Haruhi Suzumiya enters like a tornado. And causes similar mayhem, confusion, and possibly damage (to Kyon’s health, mental and physical). In other words, what we’re used to seeing.
What They Say:
Episode 3: “Haruhi Suzumiya!!”
The day after the Christmas party, Yuki and Kyon encounter a girl who falls down in front of a park. After helping her to a warm place, they’re told she was trying to capture Santa in the park, which makes Yuki remember that she’s met her before.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Yeah, it’s Haruhi. Making a dramatic entrance as usual. And ordering Kyon around like a servant. For those who have not been happy about the direction this story goes, they will probably take some comfort in the full appearance and domineering entrance of Haruhi. It’s as if we never left the main Haruhi universe, as she’s bossy and demanding as ever while Kyon gets back the sharp edge to his voice that we’re probably all more used to hearing. As for Yuki…she is somewhat impenetrable to Haruhi, even if she’s a very different Yuki. Until, that is, Haruhi tries to rib Kyon by “sympathizing” with Yuki’s plight as “the boyfriend.” This sends Yuki into a fit of embarrassment, since she does not think there is anything reciprocal about her feelings for Kyon and then she overcompensates by calling Kyon “practically a stranger.” Even Haruhi notes that this a little harsh. That doesn’t stop her from leaving Kyon with the bill as usual. But then it’s off to the park, as Haruhi left her things there. And there, Yuki recalls her earlier meeting with Haruhi (though Haruhi has no memory of their meeting…thinking the person she met that time was a male junior high student).
Haruhi is indeed like a massive gravitational object, dragging everything around her into her maelstrom of hyperactive nonsense. For the voicing, Hirano also sounds much more like the usual Haruhi, with more of both her manic side and her bossy side coming through. But here, she’s working just as much in service to Yuki’s story. As they reminisce about Yuki and Haruhi’s earlier meeting in that same park, Haruhi refuses to hear a “thank you” from Yuki, the latter feeling that her ability to rally the Literature Club owes something to her encounter with Haruhi that day. Haruhi instead says that it was Yuki herself who did the work and so she should credit herself. This is, of course, in line with Haruhi’s character, but a scene like this would probably not have gotten so much attention were it not for the change in which character is the focus for this universe.
Once the New Year begins…the tornado returns as Haruhi decides to visit North High and take over the Literature Club. We have a main universe in-joke as Kyon mentions ponytails to Haruhi (we know this is his preferred vision of how Haruhi should wear her hair), but when Yuki then thinks about growing out her hair to adopt the look, Kyon tells her that she looks fine as she is.
That’s not the focus of the remainder of this episode, however. The point is to recreate the SOS Brigade in this universe, as Haruhi has dragged another student from Kouyouen with her…the “mysterious” transfer student Itsuki Koizumi. In this universe, he is not so mysterious (and certainly does not have any powers). He’s also in love with Haruhi (which could well be the case with the other Itsuki as well…not that he’d say so as openly as this version of him does), which leads to an astonished reaction from Kyon (which…any Kyon in any universe would likely do too). In order to complete the club, Haruhi subsequently brings all manner of (familiar) crap into the club room and also kidnaps Mikuru Asahina (having used Kyon and Koizumi as decoys to nab Mikuru from Tsuruya-san’s protective custody).
The last line of defense against Haruhi’s takeover of the club (while she confirms Yuki’s status as club president, Haruhi proclaims herself the “executive president” of the club…even though she’s neither an official member nor a student at North High) is Ryoko Asakura, who quickly sizes Haruhi up. Having decided that the trespasser is not a threat to Yuki’s position (nor a menace to Yuki’s dating prospects), she says okay.
Well, this seems familiar. About the only difference is that Yuki is not sitting quietly in the corner reading books. Instead, she is looking on at events with a certain amount of awe. Things are now lively. And Yuki seems somehow pleased by that.
I’m not sure this is exactly the direction I would want the show to go, since it feels a bit too much like an attempt to graft Haruhi into this universe than merely featuring Haruhi in what is…or at least should still be…Yuki’s story. I’m fairly certain I know why things are heading in this direction: the production staff are probably somewhat worried about not being able to keep the Haruhi fanbase from decamping in short order, had things continued in the vein the started in with the first episode. It’s a reasonable fear. The in-jokes with the main universe are genuinely part of the draw for the show, so it’s not that I expect Haruhi to have remained absent forever. But I do feel as if they’ve perhaps rushed her debut and tried to infuse a touch too much Suzumiya into things. This is not meant to be the SOS Brigade redux, at least, I did not get that feeling from the manga. I did get that impression from this episode of the anime.
In Summary:
Haruhi Suzumiya comes in like a hurricane and dominates the scene, much to Kyon’s displeasure and Yuki’s…well, Yuki does not seem to mind too much at all. Things are certainly more lively and confusing with Haruhi around. That seems to fit Yuki just fine. It was a fun episode, mostly for the revived feeling that here was the SOS Brigade brought back to life, but I hope that it does not overshadow Yuki in the end. This is not supposed to be “The Further Adventures of Haruhi Suzumiya.”
Episode Grade: B+
Streamed by: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
Yes, the title is certainly “The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan,’ but the show has to be entertaining. Yuki just isn’t that big a plot driver. Her shyness and cuteness are endearing but that’ll get old fast. Haruhi, love her or hate her, is one damned interesting character that people will tune in week after week to see. “What’s that crazy chick going to do this week?” most will ask. Contrast that with “Will poor bashful Yuki work up the nerve to tell Kyon how she feels?” week after week… Yawn! Even if you’re not familiar with the original universe, you’ve got to love the instantaneous fireworks between Kyon and Haruhi. If you are familiar, it makes their banter all the more satisfying to watch. So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised with this episode.