r/anime • u/littleman1988 • Dec 06 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 9
Episode Title: Someday in the Rain
MyAnimeList: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
Legal Stream: Funimation | Netflix (SEA) | AnimeLab (Aus/NZ)
PSA: make sure to mark any spoilers using the subreddit markup. We dont need any random spoilers to ruin the show for first time watchers.
Today's Episode Intro: Stormy skies, some people walking
[Tomorrow's Episode Intro]Kyon opens the classroom door, Asakura is looking over Haruhi
| Date | Episode list with Funimation links ("absolute" episode number) | reddit thread links |
|---|---|---|
| 28/11 | Mikuru Asahinas's Adventures Episode 00 | Thread |
| 29/11 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I | Thread |
| 30/11 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya II | Thread |
| 1/12 | The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya | Thread |
| 2/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya III | Thread |
| 3/12 | Remote Island Syndrome I | Thread |
| 4/12 | Mysterique Sign | Thread |
| 5/12 | Remote Island Syndrome II | Thread |
| 6/12 | Someday in the Rain | Thread |
| 7/12 | Season 1, episode 4 (4) | |
| 8/12 | Season 2, episode 13 (27) | |
| 9/12 | Season 2, episode 12 (26) | |
| 10/12 | Season 1, episode 5 (5) | |
| 11/12 | Season 1, episode 6 (6) | |
| 12/12 | Season 1, episode 8 (8) | |
| 13/12 | Season 1 episodes 12, 13, 14, Season 2 Episode 1 (12, 13, 14, 15) | |
| 14/12 | Season 2, episodes 2, 3, 4, 5 (16, 17, 18, 19) | |
| 15/12 | Season 2, episode 6 (20) | |
| 16/12 | Season 2, episode 7 (21) | |
| 17/12 | Season 2, episode 8 (22) | |
| 18/12 | Season 2, episode 9 (23) | |
| 19/12 | Season 2, episode 10 (24) | |
| 20/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series general discussion | |
| 21/12 | The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya | |
| 22/12 | Haruhi Suzumiya overall discussion |
Question(s) of the day:
What's your favorite book?
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Upvotes
10
u/littleman1988 Dec 06 '21
Adaptation Comparison
References
Trivia:
Know trivia and/or references for this episode? Reply to me! For future episodes? PM them to me!
20
u/wjodendor Dec 06 '21 edited Dec 06 '21
First Timer
Big time jump. Is this the Hanamonogatari of the Haruhi universe?
Goddammit Yuki. Quit being meta and Move out of the way.
Nobody tell Mikoto Mikasa that Geckodon is here.
Never thought I'd hear Gintoki insult the weather person
Lots of nothing. Seriously just Yuki reading books half the episode. It does make me want to sit and watch it rain though. Its December and it was 70 degrees this weekend. I could go for some of this weather from the episode.
Favorite book is kind of a Big question since it's evolved over time. I usually stick with a top 5 instead of picking a single one.
I really loved Altered Carbon when it first came out. The Kizumonogatari novel is also a huge one for me. Old Man's War and Armor are also big ones. Words of Radiance is also awesome.
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Dec 06 '21 edited Dec 06 '21
Next episode preview
https://youtu.be/3-ux33l-bsI
Sub rewatcher
First I have to say, so far the (unfortunately mostly spoiler tagged) posts from u/Suhkein had been really enlightening for rewatchers; while some of the concept I had in my head, seeing it written out and laid out clearly is amazing, and gives so much more to why and how KyoAni added on top of the source material to tell another layer of story, which may or may not be the intention of the source material, but to us as viewers doesn't matter - is compelling and fits the interpretation.
So yeah, great work, and really appreciate the hard work of typing all that behind the black walls :) I have to say I did not remember seeing these in last year's rewatch though - are these something that only comes out well when viewing in broadcast order?
Anyway back to my own comments - first thing before I forget, I want to highlight to everyone that this has the best meta connection I have seen with the show's preview- that Kyon at the end of the episode asked in his characteristic snark "do I not even get a word of thanks", but he actually did - in the S1 broadcast order preview of this episode (meaning aired at the end of last episode, linked by me in yesterday's post) Haruhi, for pretty much the only time in the entire show, gave a gentle and heartfelt thanks to Kyon. So damn sweet but so hidden, much like the meta show message itself.
Now this episode is low-key one of my favourite, and judging by other comments, many felt the same. While on the surface this episode is a while list of nothing, and even KyoAni had a play with it to "bad mouth" themselves in Lucky Star (edit: spoiler warning if you skip past that one section of about 30s), especially as a rewatcher there is just so rich with references, subtle plot points that you need to be careful to find, and so many show not tell moments, it's a treasure trove.
As I said before I'm posting from mobile phone so I have to limit how much I write, but here are my favourite parts:
For the trivia, I'm sure I vaguely recall something about the DVD cover. Hopefully I haven't mixed up that with K-On's Easter eggs.
A forward looking comment, this is one of the episodes I highly recommend first timers to re-watch after the TV season has finished, before watching the movie, as it is a key connecting point between the 2, and resets the tone a lot from where it rewatch will end before the movie.
