (If Ayu had a car, it’ll get its tires slashed and door keyed.)
My five least favorite things about Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya?
5. What was the point of everything, again?
4. Lack of Nekomimi Meido Mikuru.
3. Too much Itsuki; not enough Yuki.
2. Episode skippage.
1. 14.
My five most favorite things about Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya?
5. The music.
4. The animation.
3. The wit.
2. LOL FANG-TAN, Ryoko, Imouto-san, Mori, and the rest of the supporting characters.
1. Haruhi, Kyon, Mikuru, Yuki, and Itsuki.
UP Mahler’s 8th Symphony… again, great use of classical music, but I’m getting tired of it. I’d love to hear more, uh, urban tunes used once in a while… I’d love to hear some Dre with some Rachmaninov in the same episode.
DOWN The morning after… is Kyon truly disgusted with Haruhi, like how he flatly rejects Itsuki’s suggestion to use whatever tactic saved them from the first closed space incident during the baseball game? Or is it a show, like how two enjoyed a nice walk home in the real final episode?
UP Imouto-san… good to see Imouto-san getting some screentime. She’s up there with LOL FANG-TAN and the talking cat in the “needs more screentime” department. Though I wished that they included the “I wish my sister would call me ‘onii-chan'” angst from Kyon that he had in the novel. Maybe “aniki” or “nii~~~~ya” would be better… ? Speaking of Imouto-san…
UP Synchronized brushing… a-dor-a-ble!
UP Foreshadowing… Haruhi chatting with guitar girl around the 20:30 mark.
UP Ponytails… I would have died laughing if Kyoto Animation somehow worked in the Ponytail Stalker from Fumoffu somehow… like running around in the Closed Space background giving a thumbs up while Psycho Police Lady and Bonta-kun kick each other’s ass next to him. I would have stopped watching anime right then and there… what else could that top?
DOWN Anything that reminds me of Eva 25-26… please, use screentime for more constructive purposes, like Mikuru modeling swimwear or Nagato sitting, reading, and listening to a disjointed radio broadcast. Anything. Even Itsuki reciting more lines from R&GAD.
DOWN Anything that reminds me of Nausicaa’s hair… so 1984.
DOWN The Minmay Defense… okay, so they used the Risa Hayase Defense instead. Maybe those big giants are really Zentradi!
DOWN Kyon’s storage of Mikuru-run pictures… see, I wouldn’t just make them hidden files. I would burn them onto a few archival-class DVDs and put them in that bank from Da Vinci Code. But that’s just me. You don’t want one bad Windows XP hard drive corruption error to wipe out so much moe.
(Wouldn’t it be funny if Mikuru had a stash of Kyon pictures? Like when they were on the ferry, and Mikuru was taking pictures of Kyon sleeping.)
UP Aya Hirano… conveyed Haruhi’s spectrum of emotions very well… gosh, I can’t think of another VA who did such a fantastic job in a single anime series. Does Aya’s God Knows surpass Rie’s patented Suigintou laugh? I say yes.
UP Second season… please.
The AoMM-Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Meme Dictionary
Cos·tume ra·pe — forcing someone to wear a cosplay outfit against their will. The pioneer would be Mahoraba‘s Chiyuri, but Haruhi took it to another level with her treatment of poor Mikuru.
Ha·ru·hi·gasm — a sense of elation, pleasantness, and/or pleasure after viewing or experiencing anything related to Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
LOL FANG·TAN — Tsuruya. After (sadly) participating in a dumb “she’s LOL-TAN!”/”she’s FANG-TAN!” discussion, I decided to play Jimmy Carter and unite the two camps with the LOL FANG-TAN meme.
Men Are Po·ta·toes — refers to Haruhi’s distain of the icky normal people around her. Most noticable her belief that men are no more advanced or deserving than a sack ‘o potatoes. Note that Haruhi does not say this… Kyon does.
Mi·ku·ru Moe Modes — any action caused, effected, and/or enhanced by Mikuru Asahina that makes traditional males gasp with glee. Includes but not limited to Cowering Mikuru, Meido Mikuru, Nurse Mikuru, Bunny Girl Mikuru, Terrified Mikuru, All-Woman Mikuru, et al… one can spend many hours in quiet comtemplation in trying to figure out one’s favorite Mikuru Moe Mode.
