[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya episode 7: A giant cave cricket?!
After the cliffhanger that was the end of episode #6 I was looking forward to the continuation of the ‘closed circle’ story arc. Upon starting episode #7 however, I realised that the story jumps straight back into the high school setting with what appears to be a completely unrelated theme. Honestly, I had to check the episode title and compare it with the listings on ANN to make sure I was watching the right one. I know the show is out of the ordinary and zany but there doesn’t seem to be any justifiable reason for it.
So, this particular episode begins with Haruhi lamenting on the lack of hits that the SOS Brigade’s homepage is getting. Her solution? A new club emblem (below)! It’s all her own work, obviously, but Kyon is the one who winds up trying to get it set up. Not surprisingly this doesn’t quite go to plan and soon very strange things are happening to the homepage’s images and files. Hackers? Perhaps.
Their attention is soon diverted by a girl who accompanies Mikuru to the meeting room and, seemingly misunderstanding the Brigade’s purpose (which is a moot point even to its members), asks for their help in tracking down her missing boyfriend. As far as I’m concerned one moe character per scene is more than enough for anyone but now there are two (below): fortunately the girl doesn’t hang around long but just wants her boyfriend found. The complication? He’s the head of the computer club, the guy who Haruhi tormented a few episodes previously. And that’s not the strangest thing…
Right now I’m not sure what to make of Haruhi Suzumiya: it was a fun and offbeat comedy but after this episode it seems to be suffering some sort of identity crisis. I know viewing this series requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief but still…a giant insect in a confined parallel universe?! I’m guessing that the technobabble being thrown around is intended to be random and incomprehensible but it only gives the impression of a series that’s being made up as it goes along: it could be one of the cleverest shows around for all I know but it comes across as losing focus and beoming a jumbled mess of unordered episodes.
To summarise: from episode #8 onwards I’m hoping for not only a resolution to the ‘closed circle’ story arc but some more of the dry wit and coherent storyline that attracted me to the series in the first place. Haruhi Suzumiya doesn’t need shuffled episode orders and giant insects to be entertaining: I sincerely hope it hasn’t jumped the shark already.
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