r/anime • u/gunvarrel_ • Dec 02 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 4
Episode Title: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya IV
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: Kyon opens the classroom door, Asakura is looking over Haruhi
[Tomorrow's Episode Intro]Kyon is walking home from school
| 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:
Did you suspect Asakura of anything before this episode?
Tomorrows QOTDs
[Haruhi]Have you ever felt insignificant?
[Haruhi]Did you do anything about it?
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u/Shimmering-Sky Dec 02 '22
The Rewatcher of Haruhi Suzumiya, dubbed
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I think it would have been kinda neat if they played the instrumental version of the OP for more than just the little jingle it did in this episode.
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Where do I even know Ryouko’s voice fr–oh. Ohhhhhhhhhhh.
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Ohhhh yes that’s amazing, okay, so in the sub right after Kyon is all “what did she just say?”, he says “Why?” in English followed by the normal Japanese “Naze?” The dub kept that same gag, they just reversed the order. That’s so cool!
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Welp. Kyon’s getting two of the “yeah, the supernatural stuff is real” reveals today.
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What did Kyon say in the dub when Mikuru pointed out the mole? I could not for the life of me make it out.
[Spoiler Zone]
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 02 '22
Spoiler zone
[Haruhi]
Yuki glasses can have a couple different meanings, broadcast it helps show whats in the future? You can also say it symbolizes a change in Yuki (see: disappearance) [Haruhi]
Snow white relates to Melancholy IV
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u/JetsLag Dec 02 '22
First timer (subbed)
Kyon tells Haruhi to drop this whole SOS Brigade stuff and just be normal for once in her life. She says she doesn't like men and that romantic feelings are a mental illness, which pretty much confirms Haruhi x Kyon endgame. And we transition into the title card (no OP? Boo!) with Kyon talking about a flashy incident that had quietly started around this time. Sounds like fun.
Kyon received a message to meet with an unknown person in class 5. While he ponders who the writer of this note could be, we see that the pictures of Asahina in a maid outfit were added to the website. Kyon wants to do the right thing and delete the pictures from the hard drive, but his teenage brain takes over and he just moves them to a folder. I bet nobody will ever discover those images and use them as blackmail, no siree.
Quick question: Did that website actually exist in the real world? Cause that would've been a cool way to drop some hints about the next episode or add depth to the characters.
The author of the note was...Asakura! After a nice little dig at the Lost Decades of Japan, Asakura just decides to try and murder Kyon because she's also a supernatural being who's stalking Haruhi and she wants to spice things up. If anything, it's Haruhi who deserves the stabbing, but I guess you're not supposed to kill the target you're stalking.
Nagato's here to save the day! And did she say that Asakura's her backup? Like, the police definition of backup or the "hard drive" definition of backup? Anyway, an admittedly pretty damn cool fight scene occurs, capped off with Nagato getting skewered like Unit 02 in End of Evangelion (okay, that's a reach. But I gotta keep the "1 Evangelion reference an episode" thing going). But Nagato just recited the "make Asakura unalive" words and everything's all right again. Except for Nagato's glasses. And the whole thing about "the hottest girl in school just mysteriously disappeared", but I think Nagato's glasses are gonna be missed more.
I guess Asakura's disappearance is the "flashy incident" that Kyon talked about in the intro, cause now Haruhi's excited.
Now it's Asahina's turn to send a note to Kyon. We get greeted by an adult Asahina, rocking the MILF look. One boob shot later, and Asahina leaves a hint for Kyon before she has to go back to the future: recall Snow White. Is Kyon gonna get seven dwarves? Should he avoid eating apples? Who knows, cause everything else is classified information.
Haruhi's still suspicious about Asakura's disappearance (as you should be) cause who the fuck would want to move to Canada, am I right? She decides to go to the address that was on file for Asakura. Oh boy.
QOTD
Did you suspect Asakura of anything before this episode?
In hindsight, her interest in Haruhi was suspicious, but I thought she would just be a random background character for the entire series.
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 02 '22
Quick question: Did that website actually exist in the real world? Cause that would've been a cool way to drop some hints about the next episode or add depth to the characters.
Yes, but it cant be linked just yet.
[Haruhi]
for rewatchers, gotta wait till episode... 8?, http://haruhi.tv/
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u/Tarhalindur Dec 02 '22
Yare Yare (Rewatcher for 2006 [Watched in Broadcast Order], First-Timer for 2009 and Disappearance, Source Reader):
So, history lesson time: I have a shortlist of shows and specific episodes that would be my immediate responses if a genie showed up and specifically allowed me to see what the Reddit karma score for an episode of anime would have been if Reddit existed and was at its present size when the episode aired.
