As someone else who doesn't like schadenfreude, and also a fan of Kyon's character, I found this story overrated and not that enjoyable.
At the same time, the story is consistent, and technically well written. It contains my least-favorite possible interpretations of both Kyon and Haruhi, ever (with him being a hopeless buttmonkey, and Haruhi being a physically violent (and extreme) tsundere, exactly like neither of them are in canon).
I could not stand the OC of Haruhi's father; he really is a complete monster with no redeeming traits.
I also personally feel that these aren't great choices for Haruhi's parents; really, I'd expect her parents to be incredibly boring, and be what prompted Haruhi to want to be 'different', not to have them be so out there that their behaviors justify anything Haruhi does to Kyon (which ... tends to be really mean).
I'll give Jon Bob credit; he at least does intend to portray a romantic relationship, even if he did unintentionally spark off the hugest and worst trend of characterizations (RE: Buttmonkey!Kyon, Uber Tsundere!Haruhi) that currently plague the Haruhi fanfiction community.
You really can't blame the guy for having pale imitators. Ironically, I only discovered this story when fans of it begged me to use his original characters in my own(; that'd end in one of those O Cs being killed, and no one missing him, though, so ... no).
Beyond those flaws? The story is actually okay, and internally consistent. It's not my cup of tea because I don't find the pain of others amusing, and I only like Haruhi when she grows as a character (and kicking Kyon in the head to wake him up after making him sleep on the floor qualifies as the opposite of that, for me). That doesn't mean there aren't some good jokes in there.
Moreover, Jon Bob is one of the few authors that actually bother to put descriptive detail into clothing — it's so unusual in the fandom I found it a bit jarring until I adapted. But, hey! Variety is the spice of life, and who wouldn't appreciate more detail?
As long as you don't feel some need to respect Kyon, or see Haruhi show kindness until the very end, this is more readable than you may be lead to believe! Yeah, over-hyped, but just because it's over-hyped doesn't mean it's not good. Just not perfect.
A bit overrated, but honestly, not that terrible
As someone else who doesn't like schadenfreude, and also a fan of Kyon's character, I found this story overrated and not that enjoyable.
At the same time, the story is consistent, and technically well written. It contains my least-favorite possible interpretations of both Kyon and Haruhi, ever (with him being a hopeless buttmonkey, and Haruhi being a physically violent (and extreme) tsundere, exactly like neither of them are in canon).
I could not stand the OC of Haruhi's father; he really is a complete monster with no redeeming traits.
I also personally feel that these aren't great choices for Haruhi's parents; really, I'd expect her parents to be incredibly boring, and be what prompted Haruhi to want to be 'different', not to have them be so out there that their behaviors justify anything Haruhi does to Kyon (which ... tends to be really mean).
I'll give Jon Bob credit; he at least does intend to portray a romantic relationship, even if he did unintentionally spark off the hugest and worst trend of characterizations (RE: Buttmonkey!Kyon, Uber Tsundere!Haruhi) that currently plague the Haruhi fanfiction community.
You really can't blame the guy for having pale imitators. Ironically, I only discovered this story when fans of it begged me to use his original characters in my own(; that'd end in one of those O Cs being killed, and no one missing him, though, so ... no).
Beyond those flaws? The story is actually okay, and internally consistent. It's not my cup of tea because I don't find the pain of others amusing, and I only like Haruhi when she grows as a character (and kicking Kyon in the head to wake him up after making him sleep on the floor qualifies as the opposite of that, for me). That doesn't mean there aren't some good jokes in there.
Moreover, Jon Bob is one of the few authors that actually bother to put descriptive detail into clothing — it's so unusual in the fandom I found it a bit jarring until I adapted. But, hey! Variety is the spice of life, and who wouldn't appreciate more detail?
As long as you don't feel some need to respect Kyon, or see Haruhi show kindness until the very end, this is more readable than you may be lead to believe! Yeah, over-hyped, but just because it's over-hyped doesn't mean it's not good. Just not perfect.