The Genderbending of Haruhi Suzumiya [Spoilers Aplenty]

[Kinny Riddle]

Originally Posted by Skane

You guys do realise that the "epic" space battle is an anime-original right? Is this project based on the anime or the novels? While I am a big fan of the anime, I am approaching this project based on the novels.

Cheers.

I remember it was me who translated that chapter on Baka-Tsuki. And last I remembered, space battle simulation RTS was the main plot device here.

[Skane]

Hmm... then I guess I interpreted it differently from you guys, because when I read that chapter, I am imagining them in the SOS-dan room, not in the imaginary game-world (aside from the opening scene, which was very blatant about it). Rain of lasers after all, can be shown on the game screen.

Cheers.

[DJ_RockmanX]

Originally Posted by Skane

Hmm... then I guess I interpreted it differently from you guys, because when I read that chapter, I am imagining them in the SOS-dan room, not in the imaginary game-world (aside from the opening scene, which was very blatant about it). Rain of lasers after all, can be shown on the game screen.

Cheers.

The 8-bit graphics that KyoAni used on the computer screen give me a fairly weak impression of a "rain of lasers".

[Wind Tempest]

Of all of the art of Kyonko, I like the ones with the non-moe face. They fit the Kyon atmosphere much easier and shout "I am not a princess you retard."

Also, would it right to say that like Haruhi, Haruki will be gender-neutral seeing both of them as equal? As such, they way Haruki treats Kyonko the same way Haruki treats other men(minus the package grabbing).

[Raijinken]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Yes, but he doesn't loudly rhapsodise about his fantasies in front of other people.

Be careful or I will somehow get Minoru Shiraishi to come to your house and serenade you with WAWAWA.

Oh silly Kaisos, you should know better then to threaten me by now. Still, it's a tad gratifying to know that I'm not ENTIRELY alone in the world. Yuki and her male counterpart own us all... whenever Haruhi's not paying atention of course. Can't trump god after all.

Oh, speaking of... Canon is great and all, but Haruki is going to be different as a guy, opening different oppritunitys, possibly, with his subliminal desires.

...Will we end up creating our OWN chapters, scenes, events? CAN we?

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Raijinken

Oh silly Kaisos, you should know better then to threaten me by now. Still, it's a tad gratifying to know that I'm not ENTIRELY alone in the world. Yuki and her male counterpart own us all... whenever Haruhi's not paying atention of course. Can't trump god after all.

Oh, speaking of... Canon is great and all, but Haruki is going to be different as a guy, opening different oppritunitys, possibly, with his subliminal desires.

...Will we end up creating our OWN chapters, scenes, events? CAN we?

In the case of a lot of the later events, we'll have to.


Attention, everybody! I have finished the first part of Chapter One, up to the end of Haruki's introduction.

Spoiler for size:

And so, I entered the senior high school in my area.

At that point, I’d already begun to regret this decision. My new school sat on top of a very high hill, and, even in the spring weather, students would become hot and sweaty just from climbing the steep road. Looks like my intent to walk to school in a leisurely fashion wasn’t going to work. Every time that I that this thought rose to my head, along with the fact that I would have to walk up this hill every day for the next three years, I became tired and depressed, which is why I overslept a bit today. I was beating myself over the head for not studying harder in middle school. Had I done so, I might have gotten into a better school not at the top of Mount Everest. (I suppose this is why people in fiction invent time machines.) All of this was just too depressing.

That was the reason for my lone grim face in the, pointless, time-wasting entrance ceremony. Everyone else in the room had that "starting a new journey" look on their face; you know, the unique "hopeful, yet filled with uncertainty" look that every new student wears when they enter a new school. (They look really stupid like that.) As for me, that was not the case — a lot of old classmates from my old junior high school were also coming to this school. Added to that, a few of my friends were also here. As a result, I didn't look as worried, or excited, as other people.

The guys were wearing the more modern sport jackets, and we, the girls, were wearing the traditional sailor uniform, a pretty weird combination. Maybe some of the teachers standing behind the snore inducing, boring-as-hell principal giving a speech on the stage had some sort of fetish for sailor uniforms. At this point, I really wished that I had gotten into a school that had business suits as the girl's uniform instead. At least that way I wouldn’t have to look like something from an H-game. Maybe I should organize a petition and get all the other girls to sign it… no, that’d be too much work.

