The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya (Novels 10/11) Spoiler Discussion
Everything's translated! NO SPOILER BARS!
Continuing the story started in
The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya,
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya has been one of the most anticipated light novels in recent Japanese history. Originally scheduled for a June 1st, 2007 release,
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya was delayed in May 2007 with an indefinite release date. From that time period until Fall 2009, no new information was released concerning the novel until
The Sneaker mentioned that Nagaru Tanigawa, the author of the
Haruhi Suzumiya series, was working on the story. A short preview of the story was released in the June 2010 edition of
The Sneaker with a promise that the story would be released "by the end of the year 2010." In the February 2011 edition of
The Sneaker, it was confirmed that the story had evolved into a two novel simultaneous release on May 25th, 2011.
The Limited Edition First Pressing contains both novels as well as a 64 page booklet that contains a short story by Nagaru Tanigawa entitled
Rainy Day that takes place when Kyon was in middle school. It is the version released on May 25th. On June 15th, the common editions will be released with the same text and a slightly altered cover.
The only new information about the story has been the two summaries released by Kadokawa for the novels' common edition release on June 15th, 2011:
Novel 10:
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya (First Part):
Nagato is sick?! With the cause being the girl from the alternative alien faction and the SOS Brigade taking a pause it seems like I can acknowledge those guys as an enemy. Yare yare, it might be a misunderstanding. But shouldn't I be mad at myself for my own irresponsible actions?!
Novel 11:
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya (Latter Part):
There's been a freshman who has broken through the SOS Brigade enrollment examinations Haruhi put out. It's so nice to be able to push all the busy work to someone else now. But something's bothering me: why haven't I heard from Sasaki since that meeting?
So to review for those who might have forgotten, here's the story thus far thanks to the final (April 2011) edition of
The Sneaker:
The world is divided by a phone call in one book.
Before Surprise goes on sale, let's have a 10 minute review of what's happened so far! Firstly, Kyon and everyone else is promoted a grade. This peaceful (if you can call it that) world is then divided into α and β by what?
On the first Saturday of the new school year, the SOS Brigade sets out on a wonderful expedition. After returning home, Kyon is in the bath when the phone rings....
Spoiler for α world:
(α-1) - The person on the other line is a mysterious girl. Not only does she call Kyon "senpai", but she completely knows his true character.
(α-2) - Koizumi then calls. He discusses the aims and goals of Tachibana Kyouko as well as Sudo Kuyoh and Fujiwara. Kyon listens to his opinion on how they are connected to him.
(α-3) - After putting Shamisen in his room, Kyon goes to sleep.
(α-4) - On Sunday, nothing in particular happens. Kyon reads a book, plays a game, and generally wastes the day away.
(α-5) - Monday, Kyon lightly walks to school. He heads to the literary clubroom and eats lunch while Nagato talks about Sudou Kuyoh. After school, he lazily watches his classmates clean the room while Haruhi talks about the quiz she's preparing for the new students. Afterwards, they head to the clubroom where about 10 people have gathered.
(α-6) - Haruhi begins the SOS Brigade enrollment test. While the majority of the first year students are in a dumbfounded state, an impressive female student looks at Kyon.
Spoiler for β world:
(β-1) - The person on the other line is Sasaki. She asks Kyon to rendevous with Tachibana Kyouko, Fujiwara, Sudou Kuyoh and herself the next day.
(β-2) - Koizumi calls. He talks about the differences between Tachibana Kyouko and the "organization". Following that, Nagato calls and talks about Sudoh Kuyoh.
(β-3) - After helping his sister with his homework, Kyon prepares for the next day and goes to sleep.
(β-4) - Begining Sunday morning, Kyon meets Sasaki and the three strange people in the cafe by the station. There, Tachibana Kyouko takes Kyon to penetrate Sasaki's closed space. Suddenly, the waitress Kimidori Emiri and Sudoh Kuyoh come in contact.
(β-5) - Monday comes. Kyon, still tired from the previous day, dozes off in class. He dreams of a conversation he had with Sasaki in middle school. When lunchtime comes, he eats with Taniguchi and Kunikida when the topic of Sasaki comes up. Since Haruhi said she had things to do earlier, Kyon arrives at the clubroom first. Nagato is strangely absent.
(β-6) - Mikuru comes to the clubroom. Strangely, she can speak of things that were once "classified information." When Haruhi and Koizumi arrive, they realize Nagato is missing. Haruhi calls Nagato and finds out that, for the first time, Nagato is absent due to a fever.
Various Animate and Gamers stores will be selling the novels at midnight on the 25th (11:00 EST, 08:00 PST, 15:00 UTC May 24th) and there are already notices on 2ch that Amazon Japan is beginning to ship the Limited Edition version and thus spoilers will be coming soon. The preview from the June 2010 edition of
The Sneaker has been translated by cnet128 and can be found
here or
here.
Finally, as the series has been licensed by
Little, Brown Inc for English-speaking audiences
there can be no discussion on where to find an illegal copy.