Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu ep.7

May 14, 2006 | 28 Comments

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.

The episode begins with Kyon saying how Haruhi has made a recovery from her melancholy status prior to the end-of-term exam, referring to the Tanabata event that happened prior to this story. On the other hand, he's the one who now feels the depression due to exam time. He also grumbles about the fact that Haruhi manages to finish her own exam paper 30 minutes earlier and use the remaining time to sleep inside the class. After the credit, Kyon continues complaining and this time about the fact that there's no break from SOS-Dan even during exam period. Inside the club room, Kyon is summoned by Haruhi to take a look at her latest creation: SOS-Dan Emblem. Kyon tells her that he thinks it looks more like a drunken tapeworm. In retaliation, Haruhi tells Kyon to look closer and points out that the word SOS-Dan is written right in the middle of it. Haruhi then tells Kyon that she was thinking of putting the logo on the top of SOS-Dan top page.

When Kyon quietly complains that the site only has a top page, Haruhi for some reason able to read his thought and retaliate by telling him that the reason the site doesn't have many visitors because his design is boring. She blames it all on him because he stopped her trying to enliven the site with erotic images of Mikuru. Because of this Haruhi got the idea of putting SOS-Dan on the site instead. Kyon, on the other hand, thinks that the homepage should just get deleted since the access counter has only reached triple figures and 90% of that figure actually came from Haruhi's own visit. Kyon suggests that Haruhi should just write a journal since it's the chief's job to write a task schedule. Haruhi, however, tells him that's it's too troublesome for her. Moreover, she claims that if she does everything then the group members will have nothing to do. In the end, Kyon has no choice but to resize the image and upload it into the website.

The next day, Kyon is pissed off because even though he gets a holiday, this is the kind of holiday that teachers use to mark his exam. In order to cheer himself up, Kyon decides to go to the club-room in the hope of seeing Mikuru. Much to his disappointment, the only two people inside the room are Haruhi and Yuki. But Kyon thinks that Yuki is like a room accessory anyway so maybe Haruhi shouldn't even include her in the count. Haruhi is offended when Kyon says outloud that there are only her and Yuki inside the room. She asks Kyon if he has any complaint about it. Kyon quietly grumbles how if he were to present his list of complaints about Haruhi it'll take at least both sides of A4 paper. At the same, Haruhi is equally annoyed by Kyon because she thought he was a customer. When Kyon wonders what kind of customers Haruhi is talking about, she reminds him that he made poster to encourage students to come to SOS-Dan if they have problem.

As it turns out, however, Kyon only did this so that the student council will allow SOS-Dan to exist in the first place. Haruhi is also unhappy with the fact that their website looks distorted for some reason and no matter how many times Kyon refresh and reupload the file, it stays the same. Haruhi immediately assumes that the site has been hacked by someone who intends on committing cyber-terrorism on SOS-Dan. Their conversation, however, is interrupted by the arrival of Itsuki, who's surprised to know that Mikuru has not arrived yet. Because of this, Haruhi informs him that 2nd year has extra exams to take. After putting aside his bag, Itsuki tries to invite Kyon to a fun-filled Star Diamond game. Unfortunately for Itsuki, Kyon has to fix the website so he shakes his head in reply. The rest of that day ends up with Kyon being ordered around by Haruhi but the light at the end of the tunnel arrives when Mikuru, who Kyon refers to as his "Angel" makes her appearance.

Mikuru also brings with her their first customer, second year student Kimidori Emiri. She basically has come to ask for their help in finding her boyfriend. The guy apparently didn't come to school in the last few days and hasn't been answering his mobile or home phone calls. Haruhi then asks Emiri about the guy's parents but it appears the guy lives on his own. Emiri actually heard that his parents went overseas but she doesn't know how to contact them. Upon hearing this, Haruhi wonders if the country is Canada but Emiri tells her that it's actually Honduras. Emiri then mentions the name of the guy but no one seems to know him until she points out that he's the President of the computer society club. Kyon immediately got a flashback in the form of sleazy tabloid that shows how that said President got blackmailed by Haruhi. Haruhi tells Emiri that she understands and promises to find the guy for free since Emiri is their first customer.

Kyon, however, can't believe that Haruhi promises the girl that they will find the guy. Haruhi, however, seems to think that the guy is probably just suffering from freshman blues and all that they have to do is to smack him around and drag him here. Right. Kyon, however, wonders why the president will lock himself up in a room if he has a girlfriend like Emiri. On the other hand, Haruhi thinks that this is an opportunity to get bigger cases. And much to Mikuru's distress, Haruhi also think maybe it's time for them to hand out flyers again. In the end, the group ends up visiting the guy's apartment but upon getting there, they find that the door is locked from inside. Haruhi has the idea of climbing from the veranda but Kyon immediately rejects the idea since the apartment is on the 3rd floor and they are not a group of thieves. Haruhi then actually comes up with a logical solution: to get the key from the manager by claiming that they are a bunch of concerned classmates.

Before she manages to do this, however, Yuki already opens the door with her power so everyone decides to enter the room. Unfortunately, they can't find the guy inside the apartment. But Yuki suddenly tells Kyon that they better get out of there. Itsuki agrees with Yuki's assessment, claiming that he senses a strange vibe from the room. Thankfully for them, Haruhi is too busy raiding the guy's fridge and forcing Mikuru to eat a 3 day old Warabimochi, so they can continue their conversation without her knowledge. Itsuki points out that this place is close to something that resembles sealed dimension. Because of this, Kyon, Mikuru, Itsuki, and Yuki agree to meet again after Haruhi giving up the search. Once they're inside, Itsuki asks Yuki if the President's disappearance has to do with this abnormal dimension. Yuki confirms this and by using her incantation, she transports them to that dimension: the middle of a barren desert.

