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Haruhi Suzumiya #2
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya
It's the end of the world as we know it - or is it?
Gorgeous, confident, and demanding, Haruhi Suzumiya is the leader of the SOS Brigade, a club comprised of her high school's most extraordinary students. So when Haruhi is bored, it's up to the SOS Brigade do something about it. In this sequel to the clever and uniquely witty The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the SOS Brigade goes along with Haruhi's scheme to make a movie for the school's upcoming festival. But when filming begins, strange things start to happen, and Haruhi-who has no idea she's a goddess with the ability to destroy the world-starts to show her devastating powers.
Could the end be near? Or is it just another day at high school? You never know when Haruhi is involved!
Join the frenzy and the fun with this second book in the phenomenal bestselling series that took the world by storm with over 4.5 million copies sold.
Gorgeous, confident, and demanding, Haruhi Suzumiya is the leader of the SOS Brigade, a club comprised of her high school's most extraordinary students. So when Haruhi is bored, it's up to the SOS Brigade do something about it. In this sequel to the clever and uniquely witty The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the SOS Brigade goes along with Haruhi's scheme to make a movie for the school's upcoming festival. But when filming begins, strange things start to happen, and Haruhi-who has no idea she's a goddess with the ability to destroy the world-starts to show her devastating powers.
Could the end be near? Or is it just another day at high school? You never know when Haruhi is involved!
Join the frenzy and the fun with this second book in the phenomenal bestselling series that took the world by storm with over 4.5 million copies sold.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
96 people are currently reading
697 people want to read
About the author
Nagaru Tanigawa
168 books278 followersNagaru Tanigawa ( 谷川 流 Tanigawa Nagaru)
Nagaru Tanigawa is a graduate of the Kwansei Gakuin University School of Law. In 2003, he won Kadokawa's Grand Prize for Literary World for his work on the Haruhi Suzumiya series.
Nagaru Tanigawa is a graduate of the Kwansei Gakuin University School of Law. In 2003, he won Kadokawa's Grand Prize for Literary World for his work on the Haruhi Suzumiya series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
June 6, 2024
Haruhi is a living landmine who could destroy the world if her whims are not indulged. This time around, her deciding to spearhead a film project for the culture festival throws things into a kind of Catch-22. Disappointing Haruhi's whims is dangerous, but completely indulging them could alter the fabric of reality, too. Creating a piece of fiction is the worst idea that Haruhi could possibly have, since as she comes up with plot points for her movie, her power causes Mikuru to shoot various dangerous beams out of her left eye, and a cat starts to talk, and cherry blossoms bloom out of season. How much further could it go?
I enjoy Kyon as a concept, the only normal among a pack of oddballs, forced into being a reluctant keeper for a willful girl who, unknown to herself, has the powers of a god. He also acts as a not-very-sympathetic ear for the secrets and concerns of Nagato (when she talks at all), Koizumi and Asahina. But as a character, he's another iteration of the disaffected and horny protagonist that blights a lot of shonen fiction from this time period. He can leer at Asahina as much as he wants, but that's unforgivable in other boys. And he's homophobic on top of that, unable to tolerate benignly friendly overtures from Koizumi without feeling revolted. He seems to feel like he's above it all, when he's as average as they come. He's a product of his time. Don't have to like him.
The idea of Asahina being a fake who's putting on a show for Haruhi, Kyon, or both is brought up in the latter half of the book. I was kind of wondering about that, but I always think that's what's going on when a female character squeals and acts cutesie-wootsie oh poor me I'm so helpless like she does. That doesn't mean she deserves to be abused. Haruhi's near sadomasochistic relationship with her is supposed to be funny, I guess, but it's distasteful to me because one party isn't consenting to it. And it's male-gaze fodder most of the time, too.
The conceptual underpinnings of Haruhi's existence are gone into at rather boring length by Koizumi, but on that front there's nothing new to see here beyond what was already set down in the first book. Things have to return to equilibrium at the end of the story, much like a mystery, as Koizumi himself says.
So what we're left with is a science fantasy-comedy sort of thing. For comedy to work, the viewer, or reader in this case, has to genuinely enjoy the characters. Not really happening here, and the point of view is hard to tolerate when there are so many shoujo light novels available that I'd appreciate the pov of a lot more, even if they weren't as skillfully put together as this one admittedly is. I have one more of these which is a collection of short stories, but I doubt I'll be picking up more, even though I've heard good things about the fourth one.
I'd probably give this two stars if I'd read it around the same time as the first one, but the last nine years have softened me, I guess. :D It's not badly done at all, just rather irritating to my "very much not a horny teen male" mindset.
I enjoy Kyon as a concept, the only normal among a pack of oddballs, forced into being a reluctant keeper for a willful girl who, unknown to herself, has the powers of a god. He also acts as a not-very-sympathetic ear for the secrets and concerns of Nagato (when she talks at all), Koizumi and Asahina. But as a character, he's another iteration of the disaffected and horny protagonist that blights a lot of shonen fiction from this time period. He can leer at Asahina as much as he wants, but that's unforgivable in other boys. And he's homophobic on top of that, unable to tolerate benignly friendly overtures from Koizumi without feeling revolted. He seems to feel like he's above it all, when he's as average as they come. He's a product of his time. Don't have to like him.
The idea of Asahina being a fake who's putting on a show for Haruhi, Kyon, or both is brought up in the latter half of the book. I was kind of wondering about that, but I always think that's what's going on when a female character squeals and acts cutesie-wootsie oh poor me I'm so helpless like she does. That doesn't mean she deserves to be abused. Haruhi's near sadomasochistic relationship with her is supposed to be funny, I guess, but it's distasteful to me because one party isn't consenting to it. And it's male-gaze fodder most of the time, too.
The conceptual underpinnings of Haruhi's existence are gone into at rather boring length by Koizumi, but on that front there's nothing new to see here beyond what was already set down in the first book. Things have to return to equilibrium at the end of the story, much like a mystery, as Koizumi himself says.
So what we're left with is a science fantasy-comedy sort of thing. For comedy to work, the viewer, or reader in this case, has to genuinely enjoy the characters. Not really happening here, and the point of view is hard to tolerate when there are so many shoujo light novels available that I'd appreciate the pov of a lot more, even if they weren't as skillfully put together as this one admittedly is. I have one more of these which is a collection of short stories, but I doubt I'll be picking up more, even though I've heard good things about the fourth one.
I'd probably give this two stars if I'd read it around the same time as the first one, but the last nine years have softened me, I guess. :D It's not badly done at all, just rather irritating to my "very much not a horny teen male" mindset.
June 24, 2010
First let me say that I loved the first book. I've read it like 5 times and I was so excited to get the next one... yet after reading I'm not so excited anymore. The book had potential to be good. Haruhi's antics never fail to amuse, and I love the characters, but lately Kyon's dry sarcasm has been getting a little whiny. No one is forcing you to be in the SOS Brigade. If you can't stand what Haruhi does, LEAVE! Honestly....
No, the main problem with this book is that the whole thing is basically Kyon obsessing over Mikuru. In the first book it was sweet, because she was new and he had never been around so many beautiful girls before. But in this book, it's annoying. And for a time traveler sent to observe Haruhi, she's kind of a wimp. In this book, Kyon spends most of his time describing Mikuru, and obsessing over her. LOOK, WE KNOW SHE'S CUTE, GET ON WITH THE BOOK!!!!
I have to say I am shocked that someone who wrote the first book, which was wonderful, could write this snore. I can honestly say that if I hadn't watched the anime, I would not bother to read the next one.
No, the main problem with this book is that the whole thing is basically Kyon obsessing over Mikuru. In the first book it was sweet, because she was new and he had never been around so many beautiful girls before. But in this book, it's annoying. And for a time traveler sent to observe Haruhi, she's kind of a wimp. In this book, Kyon spends most of his time describing Mikuru, and obsessing over her. LOOK, WE KNOW SHE'S CUTE, GET ON WITH THE BOOK!!!!
I have to say I am shocked that someone who wrote the first book, which was wonderful, could write this snore. I can honestly say that if I hadn't watched the anime, I would not bother to read the next one.
September 2, 2010
While it didn't suck, I can't recommend it. I was wondering how they could sucessfully stretch such a weak plot for 200 pages and yeah...they couldn't. I still like Kyon (though I'm starting to think he really just needs to grow a pair) and Nagato (always saving everyone and not making a big fuss about it) but I'm officially tired of Asahina and Koizumi. Probably because Kyon wasted so many pages obsessing over Asahina and hating on Koizumi. I get it, he's like 17 but SHUT UP ALREADY! I think I'm abandoning ship at this book, I'm not really seeing how they could take this any further but I know they try. I'm going to stop reading while I still like 3 out of the main 5 characters. Cause Haruhi, though nutty, is still cool.
August 13, 2022
The SOS brigade decides to make a movie. But because of Haruhi’s powers, the movie starts to blend with the real world.
It’s a lighthearted story I think the anime did quite well, because the concept of making a movie perfectly lends itself to a visual format. The execution of the book however - with Kyon as a less likeable protagonist than in the anime - does feel a bit annoying at times.
It’s a lighthearted story I think the anime did quite well, because the concept of making a movie perfectly lends itself to a visual format. The execution of the book however - with Kyon as a less likeable protagonist than in the anime - does feel a bit annoying at times.
