Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu ep.11

June 12, 2006 | 51 Comments

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

The episode begins with Itsuki informing Haruhi that their advanced scouting units have located the enemy's fleets. Yuki warns Haruhi that enemy fleets are moving at 60% velocity towards them and there are approximately 15,000 of them. Haruhi, on the other hand, is happy to hear this and orders all fleet to move into battle stations. Because of this, Itsuki, Mikuru, and Yuki assume combat positions and charge their weapon. Kyon, however, appears on Haruhi's comm-link, telling her to stay back a little bit more. Haruhi disagrees and tells Kyon that she too wants to fire beams and missiles as well. Kyon then counters her argument by saying that when one plays Shogi or Chess, one does not normally send the King into the front line. Haruhi eventually agrees with Kyon so she orders him to annihilate their enemy. After their comm-link is terminated, Kyon wonders if it wouldn't be better if they just give up. Cut to a shot of a 2D shooter game.

After the opening, the story returns to 1 week before the shooter battle happened. Kyon explains that it was a few days after the cultural festival ended without any incident. Back then, Kyon praised himself for managing to retain his sanity despite associating himself with an alien, a time traveler and an ESP user. Itsuki who noticed Kyon's expression wondered if something bothers his friend. Kyon, however, denied this and told Itsuki that he simply admires himself for finally getting used to this room. He thought it's about time someone offers him a word of admiration. Upon hearing this, Itsuki offered to be the one who gives Kyon words of admiration but Kyon told him that it wouldn't be happy if it's coming from Itsuki. He believed that if it comes from Itsuki, he'd be worried that there's a catch somewhere. Itsuki simply laughed and admitted that maybe true. Mikuru then gave Kyon and Itsuki a tea that she brew herself, causing Kyon to become excited.

Their quiet time, however, got interrupted when the Computer Society members and their President come to visit the room. He gave Kyon a game software called The Day of Sagittarius III that they developed themselves. Apparently these guys show it off during the cultural festival but Kyon couldn't remember it since the only thing he wanted to remember was Mikuru's Yakisoba cafe. The President suddenly remembered that they have arrived with the intention of challenging SOS-Dan in a contest. Kyon quietly told himself that the guy should not have said the word outloud because if Haruhi hears it...she will kick the guy's head using her legs. Haruhi's sudden appearance and act shocks everyone but she doesn't seem to care and is only interested in this 'contest' the President was talking about. Haruhi at first didn't recognise the guys and thinks that they are from some evil organisation. As a result, she starts talking nonsense about being warrior of justice.

Eventually, however, Kyon managed to make Haruhi listens to what the President of the Computer Society had to say. Because of this, the guy told Haruhi that he wants SOS-Dan to have a contest with the Computer Society using the game they made. If the Computer Society wins, they want Haruhi to return the computer that she took from them. Haruhi, however, argued that she is using the computer to edit the movie and make the homepage. Well, the truth is it was Kyon who did both of these tasks. Upon hearing this, the President claimed that he knew the website has never been updated, causing Kyon to realise that this is the guy who's been increasing their site's access counter every day. He believed it explains the Cricket incident. The President then told Haruhi that if she wins, he'll give her 4 notebooks for her members. Haruhi immediately perked up upon hearing the offer and agreed to participate in the contest.

In return, Haruhi told the guy that if he wins, she will give Yuki to the Computer Society since they haven't got female members yet. Haruhi claimed that Yuki is very useful and the reason she offered her is because she feels bad for only betting one computer while the Computer Society offers four. Kyon couldn't help himself from saying that there's a big difference from the specs of a computer and Yuki but it's not like Haruhi knows about it. When the guy became flabbergasted, Haruhi wondered if he also wants Mikuru. Thankfully before Haruhi went further, Kyon interfered and told her that if she wants to make a bet, maybe she should offers her own body. Haruhi pout and told Kyon that SOS-Dan Chief is a holy and sacred symbol. When the President still doesn't answer her question, Haruhi begrudgingly told him that if he really insist, she supposed he can have her. The poor guy immediately told Haruhi that he'll definitely take a pass on that offer.