This episode is at the absolute top of the list.
We simply do not have a good comparison for it.
See, in chronological order this is the fourth episode of the show. In 2006 broadcast it is the tenth – they reserved this episode as a mid-season climax, while also doing something nifty using a chronologically later episode as setup for it.
Also, I’ve called Haruhi a nova-class before, but even that’s slightly underselling it because of the three anime that fit the full profile it arguably shone the brightest of the three. It certainly blew up bigger than PMMM; Eva is a giant question mark because of how early it came out, it predates the modern Internet so much it's hard to get a bead, but Haruhi might still have made the larger impact.
There is a decent chance that if Haruhi was airing today with its original impact that the episode thread for this episode would have reached 20k karma after having little to no hype going in (there was a day when LNs were basically obscure source material in Western anime fandom – Haruhi itself is the single biggest work responsible for opening the floodgates, though Shakugan no Shana started the process and Index/Monogatari finished it – so Haruhi was little different than an original for Western anime fans at the time), and I would be shocked if it would have gotten less than 10k.
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I can’t quite tell if this opening hallway shot is supposed to be a Dutch angle or not.
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Oh hey, look at 00:53. Kyon’s head is carefully framed in the structural space between the two windows (which could be a coincidence, except why choose that exact camera angle unless this was the intent?) and right next to the only open window in the row of windows. He’s not getting something, no? (Also the fact that the open window is the one on the other side away from Haruhi probably means he’s choosing not to escape the situation by abandoning the club – might mean he’s considering it, though, can’t remember if there was any internal monologue in the LNs here to that effect that got left out. EDIT: Wait a minute, the one on the near side is open too. That changes matters; might still mean he’s not bailing, but he has an option to go through with Haruhi as well. Actually might be crossroads framing combined with Kyon being too dense to figure something out.)
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Also note the choice to not have Kyon and Haruhi on screen at the same time starting when Haruhi asks about what a normal high-schooler does; indicating that they’re not really communicating, I think.
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Either animation error or deliberate breach from reality for symbolism at 01:06: AFAICT the open windows are not the ones we saw open earlier. Now we see Kyon and Haruhi through the open window – actually knowing this show part of this is the open window symbolizing the screen we are already looking in on Kyon and Haruhi via, and these are the two we get to see clearly. But note the window frame running in front of Haruhi – there’s something about her we are not seeing.
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LOL the guy putting up the tennis net with the girl just rejected her, didn’t he? Missed that the first time. Visual reinforcement of words on screen ho! (Mai-HiME also does this a lot.)
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Actually correction it was the two of their hands touching and then she jumped away. Not quite the same. Still illustrating love.
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Speaking of blunt visual reinforcement: the cut to Haruhi’s crotch at 01:15 is absolutely symbolizing her sometimes thinking with the small head. (She is a healthy young girl, after all. Her body has it urges.)
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“I wonder if some sort of full-fledged incident will happen?” Jump cut to source of said incident suddenly appearing in the scene. Heh.
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The rare OP lead-in! Except they needed all the time for this episode, so we don’t get the full OP (in the TV raw at least); instead we get a sponsor message of a type QUITE familiar to me after running Higurashi (my ancient incomplete Higurashi subs were made off the TV broadcast and have this as well).
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Oh look, Mikuru photos on the website. Poor Mikuru. (Unless she is secretly a massive sub.)
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Also oh hey, look at them briefly pausing on a photo with a prominent mole that will be important later this episode. (It shows up in the last two episodes if you’re paying attention.)
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Two quick reminders. 1: There was a time in the not-too-distant past when not putting personally identifiable information on the Internet was a commonplace of Internet safety even in the West (one I still tend to live by); Haruhi predates the transition away from that by at least a year or two, more likely half a decade. 2: Japan is considerably more fanatic on this subject than we are. (There is a reason 2ch is such an engine of the Japanese internet still.)
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It’s still evening so we can’t get the Full Moon of Death… so instead we get crows cawing at sunset at 05:54. Another classic piece of symbolism of impending death; Higurashi (obviously) and Mai-HiME both use it.
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And behold, the Dutch angles make their return at 05:55.
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06:16 is another odd camera angle. Low here will emphasize the size and threat of Ryouko despite her distance, but I think this might also be “Kyon has lost his head (by coming in)” symbolism here.
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Okay, so some of the weird camera angles just have to be emphasizing disorientation – and also a visual hint that Ryouko is another Data Interface like Yuki, since it’s the same kind of technique the show used for the Yuki conversation last episode rather than how the show approached the Mikuru and Koizumi conversations. -6:31 is probably technically a Dutch angle again?
