Tanigawa, Nagaru: The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya (2012)
Author: Nagaru Tanigawa
Translator: Chris Pai
Illustrator: Noizi Ito
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Genre: Science Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 212 (trade paperback)
Series: Haruhi Suzumiya #8
Two stories continue the adventure in Volume 8 of the Haruhi Suzumiya series.
Editor-in-Chief, Straight Ahead!: Since the beginning of the year, the SOS Brigade has been masking as the Literature Club to be recognized as an official high school organization. But when the new student council president threatens to disband the group, the members must write a collection of literature. Naturally, Haruhi assume the role of editor-in-chief and leads the team to publication with hilarious results.
Wandering Shadow: From writers to detectives, the SOS Brigade does it all. When fellow classmate Sanaka comes to the club seeking help, the team (well, Haruhi) is up to the task. A well-trodden popular park path has suddenly begun to terrify the neighborhood dogs, and Haruhi suspects that its being haunted by animal spirits. It looks like the SOS Brigade is about to perform its first first canine exorcism!
Why I Read It: This series really is so mediocre. But I love the anime and there's been no word of a new season and/or movie, so these keep me satiated in the meantime.
This volume in the long-running light novel series is largely... pointless. It only has two stories, but they're both just filler for the bigger and better things to come in the next three volumes (which will then conclude the series I believe.) They don't even particularly contribute to character development, and it didn't appear like they dropped hints for bigger stories (like some of these short stories have done in previous volumes.
The first story, Editor in Chief, Straight Ahead! is an interesting exercise in getting into the characters minds, but it's nothing special. I felt like Nagato's stories were an effort in making her appear more "deep" and like there's a lot more going on her in mind then she reveals on the surface, but her short stories read like bad poetry from hipster kids. Kon's story was supposed to be a Love Story but ended being anything but, and I don't even remember Koizumi's story (I can't even remember if his story was even revealed.) So, semi-interesting concept, but largely forgettable.
The second story, Wandering Shadow, had more of the sci-fi elements that pepper the show, but this story was also pointless and didn't do much of anything. I guess it showed that Haruhi has a super soft spot for animals? There was also a lack of consistency in how the events unfolded (or if there WAS consistency, it was poorly explained and thus felt inconsistent.)
Final Verdict: This volume in the series only has two short stories, but they both are extremely mediocre. They don't anything to any of the over-arching plots in the story, nor they do add any character development. The stories are uneventful and largely forgettable. If you're not a hardcore fan of the series, I'd consider skipping this volume altogether.
Author: Nagaru Tanigawa
Translator: Chris Pai
Illustrator: Noizi Ito
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Genre: Science Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 212 (trade paperback)
Series: Haruhi Suzumiya #8
Two stories continue the adventure in Volume 8 of the Haruhi Suzumiya series.
Editor-in-Chief, Straight Ahead!: Since the beginning of the year, the SOS Brigade has been masking as the Literature Club to be recognized as an official high school organization. But when the new student council president threatens to disband the group, the members must write a collection of literature. Naturally, Haruhi assume the role of editor-in-chief and leads the team to publication with hilarious results.
Wandering Shadow: From writers to detectives, the SOS Brigade does it all. When fellow classmate Sanaka comes to the club seeking help, the team (well, Haruhi) is up to the task. A well-trodden popular park path has suddenly begun to terrify the neighborhood dogs, and Haruhi suspects that its being haunted by animal spirits. It looks like the SOS Brigade is about to perform its first first canine exorcism!
Why I Read It: This series really is so mediocre. But I love the anime and there's been no word of a new season and/or movie, so these keep me satiated in the meantime.
This volume in the long-running light novel series is largely... pointless. It only has two stories, but they're both just filler for the bigger and better things to come in the next three volumes (which will then conclude the series I believe.) They don't even particularly contribute to character development, and it didn't appear like they dropped hints for bigger stories (like some of these short stories have done in previous volumes.
The first story, Editor in Chief, Straight Ahead! is an interesting exercise in getting into the characters minds, but it's nothing special. I felt like Nagato's stories were an effort in making her appear more "deep" and like there's a lot more going on her in mind then she reveals on the surface, but her short stories read like bad poetry from hipster kids. Kon's story was supposed to be a Love Story but ended being anything but, and I don't even remember Koizumi's story (I can't even remember if his story was even revealed.) So, semi-interesting concept, but largely forgettable.
The second story, Wandering Shadow, had more of the sci-fi elements that pepper the show, but this story was also pointless and didn't do much of anything. I guess it showed that Haruhi has a super soft spot for animals? There was also a lack of consistency in how the events unfolded (or if there WAS consistency, it was poorly explained and thus felt inconsistent.)
Final Verdict: This volume in the series only has two short stories, but they both are extremely mediocre. They don't anything to any of the over-arching plots in the story, nor they do add any character development. The stories are uneventful and largely forgettable. If you're not a hardcore fan of the series, I'd consider skipping this volume altogether.