a few more minor thought stragglers for Melancholy of Haruhi

[timepiececlock]

1. I was totally right about Haruhi being the antagonist of the series. As much as there is a villain, she's it, even if she's not aware of the fact. Actually, the title says it best: it is Haruhi's boredom, her melancholy, her mood swings, that are the force of negative events and conflict.



2. There are a few scenes in the opening that I don't remmber ever seeing in the actual episodes: Haruhi at the piano, Haruhi behind Kyon on the bicycle. I'm sure there's others as well.

3. The natural movement and visual "feel" of the animation really took this series to another level. I don't know if I'd've loved it nearly as much if it didn't look and move so well. The facial expressions and gestures are more detailed and expressive than most anime series havea budget for.

4. I got a laugh out of the homoerotic vibe with every scene between Itsuko and Kyon; Kyon also noticed and his minor freakouts whenever it became awkward (which lessened over time, haha) amused me, as did Itsuko's blase reaction.

Comments

SPOILERS, SPOILERS

[rasielle.livejournal.com]

SPOILERS -->



I just remembered that they mentioned everything began three years ago, on the day that's usually associated with Haruhi gazing at a shooting star in the OP. I never quite understood whether the entire world and all of Kyon's memories began on that day, or whether it was remade to incorporate Haruhi's additions on that day, or whether Haruhi became the new god that day and changed the Brigade members' lives as she remade the world for the first time. Personally, I leaned toward the last conclusion, since Yuki implied that the new influx of incoherent data appeared for the first time three years ago and that it settled in Haruhi. I think it's up to interpretation, though, just as the slippery half of meta usually is.

Re: SPOILERS, SPOILERS

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I would wonder about the books for that. I haven't read them, so I can't say. I plan to read translations at some point.


From the anime, I would suspect a combination. The way I figured it, Haruhi always had the potential, but it wasn't until she realized her place in the world as insignificant that she "awakened" and began to alter the world around her to fit the perceived lack. The world was already there, and so was Kyon, and possibly so were the others (though Mikuru might have only been alive in the future timeline). And what Haruhi did was either make them special or draw their attention or create them as new people in the universe. Of course, once they're there, they come with a pre-existing history as part of their presence.