fuwafuwablogging

(This post will mainly be in English, I just wanted to greet all of you readers in Japanese, tee-hee ( ˆ𐃷ˆ ), it looks like I may be using a lot of Japanese loanwords here in this review, if you guys don’t mind..🥺👉👈)

Yesterday, I was finally able to complete the first and second seasons of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I have many thoughts, so please stay tuned as I try my best to share them with you.

I had originally started watching the series in the Summer of 2020, when I was still a high school student. I was amazed by everything that I saw, and was immediately entertained. The opening song was quite beautiful and took my breath away, while the ending song helped me believe. I decided to attempt finishing the series with my partner at the time, but we got lost around the Endless Eight. I'm grateful for this opportunity to be able to complete the base series in its entirety.

Kyon is your average, cynical and skeptical high school freshman who can only hope for the best of his upcoming school year until like a sudden meteor in a fresh space of land, he encounters Haruhi Suzumiya in his homeroom introductions. She remarks that she’s only interested in espers and time travelers, aliens and leaves it at that, leaving Kyon absolutely dumbfounded. He’s going to be feeling like that a lot throughout this entire series..

Kyon hangs out with a few other male classmates that are having questionable discussions about their female counterparts, but he mainly finds out that Haruhi has always been an eccentric girl growing up, as they had gone to the same middle school as she did. They basically tell him to not even consider asking Haruhi out, because she’ll see anything that’s not about aliens, espers or time travelers as a waste of time.

Kyon provokes the bear that is Haruhi several times, until Haruhi suddenly gets the idea of a club titled the SOS Brigade. Kyon is tied into being the first member of the club that isn’t Haruhi, Yuki Nagato is acknowledged for a few short moments as she’s also part of the literary club reading a book in the corner, and Haruhi finds a stray Mikuru Asahina just daydreaming in the middle of.. Somewhere within the school. The next day, Haruhi hopes for a mysterious transfer student to join her club so that they can have five members, and Koizuki suddenly spawns into the clubroom, much to Kyon’s dismay.

All of the newcomers to Kyon’s world, describe their purpose and technically their occupation, and position within Haruhi’s life to him. Asahina’s a time traveler, Koizuki’s an esper and Yuki’s an alien, but it’s best to not let Haruhi know that. I’m sure the average Japanese high school student would be just as confused as Kyon would be, hearing all of this information overload over the course of 4 days. Surprisingly, instead of running away or ghosting his newfound group of friends, he passively accepts everything and experiences all of the upcoming adventures with his new friend group for as long as time may allow it.

Haruhi Suzumiya: A girl who may seem extremely inspirational at first, but she is a micro tyrant. I realized that no one really points out that Haruhi is essentially a Mary Sue in her own universe by default, and everything that happens to her, the others and the surrounding environment is a repercussion of that. However, it might be unfair to describe her as that though because as described by many other characters, the world changes due to the firm beliefs in herself and her desires. If I’m being honest, I feel like one of the main themes of Haruhi Suzumiya is manifestation. A lot of the wants Haruhi has mentally quickly come to form in the physical world, even unreasonable things such as a talking kitty (it is fiction, so they might as well take advantage of that, heh..).

No one also talks about how “Reality-bending” is normalized in the real world. Having Haruhi direct a movie was the perfect, most down-to-earth and realistic analogy of how to describe Haruhi’s power further to the average Joe. Movies are a widely-accepted medium of reality-bending, but because it’s so normalized, no one talks about it. Movies are highly influential forms of media because they can influence how we see the world, dress, and even talk. It might be healthier to watch documentaries because movies can often be manipulative at times. It’s a good thing that Haruhi’s impulsive nature bleeds through the production because I’ve met sorry souls who cannot differentiate fiction from reality, and if Haruhi’s movie was extremely polished, the world would become a bit less tame than it already is (and that’s just putting it lightly).

