First Impression – Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu
It’s the schoolgirl comedy you never knew you wanted
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Ah, another one of my much anticipated shows this Spring. I enjoyed the previous franchise, and I love romcoms. But it is sure to be filled with both controversy and, I’m sure, many complaints. Why who could complain about such adorkable cuteness? I love Yuki-chan ❤❤❤❤❤ |
Nagato Yuuki no Kokoro ni Aru mono
I think the Data Interwhoseymawhatsit is still online…
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan got it’s start as a spin-off manga by Puyo, who previously worked on the manga adaptation of the Hahuri-san light novel series. This stories’ key moment, and over-arching plot device, occurs during the fourth novel of that series; which was adapted as the film The Disappearance of Hahuri Suzumiya. These are the moments when Yuki, an Earthly interface for a collection of alien super-intelligence, The Data Integration Thought Entity, due to an error in her operation starts to want to be much more than that….and this is no place to make a longer story short. Especially since the main character, Haruhi herself, was such a game changer….to say nothing of the rest of the SOS Brigade….
Yuki wasn’t as down to Earth back then..
The two-series anime adaption, and film, of the novel series were produced by Kyoto Animation and received an incredibly wide following; and like most popular shows it received a fair share of accolades and complaints. I won’t address the larger ones, only to say that mine were that the non-linear storytelling added nothing to the overall narrative, and that picking on Endless Eight is going for the low hanging fruit. Even in light of my gripes, the show did reach for some great heights, and I’ll keep God Knows and the 00 Student Film, and the collection of Yuki’s moments of self-discovery as my favorites. Needless to say, it was a very big deal….
You might even remember them…there was dancing….even prisoners got involved
But that was way back in 2006+/-3 years (and 2015,53209 and 20wibbly-wobbly -timey-whimey10), ages ago. This year we have a brand new show by Satelight. It’s directed by….well, you can go look it up if you want. The most you’ll ever hear is that Kyoto Animation isn’t doing it, and yadda yadda yadda… So, with that in mind, the one question that has to be asked is “Do I need to see the rest of the Haruhi franchise to get this new show?” Well, see the film. But that won’t nearly be as rewarding without seeing the rest of the two series, yes even Endless Eight. But…..Damn. That’s a pickle of a question.
Change is the nature of all things
There are relationships and connections in the show, at least going by the first episode, that work all by themselves. This is the story of a cute, but painfully shy, girl coming out of her shell, perhaps confessing to her crush, and ultimately trying to live her high school life to the fullest. That being said, it’s an alternate take on what has proceeded before, and you’ll miss on just how much so it really is without the rest of the material under your belt. So go ahead and do that….we’ll wait….The first series clocks in around 5 and 1/2 hours…..no rush…
I wouldn’t expect the lady on the right to wait very long…
Alright, we’re done waiting. For the long time fans there are plenty of moments that you’ll probably love. My ear’s pricked up, and my heart swelled bout five times over, hearing pieces of The Disappearance of Hahuri Suzumiya OST. Yes, there was the chance crosswalk meeting that went mildly un-regarded by both Yuki and Kyon, but surly noted. Asukara is around and is just as protective of Yuki as she always was, just well, different than the moments that really stick out in your head.
OK, she might still be a bit possessive…
Tsuruya is back and causing Kyon headaches, and Mikuru is still everyone’s favorite suffering sock puppet and school boy crush. This is a trip down the rabbit hole, however, and yes things have greatly changed. But to me, they’ve changed for something with a different, perhaps even fresher hook. Yes, she’s anxious to have a Christmas party, with turkey (a big deal in Japan), with a big layer cake and a party dress, in her beloved Literature clubroom. She used to just sit there, well, she hit home runs too…it was a magic bat.So let her have a party!
Just make sure she doesn’t have a knife…(not pictured: camel crickets)
A different gate of hell rears it’s head…
See how cute this scene is compared to the last time we saw the three of them together in the film?
Fawn before the mighty Calligraphy club…
Back the #$(& up…this is my snarky man toy!
Yes, we are running now…..and Mikuru is unarmed….
Manipulating the Universe one girl at a time…
So yes, this is an alternate take on the whole Haruhi universe, but it isn’t without merit, as they feature the change-over right toward the beginning of the program. Now, the school life genre isn’t exactly a forgotten wasteland these days; with dogpiles of romcoms, super-powered battles, slices of daily life, straight romances and comedies, drama, and even science fiction and fantasy. Haruhi was all that. This show isn’t that, but the elements are still there…(returning VAs and all)
When you can stretch a character out and yet still have them remain essentially the same in some key aspects, you should find quite a good story. While it’s true that this isn’t the stoic Yuki-chan we know, having little of that Lovecraftian element to show, it’s still her ambition, and still her story that remains untold down this road. I for one am happy to see it….As for folks that might complain that this isn’t the Haruhi S3 they’ve been waiting for…
So, is he a glasses man or not?