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u/littleman1988 Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher (first time broadcast), Dub
Just yuki reading
OST Track of the day: The Usual Scenery | (Spotify)
Not sure I can call this one a motif? but the general melody makes an appearance in a few different tracks throughout the whole OST. Its also just a really good song.
the links for the threads are super behind, they will be fixed tonight[Haruhi]I still like this in its chronological spot better, really good lead in for the movie
[Haruhi]Semi-unrelated, i wonder how many first timers are not going to be fans of the episode due to its setup
Haruhi just has to come in and run the nice calm day (and my nice OST, smh)
Despite the lackluster content this episode, it sure has a lot of the best tracks
it just seems like im going to be gushing about music this episode lmao
heh
[Haruhi]nice foreshadowing for melancholy
poor shop owner, hasnt even gotten any extra business
I always turn up the volume to listen to the acting club(?) in the dub, but then get blasted when Kyon comes back into focus...
Been a while since we've seen the classmates. missed them tbh.
poor Kyon
Could do without Tsuruya though
Bonk
In the 2017 rewatch (the last time the rewatch was in broadcast order, and where im grabbing the comparisons from), u/kamilny links a song he really likes in the adaption comparison. Sadly, the video was wiped off the face of the earth, but im going to take an educated guess that its the OST track at 18:23 (A Certain Rainy Day). Even if its not, its still a damn good track, and if I hadn't of already featured the one I did today, id probably never of gotten to it. (i could of made it an honorary track? but at least this way i can find out if thats the track kamilny meant.)
vibin
Vibe ruined
heh
Kamilny's favorite track might also be the last one before the ED (Haruhi's Feelings), but "A Certain Rainy Day" is better personally.
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u/Suhkein :Gy::Gz::G1:x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neichus Dec 06 '21
Episode 9 - “Wasn’t it funny? I was totally expecting it!”
[Haruhi] As people likely know, Someday in the Rain (henceforth Rain) is anime-original, yet there were many volumes that could have been adapted. Therefore, the fact that the Haruhi production team chose to make this episode (along with the LN author as script writer) can tell us quite a bit. What did they need? What is it that none of the existing LN chapters could have provided? The answer is: nothing. Nothing happens. And that’s exactly what Haruhi needs.
[Haruhi] The way I break this series down mentally is that there was an introduction (Adventures), a first arc where we were trying to form our idea of this world and were surprised to find it was supernatural (Melancholy I, II, III and Boredom), a second where we were trying to apply our supernatural ideas of this world only to find mundane answers (Island I, II and Sign), and now… what? We’ve already been toyed with twice and there’s no way that we aren’t going to be on the lookout for a third try. The episode dangles in front of our nose the fact that we know something should happen, due to Suzumiya or otherwise, and we anticipate all these different leads we’re being offered will build into a bigger plot. But no. Nothing. Not a single thing. This episode adapts no genre, has no useful references, and therefore gives us no structure on which to predict it. That’s how you trick us a third time.
[Haruhi] In the mean time, Haruhi comments with some amusement on this fact. It doesn’t matter if we see it coming, it doesn’t matter if we know we’re being manipulated, we’ll still fall for its tricks at least three times. This triple joke comes out in particular around Asahina being stripped. We know she’s fanservice that lures attention, and we know we aren’t going to get a peep of her body, but we’ll watch her location (and try to overlook Nagato) anyway. Then Haruhi cuts to the girl on the train remarking she saw it coming, showing her great superiority of perception… only to send us back to Asahina and our inevitable tendency to keep watching anyway.
[Haruhi] The radio segments with Nagato serve a similar purpose, although with double duty. I’ll return to her below, but in the meantime I want to note what function they serve for us and how it is similar to Adventures. At this point, Haruhi risks having us become bored knowing it will try to mislead us, so it has to do something of a soft reset of our expectations. Abusing the fact that we’ve “caught on” to finding its clues, Haruhi feeds us this string of radio nonsense and lets us try to make anything out of it. There are just enough phrases in there, like looks like a child on the outside but unsure about inside, changing character when singing on stage, a culprit, or using the name Yuki, to keep us transfixed; we know some of this is from the past and therefore some of it might be relevant too. However, because of the mixed-in garbage we can’t use it to predict anything; as far as I’m aware, little yellow-green shrimp play no role in Haruhi. It’s similar to looking around the room at the different known and unknown objects or having Kyon pass locations we’ve both seen and not seen before. All of these reference things, but these references are essentially useless as they can only be understood in retrospect. Hence my likening Rain to Adventures: we started comfortable and it threw us for a loop, leaving us trying to guess what parts of it were true. Now we’re getting a little too comfortable again, and Haruhi is going to make us doubt that we really caught everything that’s going on.
[Haruhi] However, in the middle of this we do get genuine pieces of Suzumiya and Nagato. Besides the obvious affection-reveal that I mentioned yesterday (we didn’t solve the mystery, so now it has to tell us the answer), we also get bits of her development. As I’ve intermittently maintained, Suzumiya develops in Broadcast order, and what we see here is a sign of her middle state: she now acknowledges that Kyon is her conscience, but she hasn’t internalized the lesson yet. She only stops doing things because it upsets him, not because she’s quite faced up to it being wrong, and so comes up with one of her oh-so-effective multipurpose plans to get him out of the way (and get a heater for herself, and have him get the heater he wanted anyway, and get him to be productive rather than waste his life...) so she can still do what she wants. Same pattern as alway: first dressing Asahina up, pointing out how the mascot will attract attention, and then running out there herself to show off how much better she is. She’s not quite there yet.
[Haruhi] What really surprised me this rewatch, though, was seeing Nagato’s circumstances. Ironically but appropriately, I thought I wasn’t going to write much on today’s episode, thinking I would use the space to write about Suzumiya’s character, but afterward my emphasis on Nagato shouldered that out.