October 17, 2016
So, the SOS Brigade is back, and this time Haruhi decides they should make a film for the school's cultural festival. The fact that she knows nothing about film-making doesn't deter her in the least -- that's what her favorite buttmonkey, Kyon, is for. She tells him what to shoot, and he damn well better shoot it, or else. As for what he shoots -- no surprise, it involves Mikuru in a variety of absurd costumes.
The film's plot (to the extent it has one, which it doesn't really) centers on a battle waitress from the future named Mikuru (played by Mikuru, naturally) sent back to protect an esper named Itsuki Koizumi (played by Koizumi) from an evil alien witch named Yuki Nagato (played by, yes, Yuki). The fact that Haruhi has somehow assigned everyone roles nearly identical to their real selves, despite the fact that she's not supposed to know about them, disturbs the SOSers. To make matters worse, as they film the movie, aspects of the story begin to take on reality. Now the Brigade must find a way to stop Haruhi from using her powers -- but if they just outright refuse to participate, she might destroy the world! (Dun-dun-dun!)
If there's an overall plot to the series, we really don't get much of it here. We get some insights into Yuki, Mikuru and especially Koizumi's views of Haruhi's powers and some hints about how their superiors differ in their goals, but there's no real advancement plotwise. The next book is a series of short stories, so I don't expect much more from that, but the fourth volume sounds like it gets deeper into how the universe works.
The film's plot (to the extent it has one, which it doesn't really) centers on a battle waitress from the future named Mikuru (played by Mikuru, naturally) sent back to protect an esper named Itsuki Koizumi (played by Koizumi) from an evil alien witch named Yuki Nagato (played by, yes, Yuki). The fact that Haruhi has somehow assigned everyone roles nearly identical to their real selves, despite the fact that she's not supposed to know about them, disturbs the SOSers. To make matters worse, as they film the movie, aspects of the story begin to take on reality. Now the Brigade must find a way to stop Haruhi from using her powers -- but if they just outright refuse to participate, she might destroy the world! (Dun-dun-dun!)
If there's an overall plot to the series, we really don't get much of it here. We get some insights into Yuki, Mikuru and especially Koizumi's views of Haruhi's powers and some hints about how their superiors differ in their goals, but there's no real advancement plotwise. The next book is a series of short stories, so I don't expect much more from that, but the fourth volume sounds like it gets deeper into how the universe works.
July 22, 2015
That was so short :(
June 9, 2013
The making of a movie where everything come to life
This is the second book in the Haruhi Suzumiya series. This book is very hard to describe. The best way I can put is "second verse same as the first", but that really doesn't do it justice. This book is basically in essence the same as the previous book when the main character, Kyon is bossed around and bullied by the other main character, Haruhi, while the side characters all do their own weird alien, time traveler and esper things. Then it raises the question is raised, is this book any worse because it is basically the same thing? I don't think so because I believe that the characters are still able to make this story interesting. The "story" for this book, if you can even call it that, is Harunhi wants to make a movie for the cultural festival. That's about it. No mystery, no major plot twists, just as it says on the back of the book. This makes it so that for this story to work it falls upon the character's interactions to be entertaining enough to carry this. Luckily characters is where this series shines. While the side characters can seem a bit flat at times the two leads are enough to carry this book. So despite me liking this book very much there are some serious problems with this book. The biggest is if you don't like the main characters you will hate this entire book because it falls upon them and if you don't like that then there is really nothing for you to like. Also if you know nothing about Japanese schools and or culture and how they work somethings you may be confused what exactly is going on. It also goes without saying if you didn't like the previous book they you will defiantly not like this book. Though what I like about this book and this series is the characters so that is enough to make me want to read this. I would recommend this book to anyone who like the last book, anyone who likes slice of life anime, and anyone who would be curious what would happen if someone with the powers of god made a movie, but they didn't know they had those powers. 6/1/13
This is the second book in the Haruhi Suzumiya series. This book is very hard to describe. The best way I can put is "second verse same as the first", but that really doesn't do it justice. This book is basically in essence the same as the previous book when the main character, Kyon is bossed around and bullied by the other main character, Haruhi, while the side characters all do their own weird alien, time traveler and esper things. Then it raises the question is raised, is this book any worse because it is basically the same thing? I don't think so because I believe that the characters are still able to make this story interesting. The "story" for this book, if you can even call it that, is Harunhi wants to make a movie for the cultural festival. That's about it. No mystery, no major plot twists, just as it says on the back of the book. This makes it so that for this story to work it falls upon the character's interactions to be entertaining enough to carry this. Luckily characters is where this series shines. While the side characters can seem a bit flat at times the two leads are enough to carry this book. So despite me liking this book very much there are some serious problems with this book. The biggest is if you don't like the main characters you will hate this entire book because it falls upon them and if you don't like that then there is really nothing for you to like. Also if you know nothing about Japanese schools and or culture and how they work somethings you may be confused what exactly is going on. It also goes without saying if you didn't like the previous book they you will defiantly not like this book. Though what I like about this book and this series is the characters so that is enough to make me want to read this. I would recommend this book to anyone who like the last book, anyone who likes slice of life anime, and anyone who would be curious what would happen if someone with the powers of god made a movie, but they didn't know they had those powers. 6/1/13
October 7, 2013
There wasn't much of a plot in this one. It was mostly the SOS brigade shooting a movie and Haruhi causing crazy things to happen. I kind of want to stop reading the series because everything I've read so far was covered in the anime, but I read someone's review and they said that everything comes together as you get closer to the end of the series. Hmm. We'll see if I get that far. This series won't be a priority.
March 14, 2024
RATING: 2 stars
This book was just meh. Haruhi was just so annoying and awful, with no redeeming qualities, just a spoiled child.
Kyon was too passive. And there just wasn't that impact that the first book had.
Didn't help that I've already read the manga and saw the anime. This book just doesn't work in book form I guess.
This book was just meh. Haruhi was just so annoying and awful, with no redeeming qualities, just a spoiled child.
Kyon was too passive. And there just wasn't that impact that the first book had.
Didn't help that I've already read the manga and saw the anime. This book just doesn't work in book form I guess.
March 29, 2019
It's always going to be a tough act to follow when you are a sequel to a successful introductory book. This book is one of them - it took me a long, long time to actually finish this due to the main focus being Kyon's inner monologues.
I think I can understand that the author wants us to put ourselves in Kyon's shoes, but this is stretching it. His constant anger towards Koizumi and his distaste towards Haruhi made me feel sad about the other characters and thus made me feel like a drag to be in his thoughts.
I would just wish that The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya has a lesser focus on Kyon, but more so on other characters.
I think I can understand that the author wants us to put ourselves in Kyon's shoes, but this is stretching it. His constant anger towards Koizumi and his distaste towards Haruhi made me feel sad about the other characters and thus made me feel like a drag to be in his thoughts.
I would just wish that The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya has a lesser focus on Kyon, but more so on other characters.
July 16, 2021
Not the best story of Haruhi Suzumiya (the TV episodes also didn't really impress me), but a light and enjoyable one to read.
I just can't handle Kyon characterization very much, he's kind of a perverted d*ck in these books, in the anime adaptation he's a much more relatable protagonist.
I just can't handle Kyon characterization very much, he's kind of a perverted d*ck in these books, in the anime adaptation he's a much more relatable protagonist.
July 2, 2025
Esta novela se me ha hecho pesadísima.
Abarca todo el tema del corto del festival escolar y no avanza nada en la trama. Cosa que me ha cansado bastante.
Entiendo que Haruhi al final es muy cotidiana pero esperaba al menos un poco de ampliación de trama 😢
Abarca todo el tema del corto del festival escolar y no avanza nada en la trama. Cosa que me ha cansado bastante.
Entiendo que Haruhi al final es muy cotidiana pero esperaba al menos un poco de ampliación de trama 😢
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April 24, 2021
You'll go extinct if you stop thinking!
April 4, 2018
"What a pain.
"Use wit and tact to save the world from destruction, beat the crap out of bad guys, no questions asked, hold limited ESP battles within a conveniently small world, and throw in some random human melodrama...
"Fact of the matter is, I'd prefer it that way. If I have to be dragged into a world that sounds like it's out of fiction, give me something that's way out there. The more removed from reality, the better."
Perhaps the words which best describe the Haruhi Suzumiya series, and Japanese light novels at large, our narrator Kyon laments the overall mundane nature of his universe, being mostly a perfect replica of our own world (well, the 2003 version, at least) except with some light fantastic elements injected throughout, in contrast to the high fantasy of the earlier novel series Slayers or the sci-fi space opera of Crest of the Stars. The thing is, as far as I'm aware, this is an almost uniquely Japanese form of speculative fiction, and its reach spreads wide into newer stuff like The Devil Is a Part-Timer, or even "isekai" stories where people are shifted from our real world into a parallel fantasy world.
(Un)fortunately, this particular novel revels too much in the mundane. As the parentheses suggest, it is both a good and bad thing. For one, the novel feels mostly like a slice-of-life story, showing the main SOS Brigade members hanging out, free of the burden of dealing with Haruhi's imagination and its world-changing effects - at least until the narrative demands we shift into a greater conflict. In a sense, the novel parallels its predecessor. In Melancholy, we spent about half of the book following Kyon and his initial meetings with Haruhi, Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki, before the latter three eventually revealed their true identities to Kyon, along with second-hand accounts of Haruhi's identity (or their distinct interpretations thereof) as well as the connections between them, after which shit begins to hit the fan. Here, we already know of aliens, time travelers, and espers, so we get to witness some simple dicking-around by the main cast, fueled now by Haruhi's desire to film a movie for their school's culture festival, before the plot actually kicks in about halfway through the novel - in this case, when Haruhi's overactive imagination causes reality to bend according to her script for the film.
