Kyon: Big Damn Hero

How long did they go out in canon, anyway? It's been a long time since I read the fan translations of books 10/11 but I seem to remember getting the impression that it wasn't just one date, they were actually going out for a relatively long (by Taniguchi standards) period of time - say a few weeks.

If I Had a Nickel... for every time someone tells me that...

If that ever happens I hope the Brigade will omit to mention Kuyou's Super Weight. Just the thought of what could have happened to him if he'd ever made her angry (probably impossible at the time but he probably doesn't know that) would be quite mind-blowing.

On a related topic, I find interesting the idea of the Brigade revealing more of themselves to their Muggle Best Friends but I think they should handle that with a lot of care. Some things they know or can do could be pretty unsettling to hear. Just knowing that there is a Multiversal Conqueror out there can be quite the paradigm shift to the way normal people see their lives.

Maybe a different approach is in order. At the beginning of the year I pondered the idea of the Brigade giving a kiddie version of the truth to their parents and now I'm considering if something of this could work for their friends:

Any thoughts?

IIRC, on December 17th (fourth novel) Taniguchi mentioned a date with girlfriend on Christmas Eve. He was very smug about it so I'm guessing they start dating around that day. Later, on February 9th (seventh novel), Taniguchi was very sad because his girlfriend dumped him. Assuming from this that it'd just happened, that gives us a time span of approximately 7 weeks*

edited 18th Sep '12 7:03:59 PM by Specular

Even longer than I thought. Wow. Of course we all know that Kuyou is adorable but from a normal person's perspective, you have to wonder how desperate Taniguchi was that he kept going out with a girl who shows no emotions, almost never speaks, and has mysterious gaps in her sentences when she does.

Can't ignore the fact that she's quite pretty.

Hachikuji Mayoi sez:

I wonder what Haruhi would think of that? What about Kyon?

(note to self: Need to get some 'What Would Kyon Do?' bracelets)

edited 18th Sep '12 10:16:30 PM by Silver

I would so read a well-written Haruhi/Bakemonogatari crossover. Can you imagine Haruhi and Hitagi engaging in Conversational Troping?

edited 18th Sep '12 10:48:52 PM by Eamil

Re. Taniguchi & Kuyou.

It a long shot but maybe the reason why Kuyou mistook Taniguchi for Kyon was because they have the same height (170cm◊) and most likely the same weight. I mean, if a Starfish Alien who know next to nothing about humans suddenly is in need to tell apart person from the next, I'm guessing they would at first resort to simple concepts like size and form before developing a method more equivalent of our face perception.

In K:BDH, IIRC Kuyou mentioned something about Kyon being invisible to the Song. Maybe this trait makes him hard to detect and she needed to rely on indirect observations until the moment she could confirm his identity. Perhaps it's similar to the problems astronomers go through to track down black holes a-...! Oh the irony .

Even longer than I thought. Wow. Of course we all know that Kuyou is adorable but from a normal person's perspective, you have to wonder how desperate Taniguchi was that he kept going out with a girl who shows no emotions, almost never speaks, and has mysterious gaps in her sentences when she does.

Well, Taniguchi seems a little bit prone to apply anime logic to real life. Perhaps he thought he was dating a Mysterious Waif or something along the lines.

Also, even if they went out for almost two months, maybe the time they actually spent together was very little. The thing that it makes me think this is the fact that Taniguchi talked very little about his girlfriend in front of Kyon after December 17th, to the point he completely forgot about her by the time of the events of the seventh novel.

For themselves, there isn't much of a choice. Everyone in the Brigade is a full-fledged member of the "other side", which means that wondering about whether getting involved is a good idea or not is a futile exercise. One could be tempted to think differently about Kyon, but he already crossed that bridge by taking the red pill.

Now, for people currently uninvolved with the supernatural the question remains. Even if a little of knowledge probably won't put them in the danger zone, it could still be enough to disrupt their lives. Although, depending on the person, it could be a welcome change after factorizing pros and cons, like it was the case with Tsuruya and Nonoko. Although, I still wonder how much of Nonoko's enthusiasm would be tempered if she learns a bit more about the Brigade's adventures and what is at stake, but then again one almost never has the luxury of the full picture before a big decision like that and her personality suggests that things would have proceeded in the same direction.

