we're finally notdotq anymore

… for about four seconds.

On the other hand, the machine of moe and fanboyism seems to be autonomic and expanding. Parallels could be made between the spread of low-intelligence anime fanideas and the classic “octopus” of the American railroad. I won’t bother extrapolating; there isn’t much point in me arguing further on the topic.

Fanime will likely be my last physical foray into the world of otakudom, and with its closure, so will come my parting with whatever identifies me as an otaku.

To be honest, I’m just tired of seeing the word “moe” and hearing people talk about how crap like certain Studio Deen anime is good. Does this mean I’m going into “my tastes are impeccable” mode, and finally becoming so elitist that I’m unable to remain in a community I deem below myself? Meh. Not really. At the festival on Sunday I realized that the average anime fan disgusts me. Anime blogging—submitting myself to this community of anime fans—opens me up to a large number of people with stupid ideas and pissant attitudes towards a whole host of things. It dissatisfies me that the majority of people in this community don’t think for themselves and understand the problems with “moe” and it dissatisfies me even more that the majority of people to whom I try to explain said problems are too dull to comprehend them.

Maybe I’m just adverse to large communities in general.
The majority of people (myself included, no doubt) are idiots, and the larger your community, the more idiots you’ll have. It makes sense.

Whatever. My passion for anime has been dead for a while now, and now the anime blogging community is turning me off. Fanime will mark the finish line for the notdotq vehicle. Gaaaooo, mother-fucker.

Due to school, I’ve been too busy/exhausted to watch raws and blog anime the past couple days. I’ll probably be following the fansub schedule for Sola from now on, and am anticipating Strikers 3 with pro-yuri saliva dripping down my chin. Once lolikappa gets off his ass, a Strikers 2 post should be forthcoming.

By the by, I’m headed for a nearby sakura-matsuri in two days. If anything eventful happens there (such as me squandering a shitload of money) I’ll be sure to post about it.

Also, Lucky Star ep02 was downright awesome for two reasons.
I’ll let you guys guess them (or conclude that I’m lying out my ass).

We just broke 1000 comments. I’m guessing maybe 980 of those were made by me.

So, my precious readers, thank you for your 20 odd comments!

Eleutheria got the 1000th comment. I’ll pull an Impz and allow him/her to request a certain post. It can be anything, on porn, on how much I love Haruhi and wish she was real so that I might enter her, or on how I’m delicious male jailbait. Anything, really. If Eleutheria doesn’t request anything within a couple days I’ll ask whoever got the 999th comment.

My old piano teacher died, so I got emo and impotent and Shirukii-chan beat me. And yes, the people who are making Kyoushiro to Towa no Sora connections (myself and Shirukii) really need to stop.

TONZURA KOITE

I’d let Matsuri slip on my banana peel any day.

SCAFFOLDS FALL, EVERYONE DIES

Apparently, Matsuri’s kickass ability is that she can age things(?). She rusts the metal scaffolding to make it collapse and causes a brick to crumble to the point where she can pull it apart with her bare hands. Furthermore, she can jump like a mother-fuckin’ ninja and do mid-air maneuvers, sans shadow clones. Whether or not she would beat Uzumaki Naruto isn’t even a question, but can she break through Konata’s beautiful hurricane kick combo?

PUT MY HOOD TO YOUR POLLOW AND

J-J-JAM IT IN!!

(obligatory sex joke with F/SN reference)

“I HAVE NO REGRETS”

This makes Matsuri more sure of herself than Ayana or whichever whore sang the ED of Kanon 2006. This also makes Matsuri as sure of herself as Momochi Zabuza. Meaning that she has followed Addie Bundren’s father’s advice and gotten ready to die. (Hey, Mike, if you’re reading this? Please, yell at me later for making Faulkner references on my blog? I really need to stop.) My question: as Matsuri isn’t exactly a vampire, does this make her not exactly living dead?

MEMORIES OF CREAM LEMON ESCALATION

Matsuri’s fingering someone. If you don’t get it, good.
If you do get it, well, I’m fucking hilarious.
If you don’t get it, good. And I’m still fucking hilarious.

“WAKE UP, WHORE. I DON’T PAY YOU TO SLEEP IN CARDBOARD BOXES.”

