Inspired by this fan, I dream of an SOS Brigade Live Action Mass Dance at an anime convention near you… Much more complication than I thought with over fifty screencaps and three pages of text to cover one minute. I’ve got no chereography experience - though I’ve been gangpressed against my will into numerous mass dances in the course of education and military service in our glorious people’s democratic island republic - so I’m not really sure how useful this will be. Especially since there are no timing notes or cue against the backing track of Sunny Sunshiny Happy plus I might have gotten stage rights and lefts mixed up here and there. [Edit: Also see SOS Dan and Haruhi ED (Jp) - frame by frame] Anyhows:
SOS Battalion (because Haruhi is SOS Brigade Commander, the next subordinate unit level is SOS Battalion) commander emerges from stage left, right arm akimbo, left arm over ear (hair toss position).
Cross arms at the wrist at chest level and cut outwards as Bn CO steps to the centre in sideways motion (crab walk).
Bn CO reaches centre of formation. All Brigade members, right arm akimbo, left arm straight and point upwards with hand in ‘hand gun’ position.
Bring down left arm to shoulder level, pointing at the stage right.
Pull left forearm over face.
When left palm reaches face, pull left arm straight up, palm open, facing stage front.
Wave arm to the left to about 45 deg.
Transition. Bn CO assumes Haruhi pose, facial expression – smirk, head tilted to the left, arms crossed across chest, right arm over left with right hand over left elbow. Other members assume Varied Transition Poses (suggestions include standing around idly, chatting, checking mobile phone, playing personal entertainment devices etc.) –Kyon troopers may stare at Bn CO with slumped shoulders and expression of disbelief.
Bn CO hairtoss. Yuki troopers do left-right head bob, Mikuru troopers do the Mikuru Twirly Finger.
Feet slightly less than shoulder’s length apart, knees touching, hips sticking buttward, right arm akimbo, left arm starting from right shoulder, sweeping left in a low arc to 45 deg, palm facing outwards, thumb out, look above incline of arm, right knee raised on slight tiptoe over left kneecap.
Assume VTP.
Left foot out to 11 o’clock, left knee bent, right leg supporting and straightening as right arm, with fingers apart, push upwards from about waist level.
Bn CO raise both hands up, thumbs to temples, middle and ring finger closed to palm, curling in pinkie as both arms move down and outwards simultaneously to ‘hand gun’ pointing. Big wide grin.
Mikuru troopers raise hands, fingers apart, over open mouth. Expression of pleasant surprise.
Yuki troopers head bob left to right and right to left.
Itsuki troopers raise both arms, palm upwards, fingers half-curled: Whatever!
Kyon troopers slap hand over left eye, finger tips only touching face. Exasperated expression.
Left arm akimbo, right hand wagging in ‘tsk tsk’ position. Left foot tapping throughout.
Bend hip to the left, straighten left leg, bend right knee slightly, wag right hand up and down, finger set in previous position.
Raise right hand to right temple, pulling outwards until forearm perpendicular to shoulder, twirl hand towards wrist and back towards temple.
Sweep right hand over left shoulder, bring down to belly in an arc, completing motion with right hand at face level, hand in ‘claw’ position.
Flip right hand upwards into ‘wave’ position – moving from front-facing wave to back wave to forefinger wag – swiveling on left foot while tapping right foot, raising right knee over left kneecap.
Right foot steps down once and up again as shoulders and right arm swivel towards stage front, right forefinger wagging and hips left-right to the beat.
Bring right foot down again as right arm reaches dead centre, finger pointing towards stage front.
Ball right hand into fist and bring towards shoulder as left hand leaves akimbo position, balls into fist at waist level, right knee kicking off…
…to face front. Both fists raised at shoulder level. Punch fists upwards, in an alternating left-right rhythm, tapping right toes when right fist is being raised.
All, arms bent towards but not touching chest, fists balled. Pull downwards and left to the centre as torso follows and pull upwards and right. Reverse and repeat until…
Feet shoulder length apart. ‘Aeroplane’ - push arms outwards to shoulder level, palms flat, fingers pointing upwards, hips bent to the right.
Swing arms inwards, towards face and out to ‘banzai’ position, fingers apart and outstretched.
Bend down on right knee until nearly to the floor, bring arms to shoulder level and holding parallel to the stage floor.
Start to rise to standing position. Mikuru troopers with both hands over centre of chest, Yuki troopers touch collarbones, Bn CO extends left hand straight outward, forefinger circling in anti-clockwise motion.
Big sideways step to the left, left arm swung back, right arm swung forward, fists balled. Repeat in reverse motion.
Face left, left arm in relaxed position, right hand over left shoulder.
Sweep right hand right and upwards to head level, palm upwards, thumb out.
Twirl right wrist to face palm downwards, left arm akimbo, left foot on tiptoe.
Left foot down, face front.
Swing torso back left as right hand, fingers outstretched, palm facing stage front, is brought down to shoulder level.
