you really think so?
In my previous post on this episode (in the Kyon order), I devoted half the post to the joys of seeing Mikuru being bullied by Haruhi. This second post (in Haruhi order) celebrates the blessings of Yukiism, the sheer win that is St Nagato-chi, She Who Operates Behind the Scenes. I was pleasantly surprised to have chosen almost 90 screencaps for this post.
Reblogging this episode (previous post) to recapture the glory of Yuki in her summer school uniform and tracksuit. About 70 Yuki screenies ahead!
The biggest differences between the Kyon and Haruhi orders are that, in the latter we (now) fully aware of the extent of Yuki’s abilities and just how serious the consequences of Haruhi’s bad moods can be. It also becomes obvious why Haruhi dropped the idea of tying Mikuru’s hair into a ponytail when she saw Kyon looking. Although Haruhi’s melancholy has ended, she and Kyon are still trying to establish a greater mutual understanding which we see the beginnings of in the family restaurant scene at the end of this episode and which firms up by the Day of Sagitarius and Someday in the Rain.
This episode is very light on Yuki and I had already gotten most of the Yuki screenies in the previous post. In the anime broadcast, this episode was the penultimate one, setting up the finale of MoSH VI (with the Kiss). Besides giving us the proof of Itsuki’s ESPer powers, it is even more important because Haruhi explains the origins of her current behaviour - which, for me, made her a much more sympathetic character and also showed how she was willing to open up to Kyon.
And there I was, thinking that since I had converted to Yukiism by the time of the previous post on this episode and therefore I should have less to screencap second time round. Hooo boy! Still loads of Yuki screens to be captured! Much exploding of Zyl due to moé overload as well.
Episode shuffling-wise, having this episode in chronological order does make more sense but the anime broadcast order also helped to preserve Yuki’s air of mystery before subjecting us to two concentrated and consecutive blasts in this episode and Day of Sagitarius (ep 10 in the broadcast order).
It’s the day of the cultural festival and the performance of Carmen. Our dastardly duo, Kaname and Momomi, tries to sabotage the rehearsals and Amane’s heel but all their evil schemes come to naught due to the combination of Shizuma and Nagisa’s interventions. Nagisa was actually not irritating for once and she played Carmen with suitable aplomb.