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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV).


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Mephistophilus



Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 200
Location: Fresno, CA, United States
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:40 pm Reply with quote
Niceguy9418 wrote:
After having a few days to think about it (cause I have a boring job) I still think it's a bad idea to go chronological, but I'm not as steamed as I was over the weekend. But it got me thinking...

You can actually watch these episodes in ANY order and the series will be just as good as long as these rules are followed:

1) Episode 11 (Adv of Mikuru00) has to go 1st. (Even the bakayaro's producing the DVD knew that rule!)
2) Episode 1 has to go second.
3) Episode 6 has to go last.
4) The rest can be in any place, in any order as long as:
4a) episodes 2-5 are shown in the correct order (though not necessarily consecutive) and...
4b) episodes 9 & 10 (Remote Island Syndrome I & II) should also be in order, but not necessarily consecutive.

I think you can have just about any order that fits the desciption above and not only will the series still work, but it basically does not lose any of the dramatic effect created by the Broadcast order.

Example: (You could substitute "The Day of Sagitarius" (13) or "Mysterique Sign" (8) with the "Baseball Episode" (7) in the #4 slot and it would work just as well.

Now can any of you mathwizrds out there figure out how many combinations there are that fit the rules above Question HAHAHA Just kidding. Exclamation (Seriously, anyone???) Laughing


I suppose that would also work, but I think the broadcast order did have some kind of balance to it, being that there were usually spurts of some advancement followed by a short break that seemed to slightly fit or offset the previous episode. For instance, the first three episodes were quite heavy (broadcast order), and the fourth just seemed to fit while sort of giving little bits about Haruhi away. It was sort of whimsical, while at the same time keeping with the current information given and having a slight undertone to it. Having something like the rainy episode placed in or Mysterique Sign would be either TOO subdued for that point in the series or completely confusing to the first time viewer especially. You'd have to put serious thought into rearranging, and your actual choices would be limited. Just getting a broadcast order list would probably be better if you're going to watch any "different" orderings.

That being said, it'd probably be an interesting way to watch it your second or third time through, as has been previously stated here.
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Niceguy9418



Joined: 25 Jun 2006
Posts: 82
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:41 pm Reply with quote
Oh I totally agree that the broadcast order is best... and it also happens to fit the "rules" I described. (Well, it's no surprise really , I derrived "the rules" based on how the broadcast order was constructed!) It's just funny that, within certain parameters, you can switch them around, and not really lose anything!
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Mirrinus



Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 230
Location: La Thiene Plateau
PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:09 pm Reply with quote
Which just goes to show how well Kyoto Animation had this series storyboarded. It's rare for a show to have such "interchangable episodes" without having its plot suffer too much.
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OmegaM1A1



Joined: 28 Feb 2007
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 2:00 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't particularly call the interchangeability of those episodes good work on Kyoto's part, I'd call it "Those episodes are moot to the rest of the series".
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Mephistophilus



Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 200
Location: Fresno, CA, United States
PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 2:40 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't call them moot, as some things can be deduced from the content of some of the episodes, especially in further exposition of Haruhi's spoiler["God status"]. They don't LINK to the "main story" as much, but I suppose that's because of their non-chronological and somewhat sporadic settings. They're like a lot of high school themed anime episodes (at least from what I've experienced), with an extremely slice-of-life feel.

Sporadic? Yes. Not quite fitting into the "main story's" activities? Perhaps. Useless or moot to the development of the series? No. You get a good bit of the feeling from these episodes, like at the end of the concert episode.
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GrimaH



Joined: 08 Mar 2007
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 8:57 pm Reply with quote
Oh, how I wish the Ep. 12 songs would be in Drummania and Guitarfreaks Sad I'd definitely waste 2 months of my pocket money to master the 2 aspects of those songs.
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haruhifan1200



Joined: 02 Dec 2006
Posts: 91
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 5:44 pm Reply with quote
I was watching Stranger Than Fiction last night, and it reminded me of Haruhi.
spoiler[Mostly about the part regarding how one person (the author/Haruhi) could control lives (in Haruhi's case, the fate of the universe). It's a fun concept, and after seeing both of these works in their entirety, it makes a good story!]
Also I read here that someone thought that maybe Haruhi is a figment of Kyon's imagination...what about visa versa? spoiler[She feel in love with Kyon; maybe she wished for her perfect lover to appear. Why Kyon thinks Haruhi is a werido, given my scenario I don't know. She also seemed to recognize him from somewhere ("Have I met you before?"- Episode 2 [chronologically 1]).] It's weak material, but it's like a fanfic in the making, right?
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Mirrinus



Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 230
Location: La Thiene Plateau
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:58 pm Reply with quote
OmegaM1A1 wrote:
I wouldn't particularly call the interchangeability of those episodes good work on Kyoto's part, I'd call it "Those episodes are moot to the rest of the series".