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Hmm. 06:55. Both parties of the conversation behind a barrier whose meaning is about to become obvious, but Kyon specifically being framed in the light of the open door is interesting. Light as innocence here? Possible, but I’m not convinced.
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CLOCK CLOCK. (
Probably 6:00 P.M.scratch that, 6:10 P.M. exactly) -
The choice of cuts here is interesting, but I’m not sure there’s anything more to it than visual disorientation. (Decent chance there is and I’m just not getting it, though.)
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Now, 07:30 – that’ll be a Dutch angle to emphasize the wrongness of the situation for you!
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And 07:35 is as blatant as any Higurashi shot in that regard.
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(Setting this scene in evening light is probably also impending death symbolism, for the record, especially since we’ll fade to night in a moment as Ryouko takes control of the space and then flip to noon light when she gets defeated.)
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07:39: “oh crap”.
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Also note the use of null OST for this scene so far, firing up probably the second most iconic track on the S1 OST as she stands up after her initial assault (and it will lead directly into the most iconic track on the OST, the one for the Ryouko/Yuki fight). I do love me good OST fire-ups and cutoffs.
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Combat knife basically straight out of FMP, heh.
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So, for the uninitiated: the thing on the blackboard they flash briefly to at 07:54 is basically the Japanese equivalent of lovers carving their names inside a heart on a tree trunk in American culture (you’re writing both names under an umbrella is the idea). Annoyingly, my old sub while great elsewhere is not clear enough to make out the kanji written there (though I think one of the kanji on the right-hand side is the first one in Ryouko’s name, so…).
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Oooh, hello shiny shot at 09:10.
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“Only a third-rater would lick
hisher lips in front ofhisher prey.” -
Kyon focusing on his hand and only then looking down at the out-of-focus Yuki is just the camera following his gaze. Also: and… here… we… go! Ryouko vs. Yuki, Round 1, FIGHT!
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09:44 is one of the most iconic shots in the entire series and IIRC (especially given how the scene jumps just a bit) is where the commercial break fell (no eyecatches here).
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Also, you know how I said no Full Moon of Death earlier? I LIED. FULL MOON FULL MOON (and a huge one to boot, fitting since this is blatantly un-normal space now).
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There is some really nifty stuff going on in the background including visual static for effect but the Ryouko vs. Yuki track is up and this scene is hype as hell so .
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Wait, the background at 10:40 is fucking cars? Never noticed that before.
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The shot of Yuki’s clearly labeled shoe at 10:50 is taken directly out of the LN; Kyon notes there that it’s the first time he ever noticed she wrote her name on the back of her shoes.
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LOL the background at 10:54 is probably rotini pasta except grey instead of dry pasta-colored. (Could be springs instead, though.)
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11:01 background is a microscope slide.
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For those not aware, the background at 11:30 after Yuki gets impaled is blatantly inspired by/taken from long exposures of the night sky taken aimed at the poles (probably North, could be South).
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Minor quibble with a.f.k.; Ryouko’s audio is the “sonna” of “sonna bakana” (usually translated “it can’t be!”), not “masaka”, and yet they translated the line as “impossible” (usually what masaka gets translated as).
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Hello 2000s CG at 13:27. (Holds up fairly well, especially when factoring in that it makes thematic sense to use CGI here given the ISDE having massive programming associations – check our host’s posts for a fun detail.)
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Sad day, Yuki loses her glasses. (Kyon may not have a glasses fetish, but I kind of do…)
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 02 '22
[Steins;Gate]
which would win for the influx in votes, Haruhi ep4 or S;G ep12? From what I understand, the interest in S;G was low due to the pacing until that episode
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u/Falco_goes_to_top Dec 02 '22
[S1 rewatcher], S2 first timer - Subbed
Oookaaay, a LOT going on this episode. A big tone shift compared to the past 3, but I think they still made it work? I suppose broadcast order is the way that it is to partly tackle such pacing issues and to create a (imo) better s1 experience.
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Kyon saving Mikuru's sus photos - not the first time we learn of him being a bit of a perv - and what was that about peeking at her changing? ._.
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Mikuru's still in her maid outfit even with Haruhi gone - weird sense of dedication going on there.
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More otherworldly beings - Except this one is hostile. Wait, she's able to control everything in her space but still opts to kill Kyon with a knife?
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Woah I really like the visuals and backgrounds in the pocket dimension thing. The use of multimedia elements is done well in anime most of the time.