In contrast to the previous novel, Sigh doesn't really end with a big climactic battle with a Celestial in closed space, but rather fizzles out gently with Haruhi unconsciously editing the film in a way that satisfies her desire (that is, the finished product of the film is good enough for her, but perhaps more importantly is she got to spend some alone time editing the film with Kyon [okay, she fell asleep almost immediately, but I guess for her it was the thought that counted]), with Kyon having ultimately saved the day not with a fairy-tale kiss but simply by forcing Haruhi to deliver a voiceover at the film's end signifying the fictional nature of the picture, conveniently avoiding Koizumi's suggestion to convince Haruhi to end the film with an "it was all a dream" scenario, which would too blatantly mirror Melancholy's ending (Haruhi mistaking the kiss with Kyon as a weird dream).
If it couldn't be deduced by my above comments, the negative part of the novel being so mundane is that seems to contrast too heavily from the first novel's apparent promise, concerning a group of teenagers tasked with keeping an omnipotent being from rewriting the fabric of the universe. Obviously that does happen here, but it is on a much smaller scale than Koizumi's Agency and their battles with the Celestials. As mentioned above, this novel has something of a non-ending. At about page 180 you can tell nothing really "big" is going to happen, and the text proceeds to blaze through mention of a few extravagant events within the span of a solitary paragraph. Earlier, the only crazy events include Asahina inadvertently shooting laser beams and razor-wire out of a contact lens in one of her eyes (as per Haruhi's wish for the Combat Waitress Mikuru Asahina character), but the two scenarios are so simple compared to the alien robot fight or the first Celestial encounter in the first novel. And then you have a flock of doves changing color, spontaneous cherry blossoming, and a talking cat, all of which are significantly smaller in scale - or, at least, they aren't so relevant to our main characters as the eye beams were, though they are large enough events to potentially draw the concern of outsiders.
As with the last novel, some of the best material here involves the growing relationship between Haruhi and Kyon. Unlike the last novel, Asahina doesn't seem to be in the running for a relationship with Kyon, though at least he still seems interested enough in Asahina (and not so much in Haruhi) that it doesn't completely undo the events of the previous novel (namely, that Haruhi caused a Celestial rampage in closed space because she subconsciously thought Kyon and Asahina were getting too familiar). Bonus points to Koizumi for mentioning the possibility that Asahina could have been selected by her organization and/or could have manufactured her own personality to best attract Kyon, who was the closest individual to Haruhi. It is cute as fuck when Haruhi starts to shift a little toward the "deredere," but I will not fault him for wanting to punch Haruhi when she almost made Asahina into her personal toy with her words. Shit was spooky.
Lastly, Koizumi best boy. He drops some potentially devastating bombs on Kyon, only to pull the "haha I'm probably just joking" card - always a fun turn of events.
Postscript: I'm not sure if it is the case for all paperbacks or just my copy in particular, but there are so many fucking typos in my book that it was almost hard to read at points. And there were cases were the language did technically make sense, but strange syntax made it seem weird. Kind of bothersome. I mean, it's a light novel, but still. Also, I bought this so I could finally watch the anime, only to find out half of season 1 covers the short stories in Boredom, and Sigh is actually in season 2! That said, it was kind of neat Tanigawa teased the premises to the Boredom stories within this novel, even if it seems like they've had little consequence what with all the callbacks to Melancholy.
Post-postscript: I realize I kept using Haruhi's given name while using everyone else's family name. Especially confusing since I introduced the other SOS Brigade members by their given names. Obviously readers of the series would be able to follow, and anyone who has not read the novels should not read this anyway because of the spoilers. Still, it felt weird to constantly type "Suzumiya" over "Haruhi," but it felt worse to refer to Asahina by her given name. Maybe I'm thinking too much like Kyon. Thank god (heh) he is referred to by this nickname rather than anything else.
"Use wit and tact to save the world from destruction, beat the crap out of bad guys, no questions asked, hold limited ESP battles within a conveniently small world, and throw in some random human melodrama...
"Fact of the matter is, I'd prefer it that way. If I have to be dragged into a world that sounds like it's out of fiction, give me something that's way out there. The more removed from reality, the better."
Perhaps the words which best describe the Haruhi Suzumiya series, and Japanese light novels at large, our narrator Kyon laments the overall mundane nature of his universe, being mostly a perfect replica of our own world (well, the 2003 version, at least) except with some light fantastic elements injected throughout, in contrast to the high fantasy of the earlier novel series Slayers or the sci-fi space opera of Crest of the Stars. The thing is, as far as I'm aware, this is an almost uniquely Japanese form of speculative fiction, and its reach spreads wide into newer stuff like The Devil Is a Part-Timer, or even "isekai" stories where people are shifted from our real world into a parallel fantasy world.
(Un)fortunately, this particular novel revels too much in the mundane. As the parentheses suggest, it is both a good and bad thing. For one, the novel feels mostly like a slice-of-life story, showing the main SOS Brigade members hanging out, free of the burden of dealing with Haruhi's imagination and its world-changing effects - at least until the narrative demands we shift into a greater conflict. In a sense, the novel parallels its predecessor. In Melancholy, we spent about half of the book following Kyon and his initial meetings with Haruhi, Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki, before the latter three eventually revealed their true identities to Kyon, along with second-hand accounts of Haruhi's identity (or their distinct interpretations thereof) as well as the connections between them, after which shit begins to hit the fan. Here, we already know of aliens, time travelers, and espers, so we get to witness some simple dicking-around by the main cast, fueled now by Haruhi's desire to film a movie for their school's culture festival, before the plot actually kicks in about halfway through the novel - in this case, when Haruhi's overactive imagination causes reality to bend according to her script for the film.
In contrast to the previous novel, Sigh doesn't really end with a big climactic battle with a Celestial in closed space, but rather fizzles out gently with Haruhi unconsciously editing the film in a way that satisfies her desire (that is, the finished product of the film is good enough for her, but perhaps more importantly is she got to spend some alone time editing the film with Kyon [okay, she fell asleep almost immediately, but I guess for her it was the thought that counted]), with Kyon having ultimately saved the day not with a fairy-tale kiss but simply by forcing Haruhi to deliver a voiceover at the film's end signifying the fictional nature of the picture, conveniently avoiding Koizumi's suggestion to convince Haruhi to end the film with an "it was all a dream" scenario, which would too blatantly mirror Melancholy's ending (Haruhi mistaking the kiss with Kyon as a weird dream).
If it couldn't be deduced by my above comments, the negative part of the novel being so mundane is that seems to contrast too heavily from the first novel's apparent promise, concerning a group of teenagers tasked with keeping an omnipotent being from rewriting the fabric of the universe. Obviously that does happen here, but it is on a much smaller scale than Koizumi's Agency and their battles with the Celestials. As mentioned above, this novel has something of a non-ending. At about page 180 you can tell nothing really "big" is going to happen, and the text proceeds to blaze through mention of a few extravagant events within the span of a solitary paragraph. Earlier, the only crazy events include Asahina inadvertently shooting laser beams and razor-wire out of a contact lens in one of her eyes (as per Haruhi's wish for the Combat Waitress Mikuru Asahina character), but the two scenarios are so simple compared to the alien robot fight or the first Celestial encounter in the first novel. And then you have a flock of doves changing color, spontaneous cherry blossoming, and a talking cat, all of which are significantly smaller in scale - or, at least, they aren't so relevant to our main characters as the eye beams were, though they are large enough events to potentially draw the concern of outsiders.
As with the last novel, some of the best material here involves the growing relationship between Haruhi and Kyon. Unlike the last novel, Asahina doesn't seem to be in the running for a relationship with Kyon, though at least he still seems interested enough in Asahina (and not so much in Haruhi) that it doesn't completely undo the events of the previous novel (namely, that Haruhi caused a Celestial rampage in closed space because she subconsciously thought Kyon and Asahina were getting too familiar). Bonus points to Koizumi for mentioning the possibility that Asahina could have been selected by her organization and/or could have manufactured her own personality to best attract Kyon, who was the closest individual to Haruhi. It is cute as fuck when Haruhi starts to shift a little toward the "deredere," but I will not fault him for wanting to punch Haruhi when she almost made Asahina into her personal toy with her words. Shit was spooky.
Lastly, Koizumi best boy. He drops some potentially devastating bombs on Kyon, only to pull the "haha I'm probably just joking" card - always a fun turn of events.
Postscript: I'm not sure if it is the case for all paperbacks or just my copy in particular, but there are so many fucking typos in my book that it was almost hard to read at points. And there were cases were the language did technically make sense, but strange syntax made it seem weird. Kind of bothersome. I mean, it's a light novel, but still. Also, I bought this so I could finally watch the anime, only to find out half of season 1 covers the short stories in Boredom, and Sigh is actually in season 2! That said, it was kind of neat Tanigawa teased the premises to the Boredom stories within this novel, even if it seems like they've had little consequence what with all the callbacks to Melancholy.
Post-postscript: I realize I kept using Haruhi's given name while using everyone else's family name. Especially confusing since I introduced the other SOS Brigade members by their given names. Obviously readers of the series would be able to follow, and anyone who has not read the novels should not read this anyway because of the spoilers. Still, it felt weird to constantly type "Suzumiya" over "Haruhi," but it felt worse to refer to Asahina by her given name. Maybe I'm thinking too much like Kyon. Thank god (heh) he is referred to by this nickname rather than anything else.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2017
I started reading this book for more reality-bending madness and only finished because character was that good. Meowgnificant, even.
