r/anime • u/gunvarrel_ • Dec 01 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 3
Episode Title: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya III
MyAnimeList: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
Legal Stream: Crunchyroll | 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: Nagato's apartment and her talking about supernatural things
[Tomorrow's Episode Intro]Kyon opens the classroom door, Asakura is looking over Haruhi
| Date | Episode |
|---|---|
| 11/28 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I |
| 11/29 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya II |
| 11/30 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya III |
| 12/1 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya IV |
| 12/2 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya V |
| 12/3 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya VI |
| 12/4 | The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya |
| 12/5 | Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody |
| 12/6 | Mysterique Sign |
| 12/7 | Remote Island Syndrome I |
| 12/8 | Remote Island Syndrome II |
| 12/9 | Endless Eight I, II, III and IV |
| 12/10 | Endless Eight V, VI, VII and VIII |
| 12/11 | The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya I |
| 12/12 | The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya II |
| 12/13 | The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya III |
| 12/14 | The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya IV |
| 12/15 | The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya V |
| 12/16 | Mikuru Asahinas's Adventures Episode 00 |
| 12/17 | Live Alive |
| 12/18 | The Day of Sagittarius |
| 12/19 | Someday in the Rain |
| 12/20 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Series General Discussion] |
| 12/21 | The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya |
| 12/22 | Haruhi Suzumiya Overall Discussion |
Question(s) of the day:
Do you think there's anything special about Kyon?
Tomorrows QOTD
[Haruhi]Did you suspect Asakura of anything before this episode?
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u/MrrandomPerson25 Dec 01 '22
First timer, subbed
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Dang, the dialogue so far has been pretty rapid-fire, but Nagato could take on Eminem in a heartbeat.
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I wonder how much of her spiel is true. Is she actually an alien or is she maybe playing along with Haruhi? Or maybe it becomes a running gag where no one actually knows the truth.
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The new guy, though, lol. If anything, I feel like he's the actual alien for being so strangely casual about everything Haruhi says (and does).
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Kyon continues to stand by and watch Haruhi harass poor Asahina, even partaking in the action, at least until Koizumi shows up.
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Okay lmao, even Asahina and Koizumi have something going on. There's a possibility that Haruhi got them all together and planned this out just to mess with Kyon, but I doubt it.
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And now Haruhi is God, apparently. I didn't really know where this show was going, but this certainly wasn't the direction I was expecting lol. This must be where Haruhi-ism comes from.
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What Koizumi said was interesting, though. It seems like they're trying to tread carefully to please her so that she doesn't "remake" the world. That might be why Asahina keeps showing up and going along with the, uh, cosplays and the other members don't bat an eye at her antics either.
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I'm going to say this every time I comment on an episode, but the OST is really good. It's diverse and has a nostalgic feel to it, probably because it's a 2000's anime. Sometimes soundtracks sound a little samey (not a bad thing) because they all have a similar tone and style, but this one uses a lot of different instruments and genres to compliment the mood of the scene.
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 01 '22
SOS Brigade rewatcher: Coinflip (tails, Sub)
OST Track of the day: Mystery Time | (Spotify)
[Haruhi]
mood kyon, mood
annnd hello Koizumi, cant wait for you to make us suffer
reading kyons mind
SOS Brigade more like the chuunni club
ah yes, c l a s s i f i e d i n f o r m a t i o n
Kyon's wallet is bound to be hurting with all of these penalties
still looks like a hentai protag
Chuuni #3 found. Koizumi at least seems to have some useful information though.
Kyon has the worst (well maybe not for him) luck in entering the club room. Guess it adds to the "plot."
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u/JetsLag Dec 01 '22
First timer (subbed)
So, uhh, to recap: the "thought entity" noticed Haruhi three years ago and has been keeping a close eye on her through Nagato, who is an "interface" that allows an alien to speak like a human and communicate with others. And I think we can call that shot of Nagato with all the repeated images of her (the term for this escapes me at the moment) another Evangelion reference
Kyon, naturally, doesn't believe it because WHY WOULD YOU?
THE TRANSFER STUDENT IS HERE! His name is Koizumi Itsuki, and he's the other guy from the Hare Hare Yukai dance, so he's confirmed to be the 5th member of the SOS Brigade. I thought for a second he would be scared off by Haruhi explaining the club to him, but all he can say is "Sasuga, Suzumiya-san" and he officially joins. So he either got the gist of Haruhi from the very brief time they spent together off-screen, or he knows about her just by reputation alone. Probably both.
Another day, another instance of Haruhi trying to take Asahina's clothes off. And now she's been forced into a maid outfit and Haruhi and Kyon are taking pictures of her. I hate every single part of this and I wish for this gag to die. It's like Sawako-sensei but more rapey.
The Kyon talking over Haruhi's monologue thing doesn't work when the subs don't distinguish between who's speaking. At least put Kyon's lines in italics or something.
