Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu ep.3

April 18, 2006 | 19 Comments

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.

The episode begins with Kyon arriving at school only to be greeted by Haruhi asking him if he knows what they need next. She then proceeds to answer her own question by telling him that they need a mysterious transfer student. Kyon doesn't understand what Haruhi meant by this so he asks her to put it in a context. Haruhi explains that the transfer student in question is needed for SOS-Dan. Upon hearing this Kyon wonders how she define 'mysterious' to begin with. According to Haruhi this is the kind of student who transfer to a new school after the new school year has started and two month has not passed away. Kyon thinks that means the student's father has sudden job transfer but Haruhi says that's not it. She thinks that is unnatural. Kyon is exasperated to hear this and wants to know what Haruhi considers 'natural' but instead she just laments the fact that the transfer student is not coming. Kyon realises that Haruhi doesn't really care for his opinion.

Despite this, the rumour that Haruhi and Kyon are planning something quickly spread throughout the class. To make things worse, Kyon's friend, Taniguchi starts to think that the two are dating. Kyon angrily tells his friend that's not it because he himself wants to know what he is doing with Haruhi. Upon hearing this Taniguchi tells Kyon not to overdo this since they're not in junior high anymore. Kyon thinks that at least he has to ensure that neither Nagato Yuki or Asahina is hurt from Haruhi's antics. At the next SOS-Dan meeting, Haruhi tells the group that they need computer and decides to drag Kyon and Mikuru to the Computer society's club. After finding out the identity of the club's President, Haruhi demands one computer from him. The President, of course, refuses her demand but Haruhi argues that there are many in the room. After being refused again, Haruhi brings Mikuru closer to the club's President and tells the guy there is something that he should consider.

Haruhi then takes the guy's hand and presses it against Mikuru's breast. In the midst of shock and confusion, Haruhi takes a polaroid shot of the compromising position and then high-kicks the President so that he will fall on top of Mikuru before taking more compromising shots of the two. She then tells the guy that unless he wants the picture to be revealed, he needs to give them one computer. The President tries to point out that Haruhi can't get away with it because he has witness, pointing out his group members. However, when the group tries to defend their President, Haruhi threatens to spread the rumour that the entire group has *bleep* Mikuru. Of course everyone is horrified to hear this, especially the President. In the end, the poor President bows down and relents to Haruhi's demand and give her one computer. Haruhi, however, is not satisfied with having just any computer so she asks the group which one is the newest model.

The group tries to fool her by pointing at a seemingly old computer. Unfortunately for them, Haruhi already went to a computer shop to see list of new models yesterday. As a result, she knows what she wants and proceeds to take one that has just been purchased a month ago. Moreover, when she finds out that they can't connect to the internet, she asks the other group to set up a LAN cable connection between SOS-Dan's room and the computer society's room. While this happens, Kyon tries to cheer up Mikuru and tells her that she shouldn't get involved with the club. But Mikuru tells him that it's okay because Kyon is around. Kyon is confused to hear this and even more so when Mikuru tells him that it seems that in this time plane, 'this' is inevitable. Mikuru is also worried about the fact that Yuki is also in this club. Kyon tries to ask about it but Mikuru quickly changes the subject and tells Kyon to call her 'Mikuru' (instead of 'Asahina-san') from now on.

The next day, Kyon watches Haruhi as she writes a message saying that SOS-Dan website is coming soon. Upon seeing this Kyon wonders who will build the site and Haruhi, of course, ends up choosing him to do it. Much to Kyon's surprise, however, he rather enjoys the experience (it looks like he's using Dreamweaver). The problem is, when it comes down to entering content, he has no idea what SOS-Dan actually does. Because of this he decides to ask Yuki if she has something she wants to write on the site. Yuki, however, plainly says that there's nothing she wants to write. Kyon ends up sleeping in front of the computer during lunchtime and when he wakes up, Yuki approaches him and gives him the book she's been reading, Hyperion, claiming that she's lending it to him. The next day, Kyon is surprised to know that Haruhi is not in the club after class. He immediately assumes that she's probably trying to seize another equipment somewhere.

Mikuru is horrified to hear this and tells Kyon that she doesn't want the incident from yesterday to happen again. Kyon assures her that this time around he will try his best to prevent it from happening. Mikuru is happy to hear this and thank Kyon for the thought. However, the thought remains only as a thought because the minute Haruhi arrives in the room and locks the door, both Kyon and Mikuru start to worry. Haruhi reveals that she has something for herself and Mikuru: Bunny Girl outfits. She then proceeds to strip Mikuru and forces the other girl to wear the outfit. Kyon is angry to see this and as he promised, he tries to stop Haruhi from forcing Mikuru but Mikuru is too embarassed about this and asks Kyon not to see her. Because of this Kyon has no choice but to run out of the room as soon as possible. Once the girls finished dressing up in the suit, Haruhi drags Mikuru out to help her passing out the fliers to unsuspecting students.