As a character from Negima put it*

In the end, if the adventure finds its way into more characters' lives, then probably the best the Brigade can do is to try whatever they think is right and hope for the best.

From a more egoistic PoV, it's possible that Haruhi and Kyon really want to have normal friends even if that means hiding things from them. Otherwise it would be too easy to lose perspective.

I better stop here. Too sleepy for coherent thoughts or words (I mean, worse than the usual).

edited 20th Sep '12 10:48:35 PM by Specular

It's also possible that he did actually go out with her pretty regularly, but because they didn't talk or bond much Taniguchi just didn't have anything to say to Kyon about it.

Taniguchi's mistake wasn't in applying anime logic to the situation, but in assuming that he was the main character.

I considered something along the lines but it places Taniguchi in a very unfortunate position if he was really expecting the relationship to work out. On the other hand, such development hints good things about his personality, like suggesting he is a lot more patient than might appear at first sight.

Random picture.

This◊ is probably the best illustration of Kyouko and Fujiwara I have seen to date (cropped from here◊). If someone have a cleaner version, please let me know.

I was reading over the Wikia article about Kyouko and I'm kind of left wondering just how many things I missed by reading the specific fan translation I did because there's a good few details I just plain don't remember seeing at all.

For example... (Spoilered because I know there's some people here that haven't read novels 9-11)

"She also claims that the incident taking place in The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya was a mistake on her part, adding that she was influenced by Fujiwara." I always thought this was a BDH-only thing. And I have absolutely no memory of this:

"Toward the end of The Astonishment in the α and β timelines, Koizumi comforts a depressed Kyouko after the two of them were in Sasaki and Haruhi's merged closed space and they exchanged phone numbers and emails in order to keep in touch with esper-related issues. Tachibana resigned from her group."

That last bit seems especially significant for obvious reasons.

Not really BDH-related but I thought I'd comment on it anyway.

edited 21st Sep '12 11:02:21 AM by Eamil

Wow, I don't recall those, either. The second one really would be significant. Actually, both are, really.

Another random thing I'm bringing up(I know I've brought up quite a few recently, it's a result of rereading the story): Speculation on what Yuki's writing? There have been a few mentions of her writing something on the laptop instead of reading.

My guess is Snow, Verses: A Compilation.

Don't think it'd be quite like Kanae, but even so, I'm curious.

edited 21st Sep '12 4:29:11 PM by thedarkfreak

Sounds like things have run a similar course, if for different reasons.

Also, I have a strange thought. What school did Sasaki go to again? I need to know that to continue my thought...

edited 21st Sep '12 4:52:55 PM by MadKitsu

• snark* Hikami Gakuen.

Seriously, though, if it was ever actually specified in story which school she attends now, I can't remember.

Well, if my memory of when things came out is right it worked out that way in the novels before it worked out that way in BDH, at least for that last part, but either way yeah.

I don't think it was specified which school, but it was mentioned in novels 10/11 that the school she went to used to be an all-boys school and that she's one of the few girls who go there, and that was recently incorporated into BDH as I recall.

Edit: I just realized, in the examples under One Dialogue, Two Conversations, the first example actually has three conversations.

1. Kyon's father obliquely approaches the subject of the arranged marriage to Tsuruya.

2. Kyon misunderstands and thinks he's talking about her yakuza connections, and responds to the effect of "If I can make it work as well as Uncle Keichi and Aunt Mion have then it's entirely worth doing."

3. Kyon's father misunderstands that and thinks he's talking about the Beta Harem, and that Kyon is saying he's going to pursue Tsuruya and one or more of the other girls.

(Edit 2: Apparently if I don't double-space a numbered list the site code puts all of it on one line...)

Also, am I the only one that pictures Kyon's father as Tenchi's father?◊

edited 22nd Sep '12 8:57:53 AM by Eamil

@thedarkfreak:

That's my conjecture too.

@Mad Kitsu:

I think it goes unnamed. Kyon described it once as a "suburban private high school" where "the chances of entering a university are high". Besides the above, we also know how their uniforms◊ looks like, but that is pretty much it.

@Eamil:

I think it still counts as two. It's just a change of direction in the conversation, according to Yuuto's PoV.

Also, am I the only one that pictures Kyon's father as Tenchi's father?◊

If my current hypothesis is correct, Kyon's parents should be younger than said apparent age, by ten years or so.