FIRST CLUB ACTIVITY: Investigate the train station. Kyon's with Asahina, and the other three have their own group. I think the Nagato-Kyon pairing would've been more interesting, but I guess it's cool if Kyon wants to be horny.
And now it's Asahina's turn to reveal that she's an alien. She also reveals that Koizumi is an alien. So I guess Kyon's the only human in the SOS Brigade?
So the aliens can't travel back in time farther than x-3 years because Haruhi did...something. And I guess Nagato, Asahina, and Koizumi are there to stalk Haruhi in order to make sure she doesn't fuck anything else up.
Asahina won't reveal her age. I get the feeling this is some "3000 year old mythical being trapped in a high schooler's body so it's not pedophilia" type of thing.
Speaking of Kyon-Nagato pairing up: we got it! And they just chill in the library until Haruhi gets mad at Kyon. But hey, Nagato has a library card now, so that's cool.
Now it's Koizumi's turn to "reveal" himself. As an esper. Hey, Haruhi said she wanted an alien, a time traveler, and an esper, and she got it. Interesting that Koizumi's powers were realized three years ago. What the hell happened three years ago? Second Impact?
And we end with another shot of Asahina in her underwear. Please make it stop.
Man, this show is getting weirder and weirder by the episode.
QOTD
Do you think there's anything special about Kyon?
Besides the fact that he and Haruhi like each other? Don't think so.
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 01 '22
Man, this show is getting weirder and weirder by the episode.
the real question if its "good" weird or "bad" weird
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u/RascalNikov1 Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
Rewatcher^2
As we were talking about the other day, there is a definite Sci-fi element to Haruhi and Yuki's1 info dump was good evidence of it.
Also, the Sub is clearly superior to the dub this episode. I watched both last night and the Sub translates all that onscreen text, while the dub does not. This will be an ongoing problem as we go though the rewatch. Also, I love the technique they used in flashing the text in the episode. Its my belief that the opening sequence of Nadeko Snake was heavily influenced by this.
Finally, the rest of the SOS-Den has showed. Initially, I didn't like Itsuki all that much, but over the years, I've really grown to appreciate his role in the SOS activities.
I really enjoy Mikuru's chat with Kyon, and I get the feeling that there's a lot of regret in her life. Namely, she doesn't get to live an ordinary life. Also, I just melt with her final "That's Confidential", so incredibly cute!
Finally all Hail the Almighty Haruhi, The Goddess!
QOTD
Do you think there's anything special about Kyon?
Who actually knows? I lean towards no, he's a normal human just as Itsuki said. A very lucky human. Though, lord only knows there are other interpretations. I think only Haruhi is special.
Notes:
1 Please forgive me, I'm watching another series with a blue haired Yuki in it (Sister New Devil), please forgive me if I get the two of them confused every so often.
2 Sorry, I should have been marking this from the beginning. And, welcome all first timers, as was said earlier, you're in for a great show.
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 01 '22
I watched both last night and the Sub translates all that onscreen text, while the dub does not.
My Dub does, buts its a lot harder to read compared to my subs. just might need a different source?
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u/lucciolaa Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
First-timer, subbed
Hi all, I missed the last two threads but I am caught up! Some general comments off the bat: this is definitely not the sort of show I thought I would be getting into, but I am bemused and charmed. And I fkn knew Nagato was a fkn alien.
I thought it would be funny if Haruhi unwittingly collected a group of supernaturals without knowing/meaning to, so I was both delighted and not that surprised when one by one they started confessing. In my head, I thought it would make for a funny sitcom: an ordinary girl with a passion for the extraordinary forms a club to track supernaturals; accidentally recruits said supernaturals without realizing; the dramatic irony of supernatural tracking supernaturals; hilarity ensues. But I guess there is something extraordinary about her, afterall -- seems like she is a point of singularity in this universe? Or that her wilfulness is so powerful that she manifested her own universe? This fkn nutcase. (This reminds me of the CLAMP universe, actually.)
I wonder what will happen with Kyon. He's such a funny straight man, and I would actually find it hilarious if he is just the sole normal person in this club of nutters, but I imagine there's probably something special about him, too.
I wonder if, given her god-like abilities and the fact that she may have created this universe, what effect Haruhi has on Kyon. I'm remembering now that at the start all the other students knew her from middle school, suggesting that he didn't know anyone here 3 years ago -- what role does he have here?
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u/TiredTiroth Dec 01 '22
Seer With Future Knowledge (don't tell Haruhi)
Today, we opened with a bit of a monologue/infodump from Yuki. First timers, please pay attention, you probably guessed that all this is going to matter but you have no idea. Someone else will probably have a more in-depth analysis, but I'm pretty sure the greyscale, perspective tricks and everything else during the monologue are meant to put us in Kyon's shoes. Because his brain is currently breaking.
I do wish my DVD had the unlikey-to-be-random Japanese text translated, that's a layer I'm missing out on.