When Scruffy says for the doll to sleep with him, he means in a bed. The danbooru is “moe” and all, but really, it’s a tight fit for the both of them and their kama-sutra rituals. I like the doll, actually. Thanks to the character design style, her face is way too angular to appear ultra-loli, and she actually doesn’t look too rozen. Of course, I have no idea what “rozen” is, or whether it’s good or bad or what. I must be like, the only person alive who has not seen that show.

ARC VIBES

I remember when Arcueid Brunestud left her “bai bai” note. It was a little less symbolic and artsy, some scrap of paper with the letters scrawled on it. Not only is Matsuri badass enough to deface art with her emo goodbye, but she’s so badass she doesn’t even leave! She’s so badass, she goes and lies down on Dorito-kun’s bed! And he’s so badass, he doesn’t bang her. As Shirukii-chan says,

Dorito-kun is presented with a prime opportunity to bed Matsuri, yet they opt to stare at his -fake- sky instead. Fail.

Replace “fail” with “rock on” and you get my version of events.

MOST BADASS CEILING, EVER

(This explains the inconsistency in lighting at the beginning of episode one. Nice.)

Majime na Lolikit

So they play the “real” OP for us this time. And wow, while the song is nothing special (nor anything good) the sequence itself is epic. Maybe I’m a soraphile.

In terms of what the episode had to offer… it seems like they’re feeding us fairly stock character with a fairly stock storyline, originalities being terminology and soraphaelia. But fuck, I have no complaints. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the beauty of this show is better than sex. I’d say something about Anse, but it’d be yet another Faulkner reference, and I’m not a girl. Anyway, point is, so long as they keep bombarding me with skies and beautiful backgrounds, I’ll be happy.

Really. I will.

Yeah.

It was good.

For the purposes of this, I’ll be setting aside previous assertions regarding The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, regardless of their nature. This includes my “vitriolic rant on moe” and any beliefs anyone else holds. In addition, as this is a study of the anime, the books and manga will be disregarded for now. Now, the purposes of this are two-fold: to determine whether or not there is anything redeeming to the show beyond execution and animation quality and to further my own understanding (and possibly that of others) of the show.

How did I come up with the idea of doing this? Well, having just finished As I Lay Dying, I felt it worthwhile to examine what this show does on the same level as one examines the various clocks of Faulkner’s odyssey. I’ll most likely end up reading way too far into things, or, noticing that, getting frustrated and burning something. This study will most likely consist of eight parts (unless I condense a few)—one for each of the main arc’s six episodes, a seventh for “Episode 00,” and an eighth for wrap-up. Finally, a thank-you to the folks at a.f.k, whose translation I pull words from in my quotes.

• And without further ado, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Episode 02, “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 1.”

The story starts with a close-up on a spinning bike wheel. Zoom out to Kyon riding his bike. He parks it and locks it, then proceeding to walk the rest of the way to school. He looks back twice on his way to school; once, as he’s leaving his bike, and then a second time when he has almost scaled the hill, this second time with a look of disbelief bordering on disgust. All the while, he is chatting about what can be described, in a word, as “faith.” He mentions a childish dream of not wanting to admit to “aliens. time travelers. espers. evil organizations” (00:35) not existing.

This aversion to reality is ironically complimented by his sarcastic praise for the integrity of the laws of physics. At this point, knowing nothing about him, one could easily decipher that he is a hopeless cynic—but perhaps he sees “aliens. time travelers. espers. evil organizations” in the city he’s leaving behind as he walks. He turns around and looks back down the hill, most probably at the spot he left his bike. He leaves his bike behind as he enters high school, throwing away his childish beliefs and immersing himself in his perceived “reality.” The lock on his bike is not an anti-theft device; it’s a seal on the supernatural, on those “childish dreams” he “graduated from” (01:25).

Kyon gives a very normal introduction on his first day and is received more or less warmly by his new classmates. When Haruhi, the girl behind him, announces that her interests lie solely in “aliens. time travelers. espers” (01:45), Kyon turns around, skepticism etched into his face, and asks himself, “Are we supposed to laugh?” (01:55). He has a clear understanding of what is normal and what is not, despite his recently-discarded whims, and is not amused by Haruhi’s atypical introduction. Physics forever~! He notes that she appeared to him as a “striking beauty” (01:59) and, while this could be easily written off as his wit, it’s quite possible that he was in fact struck by her beauty, which (and I’m forecasting here) can explain a lot.

