Time Machines are dangerous!
Talking about odd things, I had one strange nightmare some hours ago. I was a time traveller and my time machine was a wrist watch.
I was hoping to have fun with some Hollywood stars in a party in a certain year and when I moved the calendar on the watch to travel on time, the darn thing was not working.
Every time I tried to go to a particular date, I ended up in another. I saw the Russian Revolution, Both World Wars, Dinosaurs etc and I finally got desperate and threw the watch in a pond. I remember Me on my knees screaming at the pond and wondered what happened with my time machine. The year was unknown!
Finally I woke up after an hour or so and got this strange feeling of losing time. This taught me something…
- Maybe I realized finally that trying to live the past or wonder about the future may lose track of the real thing that matters…The present!
- Humanity had many good and bad moments in time…
- Personally, I didnt liked some of the historical moments I witnessed…and also the fact that I couldnt visit my favorite events in History…I had no control on that.
Sorry for this non-anime post…but this nightmare taught me something…Time machines can be dangerous if it is not handled properly…or I should not watch The History Channel before sleeping!
Analyzing the SOS Brigade – Part V: Itsuki Koizumi
February 19, 2010 by Ultimatemegax
Filed under Anime, Editorial, Main, News, Reviews, Suzumiya Haruhi
This is the final part of my week-long review of the 5 SOS Brigade characters. This shall be the final analysis of the SOS Brigade members’ characteristics, actions, and predictions as to where his/her character will develop. Previously we’ve featured the rest of the SOS Brigade: Kyon, Haruhi, Yuki, and Mikuru.
Since there is a lot of character development that is seen in the novels that have either not been animated or have not been released in a format that can be seen worldwide, I shall be using a spoiler tag that Toonleap has thankfully installed. Today is a great day for me, not that it’s the final review, but rather that my favorite brigade member is being analyzed. We are now taking a look at the inner mechanisms of the SOS Brigade Second-in-Command: Itsuki Koizumi!
The first attributes that I think about with Koizumi is sheer intelligence and ability to adapt to situations. Whether it’s finding out that he’s stuck in an never ending loop or about to fight a giant cave cricket, he’s always as cool as a cucumber. When Kyon and Mikuru start to panic and freak in weird situations, Koizumi will remain annoyingly calm and begin to think of a way to solve the solution.
It was his thinking that solved the baseball game, Mysterique Sign, avoided a possible disaster on the lone island, and he did come up with a viable solution to the problems in Sigh. Granted, he is not infallible as seen by the fact that even he couldn’t stop the loops in Endless Eight nor had a solution to stop Haruhi’s beam making power during the making of the movie, but he continued to think of possible ways to solve their problems.
Koizumi transferred into North High due to Haruhi Suzumiya’s desire to have a transfer student and likely for direct observation from the Organization. Having seen Arakawa, Mori, and the Tamaru “brothers” we know that the Organization is much larger than what we know (just like the ITDE), so likely there were members present in the school, but not one that could be present in the SOS Brigade, thus Koizumi needed to transfer and become a member in the group Haruhi was creating for direct observation. We also know that Koizumi takes as much pride being in the SOS Brigade as Haruhi does due to being the vice-commander of the brigade and the chest-puffing he does in “Someday in the Rain” when Haruhi mentions that fact.
I believe that Koizumi feels that it is a great honor to have been chosen to observe Haruhi up close. He’s very much in tune with her thoughts and emotions thanks to his esper powers (and the knowledge that they were given to him by her) and so he tries as much as he can to keep Haruhi happy not only as a way to thank her for his gift, but for the ability to not have to use his gift.
There’s a line in Sigh when Koizumi is talking about the color change of the pigeons where he states “I’m sorry, I must have sounded like our task is to save the world.” Koizumi truly feels like everything he is doing is for the safety of the world and as such, he must remain serious about the task (like a true shounen hero). He must be ready to battle avatars at a moment’s notice, even in the middle of the night as in Melancholy’s New World. That may be why he’s always explaining things in a detailed explanation, so that the surrounding members know his plan like in Mysterique Sign and can adapt and/or help.