The two groups eventually agreed that they will begin the battle one week later at 4pm. On their way back home, Kyon told Itsuki that he'd like them not to cheat during the game. Besides, Kyon believed that the only thing that they have to lose is the computer. Having said that, Kyon made a mental note of moving Mikuru's images to somewhere safe before someone takes the computer. Itsuki, however, tells Kyon that while he doesn't mind losing computer, Haruhi is known to dislike losing. As a result, there is a danger that she could create an enclosed dimension if she becomes upset at the game. Kyon, however, didn't care and thought that sooner or latter she has to learn her lesson. Itsuki immediately laughed about this and told Kyon that he's jealous of the invinsible bond that exists between Kyon and Haruhi. He believes that Kyon trusts Haruhi not to create an enclosed dimension if they lose while Haruhi believes that Kyon will lead them to victory.

Itsuki believed that the reason Haruhi was willing to bet her club members was because she's confident that they will win. The two of them may never speak about it but there seems to be a trust between Kyon and Haruhi. Because of this, the next day the group started their game training. The rule of the game is simple. Every member has 15,000 spaceships under his/her command. The objective is to control these spaceships from their computer and destory the opponent, or rather, the opponent's leader in order to win the game. Since their field of vision is quite limited, each member must send scouting unit in order to expand the vision and find the whereabouts of the enemies. Mikuru told Kyon that she doesn't understand any of this so Kyon told her to just take it easy and have fun. Haruhi, however, disagreed with this and reminded the two that they'll be doing some hard training this week. Haruhi then elected herself as their leader much to Kyon's chagrin.

Kyon became even more worried when he found out that Yuki couldn't even figure out how to use the mouse. True enough, they constantly lose to their computer opponent during the training. Kyon blamed the entire thing on Haruhi because she kept charging at the enemy. Kyon, however, noticed that Yuki slowly became adept at using the computer and seemed to be having fun. He, however, reminded her that he doesn't want them to cheat. In the visualisation, each person seems to have their own distinct crew members. Haruhi's fleet is populated by various alien races and looks a lot like the Cantina bar in Star Wars. On the other hand, Itsuki commands a group of creepy-looking androids wose eyes, mouth, and mouse are represented by Hiragana characters. Mikuru's fleet contains a group of Neko-man, a creature with Cat heads while Yuki's fleet is simply populated by her own clones. Meanwhile, Haruhi told everyone not to give mercy to their enemy.

Kyon, who overheard Haruhi, wondered where she got her confidence and thought that it would be nice if she can pass just 2 milligrams at him. All of a sudden Haruhi was standing next to Kyon, looking as if she's transferring her thoughts to him. Because of this Kyon asked the girl what effect he's supposed to feel from having her starring at him. Haruhi told him that she focused her energy into her stare and passed it to Kyon. She believed that Kyon should now feel all warm and going through accelerated perspiration. Unfortunately for Haruhi, the only thing that Kyon felt was his danger sense. Their conversation, however, was interrupted by Itsuki, who reminded them that the game is about to begin. The story then returns to the present time where SOS Fleets have just encountered enemy fleets. However, thanks to Yuki's effort, they manage to gauge their enemy's movement. Despite this Kyon feels that scouting area while fighting enemies is difficult.

Of course it doesn't help that game-illiterate Mikuru and charge-crazy Haruhi are useless in the battle. Mikuru simply screams around in panic while Haruhi just sits around looking like a megalomaniac. All of a sudden, Kyon and Itsuki find themselves being attacked by the enemies who seem to come out of nowhere. Haruhi orders Kyon to retaliate so Kyon decides to turn his ship around to fire at the enemy. However, by the time he's about to return fire, the enemy's ships suddenly disappear. The enemy, however, then appears again and attacks the different part of Kyon's and Itsuki's fleets. Because of this, Haruhi decides to help them by sending out Gun*bleep* (it's actually a reference to Gundam but the image got censored and the words were bleeped out). Meanwhile, Mikuru is crying because it seems she and her fleet is lost in some far off space. XD Haruhi becomes impatient with the situation and decides to lead her fleet to attack the enemy.