I think it's more like it's nested: Yuuto starts conversation 1 as the first One Dialogue, Two Conversations when Kyon thinks the conversation is 2 instead. Then, when Kyon responds, thinking it's conversation 2, his reply makes Yuuto think he's talking about conversation 3 instead, leading to another instance of One Dialogue, Two Conversations stemming from the first one. And the fact that 3 is related to 1 causes Yuuto to not consider the possibility of a misunderstanding on Kyon's part since, to Yuuto, Kyon's pretty much all but said he's cool with it, saying he'd "probably spend the rest of [his] life at her side" if Tsuruya wanted him to.

That's what I'm saying. Since conversation two is in both pairs and it's all still one dialogue, I think it counts as having three.

I actually picture him as "Tenchi's father but younger and less square-jawed" so close enough.

edited 22nd Sep '12 7:11:59 PM by Eamil

I bid thee, o forum of awesomeness... Arise!!!

Okay, I have just asked Durandall about the name of Sasaki's school, and apparently, he doesn't know either, and it doesn't seem to have a name in K:BDH...

So, I asked if we could think of a name for said school, and he says "I don't see the harm in it".

Any thoughts?

Sounds like a good opportunity for a Shout-Out.

Let me see.. IIRC, Sasaki's school was all-boys until recently, so an allusion to one that fits this criteria could work here. I don't know of any, though. A quick search in TV Tropes led me to Kaichou wa Maid-sama! (Seika High School), but I haven't read that one.

Another possibility could be to look for a school with a similar uniform◊, but only Seitokai Yakuindomo (Ousai Academy) and Chaos Head (Suimei Academy) come to mind.

A third option is to forget of all the above and suggest whatever you think would be funny. I propose "Koryou High School".

Edit: Added school names.

edited 25th Sep '12 3:44:20 PM by Specular

Edit: I don't know why I read all-boys as all-girls.

edited 25th Sep '12 2:46:43 PM by UncloudedTJ

Excuse me if my wit seems stale, but instead of just naming off a witty pun, why not a historical Shout-Out.

So, how about Townsend Harris Memorial High School? For those not in the know, Townsend Harris was the first US Consul General to Japan (essentially, head diplomat), and was a key player in opening trade relations between the two countries. Not only is he the namesake of a high school in NYC, but there is also a monument dedicated towards him located in Kanagawa. Supposedly, he is held in extremely high esteem by the Japanese.

Wait a moment...

Townsend Harris High School ↔ THHS◊ ~ TMHS ↔ The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya

It is a pretty witty pun .

Somewhat related.

Do you think Sasaki is going to change schools?

If we assume Sasaki is going to agree to this, how do you think she is going to try to convince her mother of going along with the transference without revealing things like the involvement of the Sumiyoshi-rengo or (potentially) her supernatural circumstances? (she is a minor, after all).

From what we know, Sasaki's current school is a lot better than Kitago, at least academically. With that in mind, I think the Brigade could come up with something like a scholarship for Sasaki to entice her mother (maybe under the excuse Kitago is looking for good students to raise its average). Granted, we don't know about their financial circumstances, but considering the Sasaki's mother seems to be their only source of income and the fact her daughter studied in regular public schools during elementary education (the same as Haruhi) and junior high (together with Kyon), I guessing she could be making a major effort to pay Sasaki's stay on a private high school.

Although, for some reason I'm half expecting that after attentively listening to whatever carefully prepared arguments Sasaki could offer, her mother is going to raise an eyebrow and simply ask "so, what's he like?"

I've read some of Kaichou Wa Maid Sama. It doesn't quite match Sasaki's school in terms of "not very many girls go there yet," the issue in that comic is more that even though girls aren't dramatically outnumbered the two genders sometimes have trouble integrating (mostly to the tune of "guys are pervs," although it's not taken too far). Even so, I'd be behind Seika High School as a school name. I just like the name.

Edit:

Yes.

Didn't Sasaki's mother seem to want her to get back with Kyon? That would be a good angle to play up. Also the one with the most potential for entertainment.

That's an interesting theory and one they could easily pull off in a way that looks legitimate, given that it's been strongly implied that Organization members are on the school administrative staff.

See my second response.

edited 25th Sep '12 7:08:08 PM by Eamil

IMHO, it's a very beautiful name (a female given name, in fact).

edited 25th Sep '12 7:27:12 PM by Specular