Oha·ru·hi·sa·ma — way of refering to Haruhi while alluding to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni‘s Oyashiro-sama. As to which one is more powerful, Haruhi is. I have yet to see Oyashiro-sama drop kick anyone or costume rape Mion. As to which one is more forgiving, I think both carry a grudge pretty well.
So Dark the Con of Ha·ru·hi — refers to the parallel between Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the Da Vinci Code in that both feature a major character not knowing their true nature… and the complete irony of that character’s search.
Acknowledgements
Thank you Kyoto Animation for going above-and-beyond what any regular studio would have done and turned Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya from yet-another-school-romance-comedy-drama into a phenomenal series. All the little touches like “The second raid!,” the brilliant episode 00, the use of obscure American playwrights, and the casting of Aya Hirano (and letting her sing the OP/ED instead of bringing in a hired gun like Yoko Ishida or Kawabe Chieco) contributed to the fun. I’m just glad it wasn’t Gonzo.
Thank you Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, and Yuko Goto for forming the best ensemble female cast since The Goddess Fantastic Club.
Thank you Nagaru Tanigawa for coming up with such a story. Simple. Elegant. Complex. Charming. Gripping. Fun. Funny. Moe. Haruhigasmic. Everything under the sun rolled up in one. One thing that I find difficult as an anime fan is to avoid being jaded and bitchy about anime. Yes, there’s a lot of derivative work… a lot of the same… a lot of crap… but there’s also a lot of fun, creative series out there. Maybe Haruhi isn’t one’s cup of tea, but there’s plenty of anime out there for everyone… and everyone has that series that makes they go, “This is why I watch and enjoy anime.” Just Haruhi is the series that made me remember that.
Thank you Strato and a.f.k. for cranking out the fansubs. Clockwork.
And, finally, thank you to the readers for bringing a lot of information and some great discussions. I had a lot of fun watching, writing, and talking about this series.
65 Responses to “melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 14”
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Well, at least they got in a bit of everything, for everyone, this time about – including Haruhi being left a bit speechless there, after the Sleeping Beauty Solution that Kyon implemented towards the end. Now we just need more Adult Mikuru, and some Alternate Yuki, to get things rolling for whatever following seasons or OVAs may appear in the future.
Seriously, this episode took the gold medal out the whole series. It had everything a final episode of Haruhi should have. Kyon’s laid back nature, Mikuru’s whimpering (especially when Haruhi was doing her hair) Yuki even had her own part! Don’t care much for Itsuki…Kyon’s little sister added to the cuteness factor..The beginning was too funny. Though I was sad not to see LOL FANG-TAN. I was waiting for her to come out of no where when Haruhi and Kyon where watching the school building being destroyed and start laughing her head off.
Things that really made me smile were, Mikuru’s outburst at the end and how she started to freak out about the birthmark, Yuki saying she would protect Kyon, Haruhi’s expression right before Kyon kissed her and Haruhi’ expressions throughout the whole episode. Loved her with the ponytail too :3
Here’s looking out for the second season! More LOL FANG-TAN! More of Haruhi’s Domination over Mikuru! More detailed animation! More Suzumiya Haruhi!!!
(At the end, when kyon was waiting for Haruhi, in the background on one of the buildings SxH was written on the side of a building. Maybe it stood for Suzumiya Haruhi?)
god damn. “Am I a meme yet?”
jason
HD link for the scene where itsuki says ” see you after school ” links to yuki
Is there some sort of cultural significance to the synchronized brushing? They also did it in the Read or Die series and (I think) in Evangelion as well… I’m beginning to think this is a particular way to establish closeness between characters–it happens in Eva only after the team gets to know each other and it happens in ROD as sort of a way to establish the special bond between the paper sisters. Are they going for the same thing between Kyon and his duffel-dwelling companion?
Final Words:
1. Just how much does it cost to get a morning call from Kyon’s sister ?
2. Damn you, Kanon !
3. Still don’t get why Kyon was smiling all the way, Itsukiism-keep-smiling Disease ? http://derailedbydarry.com/ima.....2_full.jpg
4. Goodbye to the only anime so far that made me read wikipedia almost every episodes.
5. Now we have over 300 haruhi-dedicated website, what’s to do next ? (Maybe some upcoming event ? http://ketto.com/so/ )
“Foreshadowing… Haruhi chatting with guitar girl around the 20:30 mark.”
