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ファイト／ステイナイト 
Instead of announcement of the airing date, the official site released a viral video showing a live-action Haruhi re-enacting the Tanabata story. There's nothing wrong with the viral video but I was personally hoping for something more and it feels slightly disappointing that all we got is just a viral video. In the end, we still have no idea when the second season will start. For those who want to see the video, Nico Douga has it for download. Joining is not difficult, but unless you have premium account, your access is limited between 2AM to 7PM (Japan time). There's also a copy at Tokyo Toshokan. Another option is watching the streaming video that pKjd posted on his site, Moetron. Personally, I'd recommend watching the streaming first to see if you want to download it or not. I got bored watching halfway through the video and fast forwarded right through the end to see if there's any kind of announcement. There isn't.
The latest Newtype Japan has just announced a real second season of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. The story will begin with Tanabata event that Haruhi mentioned in the first season. There's no starting date mentioned yet but the official site will have a formal announcement on the 7th of July so hopefully it'll be revealed soon.
January 25, 2007 | 
91 Comments
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ED Theme: 「ハレ晴れユカイ」 - Hare Hare Yukai
AVI version (43.8MB, XViD) | AVI mirror (43.8MB, XViD) | PSP version (12.6MB) | PSP mirror (12.6MB) | YouTube version
I remember saying how it would have been awesome if one of the extras in the last DVD is the full dance version of Hare Hare Yukai. What I meant by this is instead of static stills in between, I want to see Haruhi, Mikuru, Yuki, Kyon, and Itsuki doing their silly dance from start to finish. Imagine my surprise when I went to the official site and finds out that one of the extras in the last DVD is indeed the full dance version of Hare Hare Yukai. With that in mind, here is the full version. I think it's really nice to see the animators going out of their way to animate the rest of the dance sequence. I wonder if they had done this right from the beginning and intended to put the full version only on DVD. I suspect, however, that this is just a reaction to all of those dance moves that people upload on YouTube.
Well, this is it: the final episode to what I feel is one of the best series that was released last season. Despite the fact that the series ends on one of those 'life goes on' note, I feel that the series fulfilled most of my expectation and did not disappoint me unlike Fate/stay night. To me, the main attraction of the series are its characters, who despite representing several stereotypes, still manage to be interesting and unique. It's rare that I actually like all of the ensemble characters even down to supporting types like Taniguchi and Kunikuda. The storyline, while not exactly a heavy hitter, is entertaining in its own right. I am going to miss this series and I hope it'll get a second season in the near future. Kudos to Kyoto Animation for creating such an interesting series.
Cover of DVD 1
Euro Mix version of God Knows
Photos of Nishinomiya Kita City (thanks to Jun for pointing this one out)
This is probably the last entry that I can write before I go to the airport. I'm going on a one month leave to Japan but I have my laptop and an internet connection while I'm there so I think I'll be able to continue blogging. This also means that I'll update Kongetsu from time to time. Anyway, this episode finally gives a little bit of explanation to Haruhi's eccentric personality. I also like the part where a surprising element of the episode begins to show and a gregorian chant/song begins to play in the background.
If I didn't know any better I would have thought that Aliens have abducted the real Haruhi and replaced her with someone else until the last few minutes of this episode. This Haruhi is so strangely modest and polite. The insert songs in this episode are also awesome. They are both performed by Hirano Aya and titled 「God Knows…」and「Lost my music」. The high-res version of the images are here in case you want them.
ENOZ feat. Suzumiya Haruhi - God Knows (22.3MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
For those who use Macintosh and can't download the file in the comment area.
ENOZ feat. Suzumiya Haruhi - Lost my music (9.9MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
It's kind of brief but also small in file size. I hope the DVD will include the full version of the performance. That will be really nice.
I was wondering how the animators are going to represent the computer game battle in the series. The descriptions of the battle in the novel for some reason sounds a lot similar to Atari-styled games instead of something from the current generation games. Thankfully that's not the case here. And wow, I can't stop laughing looking at Yuki being enthusiastic or at least she finally shows something resembling excitement. And there is this one disturbing shot of Kyon where he strangely looks a bit like Haruhi when she's being a megalomaniac. Note: High-res images are out.