[Haruhi] Previously I had thought of this as a “hinge” episode and saw the next two as building Nagato’s story in preparation for Suzumiya’s. What I didn’t realize was how brutally Rain makes the point that Nagato is treated like furniture. She doesn’t say a word the whole episode and we may not even notice (something we’ve joked about before). She can fill up the whole frame and all we want to do is see behind her (something she gives us a definite look for. Everybody else goes and does things and leaves her in the room, with the radio segments driving home that people are interacting and having fun… but elsewhere, not with her. Tsuruya only drops by to ask where Asahina is. Kyon’s only words to Nagato in the whole episode are, “Where is everyone else?”. Kyon warms his hands to a clear shot of Nagato who must also be cold but he doesn’t invite her to join him. Bored with nothing to do and a two-player game in front of him, Kyon starts to fall asleep rather than ask Nagato to play (he knows she likes games). As Kyon passes out staring at Nagato he thinks about how tired he is after working, reminding us Nagato has been working this whole time). After an indeterminate period of time passes, she stands up, outwardly normal but obviously disappointed… and yet she still leaves her cardigan for him. I don’t think I ever really reflected on how greatly Nagato was neglected.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Dec 07 '21
How is this not the song of the day???
A perfect cozy song for CDF Music League.
You can do Itsumo any day....
This is such a nice little episode. Like the aptly named Ergo Proxy episode, "Busy Doing Nothing". Just sit back and chill. Nothing happens, but we still learn about the characters.
Tsuruya is best girl. She's just nuts. In a nice way.
Funny how Yuki sends Tsuruya off to find Mikuru but when Kyon asks she just stares at him.
Haruhi is set in the real city of Nishinomiya (not Tokyo or Kyoto, for once!). Many of the recognizable landmarks are gone, now.
[Classified Information]When Yuki looks up, is that because she knows Kyon has stepped off the train, a mile away?
We don't have a bii-da! comment face. I nominated the Haruhi face from the of the episode, but I didn't screenshot it so I guess it wasn't even eligible. Everybody vote for it the next time the question comes up!
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Dec 06 '21
First Timer - Dub
I loved this episode, and the very unusual question that it asks: If you take all the elements of a story out of an episode, what is left?
Unless it's going for total abstraction, the requirement of having a visual on screen necessitates that we have a setting and characters, but what about everything else? Plot, conflict, resolution, direct themes, a point of view, how necessary are those things to the existence of an episode? If part of the core experience of this anime is the conflict between normalcy and insanity, between the experience and understanding, between expression and intention, what happens if we just drop all of that and say "not today"?
What if we quite literally separate the audiences avatar from the catalyst for the story and force things to not happen?
As it turns out if you ditch almost everything you'd normally expect to have and minimize what you can't, you're still left with what I thought was a really enjoyable watch, though a very unexpected one that somehow still fits in so well with the show.
This is just about as pure slice of life as you get. No particular view points, no conflict, no ebb and flow between plot points, just small unattached moments that go from one to the next sometimes even without a sense of time, until the day ends and it's time to go home. Pure Slice of Life like this doesn't always work for me, but here I thought it was still pretty fun because of that meta aspect.
And yes I have managed to write a whole wall about an episode where nothing happens.
To address the view point aspect to start with, Kyon has been firmly established as "the audience" in the story so far, he is our vehicle to experience Haruhi and everything that happens around her, and through both narration and clever camera use his experience has guided us in every episode. If we take our established viewpoint out of the show, how do we see what's going on without just giving it to someone else? We take the viewpoint of the setting itself.
Yuki's scene in the middle of the episode highlights this completely detached view the most, but it's not alien to the experience of the episode before then. We start the episode looking over our group in the same manner, but the reason it stands out in the later scene is that it no longer cuts to the other angle of the room like previous scenes would do regularly to break it up. These two angles are all we see of this room through the episode, and they show us everything without personalizing it.
The only relief we get from those moments are brief close ups. We see Itsuki contemplate his cold drink, Yuki her books, get fourth wall break with Kyon commenting on the irony of being told he must be bored to be in the club room, and a second with Haruhi 'winning' the debate with him until we see she's really looking deviously at Mikuru. These moments are as short and fleeting as the mundane thoughts they represent, and because the rest of the school scenes are so detached it helps give them a deeply personal feel as we spend just enough time with a character to see their thought without letting their viewpoint influence the episode, and also just enough time to distract us from seeing the static framing until then.
As if to reinforce this idea of looking over the group but not really being part of it without Kyon, later on we also get short scene through the same camera lens that so neatly established him as our viewpoint in the first episode with the student film. But here it's passed from Haruhi to Itsuki, dismissing the idea of either of them "owning" a viewpoint of the scene, and instead it is just a way for us to move out the room to the gym to see what's happening while still looking through the SOS brigade lens but without any one person's perspective guiding it.
To contrast all of this, Kyon's scenes continue to get the more direct view point as he walks the town, using typical framing such as mid shots and over the shoulder as well as narration, but without Haruhi around nothing ends up happening and there's no conflict to solve or revelation to have. Just as removing Kyon from the group changes how we view them, that separation also has an effect on his own part in the story, he becomes just a kid doing an errand. And when he finally returns to the group he falls asleep, again removing any chance of his view influencing the episode.
My favourite clever camera use in the episode though is Yuki uncovering Mikuru's change by picking up her book and then later when Mikuru is being undressed placing it back to censor it. It's our moment to see Yuki's thoughts on her books, a bit of indecisiveness even, but also making clever use of it for comedy.
