If that’s so, Kyon’s just the perfect Messiah, only that he’ll save us from the true god herself…
Before you start reading the article, please do take heed of its first paragraph: I’m not a fan of the Haruhi franchise, nor am I engaged with any of its current content except for some chapters of the novel, a complete watch and rewatch of the first season, and some understanding as to how people in the series stand. I don’t know if it’s the boredom, or the rather bland preference over the supernatural, or the existentialistic properties that pop up almost anywhere on the series’ timeline. I don’t even plan on giving KyoAni a say on this blatant trolling that they’re doing. The very existence of the events resulting to these understandings is but a figment of what little interest I have over two of the most controversial entities almost all of us agree upon: The Supreme Being, and the Messiah. So unlike the previous writers who may have prevented people to post their hearts out of admiration, opinion, religion, or hate, I open this article to everyone, especially to those who think they’re normally… unique…
I don’t mean to hit the existentialistic parts of this topic, really. Anybody knows that existentialists are mostly in bad terms to the majority of the populace because of their diversified views over how the whole Supreme-Being-does-the-work-over-us-people-who-should-be-deciding-for-our-own-lives thingamajig, not because the existentialists or the people don’t understand each other, but because the people just think existentialists know too much than what they are supposed to know. That’s why I’ll try my best not to hit that part, because “God” in this story is pretty much one of the Queen Bitches of the Universe, as far as anyone sees. And so I prefer to see this story’s God that way, at least until the next chain of events.
Instead, let us focus on the person that personifies people that “rely” on God in either a positive (exaltation in the extreme, obedience in the average, approval in the subtlety) or a negative (rejection in the extreme, disobedience in the average, disapproval in the subtlety) way. Now, this does not mean that denial of God’s existence, no matter how absurd it may be, would mean that the person does not recognize God. Because he knows God’s existence even without concrete proof, and rejects the existence of God, he recognizes and “relies on” God in a negative way.
Let me set a simple example that will momentarily remove us from our current understanding of God and further give emphasis to the person that relies on God. This is from a lecture I had on Apocalypse and its examples more than a decade ago: God is standing in the middle of a flower field, along with a disciple. God suddenly notices a flower that’s quite unique from the rest, and then plucks it from the field. The disciple then asks why God plucked the flower, and God answers him: “Because it’s beautiful, that’s why I’m taking it to Heaven with me.” The disciple then asks: “If that is so, then why must the flower have to suffer unimaginable pain from being plucked off the stem, just to achieve eternal bliss?”
I don’t plan to just discuss about our hero/antihero Kyon without recognition of Haruhi (even though I really don’t want to, and because everyone else already talked the bulk of what I can perceive on the latter person’s behalf), because the recent events concerning the latter is provoking people well enough to know the reason behind Kyon’s course of actions. The “Fighting of the Shadowy Gods Syndrome” wouldn’t stage our play of Ragnarok if the syndrome simply took over the gods and made them fight without apparent reason. As far as the story goes, everything that we know on Haruhi’s world is told from Kyon’s perspective. From people, to events and personal stuff. And because of that, the influence he has on the story affects the audience with dramatic impact, simply because he represents us, the normal, humble, near-powerless people who rely on God, or whatever Supreme Being’s out there.
Actually, the explanation’s right here…
So let’s sum Kyon up: Typical high school student. No supernatural powers. Bored with life, but lives it anyway. He also doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. A perfectly normal person, just like the rest of us. So why in the world did a normal person like Kyon get dragged into Haruhi’s mess, anyway? Because Haruhi says so, and Haruhi ALWAYS gets what she wants, one way or another. The rest would just have to conveniently fall into place. So much for the so-called “Grand Design”.
It helps a lot that Kyon’s references are often to Western matters, not only because they are easier to understand for the likes of me, but also because as well-informed outsiders (educated) Japanese always have an interesting, novel approach to the legacy of the West. To say that Haruhi was as cheerful as Hannibal before his assault with the elephants, as Kyon said one or two episodes ago (I’m paraphrasing, I’m not exactly sure how he put it), is very revealing if you know how the war ultimately turned out.
animekritik (2009/08/31)
And so after Kyon comes Mikuru, Nagato, and Itsuki. Mikuru’s a time traveller, Nagato’s an alien, and Itsuki’s an esper. Again, Kyon’s the odd one in the bunch, since he’s the only one that doesn’t have a supernatural background or ability. But do notice: Why do some of the SOS-dan members obey Kyon even though they recognize Haruhi as their leader? Why do they follow Kyon’s orders, and sometimes disobey Haruhi’s? Why do they reveal their existences to Kyon and not Haruhi? Kyon’s no big deal, right?! He’s just some normal person dragged into Haruhi’s little game of make-a-Crayon-Earth-out-of-absurd-and-unstable-apocalyptic-tendencies crap!