Slap right palm parallel to stage floor, kick up left shoulder, hips to the right.
Bn CO pivots on left toes as everyone prepares for finale position.
Bn CO makes one complete clockwise revolution to…
…finish with flourish: Left arm pointing up 45 deg, right arm akimbo, left leg bending leftwards, on tiptoe on left foot. Troopers on Bn CO’s left vicinity, kneeling down with right knee on the floor, hands (open palm) stretched outwards. Troopers on Bn CO’s left fringe with left knee on ground in more expansive ‘presentation’ pose. End.
This is why I will never succeed in dancing. Ever.
Bravo, Zyl! BRAVO!! Thank you for that marvelous lesson! Here I was thinking who could retrace the steps to that dance, and you did a great job. ^^
I swear almost everyone who’s watching Haruhi is addicted to Hare Hare Yukai. LOL
*Plays ED video again*
Zyl, you know *some* japanese individuals will eventually re-create these steps. Let’s just hope they somehow find your site and will credit you for mapping out the dance moves ;)
I can’t believe you typed this out hahahahaha! Nice work, hopefully someone will find it useful, shoot a video, and upload it to Google video or Youtube or something =D.
Knowing how much most Japanese and Koreans abhor reading real English, that may not be likely, unless you get some Japanese College Students in USA. Zeez, the thought of these craziness makes me wish I can visit the next anime convention.
I agree with moy, it’s not a matter of if someone is going to get a live-action video of the ED, but when. :) I can’t wait personally. Hahaha! Awesome work Zyl!
W000t :) … I really enjoyed that!
Great job, but I can’t help but wonder at which point will this end up beings as campy as the YMCA or Heaven forbid as reviled as the macarena.
I think it is a bit too complicated to get that overexposed.
I can’t believe I just stood up and did the dance moves in front of my computer. XD
I’m gonna smuggle these moves to the club near me.
I really am.
Thanks everyone! Doing this entry actually caused me to like this ED dance even more - was pleasantly surprised at just how detailed and lovingly chereographed this one minute dance was. Did Kyoto Animation base it on a live motion study video? Will they train and get the seiyuus to do a live action version for promotional purposes!!?
Moyism, while I’m vain enough to lust after credit, I’ll still be soooo happy to see a video of dozens of fans doing this dance at Anime Central or Otakon (or maybe in the DDR competition). Dance, otaku, dance!!
Crusader, I agree with Skane and Kabitzin - this dance is nowhere as easy as YMCA (even that’s changed in some places to just small hand signs instead of the old skool big arms outstretched style) or macarena (memories of my NS platoon, including one of our officers, performing it at the unit mess, orz…). If I could master this, I certainly wouldn’t be shy about it. (;^_^)
Seems like someone has attempted the dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSpwiGFyvo8
Too bad it’s solo as it would have been more hilarious with a group of people. Video found from the AS forums ;)
Just for the record, “Stage Right” and “Stage Left” are determined from the Point of View of someone on stage looking out towards Stage Front.
So I believe you need to reverse your directions.
Moy - it’s the same one as the vid I linked in the first link of the post. ;) Also, I only just realized that I’ve just reinvented the wheel - this site (and source Jp site) has got much more detailed screencaps and some lyric cues as well. Doh!
Fencedude, thanks. I spotted and fixed one but eyes too blurry now to spot others.
Actually, a couple friends and I have prepared ourselves for dancing the Haruhi ED this year at AX. Crazy stuff, I know. We’ve been practicing it for a while now. And we thought we were gonna be the first ones, guess we were wrong.
This has the potential to be a truly awesome cosplay skit, if you can get five people willing to cosplay as those characters and learn the dance WELL.
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you… or something. This is what I get for not clicking on your link first. Doh! (Double Doh for you getting beaten to the punch on the dance moves)
… crap, did not know a site like sos-dan.com was around. WTF was the point of me getting haruhiism.com then?! Triple doh for me! X(
revised forcast. Over/under for the date when someone starts the Church of Haruhi: May 1st.
Kozumura, more power to you and your friends - you’ll still be the first to do it as (1) a coordinated group which is a whole higher magnitude of difficulty than single person and (2) at a big US anime con. Please PLEASE make a video of your dance and upload it to Google Video or Youtube!!
Moy, I feel like the Stampy the Elephant episode in the Simpsons:
(Homer drives the car into a deer statue)
Homer: Doh!
Marge: A deer!
Lisa: A female deer!
My goodness, you are either brilliant or absolutely insane, Zyl. Now, if only we could get some *good looking* performers to do this.
awh… just when i thought i could do the dances with the instruction of the pictures and words, i can’t do it fast enough… Haruhi is godly
Sugoi!
I love this dance!!!!
ohayo~!!^^
thanks for this information^^
i love suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu x)
-blink-blink-
Great breakdown! Now I’d like to see the steps for the new Haruhi Dance Special Edition. :)
Yeah, the complete dance is AWESOME. But haven’t made the time to write up the dance steps yet…