Kyon: I’m happy that this guy exists. Seriously, he’s a much better character than a hypothetical guy who just goes along with everything Haruhi does and says. He sort of acts as the straight-man with Haruhi, “the consciousness of SOS Brigade” as stated in one episode. To write a character or dare I say plot device as good as this, there needs to be a careful, perfect balance and Kyoani knocked that out of the ballpark.

Yuki Nagato: She was originally my favorite character, especially because we share the same birthday (November 18th). It turns out I also share the same birthday as her **声優 as well. She is considered a “kuudere”, which is a “Japanese term for a character who appears to not have emotions”. Growing up in school, many of my classmates would ask me why am I so quiet, and I really didn’t have much to say as a response to that. That probably explains why I gravitated to Yuki when I was younger, and I even got a plushie of her.

Honestly, what makes me nervous is what I’ve seen regarding instances where Yuki is the main character. Please do not spoil these series and spin-offs for me, I am approaching them soon. What was the point of pairing Kyon and Haruhi together so many times if they seem to completely mischaracterize Yuki just for the sake of moe and to please the majority of the fanbase who’s fond of her? It’s uncomfortable to think about, but I don’t have the entire context, so I’m staying tuned, mm. ┐('～`；)┌

Mikuru Asahina: I think she is a very likeable character. She is almost one-dimensional in how she is written though, despite her being related to a big chunk of the story..

The big elephant in the room is the constant sexual harassment towards Mikuru throughout the series. The creators of this anime were fortunate that they wrote such a strong story that I was more focused on that than fixating on those strange and unneeded parts of the episode.

As a writer, it’s ultimately best to not add unnecessary parts of the story that would drive people away from the greater premise or focus of your story. I really couldn’t find a purpose or a reason to justify Haruhi’s actions towards Mikuru. Basically, Haruhi is either seen hitting Mikuru with props, or forcing her to change her clothes in front of other people. Asahina is always embarrassed when this takes place, and I envisioned that can make a lot of viewers uncomfortable. There were even some moments where I felt like Haruhi was bullying Mikuru at times, and I could deeply understand Kyon’s frustration with Haruhi. Kyon can’t really intervene because.. Well, Haruhi’s belief in herself and her desires are so strong that it can manifest quite dramatically, and even on a worst level if she is disappointed in the current moment.

It’s like the Super Princess Peach game for the Nintendo DS, but your DS is at risk of getting bricked the moment Peach feels angry or any strong negative emotion.

It’s without a doubt that some writers of the show are complete perverts. Poor, poor MIkuru.

Itsuki Koizumi: I like his character archetype. He’s kind and well-meaning, genuinely, even at the worst of moments. I have a headcanon that his zodiac sign is a Libra. He’s also very focused at accomplishing his goals though, like keeping Haruhi happy so the world won’t become the equivalent of an upside-down cake.

Ryoko Asakura: She came and went, serving her purpose. She was a very interesting character and I see potential for her being a yandere of sorts, for some reason. I mean, she technically is for Haruhi. Considering that she was a backup for Yuki, that makes me think of who else out there can be a backup for her? What do they look like? What’s their demeanor? I think this calls for a making-a-original-character session… not to mention that all 3 of the other main characters besides Kyon and Haruhi remark that there are more people like them out there, even in their very school.

Tsuruya: She is apparently Mikuru’s best friend. I honestly found her likeable the moment she was first introduced on-screen. Remember when Kyon said only a certain group of people find Haruhi’s jokes funny?

I guess Tsuruya was thrown in the series to be a contrast to Kyon’s protective behavior towards Mikuru, Tsuruya is mischievous but has self control.

A lot of times, I wanted to take screenshots of the screen. Haruhi’s eyes are very pretty and pleasant to peer into, but Mikuru’s eyes are rendered pleasantly as well.

