Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu – 09

Yuki-chan 9-2

Yeah, just leave Koizumi behind….

It’s the last episode of the school trip, and it looks like several of our players have come to some heart felt realizations. Let’s see what we can see…

Give me your hand or Take my Joker

Yuki-chan 9-8

Suck it, peons!

I’ve really enjoyed the last three episodes of this show. It’s just the type of Slice of Life that I really groove on. It may appear to be slow moving, but there is quite a bit happening in terms of character and content.

I don’t really buy Koizumi’s idea that Old Maid is a gauge of anything of particular import, but it surely does challenge those that can’t hide what they are feeling from their faces. But for all intents, it was a pleasant little storytelling device, and it set the stage for more development on several character’s fronts.

The most obvious is Yuki-chan herself, and she is squarely beaten the first round of the game. Just by the look on her face; we’ve seen this in anime before, as the holder of the Joker can never really contain themselves. But if it weren’t for that, would Kyon have been able to pick up on her emotions when it came to the penalty decider? This sets her a bit more at ease in some respects, as she is able to take advantage of Asakura’s lapse of concentration, and get a bit lucky in winning one other other rounds.

We take our moments when we can, I’m sure the audience is thankful for Asakura’s overactive imagination

As for our resident no-longer-killing-Kyon-humanoid interface from the Data Overmind she only has herself to blame. She is very quick to go down the rabbit hole of her own imagination when it comes to just how much Yuki-chan and Kyon will frolic if given the chance. Ah, these three can never have a simple relationship no matter what story universe they are in. But to her credit, she is a good friend to both of them, wishing the best, yet always mindful of impropriety. Puts me in mind of an elder sister, mother, or, given how much she was playing the old person in the onsen last episode, a grandmother.

Yuki-chan 9-11

I love Yuki-chan, but this girl steals my heart every time…

She can’t quite shake the feeling that when these two do become an official couple, that her part in the story will be over and done with. Yuki will not have the time for her any longer. It’s a bit of a knee-slapper seeing Haruhi of all people bursting that bubble and talking her back down to the ground. She a whirlwind, but that doesn’t mean she’s an idiot, or lacks observation. That was a great talk for both of them and shows just how far they’ve developed from the beginning of the show, and how far removed from their alternate counterparts; something that I’ve found the most fascinating.

Yuki-chan 9-13

She may very well have cast a spell

I know full well the show cast a spell on me. I’m transfixed to the screen whenever I hear that bit from the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya OST. They’ve been using the previous music incredibly well this entire time, both as great call-backs and shout-outs, but also just for the sake of this show.

But, in the meantime, I think both Yuki-chan and Kyon have come to some interesting realizations themselves. The biggest part is just how comfortable they are getting with each other. She still has a ways to go, but some of her shyness has worn off. She’s not quite at holding hands yet, but she is comfortable with him alone, and to his credit he’s a perfect gentlemen. I like that bit when they were finally making their way to the observation site, she nearly stumble, but makes a show that she doesn’t need his help. She has to grow just a bit more…

A few more souvenirs from the trip

Show ▼

Yuki-chan 9-5

This was soooo cuuuuute~

As I said last time, we are at the halfway point of the show, and if you stayed tuned after the ED, then you know that we got ourselves a next episode stinger in the works. I’ve seen a great deal of speculation from fans that haven’t read the manga, mostly around the name of the episode itself.

Yuki-chan 9-6

Someday in the Rain was about as Slice of Life as the original series got, it was also, the end of the Haruhi television experience. It was also written by the light novelist, Nagaru Tanigawa. I’ve not seen a credit list for next episode, but I’m fairly certain the story is Puyo material, and the show is handled by the regular series screenwriter. With that in mind, why the connection? It’s not as abstract as you would think, but I’ll save that for next time. Suffice it to say, this was one heck of a way to end this arc, and the damn preview didn’t do a thing for suspense….

Yuki-chan 9-7

But some things will be shaken up, and as I’ve been saying, it will keep with the tone this show has been following from the get go. So no reality altering weirdness….

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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
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39 Responses to “Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu – 09”

    • skylion says:

      I’m not a fan of dubs, but I have seen this across the net. I’m really happy for fans of the original dub as they can enjoy it the way they want to. I may not prefer the option, but it’s good to have another one.

      • BlackBriar says:

        Weren’t English dubs what lead you to anime in the first place?