By this time, we question Kyon’s position in the group. This is also the part where he separates himself from us normal folk. Is Kyon really just a normal person? No powers? No nothing? Kyon knows the profile of every SOS-dan member, including Haruhi, based on Mikuru, Nagato and Itsuki’s stories. He knows that Haruhi can do some crazy things he can’t possibly want or imagine. He knows that the other three members are hell-bent into preventing said crazy things from happening. At least, that’s how everything’s writ from a normal person’s point of view. But is that really all there is to it? For a normal person to have this kind of knowledge is like having God in the palm of your hand, ready to be molded and shaped as you see fit. That even includes erasing yourself in existence along with everything else.
Ever the humble one, aren’t we?
Suddenly, Kyon is entrusted with the task to keep Haruhi in check. So let’s enter Kyon, The Ultimate Deciding Factor, or Kyon, The Messiah. From the humble existence that he is, the facts suddenly elevate him to having the rank of a savior. Kyon faintly knows this by instinct, after experiencing events concerning the brigade. For a scientific approach (which I hope you guys won’t mind), I daresay that Haruhi’s current deduction of the world she’s in is the rough equivalent of this equation:
Universe = Ideal World, where
Ideal World = Events / Desirable Factors + Underlying Factors * Ultimate Deciding Factor
To explain the equation, let’s see how the ideal world is achieved. Events are divided, or simply given deduction, by the factors that is needed or derived from the events, with the Ultimate Dedicing Factor having the heaviest influence. If the events does not exceed or meet the expectations for the ideal world, then the ideal world is subject to subtle or massive change. This rather berserk behavior for deciding the fate of everyone’s existence cannot simply be entrusted to anyone else but the Ultimate Deciding Factor. Anybody else would’ve changed the world intentionally or accidentally with accordance to agenda.
The combination of arbitrariness, acute boredom, and actual physical age to me are indicators of Haruhi’s age in the context of Godly behavior. I also posit that the very manifestation of her cruelty is such an indicator, given the setting in which she operates and the choices readily available to her. It is a juvenile cruelty, even childish. I don’t imagine Haruhi willfully destroying life — see her treatment of the cicadas they caught during the summer (after thousands and thousands of iterations, she consistently released them — even if only to engender favors among them).
ghostlightning (2009/9/9)
This is where The Fighting of the Shadowy Gods Syndrome is at its finest: Wouldn’t this mean Kyon is nearly an equally powerful god as Haruhi? He can influence her, goad her, or even fight her to the point of even physically hurting her, and then POOF! Haruhi hits the reset button of the Universe. Then again, would this kind of reaction have an effect on Haruhi? She is quite the Schrodinger, and as long as she gets the reaction she wants, she’ll either leave, sit quiet, or pout as is she had a care from what happened minutes ago. And if it’s Kyon she’s getting the reaction from, she’s all the more content.
However, Kyon’s not as powerful as we think he is now. In fact, he’s really nothing more than a normal person, just like the rest of us. The members of the SOS brigade simply follow Kyon because he’s the Ultimate Deciding Factor, the tripwire that controls the Universal Bomb called Suzumiya Haruhi. Alliances will hang on a sliver of whatever relevance you are, or you have, on trying to prevent said bomb from exploding. Other than that, you’re simply useless. However, doesn’t that kind of description nearly fits Haruhi as well?
Okay, I just broke my word on the existentialism thing. But do remember that I did not cite any specific “God” or “Messiah”, aside from Haruhi’s Universe and examples I cited. We are free to believe as to who our Supreme Being/Messiah is. This dependence, whatever form it may take, from the perception of the people to the general design, is something I would not dare debate about. This story’s already got a messed-up God and Messiah.
Someone normal, unique, yet unrelated, should simply just keep away.
I’m not sure I follow your understanding of existentialism — since you assumed that we’ll understand your assumptions without stating your basic understanding of it. I’m afraid I can’t really comment further since much of your analysis is colored by this factor.
I don’t really like the context of having to understand existentialistic facts, especially since the facts don’t always speak for themselves like we expect them to be, aside from the fact that they are perceived so differently from every person. The Supreme Being That Governs All Things is not always called God, and their subsequent Messiahs, all the more different. Like I said, I tried not to delve into that aspect too much, because it would only cloud the general understanding of the matter, which is supposed to be understood by the simplest means.
i agree with the last couple of paragraphs, in a sense kyon and haruhi are two sides of the same coin now: equally powerful or equally powerless depending on how you look at it.
the question that really comes to mind is: if you’re not a haruhi fan, what is it you’re a fan of?
also i second ghostlightning, whose existentialism are you coming from here?
About the first question, I can say that the fact that the Haruhi Universe offered another insight as to how we view things in a new perspective. Think of it as being fan of the main idea of the series, rather than being a fan of the series itself.
And again, for the existentialism part, I tried to think of it as something that will only go along the boundaries of the Haruhi Universe. You can say that I tried to give an honest-to-goodness deduction of the characters in a “normal, yet unique” way, much like how Kyon does his. I daresay not to imitate Kyon, especially since he, even with his “normal” status, is a special case in himself, regardless even of the other brigade members. I just tried to define the existential terms with what understanding he may have according to how he sees the current gist of the world under Haruhi, God, Messiah or whatnot included.