Nice Girls: They Just Can't Win

"No one's going to side with you, you're stark-raving mad!" - Ash Ketchum

"Oh yeah? Just ask your mother..." - Giovanni

"That's all in the past!" - Ash Ketchum

"Listen to me, little boy, nice guys finish last, last...!" - Giovanni

Given the endings of many of the animes with romantic conflicts, that I've recently watched, Giovanni could very well be talking about nice girls instead. Indeed, that could explain why Ash Ketchum keeps moving on from one girl to another to another. Ash is internalizing what he was told by one of his greatest enemies, and hence he's not letting any of the nice girls that he's met end up with him...

A harem-esque Pokemon anime might be a lot of fun... ;)

Number 9: Tatewaki Kuno!

Top Ten Countdown - Number 9: Tatewaki Kuno


Moral Alignment: Lawful Evil

Supporting Quotes - "'What Fates impose that men must need abide.'
The course is now clear... A-ha! His hold on you is gone! Come, let us date!"

"'Cowards die many times before their deaths...'
No doubt he feared my prowess."


AMV showcase video here. (This particular AMV I made myself ^_^ )


Before I get into why I chose Tatewaki Kuno, of the immortal Ranma ½ anime, as Number 9 on my Top 10 countdown list, let me explain a new feature that will be in play for him and the eight characters that beat him out in the charge for top spot. That feature is the Moral Alignment focus. Something that I noticed while making my Top 10 selections is how the Top 9 all fit fairly comfortably into the nine moral alignment blocks of Dungeons & Dragons fame. Yes, a couple of the characters have to be exaggerated, or strained, a bit in order to fit their specific slot (Kuno himself, for example, is not particularly evil; although he's more villainous than heroic it could certainly be argued). However, all of those moral alignment selections are at least defensible for the nine characters I picked for my Top 9, I believe. Personally, I found this kind of neat. Like a stockholder going over his portfolio, I very much like how diversified my Top 10 Favorite Anime Characters of All-Time is. ;)

It would be easy to pick nothing but heroic protagonists, or to take nothing but colorful chaos creators, and hence I take a certain pride in having a well-balanced (I hope) presentation of anime characters here. That being said, I suspect that of all of my Top 10 selections that this one will be the most controversial and perhaps the least well-received. This is because, even as an antagonist, Tatewaki Kuno is deeply flawed.

His perception of the world around him is... drastically skewed, so much so that legitimate questions pertaining to his intelligence, and even to his very sanity, can be raised. Furthermore, his competency and suitability as a serious threat to the main protagonist (Ranma Saotome, in this case) is frequently in question. So why then does he actually make my list as one of my Top 10 Favorite Anime Characters of All-Time?


There are several reasons, most of them hitting home for me personally; hitting home with all the force of Kuno's bokken slicing cleanly through a tree. First of all, there's simply his moniker of 'The Blue Thunder of Furiken High'. That's a simply smashing title to actually introduce yourself by, in my opinion. And the fact that Kuno frequently does introduce himself that way reflects another aspect to his character that I like, and that is the sheer comedy value of it. Kuno's unintentionally hilarious stand-up routine almost never misses a beat... ;)



Kuno is a splendorous comedic antagonist; often unsurpassed at arousing gleeful guffawing guttural laughter. While the Ranma ½ anime as a whole remains a celebrated comedic classic for me, the character of Tatewaki Kuno in particular rarely failed to bring a smile and chuckle to my face. If he was on camera, I could be ensured that my diaphragm, larynx, lungs, and vocal chords would be in for a good workout. ;)

To this day, Ranma ½ remains the superlative anime comedy for me. Its cast is as colorful as the Teletubbies in Rainbowland, and it had the feel of Days of our Lives mixed with The Simpsons mixed with gender-bending, animal-rendering, martial arts-sundering, harem anime. For a long time, I'd go over to my cousin's house just down the street every day after work, and marathon a few episodes of this anime along with him. It was such a lighthearted stress reliever. And as I said before, no Ranma ½ character contributed more to that than Tatewaki Kuno did.