Revised timeline
Featurette to promote "The Adventures of Asahina Mikuru" DVD and CD Single
The Adventures of Asahina Mikuru CD TVCM
Bouken Desho Desho PV (Short version)
The Adventures of Asahina-Mikuru DVD Covers
This episode is just awesome. While last week's episode is enjoyable due to its slice-of-life feel, this one will probably satisfy those who dislike last week episode's slow pace. In terms of timeline, this story actually happens before after Mikuru and Itsuki's revelation in episode 5 and before the baseball game in episode 4. Yes, I realise that it's confusing but at this point in time, I don't see the point of complaining about it since the scheduling is pretty much set in stone by Kyoto Animation. Anyway, next week's episode will be episode 13 (Haruhi's timeline), Day of Sagittarius. I've added the new episode into the timeline below if you'd like to see it and the larger screenshots are now available. Last but not least, I've encoded Nagato vs. Asakura fight scene into a PSP format for those of you who want to carry this cool scene on your PSP.
Nagato Yuki vs. Asakura Ryouko smackdown! (50MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Revised timeline
It's through this episode you can see why they did all of those little ads during the Asahina Mikuru film. This episode also feels nicely slice-of-life in comparison to the other hectic episodes. It's probably a turn off for some but I like the change of pace. Having said that, this episode looks as if it was made to cut down some cost before the upcoming big episodes. There are many shots and composition which are clearly designed so that the animators don't have to spend too much budget on details. When that fails, they stick in a stationary scenes like Yuki reading books for around 3 minutes with some background noises. If you think Evangelion episode 24 had too many of these, you'll think the same way with this episode. As a side note, I finally managed to get a high-res version of the episode so the large images are here now.
I didn't know until I use google that the 22nd of May is actually the birth date of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. I wonder if this is the reason that the screening of this episode was postponed until this week. It certainly makes a rather nice trivia if you think about it. Anyway, there are some interesting character development and interactions within the episode. I think Haruhi's character benefits the most from this episode because this one reveals that there's more to her personality than the obnoxious loud persona she seems to use on a daily basis. In a twisted kind of way, showing last week's episode first also makes a bit sense due to the revelation at the end of that particular episode. As a side note, if you haven't heard it before, I really recommend the Euro Mix version of Hare Hare Yukai. I've also updated the images with the high-res version if you're interested in them.
Hare Hare Yukai (Euro Mix)
Episode order comparison (revised)
It looks like the reason they move right away to this episode is because it'll allow the animators to showcase the powers that Itsuki and Yuki possess. I personally think if they really want to do this, then they should have screened this before Lone Island Syndrome or maybe right after The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi because this story is actually a direct continuation of that story. The other objection that I have with this episode is the excessive use of CG. Although the CG creature here is not as bad as the dragon featured in Fate/Stay Night, it still does not blend in seamlessly with the 2D animation. By the way, if you've been looking for it, I now have the chronological timeline of this series. I've also updated the screencaps with the hi-res version if you still want them.
I think the anime writers has reached a point where they've gone overboard with the episode shuffle. It's quite annoying to watch an episode and not getting the conclusion until next week's episode. But it's even more annoying when you find out that the conclusion is not going to be in next week's episode but maybe 2-3 episode later. I didn't mind it when they put the baseball episode first before the continuation to Yuki's explanation. But this time around, I think the writers are pushing the viewers' patience. Thankfully the animation still holds up rather well and the storyline, even though feels a bit filler-ish, is still quite interesting. Overall, however, I am not enjoying the random episode shuffle.
