Index11Haruhi Episode 10 Review
The Gang gets the shit beat out of them.
Why I watched it:
We're in the double-digit final stretch. We've been through a lot, you see. And my standards, high as they are, high as they are to a near-impossible degree, will stick through this season until its death throes. Whether or not it turns out well at the end and makes this whole excursion a positive outcome, depends on what these final four episodes have in store for me.
How it works:
This is easily the most boring out of all the review portions, what a shame, as it also tends to be the most meaty. Perhaps one causes the other? It's like Seth Godin said - "Fuck I'm tired", right after performing four TED talks in a row so he didn't have to visit Vancouver more than once.
Kyon starts off by dicking around in the classroom, speculating that Haruhi is lovesick, though this plotline never goes anywhere so why even bring it up I have no fucking clue.
Then The Gang starts off by dicking around in the clubroom preparing to put lewds of Mikuru on the Web, which Kyon blocks, steals for himself, and lectures Haruhi on Web safety. And she actually relents! Fascinating how character development occurs in the form of not being a bitch.
Then Kyon finds himself as the target of an assassination attempt, being held at knifepoint by a woman whose mind is filled with space fluid. She uses her alien powers to basically fuck with Kyon, until Yuki comes in and tells her to fuck off. This isn't a deus ex machina - it's reasonable to assume that Yuki knows what other aliens are doing, and that she has an obligation to protect Kyon.
So she ends up wrecking the assassin, in a fight scene which would be good for a small burst (as in this episode) yet would be exhausting if it was for the full episode, and loses her glasses. This detail is turned into a big deal in the episode, assuming that she had to lose her glasses for us to see her as a coolio and not as a pussy. Whatever, seeing as it gives Kyon something to get a boner over.
Then Kyon finds himself staring at MILF Mikaru, who is an image of her from the future, learning something about how Snow White is critical to some big disaster that will happen to Kyon in the future, or may or may not happen in the future. The exposition is a bit slow here, not building up to much happening, and I would rather sit in silence and stare at pictures than bear witness to dialogue that lasts too long, as it reminds me deeply of people who talk too much and all my unpleasant experiences with them.
And at the end Haruhi is pissed off when she finds out the assassin transferred to Canada (I guess aliens can pull that con off), strange how Canada is literally the least notable country to Japan, so I'm guessing Canada is Japan's garbage bag.
What I felt:
Wew lad, alien fight scenes.
The idea of two indestructible school girls getting the shit kicked out of them in some titanic battle is as appealing to me as two men doing so, which would be fucking cool. Fortunate that we got to see that exact scenario in this episode, with Yuki getting wrecked and still getting Kyon out of a sticky situation. I'm not much for fight scenes, seeing as I'm not used to them and I find it more exciting for your best friend to viciously lash out at you than for them to knock you out.
The scene with Mikuru seemed to be worthless, as it didn't feature much plot development at all and seemed to be more of a teaser for the fans to show what this high school ditz would look like once she had a few years on her. Interesting to note that her personality is much the same, only actually more mature, so good job to the writers for showcasing a realistic version of what a future wayfarer might look like.
I did feel some twinge of compassion in me with how Haruhi seems to have reversed flanderised from a morally devoid twat to an actual reasonable person. I guess it's not good to judge people until you see more of them, as characters aren't exactly television shows where you can judge the overall quality of them in the first episode. What I can say though is that this series, for all its passive virtues in such, isn't particularly heavy on the character development, preferring to keep it secondary to whatever antics that the characters are obliged to fulfill.
Sounds strange that a series which depends mostly on character development to keep its audience hooked would give it less justice than it deserves, so it would appear to be pulling a gambit where it takes all of that away and instead fills it with something else. Probably holy shit moments, even though that is expected of this series now and isn't special.
What I learned:
Perhaps it takes something unexpected, like two schoolgirls getting fucked up, to act as a gateway into particular genres of work. For instance, if there happened to be an anime about schoolgirls getting fucked up (there are hundreds of anime like this), then somebody who didn't realise they enjoyed that work would see this show and be like "oh, that's cool", and so watch anime like it.
Quiet moments only count for something if nobody is talking.
It helps to go big - Froghand.
Today's page was updated on August 28, 2016!
They literally put cheese curds on gravy.