But comedy alone doesn't explain Kuno's appeal to me. As over-the-top as he is, I can still relate to him to a significant extent. I say that somewhat embarrassingly, since this relates in turn to one of my odder quirks and failings in life. Like Kuno himself, I am an old-fashioned romantic. Similar to Kuno, I was rarely shy about approaching the girls in school that I had crushes on, and I even wrote much love poetry whereas Kuno recited such romantic rhetoric. And also much like Kuno, my love is almost always unrequited... ^_^;


So, in a very real way, I can feel Kuno's pain...


To be sure, and to relieve the likely concerns of my readers, my attempts at courtship were nowhere near as blind and unaccepting of clear rejection as Kuno's was... but by the same token, I've never been good at picking up on hints, and hence it could sometimes take weeks, if not months, before a lovely luscious lady that I had my eyes on would manage to successful convey rejection to me. And each such time, my heart withered under the melancholic strands seeking to constrain unquenchable fires ironically thirsting for dousing by the sweetly scented dewdrops of love dripping from the leafy lush lips of the woman of my dreams...

So, as you can see, cherished reader, I often share with Kuno his propensity to make utterances in finely flowing flowery language. ;)

And yet, what I admired in Kuno, and what I myself lacked in my teenage years, was the ability to be eternally optimistic in spite of the heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, spirit-debilitating dismisses of desired loves. Kuno consistently overcomes such setbacks, and in so doing, casts the image of a proud man with an abiding sense of honor and a dogged determination for abundant joyous life. Kuno, too, is a Determinator in his own way. And indeed, all of my Top 10 picks are in one fashion or another, this being a common cord that runs through them all and provides at least a silver lining of consistency to the clouds that hang in the bright blue sky overhead my 10 favorite anime characters of all time.


Beyond all of the above, there are a few more short reasons for why I like Kuno so much. As I grew in my anime fandom, two factors in particular caused me to gradually like Kuno more and more, and make him one of the few anime characters of the 90s to remain in my favorites list through even the watching of all the recent animes of renown. Those two factors are as follows...

1) Ghost, of Comic Book Resources legend, is also a Tatewaki Kuno fan. This let me know that I was not alone in liking Kuno; liberating me in a sense to feel more 'Ok' with my liking of a frequently disparaged character.

2) Kuno's two peculiarities became steadily more apparent to me.

First of all, he is courageous in the ways of romance. This is staggeringly unique for an anime character, a fact that was not known to me during my first viewing of Ranma ½. Within his own anime, Kuno's willingness to always be open about his romantic feelings for others only stood out mildly... for other characters like Kodachi, Ryouga, and Shampoo were also similarly fearless here. However, over and against the whole of anime, Kuno's approach to romance is marvelously rare.

Secondly, Kuno is a bishonen... and an underdog. Kuno is consistently presented as physically outmatched by Ranma Saotome, and arguably by most of 'The Nerima Wrecking Crew'. An underdog bishonen is practically an oxymoron within anime, yet Kuno is one. The physique and style of the bishonen embodied by a figure that you can legitimately pity... it is a stark contrast that I can appreciate much like I do the gorey moe of Higurashi.


Finally, there are two more reasons that I liked Kuno practically from the moment I saw him. First is how he uses a bokken, uses it a lot, and keeps it at his side at all times. This reminds me of my favorite cartoon character when growing up in the 80s... He-Man. :) For me, Kuno is like the dark mirror image of He-Man; similarly lawful, but dangerously troublesome instead of helpfully heroic, and a man of conspicuous charm instead of understated gentlemanly grace.

And last, but certainly not least, Kuno's English dub actor is one with a manifestly distinct voice to me. I've liked Ted Cole a lot both in his role as Tatewaki Kuno, and also in his role as Gilbert Durandal in Gundam Seed Destiny. Cole has the ideal voice for the suave idealist, be his ideals romantic (Kuno) or political (Durandal).