That wasn’t Haruhi. It was Enomoto, the leader and singer of the band. She has almost the same hairdo as Haruhi.
Arghh! It’s over already!
Anyway, I was thinking “thigh meat“ too! And did anyone notice how while Itsuki was talking about Adam and Eve (around 12:06) we get a camera pan thru Haruhi’s, er, body.
Imouto-chan Moe Overload!!! Jumping on bed, synchronized brushing, loose hair, knocks on head, argghh!!… … … sorry about that.
Good bye Tsuruya! No more cute fang, laughter or loudness. No more Megassa, Nyoro or Chorontto!
***SPOILER***
Yuki seems to like her witch costume! According to what I read on the second novel translation, the making of the Mikuru Movie includes tons of Witch Yuki! And again, she likes it! They HAVE to animate this!!!
***END SPOILER***
Loved Yuki’s “I won’t let them”.
What company do you think will bring Haruhi to America?
Great blogging Jason! I eagerly await your take on Higurashi or any other anime for that matter!
>>Still don’t get why Kyon was smiling all the way, Itsukiism-keep-smiling Disease ?
Because he loves Haruhi and enjoys being with her.
>> god damn. “Am I a meme yet?â€
Oh look, a hypocrite out to pimp him/herself.
So, Is it time to decide who is Mikuru?, The sister of Kyon?, The daughter of Kyon?, Another inconcebible thing?
If flamewars weren’t as cool as they are, I’d engage in one, jabber. As things stand, pretending to be one of those non-losers is below me.
Thanks Jason for blogging about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It’s been fun reading your blog entries and the responses from everyone else here. I don’t ever remember following an anime series so closely before TMoHS, and your commentary entries complemented the series nicely.
***HIGURASHI Episode 13 SPOILER***
As for Imouto-san, she borrowed the scissors for her killer loli guest appearance in Higurashi! I bet she was the one who knocked off Rika-chan at the temple in episode 13.
Personally, my favorite thing about this episode was Haruhi’s reaction to the giant monsters. “Look Kyon! Space monsters/Ancient Bioweapons are destroying the city! This. Is so. Frelling. AWESOME!” (paraphrased somewhat)
Anyway, as far as the whole episode order goes, I went and had me a chronological marathon to make up for the lack of a new episode today. Sure, on the one hand, you get the entire story of the first novel, practically verbatum, in all its glory. That’s only 6 episodes though. The other 8 are really just a bunch of one-shot filler eps (albiet darn amusing filler eps). When you don’t have any mysteriously backshadowed closed space incidents waiting for you on the other side, things just kinda putter out aimlessly.
… not that the concert and the Muppet Babies/StarCraft episode aren’t worth it for their own sake, but they’re even better when woven between plot progression eps.
Here’s hoping season two doesn’t pull anything like the remote island syndrome shuffling again though.
I had to watch the opening scene several times, because I was too transfixed on imouto-san hopping and tuggin on Kyon to pay attention to what Kyon was saying (I watched the scene 15 times now: I still don’t know what Kyon said in the opening scene).
Regarding one of the scenes… I can’t imagine how Kyon could just sit there playing Othello when beside him is a girl in bunny costume braiding a whimpering maid.
Me and my friend couldn’t really decide that the line “Actually… ponytails turn me on,â€was altered from the original for a comedic purpose (and a sneaky reference to FMP: Fumouffuu).
*sigh* If we don’t get a 2nd season to Melancholy, I demand at the very least an OVA about Imouto-san. Like… Imouto-san gained magical powers from whatever happened 3 years ago, and has been fighting evil in secret ever since. The scene where she steals Kyon’s sister for art class will turn out to be the key to defeating a certain evil loli boss character.
because it was the last one, i just couldn’t enjoy it. I was too much occupied with that is ended.
i’m still confused about All Woman Mikuru’s clue back in episode 10. She gave the hint “Snow White.” I thought that would be brought up this episode, but it apparently has been changed to “Sleeping Beauty” by Yuki. Production error? I’m confused.
all in all tho, yes, greatest ep ever. greatest series ever. everything I wanted to happen, happened…almost… Kyon you bastard! Adam and Eve situation was called for, and you dropped the ball!