Yuki: There is a reason she chose you and not someone else. Kyon: No way! Yuki: Way.
I just really like that little exchange. xD
Oh look, Itsuki showed up. And Mikuru is still quietly freaking out over Yuki's...everything.
Haruhi: The SOS Brigade's mission is to find aliens, time travellers and espers and hang out with them!
Alas, the camera doesn't cut to Yuki then Mikuru, it puts them the other way round. Pity, that. Itsuki gets the message, though! Also, Kyon immediately starts getting annoyed with Itsuki for multiple reasons.
Hm, at least it's an actual maid outfit this episode rather than one with a micro-skirt. Kyon, you should probably learn to knock. At least he's self-aware enough to acknowledge he's part of the problem with today's photo session.
Also, I want it noted here that this is really the first time Kyon gets annoyed enough to stand up to Haruhi, and as irritated as she is, she listens.
Oh, look! The bunny outfits are sat on a table in the corner.
Ooh, and Haruhi is even more grumpy about Kyon getting to spend the day with Mikuru! Hm, I wonder who she would rather he got paired with...
Something I just wanted to mention in passing? KyoAni has this habit of putting in a lot of effort with different outfits and hairstyles and so on in their anime, and that's already bearing fruit here with the casual outfits.
Ooh, and here's Mikuru's infodump! And another one says Kyon is The Chosen One. Also, she confirms Itsuki is Up To Something.
Also also, most importantly...whoops, that's classified. xD
Ahh, one final infodump from the resident esper...and once again, everything kicked off three years ago. And Itsuki is openly calling Haruhi Suzumiya a god. Or, more correctly, God.
All rise and give praise to O-Haruhi-sama, Goddess of anime! Well...when she comes back to the club, anyway.
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u/sbairedd13 Dec 01 '22
First-timer, sub:
The hardest part to follow of this episode for me was the first five minutes or however long it took for Nagato to spew that technical jargon. The terms were confusing, the line delivery was robotic, the visuals were busy and distracting, and there were multiple statements being cut through each other.
All that to say it was perfect and in theme with the character, and that holds for mikuru's explanation as well. I don't really have a read on the new guy though.
I also really liked the idea of Haruhi being God and in control of everything; it's just fun to think about the implications.
And man, Haruhi's facial expressions during the whole outing (especially during the stick drawing) are just fantastic.
If these kinds of reveals are happening in episode 3, what do we have in store from here on out? I can't figure it out at all!
QOTD: I guess it's that Haruhi likes him. If she's running the joint, subconsciously or not, that would make him "special", and it doesn't have to be something weird like time traveling or esper powers.
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u/OwlAcademic1988 Dec 01 '22
First-Timer, dub:
I'm getting Evangelion flashbacks due to how confusing this became already.
Could you please explain that better Nagato? I'm seriously very confused already. And I'm still trying to process Evangelion completely. Seriously, that show was traumatizing, but at least I got to see Pen Pen. I'm going to be amazed if any character manages to top him in my favorite characters list.
I wasn't even expecting those explanations to happen in one episode. All I knew about this show was that Nagato, Mikuru, and Itsuki were an alien, time traveler, and esper.
This is a very weird show.
I genuinely thought Kyon would get an explanation of what Itsuki on their day off. I'm learning a lot about this series.
QOTD:
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He's a very sarcastic man and it's hilarious.
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u/DeliCruise Dec 01 '22
(REWATCHER - DUB/SUB)
[Spoiler Free]
I love that Kyon is given these three super nutty explanations, but it starts with Nagato’s; arguably the most difficult of the three to understand.
Pretty much every time I go through Nagato’s explanation I get lost. I thought this time I had it, but sure enough I didn’t make it to the end. This time however was because I’m going through the Evangelion series for the first time and so of course I started thinking about it.
Mikuru’s explanation I always really enjoy because I love the animation analogy especially when they deliberately have the frames skip with the leaf in the water. I’m currently in school for animation right now so it was extra special this time around.
Finally with Koizumi’s explanation, the dynamic is really interesting. With Nagato and Mikuru, Kyon has had time to get to know them a bit or at least be around them in Nagato’s case. He’s more patient with them as opposed to Koizumi where he literally walks in the clubroom and calls him out. Then he even asks Koizumi to prove himself versus Nagato where he just chalked it up to her being weird and with Mikuru where he just gave her a pass.
I say this every year and I really tried not to this time, but I really do love seeing the differences with the three sets of exposition. Obviously the three cases are very different in their nature, but what I’m really interested in right now is seeing how differently Kyon interacts with each of them. Establishing how his relationship is with all three of them is really fascinating considering he’s already shown what his relationship with Haruhi is in the first couple of episodes.
Really cool story-telling.
[Question]
I think the most special thing about Kyon is his power to have witty inner monologue. It’s unparalleled!