So, Ted, this is thanks to you, and thanks to Rumiko Takahashi, for helping to bring to life a character that has brought me much cheering, enthusiasm, laughs, and smiles in life. I can only hope that in some fairy tale land beyond the typical inconclusive ends of Takahashi, that Kuno's final romantic moment leaves him feeling like this... ;)

Haruhi 2009 Episode 12 Minutia Review!

Maybe Haruhi should have given herself the main role... ;)




I really have to learn to watch episodes before commenting on anything about them.

I really do. ^_^;;;

The impression that I took from the still pictures of this episode that I combed through over on 2Chan was that Haruhi's facial appearance in this episode would continue to feature bewildering deformed looks, and/or lots of broken lines and poor line definition in general. It gave me the impression that this episode was moving farther away from the 2006 Haruhi art model instead of closer to it.

That impression, needless to say, was wholly inaccurate... and boy, am I glad about that! :D

This pretty much is 2006 Haruhi art style. Very much contrary to what some contributors over on Anime Suki's Haruhi subforum have stated, it looks to me like the 2006 Haruhi art style has returned. Who knows, maybe even the frequent critiques of the more recent moeblob style has finally reached KyoAni's eyes, and upon reading it so much, they decided to switch to the older style. I guess that expressing nerd rage in a whine stick way while enduring butt hurt can actually be productive after all. ;)

Folks, this is what fan feedback is all about:

It's about rewarding good content with reaffirming and reinforcing praise, both as a show of thanks to the makers of that content and to help ensure that you get more of the same, and...

It's about punishing poor content with corrective and constructive critique, both as a show of disapproval to the makers of the content and to help steer the show (if possible at all) in a direction that's more to your liking.

No entertainment company is an island unto itself. They're not deaf, dumb, and blind. If they get enough bad feedback, they'll usually take notice, and they will at least attempt to make amends. Kyoto Animation is no different, and it's very pleasing to me to see that maybe, just maybe, they really have listened to the the plethora of artwork critiques, and have made art adjustments in response to it. Well, enough of this meta-commentary for now... unto the episode review! 8)


We begin with the imposing trio of that tall more-mirthful-than-mistletoe chap of Itsuki Koizumi standing next to the perpetually perturbed Hunchback-of-North-High Kyon, and the ever vibrant vivacious vixen Haruhi Suzumiya! This opening visual alone foreshadows the frenzied flight of fitful fibrillating fun that we're in for this week, readers of my Triple_R Queen of Queens minutia review!

This Week's Sake Shot Glass Challenge!: Take a shot for every time Mikuru pops up on screen, and appears to be suffering in some fashion. :D

And we certainly don't have to wait long to see her suffering this week, do we?! ^_^;

Haruhi: Yuki, use your magic and attack Mikuru-chan!

Aaahhh... a Director and a military commander all in one! How can somebody not love Haruhi?! :D

Well, Kyon doesn't seem to be loving her much. With eyes so slanted that it makes me wonder how Kyon is even able to see anything, and with an obvious jealousy over not having an acting role of his own, we behold Kyon put on a stirring (albeit short) performance as a traffic cop issuing a "No! Stop!" command! Makes me wonder why Kyon never bothers to simply call the cops on Haruhi. In fact, given Haruhi and her Brigade's rollicking riotous retreat! sequence shortly after the Super Driver opening, I think I'd find it even more comically side-splitting to watch the fine men and women in uniform of the TV show "COPS!" chase after a Haruhi caught red-handed committing a crime. :D

However, I doubt that even such an hot and intense pursuit as that could leave Mikuru looking like she does at 00:19! Man oh man, Asahina, with uncontrollable shakes like that, you need to see a doctor, and fast! ^_^;

Maybe the good Dr. Casey wouldn't mind checking you out... any comments from the stalwart surgeon on such an idea, I wonder? ;)

Alas, it looks like Yuki is about to blow Mikuru away with the power of magic... except, thankfully, there's this little thing holding her back relating to how Haruhi needs to be kept in the dark about the true nature of Yuki, Koizumi, and Asahina at all times. It's really nice to see this anime finally get back to that important sci-fi subterfuge angle that's been pretty much missing the entire year up until now. This episode consistently and strikingly plays up the secretive charm of that overarching plot element. It really serves as an adept accentuation of the more pure comedy elements of the episode.