It's worth noting that, in the book's afterward, author Nagaru Tanigawa adds that he hadn't intended on this book existing - he had no plans for a series of 'Haruhi' books. Keep that in mind when, and if, you read this book because the lack of a plan definitely shows.
This volume saw a noticeable drop in quality from 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.' It's repetitive, less funny and failed to match the tension of the 'The Melancholy' - a book which is fantastic and absolutely worth purchasing. In 'The Sigh,' Kyon makes too many asides and is so obsessed with Asahina that, as a reader, his infatuation with her is practically a nuisance.
While the repetition is no doubt thematic and Kyon's infatuation no doubt plot relevant, there are ways to work these elements into a story that don't leave the reader checking to see just how many pages he has left to read. After 'The Sigh' I am questioning my interest in reading any farther into the 'Haruhi' universe. Reality-bending? More like "book-closing."
It's worth noting that, in the book's afterward, author Nagaru Tanigawa adds that he hadn't intended on this book existing - he had no plans for a series of 'Haruhi' books. Keep that in mind when, and if, you read this book because the lack of a plan definitely shows.
This volume saw a noticeable drop in quality from 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.' It's repetitive, less funny and failed to match the tension of the 'The Melancholy' - a book which is fantastic and absolutely worth purchasing. In 'The Sigh,' Kyon makes too many asides and is so obsessed with Asahina that, as a reader, his infatuation with her is practically a nuisance.
While the repetition is no doubt thematic and Kyon's infatuation no doubt plot relevant, there are ways to work these elements into a story that don't leave the reader checking to see just how many pages he has left to read. After 'The Sigh' I am questioning my interest in reading any farther into the 'Haruhi' universe. Reality-bending? More like "book-closing."
August 14, 2014
Certainly less compelling than the rather-smart original, this is however an entertaining sequel that's not scared to both have fun with the premise and to throw a few ideas around of its own. The major problem with the book lies in how good the central premise is but how, ultimately, not a great deal is done with it. The eternally bored Haruhi decides to shoot a motion picture and because, for some reason, she is prone to altering the world around her according to her whims, strange events occur that blend the worlds of her fantastical cinematic imagination and reality.
It's a smart idea that ended up working better on TV than it did on paper due to the anime's smart postmodern sensibility and parody of anime conventions, but even though we're left with something of a bare-bones novel here, it's unlikely to disappoint anyone into the characters or the author's style as it remains a breezy, entertaining and clever light read.
It's a smart idea that ended up working better on TV than it did on paper due to the anime's smart postmodern sensibility and parody of anime conventions, but even though we're left with something of a bare-bones novel here, it's unlikely to disappoint anyone into the characters or the author's style as it remains a breezy, entertaining and clever light read.
June 11, 2016
Years ago I tried to read this second book in the Haruhi Suzumiya series, but at the time I couldn't finish it. I thought it was dull because nothing happened, it is basically the efforts of the SOS Brigade to make a movie following the unreasonable orders of Haruhi. This time I knew what it was about and I was prepared to just read about the interactions of the characters (I was inspired by the movie, which was SO GOOD!). Mind you I was surprised by how much I liked it this time; compared to the first novel this one is slower and, as I said, not much happens....you could say this is more of a filling novel.
*SPOILERS*
I liked that the theories and believes of the 3 groups (Nagato, Kouzumi and Asahina) were discussed and that it was mentioned that the universe in the series is wider and not exclusive to the 3 groups. It gives all sort of possibilities to the story.
*SPOILERS*
I liked that the theories and believes of the 3 groups (Nagato, Kouzumi and Asahina) were discussed and that it was mentioned that the universe in the series is wider and not exclusive to the 3 groups. It gives all sort of possibilities to the story.
September 19, 2020
Um...What is this? I literally just felt uncomfortable whenever I tried to read it. I literally couldn't finish it, and I almost always finish whatever book I'm reading even if I don't like it. There was just something off about the way everyone fetishized Asahina. Also, why do all the members of the SOS Brigade stay with Haruhi when she's described as the worst possible human being? Why are they friends with her? All she ever does is make them miserable. I started reading this book, and then didn't pick up for two week straight, and picked it back up again only to become instantly creeped out, and stop reading it. This just makes me feel gross, and maybe there's a bigger explanation as to why they all stay with Haruhi, and why they treat Asahina as creepily as they do, but, frankly, I don't want to know. This book is gross.
November 7, 2023
Haruhi is feeling bored. Therefore she decides that her SOS Brigade will shoot a film for the school cultural festival.
Oh disappointment!
I liked the first book. This is only the second book in the series, but if feels like the 10th. It feels like the author has run out of ideas and inspiration for his series. But he cranks out another book, because the fans are eager for it and he needs the money.
There are no cool new ideas, there is no character development. The cliches have been established and are repeated over and over again. Did the author have writer´s block? Did the pressure of the success of his first book weigh him down? I quit after half of the book
Oh disappointment!
I liked the first book. This is only the second book in the series, but if feels like the 10th. It feels like the author has run out of ideas and inspiration for his series. But he cranks out another book, because the fans are eager for it and he needs the money.
There are no cool new ideas, there is no character development. The cliches have been established and are repeated over and over again. Did the author have writer´s block? Did the pressure of the success of his first book weigh him down? I quit after half of the book
October 5, 2009
The first book was interesting enough, but this one was just...really bland. I'm amazed this series spawned such a phenomenon. This has to be a translation thing.
I enjoyed the pop culture references, though I think the translation team could have presented them better. I'm assuming they may not have gotten them all either.
Though this book is really short, it felt like it took ages to read. I just wasn't that interested. I think this is where I'll leave the series.
I enjoyed the pop culture references, though I think the translation team could have presented them better. I'm assuming they may not have gotten them all either.
Though this book is really short, it felt like it took ages to read. I just wasn't that interested. I think this is where I'll leave the series.
June 4, 2017
This was one of the funniest novels I’ve ever read. It’s a short book but took awhile to read as I had to stop at times I was laughing so hard. Long Live the SOS
Reread and re-laughed my through this novel again, is it the talking cat, is it the Data Entity is it Kyon, I don't know just love this series.
Reread and re-laughed my through this novel again, is it the talking cat, is it the Data Entity is it Kyon, I don't know just love this series.
April 16, 2015
Secuela graciosa pero que no está al nivel de la primera parte, quizás porque se pierde bastante del factor sorpresa.
Lástima que sólo se editó en España y nunca salió la versión argentina corregida, porque claramente iba a ser una mejora con respecto a esta traducción hecha a las apuradas.
Lástima que sólo se editó en España y nunca salió la versión argentina corregida, porque claramente iba a ser una mejora con respecto a esta traducción hecha a las apuradas.
July 25, 2010
this is not the edition i possess because i couldn't find it
February 25, 2024
The Sigh Of Haruhi Suzumiya is a solid mini arc that happens early on in the SOS brigades journey and a very important one that truly helps establish the extent of Haruhis Powers and just how far her delusions of granduer between the lines of fiction and reality goes.
First off I wanna start with the positives. Once again this is a story arc I know like the back of my hand. Pretty much everything in this novel was adapted in the Anime and for the most part it's pretty great. The idea of filming an amateur movie that slowly crosses the border of fiction and bits and pieces become reality is such a genius concept to create fun hijinks and truly show how desperate Haruhi is to live in a fictional world. Subconsciously she is making the story she wants to be a part of, it's both hilarious and quite sad too. What I really appreciate about Sigh is how it doesn't shy from real drama. The Kyon and Haruhi confrontation and the treatment of Asahina does not hold back and it's extremely necessary development. Despite all the silly hijinks and plot there's real Stakes involved. However I do have criticism. It involves criticisms about the book itself as well as my preconceived expectations from the Anime adaptation which I've come to accept is a superior version of this story arc
For the book criticisms it mainly stems from two things. First off its clear this story is meant to be book 3. We get references to stuff and plotline that happen in book 3 and it literally takes place 6 months later. I have never been a fan of out of order stories that don't need to be. Yup I'm a Haruhi Order (Chronological) fan not a Kyon Order (Release) fan. Even if Nagaru wrote this before they could just rearrange the book order numbers. I feel like Sigh would work a lot better once we've had a few side adventures to read about. Having two linear story arcs back to back doesn't work as well. I feel like having Melancholy then the side stories then Sigh works much better. The anime got it right. My second major criticism is the repetitive writing. The exposition is HEAVY in this one. It's usually played for laughs and makes no sense however this book really delves into the philosophy of the situation. I like that but I also rolled my eyes when Koizumi quite literally repeated the same thing 5 times consecutively about their reality risking change from the effects of the movie and Haruhi. We get it. Cats don't talk and if they do it's gonna be bad. Why was there pages and pages of this.
For the Anime comparison critiscms this is purely biased. First off it turns out the adventures of Mikuru Asahina episode 00 viewing of the film with Kyons amazing voice over was an anime original. I can understand this. That's an idea and concept that can only really work in a visual medium. It's one of my favourite episodes so I was still bummed it wasn't part of the original Novel. However i was shocked. SHOCKED. To find out that Live Alice was also anime original. What was arguably the most famous episode of Haruhi and the perfect conclusion to the Sigh story arc was just not part of the original book. It was such an amazing episode with great laugh from the Yakisoba cafe to the electric God Knows performance. It made Kyon truly realise how amazing Haruhi is and Haruhi finally getting recognised yet it doesn't hit her like she wanted. It also features and amazing conversation between Haruhi and Kyon where we truly understand that Kyon really is the only one who gets her and they both help each other get out of their shell. Maybe this is a short story in a later volume but if its not I'm so disappointed. It's the perfect conclusion and this book desperately needed that catharsis. Props to Kyoto ani because they really made a phenomenal adaptation.
