Sigh, it’s just not the same when Omni hasn’t already blogged an episode. Best wishes on a speedy recovery, é”人! (In the meantime, for screencap galore, see moyism and Garten’s review.)
This episode’s highlights included the meido cafe, Haruhi’s pensiveness at the end and the concert that rocked my world. On that last point, I thought KyoAni cued me very well and my reactions followed that of the school audience very closely. At first, when Haruhi and Yuki entered the stage with their bunny girl and fortune teller outfits respectively, it was a multitude of “What is that?” from Kyon and other audience murmurs while I thought: “How did she hijack this band?” After the scene transition, it was the murmurs of “Who are these people? I don’t know them.” In my case: “I didn’t know Haruhi would sing an insert. It’s not going to be the OP or ED, is it?” Once the drums started up, you knew that it was going to be fast. Very promising but could Haruhi carry it off?
Yuki certainly covered the electric lead guitar well.
I love the sound of electric guitars.
And girls with dextrous hands. LOL
I was pretty amazed, even though I knew what Yuki is capable of.
Then Haruhi’s voice drops in register after the first line. This is going to be good…
Great detail. Haruhi constantly gives sideways glances to check on Yuki her sheet music [thanks, jaalin!]. You also notice that the sound of the bass notes are perfectly timed with Mai’s movements.
The audience starts to go from “WTF?” to “This is good.” and “Let’s enjoy this.”
Kero-chan check on Mizuki - the choker is a very cute touch.
Lots of POV changes, much like a rock concert MV.
Number of key frames in this concert scene?
Yuki is Slash (in terms of big hat)! LOL
And is the guy on the right in this screenie supposed to be an Ozzy Osbourne reference?
Audience has really gotten into it. I was tapping my foot.
Audience view.
Moshpit view. Animation-wise, a bit of a money saver though.
I really liked this close-up of her face from the side and the effect of the stage lighting. Really showed how Haruhi was really concentrating on her singing.
Cue the Higurashi jokes. But I thought this was wonderful given the context of the song. Rock songs need passion and they need big personalities to carry the songs and the band. Haruhi’s personality, love her or hate her, is huge.
The perspiration was another great touch. It’s boiling under stage lights and again it emphasizes the physicality of the experience.
Drummer view. This was also the scene where you see Haruhi and Mizuki (the drummer) bopping their heads in time. And then I realized I was doing the same. Another nice touch is the background buzz of the audience’s cheering and clapping.
Backstage view.
The perspiration again. That’s a proper concert yo.
Another check right.
What a great concert. I’ve been replaying this for hours. There are times when there are recordings of live events that capture a performer “on fire” (e.g. Depeche Mode at Pasadena (1989), Luna Sea at Hong Kong (1999), the Swing Girls (2004) or dare I say Jacqueline Du Pré’s performance of the cello concerto in E minor conducted by Sir John Barbirolli, year?) and this episode successfully made me feel that Haruhi had given her all for this performance. I haven’t seen many anime episodes that feature concerts but this episode made the recent Ichijou concert in School Rumble, the finale concert in Black Heaven and others seem positively static and staid.
When it was revealed that Haruhi was helping the band, I realized that I had maligned her at the start when I simply assumed that she had forced her way in as yet another vainglorious publicity stunt for the SOS-Dan. *looks guiltily at toes*
Shingo has called Mai (the bass player) cute and I think it’s the arching of her back (compare the screencap from the start -top- to the later one) that enhances her boyish good looks (cue Kurumi Momose: “Boku :D~~~” )
If you compare Yuki with Haruhi and Mikuru, the latter pair seem more sexy as the former has her waist covered by her cardigan. IMHO it’s these little variations that make for great poses.
First song of the concert, “God knows…” and the second “Lost my music” - can’t wait for the OST.
Tsuruya looking and sounding great blah blah.
Kero-chan check! The meido uniform designs are enhanced by two variations to standard designs. Firstly the sleeves are a pure white without interruption which increases focus on the red ribbon around the next and the blue area above the breasts. From the side profile, there are little studs or buttons that add texture and points of interest.
Lookin’ good whether confident (arms akimbo) or showing deference (bow, arms kept close to and covering front of body)
Mai and Mizuki running past the yakisoba queue.
Gotta love the KyoAni attention to detail.
Plenty of this kind of thing to pick up when rewatching.
