The Melancholy of ...Me!!

[chico_chan]

Seriously, I've given this show a fair chance. I really have. But I can't understand what the appeal of Haruhi Suzumiya is. I know a lot of my friends really enjoy it, but to me it's nothing more than "Selfish bitch, the anime". I know she's god, or whatever, and if she gets bored the universe stops functioning so she HAS to be selfish. But to that

Comments

[tsunami_jones]

I started thinking about it when Ryan retweeted your thought about it. This is kind of long. Hope it’s helpful, but it might not be. Either way, let me know how you feel about it.

That whole “female empowerment” argument, from my perspective, seems like mostly BS. I would argue that Haruhi is an extremely insecure character - what can seem empowering is actually a character acting out of fear-she’s a very damaged character, and about as far from a self-actualized role model as possible (now, as a role model for people with control issues? Sure, why not.) With that said, there’s a lot that goes into the show’s appeal. From watching it, I would say that the show is essentially aimed at an entirely male audience.

Kyon is the main character (but not the protagonist; he’s utterly passive. Haruhi is the protagonist, and in that sense is a lot like the Sherlock Holmes novels which are told from Watson’s perspective). Kyon is almost an everyman character. He’s intelligent, a bit of a smart ass, but really does nothing. It’s easy to identify with him because the viewer can imprint almost anything they want onto him, and the viewer is essentially more talented than him in every way. This makes him a lot like Bella from Twilight. And he’s “cool” for essentially no reason. And then . . . beautiful girls just fall into his lap. He has to do nothing - he can be passive, Haruhi makes his decisions for him, and he gets to be surrounded by girls. A nice little male fantasy. No work, but plenty of reward.

The three main girls are then all archetypes which men find attractive, with very attractive character designs. Mikuru is the buxom girl who is also an idiot and Yuki is the quiet but cute wallflower (which makes both of them idols of passivity; in general, men find demure and passive women sexually attractive... especially from a standpoint of Japan’s sexual culture). Haruhi, however, isn’t passive, but as a character she is very attractive because she is a bitch (check out the book “Why Men Love Bitches”). Basically, with these three characters, no matter what a guy’s “type” might be, it’s there in some way. With Kyon, Haruhi creates a push/pull set of actions - she pushes him away, then pulls him in, over and over again, which if this has ever happened to you, it’s maddening... but instead of actually pushing a person away, these actions will add up to sucking them in. It’s highly seductive, and has been used by people for all of history (it’s similar to hypnosis in a way... it creates confusion, therefore making the mind more susceptible to influence; the mind wants to resolve the confusion, but confusion must be resolved in accordance to desires).

Add some other things that guys tend to enjoy (not saying women don’t enjoy these things, just that typically, these things have been targeted toward a male audience): Super powers, time travel, general science fiction elements, etc.

Then, of course, there’s the structure of the story. If you watched the episodes off the discs in the order the company decided to rearrange them in (chronological order instead of broadcast order), Haruhi is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. If not, I feel that the story’s structure is very well done. It’s a little disorienting, but with the original broadcast the show creates a fantastic series of hooks, feeding the viewer just enough information to keep them watching. You get a lot of characters who you learn tidbits about, but there’s a lot of mystery about each one that’s doled out in a meaningful way. In the order on the DVDs, the structure is destroyed. The viewer learns everything up front, and the climax happens at about episode 5. There’s no build up, and then a bunch of episodes that mean nothing. The original structure makes the show essentially a mystery. The viewer is given the question of why Haruhi is important. Everything revolves around her, people with powers mysteriously show up, and then there’s an obvious romance brewing between her and Kyon, which all adds up to create a tension that drives the viewer to keep watching so that it may be relieved.

[tsunami_jones]

So that’s why I believe it holds appeal. I’ve only watched the first season, haven’t seen the movie, and might change my thoughts on it at some point.

Curious as to what you think.

[tsunami_jones]

That shirt ... and mustache ... ugh! haha.