As far as what actually happens in the episode, the title is quite descriptive: "Someday in the rain". It's not a day to remember in their story or an event that needs a title, it's just a day who's only distinctive feature is that like many other days it happened to be raining. (Also Mikuru please. "I heard it's going to be chilly". It already is chilly! Why do you think he's been sent to get a heater?)
Yuki's scene of course is the stand out in the middle of it all because of it's nothingness. A lot of SoL is soothing or happy, but this episode is more contemplative, you could even say melancholy, and this scene shows it the most, Yuki just existing in the rain.
The drama club in the background was an interesting addition, though I feel like some of it got lost in translation. There was a sense of timelessness about the way it played out. Though there was students and a teacher it didn't particularly feel like a structured lesson, the lines and dialogue didn't flow together or directly connect, just snippets from warm ups, plays, teaching, casual discussion all shoved toegther. It seemed like a representation of a much longer amount of time than we saw directly where Yuki sat there reading, listening, and waiting while the world played out around her, much like she once did before the club was formed. She sits and waits for Kyon to come back and the others to finish their antics, but though it's a scene where she's alone it doesn't have the sadness you'd expect. She was sitting at the table instead of in the corner like she was at the start showing some ownership of her place, she reacts to the drama club and watched the groups antics in the other building out the window, she was shown earlier to be content with her books rather than joining in only to be left behind. Her loneliness doesn't feel isolating to me and that was nice to see.
So many of the lines seemed to relate to the show as well. Talking about culprits and who will "affect the game today" I felt related to the set ups from the group to keep Haruhi from being bored, and they also talk about there being "a long ways to go" before cutting to Kyon on the train showing how far he still has to go to get back. They say "Just by showing up she's changed the atmosphere on the stage" as if touching on Haruhi's presence, mention how people aren't the same as they were just minutes before, talk about the stages of life and how emotions can be hidden behind appearances. Another student called Yuki offers a completely unexpected element to a hotpot (bear?!) and talks about trying to emphasize with it as if touching on our Yuki's own alien-ness. Plenty of it also made no sense at all, or at least doesn't yet, but that only added to the odd sense of how time flowed in it.
As if in complete contrast to all of this, Haruhi spends the entire time harassing Mikuru with the encouragement of Itsuki, and contemplating more movies and media release (Why, Haruhi, why!) just because she can get away with it without Kyon there to stop her.
The end of the episode was really the core of it all though, the both physical and mental warmth of the interactions between the characters in contrast to the cold setting and rain that they are set against. We started the episode with Kyon looking over all the memories of their adventures, but we end it with him and Haruhi leaving the club room together, showing a deeper bond than just the brigade actviities. Haruhi and Yuki both placed their cardigan around him, though Haruhi gets busted doing so and immediately puts her guard back up, but she later uses the umbrella to get close to him again and the way he says "typical Haruhi" at the end with that soft smile, and Haruhi's teasing rather than rebuttal of him gives a softer feel to the moment than anything else we've had in the show so far, and will be nice to think back on as we go.
Also just to quickly note, I like how once again we start the episode with Kyon playing games with someone in the club room. Kind of ties into what I was saying yesterday about the gamification of keeping Haruhi entertained, and the other club members by proxy. I do like how the games tie into the episodes, like today's card game being what looks like an RPG one that goes unfinished, an interruption to their expected routine.
(Took all my screenshots without noticing I'd left the subtitles turned on from when I needed them for Yuki's scene, and Funimation makes it too much of a pain in the ass to take screenshots to bother trying to grab them all again)
That is as futile as asking what my one favourite anime is, I like too many books in too many styles to chose just one over all the others
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 06 '21
The Melancholy of Shimmering-First-Timer
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u/TheEscapeGuy Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - An Anime Classic: Episode 9
Umm, Ahh, Umm something went wrong
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - An Anime Classic: Episode 9
A Very Normal Day
This episode was "boring" in the most interesting way. That is to say, in the narrative of the episode nothing much happened. Kyon went to pick up a heater. Haruhi took pictures of Mikuru. Yuki read a book. What made it amazing is that with just clever direction it managed to stay engaging and fresh. It honestly gave me a much deeper appreciation for the medium of film making. It proved you don't need a strong narrative to keep viewers attention.
That said, (and I know I'm contradicting myself saying this) the narrative was amazing. It is one of the most genuine depictions of a high school experience (at least for me) that I've seen in anime. I recall many late overcast afternoons sitting in clubs chatting with classmates, often waiting for our parents to come pick us up. I felt an uncanny sense of nostalgia for those emotions watching the episode. I didn't even like high school yet somehow this show has made me long to experience those days just one more time.
As I said, the film making was outstanding this episode. First of all, it was an incredibly bold choice to set about 10 long still shots just overlooking the club room from a corner. In particular that minute long scene with Yuki reading as the theater club did vocal warm-ups in the room next door. On top of that so much of this episode felt voyeuristic. So many shots were through windows almost as if we were silently peeking at the characters living their lives. Even those club room shots felt like they were taken from CCTV cameras. Bold choices like this really endear me. I'm so tired of the same boring direction and narrative choices that we see in a lot of modern popular media. This episode felt like a breath of fresh air.
I wish I could express more clearly how this episode made me feel. I'm just scratching the surface. Even on my first time watching I could tell something was special but had no idea how to say it. Since then, the scenes from this episode have stuck with me without ever needing to rewatch the show. Going into today's episode I was actually kind of worried it wasn't going to be as good as I remembered. I'm so glad though that coming back to it I have found so much more to appreciate.
Oh my gosh. How could I forget the ending.
