The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 8 Discussion / Poll [2009 added ep. 1]

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf

Haruhi is a Q.

What a coincidence, I was just mentioning that theory to someone. Specifically though she's that Q from the episode "True Q" that doesn't know she's one crossed with the regular immature nature of John De Lancie's Q.

[Jintor]

Huh. I'll check out AFK to see if they have any cool turns of phrase (I heard one of the groups changed Kyon's "Where's the time machine?" to "Where's the Deloreon?", which is something I personally liked the sound of)

[chinaboat]

The Coalgirls script doesn't translate the title of Yuki's book but AFK says it's "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein is that accurate? I'm kinda surprised it wasn't one of Asimov's robot books.

A wonderful storyboard sequence (for want of a better description) was when the piano intro from S01E01 (or 2) kicked in and Kyon's narration started followed by his knocking on the meeting room door and opening it. And as the now familiar trumpet starts we are reunited with Yuki, Mikuru and Itsuki. The feeling I got was identical to settling down into my favorite chair in my most comfortable clothes, closing my eyes and emitting a warm sigh of contentment.

I loved the music throughout the entire episode especially the melancholy piano in the meeting room before Haruhi left that segued into the hot latin violin for Kyon and Mikuru's scene. Although the ED was above average for an anime, I didn't think it was anything special but, then, I have to agree with others who said that nothing will probably ever come close to listening to HHY pick up steam towards "asobou" and then watch five animated characters swing into one of the greatest anime dance sequences of all time. - ah, well <sigh>

I'm not too crazy about the character designs, particularly Yuki, she seems, I dunno, too robust. But Haruhi and company are back and if this episode is any indicator, it's gonna be a great time.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by chinaboat

The Coalgirls script doesn't translate the title of Yuki's book but AFK says it's "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein is that accurate? I'm kinda surprised it wasn't one of Asimov's robot books.

Yuki isn't thinking about being a robot at the moment...

[Pachael]

Originally Posted by Dop

Whoa. a.f.k. have released a sub. Thought they'd 'retired' after four episodes of Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Good to see them back with the best of the subs I've seen for this episode.

(I always like it when people sub the credits as well.)

Came back from despair, did afk? ;p Glad to see them back.

[Archaic]

I wouldn't be surprised if the reason a.f.k.'s subs are only in the relatively low resolution are due to him wanting to encourage people to go out there and buy the DVD's once they come out. There's been speculation for quite a while now that Strato had gone pro, and the fact the official translations of the Haruhi novels are practically exact copies of his translations have only lent credence to that. If Kadokawa puts up subs on Youtube of these new Haruhi episodes, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were identical to this a.f.k. release. Doesn't make much sense for him to be putting out HD releases if he's now getting paid for the official translations, and has a stake in how well the DVD sales do.

[khryoleoz]

Responding to Kyon's question about the continuity paradox that he found himself in, Nagato says, "Axiomatic theory cannot prove the antinomies within itself without antinomies."

Kyon somewhat objects to the sufficiency of that explanation, to which Nagato responds, "You will understand eventually".

Even back when I re-read volume 3 after first reading Disappearance, I took this to be an ominous sign of the impending Disappearance events. But if that were so, would Nagato as of Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody's timeline have already known what would happen shortly after in Disappearance, or is Nagato referring to something else about which Kyon will understand eventually?

[Ithekro]

I'd think Endless Eight myself...but that depends on just how much data Nagato got from the future.

[Samatarou]

Originally Posted by Archaic

There's been speculation for quite a while now that Strato had gone pro, and the fact the official translations of the Haruhi novels are practically exact copies of his translations have only lent credence to that. If Kadokawa puts up subs on Youtube of these new Haruhi episodes, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were identical to this a.f.k. release.

I speculated a while ago that afk might actually work for Kadokawa, since they seemed to specialise in Kadokawa anime (Karin, Haruhi, Lucky Star; also Strato is credited with script editing the Tokikake fansub, another Kadokawa property), and the translations have tended to be fairly terse and localised in the manner of commercial subs, something which put me off them when they did Lucky Star. I did like their Karin and Haruhi subs, apart from the contrived translation of "SOS Dan" which rather bugged me, it wasn't even the most accurate wording that could be contrived to fit the initials "SOS".

I can't recall who first came up with "Data Overmind" but that too bugs me since the original Japanese refers to information not data, and anyone who is familiar with information theory knows that information and data are not the same thing at all. My reading of Yuki's explanation in the first novel is that the aliens are made of information; the universe they manipulate is made of data. I don't think Tanigawa's choice of words is accidental, I think he coined terms that are somewhat awkward (for instance "thought body" instead of "mind") to convey the feeling that these concepts are supposed to be alien to us, so there's no good reason to convert them into pat phrases in the English.

[Kogetsu Shirogane]

Originally Posted by Samatarou

I can't recall who first came up with "Data Overmind" but that too bugs me since the original Japanese refers to information not data, and anyone who is familiar with information theory knows that information and data are not the same thing at all.

... Is there any translation of the name that lacks "Data"? I only know of Data Overmind, Integrated Data Sentient Entity, and Data Integration Thought Entity.