Haruhi and Yuki passing behind Kyon with their instruments.
Enomoto (or Nakaishi?) needing to be restrained by the Student Council. Haruhi to the rescue.
This scene helped me to confirm that I much prefer genki Haruhi than melancholy Haruhi. Though it’s like wine. You need to drink the real crap stuff once and a while so that you can go back and really appreciate the good stuff. I think this episode has helped to add nuance to her character and ameliorate her aggression, brattiness and arrogance. Taken together, I still find her a hugely likeable character who can carry the show as she interacts with the rest of her well-casted companions.
Now that we’re reaching the end, I’m starting to have an inkling about the rationale behind some of the episode shuffling as next week will be probably see (spoiler) ▼ Show
Damn, but she looked good in that bunny outfit - and she looks COMPLETELY different when she sings - like she’s a different person completely. It was interesting to see how Kyon’s attitude changed over the course of the song… especially after she revealed that a) she could sing, and b) that she had modes other than ‘genki/annoying Haruhi’ and ‘concerned-but-hiding-it Haruhi’.
Between that and the various costume-fetishes being hit up by the KyoAni crew, this episode was a win all around. :D
omg…there…really is a concert.
Btw, what does POV means?
I’m looking forward to this episode.
Oi, Haesslich quit ogling our Goddess, even if she is perfect in every way… ;)
Having Haruhi give Kyon a gohobi or vice versa as part of the last episode will be cause for a naval bombardment or air strike if that second season isn’t coming. Kanon better not suck up too much money since is must be used to fund more Haruhi-sama anitcs. A good ep this is riot will I, if no sseason 2 comes.
Haruhi dragging Kyon by the hand was kawaii as was the grass in face. I do hope Haruhi-sama plans on enlarging the SOS-dan ot actual brigade level man power, she must take over that band, and Fang-tan, like she annexed the computer society.
I love Fang-tan’s hair toss, and I propose that that pic (http://anime.moyism.com/upw/06182006l-27.jpg) of Taniguchi and Kunikida be dedicated to the High Lords Miao and Stripey.
Tsuruya is cute. Really cute.
crimson: POV is “Point of View”.
Crusader: I like your train of thought!
Zyl, seems like you forgot to mention the other two scenes that hinted at Haruhi joining the band:
http://anime.moyism.com/upw/06182006l-11.jpg
http://anime.moyism.com/upw/06182006l-38.jpg
Of course, I think the majority of viewers may miss these on first viewing. I know I only caught the band arguing after re-watching the episode the 2nd time around, now knowing full well what easter eggs to look for ;)
The animation, art direction, timing, and design just blew me away during the concert.
Without any exaggeration; I can easily say that this show is Disney movie feature animation quality.
For Koyani to have poured so much thought, money and talent into what was, until a few months ago, a relatively unknown quantity, must have been a huge gamble. However, this show is so groundbreaking I think they will get their investment back in spades, as well the satisfaction of knowing they made a series that will have the biggest impact on anime since Evangelion.
Oh yah, Tsuruya-tan looked pretty cute in meido.
ok, i was thinking POV was some sort of guitar styles, haha.
I wonder what kinda music they are playing. Yuki in witch hat with electric guitar reminds me of I-No from ggxxr. The difference being I-No being much more proactive.
Haruhi in bunny form is cute. With the electric guitar, its even more delicious. Oops. Anyway guys, you’re looking at a girl.. whose sigh will tear the world apart!
Kyon defends.
Yuki starts casting a spell.
Bunny Mikuru covers her head.
Yami Haruhi sighs.
Yami Haruhi’s sigh OBLITERATES Kyon!
Yami Haruhi’s sigh *decimates* Yuki!
Yami Haruhi’s sigh does =UNBELIEVEABLE= things to Mikuru!
Yuki’s spell has failed.
Bunny Mikuru is confused.
Bunny Mikuru is affected by fear.
I wish i could attach a jpg (snapshot from another rpg game) to illustrate this concept.
maybe later on.. just for fun.
crimson, if you haven’t already watched the episode I have a link on my blog entry to a TV rip of the concert section where Haruhi and co play/sing “God Knows…” Good stuff :D
thanks moyism, i kinda like the opening guitar by yuki :P
anyway, just to play on to the rpg concept.
The tragedy in history repeats itself.
Yemila: “Why doesnt anyone truly loves me?”