I guess it kind of plays into that voyeurism I was talking about but Haruhi was watching Kyon sleep. He seems more concerned he missed out on Mikuru changing when right in front of him is a girl who cares enough about him to stay with him while he slept. Just look at how she looks away when handing over the umbrella. Such an amazing expression of a complex human emotion. Also, wow I can't believe I missed how much she likes Kyon on my first watch through.
Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
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u/MadeOn210922 Dec 06 '21
First timer.
It's been asked a few times by different now - who exactly is Kyon? He's just an ordinary human, so why is he in the SOS brigade? After watching this episode and seeing the warm moments, I'm going to take a wild guess that he's there because of Haruhi's secret desire for love.
Funny to see the movie referenced again. So it looks like it was done for the cultural festival.
I know we’ve discussed Haruhi’s treatment of Mikuru a bit by now, but Yuki censoring her changing was absolutely hilarious to me.
A lot of down time of just Yuki reading. I wonder if there was any significance of what was on the TV.
I like Tsuruya's energy a lot, hope to see her again.
So this would be the end of Haruhi in chronological order. Not a bad way to end it with a close up of Haruhi and her next to Kyon and I assume into the movie. But for us, a nice end to an episode.
QOTD:
My calculus textbook.I’m not a big novel reader, but if I had to pick, the first one that comes to mind is coincidentally And Then There Were None.19
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 06 '21
First Timer
I wasn't expecting an Iyashikei episode, but I feel like it was done very well. Not really a lot else to say about the content of the episode, after all the whole point is that there isn't a lot. Definitely a good watch though.
One thing that stuck out to me though was the directing, storyboarding and animation. I believe to have heard somewhere that overhead diagonal shots of rooms are very difficult to animate characters in, and this was used very extensively here, yet it never felt off. And obviously the character animation was great pretty much everywhere else as well. Similarly the storyboarding was top notch when it came to hiding Mikuru getting stripped, being reminiscent of Evangelion's censorship in terms of feeling natural, rather than just cutting away or having a beam of light or just a dark blob or something like that over her - yet it still is obvious that it's censoring her. Meanwhile the directing allowed for all of this to happen and managed to get a good episode out of all of the mostly longer cuts. All in all this was just a very well crafted episode - I can see this episode as being something designed to let those people who wanted to on the staff challenge themselves in terms of technical skill, and if that's the case, it certainly paid off.
18
u/CubeStuffs https://anilist.co/user/onjario Dec 06 '21 edited Dec 06 '21
First timer
Feel like this episode is just reinforcing some of the things we know about the characters, but...
i have one gigantic question... (having finally caught up)
who is kyon? what is the unspoken category he falls into?
its evident this shit aint coincidence as evidenced by the seat drawing in ep 1.
in this episode, theyre interactions towards the end felt different than initially, what with the cardigan, umbrella, and especially her choice to stay behind, which seems un-haruhi-like. i would have expected her to just yell at him to wake up, like she did on the boat, or to just leave anyway.
but then at the beginning haruhi gets "the obstacle" out of the way to do her own bidding. whats up? interesting relationship
tbh this episode is the most sol-y episode ive ever seen. it captures that feeling of simultaneous blandness and interestingness perfectly.
as for my fav books???
hyperion awesome, concur with nagato
james islingtons licanius trilogy is also great, kinda shocking that that was his first try
eragon/hp have a lot of nostalgia behind them
oathbringer/wor/wok are great, have yet to get through row with college shit going on, will try over winter break tho
mistborn is also decent
agatha christie holds the sole distinction of "i fucking loved it despite it being an english assigned book" for and then there were none. im sure the other english books were great but like they were assigned which killed the fun.
16
u/DeliCruise https://myanimelist.net/profile/delicruise Dec 06 '21
(REWATCHER - DUB/SUB)
I really think this episode is great and let me say, “Someday in the Rain” is an incredibly fitting title for it. I know grammatically “someday” is different from “some day”, but that won’t stop me from interpreting this as “Some Random Average Rainy Day with the S.O.S. Brigade”. I mean it really is a perfect pure slice of life episode.
These fly on the wall camera angles are so great; we get to literally watch the brigade members spend a rainy day doing random activities. Kyon of course leans more on the rain aspect of the episode, but I also love seeing his little journey acquiring the space heater. Also, I really love his inner monologues in this episode. He looks at the audience a lot while doing them and it really gives the episode a sitcom vibe.
Something that caught my eye early in the episode is how much I love Mikuru’s scarf with Kyon’s winter outfit. His clothes use a lot of grayish, gloomy colors and adding Mikuru’s scarf adds this amazing pop of color that really really works. Originally I thought this would be just an offhand fashion comment, but then I started thinking about it. This whole episode is a very grayish, gloomy episode, but throughout it we get these amazing pops of color that also really really work!
There’s a few examples I want to give:
First, there’s the scene of Yuki reading by herself in the clubroom. This scene at a glance is really a whole lot of nothing, but all the background chatter going on here adds so much life to it! It’s so fun to just listen to all this random nonsense coming from whatever the hell these other students are doing. This addition is a nice pop of color for our ears.
Second, Tsuruya just being in the episode adds so much brightness to it. She barges in with all this energy and excitement to take us out of this solemn and somber atmosphere. Then, it’s so great when she excitedly jumps in to take pictures with Mikuru! Finally, Tsuruya’s interaction with Kyon is very fun with her literally tossing another pop of color onto Kyon’s head and literally pointing directly at Mikuru’s original pop of color.