Speaking of comedy elements, Haruhi's look and voice acting of displeasure at 00:29 gave me a pleasant little chuckle. There's no question that Haruhi is in full-blown chaotic mischief making master mode for this episode, and I can't wait to see more of it as this episode continues to unfold!

Cue the opening credits!!! A satellite Super Driver will now send us streaking skyward into an outer space of unimaginable unctuous euphoria! Here we go...! ;D


Shortly after the opening sequence, we see Haruhi make the "Rock on!" signal, while talking about how she wants to film Mikuru next to pigeons outside of a temple. Somehow, I very much doubt that Haurhi's rambunctious raucous rocking is going to be particularly appreciated at a serene shrine, ha ha!

Now we see black pigeons descending upon Mikuru, perhaps symbolizing the gradual pecking away at Mikuru's decency and joy that Haruhi does on a day by day basis. But merely pecking away is not good enough for Haruhi, as she channels Lara Croft to take aim at Mikuru with both of her guns, and fires them off with such rapid flare that even a John Wayne gunslinger would feel compelled to tip his hat in admiration towards Haruhi. The pigeons than scatter while Mikuru whines. All-in-all, 3:03 to 3:06 is amazingly animated in both its quickness and smoothness and impeccably placed sound effects and voice acting bits. This synchronization is so terrific that even Hecate of Shakugan no Shana couldn't help but to feel full and satisfied by it! ;)

Then we get a gut-busting guttural grunt from a Shrine Priest... gut-busting in how funny it is! :D We then see the Ranma 1/2-esque character race out, about to put a Miroku-level shellacking to the demonic Director! ;)

3:15 to 3:25 then presents us with another flawlessly frolicking flowing of frames that is both exciting to the extreme, and hilarious to the heavens above! One of my favorite ten second sequences in all of anime... ever!.

That entire sequence made me think of a scene from El Hazard: the Magnificent World where Fire Priestess Shayla Shayla's unexpected assault caused Katsuhiko Jinnai to yell his bugrom forces into"Retreat!" from Mount Muldoon much like what Haruhi has been caused to do here.... although the SOS Brigade are quite a bit faster, and in fact downright Ranma 1/2-esque, in their withdraw than the giant cicadas known as bugrom are. ;) So, a rather neat fusion of Haruhi, El Hazard, and Ranma 1/2 here, for me.

Over at the restaurant, Mikuru appears to be traumatized by the entire event, and hence crying into her noodles. Poor girl. :(

For once, Haruhi actually takes pity on the lovely Asahina, but misdiagnoses her as simply not eating enough. Perhaps in addition to checking out Mikuru, Anime Suki's own Dr. Casey could also take Haruhi under his wing and teach her a thing or two about how to read patients. ;) Still, Kyon must think that Asahina doesn't need to be diagnosed at all, as he foresees a future with Asahina as Miss Universe herself.

LOL! Kyon certainly doesn't leave us in any doubt of what he thinks of Mikuru's looks, does he?

Loads of great facial expressions from Haruhi here. Many of her classic 2006 looks are back. For one, she has her curved at the bottom (and sometimes at the upper corners) triangular smiles back, and from 5:00 to 5:02, she has her classic annoyed look back. It looks like this...