Really? Makes me wonder what you think of shows like School Rumble, Azumanga Daioh, and Mushishi. Anyway, I thought each episode outside of the Melancholy arc played their own important role to further the story.

Take episode 4, The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya. We've just finished listening to Yuki begin her speech about how she's an alien, and that Haruhi's not normal either. At this point, we could have gone on to Melancholy III, with more random revelations. However, the viewer would be left guessing whether or not Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki are really just pulling Kyon's leg and lying to him, or are telling the truth. They do absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in Melancholy III, so there's absolutely no proof to back up what they tell Kyon. By interjecting Boredom in between, the viewer will already know that what Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki are telling him in Melancholy III are actually true. This is an interesting point, particularly in the novels, as these three characters end up being people Kyon can really trust and rely on (have they ever lied to him, even in the novels?). In this roundabout way, I thought KyoAni was able to tell us something important about the characters without ever saying it out loud. After all, a strong theme that develops both in the anime and the novels is how close and trusting the members of the SOS Brigade do eventually become.

I believe the Lone Island Syndrome arc also provided some interesting juxtaposition for Haruhi character development. Remember what the previous episode was? Melancholy III, where it was pretty obvious (and cute) that Haruhi was jealous of Kyon spending time with Yuki and Mikuru. Lone Island Syndrome was one of the more Haruhi-focused arcs, even more so than the original novel, thanks to changes made to the revelation scene and that extra cave moment between Kyon and Haruhi. Overall, it seemed to address Haruhi's feelings toward Kyon that we've only previously just glimpsed and speculated at.

Mysterique Sign placed in the middle of Lone Island Syndrome was kinda awkward, but in retrospect it was also yet another form of subtle foreshadowing. Think about it, up till Lone Island Syndrome part 1 all we've got from Itsuki were speeches and other mere words. We had no proof that he was capable of anything beyond explaining stuff to Kyon and talking mysteriously on a cell phone. While Mysterique Sign did focus on Yuki as well, it demonstrated to the viewer that there's a lot more to Itsuki too, which played right into the second half of Lone Island Syndrome. Again, clever use of juxtaposition to form links between otherwise unrelated episodes.


Last edited by Mirrinus on Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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Niceguy9418



Joined: 25 Jun 2006
Posts: 82
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:38 pm Reply with quote
haruhifan1200 wrote:
I was watching Stranger Than Fiction last night, and it reminded me of Haruhi.
spoiler[Mostly about the part regarding how one person (the author/Haruhi) could control lives (in Haruhi's case, the fate of the universe). It's a fun concept, and after seeing both of these works in their entirety, it makes a good story!]
Also I read here that someone thought that maybe Haruhi is a figment of Kyon's imagination...what about visa versa? spoiler[She feel in love with Kyon; maybe she wished for her perfect lover to appear. Why Kyon thinks Haruhi is a werido, given my scenario I don't know. She also seemed to recognize him from somewhere ("Have I met you before?"- Episode 2 [chronologically 1]).] It's weak material, but it's like a fanfic in the making, right?


Regarding that second spoiler - if I'm not mistaken (and I could be - my info is 2nd hand) in one of the later novels in the series Kyon himself goes back in time - so it's possible she actually did.

(He uses the alias John Smith - can anyone more familar than me with the wirtten material shed some light?)
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Mirrinus



Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 230
Location: La Thiene Plateau
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:00 pm Reply with quote
Niceguy9418 wrote:
Regarding that second spoiler - if I'm not mistaken (and I could be - my info is 2nd hand) in one of the later novels in the series Kyon himself goes back in time - so it's possible she actually did.

(He uses the alias John Smith - can anyone more familar than me with the wirtten material shed some light?)