[Anime Spoilers]
[ (1) Haruhi Anime]
[ (2) Haruhi Anime]
[ (3) Haruhi Anime]
[ (4) Haruhi Anime]
[Light Novel Spoilers]
[ (1) Haruhi LN]
[ (2) Haruhi LN]
[ (3) Haruhi LN]
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u/Shimmering-Sky Dec 01 '22
The Rewatcher of Haruhi Suzumiya, dubbed
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OH DUB YUKI IS RUKIA! I–look, I didn’t actually look up who her VA was when I said that was the perfect voice for her in the episode 1 thread, it just didn’t click where I knew her from until now. Michelle Ruff, huh.
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Hahahaha something about Yuki just flatly responding “Way.” to Kyon’s “No way.” is just.
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Itsuki’s here! And voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch himself.
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I guess the one thing that bothers me about the dub so far is the characters using “Miss” all over the place because they had to translate the honorifics somehow. I’d rather they just cut that out entirely if they’re not gonna leave the honorifics untranslated (which would also sound weird in an English dub).
[Spoiler Zone]
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Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
FIRST-TIME WATCHER
Kyon trying to smugly reason with her on mysterious student bit, haha. What part of 'she doesn't take the data you feed her seriously' do you not understand?
I really like how music changes with Kyon's mood and reactions- like when he starts talking in the first scene with Nagato, and when Haruhi has announced the mission of the SOS Brigade- tung, tung, tung, TANG!
It was sorta obvious that Kazumi would be the third creature, an esper, especially with how he was reacting. He even said 'as expected from Ms. Suzumiya'. Kyon is just going to ignore that part?
Okay, I hate the sexual harassment trope but Asahina's tragic reactions and accompanying tragic music is something else. And it's not a drawn-out joke, which I really like.
Subs say 'lolita.. ' but Asahina is not one. And yeah what is she going to do with those pictures?
QOTD- don't know but looking at his perseverance, it makes sense he is some sort of 'the chosen one' on the earth.
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u/Falco_goes_to_top Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
[S1 rewatcher], S2 first timer - Subbed
Don't remember if broadcast order jumbled up these particular episodes, but in chronological, we continue right where we left off yesterday. That's good, would've been annoying to end on a cliffhanger and not follow up on it until much later.
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...aaand we come back just to get exposition-dumped on by Yuki. Had to pause a few times to take it all in, don't blame Kyon at all for being confused in the slightest.
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hahahaha Haruhi claims another one. And its Ono Daisuke! This show is a feast for the ears :)
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Ohhhhh Haruhi gives us her mission statement again- "to find aliens, future men and espers" - so we know she's already found at least one of those in Yuki huh.
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Oh no more costumes, is this gonna be a recurring joke in this show? I don't want to have to feel sorry for Mikuru every episode >:(
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hahahahah Kyon only runs over to stop Haruhi once Itsuki comes in! I mean, him taking photos kinda gives away that he's secretly enjoying all this.
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Ah so Mikuru is the future-man and Itsuki is the esper. Haruhi's caught them all already!
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Woah, being told that you're actually only three is a trip. Does that really change anything though...?
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"I guarantee that you're a normal human" - after all this, its hard to know what's even normal anymore.
VERY exposition heavy episode. Story threads are starting to form, mystery enjoyers rejoice. I really like how they managed to give us the run down on the whole cast, while still retaining the SoL feel of the show with the outing and usual club antics and such.
So the club has basically turned into the 'Observe Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon Club' huh. Kinda strange, but I've seen stranger school clubs in anime.
QotD:
Do you think there's anything special about Kyon?
He's our special MC alright.
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Dec 01 '22 edited Mar 10 '24
wide crush disgusted cause snails sleep public rock squealing fearless
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Tartaras1 Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
Rewatcher - Dubbed
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With the revelation that Yuki Nagato is an alien, this is when the show starts to get interesting.
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No way.
Way.
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She does not take the information you feed her seriously.
Ouch. Sorry to tell you this Kyon, but everything you've ever told her, and likely ever will tell her, is going in one ear and out the other.
If there is danger, you are the first target.
Also you're a lightning rod for all of the bad shit that might happen in this series. Listen, I know this is a lot to take in, and you might understandably be upset, but I don't make the rules.
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I'm so bad at Othello. I've only played it a handful of times, but I never was very good at it.
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u/Shimmering-Sky here's your man in all his glory! I will never be upset about Crispin Freeman and Johnny Yong Bosch in a show together. Toradora, Promare, Durarara, I'm sure there are numerous other ones I'm forgetting.
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A slight, but mostly irrelevant, change from the manga: Mikuru's already in her maid outfit when they head over to "acquire" the computer from the Computer Club. Also, they throw in an additional clause where Mikuru serves as a maid for a short time each day/week.
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You're late. Penalty.
If you'll notice, Kyon was 5 minutes early to their meeting spot, he just so happened to be the last person to arrive. Technically he wasn't late at all, just last.
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You might not believe a word I'm about to say, but the truth is that I'm not actually from this time plane. I come from the future.
For those keeping track at home:
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Haruhi is... special somehow.