It brings back a lot of great memories for me to see a fuller range of highly expressive and instantly recognizable emotions from Haruhi. It also kind of brings the anime much more to life for me. So good... so good like a lying on a lush green lawn on a bright summer day of clear blue skies and tranquil clouds... to see the return of what, to me, was a central element of Haruhi 2006. :)

Anyway, I found it cute how Haruhi kind of read Kyon's thoughts through his own expressions, but seemed to take them as perverted instead of malicious. ^_^; This offers up an intriguing possibility on Haruhi's character that contradicts what her eight trips over eight weeks to the "masses" swimming poll would lead you to believe - and that is that Haruhi perhaps doesn't like to be ogled. Not by Kyon, anyway.... hhmmm... I'll leave it to others to speculate on what this may mean.

Love Kyon's voice acting when he narrated "Baka!" over Koizumi's troublesome question. Kyon's anger was genuinely well-placed here, as you never should give Haruhi ideas... and Itsuki did exactly that with his question, hehe!

At 5:15, we see Haruhi make that bird beak-esque movement with her lips that I haven't seen since...

Haruhi 2006 is back, baby! :D :D :D

Austin Powers voice: Yeah, baby, Yeah! It's shagadelic! Meeoowwww...!!

Koizumi's reward for helping give us back more classic Haruhi? Why, he gets more screen time, of course! Unlike most fabulous actors, though, Itsuki doesn't seem too enthused by the idea, ha ha!

Haruhi: You need to beat a ton of minions before going after the boss.

Apparently, Haruhi now wants to be a video game designer. I don't know about you, but I'd love to first play a game made by her, and then watch the Angry Video Game Nerd review it! HA HA HA HA!!!

And who better to be evil minions than two characters actually inept enough for the role... Taniguchi and Kunikida, come on down, to the Thug is Right!

Haruhi then talks about how she wants to put Mikuru through extensive suffering, before reaching a happy ending and achieving an impacting final catharsis. Reminds me of what another famous anime Director did to a certain immigrant worker to Japan... he he he he... ;)













I wonder where Haruhi gets her love of guns and firing them from, hhmmmm? ;) I wonder who Mikuru's father may be... ;) It's all starting to make sense now, isn't it, Excel Saga and Haruhi Suzumiya fans! :D

However, perhaps my suspicions are not valid in this case, as Haruhi decides that she's going to have Mikuru drop the guns from here on out. On the other hand, Haruhi herself is still spinning one around threateningly...

She shoots a gun off into the air, and yells "action!"... with out first giving Yuki or Mikuru the slightest idea of what they're supposed to do other than "face off". LOL, Haruhi makes George Lucas' blue screen dependency look good by comaprison! ^_^;

A displeased Haruhi starts pounding her megaphone against Mikuru, bringing back memories to me of pro wrestling manager "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart. I guess that makes Haruhi the Mouth of the East, he he!

Haruhi also proceeds to lambast and lecture Mikuru to fittingly disturbing music, as we see glimpses of Haruhi seemingly start to believe in the possibilities of Zero-esque magical eyes. Makes you wonder if Haruhi knows more than she's letting on. Anyway, at least now we have a rationale behind the contact lens, however. On the other hand, can anybody save Mikuru from Haruhi's relentless abuse?! And the answer, of course, is...

...

...

... G.I. Kyon, a real Japanese hero... G.I. Kyon!!! :D

Kyon summons forth his inner Kamina once more! This time not to end the fans' misery, but rather Mikuru's! In the best "gar saves moe!" moment this side of Akasaka kicking the yamainu's ass in order to save Rika in Higurashi Kai, we see Kyon actually grapple Haruhi into submission!!!

Sean Connery: You're the man now, Kyon! (paraphrased ;) )

Outstanding voice acting for both Haruhi and Kyon here. Nice to see that Kyon's muscle definition as displayed during swimming poll scenes in the unmentionable arc has some real strength behind it, as he appears to actually be stronger than uber-athlete Haruhi!

I like how Haruhi handles it. She doesn't whine, or cry, or get upset, or bite and claw at Kyon, or explicitly admit defeat, or anything like that... she calmly maneuvers around the situation entirely by intellectually defending herself and explaining her reasoning. Great touch.