It is also worth noting that Haruhi sits directly behind Kyon. And that, as he says, “in hindsight, [her introduction] was neither a joke nor a laughing matter” (02:18). The bathroom symbolism for their meeting is also worth noting—between the two doors is a sign that says “4F”. One can infer that these bathrooms are on the fourth floor. This is a continuation of the ascension commenced when Kyon leaves behind his bike: he has not only graduated the lowlands, but he has come up to the fourth floor of the school upon the hill.

Before the opening sequence rolls, he mentions that he hopes he can believe in their meeting being coincidence, another irony in that he is seeking faith (believing) in the mundane (coincidence). As he throws away his beliefs and the unreal, he holds onto the idea that he can believe in the real, that his lauded laws of physics are as well written as he praised them for being.

As for the opening sequence itself… I’m only going to discuss it once (probably) and even then in vague terms. There are a couple points of interest but the majority of it is, unfortunately, fanservice, shot after shot of supremely-genki Haruhi being… well, herself. The first point is the beginning, where the night sky fades to white and Haruhi reaches out into the sky, taking a bodiless hand. Bodiless can also be interpreted as intangible, and that in itself has multiple meanings in this context. “The whole show is an illusion” is one possibility; she is grasping something that is simply not there. Alternatively, the hand is to Haruhi as the finger is to Adam in Michelangelo’s painting. She, the chosen of God, is connecting with Him. The second point is Kyon’s bike at “dokomademo jiyuu na…” (3:35)—here, he is still (or possibly once again) in touch with his childish beliefs. Given the section of the sequence, which is Haruhi calling Kyon to her, one can safely assume that this is Kyon being pulled back down into everything he ascended above. Ironically, the multi-color image in the background is that of bike(s) lying on the ground.

After the opening, Kyon asks to be forgiven for “losing [his] mind for a moment” (04:14). The reason? He addressed Haruhi. Their first interchange, much like the first interchange between Masami Eiri and IP Lain of Serial Experiments Lain, is essentially meaningless. Also much like that first interchange between Masami Eiri and IP Lain, it involves a heavy dose of mind-fucking. Haruhi’s insistence that her introductory speech wasn’t a joke toys with Kyon’s maturity; in treating his middle-school dreams as reality, she is in effect breaking down the world he knows. Not entirely conscious of it at this point, a change takes place when they talk for the first time. Kyon has been irrevocably snatched away from the hill, physics, and the fourth floor by this odd, short-tempered girl. Severely confused by her behavior, Kyon backsteps out of the conversation, though not without looking back.

Later, he is discussing Haruhi with his classmate Taniguchi, who knows her from middle school, that time when Kyon wished for “aliens. time travelers. espers. evil organizations” to exist. Haruhi is apparently famous for having done a lot of weird things back in middle school—scrawling giant pictographs, emptying a classroom of its desks, etc. These are the things she did back in the city below the hill, and Taniguchi’s recounting of them furthers her metaphorical vise-like grip on Kyon’s arm. Taniguchi’s talk is comprised of several different scenes glued together. One over a meal, one on outside staircase, one during a break in the classroom… and in each of these scenes, Kyon is watching Haruhi. And when he looks back at Haruhi, he is looking back at the childhood he left behind in walking to school.

Taniguchi warns Kyon against asking Haruhi out. Kyon claims that he’s “not even interested” (06:19), but it’s not a matter of being interested or not. Just as gravity demands that objects come down from high places, so does Haruhi’s presence demand that Kyon descend from his position as a cynical middle school graduate who praises physics. Taniguchi’s banter carries on to mention Asakura Ryoko, who at the time is running a lap in gym class. Kyon looks on, unamused, as Taniguchi talks, but then frowns at 06:52. He isn’t frowning at Taniguchi’s idiocy, nor at Ryoko—he frowns as Haruhi takes to the track. His reaction to her is perfect; he understands that he is under her control and yet is denying it as fervently as he shut down the possibility of the supernatural existing.

Kyon goes on to elaborate upon some of Haruhi’s odd habits. They can all be written off as quirks of her character. None of them matter for anything other than setting up how “weird” she is and a bit of situational humor, such as Kyon’s snide “So that makes today Wednesday” (08:42).