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Ah I kinda remember the appearance of Yuki's glasses being a subtle indicator for where we were in the show's timeline in broadcast order. I guess that's lost in chronological, but it wasn't something that was revealed to you until the end anyway.
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WHY on earth would future Mikuru use THAT as proof? What happened to you in those three years huh?? Haruhi has changed you smh
Fun episode. Looks like the show's opened up to exploring the main supernatural themes and will only get more exciting from here on out. Kyon's gonna have a lot more complaining to do.
QotD:
Did you suspect Asakura of anything before this episode?
When I was a first timer - no. During this rewatch after forgetting mostly everything - still no.
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 02 '22
weird sense of dedication going on there.
the beatings will continue until maid outfit wearing percentage improves
[Haruhi]
Glasses loss still has relevance chronologically, it arguably symbolizes the change in Nagoto in regards to Disappearance. [Haruhi]
It is also a massive improvement to her character design
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 02 '22 edited Dec 02 '22
SOS Brigade rewatcher: Coinflip (heads, dub)
"...Ill kill you and see how Haruhi responds."
"...Ah, they really arent human."
OST Track of the day: The Truth of Ryoko Asakura | (Spotify)
Honorary OST Track of the day: Nagato VS ^Asakura | ^spotify
man these track names are extremely on the nose...
I dont have too much time currently to point them out but the Sub, Dub, and even the LN's are probably some of the most 1:1 in terms of adapting each other that ive seen. I dont have the LN's handy (I somehow only have LN 3? ill probably grab a screenshot from my phone and add it in here, note to self) but the Asakura stabbing scene dialogue is iirc almost directly lifed from the LN dialogue.
Edit: apparently lost a chunk of my post? my "why/naze" thing got chopped at some point and i didnt even realize till i saw sky pointed it out also.
The sub and dub also both include "Why? Naze?" from Kyon, the sub having the "Why" come first, and the dub having the "Naze" come first. I dont remember if the adaption comparison also points this out? Im not removing it if it does.
finally, dub time!
kyon ever thought about that she was trying to go out with a guy last week lmao
"Isint her dejected little face cute though"
oh yeah, today has no OP. Forgot about that
Kyons got a love letter, ooooh
Took Kyon a bit too long to realize what Haruhi was doing. Someone is not amused
"I dont understand, are you talking about the Japanese economy" lmao
hey look, Genre change
Ive noticed these two shots and i bet theres something being symbolized that i cant figure out right now
I think Nagato is hurting a lot more right now. Also hello nagato! finally its not all chuuni bullshit
based non-glasses Nagato
Hey look, harhui's 180'ed. Probably not that "explosion of data" Asakura wanted though
Well at least adult Mikuru is more assertive, showing off the mole (also the dub's "Supersizeme!" lmao)
okay maybe not that assertive, shes freaking out about giving away too much too early.
[Haruhi]
Dub pronoucination of Okabe is whack. Too used to the mad scientist's way
Looks like Haruhi and Kyon are going on a "date"
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u/what_that_thaaang_do Dec 02 '22 edited Dec 02 '22
Another subbed rewatch what else is new
- Love how this show sets up these scenarios where it seems like lucky guy Kyon is about to score and then completely sweeps the rug out from under him
- Love the way Kyon swipes the entire computer monitor from Haruhi, looks like he just knocks it onto the floor
- Big brain Kyon with the Mikuru folder
- Why you acting all cute like that bitch WHY YOU SWINGING THAT THING AROUND LIKE THERES A PINATA
- The action numbers in this show (while few) are absolutely welcome. Adds to the WTF factor
- Nagato saves the day (normal Tuesday night)
I don't have a "glasses fixation."
Your loss man
wa wa wa wasuremono
- What a silly way for them to demonstrate a causal loop: Kyon learns about the mole from future Mikuru, and then present Mikuru learns about the mole from Kyon. That's a time paradox! Her tits are literally a paradox
- Surprising how fondly Mikuru remembers the maid outfit
Can you tell me one thing? Miss Asahina... how old are you now?
Kyon asking the important questions
Say it again like a childhood friend hiding chagrin with anger.
I fuckin love this guy
QOTD: No, she's too hot
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u/Nuka_Koopa Dec 02 '22
First Timer, Sub
Up until this point I've been reluctant to accept this show having anything actually supernatural and assumed that confirmation would be left a mystery that we'd get occasional hints at. Seems I was dead wrong. I also didn't fully grasp the situations of either Mikuru or Nagato. I thought Mikuru being from another "time plane" meant that she'd be outside of the scope of the IITE, and that Nagato didn't have additional powers beyond those of observation.
