{"id":2444,"date":"2009-05-22T01:12:05","date_gmt":"2009-05-22T08:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikoto.wordpress.com\/?p=2444"},"modified":"2009-05-22T01:12:05","modified_gmt":"2009-05-22T08:12:05","slug":"haruhi-2009-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/2009\/05\/haruhi-2009-08\/","title":{"rendered":"Haruhi (2009) 08: I&#8217;m not going to put a witty title here to attract viewers, so have this shit instead, and don&#8217;t blame me for obviously intentional hypocrisy."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2457\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521164713.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2457\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2457\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521164713.jpg?resize=450%2C253\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2457\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&quot;HOLY SHIT, WELCOME BACK!&quot;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Instead of my usual episodic style (either the based-around-a-very-useless-matter post or the pictures-with-semi-witty-captions post), I&#8217;ve decided to continue the excruciatingly long and tedious post style that has plagued my <a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/19\/the-importance-of-kyon\/\" target=\"_blank\">previous<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/20\/breaking-stereotypes\/\" target=\"_blank\">two<\/a> <em>Haruhi (2009)<\/em> posts (or rather, posts with kind of intelligent analysis).<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->That means that this post will be boring and\/or interesting, depending on the style of blogging that you like. \u00a0If you think about it, the previous sentence has no real meaning.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521231744.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2459\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521231744.jpg?resize=500%2C283\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"283\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>First off, I can&#8217;t help but comment on the subs (which I usually don&#8217;t do unless it&#8217;s AoShen). \u00a0I tried out Mazui, CoalGG, and DB\/L-E, and none of them were really that good:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mazui had some weird language.<\/li>\n<li>DB did not even to bother differentiating between Kyon&#8217;s thoughts and what he says out loud.<\/li>\n<li>CoalGG had shitty grammar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I don&#8217;t even know if the CoalGG release was legit (so many typos &#8211; not really what you&#8217;d expect). \u00a0In any case, good subs = where?! \u00a0[I ended up watching DB&#8217;s subs &#8211; its font is the best]<\/p>\n<p>Also, good video quality = where!?!<\/p>\n<p>The 720p releases must have spoiled me, because watching this made me ashamed. \u00a0Haruhi S2 shouldn&#8217;t be watched in such a low quality! \u00a0(Though since I&#8217;ve waited a few years, you could say that I could wait a bit longer for a chance of better quality raws&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, off to the episode analysis!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2462\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521233517.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2462\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2462\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521233517.jpg?resize=450%2C253\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2462\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I&#39;d say something witty about the next season here, but let&#39;s just leave it.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I have one single point to make in the next portion of the post:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:30px;\"><strong>This episode was very, <em>very<\/em> different from season one (arguably worse).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Support via (this seems a lot like my &#8220;Importance of Kyon&#8221; post, huh?):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <em>K-ON!<\/em>\u00a0Infestation<\/li>\n<li>The Unimportance of Kyon<\/li>\n<li>Music, or lack thereof<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521232904.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2461\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521232904.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The first thing I noticed was the artistic change in Haruhi&#8217;s eyes and mouth. \u00a0Can someone say <em>K-ON!<\/em>esque?<\/p>\n<p>After watching episodes 1 &#8211; 7 in the past few days, I&#8217;ve grown accustomed to Haruhi, Kyon, etc. as they appeared in S1. \u00a0The slightest change in art is quite drastic to me, but I found the characters to remain quite artistically appealing.<\/p>\n<p>The new look of Haruhi is clearly aimed at being more &#8220;moe.&#8221; \u00a0Haruhi has a rounder mouth, her eyes are closer together, and her hair is slightly bigger. \u00a0Looking more and more like Yui every second, are we? \u00a0Though this clearly contrasts with Haruhi&#8217;s extremely eccentric nature, it&#8217;s not technically <em>bad<\/em>. \u00a0Haruhi certainly <em>is<\/em> cuter, but it&#8217;s a bit of a shock to see her like this.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521234242.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2464\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521234242.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kyon. \u00a0 My favorite male anime character by far&#8230; \u00a0He had such an incredibly sarcastic narration, and almost never laughed or made any facial expressions.<\/p>\n<p>To see him reduced to such a state that this episode presents&#8230; *sigh*<\/p>\n<p>Kyon was famous for his sarcasm, the cynic in his head that contrasted so sharply with his usually unemotional exterior. \u00a0This episode portrayed him as nothing of the sort. \u00a0The Kyon I thought I knew has been destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>In episode 4, Kyon received a letter from Mikuru. \u00a0He mocked it. \u00a0He called shoebox letters &#8220;a fad or something.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In this episode, Kyon receives a note from Mikuru. \u00a0He shows emotion. \u00a0He closes his eyes, blushes, presents a horribly un-Kyon-like smile, and says &#8220;I&#8217;ll be there with bells on!&#8221; \u00a0Whatever happened to the sarcasm? \u00a0The emotionless straight face that made Kyon Kyon? \u00a0The HUMOR?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522000203.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2465\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522000203.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Granted, there are certain spots where the old Kyon shines through (brilliantly, I might add) &#8211; the scene with Haruloli, for example.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521235144.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2466\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521235144.