Oftentimes, it feels like an overblow of rendering, shading and details in modern day anime feel like overkill to me. I become disinterested in watching it right away and just chuck it to the side for the “avid fans who love realistic anime artworks”. Haruhi Suzumiya is not guilty of this though. There is a beautiful and perfect balance of simplicity and realism throughout the series, and the backgrounds are drawn a bit more than exceptionally well. I also found myself appreciating how proportionate and detailed the characters were, as someone who draws as a hobby and is still practicing anatomy. You can tell that the artists for the anime had done a lot of life stories of people, animals, objects and more. I should probably place Kyoto Animation in one of my favorite Anime studios on Anilist.

This is a confusing question to answer. I’ll try to not refer to what other people believe strongly about these two characters as a reliable fact, since it’s all just subjective beliefs at the end of the day. I personally believe that the two are fond of each other, as they have had many close and intimate moments, such as kissing in that bad dream within closed space. Despite the kiss, I can only see them as extremely close friends. I’m glad Kyon stays true to his good nature when he sees Haruhi treat Mikuru unfairly. I don’t understand why Haruhi acts so entitled and has a high sense of self importance, especially when we saw in another episode that she had felt small and insignificant in the grand scheme of her existence. It’s honestly a little unsettling. If Haruhi wasn’t a “Cute anime girl” and was a guy, a lot of people would purchase merchandise of the show just to destroy it and upload it to YouTube.

Some scenes were able to humanize Haruhi for me, such as her falling asleep on Mikuru and her asking everyone if she was cool during the Remote Island Mystery episode.

However, I also felt uncomfortable watching some of the scenes, such as where Haruhi is planning the groups’ outings and things. Haruhi essentially gets to do everything that she wants, regardless if it’s by force or not, while everyone around her enables her for the most part, thus creating a supportive environment around her. I have to admit, I don’t have the strongest, consistent support system in my life personally, so I couldn’t help but question, “Is this what a supportive friend group looks like?” when watching the show.

I still appreciate Aya Hirano and the rest of the cast’s presence in this series. I really loved to watch the live performance of Hare Hare Yukai on repeat when I was younger. This anime, despite some of its stray threads (Like Mikuru and Haruhi’s highly questionable relationship) is made to inspire people and realize the potential within one’s self, but it exists under our noses. People really need to improve on their listening skills, but looking at how Gen Alpha is developing right now, I hope we don’t decline more as a society and species.. *****やばい。(This video isn’t, though!)

Well, I’m off to watch “The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya”. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts. Let me know what you think in the chatroom on the front page!

TV Reviews

iCarly

Pre-watching Thoughts

Good morning, all (as this is the time that I’m writing this!). For some reason, I strongly felt like watching the entirety of the iCarly series recently. I do remember vividly, watching some episodes in full on TV during the late 2000’s and early 2010’s. I even remember watching the iCarly and Victorious crossover on repeat, late at night at a relative’s house when it came out for the first time. I probably won’t do a re-watch of Victorious though. I see a re-watch of “Zoey 101” in my future, hehe.

⊂二二二（＾ω＾）二⊃

I will take my time to write about each episode and movie review in detail, in separate posts! Although I refuse to tag my blog as “Y2K” for some reason, it’s probably due to the unrelated saturation that the term experienced during the early 2020’s. I might write a rant on that in the future. I don’t have anything else to say, except I do remember visiting the website on a few occasions in 2009. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and disinterested like how I felt with a lot of other websites at the time (no offense (・へ・)), I actually felt intrigued and amazed by the website, it was so cool to me and arguably shares a simple aesthetic that a lot of neocities websites strive to have now..

Episode 1: iPIlot (My thoughts!)

Okay so I just finished watching the very first episode. Wow, it’s been a loonngg time. O-O

I don’t know if I ever watched this in the original broadcasting, but wow. Basically, Carly and her troublesome friend Sam get in trouble in their respective ways in a daily day of their high school experience, and Freddy is the endearing yet a little creepy nerdy boy they didn’t know they needed.