EDIT
OK so I checked the future volumes contents list and Yes! Adventures of Mikurur Asahina and Live Alive are short stories that exist. I'm still not changing my rating because they can easily fit and should be apart of this book.
First off I wanna start with the positives. Once again this is a story arc I know like the back of my hand. Pretty much everything in this novel was adapted in the Anime and for the most part it's pretty great. The idea of filming an amateur movie that slowly crosses the border of fiction and bits and pieces become reality is such a genius concept to create fun hijinks and truly show how desperate Haruhi is to live in a fictional world. Subconsciously she is making the story she wants to be a part of, it's both hilarious and quite sad too. What I really appreciate about Sigh is how it doesn't shy from real drama. The Kyon and Haruhi confrontation and the treatment of Asahina does not hold back and it's extremely necessary development. Despite all the silly hijinks and plot there's real Stakes involved. However I do have criticism. It involves criticisms about the book itself as well as my preconceived expectations from the Anime adaptation which I've come to accept is a superior version of this story arc
For the book criticisms it mainly stems from two things. First off its clear this story is meant to be book 3. We get references to stuff and plotline that happen in book 3 and it literally takes place 6 months later. I have never been a fan of out of order stories that don't need to be. Yup I'm a Haruhi Order (Chronological) fan not a Kyon Order (Release) fan. Even if Nagaru wrote this before they could just rearrange the book order numbers. I feel like Sigh would work a lot better once we've had a few side adventures to read about. Having two linear story arcs back to back doesn't work as well. I feel like having Melancholy then the side stories then Sigh works much better. The anime got it right. My second major criticism is the repetitive writing. The exposition is HEAVY in this one. It's usually played for laughs and makes no sense however this book really delves into the philosophy of the situation. I like that but I also rolled my eyes when Koizumi quite literally repeated the same thing 5 times consecutively about their reality risking change from the effects of the movie and Haruhi. We get it. Cats don't talk and if they do it's gonna be bad. Why was there pages and pages of this.
For the Anime comparison critiscms this is purely biased. First off it turns out the adventures of Mikuru Asahina episode 00 viewing of the film with Kyons amazing voice over was an anime original. I can understand this. That's an idea and concept that can only really work in a visual medium. It's one of my favourite episodes so I was still bummed it wasn't part of the original Novel. However i was shocked. SHOCKED. To find out that Live Alice was also anime original. What was arguably the most famous episode of Haruhi and the perfect conclusion to the Sigh story arc was just not part of the original book. It was such an amazing episode with great laugh from the Yakisoba cafe to the electric God Knows performance. It made Kyon truly realise how amazing Haruhi is and Haruhi finally getting recognised yet it doesn't hit her like she wanted. It also features and amazing conversation between Haruhi and Kyon where we truly understand that Kyon really is the only one who gets her and they both help each other get out of their shell. Maybe this is a short story in a later volume but if its not I'm so disappointed. It's the perfect conclusion and this book desperately needed that catharsis. Props to Kyoto ani because they really made a phenomenal adaptation.
EDIT
OK so I checked the future volumes contents list and Yes! Adventures of Mikurur Asahina and Live Alive are short stories that exist. I'm still not changing my rating because they can easily fit and should be apart of this book.
September 5, 2015
(originally posted on my LiveJournal account: http://intoyourlungs.livejournal.com/...)
Back in April, I read and reviewed the first book in this light novel series, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and it was there that I described my tumultuous relationship with the Haruhi franchise. After many attempts at watching the anime and reading the manga, I finally came around to this Japanese cultural phenomenon and while I wouldn't describe myself as a rabid fan, I still like it all quite a bit. So, because of this, the source material for the anime and manga adaptations intrigue me. While at the library a few weeks ago, I spotted the second volume in the novel series on the shelf, and since these books are so tiny and it had been awhile since I read the first volume, I decided to fit into my TBR somehow.
It's been over a year since I watched the anime and about 9 months since I watched the feature-length film, but there's one thing I surprisingly forget about this series: Haruhi Suzumiya, the titular character, is a BAD person, no matter which way you look at it. She gets better as she the series progresses, but it's almost unbearable at the beginning of the series, and this only being the second volume, Haruhi's less than flattering traits are still very prominent. Also, I can't imagine that translating Japanese is an easy feat (Japanese prose has some kind of... cadence/rhythm/*something* that I can't quite describe), making the reading experience kind of strange. Overall though, this book is fine, even if I already knew what was going to happen.
Okay, so as I mentioned above, one of the most jarring things about these books is Haruhi herself. Not only is she a force of nature (she can shape the world to her desires, no matter how crazy, even though she's not aware of it) but she is a huge JERK. She is bossy, rude, forceful and takes hissy fits when people don't do as she says. She is NOT a likable person by any means. The supporting characters are quite flawed as well: Asahina, easily the one in the group who is most targeted by Haruhi's tyranny, next to Kyon, is way too submissive; she does protest when Haruhi tries to make her do stuff she doesn't want to do, but she lacks the guts and never puts her foot down. Kyon complains constantly, ogles Asahina and judges other people. Koizumi is just... Koizumi and Yuki doesn't get to do a whole lot yet (though I know she becomes VERY important later on), and doesn't say boo. So, really, no one in this series is especially *likable* either (though I find Kyon to be quite likable and more sympathetic in the anime series than these books, this second volume in particular). Of course, they all pale in comparison to Haruhi. However, this book presents a much more ambiguous picture of the characters than is originally let on in the first volume: Asahina lets on to Kyon to not trust everything Koizumi says; Koizumi presents the theory that maybe Asahina is putting on an act and really isn't the helpless person she makes herself out to be (which kind of makes sense when you compare Kyon's timeline's Asahina to the one from the future he meets in the first book) and Yuki informs Kyon that the three Asahina, Koizumi and her all have different and conflicting theories regarding Haruhi and all have fairly different goals in relation to what they're trying to observe from her. This was definitely a good angle to take, and while I'm pretty sure most of it was explored in the anime, I can't remember for sure, so it mostly felt new to me, which was nice.
One thing that's a little disappointing about this book is the plot. In the first volume of the series, Kyon meets another being like Yuki who tries to kill him, but then Yuki saves him with her crazy alien powers, Koizumi shows him closed space and how Haruhi affects the world with her moods, Asahina time travels with him, and Kyon saves the world as he knows it when him and Haruhi get stuck in closed space. There was just so much going on; in this book, not so much. It's just about Haruhi wanted to make a movie for her school's culture festival and how she's making weird things happen because she wants them to happen for the movie (such as making Asahina be able to shoot lasers out of her eye). Of course, the SOS Brigade can't let Haruhi know that she's *actually* making these things happen, because then shit hits the fan. There's a lot of Haruhi bossing everyone around, especially Asahina, and Kyon complaining about being caught in her stupid project. None of it was especially riveting, and it's not surprising that they only spent two episodes or so of the anime on this story arc.
One of the most interesting things that happens in this book though (besides the SOS Brigade [except Haruhi and Kyon] revealing they're pretty much all suspicious of each other) is Kyon almost hitting Haruhi. There is a scene where he literally almost punches her because she purposefully intoxicates Asahina. Haruhi is insulted that Kyon would want to go against her (though she doesn't seem too bothered that he almost hits her -- it's just the rebellious attitude that bothers) and she seems legitimately HURT by this, which is strange in regards to Haruhi's character: she doesn't care what anyone thinks, which is made apparent when you think of her treatment of the other brigade members, which is either indifference, or bossing them around. Also, we know at this point that most of what happens to Haruhi, such as who she's surrounded by, is influenced by her desires and the way she wishes the world actually was; so why is she so attached to the completely average Kyon? Sure, she doesn't *know* that the other brigade members have supernatural powers, but that's why they're there. This connection between Kyon and Haruhi is one that still remains largely unanswered (though speculated of course) among fans of the series, and while I think their layered relationship is actually better translated in the anime than this novel, it was still presented well in the novel.
I think that's one of my favorite things about this series: it really is quite layered and at times profound, despite its absurd premise. It's not that obvious in this volume, but later on, relationships are revealed to be quite in-depth, especially in regards to Kyon and the other brigade members. Not to mention that Haruhi's special... gift, brings up all kinds of philosophical, metaphysical and existential questions, which these books just brush the surface of, though once in awhile they take a dive in and really try to unpack it all.
I think my least favorite aspect of the novel was the writing. Like I mentioned above, I've read enough manga and watched enough anime to get a sense of how Japanese speak and express themselves (I think so anyway), so reading this novel wasn't that strange, but I imagine it would be for other people. Kyon's turn of phrases are just... strange, and his metaphors come off as kind of clunky and out of place. I believe this is an almost direct translation though, which is where some of the awkwardness might be coming from. Also, and I try to remind myself of this constantly, these are LIGHT novels -- they're not meant to be high brow literature and thus, I'm sure the language is meant to be more on the light and less-serious side.
