Haruhi Suzumiya

Frankly, to me, things are too mundane and slow without Haruhi around, she brings much needed energy to the show.

This Nagato is too dopy to be Kyon's boke, she doesn't bring the snark out of him, so he ends up being just a nice guy.

Then again I just want Haruhi-chan S2.

edited 18th Apr '15 8:13:03 PM by RunoEddie

I'll agree that things are better with Haruhi around, because she's one of the only people who can balance out Tsuruya and Ryouko, but I'm fine with her and her relationship not being the focus of the show.

While I agree that I prefer Haruhi as the lead, having watched the first two episodes earlier I can't be too disappointed with this. Ryouko and Tsruya can carry this on their own.

Three crazies all the time is just too much. Tsuruya and Ryouko with their respective chew toys are enough to drive the show.

Well, at least there are 3 different flavors of crazy. Ryoko is mostly just an overeager mother/older sister. Tsuruya just laughs at everything. Haruhi is a force of nature and wants to make things happen. But yes, all 3 together can be a bit overbearing.

Tsuruya is competitive to the extreme, she matches any craziness the others bring with her own in a mirror way.

Ryouko tries something with Yuki then Tsuruya will send Mikuru to compete.

Episode 3. In which Haruhi brings in original flavour.

Pretty much the same, yeah.

Up until she turns red, she's rather much the same as the original.

Can't let him say his name, absolutely not. Got to be a law somewhere. Sometimes I wonder if he even remembers his own name.

She's tsundere here too. Although not quite as prominently.

Not very perceptive. But at least she's trying to be tactful about it. I somehow find that amusing.

Too bad she's in the wrong universe for that. Maybe.

Hello, Ryoko! Nice to see you there, being so happy and smiling!

Short scene with no real purpose to the story. Well, Ryoko dressed up like that is purpose enough, I suppose.

Kyon being snarky. Not enough of that.

Why press his face against the glass? Does that somehow allow him to see easier?

Walk with a purpose, and people think you've got one. That's actually surprisingly effective in real life as well.

Kyon internally monologuing and Haruhi responding to it? Now it's shaping up.

Kyon and ponytails. Should be obvious what Nagato's doing.

Once a transfer student, always a transfer student.

"Can't imagine they'd do something reckless." Well, imagine that for just a while longer. Would be amusing to have her as the naïve person for a change.

Bringing costumes, other assorted stuff, Asahina... All in a day's work for the crazy person.

Selectively perceptive teacher. Still amusing to see that girl be on the losing end, though.

Yeah, of course it's his fault. Always the guy's fault.

Haruhi here recaptured some of the magic, and it wore off on Kyon. Some effort went into the storyboarding. More than anything this one made Yuki look undeserving of protagonist role.

I agree though that Ryouko, Tsuruya and Haruhi together gets heady. Also Mkuru seems a macguffin for Tsuruya (not that the original is much better).

That she was answering his inner thoughts escaped me. It's harder to notice when he's not usually the viewpoint. This is definitely late-show Haruhi we're seeing, since she actually tracks down Kyon instead of seeing him as the nearest ornament to grab. The original may be called a tsundere, but not half as much as Kyon was.

The one thing that bothered me was how they were animated like 2D sprites in the park, with the person talking bouncing with all their body. If you want to inject movement into a dialogue scene there are subtler ways to do it.

I noticed the bouncy animation too. It's a bit weird, and feels cheap.

And yeah, Kyon from the original is quite a noticeable tsundere. He's just a bit different in how he expresses it than the typical example.

It helps that most of it is his mental commentary, and sympathetic commentary at that. I imagine the series would look quite different if say, Micuru were narrating.

Mikuru narrating...

"Today Miss Suzumiya brought me to the literature clubroom for purposes of classified information."

This episode felt really long for some reason, I guess it's because a lot happened.

Too bad Nagato, Haruhi's pull is just too strong, she just zipped immediately to the first place.

There is nothing wrong with melting chocolate with a microwave if you know what you are doing.

In fact, melting it like it was done there (with the boiling water touching the atmosphere) is arguably worse than microwaving it.