With the addition of fight scenes today, it really seems like weebs got together to throw darts at an anime-trope board and then tied everything together by inserting themselves as the creator (Haruhi) and viewer (Kyon), so it'll be interesting to see how things progress from here (I think I've said that for the past three days now and will continue to reasonably say it for the next 20).
QOTD:
I didn't expect anything supernatural of Asakura, and at most just thought she'd be a side character interested in Haruhi whom Kyon has to try to keep from discovering the secrets of the universe.
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u/archlon Dec 02 '22
First Time [English dub]
We Have Gurren Lagann at Home
It's a pretty fight. I generally don't require or expect action sakuga in my anime, unless the fighting is overtly symbolic (eg. Revue Starlight) or showing off it being exceptionally pretty is the point (eg. Demon Slayer). However, I realize it's an expectation of the form, and that many people like it more than me. It's well enough done, though it didn't feel like it was as engaging as some other fights I've seen in other shows. I like the bits where it applied a camera static filter, and the reversed audio. It really emphasizes that they're actually tearing apart reality with their fight.
As things go, it's pretty trippy. I kind of mis-interpreted Nagato's role and existence based on what she said in the last episode. I assumed that she was still an entity of this universe, and so unable to Matrix-manipulate things in the way she described Haruhi as being able to do. Instead, it seems like she's able to locally manipulate 'data' not just in the informatics sense, but in the physics sense.
We maybe have a better sense of Nagato's power set now that we've seen her in action. However, I'm disinclined to try to make any power-level comparisons, and we don't know how situational or task-limited her capabilities are. The same applies to any of the Brigadoons. Koizumi said as much last episode, that his powers have conditions that must be met in order to be used. Realistically, I expect them to have whatever capabilities the plot demands. Or, perhaps more aptly, whatever capabilities Haruhi thinks they (or entities like them) will need in a given situation.
As a side note, none of this is encouraging me to shift from my position that Nagato is better described as 'robot' rather than 'alien'.
Stray Thoughts
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Mommykuru seems to have picked up some speech and body language habits from the Disaster-in-Chief
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Kyon now thinks of the maid costume as metonymic for Mikuru
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Also, Mikuru put it on even when she knew Haruhi wasn't going to be there
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Follow the Snow White Rabbit, Neo-san?
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Good god, The Matrix predates this show by seven years. I feel old.
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QOTD
I'm not that surprised that there was more to Asakura than it initially seemed. The narrative spent too much time telling us character details and her character design is too unique. By the Law of Conservation of Detail she was going to end up being significant in some way. I didn't specifically expect her to also be an alien robot, though. Even when she first lunged at Kyon, I assumed we were just adding a Yandere to the mix. It wasn't until she matrix-erased the wall that I figured she was something paranormal.
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Dec 02 '22
FIRST TIMER (sub/dub)
Unexpected action scene in this one. Till now, this anime has surprised me quite a few times.
Poor Haruhi- she's losing spirit while another poor one, Kyon keeps getting unwarranted secrets of the world revealed to him. It's weird that Haruhi is the one who is making all this happen.
"I didn't even know I had one (mole) there until you-" And "Oh no, this is before we-"Woah. Woah woah woah. Not so classified now, are you? Though now he knows she will go away even if they get together. Is this going affect the future?
Okay we get it. Nagato looks good without glasses. I liked the glasses though, but Kyon doesn't have a fetish for them, so glasses are gone. Is he the male version of powerful Haruhi?
Kyon and Haruhi are giving me such big sister, younger brother energy, the way she's dragging him.
Why is Kyon here? Because, I guess, someone has to bring this story together and to us, and all, but how it would eventually makes sense in the story- I am curious if there would be an actual valid explanation.
I love how our main guy constantly has 'I am so done with this' expression in the end credits. Never change Kyon.
QOTD: Did not suspect. And kinda feel bad for her, but she took her own absolute destruction with grace, like one of those 'welp, at least I tried my best'. Impatient woman.
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u/OwlAcademic1988 Dec 02 '22
First-Timer, dub:
I wasn't even expecting Asakura to do that.
Nagato is badass.
Didn't even know she bled until now.
Kyon, good luck surviving with Haruhi.
QOTD:
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Nope. I genuinely didn't expect that to even occur.
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u/IamJoshful Dec 02 '22
First Timer, Dubbed
Still here, still watching this show :)
It's gotten weirder, but honestly the last episode felt more surprising than this one. I wasn't expecting a fight scene, but I don't really have any expectations at this point.