As I was thinking about these useless things, the boring ceremony finally ended, (why do we need to sit through these things again?) and I, along with my not-so-willing new classmates, entered the 1-5 classroom.

Our homeroom teacher, Okabe-sensei, with her practiced-for-an-hour-in-front-of-a-mirror smile, walked to the front of the class and gave a self-introduction. She first said that she was a PE teacher, and was the managing teacher for the girls’ handball team. Then she moved on to stuff like how, back when she was in university, she used to play on the womens’ handball team, and even won the championship, and that this school seriously lacked handball players, so whoever entered the team would become a regular instantly. Se sounds really desperate. Guess there’s not much support for the handball team here. She went on to say stuff like how handball was the most interesting sport in all the world and on and on... just when I thought that the mind-numbing handball dialogue would never end, she suddenly blurted out:

"Now, let's introduce ourselves!"

This kind of thing was pretty familiar, though, so I wasn't surprised at all.

One by one, the people on the left side of the class started to introduce themselves. They raised their hand, announced their name, the name of their old school, and other inconsequential stuff, such as a hobby or favorite food. Some people mumbled their way through it, a few had some pretty interesting introductions, while some tried to tell lame jokes that suddenly made the temperature in the classroom drop. As the people in my row started to introduce themselves, my turn was approaching. I was starting to get nervous. Everyone here should understand my feelings, right?

After I managed to finish my carefully planned, minimal-length introduction without faltering over my words too much, I sat down, feeling the relief you get after having finished something unpleasant but necessary.


I probably won’t forget the next few minutes for the rest of my life.


The person behind me stood up for his turn said the words that would be the topic of conversation at North High for quite a long time to come.

"My name is Suzumiya Haruki. I graduated from East Junior High."

Up to this point, the introduction was still normal, still ordinary, so I saw no point in turning around to look at him. I just stared at the front and listened to his deep, clear voice.

"Normal humans do not interest me! If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, a slider, or an esper, then come! Be my bride! That is all."

What's this… so early in the morning?

Upon hearing something as off-the-wall as that, there’s no way couldn't help but turn around.

He had dark hair that came down just past his neck. His angluar face was filled with daring and challenge as the rest of the class stared at him. His seriousness and zeal shone through his glinting eyes and long eyebrows. His lips were tightly pursed in a frown. All this was my first impression of this guy.

Haruki, with his passionate eyes, scanned the class slowly, stopped to glare at me (I had my mouth wide open), and then sat down and crossed his arms without so much as a smile.

Was he trying to be dramatic?

At that moment, I believe everyone's minds were filled with question marks, and that everyone was confused as to what their reaction to this insanity should be. "Should I laugh?" No one really knew.

Well, I guess he wasn't trying to be dramatic or funny, as Haruki always has that sombre face on.

He is always serious.

This is based on my hindsight—I can't be wrong.

After the mythical fairies of silence danced around the classroom for thirty-something seconds, the homeroom teacher, obviously flustered, signaled the next person to continue, and the tense atmosphere, thankfully, lifted.


That’s how we met.

How entirely unforgettable. Given the choice, I really want to believe that this was all just a coincidence.

[DJ_RockmanX]

Pretty good if I must say so myself. A bit of it still feels like it needs a more girlish touch, but overall that part sounded about right.

And is Okabe still going to be a guy teacher with some kind of passion for handball? I'm still all for complete series genderbending. Even with minor characters like that.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by DJ_RockmanX

Pretty good if I must say so myself. A bit of it still feels like it needs a more girlish touch, but overall that part sounded about right.

And is Okabe still going to be a guy teacher with some kind of passion for handball? I'm still all for complete series genderbending. Even with minor characters like that.

Oh damn, I forgot about him! Just a minute, I'll change that.

I tend to forget about the teachers because Tanigawa never focuses on the class itself.

Sad, really.

What I'd like to see is a couple of gaiden stories written from the perspective of one of Kyon's classmates, and focusing more on the school, the teachers, and the class itself. Sort of an Azumanga-like thing but set in the Haruhiverse.

Tanigawa needs to write something like that...

[Keroko]

Quick question, Kyonko being female, does that mean he would refer to the now male members of the cast with -kun instead of -san? Like, Asahina-kun, or Nagato-kun.