I gotta say, I’m really regretting not blogging this series and writing my reactions to each episode…
…For serious, every ounce of moe~ you fanboys have for the girls of “Melancholy of S. H.”, I’ve had for every Itsuki or Kyon moment. If I were blogging this series, it would read EXACTLY like this blog; every time Itsuki says something even half-way clever, every time Tomokazu Sugita makes Kyon come to life with his various impersonations of his fellow cast-mates and rants about them inside his head… I swoon. SWOOOOOON.
Like the imouto-chan scene at the beginning. Alla you guys may have been thanking Haruhi for more imouto, but HOLY CRAP ON A MIKURU-STICK was that adorable Kyon. *0_____0*
But besides the marvelous, wonderful, nay, SCRUMPTOUS male characters that are Kyon and Itsuki, I must naturally give it all up for Haruhi. For with her, all things are possible. Even if it means the end of the world.
(And I gotta say, even though this may be suicide to say here, I still don’t really get why people like Mikuru’s seiyuu so much…0_0 I’ll say she was PERFECT for the role, but as such, I found her rather irritating to listen to…)
Butpleasedon’tkillmeI’mjustalittle’olefangirl
*sprints away*
Oh, I forgot to mention this, but what about Shamisen? Did everyone just forgot about the talking cat?
To Xeifa: The details about Shamisen’s wierd ‘ability’ to talk, as well as lot of other wierd stuff (the doves in the background of Mikuru-run 00 being white despite the fact that they really aren’t, the costumed freaks appearing on the school grounds for no reason, or the Mikuru-beam attack) are further explained in the second novel, the Sighs of Suzumiya Haruhi. It pretty much covers the end of the first novel (in fact, it starts with the conversation between Kyon and Haruhi at the cafe at the end of the anime) to Haruhi’s plans for their activity for the school festival.
Meaning, yeah, it’s about the making of Mikuru-run 00! Hooray. I think that book alone is worth a few episodes for a new season, don’t you agree?
Congrats jason.
I declare AoMM the best blog that complements SHnY.
The vocal albums are out btw. I’m not too sure what to say about them. :P
Here’s a list of quirks/unanswered questions/things in the show I would like to know the answer too. No particular order…
1) Haruhi asks Kyon in the beginning if she has ever met Kyon before, “a long time ago…”. It could just be a random question, but I doubt it. I mean Kyon is the chosen normal one for some abnormal reason!
2) The cat talking in Mikuru-run 00.
3) Where did Mikuru pick up the frog costume?
4) This question is the biggest I have…in Mikuru-run 00; after Mikuru uses the “Mikuru-beam”, Yuki then jumps on her and begins assaulting Mikuru. Hot as it was, Haruhi starts yelling at Yuki telling her that’s not in the script. Why would YUKI of all people do something so aggressive when she wasn’t told to do so by anyone. It makes no sense at all.
5) Why was there no naked LOL-FANG-TAN?
These questions will alude me until thus is answered, or the novel translation is done. They will forever pester my mind until thus time.
Damnit.
http://img210.imageshack.us/im.....lol9eb.jpg
Also, I have created this to give a visual presentation of Jason’s theory.
Komidol, that’s a rather common gesture in anime. I don’t know if Japanese use it in real-life but it certainly doesn’t imply anything about the “real” identity of Mikuru or Haruhi. If it was meant as a joke: Sorry, I guess I’ve just set it up the bomb.
This was, for me, the second best episode of Haruhi. Topped only by the awesome episode 02 (01). The moe was overloaded this episode. From imouto-san to the various Mikuru modes all the way to the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the shift from the tsun to the dere in Haruhi’s tsundere.
>DOWN The Minmay Defense… okay, so they used the Risa Hayase Defense instead. Maybe those big giants are really Zentradi!
I’d think the fact that it WASN’T the Minmay defense would make it an up. How weird would it have been if Kyon suddenly broke out into a “We Will Win” or “To be in Love” to defeat the closed space monsters?
Greatest sequence in this series has to be Kyon describing Haruhi’s changing hairstyles. So incredibly funny and what signaled to me that SHnY wasn’t going to be your run of the mill anime. That’d make a good post/poll wouldn’t it? Favorite Haruhi scene/moment. Its going to be at least 2 seasons before we see another Haruhi season (assuming KyoAni doesn’t move back to FMP, then we’d be screwed. Does Key have anymore bishoujo games to turn into animes? Should I be worried about this?)
>>They’re officially the AC Slater/Jessie Spano of the anime world.