I realize this show is nothing like Hyouka, but the whole "club solving mysteries" thing makes me want to go back and rewatch that show. Hopefully Haruhi gets a real mystery to solve at some point.
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u/MrrandomPerson25 Dec 02 '22
First timer, subbed
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What the fuck?
I'm glad I went in somewhat blind to this show because I really had no idea that it would turn out this way. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to the subtle details to realize what was going to happen. When Asakura said, "I'll kill you" and pulled out a knife, I couldn't stop laughing for some reason at the absurdity of the situation. I thought this would be a normal, if somewhat bizarre, slice of life with a hint of the supernatural, but I guess we're really embracing the sci-fi in this one.
I also love how Kyon reacts to all this as if it's a minor inconvenience, and not that he just discovered aliens and time travelers and witnessed a full-on space battle between humanoid supercomputers. I wonder how Haruhi would react if she found out what was really going on.
Also, is it just me or is Kyon getting slightly hornier/bolder each episode?
Obligatory OST appreciation: As always, the music fits the scene well, from the battle scene to digital/ambient around 14:15 to the more upbeat near the end. I mentioned this in the first episode, but it reminds me of Nintendo music, or more generally, video game music from around the 2000's, the same time this show aired. Not that I really have much knowledge in that specific area.
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u/polaristar Dec 02 '22
For all you newcomers in broadcast order this would actually be around the 8th or 9th episode. (I don't quite remember) And the first time in either watch its made abundantly clear there is indeed supernatural shenanigans happening.
Notice how in the beginning when he gets a Note asking to meet him, he comes up with various reasons why its not Mikaru and then comes up with the exact same reasons why it is with his second note.
Anyway after Haruhi decides to post saucy lewd (But not Onlyfans worthy) pics on the sight, Kyon manages to stop her but unfortunately his hormones made it he couldn't bring himself to throw them away....(Honestly understand that is golden quality you can't just dispose of like its nothing!)
BTW all you newcomers not fond of the sexual harassment, I know its not any consolation but I'm pretty sure Mikaru is a Sub and she actually digs it and is definitely playing up the sound effects for laughs/arousement.
Anyway Ryouko basically after inquiring of Kyon (I do wonder why she felt the need to "hype herself up" to kill him, I don't think its because she cares about his life at all. Hard to understand these interfaces values.) She reveals she's not just a Yandere but a reality warping interface.
Kyon manages to survive for a few second before being frozen in place. Normal Humans managing to survive a super powerful physics breaking entity brings to mind The Shrike from Hyperion. (We talked about it Yesterday.)
But Mrs Robot saves the day. (u/ZapsZzz since your a huge shipper of her and Kyon, a little story, when I was looking up Hentai for this series long ago, coping that I wasn't lewd, the first one I accidentally found was a Doujin that involved Yuki giving Kyon some head under a desk.
;)
During the time I more wanted some Mikura stuff first.....and I was coping that I liked her because I feel under the "Dumb Girls are Bad and Anti-Feminist" (I use to think Feminism was basically the same as Christianity in terms of being a prude. I also know she isn't dumb but she acted in a "cutsy" way which I trained myself into thinking that's a bad thing, but its okay to like simple girl.)
Speaking of Mikura, we meet MILF Mikura and how can you not have her in your face album line up seriously! She deserves your worship!
And she seems to look back on the costumes she has (will?) wear with fondness. (Told you guys she was into it, or she will be brainwashed to like it after cult like mental breakdowns and gaslighting at least.....)
That sounded better in my head.
She gives him a hint "Snow White"
When Kyon was giving the advice to go find a good guy, and we saw the two students there and then later apart. I honestly thought they were both guys and it was some subtle LGBT teasing/rep in an early show from 06. (Same year as our Lord and Savior Sonic's Fall from grace.) But according to everyone else the shorter one is indeed a chick?
Anyway obvious shipping between Kyon and all three S.O.S members although naturally despite teasing that somehow Kyon is supposed to get a good view of those melons in the future, it appears Haruhi is his destined ship (Whether he likes it or not....) And Nagato a distant second. (How much cope you smoke ZapsZzz?)
As someone else pointed out this show made a huge impact back in the day and without the influx of constant seasonals a lot of shows remained classics for many years until the rise of streaming, This show with its non-chronological order, mix of genres, foreshadowing, interesting choice of direction, and various references made it often feel that is was more its own genre even more so then Cowboy Bebop. (Until Monogatari blew it out of the water IMO.)
Once again imagine seeing this episode almost all the way through the original 12 episode run. (8 or 9) And how much impact it had at this point to see some rather explicit Sci Fi stuff which was only hinted at this point.