We then have another instance of foreshadowing in this episode as Kyon's narration continually points out how Mikuru couldn't - she couldn't possibly, could she? - actually generate a real life Mikuru Beam? Well.... I guess we'll just have to wait and find out, hehe. ;)

Haruhi finally provides some actual directing by displaying to Mikuru how she should look while emitting the Mikuru Beam.

Very solid use of extras to enhance Kyon's "I could feel the stares of the families around us burning into me" narration.

Love the sequence from 9:43 to 10:27

That entire minute or so of animation is purely flawless. Actually flawless!

From Haruhi's teeth-gritting exaggerated shout of "Mikuru BEEAAAMMM!!!", to the hazy video footage of Mikuru shooting it off, to all of Kyon's stunned facial expressions, to Yuki's AWESOME
death-defying rescuing movements and motions through out the entire scene, to the way the Mikuru Beam actually looked and sliced through things and caused things to burn, to Yuki's breathtaking Batman impersonation, to Haruhi's racing wildly out to the screening area to yell "Cut! Cut!", to Koizumi's sincerely concerned face as he rubbed the edge of the cut to his cue card... ABSOLUTELY FANTERIFFABULOUS!!!

Another top moment in all of anime history for me. And the background music for the scene...

Perfect.

Simply perfect.

To go back to El Hazard, it reminds me of the climatic fight against Galus there, and how you had just one rampageous intense moment after another after another all in a believable (that's the key charm) and gradually building in drama and suspense manner. Here again, I see familiarities between El Hazard and Haruhi - familiarities that help to make both animes two of my five all-time favorites.

And... at this juncture, I'm starting to realize just how overly long this blog entry is becoming. Also, aside from one facial expression for Haruhi that I really didn't like (at/around 16:28), I can't recall anything from this episode that I didn't like. It was a truly excellent and thoroughly enjoyable episode. And, while I disliked that one facial expression, I did love the perverted 'zooming in!' Kyon ogling Mikuru's breasts leading to jealous/upset Haruhi that built up to it! ;D

Also, aside from Tsuruya's triumphantly tremendous return (YAY!!!), I've already touched the highlights.

As such, I'll go through a few more observations quickly...

1) I adored Haruhi's expressionism through out the episode as a whole. Beyond what I've already picked up, I really like how decidedly villainous she looks from 18:30 to 18:38. What an evil open grin she has there! :D And her dialogue that went with it (as well as just before and after those 8 seconds) was such great slave-driving evil overlord megalomanical richness! I also liked her little purse-twirling cheerful-humming skipping off into the night... LOL!


2) I very much liked the art work, animation, voice work, and overall feel for the three-way discussion between Yuki, Itsuki, and Kyon in the aftermath of the Mikuru Beam firing off. What I found... not necessarily odd, but quite... debatable... about the scene, though, was how Nagato kept talking to Kyon's narration. Apparently, Kyon's "narration" gets through to more people than just Haruhi. This may make for a good topic of discussion over on Anime Suki.


3) Exquisite use of lighting and shading through out the episode. This is particularly notable for Kyon and Koizumi's one-on-one conversation starting around 18:50 or 18:51.


4) Haruhi's angry director routine during the last five minutes of the episode was another sensational moment... reflecting how no Hollywood sensation would want to work for Haruhi, he he! I do like the idea, though, of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton being put under Haruhi's dictatorial directorial thumb... ha ha!


5) Awesome use of the three main supporting case members - Tsuruya, and T&K. It was great to see those three characters put to some good use again.

Phew... I guess that I'm finally finished.

Thankfully, however, this anime isn't! I can't wait for the next episode! ^_^

Overall, an awe-inspiring 10/10 for an episode that probably ranks in my top 5 Haruhi episodes of all time, and perhaps even amongst my 20 or so favorite anime episodes of all time. I really, really liked it.