Eh...not sure if the moderators will let me do this one, but I'll try to answer your question. Admins can delete this post if they feel it necessary.

Spoilers for Volume 3 story Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (likely to be animated in possible second season):

spoiler[In Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Mikuru recieves orders from her superiors to take Kyon back in time precisely 3 years. Kyon meets little Haruhi, and gives her the name "John Smith" when she asks who he is. When asked if he believes in aliens, espers, or time travelers, Kyon answers yes, piquing little Haruhi's interest. Little Haruhi also notices that he's wearing a North High uniform, and this is heavily implied to be the reason why Haruhi later chose to go to school there.]
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haruhifan1200



Joined: 02 Dec 2006
Posts: 91
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 10:12 pm Reply with quote
Mirrinus wrote:
Niceguy9418 wrote:
Regarding that second spoiler - if I'm not mistaken (and I could be - my info is 2nd hand) in one of the later novels in the series Kyon himself goes back in time - so it's possible she actually did.

(He uses the alias John Smith - can anyone more familar than me with the wirtten material shed some light?)


Eh...not sure if the moderators will let me do this one, but I'll try to answer your question. Admins can delete this post if they feel it necessary.

Spoilers for Volume 3 story Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (likely to be animated in possible second season):

spoiler[In Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Mikuru recieves orders from her superiors to take Kyon back in time precisely 3 years. Kyon meets little Haruhi, and gives her the name "John Smith" when she asks who he is. When asked if he believes in aliens, espers, or time travelers, Kyon answers yes, piquing little Haruhi's interest. Little Haruhi also notices that he's wearing a North High uniform, and this is heavily implied to be the reason why Haruhi later chose to go to school there.]


That made me want to read the novels even more! It'd be cool if this got animated in the (most likely happening) second season.
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Mirrinus



Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 230
Location: La Thiene Plateau
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:07 pm Reply with quote
The asosbrigade website appears to be dropping quite a few references to the March 18th live seiyuu performance in Tokyo for SuzuHaru, such as the wall post about "going back" and the hidden binary numbers above Haruhi's picture. Here's hoping they might announce a second season then, lol. Anime hyper
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5515
PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:12 pm Reply with quote
The website now included the English dub trailer for the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It'll give more glimpse of Wendee Lee's work on Haruhi which I have to say it'll really take time to get used to it. Neutral
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8502
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:01 am Reply with quote
Eh... maybe Wendee Lee as Haruhi will grow on me. She just sounds a little too old for it, though. Exhausted-sounding.

What they should have done for the trailer is had Kyon do a voice over for it and emphasized that he is the main character and really humanize the whole thing. Then you could have him introduce/criticize each character. The trailer only had a single, short line of Kyon's, and it was hardly worth gauging Crispin Freeman's perfomance on. Nothing from Yuki or Itsuki, aside from a few clips with them in it (the Yuki vs Asakura fight part made me want to watch that again badly) and just a line for Mikuru.

Not much to say about it. I'm still looking forward to recieving my SE, though.


Wow, 100 pages! Epic thread.
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Mylene



Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 2792
Location: Indiana
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:36 am Reply with quote
darkchibi07 wrote:
The website now included the English dub trailer for the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It'll give more glimpse of Wendee Lee's work on Haruhi which I have to say it'll really take time to get used to it. Neutral


Thanks for the heads up.

Listened to it, and I personally don't think Wendee Lee sounds too old...there's just something about the way she ends her words and phrases that sounds both nasal and flat, losing some of their impact in several of the clips I heard (in my opinion, naturally), and sounding a bit like she was just sort of reading aloud. However, she she did a short yell somewhere in there, it sounded great.

The split second Mikuru sounded...well, like an American impersonating Mikuru, which I suppose isn't a bad thing, but I'm not sure how well the voice will go over with me in English.

What little was heard of Kyon's voice sounded pretty good to me.

Of course, not that any of this really matters to me, the odds of me watching the dub are slim to none. ;p However, it would be nice if it had a dub that I could at least tolerate or knew was decent so that I could convince non-anime fans to give it a try (I think my brothers might enjoy the combat-related episodes....although I'm probably wrong.) Not to mention I like for as many people to enjoy shows as possible.

I'm looking forward to finding out what the "time will change in __ day(s)" thing is all about. I hope it's something interesting...
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