I hope that’s an adequate summary of that episode. After the trio teams up, they gain an idea for a webseries, and they all agree to it and bring in some random people from possibly their school. Some guy.. Squirts milk out of his eye?! E.W.

I have to admit, that was really.. Bizarre to see! O-O

I’m not a fan of gross-out humor at all, it’s honestly unnecessary and shows a lack of creativity on the creative team’s part. Also, I thought this show would rely on someone laughing so that you can feel encouraged to laugh too kind of thing, because that was the very first kind of joke in the beginning, although the writing surprisingly held up and carried its weight throughout the 23 minutes of runtime.

You may believe that this show is strangely very random, but I feel like it matches the upcoming internet culture of 2009 to an extent, it was full of an emphasis on randomness and awesome faces, lol. The concepts on their webshow actually do seem like some videos that would go viral back then, so I can say this show has aged surprisingly well.

I like the stylist’s choices of the fashion in this show, too. It would be fantastic if I could stylize my clothes like Carly and Sam’s wardrobe for this show.

Oddly enough, I feel strangely inspired by this show to write a story of my own, so I’m excited to work and cultivate my newest idea. (`･ω･´)

Thx for reading!!

FuwaFuwaBlogger

P.S. I just remembered when I had an iCarly book from a book fair at my school, and I ended up doodling all over it when I was on vacation.. Teehee （´∀｀）

8.10.2025

Season 2, Episode 5: iGo to Japan

Hi everyone. You may have noticed the giant leap of episodes that I’m talking about here. I didn’t know how much more gross-out jokes I could take, so I decided to watch this special episode I vaguely remember watching in my childhood again. I could understand, like, a little less than 50% of Japanese everyone was saying in this episode.

It’s honestly a strange concept that could’ve been re-written a few times, in my opinion. The plot of the special is that ICarly, the webseries, gets nominated to an Internet Rewards Show that’s being hosted in Tokyo, Japan. The writers just wanted an excuse to put the iCarly main cast in Japan for whatever reason, for some reason..

Lucky✮Star has been real quiet after this came out.

I can’t say this episode was done well. There were some moments that spawned a smile on my face, shockingly, but it felt unneeded and definitely felt like meaningless entertainment, if I’m being honest. It’s sad that kids receive hollow entertainment instead of something enriching, not saying that they need to watch whole-hearted educational shows, but something that had a bit more value and a little less silly of a premise.

I tried to like Kyoko and Yuki but.. Was it really necessary to make them evil? What lesson am I learning here, as someone who is interested in Japanese culture? I felt like I might’ve learnt to not trust people who may appear overly kind at first, until I get to know them a bit more. It’s kinda silly how Carly, Sam and everyone else just got duped in two different ways by Kyoko, Yuki and their relatives just for them to get arrested in the end.

It’s not one of my favorite episodes. With that being said, I’m not sure if it’s going to be worth it to put myself through countless episodes of needless gross-out jokes, cheap laughs and other methods of immersion in the iCarly/Zoey 101/etc. Universe just to have content for my blog, you know? I want to watch some of the more memorable episodes, like the one with Nora, so I guess I’ll do that now.

（´-`）.｡oO( ... )

From, FuwaFuwaBlogger

P..S. This episode surprisingly didn’t spoil my precious childhood memories of this show. Some might call me “blinded by nostalgia”, but I believe I am pretty realistic..

ヽ(´ー｀)┌

Tags:

Nickelodeon

Y2K American TV

iCarly

I look back on this show, fondly. The drama in the show kept me close to the cliff I was hanging on until TeenNick broadcasted the next episode (I watched it a lot in the late 2000’s to early 2010’s on there) but it wasn’t so intense it almost gave me a panic attack or something (which is good). I was a fan of the stylist’s choices for the female cast, and the male characters were understandable and diverse in terms of their personality. I still listen to the theme song quite regularly, and just recently I have learnt that there was a fashion line inspired by the show (how cool! (`･ω･´) ).

