The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 11 Discussion / Poll [2006 TV ep. 8]

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Seyluun

Whatever the distorsion was, it surely wasn't an "irrelevant detail", since there is no such thing so far in the entire serie.

May be she altered reality after all. Either way will never know.

[CrowKenobi]

Originally Posted by Onizuka-GTO

OBJECTION!

Objection overruled!!
I just had to say that...


Back to the 'distortion' thingy:

I really do think that Haruhi changed herself because of how she was feeling before the distortion. Before, she was feeling the heavy emotions of the situation and quite possibly felt that she couldn't deal with them (she did get what she wished for).

Spoiler:

Also the situation in the cave quite possibly reminded her of the events in episode 6 (hopefully) of the anime (chapter 7 of the first novel) and she didn't want Kyon to see her that way again.

So her sub-conscious changes the world around them: getting rescued real quick and turning her gameshark on letting her know all the answers to the mystery before her. Thus, the old "always in control" Haruhi is back and as annoying as ever.

[Ardee]

Going along with "there are no irrelevant details"...

Take a look when Haruhi's foothold on the cliff breaks away and they fall - it doesn't appear that any time has passed since the previous camera shot where there was no lower ledge to save them... Another intervention?


On another subject, what was with Kyon's "if I seal your lips..." scene with Itsuki - who were they putting on an act for?

[Nvis]

At the end where Koizumi was looking at Kyon's neck, then focusing specifically on the mole. I wonder if there is some sort of significance to the story...or Kyon for that matter.

[riznar]

People mentioned it, they just dont' know what a mole is for some reason.

[Nvis]

Originally Posted by riznar

People mentioned it, they just dont' know what a mole is for some reason.

Maybe it's insignificant such as that woman on the ship that Kyon and Koizumi were looking at...

[PhantomX]

Originally Posted by Ardee

Going along with "there are no irrelevant details"...

Take a look when Haruhi's foothold on the cliff breaks away and they fall - it doesn't appear that any time has passed since the previous camera shot where there was no lower ledge to save them... Another intervention?


On another subject, what was with Kyon's "if I seal your lips..." scene with Itsuki - who were they putting on an act for?

I didn't really understand it either ... I figured it was just a last ditch effort to throw off the viewers.

[Vexx]

Some of the best directing yet.... the cave scene reminded me of some riff on the "Thin Man" series --- romance budding without romance. And Haruhi distortion of reality when she had her flash of insight.
The only reason I gave it an 8 instead of a 9 is that it was more of a leisurely intellectual feel rather than the energy levels of the previous episodes. Stilll, Orson Welles would be nodding sagely at this episode and most of the previous, in my opinion, for the directing and camera work.

My theory on the mole:

Spoiler:

In *some* realities, Kyon has a mole ... in others he doesn't. Itsuki must be aware of this --- outside of that I don't have any thing else to add.

Oh... loved the Yuki dialog and isn't it interesting that Kyon can "override".

[Mr.Grudge]

Does anyone know if the mole was ever there before? I never noticed it but those kind of details are often omitted. Maybe it was a possible sign that reality had been altered.

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

In essence, she promoted herself from a boring-old police detective, to an exciting great detective (ala Sherlock Holmes) with all the glory that solving the crime entails.

In a way she does give Kyon credit when she says the Watson phrase. While Holmes did the deduction it was usually Watson who found the clues and gave him ideas. Even in one story when Watson is thought to be dead Holmes runs into trouble trying to solve the case and despairs that he may have needed Watson more than he thought.

Ironically, the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson" never appeared in any of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. It first appeared in one of the film or radio adaptations.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

The episode is great for Haruhi's character development, but...
You know what's the most frustrating about all this?

I don't know why Kyon even bothers to interrogate Izumi for information. That guy lies for a living. Instead of going through all this trouble, Kyon could merely ask Yuki for whatever he needs to know.

In fact, even in the novels there was a specific aspect that was pointed to it; Izumi asked Yuki for the "corpse's temperature, then deducted the time of death from that. This was odd to Kyon, as it would be quicker to ask Yuki for the corpse's time of death... to which Yuki will reply that he ain't dead. Hence Izumi avoided talking to or question Yuki in the book.
(I prefer the book's version.)

I guess Yuki blends into the background so well, even Kyon forgets that she is around sometimes. A true sign of a skilled "observer".
Still, it's frustrating. Unlikely as it may seem, Yuki is a trustworthy ally to Kyon. I wish Kyon could ask her for aid more often; She will appreciate the companionship.

[migus_parvus]

Originally Posted by arias

Regarding Yuki opening the door for Kyon...

Spoiler:

Someone mentioned that it was an evolution. Is that true?

Or could it be closer to, I think, someone else's theory that Kyon does have some powers. That is, when Yuki says "I was not instructed to open the door to any person", Kyon is an exception because he is not one. Hmm..

Maybe that's stretching it too far.

or it could be that...

Spoiler:

kyon does not exist or isn't a "person", thus fulfilling the rule "don't open the door for anybody". anyways its a long shot theory.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by migus_parvus

or it could be that...

Spoiler:

kyon does not exist or isn't a "person", thus fulfilling the rule "don't open the door for anybody". anyways its a long shot theory.