Kyon and Itsuki become panic upon seeing this and have no choice but to align their fleets close to Haruhi's so they can protect her. But this only makes them an easy target for the enemy. While this happens, Mikuru is still lost in space. XD The only person who puts up a valiant fight is Yuki who manages to execute a command to open up the field of vision for her comrades. All of a sudden the map on everyone's computer shows the location of their enemy's fleets. Itsuki explains to Kyon that this is micro management. Apparently they can actually divide their fleet into 20 groups and assign individual task to each of them. However, Itsuki thinks that controling that many fleets in one go is beyond the ability of a human. Meanwhile, across of his seat, Yuki is seen typing really fast to the point of scaring Mikuru. Haruhi, however, doesn't notice any of this because she's busy telling everyone that they have to run in the nude if they give up now.

Kyon decides to check on Yuki and upon seeing her, he realises that there are many windows opening and closing quickly on her laptop. Kyon reminds her that he asked her not to cheat. Yuki, however, tells him that she's not cheating since she's not doing any kind of data manipulation. She, however, points out that the one who's cheating is the Computer Society. Apparently their field of vision was off right from the start. Because of this, they can see the location of SOS-Dan's ships right from the beginning. Yuki tells Kyon that she doesn't want to disobey his order but she simply wants to apply a little modification to the program. She then stops typing and asks Kyon for permission. Kyon wonders if Yuki wants to win and upon seeing her blinking, he agrees to let Yuki to execute the modification. Upon doing this, the Computer Society suddenly lost the map that shows them the location of SOS-Dan's fleets and is suddenly attack by the enemy.

Yuki then shoots at the President's ship, causing the guy to direct his fleet right into Kyon's, Mikuru's, Haruhi's, and Itsuki's fleets. They then shower the fleet with missiles. The poor guy tries to run but unfortunately Yuki locked down his ship's position with a missile and effectively obliterated it in seconds. In other words, SOS-DAN WINS!! The President admits his defeat and gives SOS-Dan the laptops. He, however, wants to know if Yuki would be willing to hang out at their club from time to time. Haruhi immediately objects to his request and tells him that Yuki is an indispensable member of SOS-Dan. Yuki, however, looks at Kyon as if asking for his opinion. Kyon thinks that even a human interface like Yuki must be tired of having to observe Haruhi all the time so he tells her that the decision is up to her. After thinking about it, Yuki tells Kyon that she'll come there occasionally. Haruhi, however, demands the Computer Society to swear loyalty to her and asks Itsuki to prepare the details. The episode then ends with Yuki typing on her book, looking as if she enjoys the whole experience.

Impression:

This is one of the more hilarious episode within the series. I was very amused to see Haruhi trying to transmit her confidence into Kyon and Mikuru lost in space was a comedy gold. And then there's that blurred out Gundam reference coming out of nowhere. It looks like something that one usually find in South Park instead of an anime series like this one. Seeing Yuki typing on her keyboard like a maniac was awesome. I think this is the first time I saw Yuki looking enthusiastic about anything. I do wonder why she seems to be obedient of Kyon's order and request. Is this because she likes him or is there something more to it? This is rather hard to guess because Yuki is expressionless. There are times, however, when I think she seeks validation from him. It feels as if she regards him as her creator or something. It's the same with Itsuki, who seems to follow Kyon's words even though he's just a normal human being.

This is really strange because Haruhi has the tendency to become angry when she loses. Logically, it doesn't make sense for Yuki and Itsuki to follow the whim of a normal human when that said human said that he doesn't want to cheat. Anyway, did anyone notice how each crew members of a particular feet is more or less similar to the fleet's leader? Mikuru gets a bunch of scaredy cats with strange marks on their foreheads ("Niku", "Naka", etc) while Yuki gets a bunch of her clones to control the ship. Itsuki's ship is populated by a bunch of scary-looking android/yes-man, while Haruhi's ship looks like the Cantina Bar and is populated by several Alien races. The only person whose crew member is not revealed is Kyon. I wonder if this is because then we'll see a bunch of Angels working underneath him? Maybe he really is the God in this story after all. Unfortunately, unless there is a second season, I don't think the anime will address this issue.

Preview

Next week's episode: Live, Alive, aka Haruhi's 12 and Kyon's 12. So where does this leave Asahina Mikuru no Bouken in Haruhi's timeline? Episode 11?

© memento 2003