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e357/seifert/wf411.jpg
(translation:)
Ye1 Mi3 La1 LV 100
Almighty God J. LV 1
Yemila sighs.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e357/seifert/wf422.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e357/seifert/wf433.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e357/seifert/wf444.jpg
Be incinerated by the auroras. I never run out of SP casting this ultra large area effect skill (not even a spell) anyway.
No umbrella can save mikuru.
Must resist the temptation to watch raw…
Must resist the temptation to watch raw…
Must resist the temptation to watch raw…
Must resist the temptation to watch raw…
…
Great episode (as always). Sensible Haruhi… never thought I’d see the day. By the way, has anyone else checked this out:
http://www.himeyashop.com/product_info.php/products_id/4741
Haruhi fighting/rpg game! Cheap too, but the screenshots are too small to see if it’s really any good.
lol, a dojin action rpg game. The screen shots seems more like a platform game though.
Skane, maybe u can try what i do. Watch world cup meantime ;)
Moy, thanks. I did get the one with Yuki and Haruhi running past behind Kyon but not the locker room argument behind Kyon. I just love how each episode is littered with references to plot points throughout the series.
Crusader, re: Tsuraya’s hair toss. That’s why I love anime. Hair even half that length just doesn’t work in real life. LOL
Haesslich, JM: in Lone Island Syndrome, we have already seen that Haruhi can do her Honours Student camouflage if she thinks it’s necessary. However Keiichi and gang already knew about her normal behaviour and wanted her to just be herself. Another scoundrel type student who’s very good at pretending to be a good girl in front of the adults is none other than Sei Satou oneesama herself.
Skane, you read raw blog entries but you don’t watch the raws? :P
Sight & Sound, makes the world go round, or so it is said. :P
After watching the episode a second time, it’s quite clear that the more you watch it, the better it gets. I mean, the way Aya Hirano drops the tone of her voice throughout this episode, the way Haruhi reacts when she finds that people actually want to speak to her instead of her forcing them to. The increased frame-rate during the close-up of the guitar playing scenes. The way Kyon stands out from everyone during the concert because he is more shocked than anyone that Haruhi is actually being serious. Haruhi’s mentioning of the injured members of the band… *takes deep breath* If you had never watched an episode of this before, and you turned this episode off just after Haruhi hits herself with the leaves, you wouldn’t believe someone if they told you the things that had happened in the previous episodes. This is THE episode of Haruhi so far (although Day Of Sagittarius gives it a close run). Oh, and the scenes that they show during the second song of various places around the festival reminded me of a similar moment in Mahoraba: Heartful Days (except with classical music) which is one of my favourite anime moments.
Anyhow, that’s what I think :)
Zyl: It’s one thing to have her go under the Honors Student cover she wears around most of the adults… but it’s another to see something which appears seperate of that. In this case, it’s how she just looks - and sounds - like she’s REALLY into what she’s doing here; it’s the difference between someone being proficient with playing a piano and someone who throws themselves into the effort; you can hear the difference there… and Haruhi sounded like she’d committed herself completely to it, which is slightly different from her usual madcap or ‘good girl’ roles. Especially how things turned out afterwards, with the grass-throwing incident.
JM: Yeah, I was thinking Mahoraba too, with the concert recital and the replacement of non-player characters with two of the cast, and seeing just how GOOD they were (in a way which was completely unexpected from anyone who knew them). It’s the whole ’seeing another side of someone who you thought you knew, but didn’t realize existed’ thing that really caught my attention, with regards to Kyon.
It’s an episode like this that makes me wish this series would never end. *sigh*
Haesslich, good points on authenticity and Kyon’s reaction. I think both Kyon and the anime audience get a new perspective on Haruhi as a result of the concert. I could just feel her passion and her happiness at that moment. The talk under the tree also shows how her character grows - even if she reverts to her previous genki tyrant mode, she’s internalized an impt life lesson.
Tess, given that (1) there is plenty more material in the novels, (2) the huge popularity (kah ching) of the series by fans in Japan and (3) KyoAni’s ambitions to lead the fifth revolution (??) I am certainly expecting a follow up series or two.
Kyoani’s animation is very impressive, but it still bugs me that when someone talks really fast they do this jerky flipbook thing.. I first noticed it with Kano (if I remember her name correctly) in Air, and it has cropped up a few times in this series also, e.g. Tsuruya did it a bit in this episode.