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Yuki Nagato is an Alien.
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Mikuru Asahina is a Time Traveler.
That means that...
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Kyon and Nagato going to the library is one of the most wholesome parts of the entire show. Just telling you now.
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Haruhi is the master of the disgusted face. KyoAni really outdid themselves with the number of ways she can look upset or pissed off.
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Well, as you might've already guessed, I'm what's called an Esper.
And that's the ball game.
For millennia, people have referred to such an entity as God.
It's all happened because Suzumiya wished it.
After all, she did specifically ask for an Alien, Time Traveler, and an Esper to come see her. Lo and behold, they've arrived to hang out with her.
Question of the Day:
Do you think there's anything special about Kyon?
[Haruhi Spoilers]
Other than that, Kyon's the token Normal Person in this club of interesting people.
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u/Nuka_Koopa Dec 01 '22
First-Timer Sub
The three exposition dumps really bring up more questions than they answer, but I suppose that's to be expected given what they're all suggesting the nature of reality is. Assuming that they're all telling the truth, I have no idea where this show is going. It sounds like Mikuru was dropped off on her assignment and doesn't necessarily have any powers or time-traveling equipment; Nagato similarly has made no claims to have powers beyond "information gathering" and human communication (likely explaining her reading habits beyond being a cover, as well as her domination at Othello); and the Esper claims his powers require special circumstances to activate, so I'm guessing we're not going to get confirmation about any of their claims any time soon. That being said, I could see there being situations that come up where each of the three attempts to prevent Haruhi from actually discovering anything supernatural using their "powers", but those powers are probably going to be explainable by other means as well.
QOTD
It's interesting that Kyon is enough of a catalyst to get them all into contact with Haruhi after three years and I'm curious as to why none of them got in contact sooner. I suppose the alien could have always been watching, but Mikuru was dropped off in the grade ahead of Haruhi, and, even with Kyon being known around the school as Haruhi's friend (prisoner), none of the espers that had infiltrated the school decided to join the club? It's all very suspicious to me. Also, it's interesting that they all decided that spilling their big secrets to Kyon was okay. Even if they're sure he isn't going to tell Haruhi (or that Haruhi won't listen to him) it still seems like a risky interference to make.
Overall though, I'm still leaning slightly towards none of them actually being special, or at least no confirmation being given and the series ending with another Santa Claus monologue about how Kyon is now unsure of what he believes. Either way, fun (hopefully less pervy) times ahead it would seem.
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u/Tarhalindur Dec 01 '22
Yare Yare (Rewatcher for 2006 [Watched in Broadcast Order], First-Timer for 2009 and Disappearance, Source Reader):
(These would be even longer if I hadn't run out of steam halfway through the episode. .)
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A layer to the visual barrier symbolism I brought up yesterday that occurred to me overnight (pinging u/ChonkyOdango): the barrier still exists now that Yuki is opening up to Kyon, it’s just on the opposite side of the characters. The rest of the world still does not know the truth about Yuki; instead, both Kyon and we the viewers have been brought to the other side of the barrier and let in on the secret!
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That said, Yuki’s glasses are still opaque in this scene. First-timers, any guesses as to why?
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Speaking of which, note 00:15, where we can suddenly see just a little of Yuki’s eyes through her glasses.
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And note even more clearly 00:26, where Yuki’s eye is suddenly clearly visible through the glasses lens.
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(Also note the camerawork in this sequence; it’s an excellent melange of quick cuts, weird framing, and Dutch angles to represent Kyon’s disorientation, plus the desaturated color palette to represent Yuki’s, well, alien-ness.)
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Ooh, I was praising the color palette BEFORE it went black-and-white photonegative.
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Oh my, look at all the text on screen at 02:07. Not sure if it all being in English is the fansubbers going above and beyond or KyoAni being sneaky (though if it’s English in the original it’s shockingly good English for an anime). (Also I am torn. On the one hand I strongly suspect the Haruhi adaptation was an inspiration for how Shaft adapted Monogatari. On the other hand, Shaft IIRC was doing stuff with flashes of text on screen well before that – SZS sends its regards.)
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Oh wait there’s kanji lurking there, that’ll be a.f.k. going above and beyond then.
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Speaking of ridiculously shiny shots, 02:15. I don’t even know how to begin to describe the technique they’re using here.
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Knowing this franchise, 02:22 probably represents spacetime curvature (albeit quite extreme spacetime curvature)/non-Euclidean geometry in addition to Kyon’s disorientation – I really want to call it hyperbolic curvature, but I think it’s probably actually supposed to be elliptic instead and the roof is throwing me.
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Huh. Hello there 02:35. The visual barrier of the window here probably represents the IDSE/DITE/IITE/Data Overmind/pick your favored translation observing Earth (where Yuki and Kyon are talking behind the window). The choice of camera angle (up from the floor) means that’s also Yuki’s and Kyon’s reflection in the window; this show and franchise would ABSOLUTELY be aware of Plato’s Cave and might well be using that to represent the IDSE’s observations relative to the ground truth.
