The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 24 Discussion / Poll [2009 added ep. 14]

[swtrooper42]

Itsumo no fuukei was played. All is well.

The prologue at the end actually takes place back at the end of Melancholy. Haruhi and Kyon are wearing the same outfits and everything.

Medieval guys were weird. I don't remember them.
Shamisens voice is win.

Overall, I think it's a perfect episode to end the second season on. Let's hope we don't have to wait three more years for season 3.

Spoiler for Season 3:

I want my Sasaki fix.

[GMT]

Originally Posted by ac195

Just go and read the novels already. Hell, you can start with Disappearance (4th novel) at this point. It isn't that heavy a read and you can easily finish it up over the course of a day.

Spoiler tags really aren't that hard to use. There are people out there who would rather not have their anime viewing experience be spoiled by smug novel readers or find reading the unofficial translations online a pain in the ass. (Or they can't. Baka-tsuki is blocked by at least one of the major commercial suppliers of corporate firewall software.)

[worldruined]

Originally Posted by GMT

Now we know where Koizumi gets the strength to restrain Kyon one-handed. I can see a young Koizumi, in the days before he transferred into North High, carrying out hits against rival organizations in the dead of night. Beating up people for protection money. Running guns and drugs to finance the Organization's secret war. If they made a game about that, I'd play it.

Considering the mini-trend of gun-toting!Koizumi fanart, it must already be out in Japan. XD

[GMT]

Originally Posted by worldruined

Considering the mini-trend of gun-toting!Koizumi fanart, it must already be out in Japan. XD

Pics, or it didn't happen.

[mokuseimaru]

Originally Posted by Akka

One thing I wonder : the public seemed shocked when seeing the movie. I can't decide if Haruhi's desire for her movie to be great affected people and entranced them, or if they were just stunned by how bad the movie was.

"The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina" isn't as bad a movie as you make it out to be. If nothing else, Kyon's narration makes it pretty interesting viewing. I imagine most people would have looked at it as a parody of the Magical Girl genre. Also, fanservice---and Mikuru has quite a few in-universe fans

I gave this one a 9/10. Koizumi's speech in particular, with all the moody lighting, was very well done. One thing that I thought was a little cheap, though, was how Haruhi just happened to have her head turned while taking to that kid (is that who I think it is?) when Mikuru shoots a super-high pressure water canon from her bb guns. Oh well though. Oh, and the guy in search of the "crystal crescent" was hysterical. Was that part in the novels or no?

Anyway, you could say that the true significance of Endless Eight is about to be made apparent. I know there were, are probably still are, people who defended Kyoani/Kadokawa on the grounds that a "true" second season was surely on the way. Well, now well shall see.

[Kogetsu Shirogane]

Originally Posted by mokuseimaru

I imagine most people would have looked at it as a parody of the Magical Girl genre.

That's how I always viewed it. The fact that Kyon pretty much mentions the genre by name during his narration doesn't hurt.

[OkamiNoKaze]

Something I always wondered though, is the narration in Mikuru 00 part of the film, or is it internal narration heard by us.

[Sackett]

Ahh man... I forgot how good Sighs was. The disagreements between the factions begins to appear, we get an idea of how dangerous Haruhi can be even when she's happy.

"Don't trust Kozumi" as if Kyon needed to be told that.

Oh and please tell me that right now someone out there is working on a vampire themed Yuki Nagato AMV.

Also, now that the cat is talking, in philosophical ramblings about the nature of truth no less, do we add a new theory as to the origin of Haruhi?

Is it all just a neko-ken induced nightmare of Ranma?

[Lvrhina]

In another 3 years, maybe we would get disapparence ... that is if there are still haruhi fans around.

[Game8910]

Originally Posted by Lvrhina

In another 3 years, maybe we would get disapparence ... that is if there are still haruhi fans around.

Everytime i read that comment I laugh at the stupidity of people, Endless Eight was a bad move yes, but the franchise is FAR from dying and the fans are still bigger than most animes out there. The blow of E8 did indeed cause damage but as time goes by people will let it go and nothing will have changed.

And those who have forsaken the anime forever, they can do what they want. Hell, I would recommend them to read the novels instead. E8 is over, and those who still dwell over it to this day need to learn to let go.

[Ithekro]

How does one atone for Endless Eight? Make the worst novel epic. Done and done.

[Sackett]

Originally Posted by Heatth

And now I just imagined Mori dressed as ninja entering in the clubroom by the window and working in the computer without waking Kyon up (he was sleeping over the keyboard).

This theory actully make sense. Maybe not a ninja Mori, but Itsuki's agency is crazy and paranoid enough to make sure the movie would be finished in time.

Ninja Maid!

[aegisofrime]

So, if Haruhi doesn't believe that Yuki, Koizumi and Mikuru are actually what they are, that means that she didn't create them!

I never did bought Koizumi's Haruhi is God theory anyway.

[GMT]

Originally Posted by OkamiNoKaze

Something I always wondered though, is the narration in Mikuru 00 part of the film, or is it internal narration heard by us.

Since it's pretty snarky and much of the snark is directed towards the director, I suspect that Kyon's narration is him MSTing the film and us hearing his thoughts. That, or the narrative is actually there, but Haruhi doesn't mind because it increases the amusement value of the film by about 200%

[4as]

Koizumi's rambling about other organizationas and Tsuruya's lurking in the shadow got me thinking that she is maybe a part of one.

Originally Posted by Ithekro

How does one atone for Endless Eight?

IMO, there is nothing to atone for.
Endless Eight is like Spaghetti westerns back in the day - they were considered to be retarded but now they are classics of Cinematography.