Mikuru immediately becomes frightened and latches herself onto Kyon, probably thinking that Itsuki and Yuki are up to no good. Yuki, however, tells them that she has analysed the entry code and she believes this place overlaps with the real world. Itsuki thinks that this is not a sealed dimension but Yuki believes it's something similar. It's just that the data that Haruhi created has been mixed with this dimension data. Kyon, however, simply wants to know if the President of computer society is in this place and Yuki nods and about to point her finger at a place but Kyon stops her and asks her if she can tell them first before she do anything else next time. Yuki, however, tells Kyon that something has come out and true enough, a large sphere suddenly appears in front of them. Itsuki can sense some hostility from it, inducing panic in Kyon since neither he nor Mikuru can defend themselves. Nevertheless, Kyon asks Mikuru if she happens to have a Ray Gun.

Unfortunately for Kyon, Mikuru tells him that carrying an arm is strictly prohibited because it's dangerous. Kyon laments the truth in Mikuru's words. Besides, he believes she'll likely forget the weapon on the train anyway. All of a sudden in front of them materialises a giant cave cricket. Yuki explains that the creature is the creator of this dimension, leading Kyon to wonder if it's created by Haruhi. Yuki tells him that while she is the originator the cause is something else entirely. Itsuki tells the other that his power appears to be effective here. Although its strength is only 1/10 of his original power, Itsuki thinks this will be enough to overcome the creature. Yuki then explains that the creature is actually a sub-species of data lifeform. It is currently using the brain tissue of the President of computer society to heighten its probability for existence. Upon hearing this, Itsuki correctly guesses that the President is inside the creature.

Itsuki also thinks that the President has imagined himself as this creature, which is the object of his fear. And therefore, if they defeat this creature, they should be able to go demolish this dimension. Kyon, on the other hand, has other things occupying his mind because in her fear Mikuru ends up latching to his lower body. Itsuki assures the two that this won't take long. Because of this he and Yuki proceed to use their power to battle the creature. Itsuki begins by screaming "Fumoffu", a reference to a Full Metal Panic series. Yuki then manages to stop the creature in mid air using her power before dropping it to the ground. Meanwhile, Kyon and Mikuru are forced to run around avoiding the creature since they have no power to defend themselves. The creature is eventually defeated by Itsuki who sends his second attack, "Second Raid". The creature then dissolves into dusts and reveals the President of the computer society in its place.

Once everyone returns to the President's room, Yuki switches on the computer and explains how around 280 million years ago, a data entity reached Earth but because it had no means to exist, it stayed dormant. However, thanks to the information network and Haruhi's emblem, the entity was reawakened. The emblem basically contains 436 Petabyte of datas. Because of this, Yuki fixes the emblem by reversing it. The next day, Kyon is surprised to find that the visitor counter has gone up to 29819 visitors. Yuki explains that is because the data entity stretched the hyperlink here and there. Kyon, however, finds out that the president of computer society doesn't actually have a girlfriend. Because of this he suspects that Yuki was the one who influenced Kimidori to bring this case to them. After all, Yuki could have done all of the things she did on her own but she took them with her anyway. Kyon believes that maybe Yuki actually feels lonely at times.

Impression:

I have some favourite scenes here. The first one is Itsuki trying to tempt Kyon with a fun-filled (not!) boxed game but is disappointed when Kyon refuses him because the later is forced to work on the club's website by Haruhi. You would think that someone like Itsuki actually has more fun things to do than playing Star Diamond or Monopoly but I guess that's not the case here. I also love the way Kyon's VA, Sugita Tomokazu, saying "Angel" when Mikuru enters the room. It sounds so idiotic and funny at the same time. He was also awesome when he imitates Haruhi only with a sarcastic tone in his voice. The other good thing about this episode is Yuki and Itsuki battle combo. It was awesome to see Itsuki using his power here because he's animated in such a fluid manner. It was also rather humorous of Kyoto Animation to include "Fumoffu" and "Second Raid" in Itsuki's battle chant. Yuki was equally awesome when she stops the cricket mid air before slamming it down to the ground. It was also nice of Kyon to finally consider her emotion here.

The only deficiency in this episode is the CG creature. The problem with the CG is that it doesn't mesh with the 2D animation that well. And while I'm not an insectologist, I think the creature looks more like a roach than a cricket despite what the characters claim. And as sacrilegious as it sounds, I really enjoy this episode despite Haruhi's minimal presence. I think by not including Haruhi, the episode succeeded in giving Yuki and Itsuki some focus. It's unfortunate the same thing can't be said about Mikuru though. I was rather amused, however, when she told Kyon that she's not allowed to carry a gun because it's dangerous. Judging from this reaction, I'm probably not too far off if I assume that the people where Mikuru came from no longer rely on confrontation to solve conflict. That could explains why Mikuru is afraid of everything and is not equipped with the latest gadget from the future. This also makes the scene where she was forced to handle AK-47 in episode 1 a lot funnier since she went from non gun-handler to hardcore.

Preview:

Next week's episode is a return to the Lone Island Syndrome. Will Kyon have to face killer lolis on the Island?

© memento 2003