Anime Pilgrimage RTT

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi – episode 4

April 26, 2006 on 11:38 pm | In Suzumiya Haruhi | 2 Comments

“The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi”

“The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi”

Finally, the inexplicable fandom can be explained: The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi as a contextless magical SF show, it flat out rocks. I was concerned about the time skipping that telling this, the second book, implied, but it actually makes the show that much more compelling. The baseball story of this episode isn’t nearly as interesting as the mystery that surrounds it.

Kyon tells us that just one month ago he prevented a world-cramping incident. But that story’s not for now: instead he chooses to tell the story of the SOS Brigade’s adventures in the sandlot.
So what did we miss in that month? Itsuki joined the Brigade, and it eventuates that … um … Yuki can use magic. Also Haruhi forces Mikuru to wear various uniforms to the club gatherings.

Words can not express: this episode had it all. The time flip to a month ahead of genuine drama and intrigue was surprisingly well done, as the characters made repeated references to events that we have not seen, and created a remarkably cryptic atmosphere for the common mystery solving anime fan to revel in. Brief shots of previous action were also laced through, and entire new characters were introduced without an actual introduction. Somehow it’s brilliant, radiating upon the anime fans of the world.

For this very reason, I question the rewatch value of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi; will it be as good once we know what the hell all of this means? It’s a pretty stupid question because I know for a fact that many out there on the internet have watched each episode more than ten times each. I can’t function like that. Obviously those who have read the books won’t be put out and will keep on going, but I think the anime has a slightly different goal in mind. One can only wait to see how it will turn out.

You know, I thought The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi was just another anime until now. With the advent of “The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi”, I realise it’s a little bit more than that: a funny, intriguing high school comedy SF love drama fetish show. It is not the animessiah, but it’s double plus good.