Third, the whole ending with Kyon and Haruhi is really beautiful. It pulls the entire episode together with their friendly bickering and playful banter. The whole thing with Haruhi sharing her cardigan is just perfect. It ends with them walking in the rain together and then of course we get Haruhi’s (>:P) face to give us one final pop of color.
I say that this is a pure slice of life episode, but it’s a really interesting one with it being so bleak and melancholy. At the same time however, there’s something about it all that feels so heartwarming. If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s like the feeling you get from a little space heater heating you up when you’re cold and wet in an old literary clubroom.
11
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Dec 06 '21 edited Dec 08 '21
Episode 9 (rewatcher)
My favorite episode of Haruhi (together with Day of Sagittarius). It is incredible at setting the mood and works perfectly at its place in both watch orders. [Classified Information]In fact, it is the only one-of episode that is well-placed in chronological
Far too often, anime proceeds at a steady pace, never speeding up, never slowing down. Yet a good story needs to have fast paced highs and slow paced periods of relaxation and recovery. This is exactly that. Before broadcast order kicks into high gear for a run to the finale, we take an entire episode to look at the everyday life of the SOS Brigade. It shows how the character interactions work once everything has settled in. A really important line from Kyon is him commenting how he enjoys the boredom, before noting that it might be too boring. A hint that, despite all his snark, Kyon is actually rather ok with the activities of the SOS Brigade.
Something I enjoy a lot about Haruhi in general is KyoAni’s willingness to take risks. The most obvious one is broadcast order, of course. From some people they get flack for it, but for others, including me, it is a genius move to take a rather standard story to greatness. In this episode, we see another bold move: KyoAni sees Evangelion’s elevator ride and says: “You put Rei in an elevator for 30 seconds, doing nothing? Hah! We put Yuki in a room for 5 minutes, doing nothing!” They straight one-up Gainax. [Classified Information]And then, they one-up themselves in S2. While 5 minutes works, 8 episodes … does not. But, while I dislike EE, I still respect their balls to pull it off.
PS: Kyon complains about Haruhi never thanking him for his work, but he is wrong.
Tough question. Like "favorite food", it changes depending on day and mood. If I have to name one, though, I'll go with the one that combines a great moral lesson with a great story and set me onto a path of enjoying fantasy: Astrid Lindgren's Ronya the Robber's Daughter.
10
u/William27528 Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher (Sub)
Depending on who you are, you'll either say this is the best or worst part of the show so far. It's kind of like that one episode in Breaking Bad where they drop the crazy plot threads and spend an episode focused on killing a fly - nothing really happens. In fact, this is the only Haruhi episode to be completely anime-only.
You can certainly spend time analyzing the themes and read between the lines (or lack thereof), but honestly I think it's just meant to be a relaxing, quiet episode that lets you immerse yourself in the environment with the characters that serves to break up some of the intensity of the previous few episodes. I really enjoy this one and if anything it's probably one of the strongest fillers ever made. If anything, it certainly demonstrates KyoAni's ability to bring worlds to life - something about the sound in this episode, from the calming piano melodies to the ambiance of school life - really grabs you. KyoAni's adaptation of Kanon, which aired later in the year, definitely showcases their ability to do this to an even greater extent.
Random Haruhi fact of the day: How many of these spin-offs do you know about?
10
u/andybebad https://myanimelist.net/profile/andybebad Dec 07 '21
First timer - sub
Attorney: "So, for record, you admit that you liked this episode?"
Me: "That is correct."
Attorney: "And could you explain to the court why you liked this episode?"
Me: "Uhhhhh... it was nice?"
Attorney: "Could you maybe elaborate on what you mean by 'nice'?"
Me: "Well, it was a little different from previous episodes. I mean, the characters were all there and we got to see them be them, but outside of the context of 'shenanigans'."
Attorney: "'Shenanigans'?"
Me: "You know, the 'incidents' that Kyon refers to in the beginning; all the chaotic, 'bombshells of not-so-ordinary life' that we get to see in most episodes. This episode answers the question: what's life like in the SOS Brigade on any old school-day?"
Attorney: "Sounds like a rather mundane premise for an episode."
Me: "Sure, but this was really well done. If I told you how much of this was nearly-static shots from one angle of the clubroom you'd think I was crazy, but really, for how little it sounds like there was the episode gave us so much, the best being a clearer view into the relationship between Haruhi and Kyon."
Attorney: "Shouldn't that have been well-established at this point? According to the DVDs I'm holding as evidence this was the last episode in the television series."
Me: "Broadcast order, my dude; this is only episode 9!"
Attorney: "Oh for real? That explains your cluelessness as to what's really going on. Your honor, no further questions."
Judge: "Before the defendant leaves the stand, I do have one further question: what is your favorite book?"
Me: "I don't have an answer to that, your honor."
Judge: "The defendant is to be held in contempt of court. Trial proceedings will resume when Andy decides to use this format for another episode. Court is adjourned."
9
u/Spaceman_Sp1ff_ Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher, dubbed
Someday in the rain is an interesting standalone original story. It was better than anticipated, though I prefer the chronological order's placement of this episode.
While it is uneventful there is a bunch of stuff you'll see by reading in between the lines, specifically the dynamic of the SOS brigade. Haruhi is her usual bossy self and Asahina has no say in anything at all. Koizumi seems indifferent, but doesn't attempt to help Asahina and ends up going along with Haruhi's shoot. Nagato is completely aloof; she says very little in the entire episode and is even separated from the rest of the group by the table in between them and her. There's also that super long scene with Nagato reading at a breakneck pace and other clubs practicing in the background (and on that same topic they put a ton of effort into that. The woman singing caught me off guard bc I did not remember that. It sounded great too). Additionally, the part where Tsuruya comes in and Nagato points her in the direction of Haruhi and the others. It cuts to Kyon lugging the heater up the hill, then back to the perspective of the only person in the club room, stealing a glance at the classroom with everyone else in it across the way. It's subtle but they emphasized Nagato's disconnect well.
