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[narugami]

Happy Friday! Shavuot just ended and we're back to the regular schedule.. with one day before Shabbat.

Um, I read Suzumiya Haruhi no Kyougaku over the holiday and LOVED IT so here is a reaction post. With spoilers. Lots and lots of spoilers.

Comments

[anonymous]

Thank you for this post! Would you mind explaining more about the circumstances that caused Koizumi to blow up? Sorry, I'm really curious about the new books and reputable information is hard to find.

[narugami]

No problem. :) Fujiwara's plan was to rewrite history so he could have his sister back, and to do that, he wanted Haruhi's power. But he wasn't able to manipulate Haruhi so he needed someone more malleable (Sasaki.)

The way he planned to transfer the power from Haruhi to Sasaki was by killing Haruhi. In order to get a reaction out of Kyon, he had Kuyou crucify Haruhi in midair and then drop her so she would die from the fall. Koizumi wasn't the only one whose blood was boiling. Kyon was also furious and wanted to punch Fujiwara in the face, but Koizumi offered to do it himself.

This whole event took place in a weird mixture of Haruhi's and Sasaki's Closed Spaces, which is why Koizumi was able to use his power.

[anonymous]

Wow! Thank you! (You're really making my day. c:) Why does Koizumi tell of Asahina-san (Big)'s faction?

[narugami]

You're welcome! :)

Koizumi gave basically the same message to the time travellers as he did to the aliens (see below comment.) "Don't look down on the people of the past, we are not that foolish and are trying to make a better future." He concluded that Asahina-san's group was capable of hijacking Haruhi's power too and basically implied that they'd better not even think about it. In addition he asked Big Asahina-san what happened/will happen that made her meddle with her younger self. It seems Koizumi now trusts Small Asahina-san, but is suspicious that the older version may be an enemy.

He was REALLY angry. Kyon says "Koizumi's eyes burned with a more challenging light than I'd ever seen before."

[thejenx]

Thanks so much for this!Hoping for a raws leak when the regular editions come out, but my Japanese is still too iffy to justify buying the JP release.

I think it's really interesting that Koizumi claims to be "a part of Suzumiya-san's subconscious made physical" though. Doesn't that directly contradict what he said in the first plot arc about the espers being randomly selected and he was just unlucky enough to be one? Not that he hasn't contradicted himself before, but this is something pretty important to his self-identity so it's very curious.

Also extremely amused at Taniguchi's new girlfriend and excited to see more Kunikida. Can't wait to read these. Skimming the plot-y bits so I can still have some surprises, but question: why is Koizumi telling off the aliens too?

[narugami]

It was a small aside and Kyon was too distracted to call Koizumi on it. I can definitely see it being a plot element in the future since it's a driving part of his motivation.

Koizumi told off the aliens because they directly interfered with SOS-Dan. If not for the Canopy Domain putting Nagato out of commission and backing up Fujiwara, things would never have gotten this bad. He basically said "Don't look down on us, we are not as powerless as you think we are. Some of us are thinking as hard as we can." Also, the book gives the impression that the aliens view the Earth as a convenient playground to sort out their issues, and Koizumi was channelling Kyon's frustration by telling them to take the espers/the Earth seriously.

[thejenx]

I figured it wasn't a big thoroughly explained thing, considering the circumstances, it just caught my eye. I hope it gets more explained later though. I agree, it's kind of sad. Boy's got issues on his issues.

And oh, ok. For some reason you said he told off he aliens and I read it as the IDE instead of the Canopy Domain and was briefly baffled. This makes much more sense. Thank you.

[konata_01]

OMG MIND BLOWN.
Yes. This is incredibly useful. I am going to buy these as soon as I can, but if Kyon is making all these crazy advanced references, I won't understand a thing....@______@
I do wish the English translation would speed up a tiny bit now that things are progressing in a timely fashion :D

[narugami]

You're welcome! I saw people complaining on Amazon.co.jp about the jump in language, so it wasn't just me ;) Hopefully the English translations will come out soon!

[absweetie]

Ah, my Japanese is rudimentary at best, so I've been looking for more detailed summaries and spoilers. Thank you for this post!
Wow, it seems Surprise was very exciting, wasn't it? IMO, the best part of the series is the plot, and this volume delivered. And Koizumi getting the spotlight for once and being angry is something I've been wanting for a long time.
So Kyon and Haruhi really are a couple now? I don't think my heart will survive the cuteness, I bet they're absolutely adorable.
Thank you again!

[narugami]

You're welcome :) I thought the book definitely lived up to its name in terms of revelations.

People have been correcting me about the 'couple' statement, so let me refine that: Kyon didn't ACTUALLY confess to Haruhi or anything. He just had a monologue where he chose Haruhi over everyone while jumping out a window to save her. Plus he decided to work towards being in university with her. And there's a noted absence of him fanboying over the other girls's looks for a change.

So IMO even if they're not dating the pairing is definitely canon now! I'm sorry if I misled you, I wrote this post in a happy fangirly rush right after reading it... :(

[absweetie]

Aww don't worry about it, I figured as much when I read what's been translated, and they were adorable enough without being official (though I'm sure they're set for canon, like you said).
We all get our fangirly moments, don't feel bad about it :)

[damianic]

Wow, thank you so much for these! I am incredibly in awe at what Koizumi has done, and sounds like he's really angry. Oh Koizumi, the things you do to my heart!

What I'm really surprised with is, lol so ridiculous, is Kyon and Haruhi are now a couple? Really? And here I thought they were pushing Kyon/Nagato? NONETHELESS I AM NOT COMPLAINING. I LOVE IT. I've always seen it from the start, I think everyone has actually haha. So is this ~couple revelation~ set in stone, or were there hints? Quotes?

MY SHIPPER HEART. LOL.

Again, thank you! :)

No

[damianic]

Actually, no, they are not.
I don't know what book narugami read, but it doesn't sound like it was The Surprise.
So sorry, to break it for you, but they aren't a couple (yet).
It wasn't stated that Koizumi is the leader of the Organization either, the talk was barely about in which relationship he and Mori stand on the Organization, Kyon assumed that she is his superior, and he said that there is no real ranking system.
Narugami is jumping conclusions in the blog entry, Kunikuda didn't say that he loves Tsuruya or anything, yes he did say that he admired her for some time and tried to reach her level, and that he is sure that he will never reach it, but he didn't specifically say that he likes her that way.

So, about the couple deal, how did you jump that conclusion?

Re: No

[narugami]

I'm sorry if this post contains errors; I wrote it in a big rush directly after reading it and did not mean to mislead anyone. I appreciate your corrections, but your tone is unnecessarily aggressive, IMO