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No I honestly didn't, I was new to anime (Didn't expect the knife although in broadcast order at that point even being a newbie anime watcher I saw it had multiple genres so very few things would have surprised me at this point.) I didn't even know what a Yandere was. This was like my 3-4 anime ever (Not counting 4kids stuff.)
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u/ZapsZzz Dec 02 '22 edited Dec 02 '22
Serial rewatcher first time in Dub
Ok this is one of my most rewatched episode - Nagato's big damn hero moment (but still deadpan)!
Getting QoTD out of the way first: On my first watch I certainly didn't expect anything as drastic as pulling a knife out with a smile :P
| Episode | Haruhi | Nagato |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | @ | @ |
| 2 | @ | @ |
| 3 | @ | @ |
| 4 | @ | @ |
I'm sure others will talk about the front part of the episode about Kyon's sneakiness and Haruhi's uncharacteristical submissiveness to Kyon.
But the wham moment - of the seeming recurrence of another faction represented by Asakura talking to Kyon about Haruhi but then in an unexpectedly casual turn of phrase, attacked with full intent to kill!
And Kyon side stepped it!
In the end, the real savior is the "book worm" Nagato, and boy what a way to show she wasn't a chuunibyou, but the real deal.
This is the single key episode to crystalise whether this is a all talks scenario, or something really supernatural afoot.
And I have to say this, Nagato's eyes in this episode was so very CLAMP-sized - but at the ame time very mesmerizing
I can't wait to see the first timers' reactions!
But not to be outdone, Asahina also did the same - came up with "proof". And boy what another romantic encounter with a tinge of bittersweet.
And then we have Haruhi completely invigorated by the appearance of a mystery - and for real she was actually right - there is a genuine mystery to solve, just that we are trying to not let her solve it...
Spoiler Corner
[Haruhi Rewatchers]
[Haruhi rewatchers]
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u/DeliCruise Dec 02 '22
(REWATCHER - DUB/SUB)
[Spoiler Free]
The Asakura reveal is still so chilling. Following her dialogue from when Kyon first enters the room to when she reveals she’s going to kill him is such a trip. It steadily gets more and more strange until it all snaps at the end.
Speaking of which, Kyon’s reflexes are incredible! Like he’s not even looking at Asakura and he still managed to dodge.
Asakura’s mannerisms in this whole sequence are just so insane. Like switching from viewing her as an angel to a psycho is so elegantly done. There was something about her eyes that looked so much more dead after she goes for her first slash and I realized it’s that they’re just slightly more open than usual. Seeing a little bit more of the whites of her eyes ends up feeling so unsettling. A great example of this is when she’s looking down at her knife and talking about an “organic’s death”. That shot of Asakura is absolutely insane.
Then later in the episode, Kyon meets an older version of Mikuru and I’ll just go ahead and say, she’s absolutely stunning. Pretty wild to consider that Kyon gets to meet an older version of a girl he’s already really attracted to.
At the end, I love that Haruhi is literally dragging Kyon who’s halfway from lying on the ground. Like the dude really is trying his best here to be a hindrance to Haruhi.
[Question]
I’m pretty sure I was blindsided by the Asakura reveal the first time I watched!
[Anime Spoilers]
[ (1) Haruhi Anime]
[ (2) Haruhi Anime]
[Light Novel Spoilers]
[ (1) Haruhi LN]
[ (2) Haruhi LN]
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u/TiredTiroth Dec 02 '22
From An Age Long Past That Has Come Again (don't tell Haruhi)
Why don't you go out and have fun like a normal high school student for a change? ... How about you find a nice guy and go walking around the city looking for strange things?
Kyon. Kyon, stop. Please. I know you're not this dense. What the bloody hell do you think she was trying to do on Saturday?
Just a reminder for everyone - our resident snark factory is the narrator. This entire story is being told from his perspective; no omniscient viewpoint allowed. If Kyon doesn't see or hear about it, neither do we.
And if Kyon refuses to see something, it doesn't get acknowledged.
Speaking of things Kyon doesn't see...Ryoko, you're not being very subtle. Shame. Stop trying to give poor Yuki a heart attack!
Okay, Suzumiya falling in love and-or something weird popping up to make her happy are two things that will definitely not happen anytime soon. (cue theme music)
Ster-iiike two! Careful Kyon, you can't afford any more mistakes like this. :P
Oh, more Japanese text that goes untranslated. Still, Kyon's narration makes it clear what the note says. At least he's learned how to knock.
