[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya episode 6: Could the SOS Brigade finally have a mystery on their hands?
The title of this episode, Lone Island Syndrome (part 1), is enough to tell us that this is part of a longer story arc than the ‘weirdness of the week’ structure that the series has shown so far. It begins on a ferry on a summer’s day as Kyon and Itsuki discuss the theory of the ‘closed circle’: a murder-mystery plot device in which the characters involved are in a situation that cuts them off from the outside world, invariably resulting in strange occurances taking place. Not surprisingly Haruhi has wasted no time in calling up a meeting to announce an SOS Brigade trip in search of a Closed Circle situation. Hence a short holiday on a remote island that belongs to a relative of Itsuki’s.
Upon arrival Haruhi is disappointed to learn that the island’s residents are pretty normal people and nothing ‘weird’ by anyone’s standards is, or is likely to, happen. Cue a beach scene, some pretty humdrum holiday shenanigans and little else. The episode builds up an air of complete uninteresting normality that not even Haruhi’s eccentricity can upset. In fact, for the most part this is a pretty boring episode with only the lack of Mikuru torture to recommend it. That is, until the ep enters its second half.
Presumably a manifestation of Haruhi’s will for strangeness (if you don’t know what that’s about, you really should pay attention at the back there!), an unforecast typhoon appears on the second day of their holiday which cuts off the island from the mainland. Hey presto, Haruhi gets her closed circle scenario! The episode then turns several shades of strange and ends on a cliffhanger that redeems the intentional uneventfulness of the past twenty minutes. Needless to say it promises good things in the next instalment.
I’m starting to have a suspicion that Haruhi Suzumiya is more than a fan service comedy with exemplarary production values. Admittedly there were some moments that really made me chuckle (the sight of Yuki water-skiing, book in hand, sums up why I find her character hiarious) but the sci-fi background, with all its hints of much more intelligent themes, seemed like a mere gimmick to me. I’m still not at the same level of enthusiasm that most viewers seem to be about this show but I’m getting more impressed with the direction it’s taking.
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