The real danger is letting the machine melt the chocolate completely, because then there is the serious risk of burning the food, but nothing like putting it on for only 30 seconds and mixing it with a wood spoon would not resolve it. \rant

You are disccusing the show's culinary aptitude...Are we watching Food Wars now?

I'm pretty sure Shougeki No Souma has an even looser grasp on culinary than just one little mistake in an otherwise very correct and straightforward proccess.

Also, Fanservice that blatant turns me off.

Episode 4. In which there's chocolate.

Have to wear her out? This is going to be interesting. Aww, Ryoko...

Well, can't beat her competitive spirit.

Good response, Asahina. You sure told them.

Ryoko, didn't you do that yourself just a few lines ago?

Yeah, in a challenge between them there can only be one loser. Well, two.

He actually expects to just be able to walk away from her?

Somehow, her dragging him along seems familiar...

Not much to say other than Haruhi being Haruhi.

First obstacle: Opening the bag. Ryoko's good at cheerleeding. Or funny looking, at least. And that is why you always control your strength when tearing open a bag like that. Make sure you physically can't pull too far.

Second obstacle: Melting the chocolate. She's really waiting for her to go that far.

Haruhi's inexplicably cute while hunting.

And that makes at least two girls he's got better chemistry with than the main girl. I could also include the original Nagato in that.

Why would she deny that?

I've got a suspicion that Tsuruya might be a little bit violent.

They're so compatible lunch buddies.

He's got more optimism than he can afford.

And that's a good reason to begin the day with giving. Also, kind of a not-very-romantic chocolate Haruhi gives him.

There's really no reason to have boiling water. It's not as if chocolate requires a high temperature to melt. But yeah, you can microwave a lot of stuff people tell you you can't, as long as you do it correctly.

edited 24th Apr '15 5:29:44 PM by AnotherDuck

Boiling water without the steam coming out of the pot is actually the ideal situation because it lets you see how much you are into the melting process, my issue was with correcting a minor slip up with a bigger one.

Trust me, I used to make and sell those kinds of chocolate.

Yeah, I got that. I just think the anime is more about if you don't know what you're doing, don't use the microwave, which is a generally good advice. Of course, anime in general tend to be bad about old wives' tales and stuff. Lots of traditional knowledge that's actually false.

When I was younger, we used to make chocolate treats for Christmas (a very simple one is just small balls of almond paste covered with chocolate). And occasionally at other times too. Generally melted chocolate with the water method (it feels more traditional, which at least to me makes it more fun), but I've used a microwave too.

Also, I tend to never trust people who tell me to trust them.

edited 24th Apr '15 6:43:16 PM by AnotherDuck

I tend to never trust people who tell me to trust them.

You are a wise person.

Have to agree the show is not selling its main couple well. More Haruhi/Kyon romance than in the original. Maybe the copious lesbian subtext will make up for it.

I prefer this character art to that of KyoAni, but the backgrounds seem like sketches in comparison. The river looked especially washed out. Otherwise I can commend them for trying some things even if they don't always work. Many scenes are big improvements on the manga. The music is appropriate and sweet, if distracting at times.

And for once they draw attention to wearing short skirts in supposed cold weather.

Not Taniguchi's good day. Is this Yuki, Haruhi, or Ryoko's show? It's hard to tell sometimes. It feels like there's more emphasis on Haruhi than the manga had, though it's been awhile since I read it. This reminds me that Yuki and Mikuru barely had any interaction in the original. So I guess one relationship is improved here. Two if you count Kyon/Haruhi making more progress here than in the original.

My word, they really played up the Haruhi x Kyon OTP, especially compared to the manga. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing for a fan of the franchise as a whole, but you'd have to feel for Yuki here — her show, basically hijacked by Haruhi every time she comes to visit.

That is kinda the point this episode and its respective manga chapters were going for.

And... that the world may be different, but put Haruhi and Kyon together, and things will just happen between them. The entire conversation at the cafe, and the one at the riverbank, were more or less lifted from Melancholy. :>

That's not so bad in my case. I really can't see Yuki and Kyon working as a couple, not much energy or chemistry between them imho.

And I remember Kyon in novels wonders about why girls are unlucky enough to wear short skirts in inappropriate times more than once.