For some reason, Kyonko using -kun instead of -san sounds more... natural to me.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Quick question, Kyonko being female, does that mean he would refer to the now male members of the cast with -kun instead of -san? Like, Asahina-kun, or Nagato-kun.

For some reason, Kyonko using -kun instead of -san sounds more... natural to me.

Depends on whether we're making her more polite or not.

I can imagine her referring to Asahina as "-kun", but...

[DJ_RockmanX]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Quick question, Kyonko being female, does that mean he would refer to the now male members of the cast with -kun instead of -san? Like, Asahina-kun, or Nagato-kun.

For some reason, Kyonko using -kun instead of -san sounds more... natural to me.

Kyon-chan's relationship status with the others is still a bit up in the air as of right now.

- She's likely to address Haruki by his given name, in a kind of rocky informal relationship way. Well at least as the story develops.

- Nagato-kun sounds ok to me, but we'll see how it turns out in context.

- Asahina-senpai is what I'm currently leaning towards in regard to shota Mitsuru. Kind of in the Ouran Honey-senpai line of thinking, but not quite the same obviously.

- And I'm not quite sure what to think of the relationship status between Kyon-chan and Itsuki-chan, although with the whole raging lesbian meme going on, I'm more than happy to encourage some girl bonding.

[Keroko]

Asahina is the most important one, as I'm working with her as we speak. I'll use -senpai for now, subject to edit (it's only a draft anyway).

Haruki is Haruki, I say we leave that as it is. Having Kyonko put any sort of suffix behind Haruki somehow doesn't really fit.

For Itsuko my vote would be just that. Itsuko. It's informal, and can suggest both closeness as well as distance (like Kyon simply calling Haruhi, Haruhi long before any visible romance starts).

[panzerfan]

Kyonko... I think she won't use kun suffix. Haruki will have no suffix, whereas with Nagato, I think it'll be the normal Nagato-san instead. Kun would be something that Haruki will toss around liberally, whereas the rather depressed, deadpan female that's quite worn with a touch of jadedness wouldn't come to saying kun, perhaps not even to ototo-'chan'.

(darn. thinking of kyonko as Kagami makes this whole thing much easier to put together)

I have a feeling that Kyon might even address Koizumi as 'Koizumi-san' to hint at a symbolic distance from Koizumi while maintaining the more polite female expectations. I have no doubt that Kyonko might somewhat sneer at Koizumi inside her mind from time to time actually...

[LobsterHime]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

In the case of a lot of the later events, we'll have to.


Attention, everybody! I have finished the first part of Chapter One, up to the end of Haruki's introduction.

Spoiler for size:

And so, I entered the senior high school in my area.

At that point, I’d already begun to regret this decision. My new school sat on top of a very high hill, and, even in the spring weather, students would become hot and sweaty just from climbing the steep road. Looks like my intent to walk to school in a leisurely fashion wasn’t going to work. Every time that I that this thought rose to my head, along with the fact that I would have to walk up this hill every day for the next three years, I became tired and depressed, which is why I overslept a bit today. I was beating myself over the head for not studying harder in middle school. Had I done so, I might have gotten into a better school not at the top of Mount Everest. (I suppose this is why people in fiction invent time machines.) All of this was just too depressing.

That was the reason for my lone grim face in the, pointless, time-wasting entrance ceremony. Everyone else in the room had that "starting a new journey" look on their face; you know, the unique "hopeful, yet filled with uncertainty" look that every new student wears when they enter a new school. (They look really stupid like that.) As for me, that was not the case — a lot of old classmates from my old junior high school were also coming to this school. Added to that, a few of my friends were also here. As a result, I didn't look as worried, or excited, as other people.

The guys were wearing the more modern sport jackets, and we, the girls, were wearing the traditional sailor uniform, a pretty weird combination. Maybe the snore inducing, boring-as-hell principal giving a speech on the stage had some sort of fetish for sailor uniforms. At this point, I really wished that I had gotten into Kouyouen Academy at the bottom of the hill. At least that way I wouldn’t have to look like something from an H-game. Maybe I should organize a petition and get all the other girls to sign it… no, that’d be too much work.

As I was thinking about these useless things, the boring ceremony finally ended, (why do we need to sit through these things again?) and I, along with my not-so-willing new classmates, entered the 1-5 classroom.

