Suzumiya Haruhi Part II

So here it be, the second part of my Haruhi Suzumiya re-watch coverage.  Time for my views on the next 2 episodes in the series, following the DVD order.

First today is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya II, where Haruhi starts to establish the SOS Brigade within the school, in the most outrageous ways possible… But first, the club needs a computer!  Where best to get a computer?  From the computer club!  How are they going to get one?  Blackmail!

Poik

She got <BEEP>ed

It doesn’t take long for the computer club president to submit after the sexual harassment claim, with photographic “evidence”, and he less than willingly surrenders the newest computer the club obtained.  After setting it up, Haruhi forces Kyon to make the website.  This is important later on, but for now is mere filler stuphs.  However, Yuki gives Kyon a book to borrow, which becomes important veeeery soon.

Then comes Haruhi’s big idea.

This face is never a good sign…

Turns out she had made up a collection of flyers detailing the club’s activities, to find aliens, time travellers and espers and have fun with them!  Classy.  However it turns out that merely handing them out is not enough to attract attention of the Brigade.  Nooo, she has bigger plans, involving big assets.  She’s also got herself a pair of bunny girl costumes, oh my!  The costumes are for Mikuru and herself to wear, of which a certain missus is less than ecstatic about wearing.  That doesn’t stop Haruhi from stripping her on the spot…

Stripperiffic!

Despite Kyon’s best actions (Read: failing miserably upon first try) he can’t prevent her from turning Mikuru in to fanservice bait.  Lo and behold, he charges out of the room to prevent embarrassment for both him and Mikuru.  Some time, a a number of provocative shrieks from Mikuru later, and Haruhi allows Kyon back in.

Wowza!

It were well worth it!  Though, the school staff were none too pleased about the ordeal.  Now, that book Yuki lent Kyon, turns out he hasn’t read it yet.  It’s been a day since she gave it to him, and our silent lady is adamant he takes a peek at it.  Cue a later that day transition, and Kyon it settled at home, flipping through pages of the book.  A note falls out of it, telling him to meet up in the evening in the park.  Rushing as fast as he can to make in time, Yuki has been waiting for him to arrive (which she also did the day before…).  After dragging him into her apartment, she starts spouting some hella confusing shit.  To put it simply, she’s an alien and Haruhi can manipulate the world at her bidding, without her realising so.  She did so 3 years prior to the current events too.

Yer whut…

Dodgy camera angles aside, Kyon isn’t 100% convinced.  Who would be?  By this point, we’re actually onto the next episode, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya III.  The next day, Haruhi is up to no good again, this time rambling about a mysterious transfer student.

It’s still a dangerous expression…

After a bit of waiting, and a random game of Othello (which Yuki amusing takes great interest in), we get properly introduced to our next subordinate, Itsuki Koizumi.

Why hello thar!

A bit more willing than Mikuru was, he joins pretty much immediately, and get’s somewhat bad impressions to Kyon.  He’s the yes man, pretty much, sucking up the Haruhi in any way possible.  And he sounds somewhat gay in the English dub, congrats Johnny Yong Bosch.  That makes ya feel awkward doesn’t it, so let’s add to the awkward factor.

Yeeeees…

Soon, Haruhi organises the first out of school club activity, searching for mysterious stuff in town!  Settling groups by drawing marked toothpicks, Mikuru and Kyon get bunched together.  This is when we get our second revelation, Mikuru is a time traveller from the future!

The expression can make many a man’s heart flutter

Something is starting to come together here… All the things Haruhi wants from life are beginning to bunch themselves together in her presence, and she’s doing it!  Though, she is still unaware, and should remain that way as well.  Again, something happened 3 years ago which is now preventing time travel and further past that point.  Kyon is now starting to believe that maybe there is such thing as aliens, time travellers and espers.  Soon enough, Haruhi orders the groups together and splits them up again, this time Yuki is paired with Kyon.  Miss Suzumiya is not amused.

You can feel the death-wish being placed upon the poor toothpick…

While the second “search” bares no real plot importance, it does add to increase Yuki’s character development a touch, as Kyon gets a library card for her so she can borrow her precious reading material at any time.  In conclusion, no mysteries are discovered, and the meet-up ends up being a waste.  That won’t stop Haruhi in the future though.

So Kyon, after joining the dots together, comes to realise that each member of the group is not the ordinary bunch.  Yuki Nagato is an alien, Mikuru Asahina is from the future, all that is left is the enigmatic Itsuki.  When the end of the next school day
comes, he goes up to the mysterious transfer student and asks “what’s your story then?”.

Gads, that’s disturbing…

There’s only one piece missing from the puzzle, and Kyon finds it first try.  Itsuki is an esper.  Koizumi then proceeds a massive infodump, granted not as big nor as confusing as Nagato’s previous endeavor.  He is part of a group known simply as The Organisation (kudos for originality Mr Tanigawa…), who have also shown interest in Miss Suzumiya.  Now she’s god, cor blimey!  Turns out, 3 years ago (whodathunkit) Itsuki and a number of other individuals suddenly obtained strange powers, and The Organisation was formed to discover why.  All leads point to Haruhi.  If you haven’t sensed a pattern by now, you should have.  Haruhi, recreating the world at whim, 3 years ago.  Yeah, looks like a pattern.

Now a plot string has started to form, and it’s an interesting one at that.  What started out as a somewhat eccentric school-life comedy has turned to a sci-fi phenomena packed with aliens, time travellers and espers.  You wouldn’t have really thought it during the first couple of episodes would you?

So that brings a close to this segment, hopefully you’re enjoying my ramblings as I point out things at random and make witty commentary on it (or less than witty, if you lack my sense of humour).