The [xyz] of Suzumiya Haruhi

[Bobtheduck]

(I miss a lot in a dialog-heavy series like Haruhi!)

Not for eps 4-9 you didn't.

[EricTheFred]

Not for eps 4-9 you didn't.

Yes. I can see your point...

[blkmage]

About the episode itself:
[spoiler]It is nice to see the SOS-dan doing something else. After so long, it's easy to forget why how great Haruhi normally is. We get to see Kyon work up his sharp wit again and we get to see Haruhi being Haruhi. KyoAni should remember in the future that it is this sort of thing that we like.[/spoiler]

[Maokun]

Nice to see the events leading to the very first episode of the series. Is this arc only about what happened in the days before the festival or does encompass those events as well?

[EricTheFred]

In the light novel series, the events of the festival are spread over two different stories, this one and "Live Alive" (plus, the actual story of Episode 00 forms a third story.) (Mostly, the cultural festiva is in "Live Alive". It's just the denoument in "Sighs")

"Live Alive" was done in the original 14 show series. It has not yet been aired in the rebroadcast, so presumably they'll fit it in a sensible place (along with Episode 00) near this arc. However, I don't think you'll see a fansub go up for it, since it's long since done. More likely, you'll just hear someplace like here that that it aired.

[blkmage]

The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00, which was episode 11 chronologically in season 1, takes place right after Sighs (which was all of volume 2), which covers the creation of the movie. Live Alive (the concert episode) is the festival proper and is episode 12 (in every ordering) of the first season. Both of 11 and 12 are in volume 6 of the light novels, which contains a few other short stories.

[Maokun]

I see, so after Sigh, come ep 00 and 12 and then (If I remember correctly), The Day of Sagitarius and Someday in the Rain? And then, I reckon, a last new episode serving as a cliffhanger for the new series.

I speculate that the new series is not going to be Called TMoHS2 (or 3) but will have the name of the main arc, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

[Roy Mustang]

Aya Hirano didn't like Endless Eight either

Watching the never-ending Endless Eight was hard for us, and it was hard for the voice of Haruhi, Aya Hirano, as well. She said she was really surprised when she found out that she would basically be doing the same act 8 times over, with the same script used with only very small changes for the 2nd through 7th episodes of Endless Eight (that's probably the reason I skipped through most of those episodes).

Hirano had to keep her performance as Haruhi the same through each of those episodes, while Tomokazu Sugita had to think up ad-libs for Kyon (which were very nicely done) and also keep in mind the differences in direction in each episode, such as the distance between him and Koizumi in the same scene changing episode to episode.

Hirano's glad it's all over, and is thankful that Haruhi fans stuck with Endless Eight, saying it was probably harder to watch than to do it. She said that if she were asked to do any more Endless Eight episodes she'd say no, and we'd say no, too. But, with the announcement of Endless Eight events at Anime Newtype Online, Kadokawa and KyoAni don't seem to be making any effort to listen to Haruhi fans. Will they ever admit that Yamakan was right and they royally screwed this one up?

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[blkmage]

Between trolling the cast and trolling the fans with another BIG ANNOUNCEMENT lol not really, I'd say that Kadokawa and KyoAni have mastered the art and have managed to make Haruhi season 2 one gigantic troll. I'm sorry I asked for a second season of Haruhi, you can go back to adapting Key games forever, KyoAni. I'll be waiting for Little Busters! over here.

[Bobtheduck]

I'll be waiting for Little Busters! over here.

With the kids sing out the future
Maybe, kids don't need the masters
Just waiting for the little Busters (oh yeah...)

[blkmage]

So, Sighs II. To be honest, there isn't much for me to say since I read the light novel and found it fairly lacklustre. It doesn't help that we've seen the finished product either.

I will say that I've noticed that the animation quality has dropped to K-ON! levels of quality. That is, it's not up to KyoAni's usual quality in their big titles. I've been wondering if it's just the raw quality, though.

[blkmage]

Sighs III:
[spoiler]We have the first instance of Kyon getting very **** off at Haruhi, MIKURU BEEEEAMU, more Yuki saving the day, and the return of LOLFANG-TAN.[/spoiler]

[Maokun]

Man I loved that latest episode. It had everything that made me fell in love with the series at the beginning. Also some really cool directorial choices. And Nagato seriously rocks; Rei Ayanami, I hardly knew ye. /fanboy

[Bobtheduck]

Hahaha! Saw the new ep. I already know one of the spoilers for the making of Miracle Mikuru, but I didn't know about [spoiler]Mikuru beam being real[/spoiler] which was pretty funny.