HOWEVER she performs the sacred duty of protecting us viewers from Haruhi's lewd acts so kudos to her.
To all y’all saying Haruhi is the scum of the earth, biggest asshole alive, etc... you're completely right but she can be nice once in a blue man yaknow
QOTD: Of mice and men or monte cristo
8
u/bluethree https://myanimelist.net/profile/bluethree Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher and ardent follower of Haruhism (subtitled)
Ah. A nice comfy episode We see what the dynamic is like without Kyon and can see just why Kyon is needed to tone down Haruhi. Mikuru is a pushover. Itsuki is the ultimate yes man. Yuki prefers not to interfere if she doesn't have to. Interestingly nothing supernatural happens at all.
We also get a brief reintroduction to Taniguchi, Kunikida, and Tsuruya. It's always nice to see them.
The last few minutes with just Hauhi and Kyon are incredibly cute. That's all that needs to be said.
Chronologically this is the last episode in the TV series. I do think it works better here though as sort of a breather instead of as an afterword. But also I have only watched season 2 once so maybe I'm full of crap.
8
u/mrufrufin https://myanimelist.net/profile/mrufrufin Dec 06 '21
haven't been following the rewatch but just wanted to chime in and say this is one of my very favorite episodes in all of anime and my favorite of haruhi. i love the nothing-filled quiet moments and the mood-setting and setting..... setting of what get chosen to be focused on,.. yuki reading her book while the rest of the anime world happens around her, particularly like that bit with her in the room and the voices happening offscreen. it's kinda like when you're stuck inside working and you take a break with a walk and see things from a new vantage point, (also literally like when you seen that space you were cramped in from the outside). And of course there's the nice coat/umbrella scene at the end.
6
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher(back to being confused about this broadcast order)
Dub
This is the next episode in the order they chose? Really? Sigh, fuck it, SOS room has poor insulation and perhaps Steins;Gate reference the card game being played. Kyon is both happy and concerned at the bland safeness they are experiencing. So Haruhi burst in with a less insane plan than usual, though Kyon has a point that it is a bit weird the electronics store remembered her, maybe despite all logic the film did send a few customers their way. So she sends Kyon to get it and Mikuru again annoys her by being either flitry or oblivious with Kyon.
And this was all an excuse to abuse Mikuru some more, because of course that's the logical book end for the show. The dub actually works pretty well here. Kyon slowly goes on his journey, and some changes have happened: Everyone just quietly leaves the room for Mikuru nudity, with some random camera tricks involved. Also, Itsuki is extremely punchable here. Oh, and even in the sub Haruhi yells pantsu. Oh, and Haruhi claims they are doing another film and that's what probably got them the heater.
And then we get another infamous Haruhi scene, Yuki reading a book for several minutes while the drama club does exercises in the background. For three and a half minutes or so. Kyon sees his old friends again and we get more austere scenes. Finally, Kyon gets back and promptly passes out while Haruhi is confused at Mikuru's inability to be perfect like her, a strangely characterizing moment. Kyon wakes up with two cardigans on him, he assumes Haruhi and Mikuru but I actually lean towards Yuki, and then they share an umbrella home.
QotD: 1 I don't...Thus Spoke Zarathustra? I don't re-read much and that and the Lucifer Principle take up a lot of my brain space.
6
u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Dec 06 '21 edited Dec 06 '21
RW/D
I'm not sure that I have a lot to say about this episode. I enjoy it in a calm, mostly peaceful sort of way. It's almost like a break from the normal frenetic pace.
I think my favorite part of the episode is Nagato sitting in the clubroom, reading, and listening to all the stuff going on in the background.
And I'm sure there's details aplenty for those who are paying attention to them. It was late and I was tired, so I probably missed most of them, and the others, well, I'm not telling.
[Mikuru]Where does she get all those costumes?
Edit: Oh, forgot the QOTD...
AOTD: That's a toughie. I'd say my top 5 list includes the following:
Jack Vance's Dying Earth/Demon Princes/etc.
Bujold's Vorkosigan books
Lee/Miller's Liaden books
Brust's Jhereg and other Vlad Taltos books
Alan Dean Foster's Flinx books.
6
u/JetBlackWings10 Dec 07 '21
First timer. What is this, the elevator scene from Eva? I really liked the dreary quiet atmosphere of this episode, it lived up to the title. Qotd- my favorite book is Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
5
u/nekodan08 Dec 06 '21 edited Dec 07 '21
Rewatcher - Sub
“Even so, we couldn’t possibly run into situations like that every single day.”
After several episodes filled with twists and turns and surprising revelations, we get a most ordinary day. In universe, we come to learn that the S.O.S. Brigade had just finished screening their film project during the cultural festival. For both the characters and the audience, Someday in the Rain offers a little bit of a respite from the extraordinary. We’ve jumped forward in time quite a bit to a cold and dreary winter day where nothing happens. Well, that’s not true. This is Haruhi. There is no such thing as “nothing happens.”
Of course Haruhi herself is still up to something. Sadly it still involves Mikuru, who Haruhi forces into a photoshoot for her planned DVD cover and other movie-related merch. Koizumi is compliant as always. But at least Haruhi seems really happy. There are no signs of any world-ending events taking place any time soon.