Well, this show isn’t going to be quite as slice of lifey as this episode makes it out to be (I might even be lying to you…but just a little). It’s not going to be the Suzumiy-explosion previous series or the film were either. It will find itself in a nice comfy place somewhere in the middle. As for how long it will last? I’ve seen two cour, and I’ve seen one cour. There are 41 chapters and 8 volumes available the last I checked. This episode went through nearly four 16-18 page chapters. The math looks like one cour with some qualifiers. But no matter how long it lasts, I’m sure I’ll be here for the duration. I hope the hook will capture you too….
..and it’s always lovely to hear Chihara Minori sing.
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Quote the usual: “This not not kyoani, therefore it must not be good as the original!” sez the usual kyoanitards.
Never was interested in the franchise so… maybe I will watch a smidgen just to spite a group of retards? Maybe… just maybe. Satelight isn’t a bad studio, for they gave us… MACROSS FRONTIER!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, I am, as you so delicately put it, pretty much a KyoAniTard. But I am more a TellMeAGoodStoryTard, and I feel this show is going to do just that….
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I loved the original, but the new designs by Satelight for Kyon and Yuki are so bland. Generic and bland. I’m kind of disappointed. I don’t really care for studio name recognition, although I recognize that some studios have much better animation and/or certain distinctive attributes they add to their anime.
I hear that the source material is pretty weak… the main draw for the original series was Kyon and his inner monologues.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, some are won over, some are not.
I’ve not seen this sort of controversy over a show since they replaced Tom Wopat and John Schneider on Dukes of Hazzard. The replacement was so quick, they just crossed out the character’s names and put the new ones in the shooting scripts. The former actors were begged to come back after five horrible weeks of complaints. I don’t think that will happen here….
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I really liked that they gave us that flashback image to the moment of continuity split. That moment was heartbreaking for me in the movie (the real name of the movie should be “The Rejection of Yuki Nagato”), and is a great jumping off point to begin this show. I kind of feel like they are not putting the emotional freight into that moment that the movie had, however, since it was framed almost as a “Kyon chooses Yuki or Haruhi” moment in the movie. Here it’s more like he hasn’t gotten to choosing yet or even realized that the choice was that (perhaps the act of choosing has rewritten some of the basis of choosing).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes, thank you for emphasizing the split, I would have concentrated on other things if you hadn’t.
Just from reading the manga, the emotional weight shifts. You put it as “Kyon chooses”, but this story is firmly placed in “Yuki chooses” as her choices are yet to be finalized. Her crush on Kyon is one of many factors…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, of course if you have two people, they have to both make choices. The switch that makes this entire branch of reality possible is Kyon’s different choice from the movie. But from there, we’re into looking at Yuki’s life, and I think that will be interesting, especially because it’s no longer ‘construct Yuki’.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I like how she got him outside the club room. I want to say this changes everything, but….For now I’m going with that this was her first time in a different place. I don’t think she would try after being rejected, besides, to much happened after the original point….
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I haven’t decided whether to watch this one or not. The original series was almost too good, so much so that only the movie was able to stand out in contrast.
You do give me hope that this alternate vision of the Haruhi-verse is worth watching, though.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I think so long as watchers are able to get over “This isn’t mah Haruh!….they’ve ruined it!” and settle in, it should work out fine. It’s not like the show is taking us to a place (or a type of show) most people don’t watch anyway…
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I love the Haruhi franchise. I think this was the first LN series that I read(still haven’t read vol11 though). I remember the first season that I marathoned before the second season started. And I’m proud to be the ones to have watched E8 as it aired for 2 straight months. The movie was also excellent.
While it’s only the seiyuus that are reprising from this spinoff, I still loved it. It was totally nice to see Kyon’s tsukkomis littered everywhere. It wouldn’t be Kyon without Sugita’s awesome acting. Although I’m not much of a Nagato fan, I don’t mind seeing her as a blushing moeblob in here. More like I love seeing her different expressions, from hungry to dere. While completely different from her character in the main story, it’s still too cute.