As always, any feedback and comments are most welcomed.

Oh, and since I felt like Haruhi was channeling him about half the time in this episode, and since I found this episode to be "magnificent" (hint, hint ;) ), I'm going to grace this episode of Haruhi with the Jinnai Seal of Approval (taken from Deviant Art - all credit to its makers)!!! :D :D :D

Playing Haruhi's Advocate

I know that Dr. Casey, amongst probably two or three other friends of mine, were probably hoping that I'd write a lengthy and comedic minutia review for Episode 11 of Season 2 of Haruhi. However, I found that hard to do for this episode for two reasons...

1) It's not outstanding to the degree where I felt that I could epically rave about it as I did the last five minutes of the last episode of the arc that shall not be named.

2) On the other hand, it's far too good to be lampooned frequently, as I was able to do with Episode 10 due to the lengthy focus on Kyon's shoes during one scene, his endless brow-furrowing, and Haruhi acting inexplicably at times.

It's in just that not-so-sweet spot where it's too good to write a lengthy diatribe of it, but not good enough to promote it like Kyon waxing poetic on the beauty of Asahina.

However, I knew that the half-dozen or so followers that this blog has would probably like to read something provocative from me, so I decided instead to use this episode of Haruhi, chockfull of some of her more controversial scenes, as a launching pad for a particular argument that I have. Like the title of this blog states, I'm going to play Haruhi's advocate. I'm going to try to show people why I love this character in spite of (and in some cases, due to) her many faults, and why, even as a person, she's not that bad. Given some of the response that I've gotten on message boards (Anime Suki and Comic Book Resources) in the past for speaking highly of Haruhi's character, I suspect that feedback to this blog entry may be quite... furious. I have a feeling that I might bring out people's inner Sly Stallone, just as Kyon had his own Stallone moment in this episode...
Between this look here, and Kyon's gun-totting ways in this episode, I got a distinct Rambo feeling from Kyon. Given how Rambo Kyon was pointing his gun at Haruhi's cut of the triforce that she has on her SOS Brigade Chair desk, Haruhi should probably be a bit worried about that. ^_^;

Kyon (in Rocky voice): Suzumiya!!!

Anyway, unto the main point of this blog entry - showing why Haruhi isn't as terrible as some make her out to be. To do that, first I will provide some pertinent background information on myself.

In Grade 12 at my high school, back in 1999, I was the Student Council President of the school. It was frequently left to me to MC, if not outright run, major student assemblies, and to try to get some school spirit and good initiatives going through out the school. And believe me... it was a chore. The vast majority of my school chums were too shy to do anything in front of a crowd, most didn't have the get-up and go of Kyon trying to do his home work, and most had all the passion of Taniguchi sans lovely girls to make cat calls to.

Do you know who I would have loved to have had in my school back then? I'll tell you who:

Haruhi Suzumiya


Well, specifically, an English-speaking 15-year old Canadian version of Haruhi (English because nobody in my school spoke French fluently except the French teacher). If there was a Haruhi-esque person in my school, I, as Student Council President, would have delegated loads of things to her SOS Brigade, and said "The show is yours for these bits here, here, and there; have fun with it!" And I'd rest comfortably knowing that the final production would create a buzz, if nothing else. ;)

People like Haruhi are, in some respects at least, the salt of the Earth. They give life added savoring flavor and texture. They shake things up, and keep things fun and interesting. They provide spirit and zeal to places where they are sadly lacking. Even Kyon himself likely feels this way, as the fourth Haruhi novel clearly displays.

Also, when I look at Haruhi's facial expressions in the anime, even during many of her worst moments, she usually doesn't strike me as malicious or malevolent at all. She's simply immature in a way; she wants to have fun like a theatrical Elementary girl who hasn't grown accustomed to the more regimented and restrained school life of most high school students. Of course, it helps that Haruhi's brilliant at school work, and zooms through it, leaving that as a non-consideration for her.