This is ridiculously true! I can see Haruhi bitching at Kyon about little things, but in the end sucumming to Kyon’s cynical nature. Not to mention Kyon constantly pushing his rational onto Haruhi. Although I don’t see Kyon blurting out, “Haruhi, why don’t you be a woman and cook,” unless he wants some to do the nasty with her a la Adam and Eve.
I knew it! You were far away, so until now we have the chance to read your opinion
Forget it about the line above, just useless trash. Ah to think one of the greatest series I ever seen reach it’s final episode, makes me feel very empty. What am I going to watch now? Muteki Kanban Musume? Tsuyokiss? Zero no Tsukaima? The first one is crap; the second one is too bad for being called a “harem series†and the last one is a crappy copycat of Harry Potter Realm. Damn you Kanon, sure I love you, but your remake is one of the biggest mistakes in history of NAS- ejem Anime. My only hope is that Kyoto Animation retakes the good path and brings us more Haruhi-ISM very soon.
OK, let go down to business. Speaking of episode 14, my favorite part was the music; we need it, one more Evangelion-type classic scene with a giant destroyed everything meanwhile our hero and heroine runoff without a care for the world behind. Kyon, you moron, you have to do “that†more often… or are you really interested in Mr. ESPer. Damn it! Too much Gravitation and Loveless (O_o mental note: let’s kick my best friend’s ass for giving me such a useless crap)
So, Kyon isn’t a potato LOL. The only question here is…
Why!? Why!? Why!? Mr. Anderson (Ok, too much f-k Matrix)
Why Kyon? Why him? Why that moron? Why it wasn’t me? WHY!??
….
….
….
Good bye my dear Haruhi
Good bye my dear Mikuru
Good bye my dear Yuki
Just die moron Itsuki
Have a foursome fun Kyon ^_^
Au revoir Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
Her appearance was probably so short that I missed it, but who is the girl with the green hair that flies past Haruhi in the opener? Not Tsuruya, I mean. The other one.
“4) This question is the biggest I have…in Mikuru-run 00; after Mikuru uses the “Mikuru-beamâ€, Yuki then jumps on her and begins assaulting Mikuru. Hot as it was, Haruhi starts yelling at Yuki telling her that’s not in the script. Why would YUKI of all people do something so aggressive when she wasn’t told to do so by anyone. It makes no sense at all.”
Read the latest chapter translated for v2 of the novels…..
Kamal>> Emiri Kimidori; the girl who comes to the SOS dan for ‘counseling’ in episode 7 (Kyon’s order). After seeing her in the operner, I thought she’d play a slightly bigger role in the series than she did – do anyone know if she IS more than just a random student?
“That night, Imouto-san steals Kyon’s scissors… why do I bring up such a pointless event? Why did Kyoto include such a pointless event?”
Perhaps to point out that her knocking-her-head gesture was exactly the same as Mikuru’s? Which leads to some interesting speculation about Mikuru’s identity, and the unnamed little sister’s name… and the reason why it hasn’t been revealed.
‘I’m still confused about All Woman Mikuru’s clue back in episode 10. She gave the hint ‘Snow White.’ I thought that would be brought up this episode, but it apparently has been changed to ‘Sleeping Beauty’ by Yuki. Production error? I’m confused.”
No, it’s intentional. What do Snow White and Sleeping Beauty have in common?
She’s probably an alien like Yuki, since she’s the one who set up that whole meeting.
I bet we will see more of her later, she IS in the op.
Sorry, that last comment was towards Ida.
Was wondering what take you so long to write for the final episode. Was a good ride reading your blog after each Haruhi episode. Great series, great community, good times.
AT the beginning of the episode, when Kyon was talking about Yuki, Mikuru and Itsuki, i loved the way his voice expresses his view of each of them. Normal for Yuki, Giddy-with-glee for Mikuru and Disdain for Itsuki XD
kei-clone: IF Futuba-chan’s response leaves you in the dark, remember the spoiler for both:
Both fell into a deep sleep, and wouldn’t be woken without a prince’s kiss. Haruhi was stuck in the closed world she created, thinking it was a dream… and what broke her out of it?
I once again demand a post showing the choronological order to watch the episodes. Very much ^_^
i would have liked it better if haruhi didnt wear her stockings/necktie/cuffs on her bunny-girl costume as it was in the novel.