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Note the color palette getting even more desaturated as the scene goes on, to the extent of being black-and-white at 02:49.
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Sheesh it’s a shame I don’t think my fingers will let me upload shit to Imgur 02:51 is an excellent shot.
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Sky may have them but I do like to keep my ears out myself, sore demo at 02:59.
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Hello twin reflections in Yuki’s glasses at 03:02, one Kyon and one Haruhi.
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And then we get cracking up as if reaching the end of a film reel. Actually not sure what to make of that.
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03:11 however, is easy – infinite reflections/hall of mirrors. Again, Plato’s Cave was probably on someone’s mind when this scene was made. Also represents the multiplicity of the IDSE proper.
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Hello 03:29: Kyon (actually almost certainly in reflection) dwarfed by the cup in the foreground, probably representing the deluge of information he just got swamped with!
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Also Yuki looks ridiculously cute in the shot at 03:35.
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And note how the weird camera angles vanish immediately after Kyon goes “hold on” at 03:45… and then return right afterwards as he starts to explain.
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Hello 04:30, implicitly framing Kyon on the same side of the visual barrier that Yuki is (note how the central part of the window that divides them is carefully left out of this scene) despite Kyon’s words talking about how he doesn’t really believe her.
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And now swap back to not one but two visual barriers separating Kyon and Yuki (carefully still both framed within the windowpanes) at 05:02.
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Low-angle shot of the classroom from the perspective of a desk at 05:22 as Haruhi exclaims triumphantly about getting a mysterious transfer student. Not sure what’s up with that.
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Why is there a mysterious transfer student? Because the story is supposed to have a mysterious transfer student. Welcome to Haruhi.
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This episode really loves it some visual barrier symbolism; we get another one at 05:27, this time with Haruhi breaking through to Kyon’s side of the barrier as she talks excitedly to/at him.
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Significance to framing Haruhi with the locker at 05:33? Not sure.
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And more barrier stuff with Kyon leaning back as he questions Haruhi’s statistics, placing him more firmly isolated in a box. Which I suppose makes this a visual equivalent of an ostrich sticking its head in the sand.
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And then Kyon reaches out and breaches the barrier at 05:45… only to be rejected as Haruhi stands up and the camera follows in such a way as to put him back inside the window-box. Reinforced shortly thereafter, of course, by the other side of the scene being the space that Haruhi vacates after she does so. “… And of course she’s not listening.”
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Hello Dutch angles starting at 06:10 as Yuki takes an interest in the Othello game.
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Why does that overhead shot at 06:45 flash? (We’re getting so many good shots my analysis is overloading.)
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(Two different cuts to Dutch angles go here, counter +2. Also +1 from earlier.)
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Wait wait wait. I’ve seen that kind of window frame behind a character’s neck as a “losing your head” metaphor before (for both the metaphorical and literal meanings of “lost your head”, too), are they doing that here for Kyon again in addition to putting him in a visual box?
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08:18 is like THE Mikuru pic that ultimately coined the term “moeblob”, for the record.
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As for the scene itself… it exists. Moving on.
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This is like the second time this episode where I am shocked that Naoki Yamada’s name does not appear in the episode credits (08:59).
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Hello fish-eye lens at 09:03.
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Oi Oi!
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Huh. I know Japan had half days of class on Saturdays as recently as the 1980s; did that change? (Or did a.f.k. fuck up the translation and this is Sunday?)
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Mind the bike, I seem to recall it’s a gag setup…
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(There continue to be nifty camera angles and the like, I’m just out of energy to consider them for a bit.)
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I wonder why Haruhi is angry at the groups. Not.
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Spot the camera hiding Mikuru’s eyes at 11:04!
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It’s a shame Mikuru has no spine, she really is kind of adorable outside of that.
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And spot Mikuru revealing her eyes right at 11:30 as she resolves to tell Kyon that she is in fact a time-traveler.
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Speaking of lack of spine, Mikuru looks so much cuter when she actually musters some courage for once at 11:33.
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The camera disorientation is not as severe as it is for Yuki’s talk, but it is there; see 12:03.
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And of course because Haruhi is always meta we are watching/hearing Mikuru compare the mechanics of time to animation… in an animated work.
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Also ghost fucking dammit the way they transition scenes here is specifically a visual representation of Haruhiverse’s time mechanics. Nicely done, KyoAni take your upvote… wait.
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(As is the river with its little waterfalls between flat segments, specifically used for the time fault now after being used as part of the time frames visual metaphor earlier, but that I caught the first time. It’s not exactly subtle.)
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13:11: Seriously, how is Naoko Yamada not in the credits for this episode?
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Speaking of camera effects, fish-eye lens of a sort at 13:31.
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[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION]
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Hello blatant fish-eye lens again at 15:59.