Looking forward to more. Hopefully Haruhi gets introduced properly given that she’s far removed from the setting.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I wasn’t watching any anime from late 2004-early 2011. So this franchise was a complete miss. But yeah, I did catch up to it. The film is still one of my favorite films of all time, animated, Japanese, or otherwise. Akria Kurasawa’s Ikiru is close, and it probably serves as a basis for any “heartbreaking” anime you’ve ever seen. I watched E8 in four two part chunks, skipping whole great parts of 6,7, and 8.
If they had not gotten the original seiyuus that might have been a deal breaker for me. Might. Who knows really. I wanted the original music composer as well, but as I pointed out they are using the tracks very well. As for Yuki’s character, it’s not really that new. It was in her all the time, just unexpressed. And not that I give it a touch more though, this might even be a plan for “auto-evolution” on the part of Data Integration Thought Entity. They will achieve this with moeblob! I’m only partially kidding there.
I’m not a stranger to covering this type of show, but I’m still on the fence about how I will be. If is the big question still, and if yes, then how frequently. I guess we shall see….
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I wont rehash what I said on G+ but yes I’m going to be THAT guy who says this is not Haurhi, but I won’t because I plan on watching this as a “what if” story with Nagato who I am not afraid to say bores me to death! It’s bad when a reboot/alternate setting finally gives her a personality and yes I knowwwww everyone who loves that character will say that she always had one! Sure why not, but we all have our preferences on “best” girl in this series.
While the artstyle is a HUGE shift from the old ways I will get used to it eventually right? I didn’t really care for the OMG SILLY FACES mode on Nagato since those kinds of things were rare on that character, but I suppose it was cute some of the time.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Saying it’s not Haruhi is like telling me water is not made of wet…LOL
…aw c’mon, that bit where she was going into a face off still munching on a croquette was made of pure Win!
The style does take getting used to I do realize that, but they’ve taken most of the design from the later parts of the manga; which started off not that well done.
Tell you what, for the sake of interest, keep track of how many times Asukara gets close to “reverting to original character”. That should be fun…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Well it is Haruhi and at the same time not really, yeah it may have the same characters but the themes of time travelers, ESPers and Aliens has been removed for now…
Nagato just has never been the “cute” one and I don’t go for OMG CUTE glasses girl I get that is her overall appeal and what not but not for me.
Yeah I could say that about a lot of manga! Try Attack on Titan or Hunter x Hunter…wow so bad…
That might require more work xDD
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Kyon doesn’t go for OMG CUTE glasses girls either. At least that’s what he said after Nagato saved his life. Think he’ll change?
Oh goodness, I remember going to the Attack on Titan volumes at a book store thinking, “Wow, this should be cool”….oh whiplash!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu wasn’t as bad as ppl made it out to be. The only thing that terrible is the shit subs on the vid that I saw. Maybe its just because I’m a Haruhi virgin, but I enjoyed it anyway even though I probably missed most of the in-jokes and references. SOL of the season for me.
Nagato is gotta to the most moe role I ever heard from Minori Chihara, And damn she good. Most of the roles I heard her played is the cool/emotionless types, with exceptions being DAL Miku.
As for Sugita, the voice he used for Kyon is kinda jarring with the simplified Kyon design but I gradually got used to it.
Asakura – best wingwoman. Not to mention the rivalry between Tsuruya and Asakura that slowly snowballed out of control is pretty amusing to watch XD
That said, I can’t wait for the titular character of the main series to show up. The glimpse we saw of the long hair Haruhi is just lovely.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
RE: Shit subs. Any port in a storm, eh?
Asakura is awesome. It snowballed, but they earned each other’s respect.
There will be Haruhi…
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
Yuki’s cuteness too OP for me…i vomited rainbows during the episode…i loved it
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
You know the only cure for that condition is to watch more Yuki-chan…..
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
thank you doctor Sky, i’ll
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Disappointing. Utterly disappointing. I was expecting more Haruhi goodness, and instead I got average material romcom. I was somewhat hopeful when Haruhi passed on the street, and then my hopes were dashed out the window like yesterday’s leftovers.
Bland character re-designs aside, it was nice seeing some of Kyon’s inner monologue come out, even if it was few and far in-between.
Guess I’ll drop this for now, and maybe pick it back up if I hear it gets its mojo back.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ll be posting, so feel free to check back in from time to time. I don’t think it’s going to be everything you want, but Haruhi is briefly in the 2nd episode, and is featured in the 3rd.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Yeah, I saw her in your post at the end. I’ll see what you think of the third episode, and decided if I want to pick iy back up for a bit or not. Don’t like the design change though… like when they went from S1 to S2 in Hayate, absolutely was not a fan. But loved the series enough to continue watching ^^
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Character design can be a game changer going into a new show, much less an established one. But I’ve found that fades when you just sit down and watch…