        • skylion says:

          Well, very heavy handed localization. Star Blazer’s and Robotech. Both changed the whole of he story around. Something I came to be not a fan of. And that was when I was a wee squirt of water. But I started getting into some subtitled VHS shows via early fansub and commercial tapes. Started to like hearing the Japanese and reading it….

        • Highway says:

          You can’t really compare dubs of what they have now and things in the 70s and 80s. Yeah, Voltron and Speed Racer were anime dubs, but they didn’t really get anyone into anime.

          • skylion says:

            …yeah, it’s a very strained continuum….So I guess, subbed got me in with Ranma 1/2…

        • akagami says:

          I’ve only ever seen Pokemon dubbed, and that didn’t get me into anime (I always thought it was a normal American cartoon). I was only exposed to basic cable, so dubbed anime was never an option.

          I have an aversion to dubs period. Even when watching foreign films, I only watch them subtitled. I firmly believe in enjoying material in the medium it was created in. Except for LNs, because I can’t read kanji. ^_^

          • skylion says:

            To me, it’s not a matter of just the medium it was created it. Several of the Disney/Pixar dubs of the Ghibli films have been just fine (but I always rewatch the subs if I have a disc). It’s the performance. In many cases, it’s the lack thereof. At least to my ears…they sound terrible…

            • akagami says:

              Well, there’s that too. Like with games where they dub over. If they have a high quality cast, like in some of the FF games, then it can hold it’s own against the original voice acting. But I find more often than not it’s just plain painful.

              Like if I went in expecting to hear George Clooney and got Seth Rogan instead. For anime, more so when you got A-list VAs and then you get B-list English VAs. Even if there is one or two good ones, the rest of the cast are stiff and horrible.

            • akagami says:

              Good thing there are no grammar police here, I just realized I used “it’s” incorrectly, then used it correctly in the next sentence. That one always trips me up.

    • Foshizzel says:

      That dub cast has done a lot of shows together from Haruhi, Eureka Seven, Bleach and Durarara! I love it and damn it takes me back! I think I saw the dub for Haruhi before I saw the subbed version.

      • BlackBriar says:

        Most of the cast did the dub for Fate/Zero. Crispin Freeman played Kirei Kotomine and Kari Wahlgren played Saber. In Blood+, these two voice actors Saya and her servant Haji. In Hellsing Ultimate, they were Alucard and Rip Van Winkle. Damn, do these people meet a lot.

        • Foshizzel says:

          Yeah it usually depends on which US company pays them back in the day a lot of Bandai anime was through bangzoom

        • skylion says:

          …it’s not the largest pool of talent out there, so hence the crossover from one show to the next. For a larger pool, but still lots of crossover, watch British TV. You’ll be going “hey, it’s that one guy from that one movie…and Game of Thrones, too!”

  1. Foshizzel says:

    Still no progression on that Yuki x Kyon paring and with what three episodes left will they even get close!? Probably not! I continue to see a Chunnibyou s1 ending or Maid-Sama end with them confessing in the last five or ten minutes of the episode, anyway I won’t nag on that too long because the other characters had more things going on that I was interested in…

    • skylion says:

      It is progression, but only when you’re charitable to say an inch or three is progress, but then progression is relative…

      ..and the show has seven episodes left (it’s a cour and a half).

      other characters had more things going on that I was interested in…

      Such as?

      • Highway says:

        In the world of shoujo romance, which that storyline certainly is (even if the show itself might not be), that’s a lot of progression. I thought it was another nice episode of Kyon and Yuki getting closer without anything forced or particularly eventful.

        • Foshizzel says:

          Well I get that I know confession scenes or kissing scenes in Shoujo usually take FOREVER because that is just how they are put together, for me I prefer stuff like Ore-monogatari which take care of that early, but of course that tends to take the mystery and fun out of things leaving only silly drama.

          • Highway says:

            I think it’s a bit more justified in a show like Yuki-chan here (or something like Sukitte ii na yo) because we know what Yuki is like. We know where she started, and we can see that there’s been a lot of movement. So given the background of the character I think it’s fitting in well with what we know.

      • Foshizzel says:

        Ryouko finally admitting that she doesn’t really want Yuki to get with Kyon for fear of being alone! That has been one of the annoying parts for me because she is for it but at the same time protective…

        For me as a non Yuki fan I enjoy watching everyone else because again she is so damn boring! Yeah I admit there are cute moments, but other than that Yuki doesn’t even feel like a main character in certain scenes and yeah I know she held hands with Kyon this week or did she? He was kind of pulling her to get with the others not really walking side by side in a “romantic” way IMO but of course we all can interpret that scene differently I suppose.

