Wednesday, July 4, 2018

T5W#151-Top 5 Spoiler Thoughts on The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Welcome to a special Top 5 Wednesday, one that will focus directly on a film I just reviewed.  If you haven’t read my review of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya or want to remain unspoiled…I suggest turning away right now (or at least read the review first).  I often talk spoilers in most of my reviews.  However I could have written an essay in the case of Disappearance.  So I opted to split in half so to speak.  You have the review and now I get to do my Top 5 Spoiler Thoughts on The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya and expand on some thoughts I had been holding onto since well into the TV series.  Last chance to turn back?  All set? Here we go.

 

#5-Unlikeable Characters Made Likeable?
 In the grand scheme of the world of Haruhi Suzumiya, I cant stand Haruhi half the time and I can tolerate Mikuru and Koizumi even less.  Mikuru always seemed to let herself suffer at Haruhi’s hands (literally) and somehow her future self looks back fondly on those events.  Koizumi…just needs to STFU and realize he’s trying to sound important when really he’s begging to be punched by Kyon.  Haruhi is…well Haruhi.  However, in the movie, all three characters all get moments to shine in different ways, mostly in the alternate world.  Alternate Haruhi can still act overbearing but she is excited to hear Kyon’s stories of an alternate world where she gets to hang out with the three kinds of people she most wants to.  Koizumi finally gets a chance to be Haruhi’s main squeeze in the alternate world but admits he’ll never be what she wants…and he doesn’t sound like a total ass about that, more genuinely sad, though he masks it as his usual Koizumi self.  Mikuru in the alternate world is about the same but her future self actually gets to play a sizeable role in helping Kyon solve the case.  Best of all, Haruhi finally shows true concern and appretiation for Kyon in the real world when Kyon wakes up.  She stayed by his side and wouldn’t abandon him.  Even her threats of payment for his “time off” lacked her usual ruthless devil may care attitude.  Somehow, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya managed to do the impossible and make the entire cast strong and solid with very little weak links…a 28 episode series didn’t even fully succeed at that.

 

#4-The Darker Side of Season 2
If we’re going by the episode guides of the original broadcast of both series, then the bulk of Season 2 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is dedicated to the Endless Eight and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya story arcs.  Endless Eight was a test of patience (and I’ll get more into that in a bit).  But Sigh was where things took an interesting turn for the story.  Haruhi pushed everyone to their limits and Kyon finally had enough, almost striking Haruhi himself.  This followed by Yuki, Koizumi and Mikuru telling him not to trust each other began to paint the series in a whole new, serious light.  The mood had changed considerably and the fun and wackiness the series was known for was all but replaced.  For all the crap that Haruhi could get everyone into and be virtually unapologetic about it, not to mention the conflicting dramas caused by competing Time Travelers, Espers and Aliens, is it any surprise someone would want this crazy world replaced all together?  Heck is it any surprise that this unexpected drama was taken into and nearly perfected in the movie?

 

#3-Kyon and Nagato-an unspoken bond
I constantly said during my review of the TV Series that Kyon and Yuki Nagato have a very powerful friendship, one that has more depth to it than Kyon and Haruhi.  Kyon trusts her with his life and it seems Yuki does feel the same way on some level.  After all, when she resets the world, Yuki turns herself into a girl who is so shy and timid around Kyon and wants to be his friend, maybe more.  The feelings are there, just not given the clearest of definitions, so it could go in a bevy of directions.  Still, despite being unable to return Alternate Yuki’s feelings, Kyon promises the real world Yuki that he and the SOS Brigade will go to war for her if anything happens.  It almost feels like both a declaration and an apology at the same time.  Kyon turned away from a potentially amazing friendship with an emotion filled Yuki but will always go to bat for his own Yuki Nagato.  Kyon doesn’t even blame her for changing the world, in fact he gets it more than she does probably.  Seeing this friendship unexplored further might be the biggest crime of the franchise not getting another cannon entry after The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.  HOWEVER, there is The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato spin off series which is set in the alternate world Yuki creates in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya…so maybe there’s hope for exploration yet.

 

#2-A Haruhi-Less World and Kyon’s Selfish Decision?
Piggybacking off of #3, Yuki leaves the fate of the world in Kyon’s hands.  She trusts him to make the right decision as to whether the world should return to normal or stay new.  In the end, did Kyon make the right call?  He does admit that for all his complaining, he loves being around Haruhi and the others and sharing in their exploits and adventures.  He needs Haruhi and he will sacrifice everything to get her back.  However, that “everything” includes an alternate world where everyone is way better than they are in the real world.  Mikuru, Koizumi and even Haruhi seem to be better versions of themselves with social lives and a strong sense of normalcy.  Most evident is Yuki, who becomes a shy book worm who has strong (if not outright romantic) feelings for Kyon.  And yet Kyon lets that world fade away because if Haruhi isn’t in his life and his heart, then life isn’t worth it.  In a way, you get it.  Throughout the movie you feel that despite all of Haruhi’s excessiveness, the world is darker without her being herself.  It’s a fact the movie plays really well.  Poor Yuki though.  Kyon breaks her heart in the most devastatingly selfish decision ever made.  In truth, you can feel angry that Kyon erases an emotion filled Yuki Nagato from existence for his Haruhi…but there might not be a right or wrong call to make here…definitely the stuff table discussions are made out of.

 

#1-The Endless Eight Had a Point
The Endless Eight pissed me off, like so many other Haruhi fans.  However, there was one person who was more fed up than anyone else…and that’s the perpetrator of the events of Disappearance.  Fed up with Haruhi being Haruhi, Yuki Nagato instigates the world change that all but erases Haruhi from everyones minds.  Yuki’s quiet disposition at first glance wouldn’t give away that she was capable of such an act.  But if you pay close attention through parts of the Endless Eight and the latter half of the series, you can tell even she is starting to become weary and show signs of just being done with all the BS Haruhi can bring to bear.  Plus, as Kyon points out, Yuki is usually the one to come up with the solution to save everyone because Kyon is clueless, Mikuru is too scared and Koizumi is a snobbish ass.  Everyone has a breaking point and Yuki finally reached her own.  As much of a struggle as the Season 2 episodes of the TV series were, they actually served a greater purpose that paid off in spades in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.  Suddenly, all the pain was worth it.

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