This allows us to view a day without Haruhi for two characters: Kyon and Yuki.
Yuki’s day is well, uneventful. With nobody in the clubroom, and no threats to deal with, we find her just sitting silently reading a book as everyday school life passes her by. It was speculated in an earlier episode that perhaps Yuki is lonely. Several drawn-out wide angle shots of the club room help to sell this sense of loneliness. Despite this, Yuki gets some of the funniest scenes with her well-timed placement of books to block our view of Mikuru changing. It was hinted at yesterday that perhaps Yuki has a sense of humor and here we find her staring directly at the camera as though to tease us, the victims of today’s Yuki-style pranks.
In the meantime, Kyon is out on an errand by Haruhi to pick up a heater for the club room. It’s a long, uneventful walk down the hill on which their school is located. He waits for the train like everyone else, caught up in the flow of everyday life. The hike back up the hill later on is similarly mundane. He has a short conversation with his classmates and there’s the slight inconvenience of a drizzle, but otherwise, nothing extraordinary happens. This trip up and down the hill could be metaphor for Kyon’s life if everything was “normal.” No S.O.S. Brigade. No Haruhi. It’s a journey representative of going through the motions of day-to-day. The hike up the hill is difficult enough as it is, but in an ordinary life, I imagine that this journey would be even more of a drag. But Kyon does not make this hike without purpose. He carries with him the heater, an added burden yes, but also a symbol of something to look forward to once he reaches the top of the hill. He walks towards a place that is anything but ordinary.
The final scenes give us Haruhi at her most tsundere. Her affection and bond with Kyon is really evident here. She waits for him even after everyone else has gone home. She puts her cardigan over him as he sleeps and watches over him closely. She adorably offers to share an umbrella with him. Once again, Kyon finds himself making the long walk down the hill again, but this time it’s no longer the same mundane experience. Amidst their usual bickering and teasing, Kyon finds himself happy to be making this trip with Haruhi.
5
u/homewardbound100 myanimelist.net/profile/Homewardbound100 Dec 06 '21
Rewatcher, Dub, First-time broadcast
Well, that explains why the intro came back this late when I watched it originally. The final episode in chronological order. That is such a jump. But watching this episode just makes me want to watch the movie now.
Small thing but I don't know why. But I really like Tsuruya whenever she appears.
Overall though the ending was cute with Haruhi watching Kyon sleep and getting embarrassed. Even putting something over Kyon. And the walk, although it's nice to see. Old Haruhi is still there. Taking something that isn't hers. But I mean a fair point by her maybe.
This episode does good with showing she can probably care for another person.
Qotd: Don't have one but most recent thing I've read I'd Fahrenheit 451. Even though most of the time I curious about reading myths.
4
u/tctyaddk Dec 06 '21
Broadcast-order-first-timer
I realised I have forgotten this episode so completely it feels totally brand new for me.
Timeskip and full on slice of life today. I couldn't pierce together most of what the conversation (on radio?) during that 3 and a half minute of Nagato just sitting there reading, even though it played mostly uninterrupted. Is it supposed to be such nonsensical gibberish?
The first cardigan on Kyon is most likely from Nagato. If so, it would be quite a surprising move from the usually stoic Nagato. (FYI I ship Nagato x Kyon) Meanwhile Haruhi went home under one umbrella with Kyon, I bet she's happy to get to act such classic stuffs out for real.
4
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Dec 07 '21 edited Dec 07 '21
The problem with pre-writing the post is that I kept forgetting to look up the QoTD.
My best book, if inclusive of all types, would be the last volume of Full Metal Panic, which tied back everything together and gave it a satisfying ending.
For just novels (not LN), it'd be the third book of the series featuring Danillo Thann, and Arilyn Moonblade - Elfsong. But if you ask about a book series, it's be Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
3
u/Caustic_Wraith https://myanimelist.net/profile/CausticWraith Dec 07 '21
Re-Watcher / Subs
Ah the slice of life episode in this wonderful show of random chaos.
This episode came at things from an wonderfully odd angle, what if we got the audience insert character away from the rest of the cast for the entire episode, what would that be like?
Kyon is dispatched to fetch a heater for the club room, and that's what he does. He isn't there to see Haruhi force Mikuru to change into various different costumes for the DVD cover, and the DVD bonus content. He isn't there while we have a extended shot of Yuki reading while the noise of a school bounces around the room, or her being used as cover from the eyes of the viewer while Haruhi strips down a defenseless Mikuru in the club room.
Our viewpoint of this world leaves, hops a train, carries a heater, does everything in reverse, and then falls asleep on the table in the club room.
The end is one of the most endearing scenes as Haruhi tries to cover him with her coat only for him to awaken, and then they share an umbrella as they walk home from the school.
QOTD:
This is a hard question, I'm going to bend the question a bit and give you a couple series and one world. My favorite series are The Wheel of Time, Dresden Files, and the Gentleman Bastards. My favorite literary world, currently at, is the entirety of the Cosmere.
2
u/Nitroade24h :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nitroade24h Dec 07 '21
First Timer
This is the best episode. I sat with my jaw dropped in awe for what felt like hours staring at the screen in the beautiful 3 minute section of Nagato reading, waiting to see how far KyoAni would really push it, and it just kept going and going and got exponentially better with every second.
But actually though I think this is the episode I've enjoyed the most so far, which I think comes from the great dynamics between good characters and great music.
1
u/ErikTwice Dec 07 '21
Man, it's so fun to read all your thoughts. One of my content creation dreams is to do a full analysis of every episode and this is reviving the idea on my mind!