April 27, 2009

Haruhi -- a different speculation

I think at this point it's not a spoiler to mention that the foundation of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is that she unconsciously has god-like powers to change reality, which unconsciously kick in when she's unhappy and disaffected.

It is a common speculation, of course, that it's really Kyon who has that power, and that Haruhi is Kyon's unconscious creation, literally his dream girl. It's a fun speculation, and it does explain a lot, but I won't go into that again.

A couple of days ago an entirely different idea came to me: Kyon is Haruhi's creation, literally her dream guy. We never find out Kyon's name, and the reason is that he doesn't have one. "Kyon" is all that Haruhi needs, so that's all he's got. Haruhi wanted Kyon to have a kid sister, so he's got one, but she may not have even a nickname. She certainly doesn't have any real name. She gets referred to as "Imouto" in the series, for instance by Mikuru. "Imouto" means "kid sister".

It's normal for younger kids to refer to older siblings (and older kids not related) as onii-san, onee-chan, ani-san, ane-san, etc. but the convention is for older kids to use a younger kid's name when addressing him or her. (Or semi-insulting terms like chibi, kozou, komusume, gaki.) Yet we never hear Kyon use a name for his kid sister, and I think the reason is that she doesn't have one.

Yuki, Mikuru, and Koizumi are real people and not Haruhi's creations, though they're there because she wants them to be, and Koizumi in particular has been changed by her (and knows it). But they have their own pasts. Kyon's past, on the other hand, is really rather hazy and that's because he only remembers enough for Haruhi's purposes.

So why hasn't he noticed? Because she doesn't want him to. He accepts the oddness of his situation because he doesn't know any different.

Or so this speculation would go.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at 06:21 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 335 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Dunno if it holds together. He's got middle school friends, and even if you can argue that they're just around to provide additional warm bodies when Haruhi needs them, that implies that he's been around and has some past history with them. Existentialism only takes you so far - if Haruhi's completely rewritten the world such that Kyon always existed, well, how would you know?

I figure "Kyon" sounds like "John" and that's close enough. Maybe the author has a funny joke in mind that's ruined if his last name gets out or something like that.

So how do we explain the lack of focus on Kyon's domestic arrangements? Probably because they're just not interesting. We don't have any idea where Mikuru lives. We don't have any idea where Koizumi lives. We only know about Yuki's digs because they're actually interesting, in kind of a "reinforce just how weird Yuki is" way.

Most importantly, if Kyon's existence is entirely due to Haruhi's power, then book 4 would make no sense. ;p

I'm absolutely willing to entertain the notion that Kyon was "recruited" by Haruhi because he's everything she wants in a man (and none of the other stuff). But I don't think we can conclude that she actually summoned him into existence...

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at April 27, 2009 06:54 PM (vGfoR)

2

Well, what do novels say? Tappan writes in his "spoiler notes" (not spoiling in this case):

Question: During the First Conversation, Why Does Haruhi Ask Kyon if They Have Met Before?

This is answered in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, which will probably be included if there is a second season of the anime.

This implies explanations.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 27, 2009 07:02 PM (/ppBw)

3

Avatar, Kyon was created as part of the data storm that took place three years prior to the events of the anime series.

That was before his years in middle school. (That's also when Koizumi was changed.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 27, 2009 07:07 PM (+rSRq)

4 We never find out Kyon's name, and the reason is that he doesn't have one.

Yes, but he knows his real name.  I don't remember the episode (I think it was ep01, as opposed to the movie), he says that "Kyon" is his nickname.  If he knows it's a nickname, that implies that he knows he has a real name as well.

(wikipedia's page on him says that in the 9th book, his name is hinted at: his real name is hinted in a conversation between him and Sasaki; a girl who had known Kyon since middle school, saying it was a very majestic name that didn't seem to fit him.)

Take that for what it's worth.

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 27, 2009 07:22 PM (/nYBT)

5 It was in the first year of the middle school, as Taniguchi explained. They were together in school as her antics became progressively more bizarre until the rapture three years ago (which should place the timing about a week into the middle school, which in Japan continues for 3 years). So, the progression that Taniguchi related occured when they were in elementary, or the storm happened somewhat less than 36 months before the conversation, and they just say "3 years ago" for simplicity.

All of this fails to explain just why Haruhi created Kyon in the different school from her own, or what name is written in school journal and other documentation.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 27, 2009 07:24 PM (/ppBw)

6 I've read some odd fan fiction over the years. Two of them, one of which does not actually include Haruhi material in its canon, state that Haruhi is to Kyon as Azathoth is to Nyarlathotep.

Posted by: PatBuckman at April 27, 2009 07:47 PM (h7HNv)

7

Pete, you're no fun.

I'm not claiming this is a finished, complete theory, and I'm SURE as hell not claiming that this is what the author is thinking, OK? I'm just having fun with ideas.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 27, 2009 07:58 PM (+rSRq)

8 I'm REALLY not comfortable sourcing Kyon as the effect for an event for which he was also, arguably, the cause. Closed circular time loops are scary!

Also, if Haruhi's power created Kyon three years ago, why was it three years until they ran into each other? Haruhi's subconscious is not known for its patience.

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at April 27, 2009 08:44 PM (vGfoR)

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