Coming back from a week-long holiday, Kyon comments on Haruhi’s hairstyle—and begins their second conversation. This interchange proves that Kyon’s hindsight isn’t 20/20; he refers to this conversation as “the trigger” (10:00) while the trigger is clearly his “fit of insanity” back when he first addressed her. Kyon’s overabundance of thought regarding her (even back then, as indicated by how disturbed he is at her cutting her hair [10:15]) is a sign that she has successfully dominated his mind. Kyon, who sees her and through her looks back at where he left his bike, has begun talking to her on a daily basis.

They discuss Haruhi’s bad luck with men. She is of the belief that only worthless men inhabit Earth, mainly because none of them are aliens, time travelers, or espers. Kyon thinks to himself, “that’s to be expected” (10:57), again trying to cement his maturity. He tells himself he’ll play along with her, implying that he’ll patronize her despite knowing better than to believe in aliens et al. Ah, Kyon. He’s almost tragic. Now, during these longer sections of dialogue, there isn’t much to note about the visuals. Kyoto Animation, for all their attention to detail and trickiness, doesn’t throw us any curve ball symbolism during “down to earth” scenes like these. KyoAni does execute the characters charmingly, capturing their mannerisms and expressions fairly well, but that doesn’t add to meaning or aid understanding. We know who Kyon and Haruhi are without the close-ups on their faces in this scene, and while the execution touches are very nice for the casual watching of the show, they’re completely nonessential.

The conversation ends with Haruhi asking if it isn’t the case that going out with aliens would be more interesting than humans… yeah, girl. Whatever. More creepy than anything else, I’d think. But, to be fair to the poor girl, let’s accept that this is an important part of her character: the reason she seeks the supernatural so eagerly is that she desires something fun. In other words, she’s bored with this ugly yet beautiful world.

Kyon’s buddies (and Ryoko) approach him, asking him (quite ironically) what kind of “magic” he used to get Haruhi to talk (11:54). (Forecasting again, but…) … is Ryoko’s creepy, stalker-like interest in Haruhi in this second episode some kind of foreshadowing?

Next, a new seating chart is made!
(We’re about halfway through the episode, folks, hold on tight ^_^)

“This is coincidence, right?” Kyon asks himself as he takes his new seat (13:15), only to find that Haruhi’s new seat is that directly behind his. I swear I’m going somewhere with this. The two exchange some more meaningless small talk, and then Kyon goes on a minute long rampage about how supernatural stuff doesn’t exist, geniuses make civilization advance, and “common folk like [them] are best off living an ordinary life” (14:41). The man is in serious denial, and he seeks some pretty hefty comfort in how weird Haruhi is compared to him.

The fact that Kyon survives Haruhi’s spinal-column-breaking-attack is a sign that he’s more than human, by the way.

Haruhi thinks of the club… Haruhi extorts Kyon into helping her form it… Haruhi steals Nagato’s clubroom… Haruhi uses fucked up non-logic to explain why she can use the room, blah, blah blah… This whole set of scenes between the neck-desk and Kyon’s discussion with Nagato at 17:59 is pretty much fanservice of Haruhi’s character. There’s nothing to discuss here unless you want to run in loops through her logic, but that’s not interesting at all and doesn’t lend to the greater understanding of the show. (Again, that’s forecasting—I happen to know, having seen the show through, that her messed up logic in this episode doesn’t play a major role later on.)

Nagato’s “unique … all of it” (18:06-18:11) is an interesting pair of words. Not only do they answer Kyon’s question, but they very concisely sum up everything we’ve learned about so far. Kyon’s narration, Haruhi’s antics, the as of yet still to be named club, Ryoko’s inquisitiveness, Kyon’s obsession with reality, Nagato herself… all of these can be described as “unique” from the perspective of a character within the show (of course, to us, one or more of these items aren’t unique, being more or less stock). Ah, Nagato, you insightful little wench.

Alright, from this point on, the episode is just fanservice and comedy, aside from Mikuru’s expressive GASP at seeing Nagato. “SOS-dan” cements Haruhi as incredibly bored, and her abuse of Mikuru cements her as incredibly fucked up. Mikuru is a doormat who somehow knows something about Nagato and Nagato is the omniscient silent type. Where we go from here is entirely up to the next episode.

So, in review, I think I noticed some things I hadn’t noticed before… and will continue to do this, as outlined in the second paragraph of the post. I hope this was either a fun read, boring to the point of suicide, or anywhere in between. Beyond either extreme is a little scary. Hope I didn’t offend anyone except for the people who like the fact that I bash Haruhi all the time. See you next~