[ssangchu]

So...did I get a little bit too excited when

Spoiler for kyon:

I noticed a person(?) in the park which seems to be Kyon from the future next to a tree looking at his past self talking to Adult Mikuru (I think it was around 09:44)?
Edit: I couldn't get a clear screenshot and I tried to put a red dot but yeah your right...I think I'm making things up...could be a trash can or something... it's really small anyways so...carry on?...LOL

Or has the three years wait have finally shown its signs on my brain? XD

[SidVicious]

Originally Posted by ssangchu

So...did I get a little bit too excited when

Spoiler for kyon:

I noticed a person in the park which seems to be Kyon from the future next to a tree looking at his past self talking to Adult Mikuru (I think it was around 09:44)?

Or has the three years wait have finally shown its signs on my brain? XD

Do you have a screenshot?

[Friday]

Originally Posted by ssangchu

So...did I get a little bit too excited when

Spoiler for kyon:

I noticed a person in the park which seems to be Kyon from the future next to a tree looking at his past self talking to Adult Mikuru (I think it was around 09:44)?

Or has the three years wait have finally shown its signs on my brain? XD

you must have been seeing things.........

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by ssangchu

So...did I get a little bit too excited when

Spoiler for kyon:

I noticed a person(?) in the park which seems to be Kyon from the future next to a tree looking at his past self talking to Adult Mikuru (I think it was around 09:44)?
Edit: I couldn't get a clear screenshot and I tried to put a red dot but yeah your right...I think I'm making things up...could be a trash can or something... it's really small anyways so...carry on?...LOL

Or has the three years wait have finally shown its signs on my brain? XD

Son...of...a...bitch...

Spoiler for Volume 4:

Next time use a higher-res source. That's Kyon. White shirt, black pants, human body shape (evident if you blow up the original). Son of a bitch, KyoAni, you are gods...

That's it. No more complaints about the animation. None.

[onmyouji]

Some blunder from KyoAni. *sigh* Guess they're still human after all.

Spoiler for screenshot:

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

I disagree. Mikuru is undoubtedly on the bottom rung of her organization, but neither of the other two are.

Itsuki's "Agency" doesn't seem to have any particular heirarchy, as the only character showing any authority in any of the novels is Mori, however Itsuki is able to "whistle up" pretty much anything he needs on short notice. Even so, I would definitely suggest, given what interactions we have seen, that Itsuki (as an esper) "outranks" Arakawa (as an apparently normal human) and is at worst on equal footing with the Tamaru brothers.

Yuki definitely outranked Ryoko. I think the fact that she and Kyon are still sucking air—while Ryoko isn't—is proof enough of that. If she does have an earthbound superior, it's Kimidori, but that's questionable.

I thought it was pretty clear that Nagato joined the Literature club specifically in preparation for Haruhi needing a club room. Unlike the other factions the Data Entity specifically prepared contacts to be close to Haruhi. The other factions only changed their minds after the Data Entity got their agent close to Haruhi, when they decided they each needed their own agent in close.

Nagato was the intended contact with Haruhi, with Ryoko and Emiri representing the interests of the other factions with in the Data Entity.

Mikuru was not the intended contact? Hah! Time Travelers remember? Of course she was the intended contact, but Mikuru didn't know she was the intended contact because Big Mikuru knows she didn't know when she was first put into position (yeah, time travel Haruhi style is confusing). However, it is pretty clear that Mikuru little is on the lowest rung and not told much about what is going on.

Itsuki comes right out and says he is lower down in the Agency hierarchy (though probably not as low as Mikiru), he also claims that his joining Haruhi's club was not planned- but Itsuki might be lying.

Spoiler for Tsuruya:

Also, I thought Tsuruya's family was big in the Agency... even if Tsuruya doesn't know herself.

[Kogetsu Shirogane]

Originally Posted by Sackett

I thought it was pretty clear that Nagato joined the Literature club specifically in preparation for Haruhi needing a club room. Unlike the other factions the Data Entity specifically prepared contacts to be close to Haruhi. The other factions only changed their minds after the Data Entity got their agent close to Haruhi, when they decided they each needed their own agent in close.

True, but...

Spoiler for Disappearance:

She did that because Kyon asked her to on his second visit.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Sackett

Itsuki comes right out and says he is lower down in the Agency hierarchy (though probably not as low as Mikiru), he also claims that his joining Haruhi's club was not planned- but Itsuki might be lying.

I've found that it is a good rule of thumb to automatically assume that Itsuki is always either lying outright or using just enough truth to mislead. Except when he's expositing or espousing one of this many theories. The former can usually be trusted, but the latter is complete BS.

On a seperate note, I'm surprised no one has brought up the sentai color-scheme tanzaku (wish cards) from early in the episode:

Yuki -- Lavender
Itsuki -- Green
Mikuru -- Gold
Kyon -- Blue
Haruhi -- Red (of course)

[Kogetsu Shirogane]

Originally Posted by quigonkenny

On a seperate note, I'm surprised no one has brought up the sentai color-scheme tanzaku (wish cards) from early in the episode:

Yuki -- Lavender
Itsuki -- Green
Mikuru -- Gold
Kyon -- Blue
Haruhi -- Red (of course)

I highly doubt that was the intention. Unless you're implying that both Nagato and Mikuru are Sixth Rangers.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Kogetsu Shirogane

I highly doubt that was the intention. Unless you're implying that both Nagato and Mikuru are Sixth Rangers.

I meant only that the coloring scheme is sentai-ish. Specifically concerning Haruhi's being red. Besides, with the ambient lighting throughout the episode, it could be argued that Yuki's and Mikuru's could be pink and yellow, respectively.