Hi. Long time lurker, first time poster here. As always your review was awesome, and so was the anime. Just wanted to comment of a few things:
> Ponytails… I would have died laughing if Kyoto Animation somehow worked in the Ponytail Stalker from Fumoffu somehow… like running around in the Closed Space background giving a thumbs up while Psycho Police Lady and Bonta-kun kick each other’s ass next to him.
Hey, for all we know, Itsuki’s Organization might have dead ringers for the stalker, the psycho cop and some guy in a Powered Mascot suit.
> I would have stopped watching anime right then and there… what else could that top?
Alternate reality Yuki. Also, a scene with Lol-Fang-tan laughing at the Kanon girls would be Haruhigasmic.
> You don’t want one bad Windows XP hard drive corruption error to wipe out so much moe.
For all we know, Kyon might have saved the whole stash on the Computer Society’s servers. Which would explain why the CS President keeps tabs on their website on a daily basis. Kind of like your average Anime on My Mind reader…
> (Wouldn’t it be funny if Mikuru had a stash of Kyon pictures? Like when they were on the ferry, and Mikuru was taking pictures of Kyon sleeping.)
That would be very, very hot.
Pardon the Engrish. It’s 3:56 AM over here right now.
One more thing:
> If Haruhi was willing to reboot the world because of her jealousy of Mikuru/Kyon, maybe Ryoko should have tried seducing Kyon instead of killing him…
Have a scanslated dojin with this premise in mind:
http://kawaiiheavens.net/index.php?z=projects_hnk
Enjoy.
No mention of Yuki wanting to go to the library one last time in the Nagato OS scene?
And so ends the first season. You forgot to mention that if Ayu had a gas tank there would be sugar in it as well. What an unhappy time this is Haruhi has left us for a bit so das bitch Ayu gets her remake. To add insult to this grevious injury I just had to destroy a whole lot of flak jackets that I wanted to keep for the siege.
Hopefully Haruhi-sama will keep her pony tail and grow her hair for the second coming, err… season. Bah, back to work.
You forgot to note that at the end Kyon say that he will tell Haruhi about Alien, Time Traveller, ESPer etc…
I think it’s important, cause this is way Haruhi Movie (ep 00) Mikuru = Time Traveller, Yuki = Alien, Itsuki = ESPer.
Ida>>That’s right. Thanks. I couldn’t remember Emiri because she was—y’know—too *normal*.
If there was a Haruhi drinking game for every chara’s quirks, how many people would pass out by the third episode? And would all that alcohol impair your ability to have a Haruhigasm?
Enjoyed very much Skribulous! Great find, nekkid Nagato FTW! bookmarked…
Question: in the first episode, when everyone was cast exactly as they were (time traveler, esper, and alien), was that because Kyon told her? (Like he said he would at the end of 14)
::Spoiler:: Read if you want a spoiler/puzzle piece
You know back when Haruhi first met Kyon? She asked if she had seen him before. WElllll…. Turns out, sometime in the story, Mikuru takes Kyon back in time three years and then he runs into a younger Haruhi!He’s also sees older Mikuru, but he’s with normal Mikuru, shes asleep and Haruhi sees them. They meet, they talk blah blah blah… things happen.. That’s also why she must have picked Mikuru out for her mascot! She probably unconsciously choose her to be the mascot because she saw her with Kyon three years before!
I’m sorry but that has to add to the fact that there’s going to be another season. There’s too many unanswered questions and little hints that keep you wanting to know more. WAH! I demand a second season right now! All these puzzles are falling into place and it’s BLOWING MY MIND!
More thoughts:
– Shami + Imouto = win
– Wasn’t the Integration Thought Entity freaked out in the last episode even though they were getting precious “data?” This makes me think that the Thought Entity won’t try to make another attempt at Kyon’s life.
-As for the Computer Society President’s “girlfriend,” Kimidori, I thought she was just a student who was roped in by Yuki to act the part. Remember, Kyon suggests that Yuki creates incidents to stave off Haruhi’s boredom.
-Let’s come up with a list of favorite quotes for Jason. My favorites are:
“That’s when I thought, ‘Ah, they really aren’t human.'”
“All these people lined up for some bad fried soba made from cheap stuff. We’re raking it in! I can’t stop laughing!”