I guess the same thing will happen next ep with [spoiler]Kyon's sister's cat.[/spoiler]

[blkmage]

Sighs IV:
[spoiler]IIRC, this is the big character development thing of this arc. Haruhi is so terrible that it enrages Kyon. For those of you wondering how Kyon could put up with all of Haruhi's crap throughout the first season, well, this might explain some things.[/spoiler]

[Bobtheduck]

Please tell me that wasn't the last ep this season...

This is one of those stupid things people just don't do, and yet they did... It's like a giant insult to all their fans...

[blkmage]

I guess you found out why Sighs is the least favourite book for a lot of people and why no one was excited that it was getting animated.

[Kung_Fu_Master]

This season was, to say the least, unfair.

[Nate]

As of now, there is only one thing to be said about KyoAni.

[Yamamaya]

We all know who was behind this season.

BEATRICE

[blkmage]

We all know who was behind this season.

BEATRICE

Well, it is true that she's a gigantic troll.

[Yamamaya]

She did it to ensure that her ratings stayed higher than Haruhis. XD.

[Bobtheduck]

I just hope they do more Haruhi soon... To make up for that farce of a season.

I actually found ep 14 after I wrote my last message, though, so I guess at least that chapter was ended properly. Still...

[Maokun]

Aw, I enjoyed sighs. For me it featured everything that is good of the premise of the series: supernatural happenings caused by Haruhi's awful moods and whims and the poor SOS dan dealing with them as well as possible, with some amazing Yuki action. The direction of these chapters were also really good, with a great framing and pacing choices.

[blkmage]

Got around to Sighs V:
[spoiler]So this was a pretty good episode. Shamisen is great, but I'm sad that his further conversation with Kyon was cut.

The other good part was the setup for the future volumes of the light novels. That is, it's the first time we learn that Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki's factions are actually not working together and are actually pretty distrustful of each other and that the three of them aren't as friendly to each other as they are to Kyon and Haruhi. We'll be seeing a lot more of this later on, if it ever comes to fruition.

The final conversation during the credits is interesting, because it seems to give a sense of finality and closing to the second season. In the light novels, however, this conversation is actually the prologue to Sighs. It's actually the reason why Haruhi just so happened to cast Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki correctly.[/spoiler]

[Maokun]

I really liked Sigh. I firmly believe that any bad rap it may get, is just an afterecho of the E8 fiasco. The last episode as really really good and was a great apetitiser for what comes next.

Do any of our Japan experts know the reception that Sigh had in Japan? I'm still afraid that the series could not recover after Endless 8 and the dwindling fanbase means that a third season of the series may be in danger.

[blkmage]

In a way you're right. Had the (not unreasonable) expectation that Endless Eight was two or three episodes, Sighs following Endless Eight would not have been vilified (and was somewhat expected). The fact that the consolation for Endless Eight was Sighs made people disappointed.

However, that doesn't change the fact that it's still one of the weakest light novel volumes of the series. That's not to say it's not any good, it's just not as good as a lot of the other material. This problem is compounded by the fact that there's a lot of better material that we're already familiar with, when at the time, this would have only been the second book and there wouldn't have been much to compare it to.

[EricTheFred]

In a way you're right. Had the (not unreasonable) expectation that Endless Eight was two or three episodes, Sighs following Endless Eight would not have been vilified (and was somewhat expected). The fact that the consolation for Endless Eight was Sighs made people disappointed.

However, that doesn't change the fact that it's still one of the weakest light novel volumes of the series. That's not to say it's not any good, it's just not as good as a lot of the other material. This problem is compounded by the fact that there's a lot of better material that we're already familiar with, when at the time, this would have only been the second book and there wouldn't have been much to compare it to.

Weird. I happen to be a big fan of Sighs (the Light Novel). I personally think they could have done a better job on the anime, though. I don't think they got the dramatic tension at all.

I agree that it wasn't a good follow up to their version of E8. I think the only thing that might have been a big enough bang (since Melancholy wasn't available) would have been Disappearance (which they ironically teased last summer.) And it would have made a good bookend with Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody too. They may have chosen not to do it because of the big cliffhanger it leaves, though.

[blkmage]

So the first sales figures for Haruhi 2 Vol. 2 (E8 1 and 2) are out and it's managed to get to third, behind Hetalia vol. 4 and new POT vol. 2. There is a huge gap between Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and E8 and it'll probably get a lot bigger for the next volume.

[Bobtheduck]

SO what can we call this season in the US? I don't think it's right to call it "Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2"

I think we should follow the lead from the books a bit...

Maybe "The boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya('s viewers)"

Or "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya('s ratings)"

Perhaps "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya('s light novel Author as his work was brutalized by the animation company he thought respected it)"