Final Verdict: This installment in the Haruhi series is rather unexciting, especially after the fairly explosive first volume, but I really shouldn't be complaining because I knew what I was getting into with this book before I even started. While the plot was a lot less exciting, characters get a little more developed, even if they're revealed to be simply more ambiguous than Kyon originally realized. The relationship between Haruhi and Kyon is also further developed which is of course good, seeing as how the connection between the two characters is one of the most intriguing aspects of the whole series. My only complaint is with the writing, but I can't really blame the author or the translator for that (who I'm sure did a fine job), it's probably just something that got lost in translation. Also, this book is a LIGHT novel (which you can read the definition for here) and as such, the writing isn't supposed to be amazing to begin with.
Back in April, I read and reviewed the first book in this light novel series, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and it was there that I described my tumultuous relationship with the Haruhi franchise. After many attempts at watching the anime and reading the manga, I finally came around to this Japanese cultural phenomenon and while I wouldn't describe myself as a rabid fan, I still like it all quite a bit. So, because of this, the source material for the anime and manga adaptations intrigue me. While at the library a few weeks ago, I spotted the second volume in the novel series on the shelf, and since these books are so tiny and it had been awhile since I read the first volume, I decided to fit into my TBR somehow.
It's been over a year since I watched the anime and about 9 months since I watched the feature-length film, but there's one thing I surprisingly forget about this series: Haruhi Suzumiya, the titular character, is a BAD person, no matter which way you look at it. She gets better as she the series progresses, but it's almost unbearable at the beginning of the series, and this only being the second volume, Haruhi's less than flattering traits are still very prominent. Also, I can't imagine that translating Japanese is an easy feat (Japanese prose has some kind of... cadence/rhythm/*something* that I can't quite describe), making the reading experience kind of strange. Overall though, this book is fine, even if I already knew what was going to happen.
Okay, so as I mentioned above, one of the most jarring things about these books is Haruhi herself. Not only is she a force of nature (she can shape the world to her desires, no matter how crazy, even though she's not aware of it) but she is a huge JERK. She is bossy, rude, forceful and takes hissy fits when people don't do as she says. She is NOT a likable person by any means. The supporting characters are quite flawed as well: Asahina, easily the one in the group who is most targeted by Haruhi's tyranny, next to Kyon, is way too submissive; she does protest when Haruhi tries to make her do stuff she doesn't want to do, but she lacks the guts and never puts her foot down. Kyon complains constantly, ogles Asahina and judges other people. Koizumi is just... Koizumi and Yuki doesn't get to do a whole lot yet (though I know she becomes VERY important later on), and doesn't say boo. So, really, no one in this series is especially *likable* either (though I find Kyon to be quite likable and more sympathetic in the anime series than these books, this second volume in particular). Of course, they all pale in comparison to Haruhi. However, this book presents a much more ambiguous picture of the characters than is originally let on in the first volume: Asahina lets on to Kyon to not trust everything Koizumi says; Koizumi presents the theory that maybe Asahina is putting on an act and really isn't the helpless person she makes herself out to be (which kind of makes sense when you compare Kyon's timeline's Asahina to the one from the future he meets in the first book) and Yuki informs Kyon that the three Asahina, Koizumi and her all have different and conflicting theories regarding Haruhi and all have fairly different goals in relation to what they're trying to observe from her. This was definitely a good angle to take, and while I'm pretty sure most of it was explored in the anime, I can't remember for sure, so it mostly felt new to me, which was nice.
One thing that's a little disappointing about this book is the plot. In the first volume of the series, Kyon meets another being like Yuki who tries to kill him, but then Yuki saves him with her crazy alien powers, Koizumi shows him closed space and how Haruhi affects the world with her moods, Asahina time travels with him, and Kyon saves the world as he knows it when him and Haruhi get stuck in closed space. There was just so much going on; in this book, not so much. It's just about Haruhi wanted to make a movie for her school's culture festival and how she's making weird things happen because she wants them to happen for the movie (such as making Asahina be able to shoot lasers out of her eye). Of course, the SOS Brigade can't let Haruhi know that she's *actually* making these things happen, because then shit hits the fan. There's a lot of Haruhi bossing everyone around, especially Asahina, and Kyon complaining about being caught in her stupid project. None of it was especially riveting, and it's not surprising that they only spent two episodes or so of the anime on this story arc.
One of the most interesting things that happens in this book though (besides the SOS Brigade [except Haruhi and Kyon] revealing they're pretty much all suspicious of each other) is Kyon almost hitting Haruhi. There is a scene where he literally almost punches her because she purposefully intoxicates Asahina. Haruhi is insulted that Kyon would want to go against her (though she doesn't seem too bothered that he almost hits her -- it's just the rebellious attitude that bothers) and she seems legitimately HURT by this, which is strange in regards to Haruhi's character: she doesn't care what anyone thinks, which is made apparent when you think of her treatment of the other brigade members, which is either indifference, or bossing them around. Also, we know at this point that most of what happens to Haruhi, such as who she's surrounded by, is influenced by her desires and the way she wishes the world actually was; so why is she so attached to the completely average Kyon? Sure, she doesn't *know* that the other brigade members have supernatural powers, but that's why they're there. This connection between Kyon and Haruhi is one that still remains largely unanswered (though speculated of course) among fans of the series, and while I think their layered relationship is actually better translated in the anime than this novel, it was still presented well in the novel.
I think that's one of my favorite things about this series: it really is quite layered and at times profound, despite its absurd premise. It's not that obvious in this volume, but later on, relationships are revealed to be quite in-depth, especially in regards to Kyon and the other brigade members. Not to mention that Haruhi's special... gift, brings up all kinds of philosophical, metaphysical and existential questions, which these books just brush the surface of, though once in awhile they take a dive in and really try to unpack it all.
I think my least favorite aspect of the novel was the writing. Like I mentioned above, I've read enough manga and watched enough anime to get a sense of how Japanese speak and express themselves (I think so anyway), so reading this novel wasn't that strange, but I imagine it would be for other people. Kyon's turn of phrases are just... strange, and his metaphors come off as kind of clunky and out of place. I believe this is an almost direct translation though, which is where some of the awkwardness might be coming from. Also, and I try to remind myself of this constantly, these are LIGHT novels -- they're not meant to be high brow literature and thus, I'm sure the language is meant to be more on the light and less-serious side.
Final Verdict: This installment in the Haruhi series is rather unexciting, especially after the fairly explosive first volume, but I really shouldn't be complaining because I knew what I was getting into with this book before I even started. While the plot was a lot less exciting, characters get a little more developed, even if they're revealed to be simply more ambiguous than Kyon originally realized. The relationship between Haruhi and Kyon is also further developed which is of course good, seeing as how the connection between the two characters is one of the most intriguing aspects of the whole series. My only complaint is with the writing, but I can't really blame the author or the translator for that (who I'm sure did a fine job), it's probably just something that got lost in translation. Also, this book is a LIGHT novel (which you can read the definition for here) and as such, the writing isn't supposed to be amazing to begin with.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2012
Alright, before I start this review, I just want to mention that
I HAVE SEEN THE ANIME FOR THIS BOOK.
I watched all of Season 2, episodes 10-14 anime for The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. And I don't USUALLY recommend for my fellow review readers to just watch the TV-version of the books that I recommend (because USUALLY the books are better, right?)
I mean have you SEEN theToilet Twilight movie? And New Moon was rated 4 out of 10 stars on IMDB. (Which...isn't that awesome of a movie.)
I mean shirtless guys, sparkling vampires, melodramatic drama, yeah. It's all there in those movies, but that's not all that makes a good movie you know!
Especially when the movie is based on some cliche story. -_-
Sorry, sorry, I'm not here to rant on Twilight, but my point is: NO. I don't recommend movies that much. (Twilight, wrecked--like it wasn't already. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, TOTALLY WRECKED. And I'm in love with Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe and all, so I won't regret saying that the Harry Potter movies are okay but they don't beat the books at all. The Hunger Games--surprisingly, I haven't seen yet.)
Even anime, I don't really recommend over the manga. (Unless the anime is Princess Tutu, or some kind of action/ninja/shounen manga, like Naruto or Death Note or Bleach or stuff like that. I'll watch the anime of those over reading the manga.)
But this one . . . I'm recommending the ANIME over the light novel.
Why, you ask?
1. The anime has more EMOTION. It shows more EMOTION than this book. I mean I LOOOOVE Kyon's narrating voice, but what HAPPENS in the book is expressed with more emphasis in the anime.
You know what I mean?
The characters in THIS book aren't as emotion-full as they are in the anime. They're kind of like blunt robots.
2. Maaaaaybe it's because I saw the anime first before reading this book. (Then again, even if I did read this book first, I'd still probably recommend the anime.)
Well, the anime is visual AND audible. AND not only does the anime STICK TO THE PLOT OF THE STORY (instead of some anime plots that change the plot from the manga they corresponded with), it kind of IMPROVED the story or it emphasized the emotions in the book.
Or maybe I was just bored of this book because I already KNEW what was going to happen. Right from the beginning of the book, I knew that . I already knew all that stuff.
So I wasn't tearing through the book all, "Oh my gosh, I HAVE to find out what happens!" or "I wonder what the ending is like."
Nope. I already KNEW. (The not-so-benefits of watching the anime before reading the book. But then again, my first time watching the anime was pretty exciting.)
But yeah. This book COULD have been better. Emotion-wise.
I mean when Kyon described things, and then placed his thoughts into the text, that was what I liked. I LOVE that kind of narrating. That's what made first-person narrating--you know, FIRST PERSON.
The character/narrator is supposed to tell his thoughts too, not just OBSERVE the scene.
Besides, I'm the kind of person that likes dialogue more than descriptions, so...