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But then again, there&#8217;s a scene where Kyon voices his sarcasm out loud.<br \/>\nOut. \u00a0Loud.<\/p>\n<p>What the hell.<\/p>\n<p>This ain&#8217;t how it&#8217;s supposed to go! \u00a0Kyon&#8217;s exterior and interior were separated cleanly in season one. \u00a0Here, it&#8217;s much more muddled. \u00a0You could argue that it&#8217;s the influence of Haruhi&#8217;s eccentricity (that Kyon is growing to like weird things, aka <em>nonreality<\/em>)&#8230; but events like Episode 00 (arguably the pinnacle of Kyon&#8217;s sarcasm) happen after this episode, so using logical reasoning isn&#8217;t possible.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2467\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521235038.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2467\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2467\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521235038.jpg?resize=450%2C253\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2467\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Direct appeal to the not-wanting-srs-analysis masses, I&#39;d say.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Also, there is an extreme amount of [classical] music in this episode.<\/p>\n<p>Season one (or at least the Melancholy and Boredom arcs &#8211; episodes 01 to 07) had barely any music. \u00a0If there was music, it was quirky background music reminiscent of a circus. \u00a0It was soft and never overpowering. \u00a0The <em>only<\/em>\u00a0(and I seriously mean that) time that the music stood out was when the Celestials appeared in the final episode, with the music building up to Kyon&#8217;s famous line &#8220;Ponytails turn me on&#8221; and the subsequent Kyon-Haruhi kiss.<\/p>\n<p>This episode utilized the degree of music found in season one&#8217;s biggest climax&#8230; for an ordinary day. \u00a0At least three different background songs played before Kyon went back in time, and all three of them were very, very overpowering. \u00a0I actually noticed them, which is quite rare unless I&#8217;m actually trying to hear the BGM (almost never).<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure why this is the case, but it sure is pretty annoying.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2469\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521232857.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2469\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2469 \" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521232857.jpg?resize=450%2C253\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2469\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I, for one, thought Kyon x Koizumi.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Random criticism on this episode that doesn&#8217;t fit into the three categories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Koizumi opens his eyes too much.<\/li>\n<li>Kyon loses a bit of hair in some scenes.<\/li>\n<li>The animation seems to be a tad worse in quality, though it could just be the low quality video.<\/li>\n<li>A bit of the plot was forced &#8211; Mikuru (old) coming in was kind of pushing it [this is more directed toward the light novel\/original story concept, not specifically the anime].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&lt;\/criticism&gt;<\/p>\n<p>As for good things about this episode&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522000059.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2470\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522000059.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Haruhi<\/h2>\n<p>She was insane in this episode. \u00a0Unlike Kyon, Haruhi doesn&#8217;t change her personality in this episode, and her loli form only serves to reinforce her incredible character that has gained such enormous fame.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522001121.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2471\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522001121.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>The Plot<\/h2>\n<p><em>Haruhi<\/em> isn&#8217;t an anime known for an insane plot &#8211; season one was driven by the characters, not the plot. \u00a0It ain&#8217;t no <em>Code Geass<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet this episode seems to suggest otherwise. \u00a0Dividing by zero over nine thousand times and holy shit, it feels <span style=\"text-decoration:line-through;\">good<\/span> awesome man. \u00a0I loved the story in this episode. \u00a0It explained many things, and brought up twice as many questions as it answered. \u00a0I found myself thoroughly entranced in Kyon&#8217;s possibly impossible participation in the past and Mikuru&#8217;s even more possibly impossible role in the past, present, and future.<\/p>\n<p>The suggestion that Kyon and Mikuru were only a room away while Kyon met Yuki for the &#8220;first time&#8221; while she had met the future him three years before calls for an extreme brain asplosion. \u00a0Bricks were shat, and the three little pigs too.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521234230.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2472\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090521234230.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Kyon&#8217;s reading material<\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure what that is, but it looks like a English textbook\/workbook (or guide) to me. \u00a0Interestingly, the seven words on the page are&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mislead<\/li>\n<li>Distort<\/li>\n<li>Abuse<\/li>\n<li>Irritate<\/li>\n<li>Frustrate<\/li>\n<li>Invade<\/li>\n<li>Violate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sounds like Kyon&#8217;s got some secret fetish going on.<br \/>\nThere&#8217;s more to life than just maids, bunny girls, and ponytails, eh?<\/p>\n<p>I bet Koizumi knows about it&#8230; from experience.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522001701.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2474\" src=\"http:\/\/mikoto.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/snapshot20090522001701.jpg?resize=500%2C281\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As a final note: the ED was nowhere near &#8220;Bouken Desho Desho?&#8221; and &#8220;Hare Hare Yukai.&#8221; \u00a0Huge risk of seizure, too&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>P.S.: Again, sorry if my ideas came out muddled. \u00a0Muddled ideas fit muddled subs fit shitty raw anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Instead of my usual episodic style (either the based-around-a-very-useless-matter post or the pictures-with-semi-witty-captions post), I&#8217;ve decided to continue the excruciatingly long and tedious post style that has plagued my previous two Haruhi (2009) posts (or rather, posts with kind of intelligent analysis).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2zM4X-Dq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flomu.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}