What’s the most interesting thing about Koizumi is that unlike the others, he never gets a starring role in any of the stories. Kyon is the narrator, but he’s featured a lot throughout the series in different episodes and stories; Haruhi has Melancholy and Sigh to herself; Yuki takes over Day of Sagittarius and part of Mysterique Sign; Mikuru has Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and the Adventures of Asahina Mikuru to star in; however, Koizumi never got featured in an anime episode as a main character.
Koizumi has interesting relationships with the other members. He obviously cares a lot about Haruhi as his primary objective is to make sure she is happy and well, and that means that Kyon has to help him by not aggrivating her too much. Since he and Kyon are the only males in the brigade, it’s natural that they would bond together, and their friendship does start to grow (seen best in Day of Sagittarius when they are the two planners of the game). I can’t say whether or not he truly cares for Yuki, but he does assist her throughout the series as best he can.
His most intriguing relationship is with Mikuru. As Yuki stated, their beliefs cannot co-exist because the fact of one completely negates the fact of the other. Having said that, Koizumi was called about the endless loops before Kyon was. Since Yuki doesn’t speak much to the other members, it would be highly likely that the person she called first wasn’t Kyon, but Koizumi. Whether that was due to Koizumi’s closeness with Haruhi’s mental states or the fact that he may have mentioned deja vu to Mikuru off-panel I don’t know, but it indicates a closeness that we haven’t seen otherwise.
Since Yuki wasn’t meant to talk very much in the series, Koizumi takes over as the instructor for what’s going on for the reader. Not only that, but he uses his role as the second-in-command in order to help plan brigade activities such as the trip to the lone island.
I’d like to see a day in the life of Koizumi; it’d be fascinating to see how much thought goes into making sure the stability of the world is ensured everyday.
Since Koizumi is simply an actor playing the role of a teenage esper, he only has one route to advance his character: show his real personality. I think we’ll get to see glimpses of it throughout the series. Unfortunately for him, I feel that after being in his role for so long he may lose track of who he’s supposed to be and end up being the Koizumi he’s acting as.
It’ll be interesting to see if Koizumi will ever elaborate on the things he mentioned in Sigh like the other organizations or the TEFI abbreviation. Just when you think you know all there is to know about Koizumi, he’ll surprise you with something new (that’s likely plot related). That’s why it’s really difficult to nail down a complete analysis of him and/or the Organization. We just can’t take everything he says as word though. He may be lying, like about the theory about Haruhi being God as his theory, but there’s always a reason for a lie in place of a truth, especially in the mouth of a plot detailer.
So with that, this five part series is over. I hope you enjoyed reading and thinking about it as much as I have. At this time (barring revisions of Koizumi’s post before it gets posted) the series is at 6,334 words long. I’d like to mention that my honors thesis in university was only 4,714 words and I’ve beat that by over 1,500 words just on five characters in a show in about 100 hours typing. If that doesn’t detail how interesting these characters (and how much I care about this show) is, I don’t think there’s anything that can. I’ve truly enjoyed every minute detailing all the little characteristics I’ve noticed, and learning about the ones I’ve missed from you readers. I hope that after the rest of these stories get animated that we can come back and look at the theories we’ve developed and see where we were wrong and right.
As I’ve mentioned before, if you want to comment on stories that are chronologically after “Someday in the Rain”, please put [spoiler ](without the space) before the spoiler and [/spoiler ] (without the space) after it. I have to give a lot of credit to the posters at the AnimeSuki forums. They’ve helped me develop a lot of my thoughts and have somewhat influenced a few points. Thank you for reading!
Analyzing the SOS Brigade – Part IV: Mikuru Asahina
February 18, 2010 by Ultimatemegax
Filed under Anime, Editorial, Main, News, Reviews, Suzumiya Haruhi
This is the fourth part of my week-long series where I’m analyzing what we know about the SOS Brigade members’ personalities, actions, and where I believe their future lies in the series. Previously we’ve looked at Kyon, Haruhi, and Yuki. Today we take a look at the official Secretary of the SOS Brigade and unofficial mascot: Mikuru Asahina.