BUUUUT, when the characters reacted to each other, when they were supposed to be determined or angry or upset or curious or scared or WHATEVER they were supposed to be, it wasn't described well at ALL. I don't even know how to describe how the descriptions weren't descriptive, which is probably a problem.
The things they said, like their dialogue and stuff, didn't have tags to them. It didn't say HOW they had said their dialogue. (I have no idea if they yelled or laughed or screamed or whispered or just bluntly spoke the quote with no emotion at all.) And dialogue descriptions are part of showing the emotions that the character has when they speak!
Oh, and exclamation marks help, too.
And maybe all-caps. (But all-caps probably don't look good in a novel. Comic books, manga, or Theresa reviews, maybe...)
You know, SOMETHING TO MAKE THE DIALOGUE DISTINCT!
I mean what sounds angrier?
"I hate you."
or
"I hate you!"
or
"I HATE YOU!"
or
"I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!"
or even my way of saying such a thing.
"I HATE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!!!!!!!!"
See? PUNCTUATION MATTERS.
And then there's even italicizing and bolding and underlining to add more emphasis!
All these things could have DEFINITELY been used in the book. So many different options and ways to show emotion!
But this book...still ended up being pretty blunt and emotionless.
Anyway, the plot IDEA was pretty interesting.
With Haruhi Suzumiya, for some weird reason, the CONCLUSION to the books (the endings) seem to happen really, really fast. As fast as a HEART BEAT!
And you hardly get any foreshadowing ideas that actually HELP YOU figure out what the real conclusion is.
And the conclusion is usually something you DON'T expect.
And the conclusion just JUMPS AT YOUR FACE. You don't expect it. (Unless you KNOW what the conclusion is going to be already. Like, you already read the book or watched the anime or got spoiled or SOMETHING.)
(I'm gonna mention a few examples from the TMoHS series, so....INTO THE SPOILER ZONE WE GO!)
The faux clues I get lead me to a conclusion that I THINK might happen, but then a totally DIFFERENT conclusion ends up happening instead. BAAAAAH, it can be frustrating, but it has its own thrill.
It's probably a good thing about this book.
Oh. And we still don't know what Kyon's real name is.
Anyway, OVERALL: This book gets 3 stars. Pretty blunt and not as emotion-full as the anime, but the story line is good.
I had to interlibrary-loan-request this book (Because my library district didn't have this book, so I had to request it from a library far far away) TWICE. I didn't finish it the first time, when I requested in in January.
I finished it in July, when I checked this thing out on July 16th.
Lots of procrastinating, but I FINISHED IT! And no, the book wasn't enough to be able to keep me interested in the story, but the anime was.
So, onto the third book. MWAH, HA, HA, HA!!!
I HAVE SEEN THE ANIME FOR THIS BOOK.
I watched all of Season 2, episodes 10-14 anime for The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. And I don't USUALLY recommend for my fellow review readers to just watch the TV-version of the books that I recommend (because USUALLY the books are better, right?)
I mean have you SEEN the
I mean shirtless guys, sparkling vampires, melodramatic drama, yeah. It's all there in those movies, but that's not all that makes a good movie you know!
Especially when the movie is based on some cliche story. -_-
Sorry, sorry, I'm not here to rant on Twilight, but my point is: NO. I don't recommend movies that much. (Twilight, wrecked--like it wasn't already. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, TOTALLY WRECKED. And I'm in love with Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe and all, so I won't regret saying that the Harry Potter movies are okay but they don't beat the books at all. The Hunger Games--surprisingly, I haven't seen yet.)
Even anime, I don't really recommend over the manga. (Unless the anime is Princess Tutu, or some kind of action/ninja/shounen manga, like Naruto or Death Note or Bleach or stuff like that. I'll watch the anime of those over reading the manga.)
But this one . . . I'm recommending the ANIME over the light novel.
Why, you ask?
1. The anime has more EMOTION. It shows more EMOTION than this book. I mean I LOOOOVE Kyon's narrating voice, but what HAPPENS in the book is expressed with more emphasis in the anime.
You know what I mean?
The characters in THIS book aren't as emotion-full as they are in the anime. They're kind of like blunt robots.
2. Maaaaaybe it's because I saw the anime first before reading this book. (Then again, even if I did read this book first, I'd still probably recommend the anime.)
Well, the anime is visual AND audible. AND not only does the anime STICK TO THE PLOT OF THE STORY (instead of some anime plots that change the plot from the manga they corresponded with), it kind of IMPROVED the story or it emphasized the emotions in the book.
Or maybe I was just bored of this book because I already KNEW what was going to happen. Right from the beginning of the book, I knew that . I already knew all that stuff.
So I wasn't tearing through the book all, "Oh my gosh, I HAVE to find out what happens!" or "I wonder what the ending is like."
Nope. I already KNEW. (The not-so-benefits of watching the anime before reading the book. But then again, my first time watching the anime was pretty exciting.)
But yeah. This book COULD have been better. Emotion-wise.
I mean when Kyon described things, and then placed his thoughts into the text, that was what I liked. I LOVE that kind of narrating. That's what made first-person narrating--you know, FIRST PERSON.
The character/narrator is supposed to tell his thoughts too, not just OBSERVE the scene.
Besides, I'm the kind of person that likes dialogue more than descriptions, so...
BUUUUT, when the characters reacted to each other, when they were supposed to be determined or angry or upset or curious or scared or WHATEVER they were supposed to be, it wasn't described well at ALL. I don't even know how to describe how the descriptions weren't descriptive, which is probably a problem.
The things they said, like their dialogue and stuff, didn't have tags to them. It didn't say HOW they had said their dialogue. (I have no idea if they yelled or laughed or screamed or whispered or just bluntly spoke the quote with no emotion at all.) And dialogue descriptions are part of showing the emotions that the character has when they speak!
Oh, and exclamation marks help, too.
And maybe all-caps. (But all-caps probably don't look good in a novel. Comic books, manga, or Theresa reviews, maybe...)
You know, SOMETHING TO MAKE THE DIALOGUE DISTINCT!
I mean what sounds angrier?
"I hate you."
or
"I hate you!"
or
"I HATE YOU!"
or
"I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!"
or even my way of saying such a thing.
"I HATE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!!!!!!!!!"
See? PUNCTUATION MATTERS.
And then there's even italicizing and bolding and underlining to add more emphasis!
All these things could have DEFINITELY been used in the book. So many different options and ways to show emotion!
But this book...still ended up being pretty blunt and emotionless.
Anyway, the plot IDEA was pretty interesting.
With Haruhi Suzumiya, for some weird reason, the CONCLUSION to the books (the endings) seem to happen really, really fast. As fast as a HEART BEAT!
And you hardly get any foreshadowing ideas that actually HELP YOU figure out what the real conclusion is.
And the conclusion is usually something you DON'T expect.
And the conclusion just JUMPS AT YOUR FACE. You don't expect it. (Unless you KNOW what the conclusion is going to be already. Like, you already read the book or watched the anime or got spoiled or SOMETHING.)
(I'm gonna mention a few examples from the TMoHS series, so....INTO THE SPOILER ZONE WE GO!)
The faux clues I get lead me to a conclusion that I THINK might happen, but then a totally DIFFERENT conclusion ends up happening instead. BAAAAAH, it can be frustrating, but it has its own thrill.
It's probably a good thing about this book.
Oh. And we still don't know what Kyon's real name is.
Anyway, OVERALL: This book gets 3 stars. Pretty blunt and not as emotion-full as the anime, but the story line is good.
I had to interlibrary-loan-request this book (Because my library district didn't have this book, so I had to request it from a library far far away) TWICE. I didn't finish it the first time, when I requested in in January.
I finished it in July, when I checked this thing out on July 16th.
Lots of procrastinating, but I FINISHED IT! And no, the book wasn't enough to be able to keep me interested in the story, but the anime was.
So, onto the third book. MWAH, HA, HA, HA!!!
May 24, 2022
I feel that studying train tracks thoroughly while studying for the entrance exam is more fun than reading this volume..... The narratives remain as indirectly linked as ever, yes, an irony! I'm not going to lie, there were a few connections, one for comedy and one for the script, but I don't think either one has the strength to counter all this irritating reading.
Anyway, stopping a little with the hyperbolization, it wasn't something that tedious, apart from that everything seemed essentially tacky and since the work seems to have this mania for criticizing the chunny tropics, carrying a luggage this size for so long can end up collapsing on you, "becoming what you swore to destroy"
Of course, it's more of a hyperbole, but I really just want to point out the gist of it. Not satisfied with its messy and tedious narrative, it is still extremely predictable to a point that even before starting the volume, it seemed pretty obvious what the main theme of all this would be and such predictability is evident not only by the author's lack of concern in hide them in a captivating script, but also because the initial rules are simple enough for us to add up the course of volume 2 and get the obvious result, like 2+2
The slice of life lasts for a long time and although it still has an interesting concept about this "malleable villain", the writing still has a certain problem with following the characters, sometimes tending to negligible errors in something as basic as coordination. Sometimes simple mistakes in figure of speech and sentence allocation that don't seem to fit well with characters' personalities, not ironically... As an example, think of writing on a graduated scale from the most apt to handle a situation to the least adapted, but end such construction by ending with a confused and meaningless gradation, repeating the fittest and forgetting the least
Or also, sometimes the praise is too big for the content it has to offer, causing a certain basic comparison problem... Fortunately this is the rarest type, so expect to find it a few times.
