I first tried out the first episode to see how it would be. But seeing such a jerkish title character (is it wrong to call her the main character?), I decided I wanted nothing to do with it. Hearing that Haruhi would blackmail a computer out of a guy and suffer no punishment only strengthened my decision.
But then I somehow read the great fanfics The Coin and Big Damn Hero. I wondered if there might be something here so I asked for the first book for Christmas. I hope it is as good as people say.
"What's out there? What's waiting for me?"
Haruhi is, well, pretty monstrous at the start. There's no denying that. Either you overlook it and go on, or you find it too much of an obstacle to continue. I don't blame anyone for the latter, but if you keep going hoping that Haruhi will get her comeuppance, then you will be disappointed. Haruhi grows, but not that way.
As for Asahina, I do feel like her roles as eye candy or Haruhi's plaything aren't balanced out enough. Even the stories later in the novel series with her taking on a larger role don't really give her an avenue to grow. I feel her character is actually inhibited by the presence of her older self because then there's no mystery about what she'll grow into. The only question is when, if at all, we'll see it.
Author of The Second Coming (NGE) and The Coin (Haruhi).Leave a Comment:
Good, but not without flaws
I can honestly say that I am a massive fan of the Haruhi Suzumiya series. And... according to a few nega-reviews, I guess that makes me a pretentious person who believes Everyone Is Jesus In Purgatory.
Except no- I can see why people hate on this series. The way fans go on about it, you'd think it was the deepest, most heart-stopping, wonderful genre-busting awesome thing that ever existed. But while I certainly think it's one of the best Animes out there, you gotta remember that to us westerners, Anime is subject to Sturgeons Law. So it makes it- really good compared to the morass of turd underneath it, but not necessarily perfection.
This is what I think the series does right: Haruhi, for one. She is- and let's not put this lightly- a Villain Protagonist who develops into a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold. And the character development, for the most part, is handled really well. Haruhi is everything society shuns in a nutshell combined with an energy that belies an extremely depressed girl. I honestly think that she's a really well-drawn character.
Kyon is also a fantastic character, and this ultimately draws from the fact that he's the narrator. The way how he offers what could be completely-wrong interpretations of events really adds to the ambiguity of the series and makes for a great plethora of fan theories. It's also fair to point out that although Kyon claims to be 'normal', his narrations show that clearly, on some level, he operates in an odd way. This makes Kyon as interesting to analyse as our 'main character' Haruhi.
Yuki is also done incredibly well- she may be a simple Robot Girl, but the way that she subtly changes throughout the series is a really brilliant example of how Humanity Ensues can be played subtly, before finally a freakin' movie can be made about it.
I also like Koizumi, but for different reasons- his utter falseness sprinkled with occasional truth makes him... untrustworthy, yet a loyal teammate. I also like to subscribe to his theory that Mikuru is acting... why?
Because all that's wrong with the series can be summarised with Mikuru- she is an annoying, cacophonous, and ridiculously useless character. Her older self is more forgivable, but Mikuru embodies the series' mistakes- gratuitous fanservice and a poor interpretation of what fans want from the series.