Our homeroom teacher, Okabe-sensei, with her practiced-for-an-hour-in-front-of-a-mirror smile, walked to the front of the class and gave a self-introduction. She first said that she was a PE teacher, and was the managing teacher for the girls’ handball team. Then she moved on to stuff like how, back when she was in university, she used to play on the womens’ handball team, and even won the championship, and that this school seriously lacked handball players, so whoever entered the team would become a regular instantly. Se sounds really desperate. Guess there’s not much support for the handball team here. She went on to say stuff like how handball was the most interesting sport in all the world and on and on... just when I thought that the mind-numbing handball dialogue would never end, she suddenly blurted out:

"Now, let's introduce ourselves!"

This kind of thing was pretty familiar, though, so I wasn't surprised at all.

One by one, the people on the left side of the class started to introduce themselves. They raised their hand, announced their name, the name of their old school, and other inconsequential stuff, such as a hobby or favorite food. Some people mumbled their way through it, a few had some pretty interesting introductions, while some tried to tell lame jokes that suddenly made the temperature in the classroom drop. As the people in my row started to introduce themselves, my turn was approaching. I was starting to get nervous. Everyone here should understand my feelings, right?

After I managed to finish my carefully planned, minimal-length introduction without faltering over my words too much, I sat down, feeling the relief you get after having finished something unpleasant but necessary.


I probably won’t forget the next few minutes for the rest of my life.


The person behind me stood up for his turn said the words that would be the topic of conversation at North High for quite a long time to come.

"My name is Suzumiya Haruki. I graduated from East Junior High."

Up to this point, the introduction was still normal, still ordinary, so I saw no point in turning around to look at him. I just stared at the front and listened to his deep, clear voice.

"Normal humans do not interest me! If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, a slider, or an esper, then come! Be my bride! That is all."

What's this… so early in the morning?

Upon hearing something as off-the-wall as that, there’s no way couldn't help but turn around.

He had dark hair that came down just past his neck. His angluar face was filled with daring and challenge as the rest of the class stared at him. His seriousness and zeal shone through his glinting eyes and long eyebrows. His lips were tightly pursed in a frown. All this was my first impression of this guy.

Haruki, with his passionate eyes, scanned the class slowly, stopped to glare at me (I had my mouth wide open), and then sat down and crossed his arms without so much as a smile.

Was he trying to be dramatic?

At that moment, I believe everyone's minds were filled with question marks, and that everyone was confused as to what their reaction to this insanity should be. "Should I laugh?" No one really knew.

Well, I guess he wasn't trying to be dramatic or funny, as Haruki always has that sombre face on.

He is always serious.

This is based on my hindsight—I can't be wrong.

After the mythical fairies of silence danced around the classroom for thirty-something seconds, the homeroom teacher, obviously flustered, signaled the next person to continue, and the tense atmosphere, thankfully, lifted.


That’s how we met.

How entirely unforgettable. Given the choice, I really want to believe that this was all just a coincidence.

should i make a chapter 1 article on the wiki?

[Ithekro]

Okay, maybe it is because I never watched Kamina, but for some reason I keep seeing Haruki as Hosaka from Minami-ke. At least visually and vocally. It leaves Ono Daisuki in the case for one. Plus I can see Haruki standing with just a jacket and no shirt with a "GOD" belt buckle giving a speech on manliness followed by Kyonko making some sort of sarcastic comment on it.

[DJ_RockmanX]

Originally Posted by LobsterHime

should i make a chapter 1 article on the wiki?

On my authority as Danchou (which really isn't much) I request that you do. That is your post from now on.

Oh yeah, come up with one of those disclaimer things like "We don't own this; KyoAni, Tanigawa, and Noizi Ito do" things on the top.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by DJ_RockmanX

On my authority as Danchou (which really isn't much) I request that you do. That is your post from now on.

Oh yeah, come up with one of those disclaimer things like "We don't own this; KyoAni, Tanigawa, and Noizi Ito do" things on the top.

That disclaimer would be a very good thing.

In addition, he has more to add to the wiki.

Spoiler for Chapter One, part two:

After grabbing everyone's attention on the first day, Haruki reverted to being an ordinary high school male.

This was only the calm before the storm! Looking back, I finally understand it all.

