We’ve made it to the climactic dream episode!
Let’s just get right to the synopsis.
Not So Brief Synopsis
Haruhi has been in a bad mood ever since she told Kyon about her melancholic feelings toward the world last episode. And she still is when we begin this episode. After school Haruhi walks in on Kyon and Mikuru messing around at the computer, which only serves to irritate her further. She braids Mikuru’s hair and that’s it for the day.
That night, Kyon goes to sleep and is awoken by Haruhi. He’s lying on the ground at school, and no one else but Haruhi is around. They walk around the school and find out that they are trapped by a barrier. Kyon realizes fairly early on that they are inside one of those “bubbles” like from last episode. At first Haruhi is frightened, but after they get to the clubroom, Haruhi get’s a bit excited and runs off, telling Kyon to stay there.
Itsuki visits Kyon in an incomplete state, causing him to look like a red outline of a person. He tells Kyon that they are in a new dimension that was created by Haruhi, and that if she is satisfied with it, she may make it the new reality, destroying the old one. Kyon then receives messages from Yuki on the computer, where she tells him that she is placing her trust in him. She also gives the hint “sleeping beauty”.
Mikuru doesn’t show up, but she doesn’t have to, because future Mikuru already showed up a few episodes back, and gave Kyon a similar hint with “snow white”.
Haruhi comes back, and one of those blue giants appears. Kyon grabs Haruhi’s hand and they run out of the school, towards the baseball diamond. Haruhi is loving what is happening as more giants appear and are trashing the school. Eventually, just as one of the giants is standing right over top of them, Kyon tells Haruhi he liked when she wore her hair in a ponytail, and kisses her.
The dream ends. The next day, Kyon goes to school wondering if there was some way by which he could confirm whether the dream was real, or just a dream. Then he sees Haruhi’s hair in a ponytail.
The episode proceeds to end as if the anime was over – because this is actually the final episode of broadcast order season 1 Haruhi. Of course we won’t be stopping here, as the anime has only just begun for the chronological order!
Forgotten Moment
Future Mikuru’s Hint
It’s funny because a few episodes back I had forgotten about the “snow white” hint, and what it was referring to. But the moment I saw “sleeping beauty” from Yuki, I instantly realized that Future Mikuru had been hinting at the solution to this dream world scenario. It’s pretty cool how that was done. Itsuki and Yuki both have a way to communicate with Kyon in the dream world, but Mikuru doesn’t – so instead she just communicates with him BEFORE the dream even happened.
Other than that, this episode is too memorable to forget so I managed to remember the rest.
Favourite Moments
Reluctant Kyon
My favourite part of the episode is when Kyon is holding Haruhi’s hand, running away from the giant. You can tell that he knows exactly what he needs to do to get out of this dream – kiss Haruhi. But he’s reluctant to do so, so instead he runs while trying to convince Haruhi that the real world is worth living in. He mentions the club, and their friends.
But Haruhi doesn’t want to hear any of it. And once Kyon mentions that he wants to go back to that world, Haruhi lets go of his hand and stops. She looks betrayed, and begins to question Kyon:
“I don’t understand. Weren’t you sick of that boring world too? Didn’t you want something more interesting to happen too?”
– Haruhi Suzumiya
Haruhi’s reaction was enough for Kyon to realize that he had no choice – he had to kiss her. There was no getting around it. Kyon grabs her shoulders, tells her that the world revolves around her, that things are becoming more interesting. And then we get the ponytail mention and kiss.
This might be one of the best moments from the entire anime, let alone the episode. I can understand why this episode was chosen to be the season finale for broadcast order season 1. Just amazing.
Kyon’s Little Sister
There are a few cute scenes with Kyon’s little sister. First, she wakes Kyon up and literally drags him out of bed. Second, her and Kyon brush their teeth in tandem. And third, she takes the scissors from his desk in his room.
Other Thoughts
Kyon’s Newfound Optimism
I like how after Kyon has confirmation that the dream was real, he becomes much more optimistic. It might just be because this is the finale for season 1, but I’d like to think that Kyon’s skepticism is gone, at least for the most part, after this episode. I’ll be paying more attention to his character in the next few episodes to confirm if that is the case.
In Conclusion…
We’ll see how things go from here on out, now that one of the most climactic moments of Haruhi has already played out, only 6 episodes into chronological order. That said, I like how we get all of this right out of the gate, because these past 6 episodes feel like building blocks for the anime – very important. It just feels right to watch them right away, instead of mixing up the order and pushing the climax to a later point in the anime.
Great episode, and looking forward to the next as always!
Until next time.
Thanks for reading!
Other Haruhi Posts
- Episode 2 (#1) – Series Introduction
- Episode 3 (#2) – Bullying Kyon Edition
- Episode 5 (#3) – Yuki’s Glasses Edition
- Episode 10 (#4) – Contrast Edition
- Episode 13 (#5) – Real Talk Edition
- Episode 14 (#6) – Romance Edition
- Episode 4 (#7) – Let’s Play Ball! Edition
- Episode 15 (#8) – Introspective Edition
- Episode 7 (#9) – Supernatural Exterminator Edition
- Episode 6 (#10) – Fun in the Sun Edition
- Episode 8 (#11) – “Dark Stormy Night” Edition
- Episode 16 (#12) – “You can have one, but only one.” Edition
- Episode 17 (#13) – Haruhi’s Declaration Edition
- Episode 18 (#14) – Noble Aspirations Edition
- Episode 19 (#15) – Bikes Edition
- Episode 20 (#16) – Hands Up Edition
- Episode 21 (#17) – Festival Edition
- Episode 22 (#18) – Lunch? Edition
- Episode 23 (#19) – Just Yomu Edition
- Episode 24 (#20) – Summer is Over!! Edition
- Episode 25 (#21) – Back to Business Edition
- Episode 26 (#22) – Bullying Mikuru Asahina Edition
- Episode 27 (#23) – Director Haruhi Edition
- Episode 28 (#24) – Talking Cat Edition
- Episode 01 (#25) – Directorial Debut Edition
- Episode 12 (#26) – God Knows Edition
- Episode 11 (#27) – All Hands On Deck! Edition
- Episode 9 (#28) – Good News Edition
Umai Yomu Anime Blog 
I’ve never seen anyone look more terrified of getting their hair braided than Mikuru. Such an amazing scene, and it’s not even the best scene of this episode.
And thanks for giving Kyon’s sister a brief spotlight. She’s always been one of my favorite of the secondary characters .
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Haha Kyon’s sister is great, you’ll see mention of her again next episode 🙂
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