I want to continue giving thanks to Toonleap for installing a spoiler plugin so that I can mention stories that either have not been animated or will not be seen by anyone outside of Japan until a DVD (and possibly Blu-Ray) release. As such, I ask that if you have not read the novels, please do not click on the spoiler tabs. The books and anime are wonderfully constructed and you will get a greater sense of enjoyment through watching/reading the stories than by being spoiled. Well, that’s time that cannot come back, so let’s travel with our lovely hostess: Mikuru Asahina!
Mikuru suffers from an intense lack of self-esteem in herself, which I feel is only emphasized because everyone around her has some sense of importance. Haruhi can change the world, Kyon has done so many things to maintain the stability of the world, Yuki can freely manipulate data at a whim, and Koizumi is part of the Shonuen Esper Sentai. Mikuru thought she was meant to come back to the present day and simply watch for strange things around Haruhi Suzumiya, but instead she got captured for a reason she doesn’t quite understand.
The one adventure anime watchers have seen Mikuru undergo is the trip back to Tanabata three years ago and she gets put to sleep less than a minute into the adventure and loses the only device that could take them back to their time. From her perspective, all she does is dress up and gets scared. Her one big act of courage was to jump into the dirty water in Sigh, and that’s little compared to what the others have done.
Having said that, Mikuru’s character is improving bit by bit. After her fall in Sigh, the only time she complains and doesn’t gut through something is the costume changes in Someday in the Rain. She’s slowly getting stronger, which is wonderful to see as a viewer, but tough as an experience.
To be honest, the character of Mikuru Asahina is difficult to discuss because there are two versions: young and adult. For every emotional flaw that the high school version begins with, the adult version has overcome it and is almost a different character due to that experience. Young Mikuru is afraid of her looks while the adult version has no problems dressing in a sultry manner (and even showing off to Kyon her mole). The young version is limited due to the brainwashing and hypnosis that she underwent before coming back while the adult version doesn’t have the problems to that extent.
(Big) Mikuru, as she’s called in the novel, still couldn’t tell Kyon that he will Vanish with Haruhi to a world she creates in Melancholy or who he’ll meet in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, but that’s more than what the smaller version could.
I do believe that there is mutual attraction between Kyon and Mikuru, but it cannot happen. If Kyon gets into a full relationship with Mikuru, he’ll lose his closeness to Haruhi and she’ll become antisocial again. Mikuru cannot get into a relationship because she’s not in this time period and will have to go back someday. There’s some hints to this throughout the series as well as the chiding from Adult Mikuru.
At the end of Melancholy, she immediately goes to hug Kyon before having to back away in case Haruhi saw them. The picture of Kyon sleeping and grabbing onto him during Mysterique Sign are another set of good examples, but the fact that the adult Asahina mentions that his reward is to give her a kiss, but only while she’s sleeping during BLR is what sealed it for me.
I think that Adult Mikuru remembers how much she began to like Kyon and as such fulfills a dream of being kissed by him when she teases him about rewards. She may not be able to remember being kissed, but the sheer action would be wonderful in her mind. It’s romantic in a forbidden sense that the only time her dream can come true is a time where she has no chance of remembering it.
One aspect that interests me is why Mikuru came back to this time period. Kyon was pulled into this mess by Haruhi, Yuki was made by the ITDE, Koizumi was given his powers, but Mikuru had to choose to come back to this time. She left her friends, likely her family, and a comfortable surrounding to travel to a time period that she had studied in prior classes.
It will be interesting to see if Tanigawa decides to comment on that through young or adult Mikuru.
For Mikuru, the question is not “where does she progress as a character” but rather “when shall she progress” since we’ve seen the future version of herself. We’re seeing bits and pieces of how the future Mikuru gathers her confidence from, but it will be interesting to see if there is an event that triggers a bunch of changes.
Since there’s only one member left: PREPARE FOR THE KOIZUMI EXTRAVAGANZA TOMORROW! If you’d like to comment on anything that occurs after “Someday in the Rain” chronologically, please place your comment between [spoiler ] and [/spoiler ] (without the spaces) as to ensure that no one will be accidentally spoiled. Thanks!