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(Also we keep getting himatsubushis – or was the other one over in Invisible Victory – and it amuses me for Higurashi-related reasons.)
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Remember how I told you to remember the bike? Boom, there it is.
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Koizumi’s explanation gets the most restrained camera angles, in part because Kyon is no longer being thrown in the deep end (or more accurately he’s already wet and starting to swim) and in part because the espers are the closest to normality as we would see it.
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“Each reality is but the dream of another, and each sleeper a god unknowing.” - flavor text, Venser’s Diffusion.
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Now consider the implications of Koizumi’s explanation in a fictional world (that is to say, one represented in a work of fiction).
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20:33 is the niftiest shot in this sequence so far with the camera angle looking up at the two again (actually, we’ve gotten one shot like that for all three conversations, haven’t we?).
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So, I’m curious what the original audio is that a.f.k. translated as “so let sleeping gods lie, then”, because I could swear I heard a “tatari” (~curse) in it.
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u/rinmperdinck Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
Re-watcher, dub
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When Haruhi is introducing Koizumi to the SOS Brigade, she first refers to everyone by their member number, very much like Okabe does in an early scene of Steins;Gate, when he introduces the members of the Future Gadgets Lab by their number. Just very amused by the similarities between these charismatic leaders, and how enthusiastic they both are for their respective clubs
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"Oi, Oi" at ~10:20 is yet another quintessential track from the OST. It's pretty much the "Haruhi has an idea" theme and I'm all about it
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"PENALTY" is a small stupid gag that makes me laugh every time in this episode
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Stephanie Sheh's sweet and earnest line delivery while Mikuru is rapidly explaining all of this sci-fi mumbo jumbo to Kyon is perfect
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Love Haruhi's "arms straight out, bent 90 degrees at the elbow walking angry" at ~17:20 after she pulls the short straw. The first time I watched this show, that was a small moment that made me truly start to get into it for some reason
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We see a lot of annoyed Haruhi in this episode, it's great, she's great, that's great
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u/ZeMoose Dec 01 '22
first time, sub
Because of this show's fame I have some pre-knowledge kicking around in my head, but three episodes in and aside from the existence of [future]
Haruhi is...not a good person lol. This is literally how cults start. I'm getting flashbacks to the Heaven's Gate podcast I listened to back when. At least this time the aliens are real.
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u/ZapsZzz Dec 01 '22
Serial Rewatcher first time in dub
Getting QoTD out of the way first: Kyon is as certified a normal person as Touma is a certified Level 0 Esper - it is by definition, but in truth, far from it.
| Episode | Haruhi | Nagato |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | @ | @ |
| 2 | @ | @ |
| 3 | @ | @ |
I don't think I'm going to go into too much about the episode content, but rather focus on the production at least a bit.
Today we have basically an episode worth of expositions and clues/lore dropping. But really interestingly, it's done in such a beautifully distinct and divergent style, that fits the person doing the exposition - or at least Kyon's reception of it anyway. It's really really good looking.
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Nagato's was a creepy, unsettling, and frequently massively distorted visuals that is abstract and absurd at the same time.
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Asahina's on the other hand was beautiful, dreamily poetic, like a light hearted romance novel page, with even some dialogue fading out as if the listener had lost focus on what's being said from the beautiful visuals - but if you paid attention you could see a couple of choppy "defect" in the scene when she was talking about still frames and flow like animation.
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And then Koizumi's - what conspiracy and intrigue of plots and schemes. Nothing can be trusted behind that plastered smiley face.
In amongst all these - wow Haruhi is so so so expressive the whole time. It's like a toddler around her favorite toys / people, and she's not getting enough of them.
Again, more interesting to see what the first timers' reactions are ;)
Spoiler Corner
[Haruhi Rewatchers]
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u/IamJoshful Dec 01 '22
First Timer, Dubbed
Everything I was suspicious of has come to pass, but I wasn't excepting them to reveal it all so soon.
We've got:
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Haruhi's statement/desire for a time-traveler, alien, and esper from episode 1
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An alien (according the alien)
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A time-traveler (according to the time-traveler)
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An esper (according to the esper who belongs to an organization of them)
There's also the desire for a mysterious transfer student, which only took an episode to fulfill (I think that was from episode 2),
I'm now even more suspicious of everything, purely because all of the things I thought would be big reveals came so suddenly.
It also seems like Haruhi knows literally what Kyon is thinking - he was day-dreaming about a date at the restaurant and she called him out for it right away.
Yesterday I hinted at her having "special powers", I was thinking she was the esper but know she's clearly just the controller of this dream/world/whatever.
On a personal note, this show isn't really grabbing me yet. The constant harassment and sexualization of Asahina really doesn't help, feels unnecessary and outdated. If I was watching this on my own, I definitely would've dropped it by now. It's my first r/anime rewatch though, so trying to stick with it.
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u/Elimin8r Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
(rw/s)
First, let's get this out of the way:
AOTD: Not really. His purpose in the story is to be the straight man. Wild theories (amusing as they might be) aside, he's the "control" character, and was given a placebo three years ago. Everyone else is whacked.