You don’t have to wait for the OST - the single released tomorrow contains God Knows, Lost My Music, (the two songs from this episode) and Koi no Mikuru Densetsu (the episode 1 OP).
Now that I have seen the fansub for SHaruhi, a few comments about the differences between the Novel and Anime.
..) Kyon had quite a lot of inner monologues during the performance in the Novel. Fortunately, the general impact of the scene is not affected too much in the anime, so no worries here.
..) Kyon and Itsuki had a more detailed conversation in the Novel. KyoAni most probably cut out this part due to time constraints, but it is a pity… since it adds more details to what actually happens during the concert. Then again… the conversation would have interrupted our hearing of Haruhi’s singing, since well… the Novel will not have the problem of conflicting audio. Heck, the Novel is ambigious in what Haruhi is actually singing. So I think, in the end, KyoAni made the better choice of letting us actually get to see and hear what Haruhi is performing, and leave it to us to judge what is going on through visual clues.
..) Kyon’s glance to the window in the ending scene was a glance to the SOS-Club’s window. He thought he would see Nagato Yuki looking out of the window observing them. He apparently suspected Yuki of pulling the strings in this one. Most probably unfounded paranoia though, since Kyon suspects Yuki of everything, second only to Itsuki. :P
..) Kyon’s growing look of DOOM was priceless.
..) Yuki’s silence after Haruhi introduced her was funny. I had hope she would go into solo-strumming mode instead, but that is probably just wishful thinking on my part.
..) Just what the heck was that guy doing in a pink dog suit leashed by three girls at the beginning of the episode? *shudder* Kyon’s school is very, very liberal, I must say… especially with the Hard-Gay parody and masked men walking around in their swimming trunks…
Cheers.
but the school did protest that day haruhi wore bunny suit.
So maybe, the school is:
1. full of gays, or/and?,
2. haruhi had ‘orientated’ them since that bunny passing flyer at gate episode
Odd how Yuki, the human computer, took days to figure out a laptop but becomes and expert guitarist in one hour.
im so proud of myself. After watching anime for many many years, i was able to pick out a few familiar nipponese words (that i actually know the meaning) in the song:
-gomen neh (spelling them right is a different matter though)
-gaki
-dagara, watashi
Originally posted by Shiroi Hane:
“Odd how Yuki, the human computer, took days to figure out a laptop but becomes and expert guitarist in one hour.”
~~~~ ~~~~
This is just speculation, but the reason behind it is probably because Yuki only got to use the laptop when they were practicing the game. Not very conducive for self-learning.
Gd pt, Shiroi Hane. My guess is that Yuki was cheating e.g. like the way she implemented “homing mode” on the bat in the baseball competition, she could have applied “Jimi Hendrix” mode to the electric guitar she was using. But for the Day of Sagitarius she was bound by Kyon’s instruction not to use any techniques that did not belong to the Earth’s level of technological development.
But Kyon only instructed her not to cheat on the fifth day.
Argh. You’re right, Skane. [squirm] Maybe it’s that it’s easier to manipulate the guitar without Haruhi knowing than the computers in the club room? [/squirm] :P
For my fellow Yuki-fans, I share with you something I read on AnimeSuki,
Moe-Kami
For those who need the translation, click here.
~~~~ ~~~~
Also, courtesy of Kinny Riddle
“For Yuki’s hidden commentary of each episode (she’s credited for writing the brief summary of the episodes), the one for “Someday in the Rain” reads “Change has begun……” I’ll leave you to guess what Yuki means.”
The summaries he is referring to are the episode summaries on the official website. Yuki’s summaries are hidden against the background, so you will need to highlight them to read them.
Cheers.
On your note about Haruhi glancing sideways to check on Yuki - I interpreted the glance as her checking the lyrics / music, which she set up to her right. Makes more sense, considering she only got the music an hour ago, and she only checks it between lines.
Yes, jaalin, that makes much more sense. Thanks.
zyl :
thanks for the pic of yuki. woohoo :) i enjoyed this episode tremendously too. like you mentioned, there aren’t many concerts in anime, and this is a really really good one. i’ll be putting it on repeat too!
crimson :
do you happen to be from sg? the mudding spoof you did reminded me so much of heros of the lance iii :) *happy memories*. btw i think the men in in masks and tights are prob spoofs of japanese wrestlers. they tend to wear really loud costumes.