Cracking a Goddamned Book-The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya

               Now, unlike the last two, this is the first 'anthology' book in the series, so instead of talking about it as a whole, I'll focus on each individual story. Before that though, a quick note that this book takes place before Sigh, and if you think it's confusing now, just wait until later.

               The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya-Basically, Haruhi gets bored and signs the brigade up in a baseball tourney. It's fun, silly, and mostly time-wasty nonsense. There are two exceptions to this. The first is this is chronologically the first time Kyon met Tsuruya. The second is when Kyon asks Yuki if she can make it rain and cancel the game. She says no, because it would have horrible environmental effects several hundred thousand years from now. It's significant because of the way she says it, with Kyon noting a tad of determination in her voice, another sign of her growing emotions.

                Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody-It's Tannibata, a Japanese holiday, and Haruhi throws a small party. Kyon soon discovers that this is the 3 year anniversary of Haruhi defacing her middle school's field with chalk, which was mentioned in the first episode. Mikuru and him go back to that date, where Kyon must do something. I won't spoil from there, but this one is good. I always love a good 'whipply-wobbly timey-wimey' story, and this one's okay. I can't say specifically what is important here, because pretty much all of it is, and far more so then you would guess on first reading.

               Mysterique Sign-Haruhi draws a symbol for the S.O.S. Brigade, and sticks it up on their site. The computer club president apparently has a girlfriend, and she's turned to the Brigade to find him after he's gone missing. How are these connected? Read and find out. I really like this one. The interplay between characters is great in some scenes, and the things the happen (no spoilers here) are awesome. I think this is one of the few times I prefer the anime to the books, as what happens seems so much more awesome there. From everything I hear about the upcoming books the president's girlfriend, Emiri Kimidori, becomes important later on. We also learn that the clubroom is in a place where so many odd things class just right, that it cancels out all weirdness within. Cool.

           Remote Island Syndrome-It's summer break, and Koizumi invites everyone to his rich relative's mansion on a remote island in the middle of the sea. They stay, and when they do a murder happens. This story takes up nearly half of the book, and was the only 2 parter in the anime. It definitely makes use of the time, and both the story and episodes are some of my favorite in the series. I'm a huge mystery fan, and this episode is a very fun one. This is the only time when there was a large change from book to anime, where in the anime they added Kyon's sister going. The reason why is there's a scene in the book (a very funny one mind you) that they all get drunk. Apparently they thought that went too far, even in Japan. So instead of them not doing it because they're saints, they brought Kyon's sister, and who would get drunk around an 8-year old kid. The only really significant thing I can think of right now is that this is the first appearance of a group of 4 people who we'll be seeing a lot of over time.

        That about raps up this book. It's very funny, and pretty good for the first 'anthology' book. Laters.