Everyone here at this school came from one of the four junior high schools in the city— people with average grades. This, obviously, included East Junior High; so there should be people in the class who graduated with Haruki, who knew what his stoicness symbolized. Unfortunately for me, I did not know any former East Junior High students. No one could have explained to me how serious the situation really was. As a result, a few days after that explosive introduction, I did something I would never forget—I tried to talk to him before class.

My metaphorical dominoes of misfortune had begun to fall, and I was the person who pushed the first block! All of this is my fault!

Because, you see, when Haruki sits in silence in his seat, he looks just like a normal good-looking guy. Besides, he seemed interesting enough, and sitting in front of him was a good enough reason to strike up a conversation. I’m so naïve! Somebody, anybody, please, slap some sense into me!

Of course, I started the conversation with that incident.

"Hi!"

I casually turned my head around, with an airy, girlish smile all over my face.

"The stuff you said, back in your introduction, was all that serious?"

With his arms crossed on his chest, lips pursed together, Suzumiya Haruki kept his posture, then stared right into my eyes.

"What 'stuff in my introduction'?"

"The stuff about the aliens."

"Do you happen to be an alien?"

He looked very serious.

"Well, um... No."

"If you are not, then what business do you have with me?"

"...N-Nothing."

"Then don't bother talking to me. You are a waste of my time."

His glare was so cold that I found myself stuttering "sorry" before realizing it. Suzumiya Haruki then removed his glare from me, contemptuously and, looking up, started to frown at the ceiling.

I had considered trying to whip back a line or two, but I couldn't think of anything good to say, especially after being called a “waste of time”. It’s not like guys haven’t treated me like that before, but coming from someone like him… thankfully, at that moment the homeroom teacher came into the classroom and saved me from thinking about it any longer.

I turned my head back to my desk, full of melancholy, and noticed that a few people were staring at me with looks of great interest on their faces. This, obviously, made me feel pretty annoyed. After I stared back at them, however, I noticed that they all had the same, feeble-looking expression on their faces. Some even nodded at me with sympathy.

Like I said, at first I felt pretty damn irritated, but later on I learned that all those people graduated from East Junior High.

Given that my first encounter with Haruki had ended horribly, I figured that I should keep my distance from him for now, for the sake of my safety. With that precaution on my mind, a week passed by.

But, just as I was still part of this class, there were always people who wanted to talk to the eyebrow-locking shut-mouthed glowering Haruki. Sucks to be them.

Most of the people were sports-obsessed, delinquent-esque guys; I guess they saw a fellow kinsman in the tall, thickset Haruki. This would be perfectly fine if Haruki actually was a sports-obsessed delinquent.

"Hey, did you see the game last night? The one that went on for an hour without a single goal scored?"

"No."

"Eh, but, why?"

"I do not know."

“Aw, that’s too bad. You should check out the game next week, though. I hear they’re really going—“

"Go away! You are aggravating me!"

That's how it went.

Couldn’t he just answer “no” with that poker face on? No, he had to show his lack of patience in both his expression and his voice. This only made his victim believe that they did something wrong. At the end they could only say "I see... then I'll just...", and ask themselves "What did I say that was so wrong?" and slink away.

Hey, don't look so sad; you didn't say anything wrong. If you ask me, the problem here is with Suzumiya Haruki's brain, not yours.

[DJ_RockmanX]

You do well to portray Haruki has an impatient and annoyed youth with hot blooded energy just waiting to emerge.

Kyon-chan still sounds a bit rough, but maybe she's really that tsundere.

[panzerfan]

"Kyon! Stop trying to believe in yourself! Believe in I, who believe in you!"
What the hell are you talking about... nevermind on how am I suppose to believe you, Haruki. Aren't I really just taking a detour there with self reinforcement?

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by DJ_RockmanX

You do well to portray Haruki has an impatient and annoyed youth with hot blooded energy just waiting to emerge.

Kyon-chan still sounds a bit rough, but maybe she's really that tsundere.

That's my idea for Kyon-chan. Who I'm still gonna call Kyon in-text.

And the main problem with Haruhi is that she's only able to get away with acting like a teenage girl because, well, she's a teenage girl.

With Haruki, I basically have to make him into an angry, overtly formal version of Kamina.

Of course, the fun begins at the end of the chapter when he goes into HAPPY MODE and picks Kyon-chan up and takes her away.

Kyon-chan: "This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to be swept off my feet!"