Also

I remember someone saying people will hate Haruhi after Sighs but that arc made me fell for her all over again :S

[kk2extreme]

idk but the cat steal the show, nuff said

[GMT]

Originally Posted by 4as

Koizumi's rambling about other organizationas and Tsuruya's lurking in the shadow got me thinking that she is maybe a part of one.

Well, she did help Mikuru get Kyon alone so she could go into her "Don't trust that no-good bastard Koizumi" speech. The novels give further hints at Tsuruya's role, but there are spoiler-rich threads around here that probably discuss that in detail.

Also

I remember someone saying people will hate Haruhi after Sighs but that arc made me fell for her all over again :S

YMMV. The Sighs arc renewed the vigor of my fandom for Haruhi, the show/franchise. But watching Haruhi's scraping along the moral rock-bottom come to richly-animated life has cooled the warm feelings I had for Haruhi, the character.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I find it very telling that the animation quality is finally back to full 2006 level (even showcasing the return of the random Kyoani over the top animation sequence....several of them in fact) in this last episode (it's almost like they decided to focus the majority of the budget here and in fact probably did) of the season, but not surprising in the least. It's so typical of what I've seen of Kyoani/Kadokawa in that they always love to have the parts the viewer is likely to remember most actually look good (climaxes, season openers and enders) so that it will leave them with a positive impression going out of the show. Blatant, but at least it gives the sense that they are actually trying again, and I get to actually enjoy and laugh with the show rather than at it.....albeit obviously far too little and far too late.

Anyway there were parts of this episode that were actually mildly to moderately interesting such as the simple solution to an odd problem that was handled MUCH better than the way it was in Endless Eight (i.e without overkilling it for no reason), and the banter between characters which was actually decently written. It really seems like they were actually trying for the first time all season, because the scene direction was interesting, the jokes actually almost kind of witty (like the better 2006 episodes), the scenes featured the characters actually being developed (holy shit!) and the pacing was actually existent even if it did drag a bit during the middle portions of the episode with the attempts at philisophical discussion.

Too bad it comes far too late to save this season from taking the crown from GSD for in my opinion the weakest followup to a viable franchise that just needed an extra push ever. I'll deal more with that issue in the overall impressions thread though, but for now I'm just startled that there was actually an episode of this series that could once again meet my expectations for a franchise that is supposed to be top tier.

Of course it leaves me to wonder about what could have been if the other episodes had even exhibited half of the effort that was put into this one so the whole thing left a good impression. I'll ponder that too for the impressions thread, but for the time being it is my greatest pleasure to actually be able to award this particular episode the quantative rating of 9/10. Never thought I'd get to do this.

[Triple_R]

I give it 9/10 as well.

This episode is a little bit overrated on this thread, but it is an excellent episode. Of all the episodes of the year, it's the one with the best artwork, and the most character intrigue. This signal episode does more to make me dwell on the real situation within the SOS Brigade than any other Haruhi episode that I've ever watched. It changes my perception of Mikuru and Koizumi quite a bit, and even Nagato can be looked upon in a slightly different light due to this episode. I hasten to add that I never read Novel 2 up to this point, so these are all new developments for me, as I encounter them for the first time in this anime episode.


My only criticism is that it does feel a bit like a "mop up" episode in the same vein as the last episode of Nanoha Striker S; like Nanoha Striker S, the real climax came well before the start of the last episode, meaning that the sense of drama and suspense is lost for me. However, this episode of Haruhi largely makes up for that with simply splendid artwork and animation, as well as with some exquisite character intrigue and cause for deeper analysis.

Oh... and I personally think that throwing in the prologue at the end was unnecessary, and that this episode probably would have been better (quite possibly a 10/10 for me) if it had taken the time it devoted to that prologue, to instead go slower on the final filming moments, and maybe give us more (or longer) ultracool scenes of Mikuru shooting various massive wonderful attacks with those charming eyes of hers.

Shamisen was very nicely voice-acted, but he wasn't the highlight of this episode for me, as appeared to be the case for most people on this thread.

The highlight of the episode for me was seeing the internal divisions within the SOS Brigade on full display. I'll probably have more to say about that in a Blog entry later today or tomorrow.


Kaioshin... you may have been right about DVD sales, my friend, but it looks like I was right about 2006 Haruhi's original artwork returning with this arc, wasn't I?

Good to see KyoAni can still do great Haruhi episodes when they want to.


... Does Sighs make up for Endless Eight?

For my own personal entertainment? It mostly makes up for it.

For this anime/franchise as a whole? I don't know yet. That's something I'm going to continue to dwell on for awhile.

Sighs was certainly extremely well done. Aside from minor nitpicks (and art issues with the very first part of the five), I have little to say against it.


As a hockey fan, KyoAni reminds me of former Montreal Canadiens sniper Stephane Richer. When Richer wasn't lazy, and wanted to actually do his best, he was a top-notch 50 goal scorer... likewise, KyoAni is awesome when they actually care. But just like Richer could be a real floater and disappear for, say, up to 8 games at a time (he he ), the same is true of KyoAni. From a fan's perspective, that creates a real conflicted love/hate feeling. And that's how I feel towards KyoAni as a result.

But... to end on a positive note, it's been a fun ride here on Anime Suki's Haruhi board the past two to three months. It's rarely been dull that's for sure!

[Starry Dust]

Dammit, as soon as I start to really enjoy something, it ends

Straight up 10/10 for me. Sure there was alot of talking, but it was still enjoyable.
And that was such a lovely shot of Kyon waking up ( & him sleeping with one-eye half open, beautiful Kyon lol )

I don't know what else to say about this episode. The uneasy mood was done nicely and I've been in Kyon's shoes before with everyone entrusting me with their business & opinions of one another. I'm always the one stuck in the middle of something.

But the ending was the icing on the cake.
Haruhi & Kyon smiling and nodding at eachother like idiots.
And Haruhi's out-burst was hilarious xD