アニ・ノート

Youtube continues to deliver the “holy crap” experience. Back when Haruhi was overhyped, I only decided to watch it because of those adorable “Nyoron~” comics and Chiruya; needless to say, the anime was a big disappointment in that regard!

Now Kadokawa decided to fix that little problem postfactum, by animating the 4coma, and uploading it (via Diego). And they even had Ryoko! Who also was adorable! Tears of happiness are streaming down my cheeks while I laugh out loud.

UPDATE: Melancholy of Haruhi-chan is kinda ok too. But not as nice. Not as adorable, I guess.

What a coincidence, the next day after I blog them, Kadokawa posts new shorts and there’s an article at Random Curiosity. In it, Jaalin did not write a single word about the scandalous lack of mini-Ryoko.

I stated it explicitly before, but perhaps didn’t stress it enough:

[The] biggest point I took away home was that Kyon is no rebel. He not just accepts his own fate of servitude, but rationalizes it (”for the sake of the world!”) and gets complicit in it. Perhaps even finds small fun here and there, or tries to ride the dragon. In order to drive the point home, creators trotted out Ryoko, who rebels and dies for it. I thought it was glorious.

Since the above was blogged, I turned the matter over a few times in my mind. I did not want to accept the outcome. But there’s really not much Kyon could possibly do, given the circumstances. Events unrolled too quickly to take them in and realize what was going on. In retrospect, the best option would have been getting squished by the giant in the sports field. But normal people only get fed up gradually over the course of years, so there was no way for Kyon to recognize that there was no hope before the critical decisions had to be made. It was a railroad plot all along, a setup made by Anti-spirals.

From this point of view, Ryoko resolved to act much quicker than a human would. Most likely it was an outcome of her greater capacity for reasoning. Plus, she possibly simmered for a while before Kyon appeared on site.

ANDY REMINDS in an e-mail that Kyon is likely manufactured by Haruhi to enjoy it.

By the way, I’m aware of the tilt the source material is taking. Here’s a sample from Jonathan’s spoiler FAQ (which I’ve read before watching):

Question: During the First Conversation, Why Does Haruhi Ask Kyon if They Have Met Before?

This is answered in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, which will probably be included if there is a second season of the anime.

Andy is known to lean heavily on extra material, he did so when we talked F/SN and Nanoha at least. But I always take an anime-centric view. As far as I’m concerned, Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody might as well not exist.

In his post on Nyoron Churuya-san 04, Jaalin riddles us with a screencap and tooltip “if you don’t already recognize her, the voice will surely do it”.

The only thing that comes to mind is the snowbug from Aria, but, as far as I remember, it does not speak.

I’m out of ideas. And yes, the voice does seem quite familiar.

UPDATE: Hikago says it’s Kyon’s sister (CV: Sayaka Aoki, credited for both roles).

Not sure if I came to hate anime in general like Charles Solomon, or I’m getting tired of the same joke chewed over and ower, but this does not amuse me.

At least Churuya received some smoked cheese this week.

UPDATE: Jaalin says:

The sheer amount of emotional trauma these two chibis [Ashakura and Chiruya] are put through on a weekly basis is frankly starting to get to me, and yet I still coming back week after week.

Like the “Zombies at the Mall” episode of Penny-Arcade, Melancholy of Haruhi-chan entered an arc of pure, unmitigated fanservice. Yes, I said “arc”, as KyotoAni dabbed into continuity in an unprecendented way. They were obviously bound and chained by the mini-episode format. Still, it’s all about the fanservice, as screencaps below attest. I felt bad sizing them for the blog!

Amazing!

Holy smokes!

Super cute!

Oh My God!

BTW, is anyone missing? Someone… small?

Message from the club president:

For those as fanatical as I am, there’s a New Haruhi Episode on the Kadokawa channel. It looks exactly like old Haruhi, but there’s 1 minute 30 seconds of new footage interspersed throughout. I swear, this company hates its fans. :/

For mazochists among you, I live to serve.

The continuity did not happen, just like that. They just play with fans’ feelings.

Powerful eyes, yes. But it’s a bit too little for the Season 2.

Interesting text: あちゃくらさんは自分の事を棚にあげた. It looks to me to translate literally to “Miss Achakura put herself (her own matters) on the shelf”, which does not correspond to the official translation. But perhaps I’m not that far off and the original idea is how Achakura hoisted herself on her own petard.

Hanners reminded me to check the new Haruhi-chan.

Churuya realizes the potential that the main show promised but never delivered. I’m afraid that I’ll need to buy the DVD, just as the evil Chairman Kadokawa planned when he uploaded these clips.

Only one episode of Haruhi-chan was posted this week, #25. In it, KyotoAni continues to screw with fans. I really don’t feel like posting every week only to belittle the show, since it’s certainly good for what it is: giving a stiff competion to Adventures of Mini-Goddess. On the other hand, every time I watch an installment, I’m reminded about the sadistic nature of its creators, torment of the fans, and so on.

Even Churuya-chan was infected. Honestly, in the scene where both lolis fall asleep (on Kyon, no less), I expected to see both dreams. But they only showed one. Perhaps it’s the joke, but then it’s pretty lame, even if the first dream was insanely glorious. I mean, the dance in the air, and then the smoked cheese head floating above all that in the majestic light… They probably just ran out of ideas how Achakura could rival that.

P.S. I completely forgot that Emili Kimidori was a character in the main show until a frame in 25 reminded me (she was yet another human interface, briefly appearing to entertain Haruhi). Still, being reincarnated as a balloon dog was a bad lot even for it/her/him.