[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Mirrinus

I think you mean "Sighs", not "Trembling"...

Anyway, Shamisen would probably recieve enough screentime in "Disappearance" and some of the other short stories to make his appearance in "Where did the Cat Go?" quite understandable. But if you insist...

Spoiler for very minor "Disappearance" spoiler:

An easy way to introduce the cat without animating "Sighs" would be to insert a flashback in the scene in "Disappearance" where Kyon tries to get Shamisen to talk again. It doesn't even have to be a flashback; it could just be a monologue or something explaining how the cat first talked when they got it. In fact, I do recall in chapter 1 of "Disappearance" that Kyon pratically recounts all about Shamisen in his narration. Either way, people who have seen Ep. 1 of the first season should be able to put two and two together...

And personally, I never really thought Haruhi at the school festival was such a loose thread in the first place. Seeing as the second season probably won't mention a thing about the school festival, it seems rather awkward to insert an explanation of any sort into this batch of new information. Not that I think it's necessary, at any rate.

One way or another, the cat needs to be introduced. And people still needs to know how and why it talks. Several times in the later novels this will be referenced.

And I wasn't specifically talking about the festival; rather, the Haruhi before the film-making was not the same Haruhi after it. A significant event occurs in between that could not be brushed off. Thus some parts of the filming will have to be animated. And while they are there, they might as well introduce that cat.