  2. akagami says:

    I still kind of want to check this out. But every time I see a picture of this version of Yuki and my disgust levels rise and violently batters what little interest there was into oblivion. I think if they called this something else and cut all ties to the Haruhi franchise I probably would have checked it out (and maybe enjoyed it).

    As it is it just seems like a horrible affront to my memories of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya… like right now I get similar levels of disgust when I think of Endless Eight.

    • skylion says:

      I would say if the mere images cause the bile to rise, it’s probably best avoided. No point in enduring entertainment you don’t like. But it does rather sound like you want me to talk you into it. But, I’ve done that in the First Impression, and a few times the past eight weeks after that. If I’ve not convinced anyone to check it out yet….

      As it is it just seems like a horrible affront to my memories

      This gives me nothing to work with…

      • akagami says:

        Well, it’s like a love/hate feeling. I loved the original Haruhi series, so granted I want to see more…but this Yuki just seems… kind of silly.

        But seeing Asakura is a nice bonus! Her interactions seem amusing.

        I guess the difficulty for me is accepting this new version of Yuki. It’s like when you see a character from a favorite series in a book on the big-screen, and they’re nothing like you imagined or from the source material, yes? That sort of feeling.

        • Highway says:

          It’s not more of the original Haruhi series. And if you can’t get over that, then don’t watch it. But there are plenty of shows that spin off at one place and go to a different place. That’s what this is.

        • Foshizzel says:

          I guess the difficulty for me is accepting this new version of Yuki.

          same they altered her character completely to a clumsy goofball gamer girl who loves cute things! I get that it’s another version of Yuki, but honestly I feel they could have made the same anime with new characters instead of relying so heavily on the Haurhi brand.

          • skylion says:

            …I still argue that it’s a extension of who she could have been from the film…

          • Highway says:

            I don’t know if they’re really leaning on the “brand” of Haruhi as much as you think. Part of the allure of the show is these characters that you know being in a somewhat different situation. And while I think the story is standing up fine by itself, it does have a bit easier time because it doesn’t have to tell you so much about how the characters got to where they are. Instead, it spends time telling you how they’re different, and how they’re changing throughout the show.

    • Highway says:

      I’ll disagree with skylion. I think you should watch it. I don’t think that the characters are particularly changed, and the art style is fine. Personally, I think you’re letting an attachment to something way in the past get in the way of appreciating something different. It’s an alternate history kind of story, and I think it’s handled really well. “What if this happened. What if Kyon didn’t reject Yuki?”

      The one thing that really isn’t continuous, and maybe this is addressed in the movie and I don’t remember it, is that Kyon doesn’t appear to have any memories of the other timeline, although he did in the movie. Maybe when he joins Yuki’s club that past is eradicated for this timeline (or maybe that’s coming up in the rest of the show or something) but they haven’t mentioned it at all.

      • akagami says:

        Hmm, how I recall in happening in the movie was that one day his world diverged into an alternate timeline… for this series, is it the same or an imagining of a “what-if” scenario?

        • skylion says:

          I’ve been poking around the fan wikia for Haruhi for quite some time. Alternate timelines are something of a buffet option in the LNs; lot’s of items will be available, and many will feed…With that in mind, I find that sourcing the exact moment this timeline split from that one doesn’t enhance my enjoyment of this series one bit. From the manga, it’s nothing the writer much cared for either…it’s a rom/com version of these characters using “ideas” from the original show, not the exact events.

      • Foshizzel says:

        “What if this happened. What if Kyon didn’t reject Yuki?”

        by this logic shouldn’t they give a spinoff to all the girls? Like an Amagami SS style of story? Can you imagine the fun seeing Mikuru get her own arc and something silly like Kyon and Itsuki hahah but purists will flame the hell out of that cause its ALWAYS between Yuki and Haurhi not Kyon and everyone else.

        • skylion says:

          I would love to see lines of stuff with the original character’s “stories”. Mikuru’s walking ecchi, dojikko, time-travel shenanigans, with Kyon getting drug to different times lines; maybe one where he answers the phone before Imouta can say “denwa”?

        • akagami says:

          Shamisen should get his spin-off. I want to hear more of his wisdom.

    • akagami says:

      spammy ate my comment >.>

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