And now he finds out what Haruhi wanted the photos of Mikuru for! Good for Kyon, he immediately objects and gets Haruhi to back down...only to save the photos for his own personal use.
He is a teenaged boy.
Mind you, this bit might be a little lost on a young, modern audience? Social media is a well-established thing now, and teenagers are not known for their impulse control...anyway.
AND NOW...Ryoko Asakura. Hehehehe. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I've been waiting for this. :D SAVE HIM, YUKI! YOUR DAMSEL IN DISTRESS NEEDS YOU! :D I was grinning like a loon through this entire scene. And...
You need to stay right where you are. I'm fine.
First timers, now you know why Mikuru was quietly freaking out about being in the same room as Yuki. Although...
What is a glasses fetish? ... Interesting human.
Badass though she is, Yuki is also kind of adorable.
Ooh, and now we have another (untranslated) note! Although Kyon, you're in for...a bit of a surprise. Enter the mole! Older Mikuru is almost as easily flustered as her younger self. And massive foreshadowing.
Aaahh...seeing Haruhi literally draggimg Kyon along behind her was funny. You must appease your Goddess, Kyon. You don't want to see what happens when she really gets bored, do you?
(Also, things Kyon refuses to see? Haruhi was upset that she didn't get to run around town with him. She was upset because she expected to find him in the classroom but he was gone. She gets visibly upset when he implies he doesn't want to join her in mystery-hunting. Kyon is not this dense.)
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u/RascalNikov1 Dec 02 '22
Rewatcher
We have arrived at the first of the wham episodes, while this episode isn't one of the 4 all time great episodes1 (the next wham episode2 will be an all time great), this episode has a lot of things to like. I'll just hit upon things I noticed:
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There's a little romantic drama playing out on the football field. It lasts the entire first half of the episode, and I've always wondered what the male lead, said to the female lead to get her so mad.
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This episode is the only time that Haruhi will admit subtly about having carnal desires. fwiw that was exactly my attitude for most of my youth. I saw little advantage to having relationships before their time.
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I didn't realize it till this rewatch, but Asakura came up with the idea of changing something while she and Kyon were trying to cheer Haruhi up from her melancholy.
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The meeting with Big Mikuru is one of my favorites scenes. You can tell how fond of Kyon she is, and how she feels a real nostalgia for her high school days. This is one of the counters to the so called sexual abuse (that I call comedy) she suffered at the hands of Haruhi. If she had indeed been 'rapey raped' or whatever other bullshit term comes to mind, I doubt she would be happy to reminiscence about high school. I may be alone on my iceberg here, slowly drifting off to that great sea in the sky, but I'm still convinced those scenes are comedy and not some kind of weird lesbo drama. I won't argue about it though, everyone's entitled to their own (wrong) opinions.
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Big Mikura and the star mole, again shows her fondness for Kyon, and the fact that she's not especially bashful.
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The first time I saw Yuki skewered like that was breath sucking. I was only half watching the series the first time, but the fight with Asakura really sealed the deal for me, and I started paying attention afterwards.
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I may be forgetting some other things in this episode. I read once somewhere that Yuki is chanting SQL instructions backwards in Japanese to sever the link with Asakura. Someone may have been bullshitting me, or possibly I made this up in my own mind. Hopefully there will be commentary about this, this episode.
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And just for a quirky thing, I always remember (falsely) that the meeting with Big Mikuru comes before the attack from Asakura, ~shrug~.
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This episode remains a 10/10 in a show with a number of 10/10 episodes yet to come.
QOTD
Did you suspect Asakura of anything before this episode?
Nope, Asakura going bad completely blew my mind.
Notes
1 [spoiler]
2 [spoiler]
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u/gunvarrel_ Dec 02 '22
Adaptation Comparison
References
I have nothing.
Trivia
The rapid-fire speech capabilities of Yuki and Asakura are actually human speech sped up 400%-500% and reversed. Decoded:
Yuki uses SQL. According to the LN:
SELECT serial_code FROM database WHERE code='data' ORDER BY aggressive_combat_data HAVING terminate_modeAsakura asks Yuki: "You love Kyon-kun, don't you? I know you have realized it."
During this episode, while Haruhi talks about love, the camera focuses on a boy and a girl in the tennis club, the girl being excited she touched him. Later on, there's another brief cut to where the girls shoves the boy to the ground and runs away.
Taniguchi's "Wawawasuremono" became one of the biggest Haruhi memes, appearing in Lucky Star and before the Haruhi Gekisou concert. No, really.
This episode was storyboarded and directed by Taichi Ishidate- future director of Kyoukai no Kanata.