Finally, even with all these problems, my reasons for not finding this a bad volume were because the comedy was decent, and for the script, we had small plot twists that added to the absurdity of the world... Of course, some of these plot twists seemed poorly constructed, even though they held a captivating conspiratorial essence. In general, character theory seems very silly or poorly presented based on the scope/position the character should carry, causing a certain logical incongruity.
Wait.... In reality makes all sense to give this volume a low rating!!!
NOTE: A little out of context, but.... maybe the volume 2 take place in the future because Asahina is the protagonist?
Anyway, stopping a little with the hyperbolization, it wasn't something that tedious, apart from that everything seemed essentially tacky and since the work seems to have this mania for criticizing the chunny tropics, carrying a luggage this size for so long can end up collapsing on you, "becoming what you swore to destroy"
Of course, it's more of a hyperbole, but I really just want to point out the gist of it. Not satisfied with its messy and tedious narrative, it is still extremely predictable to a point that even before starting the volume, it seemed pretty obvious what the main theme of all this would be and such predictability is evident not only by the author's lack of concern in hide them in a captivating script, but also because the initial rules are simple enough for us to add up the course of volume 2 and get the obvious result, like 2+2
The slice of life lasts for a long time and although it still has an interesting concept about this "malleable villain", the writing still has a certain problem with following the characters, sometimes tending to negligible errors in something as basic as coordination. Sometimes simple mistakes in figure of speech and sentence allocation that don't seem to fit well with characters' personalities, not ironically... As an example, think of writing on a graduated scale from the most apt to handle a situation to the least adapted, but end such construction by ending with a confused and meaningless gradation, repeating the fittest and forgetting the least
Or also, sometimes the praise is too big for the content it has to offer, causing a certain basic comparison problem... Fortunately this is the rarest type, so expect to find it a few times.
Finally, even with all these problems, my reasons for not finding this a bad volume were because the comedy was decent, and for the script, we had small plot twists that added to the absurdity of the world... Of course, some of these plot twists seemed poorly constructed, even though they held a captivating conspiratorial essence. In general, character theory seems very silly or poorly presented based on the scope/position the character should carry, causing a certain logical incongruity.
Wait.... In reality makes all sense to give this volume a low rating!!!
NOTE: A little out of context, but.... maybe the volume 2 take place in the future because Asahina is the protagonist?
October 28, 2021
Se va a dar el Festival cultural del colegio y Haruhi ordena a los miembros de la brigada SOS que deben ayudarla a hacer una película, ya que vió una película que no le gustó en la TV y se le ocurrió que podía ella hacerlo mejor como directora (dictadora). Y así designa a Mikuru-chan como protagonista en que iba a ser una heroína guerrera viajera del tiempo, Nagato la malvada bruja espacial y Koizumi el héroe con poderes que rescataría a Mikuru-chan. Kyon quedaría como empleado de la parte técnica siendo camarógrafo, utilero, cargador, y editor del metraje grabado.
Kyon se pasa toda la novela quejándose de Haruhi y hablando con los otros miembros de la brigada que le dicen que hay que seguirle la corriente para evitar que cause mayores destrozos alternado el universo o destruyéndolo. Aunque durante la filmación de las escenas de la película que se dan en exteriores Haruhi va cambiando la realidad de a pocos con sus simples deseos, como el hacer que Mikuru-chan dispare rayos con los ojos, cosa que Nagato logra controlar con sus poderes, salvándole la vida en una ocasión al mismo Kyon. Y también haciendo que un gato hable, aunque el gato solo habló cuando se fue Haruhi.
En sí toda la novela es sobre la filmación de la película que al final exhiben en el festival escolar. Partes de esta novela salen en la serie anime, aunque lo que no se ve es el concierto de Haruhi cantando. Pero Nagato sí está toda la novela con su disfraz de bruja y Mikuru con su traje de mesera. Algunas cosas que no recuerdo del anime es que Kyon sí se enoja mucho con Haruhi y pelean al punto de que Koizumi tiene que intervenir para que no lleguen a los golpes, y que hay algunas referencias musicales a música popular como Marilyn Manson que tararea Haruhi. También los amigos de Kyon, Kunikida y Taniguchi hacen cortos papeles de extras en la escena del lago. Y Tsuruya, la amiga de Mikuru también aparece y los invita a su casa que era casi una mansión.
Kyon se pasa toda la novela quejándose de Haruhi y hablando con los otros miembros de la brigada que le dicen que hay que seguirle la corriente para evitar que cause mayores destrozos alternado el universo o destruyéndolo. Aunque durante la filmación de las escenas de la película que se dan en exteriores Haruhi va cambiando la realidad de a pocos con sus simples deseos, como el hacer que Mikuru-chan dispare rayos con los ojos, cosa que Nagato logra controlar con sus poderes, salvándole la vida en una ocasión al mismo Kyon. Y también haciendo que un gato hable, aunque el gato solo habló cuando se fue Haruhi.
En sí toda la novela es sobre la filmación de la película que al final exhiben en el festival escolar. Partes de esta novela salen en la serie anime, aunque lo que no se ve es el concierto de Haruhi cantando. Pero Nagato sí está toda la novela con su disfraz de bruja y Mikuru con su traje de mesera. Algunas cosas que no recuerdo del anime es que Kyon sí se enoja mucho con Haruhi y pelean al punto de que Koizumi tiene que intervenir para que no lleguen a los golpes, y que hay algunas referencias musicales a música popular como Marilyn Manson que tararea Haruhi. También los amigos de Kyon, Kunikida y Taniguchi hacen cortos papeles de extras en la escena del lago. Y Tsuruya, la amiga de Mikuru también aparece y los invita a su casa que era casi una mansión.
January 9, 2017
....Maybe it was just me?
Okay, so I watched the anime first, both seasons and the movie. I like it a lot. By the time I had watched, season 3 had been begged for for several years, and the movie had been out for about 3. When rather giving a proper third season they went with the Nagato spin-off, I figured the only way I'd really get the whole story was to read the light novels.
I don't do so well with light novels. I like good prose. It seems the prose here was incredibly simple, even before translation, and as someone with a decent knowledge of the Japanese language, I'm willing to bet that the translator *also* isn't giving particularly good prose. With the exception of most expository dialogue about the nature of Haruhi, most of it follows the simple grammar of Japanese. A translator's job is not just to translate the literal words on the page, but to also translate the it into what would actually be said in another language. Which means the prose should at least be decent, even if it isn't in Japanese.
Beyond that, Kyon is just such a pain in this volume. I liked the first one okay, I could put aside the simple prose because the rest was enjoyable. But I got so tired of him complaining about Koizumi and creeping on Asahina every chance he got, and then some. Also, I just wasn't particularly fond of the plot in this volume. It picks up near the end with all the implications of what could happen if Haruhi started to believe the stuff in the film was real, but even in the anime this was one of my least favorite arcs. I'm glad I watched it in Kyon order, because if I'd watched in Haruhi order, I wouldn't have made it past the first episode (the movie they create). Hopefully the next one won't be so bad it takes me almost a year to finish it as well. Then again if I take a year each, maybe they'll reboot the anime and actually finish it this time...
Okay, so I watched the anime first, both seasons and the movie. I like it a lot. By the time I had watched, season 3 had been begged for for several years, and the movie had been out for about 3. When rather giving a proper third season they went with the Nagato spin-off, I figured the only way I'd really get the whole story was to read the light novels.
I don't do so well with light novels. I like good prose. It seems the prose here was incredibly simple, even before translation, and as someone with a decent knowledge of the Japanese language, I'm willing to bet that the translator *also* isn't giving particularly good prose. With the exception of most expository dialogue about the nature of Haruhi, most of it follows the simple grammar of Japanese. A translator's job is not just to translate the literal words on the page, but to also translate the it into what would actually be said in another language. Which means the prose should at least be decent, even if it isn't in Japanese.
Beyond that, Kyon is just such a pain in this volume. I liked the first one okay, I could put aside the simple prose because the rest was enjoyable. But I got so tired of him complaining about Koizumi and creeping on Asahina every chance he got, and then some. Also, I just wasn't particularly fond of the plot in this volume. It picks up near the end with all the implications of what could happen if Haruhi started to believe the stuff in the film was real, but even in the anime this was one of my least favorite arcs. I'm glad I watched it in Kyon order, because if I'd watched in Haruhi order, I wouldn't have made it past the first episode (the movie they create). Hopefully the next one won't be so bad it takes me almost a year to finish it as well. Then again if I take a year each, maybe they'll reboot the anime and actually finish it this time...
January 9, 2019
I must admit I'm not sure whether Tanigawa expected his original novel, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, to develop into a long-running series, as the ending to that one was very satisfying -albeit still rather inconclusive for the premise it was dealing with-, and he could've left it at that. The subtle but quite substantial character development that ending provided was, sadly, thrown out the window in favor of more Suzumiya-brand shenanigans for this sequel. Here, Haruhi is at her absolute worst in terms of likability, and the reader not only has to feel for Kyon and the rest, but also wonder if the titular character is... well, worth reading about. That's how infuriating she becomes throughout this story, and in the wake of the previous novel's ending it feels... wrong. Still, this behavior at the same time allows for some poignant development opportunities for the rest of the cast, Kyon in particular, who up until now had been your average disgruntled straight man. We get to see a deeper, heck even darker side to him, and that ultimately evens the score for this book. By the end we find both main characters have grown up some, and while it's done in a rather tacky way, it's a nice stepping place for the next one, with the story itself now fully aware of its intent to become a longer series.
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