Now does Haruhi cross the line from time to time?

Oh, definitely, she does. Although, for me, it's not what she does to Mikuru that bothers me - Mikuru freely submits herself to that treatment after all (more on that later) - but rather what she does to the Computer Club President. Haruhi, it most be said, is a bit of a swindler. Her lack of respect for other people's money and property is probably her biggest character flaw, actually. Still, she's not entirely miserly; as she showed by paying for everybody's bus fare in episode 11, she's willing to pay expenses at times if she's in a good mood.

However, aside from petty thievery, there's not a whole lot about her that I have a major problem with.

Here I expect the Mikuru fans to take great exception with me. ;)

Well, if Mikuru was a regular high school girl, I'd agree with you. But Mikuru isn't a regular high school girl; she's a member of this anime's version of Nanoha's TSAB (Time-Space Administration Bureau), and Haruhi is her mission. Presumably, Mikuru is getting paid for this, in some sort of fashion. I don't know about you, but if being made the lead actor in a movie is the price I have to pay in order to collect a paycheque, then I'm game! And yes, Mikuru ends up enduring all sorts of embarrassing activities, gropes, and outfits, but again... she chose this mission to do. She could have said to her superiors "Nope, not doing it. Get somebody else to be Haruhi's plaything". You accepted the mission, Mikuru, now it's time to suck it up, Rambo Kyon style. ;)

Beyond this, though, Haruhi is actually quite resourceful and clever, and I think that deserves some credit. In this Sighs arc, Haruhi manages to procure necessary film production equipment by offering Mikuru's promotional services in return for the equipment (at least, that's what I've gathered from this arc so far). Basically, street corner businesses give Haruhi some desired items in return for Mikuru advertising from them. Then, to get even more bang for her buck here, Haruhi films Mikuru's advertisements and uses it as scenes in the movie.

Folks... that is outstandingly clever. That's freakin' Lex Luthor clever... and no, I'm not talking about the insane Kevin Spacey version. :P This sort of sharp thinking, and immensely utilitarian resourcefulness deserves applause in and of itself.


One argument that Haruhi and Kyon had that struck me as funny was when Kyon expressed exasperation over not having a script. Haruhi's reply was "It would be terrible if I put the script into writing and it got leaked." Hey, that's pretty smart thinking too. The makers of the Wolverine movie could really have used somebody like Haruhi on their staff. ;)


All of the above being said, though, I won't deny that Haruhi has a villainous side. But probably one reason why I don't find Haruhi to be all that villainous, is because I compare her to actual villains with personalities like she has. If you compare Haruhi to most protagonists, then yeah, she looks pretty bad. But her minor mischief making, done in the name of making her school and its festivals more exciting and enjoyable (good motive there, at least), pales in comparison to the life-threatening and/or world-conquering natures of these guys who in fact do have personalities like Haruhi's...


This is why gender-bended Haruhi frightens me sometimes. I sometimes think that if you put Haruhi's personality in a testosterone-flowing guy's body, she'd be a little bit more dangerous than she currently is...

So, when you actually compare Haruhi to fictional characters with powers (Star Trek's Q); domineering, dynamic, intensely competitive personalities (El Hazard's Katsuhiko Jinnai), and sexual obsessions/school-based focuses ("I will have them both!" shouts Ranma 1/2's Tatewaki Kuno about Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed girl... there are times when I think Haruhi feels the same way about Kyon and Mikuru ;) ) like her, she doesn't seem quite all that terribly villainous any more, does she?

Of people with her personality type, Haruhi is probably one of the more harmless and moral ones around. So, with Haruhi you get a character with all the fun of Jinnai, but only the degree of evil of, say, a low-level prankster. And for that, Haruhi, we salute you!



P.S. To add a couple of episode points, though, I will say that I really liked Kyon and Taniguchi's moments together in this anime. Their friendship really shined, there... although Kyon's tight-lip over Taniguchi's questions was kind of funny and interesting.