I am going to re-watch it now, not to re-affirm my happy memories of it, but because it would be nice to be updated on my knowledge of the show, lol ^^ Plus, there’s nothing more retro than doing the same things that you were doing back then, such as watching the same shows for instance!

The first thing I thought when I started this episode (again for the first time in 10+ years) was that I kind of go to a similar school that’s near a beach, similar to PCA (Pacific Coast Academy)! I’m obviously not going to write the name of it here though, heh.. （　´_ゝ`）

Nicole is hilarious, she’s one of my favorite characters, along with Quinn! Zoey was originally my top favorite character, but I guess things change. A lot of people have told me that I am very intelligent, so I think that relates to how I see myself in Quinn’s character.

I totally forgot that PCA was originally a boys-only academy, until I saw the opening segment. It surely is an interesting plot point, although I admit I would’ve enjoyed things more if this was a book! I should get a Zoey 101 book, I know that those exist out there!

Oops, I almost forgot to summarize the episode.. Basically, Zoey meets her roommates Nicole and Dana. I honestly thought that all Dana’s in the world would be cold-hearted like the one in this show, but I actually met a few IRL and they were quite nice ( ﾟヮﾟ)

What I would really like to obtain, besides the fashion pieces for this show, is the musical CD for the show as well!!

Also, does anyone else like to put the sticker that comes on the CD’s wrapping in front of the jewel case or just me? O3O;

When I first saw the title, I wasn’t quite sure of what the episode could be about, to be honest. However, I knew that this wouldn’t be good, not in terms of episode quality, but for the friend group we are getting to know throughout each episode.

The plot of the episode is that the girls are playing games that either reveal a secret at an even roll of dice, or push them to do something stressful in an odd roll of dice. The girls either share secrets or do said stressful tasks, but somehow, the boys are finding out about it even though the girls promised each other that “anything they say won’t leave this room” and they’re being unfairly teased for it. The girls end up arguing with each other, until it’s revealed that Logan set up a secret spycam to see what the girls are talking about (Ewww).

Logan also worked as a sushi store delivery person, but he was slacking off and gave Chase a lot of workload because he was too busy spying on the girls with his roommate and the camera.

This plot gets even more dramatic - the girls create a skit to attack the owner of the sushi place, and basically commit three crimes at once, somehow planning to frame Logan in the midst of it. Logan freaks out and confesses to his crime, which gets him in trouble and his parents getting called. #hilarious (not the actual hashtag for the whole entry lololol)

Why is this whole episode about committing crimes?! I have a few ideas of how I would rewrite this episode, to be more light hearted.. Either way, even though there were some complicated aspects of the plot, it was written quite well and coherent.

There were lots of funny and charming moments, like me realizing that the sushi chef participated in that crazy skit and Quinn likes baby food unironically. I have a headcanon that she may be autistic, as I am, too. Quinn really doesn’t mean any harm, she believes in herself and she’s passionate about a lot of things. She’s a really cool character in my opinion, she might even be my comfort character. ☺

I actually enjoyed this episode more than I am willing to say, lol. It’s hilarious, and the writing seemed to be at its prime. I liked the saccharine ending of this episode too, where they put the teddy bear with the spy camera on a chair in front of the beach, so that the girls and Chase can watch the sunset.

I also find it really funny that Dana’s face fell in some food after Nicole had placed the skateboard by the table (she stepped on the skateboard and fell right into it). I guess it was well deserved considering how mean she’s been to Nicole and Zoey. I also think Nicole is the 2000's Nintendo’s perfect demographic for Nintendogs, for some reason, lol. She would have hours of fun on a Nintendo DS imo.

P.S. Would you guys be interested if I wrote a Japanese edition of my TV show reviews on American shows? I am still studying day-by-day, and I hope to reach N5 level of proficiency soon.

Anime (Heisei Era)

TV Reviews