Kyon can only watch in regret as he realises that he fails to live up to his word to protect Mikuru from Haruhi's clutches. This is partly because he enjoys seeing her in that costume. To make things worse, Yuki asks him to clean up the room's mess which is now littered with the girls' shirts, bras and underwears. Among the clothes, however, he finds the flyer, which is actually "SOS-Dan's Declaration of Belief". The content basically says that: "My SOS-Brigade is looking for the mysteries of the world. If there is a person who has experienced a mysterious past, or currently experiencing wonderful phenomenon, or those who are going to experience it soon, please contact us immediately. We will help you with a solution. However, we're not interested in normal mysteries. Unless we are surprised, you can't join the club. Consider yourself warned". Upon reading this Kyon realises that he slowly understands the purpose of this club. At the same time, Haruhi gets arrested by the teachers for indecent exposure.

Haruhi is not happy with the interference and decides to call it a day. Kyon realises that Haruhi is about to strip again and therefore immediately flees for his life. After this, Mikuru leaves the club looking sad and asks Kyon if he'll take her if her status as a potential bride is ruined. Kyon is of course weirded out by this and he also realises that she too has now call him using that nickname. The next day Kyon is being teased by his friends for associating himself with Suzumiya Haruhi and her extraordinary friends. Asakura Ryouko also wants to know what is this SOS-Dan that Haruhi was talking about. Kyon, however, tells her to ask Haruhi directly since he doesn't know either. That day, Mikuru doesn't come to school, causing Haruhi to complain that it's boring day. Because of this, she decides to call it a day. Before Kyon can go home as well, however, Yuki asks him to read the book she gave him today. That night, Kyon is seen going somewhere with his bike.

It turns out that when he was trying to read the book Yuki gave him, he ended up finding a note telling him to meet her at 7pm in the park in front of the train station. Kyon finds out from Yuki that she was waiting for him too yesterday. Before he can find out why she did this, Yuki asks him to follow her to her apartment. The apartment turns out to be empty and Yuki is the only person living there. She also ends up pouring tea for Kyon 3 times before getting to her point, causing poor Kyon to look as if he's about to throw it all up. She then tells Kyon that she and Suzumiya Haruhi are not normal human. Kyon at first thought that Yuki meant that Haruhi is not 'normal' but Yuki tells her that this is not what she meant. In Yuki's case, she's a humanoid interface created by Integrated-Data Sentient Entity for the purpose of making contact with organic life. In short, she's an Alien. Kyon can't help but looking surprised and in disbelief upon hearing her words.

Impression:

There are many mysteries included in this episode and I find them to be really interesting. To begin with, the book that Yuki gave to Kyon, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, actually contains an interesting story that has a lot of similarity to the story of the characters in this show. However, since we're not at the point where the revelations start to come thick and fast, I'll try to refrain from discussing it in depth manner at the moment. Having said that, I think Yuki gave the book to Kyon not only because she slips a message in it but also probably to let him know of the similarity of the situation that they are in. At this point in time, Yuki reveals that she's actually a humanoid interface which was created by Information Unification Thought Object to observe organic lifeform (humans). With this revelation, the series has crosses over from the slice of life school comedy to a science fiction realm.

Yuki is not the only person who reveals her mysterious background because Mikuru has also starts to give away hints of her real intention of joining SOS-Dan. To begin with, she told Kyon that she's worried of the fact that Yuki is in this club. She also seems to be awfully familiar with Kyon judging from the way she uses 'Kyon-kun' so easily. Come to think of it, it looks like no one in this series ever call Kyon by his real name. If Haruhi is looking for mystery, the most interesting one is actually right in front of her eyes. Anyway, back to Mikuru, I really feel sorry for her in this episode. It was quite an abuse to take and it's no wonder she ends up crying most of the time. That brings my point to Suzumiya Haruhi herself, who comes a cross as a rather scary individual in this episode. The way she bullies the computer society club is quite something. Admittedly, she gets things done and that's a quality that a leader needs but it's scary to see what she's capable of.

I also wonder if Haruhi is actually aware that at least one of her SOS-Dan members is actually a real alien that she's always wanted. If she doesn't then I wonder why she's willing to put up with Kyon, Mikuru, and Yuki if she thinks that they're nothing but normal human beings. I suppose they serve her needs from time to time but so does every individual that she has encountered thus far. The computer society members are good example of this. Either way, this episode shows that Haruhi is working towards obtaining a member that she really wants. And judging from the preview, she may get that mysterious transfer student she claims she wants in this episode. Anyway, overall I'm quite happy with this episode. The animation took a slight downturn in quality but there's nothing that looks particularly bad in this episode. I did notice, however, that background music is quite prominent this time around and in general, the quality is as good as the animation.

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