Analyzing the SOS Brigade – Part III: Yuki Nagato
February 17, 2010 by Ultimatemegax
Filed under Anime, Editorial, Main, News, Reviews, Suzumiya Haruhi
This is a continuation of the analysis of the SOS Brigade where I am reviewing over each of the 5 SOS Brigade members and looking at their personalities, characteristics and where they may be heading towards in future stories. Previously I featured my analysis on Kyon and Haruhi. Today we take a look at the sole Literature Club member: Yuki Nagato.
Once again, Toonleap has graciously added a spoiler tag so that I may mention material from stories that have not been animated. I ask that if you haven’t read the novels, please do not click on the spoiler tag because it may ruin your future experiences with the anime or novels if you choose to read them. It is worth it to continue along the ride until you join our group who are yelling at Tanigawa to finish novel 10. Now we move forward to the most popular character in the Haruhi Suzumiya series: Yuki Nagato!
Yuki is the easiest to notice changes throughout the series for most fans. She starts out as a emotionless cyborg-like person who knows the answers to any question and can accomplish any physical or mental task. I picture her at the beginning as a computer with access to an immense database of information which can alter said database, but in an organic body. Yuki is almost limitless with her abilities to manipulate data and attributes of places, people, weather, etc.
Over time, Yuki began to experience the chemical and mental changes that come with being in an organic body and she started to develop emotions (likely during the 594/595 years she spent in Endless Eight) and started to enjoy being an organic lifeform. It’s easily present in the month of November where she begins to play the guitar in Live a Live and work with the computers of this day in Day of Sagittarius. One could also say that reading all the science fiction that she does through the three years is also enjoyable since she continues to perform that task over and over.
Kyon makes the remark that Haruhi considers her classmates to be like potatoes, but Yuki fits that description much better than Haruhi ever could. She hardly speaks in class (as told to us by Kunikida) and she barely interacts with the other brigade members besides Kyon. For such a person that continues through the normal day-to-day proceedings of life, she actually misses a day in the classroom after the required ceremony on September 1st. It’s the first time she’s not present in the clubroom during an afternoon without something happening that we know of.
It’s difficult to say whether or not Yuki grew to favor Kyon or whether that is a side effect of the synchronization during Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody having seen the events of the future. Regardless of how it happened, it’s obvious that Yuki favors Kyon moreso than any of the other members of the brigade, even the one she’s supposed to be observing: Haruhi. She does mention that she would like to go again to the library with Kyon.
Kyon is the one person she talks to most of the time unless the rest of the brigade is in a tough situation as seen in “Someday in the Rain” where she didn’t speak once. She begins to follow anything that Kyon tells her to do and even lets him make decisions for her like in “Day of Sagittarius.”
Yuki was pretty much emotionless for the first few minutes before she met Kyon in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody on Tanabata 3 years ago until she synchronized with herself 3 years later on that day. Unfortunately for those who haven’t seen or read Disappearance, a lot of her development begins post-world change.
It’s not really surprising that Yuki is the most popular person in the series because she’s got so much room to grow and people want to help her grow either with Kyon as a stronger character.
The next question is where does Yuki go from Someday in the Rain. Novel readers will know why there’s a different Yuki in Disappearance and the rest of the fanbase will gobble up the movie incredibly quickly if the novel fanbase is as reflective of the anime fanbase. It’s tough to say where I think her character is going to move towards without listing a spoiler, so I’ll be as vague as I can be without losing clarity.
Yuki has a tough decision ahead of her as to where she wants to progress: towards staying part of the IDTE or closer to experiencing more of these emotions she has during the SOS activities. I can see Tanigawa taking Yuki in both directions, so I feel each side is as likely as the other. With the events in the fifth and ninth novel, Yuki can’t afford to go towards being human and completely leave the IDTE, but can she sacrifice her growing experiences with emotions in order to save everyone (which would ironically be a “human” sacrifice as seen in a lot of tokusatsu)? I think Tanigawa has left himself wide open with the character of Yuki and we’ll just have to see where his road takes us.
Edit: I just discovered that the spoiler tag works with comments as well. If you are going to discuss something that happened chronologically after Someday in the Rain, please place [spoiler ] without the space before it and [/spoiler ] without the space after it. I’m going back and working on the past two posts after this one.
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