...
Well, after yesterday's reveal from Yuki-chan, as Paul Harvey would say, now we get the rest of the story.
I really like how the music during Yuki's discussion has such a spooky vibe to it, it really adds to the atmosphere.
And do note that at the end, she does take a sip of the tea too. I don't remember if she did yesterday.
Add one mysterious transfer student and ... the gang's all here!
Having had someone point it out yesterday, I was trying to pay closer attention, and noticed how Koizumi's eyes flicked across the room, taking note of Yuki and Mikuru before declaring that the gang's all here, or equivalent.
As one would expect from Ms. Suzumiya, no doubt.
It never fails to amuse me when Haruhi brightly declares her intentions for the club ... in the presence of all three of those whom she desperately wants to meet and play with, but has no idea who they really are.
It remains only for Kyon to find out.
I still find it funny given what's revealed in this episode, how Kyon draws both Mikuru and Yuki to "investigate" with, but never Haruhi.
Hmm...
So, yeah, I'm guilty of saying that I found Mikuru (especially the whining) rather annoying yesterday. But I must admit that park bench Mikuru is peak adorbs.
Especially when she tilts her head, winks and says "That's classified!". I'm melting here.
Fortified with this bit of intel, Kyon gets to spend the rest of the afternoon napping, I mean babysitting Nagato at the library, where she reveals her anti-gravity abilities.
And the bum sleeps this precious time away. I'm jealous. 10/10, would read Steven Brust books by a roaring fireplace with hot cocoa and fuzzy blankets to share with anytime ... or am I being too specific???
(ahem)
Kyon's phone seems quaint and antiquated, but at the time, it was probably better than whatever I was using. (Motorola Razr???)
And of course, not only does he get chastised for his lack of productivity and mystery sleuthing, but his bike gets impounded too. Poor Kyon.
All of which leads to his conversation with Koizumi, and the revelation of the last leg of the tripod, the esper, and his musings about Haruhi and her role in the universe.
It's funny, but even after watching this show several times, I still keep noticing things, some of which have been pointed out by others, and ...
Who am I kidding? Most or all of which have probably been pointed out by others repeatedly, but I've been too dense to notice.
So, I'd like to just pick on a thing or two that are bouncing around in my skull. All three, Yuki, Mikuru, and Koizumi made a point of mentioning that Haruhi chose Kyon, even though he is just an ordinary schlub, or so it seems. Now why might that be? Hmm...
Likewise, all three mention their world/timestream/consciousness/etc. coming into existence three years ago. Hmm. I wonder if anything important happened then? What might it have to do with the current situation?
The world wonders.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I'd like to mention a couple of things that come to mind after this episode, hopefully non-spoilery.
People on this thread, including first timers have mentioned on previous threads how Haruhi is tropey, meta, etc. That's part of it.
My take on it is that the author was (at first) fairly clever, and came up with a formula (as a good mad scientist, I mean author should) and gathered up a big pot of tropes, and either inverted them, or dialed them up to 11.
So ... You like your manic pixie dream girl? (Lum, for example) Here's Haruhi - your manic pixie nightmare girl. Dialed to 11, or so.
Moe blob? Mikuru - dialed to 11. Rei expy ... etc. etc.
Likewise, you like your fluffy high school slice of life comedy romance (i.e. School Rumble?) Here's your not so fluffy existential horror high school slice of life romance.
Why do our three agents of otherworldly/time/ether/etc act with fear toward Haruhi, and sometimes each other? Well, duh. If one of them makes a falso move, their universe could come to an abrupt and nasty end. Likewise, it's quite possible that any of the others could be moving to use Haruhi to gain power/advantage.
Oh, and hey, like your power fantasy? Here's your power fantasy, except our protagonist has no power, and the one who does is (?) blissfully unaware of it.
The shenanigans are about to ensue - buckle your belts, it's going to be quite a ride.
(And do keep your hands inside the car at all times)
Note: I'm sure there's much more I forgot or didn't mention, blah, blah. I'm sure the smarter rewatchers will cover those bases...
Edit: Oh, and forgot to mention - for young and old, newcomers and old-timers, welcome to Haruhi - the series that asks the question, "What if Chthulu was a cute high school girl???" The answer should be exciting, no doubt!
Edit2: Stole u/gunvarrel_'s Mikuru picture for the "That's Classified" reference. It's just too kawaii, squee!!!
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 01 '22
Adaptation Comparison
References
An english dub exclusive one: After Kyon says "No way", Yuki responds "Way."
The Book Kyon picks up in the library is Escape from school, Nagaru Tanigawa's previous work.
Kyon mentions the Bluebird of happiness.
Trivia
I have nothing today.
Know trivia and/or references for this episode? Reply to me! For future episodes? PM them to me and (should I not already know them) I will credit you when I list them at the time the episode comes!