Here’s a few more:
“She doesn’t care as long as she can read, apparently. I suppose you could call her an oddball.”
“She’s planning on turning this room into an I-have-no-idea-what club.”
“You can’t rent Yuki without my permission!… She’s the SOS Brigade’s indispensable silent character! I saw her first!”
>>They’re officially the AC Slater/Jessie Spano of the anime world.
If this means that Haruhi will soon be appearing in a hentai called “Sho-garuzu” I am all for it.
Sieg: chronological “Haruhi” order is 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 4, 7, 6, 8, 1, 12, 11, 9. (Sad that I can do that off the top of my head, and I haven’t even gone back and rewatched in that order myself.)
>>[Mikuru] starts playfully crawling over Kyon. Loved how Yuki actually pried her eyes away from her book and stared at the two of them… because she’s jealous too?
No. She hasn’t that kind of feelings. She was trying to understand the situation between Kyon, Mikuru and the computer. See for yourself:
Afterall, Yuki was learning all the time :P
Oops. The link didn’t work. Here it is:
Mouse and Yuki Nagato
Afterall, Yuki was learning all the time :P
There is an Anime most moe tournament going on in japan right now, i think its from july 5th all the way to october, which is the battle of all moe characters through out this summer. So far SOS dan members are dominating. check http://saimoe2006.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ and 2ch for more details
3 most memmorable momments from ep14
“What are you two doing” scene
Seeing how happy Haruhi is in the ‘New World’
Instant msg with YUKI.N> want to hang out with you in the library again !!!
I like this last ep and by finally having this last missing pieces to the puzzle, I can appreciate the real ending a lot more.
The reason for putting this as the last broadcasting ep is obivious, beause it really fits better with the typical kinda ending. But usually after all the
said and done, what’s more interesting is HOW did the life of the protagonist change after that ? how do they live their life after this climax ?
Forunately for the fans of this series, they are able to see that character developement too.
to put things in persepective, this series is really about HaruhiKyon from the Old-Old World vs the New-Old World.
I’m glad to see that Haruhi does change after the kissu incident.
She changed from being so full of herself to stop mentioning about Alien, TT, ESPer… but rather to enjoy little things in life. As a viwer, that’s really
satisfying to see.
she is dissapointed with the world she sees, and wants to change it, but it’ll be no fun if she’s the only person doing it, so she picked up Kyon and shares
her thought with him.
and finally in the last ep, we see her being able to pursue things she like to do ( shooting DVD covers ) and being with the person she L*ve ( dunno about
that ) . wat a happy ending …
And to me, this makes all the ep in chronological order that happens after Melocony VI more enjoyable, because I finally see a reason why the bother doing
all those activity that at times seem more like a joke than anything else.
i still don’t understand WHY Haruhi picked Kyon tho . ..
>> i still don’t understand WHY Haruhi picked Kyon tho . ..
Something to do with the famous “three years ago”.
Somebody guessed that he was a time slider or something over at GFAQs. I think that could be believeable.
Any chance that the novel will get picked up for an English release?
waaaa i want season 2 already hurry up plssss
Grr…Season 2 hurry up!!!!…Oh yeah, acorrding to the light novels (Or manga)….Haruhi did meet Kyon before (Exactly 3 years before) and then something to do with a “Bamboo Leaf” and a “Hospital”….Hmmm..
I remember, it was in the light novel, and went like this: Haruhi, during the SOS Brigade’s standard after-school meeting, tells everyone to write down wishes for the Tanabata festival. After the meeting concludes, Mikuru takes Kyon back in time, to the Tanabata festival three years ago. He meets Haruhi in 7th Grade, and is coerced into helping her. She orders him to draw strange signs on the field of her middle school with a chalk-drawing machine. After this, Haruhi asks Kyon’s name. He replies, “John Smith”….Yep exactly like that!!….The chapter was called “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody”…But, I don’t know where the hospital came from…Hmmmmm…
Did you guys watch it in numeral order or the weird order?
oh, does anyone know where the guy is i have to poke for
a second series?
tdlwk
i really liked the series, i don’t think they are coming out with annother season. then again i havn’t tried at all to see if they will…if they are thats great ^^
i am currently watching episode fourteen of haruhi suzumiya, as i missed it on t.v. i have paused it half way through as my brother wants to watch it to and he is busy doing something. i cant wait to see the ending, although its sad it has to end now.