Haruhi Suzumiya

Character evolution... she certainly starts out as a ass, but improves.

Yeah, Haruhi making the movie is basically when she reaches peak Jerkass. It's not good for Tsuruya either really since she was complicit by helping Haruhi get Mikuru drunk by spiking her juice.

Its more forgivable in the anime since she only used amazake which is really weak and acceptable for minors to drink in moderation (hence the substitution with at the time relatively new censorship laws introduced in Tokyo) but in the novels she used tequila.

I had a thought about Ryoko Asakura and her plan to kill Kyon in order to get a reaction out of Haruhi. I wondered what would have happened if she had planned things so that Haruhi was there when she tried to kill Kyon. Since her goal was to get a reaction out of Haruhi, wouldn't having her witness Kyon's murder make a bigger reaction compared to killing him without Haruhi seeing it? With it being that early on in the story, would that have changed any major plot points? For example, if Haruhi witnessed the fight between Ryoko and Yuki, that would have outright shown her that they weren't human. On the other hand, Haruhi might have tried to fight Ryoko herself first.

If I had to make a guess I'd say there were two factors behind why Asakura didn't try to kill Kyon in front of Haruhi.

The first is that it would likely have involved revealing her powers, and I think that even the Radical faction was against just straight up coming out and being the ones to break the masquerade.

Second and somewhat related to that is that Haruhi knowing who did it would immediately put the entire Data Entity in danger. Everyone at this point is only really in agreement about one thing: Haruhi can't control her powers, and uses them unconsciously. So with a target to place on the blame on, who knows what would've happened.

In the end it came down to acceptable vs. unacceptable risk. At least in my estimation of it.

That's a good point about it putting the Data Entity in danger of being altered and/or erased by Haruhi if that made her see them as an enemy. I hadn't thought about that aspect of it, nor that even her Radical faction wouldn't want to reveal things to Haruhi.

I also realized that even if it wasn't in the way she intended, Ryoko ended up provoking a response from Haruhi anyway because her failed attempt to kill Kyon got her deleted by Yuki, which then created the scenario where Haruhi got curious about Ryoko's abrupt "transfer" from school. I don't know if that created the kind of information that would interest the Data Entity, but she did succeed in her ultimate goal of getting some kind of a reaction from Haruhi.

Edited by Rainbow on Sep 23rd 2023 at 3:45:28 AM

THE LONG WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!!

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-09-24/haruhi-suzumiya-franchise-gets-new-light-novel-volume-concert-event/.202751

The live-streamed "Sneaker Bunko 35th Anniversary Festa!" special announced on Sunday that a new volume in Nagaru Tanigawa's Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series is in production. Franchise illustrator Noizi Ito drew an illustration for the announcement of the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekijō (The Theater of Haruhi Suzumiya) volume:

And they said the franchise was dead.

RE: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=ie8jkvazrr7jy5n6g52flgci&page=198#comment-4930

I don't think so. Judging by Ryoko trying to provoke Haruhi by stabbing Kyon, the Data Integration Entity wanted Haruhi to use her powers, so that they could gather more data on them. Haruhi being investigating like a regular human isn't that interesting from their viewpoint, unless she subconsciously fabricated an entire backstory for Ryoko/a version of Ryoko with her powers.

Good lord, it's been so long.

That said, it's good that Tanigawa still wants to write about Haruhi. Now all I need is a new entry for Hyouka, and we're good.

If the Data Entity did want Haruhi to use her powers, then my original idea of "what if Ryoko tried to kill Kyon in front of Haruhi?" would be more plausible.

As for the new book title, the Literal-Minded part of me imagines a story about Haruhi wanting to put on a play, similar to what she did with her movie. Although that might be too similar to the story about her movie, depending on how it was executed. For example, to make things different, maybe this time, she actually wants to be part of the story and act on stage rather than just being the director.

Edited by Rainbow on Sep 25th 2023 at 1:25:59 AM

I've heard on the Haruhi subreddit that this might be another collection of previously published short stories with one new short story like the last one. No clue how true that is but if it is true I hope we get another entry that isn't short stories sooner or later. Short stories are fine and at least this time we didn't have to wait nearly a decade for a new book but it's still been nearly 3 years since the last book and that was also just repacked short stories (Plus one new one.).

Edited by Chariot on Sep 25th 2023 at 4:24:40 AM

I have a question about a cultural reference in the novel version of Sigh that I don't understand and couldn't find listed on the Shout Out page for the series. In the novel's version of the part where Mikuru gets drugged at Tsuruya's house, Kyon thinks that Mikuru was saying things while drunk that make him want to "offer flowers to a certain mouse." Is this a reference to Mickey or Minnie Mouse, or to something different? (such as a mouse from a Japanese story that I'm not aware of) I couldn't think of any fictional mice that would have anything to do with that situation aside from the term Slipping a Mickey which isn't related to Mickey Mouse aside from the name.

On the subject of that scene, I noticed that most of Haruhi's worst moments involve her abusing Mikuru. My best guess for why is a combination of Haruhi being jealous of Mikuru's breast size (mentioned when Mikuru first gets forced into the brigade) along with Mikuru being easy for Haruhi to dominate in terms of her personality and physical abilities. I know she gets better as the novels go on, though, as I don't remember that many more incidents of Haruhi harassing Mikuru later on in the series in the parts that weren't animated (although I could be forgetting things).

Edited by Rainbow on Sep 29th 2023 at 4:09:34 AM

Flowers for Algernon?

Edited by homogenized on Sep 29th 2023 at 4:09:28 AM

Thank you! I've never read that book or seen the movie, so I didn't know the title referred to a mouse, but based on what is said on the trope page you linked, that makes sense as being the reference there.

Edited by Rainbow on Sep 29th 2023 at 4:31:53 AM

https://twitter.com/MangaMoguraRE/status/1736442495595159856?t=uz--D1QNkq47csys62YGsw&s=19

So, for those that can't access twitter to see the message, here's what it's saying:

"According to Japanese fans on Twitter, after a special screening of "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" yesterday, an after credits scene appeared that told fans to pay attention to the series official website for some sort of announcement..."

There's the new novel in the pipe, obviously. But like, it couldn't possibly be more animated stuff. Right?

@shanejayell

Wow. Art Evolution ahoy.