This fifth episode of the series should have been given a subtitle The Jealousy of Suzumiya Haruhi. The main focus of this episode, apart from Mikuru's revelation is the obvious jealousy that Haruhi has towards the other girls who get to spend private time with Kyon. This story, however, makes me wonder why they screened the baseball episode first because this one actually shows Haruhi's jealousy in a much subtler manner than the previous episode. The only explanation I can come up with is that last week's episode was used to speed up the pace a little bit. With that in mind, this episode continues right off from where that episode left off. I have to say that I like the use of white text on black screen shown in this episode. It reminds me of some scenes from Evangelion. Well, screenshots are updated. Try and see if you can spot a Mikuru easter egg in one of them. Hint: Mikuru doesn't want others to see her while she changes into her costume.
This episode basically moves forward a couple episodes after the previous one. It's a bit jarring at first because all of a sudden all of the SOS-Dan members present and they start to get to know Tsuruya-san and other students. And then halfway through the episode, the story starts to show flashback of what happened in between last week's episode and this week's episode. The reason for this is because this week's story is actually taken from volume 3 of the novel while last week's episode was taken from the first novel. That's quite a big jump of timeline. Because of this, some of the scenes that we will see in the future are technically past events since this baseball game has been presented first prior to any events that happened beforehand. Next week, however, seems to be a return to the time after Yuki's explanation to Kyon. Anyway, I must have gone mad obsessed because I've just changed the screenshots to a higher resolution ones just now.
Haruhi turns out to be a rather terrifying girl after all. I thought there is a limit to her madness but this episode shows that she will go far to achieve her aim. There are also some interesting development for both Mikuru and Yuki here. By now it's obvious that these two are not in the club because they enjoy Suzumiya Haruhi's presence but for something else entirely. Comedy-wise, there are some funny moments in this scene but I think the impact of the scene will vary from viewers to viewers. I personally don't enjoy seeing Mikuru being treated harshly by Haruhi. Having said that, there seems to be more to Mikuru than what appears on the surface right now. Overall, this is another solid episode for the series and one that actually sets up a new direction for the series to follow in the future. I am just hoping that Kyoto Animation will be able to maintain the quality of the storyline, animation, and music until the end.
Just like everyone else, I've been a bit obsessed with The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and lately have been compiling everything that I know about the series onto this page. I ended up looking through a Japanese Wikipedia entry of Suzumiya Haruhi and decided to jot down a few points from there. Unfortunately, some of the Kanjis are more than I can handle. Moreover, since I haven't read the novel, I don't know if some of the info are correct or not. Because of this, if you have read the novel and notice any mistake, please let me know. But if you haven't read the novel and don't like to be spoiled, then you're better off skipping past the Character Informations and Glossary of Terms. Anyway, I'll update this page with more info as I learn more about the series. Once again I must emphasise that there is Major spoiler in the character information section.
Opening Theme: 「冒険でしょでしょ？」(Bouken desho, desho?) by 「平野綾] (Hirano Aya) - PSP format (16.5MB)
This is such an awesome series. I've always liked it from the start but the second episode simply seals the deal. I like the fact that the animation is so crips and clean. The opening theme, Bouken Desho Desho also happens to be a rather catchy tune which is pleasant to listen to. It's not as good as the ending theme but is still good nevertheless. This show also turns out to be one unusual series as far as the premise is concerned. While the plot does sounds kind of silly on a glance, when you actually watch the episode itself, you'll realise that it is actually an interesting and funny series. If you like high-school comedy like Genshiken, then I think the chances are high that you'll like this series as well. With its unique storyline, I think this series has the chance of becoming one of the better series that came out this season.
A Haruhi Suzumiya Film: 「朝比奈ミクルの冒険」- Asahina Mikuru no Bouken - special culture festival preview!! (12.2MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
I can't believe I almost miss this one simply because judging from the title, I thought that this is actually one of those harem series. Thankfully a friend showed it to me on his computer and I couldn't stop rolling my eyes from the start to finish. This is certainly an amusing episode with a rather unusual twist to it. Even the opening is unusual. And by that I mean it's unusually bad in the off-key singing kind of way. I don't think that the song is actually the real opening for the series since I noticed that a song titled Bouken Desho, Desho? is listed in CDJapan as the opening theme for this series. Anyway, if this series keeps it up, this could probably one of the better offering this season, which unfortunately has been rather dry so far.