That theory, unfortunately, is going to be shot to pieces in episode 5. But hey, nice try.

[icchan's_world]

really enjoyed this ep. i do think the flash haruhi got in the cave was the realisation that kyon n co. were the cause of the owner's death. haruhi did not tell this to kyon as she was hoping she was mistaken. good haruhi x kyon development. they'd make a great couple as haruhi would benefit from kyon's logical reasoning, and likewise haruhi would inject some enthusiasim in kyon. haruhi may have godly powers but she is just a teenage girl nevertheless, albeit a rather odd one. =D

[Alu]

It was a nice episode, finaly giving us the conclusion to what went on in the island, and all its purpose was to yet again.., Keep Haruhi entertained
As some mencioned it was not one of the best episodes, specialy comparing to the last one..

Never the less in this episode we got to see a compleatly more down-to-earth Haruhi then usual.., as in.. a person who in fact does care for her friends and those who are arround her.

Much like Kyon said.., in the begining she wanted a murder or something mysterious to happen.., and when it did.., she became frightneded and worried, as if.. she was only anxious for something to happen because it never does.

In the end though the episode gaved us some nice scenes, like previously mencioned aswell the Yuki scene at the door..
I still can't figure out if this was her idea of a joke or not.., since she in fact was behind the previous episode.., it could have been above all a small joke from part of her as oposite to as someone said.., evolution towards Kyon.

Thing that still gets me at the end of the episode was the camera focus by part of Itsuki on Kyon's mole behind his ear..; does anyone know what was the purpose of this ?

Anyway.., it was a decent episode.., I will give it an 8
Now.., one more week for the next..

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Some of the best directing yet.... the cave scene reminded me of some riff on the "Thin Man" series --- romance budding without romance. And Haruhi distortion of reality when she had her flash of insight.

Agreed. And the directing has always been very good. It ranks very highly among the numerous highlights of this series, IMO.

This was an excellent episode, but that goes without saying for a Haruhi episode. Though, compared with other Haruhi episodes, I thought it was lacking. Obviously the comedy wasn't there, but they clearly weren't aiming for it in this ep (except for that legendary Phoenix Wright homage). But, what doesn't bode well with me, is that, in the episodes we haven't seen, clearly something has happened between Haruhi and Kyon. Yet, on the same token, whatever it was, it wasn't anything monumental (as suggested by the fact their relationship seems to be in some sort of state of uneasy equilibrium). And this is, what... episode 11, in the Haruhi episode ordering. Which means, if we're to believe the rumours of 14 episodes, if something does happen between these two, it'll happen entirely within 3 episodes. That's far too short for my liking.

Of course, everything I say will be null and void if Haruhi ends up running for longer than 20 episodes, but, given the rumours and the nature of the next episode preview from this ep, I'm suspecting more and more that Haruhi is going to have an unfortunately premature ending.

Which is a real, real pity.

[mugener]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

I guess Yuki blends into the background so well, even Kyon forgets that she is around sometimes. A true sign of a skilled "observer".
Still, it's frustrating. Unlikely as it may seem, Yuki is a trustworthy ally to Kyon. I wish Kyon could ask her for aid more often; She will appreciate the companionship.

I think Yuki is with Izumi this time.

Since Izumi's doing this for lower the danger of Haruhi's free mind, this also what Yuki want.

So even if Kyon did ask her, I think she would keep slience this time since she want that happen.

So we can notice that after the event, during Haruhi's taliking, there's one sence
that Kyon watch Yuki with an unhappy face and think "She must know EVERYTHING along. "

[Circular Logic]

This episode failed. I didn't even laugh, which is, after all, the point of the anime. Though I did smile at the Conan rip-off.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Circular Logic

This episode failed. I didn't even laugh, which is, after all, the point of the anime. Though I did smile at the Conan rip-off.

I wouldn't argue it was the point of this particular episode. This episode was more about Haruhi's view of Kyon and their rather subtle relationship development than anything else.

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Circular Logic

This episode failed. I didn't even laugh, which is, after all, the point of the anime. Though I did smile at the Conan rip-off.

lol laughing isn't the point of this anime.

The point of this show is Haruhi herself, we are here to learn whether shes an almighty being or not and how she affects the world. This show is a point of view on reality.

And this episode focuses alot on Haruhi, which is why this episode is great.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by mugener

I think Yuki is with Izumi this time.

Since Izumi's doing this for lower the danger of Haruhi's free mind, this also what Yuki want.

So even if Kyon did ask her, I think she would keep slience this time since she want that happen.

So we can notice that after the event, during Haruhi's taliking, there's one sence
that Kyon watch Yuki with an unhappy face and think "She must know EVERYTHING along. "

Actually, Kyon has no right to complain. Yuki was created 3 years ago to function as the observer of Haruhi. Keeping silence is what she does.
There is not point claiming Yuki is hiding secrets if Kyon never asked her anything.
And as I said before, Kyon is in Yuki's debt.

Of course, everything I say will be null and void if Haruhi ends up running for longer than 20 episodes, but, given the rumours and the nature of the next episode preview from this ep, I'm suspecting more and more that Haruhi is going to have an unfortunately premature ending.

Which is a real, real pity.

The ending is next episode. You will find out soon enough.

Novels can have endings without being the size of LOTR.