After a few weeks of re-run action, now we’re finally back to new Haruhi animation! And according to the broadcast schedule, we’re going to get mostly fresh material from here on out.

Of course the first notable thing in this episode is the new OP. Perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by all the amazing OPs Kyoto Animation has put together over the years, but I was a bit disappointed by this one. While the animation is a lot of fun, the song itself is decidedly meh.

And what’s KyoAni’s sudden obsession now with group running? Did they suddenly get tired of making dancing animus and decide to switch to something a little easier on the animators?

Have to concur with your observations; the OP is decidedly underwhelming.

Actually I kind of enjoyed the whole SOS-Dan roster introduction in that it captured some of that Cowboy Bebop kind of flavor, with the glaring exception that “Tank!” is one of my favorite OPs of all time, and the current Haruhi OP is an entirely generic J-rock anthem. Oh well…

Swimsuit check! No real surprises, though.

Haruhi of course has a sexy bikini on. Yuki’s wearing a one piece that for all intents and purposes is basically a school swimsuit, also par for the course with this show and its target demographic. And Mikuru fills out the mizugi roster with a frilly yellow one piece, no surprise there either. How terribly predictable. At least Itsuki didn’t show up wearing a skintight speedo, as I was half afraid he might.

Oh yeah, also had a good laugh at Haruhi just running around picking up random lolis.

Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~

A bit of fuel for the Yuki fanboys to fan the flames with – Kyon secretly checks her out while Haruhi isn’t looking, and then decides that perhaps spending summer vacation this way isn’t so bad after all.

Hmm…or is he actually looking at Itsuki o_0;

Sweet Moses, I hope not… especially with such a bevy of alternatives, specifically Yuki. I must confess I can sympathize with her decision to remain in the shade.

My skin is so hideously pallid that I usually just forego going outdoors altogether, so as to avoid the burning orb of punishment in the sky that scourges the summer months.

Yukatas = WIN

You know, no matter how cliche it may be, I never seem to get tired of “summer festival” anime episodes. Probably because I never get tired of real life Japanese matsuri, either. Really, I don’t think I’ve ever met a matsuri I didn’t like, and probably never will.

The amazing food, good sake, the girls in yukatas, the cheesy games, the fireworks, and just the general spirit of revelry and relaxation  all combine to make for great fun and great memories. That’s why, no matter how many times they beat this particular dead horse, I’ll still enjoy it. It’s just very natsukashii nostalgic all around.

I never really understood the penchant for various and sundry anime to have festival episodes, that is, until I went to the Nikko Festival a few years ago. Gracious… just… FOOD.

Indescribably scrumptious foodstuffs at every stall for next to nothing, with the added benefit of amusing games, fireworks, and fascinating cultural garb. Really what’s not to like?

“Are cicadas edible? I wonder if you can make tempura out of them?”

Next is on to the cicada hunting! And not content to dominate Lucky Star conversation, now random and bizarre food discussions have invaded Haruhi as well! I’ll tell you one thing though, if you really could make good cicada tempura, the days of those wretched insects as a nationwide pest problem would be over before you could say “eaten into extinction”.

I mean, we’re talking about the country that drove sea urchins, of all creatures, to the brink of extinction just because they happen to taste good in sushi rolls.

After stumbling through (in the original Japanese) the cicada-catching chapter in Yotsuba&, my fear of the creatures grew considerably. Along with their unholy cacophony and terrifying enormity, now we’re talking about cooking the damned things? The mind reels.

I choose you Kabutomushi!

Speaking of which, this episode really reminded me that bugs in Japan truly are, in fact, incredibly huge and will try to eat you if given half a chance!

Oh yeah, also cicadas are deafeningly loud in real life; I can’t imagine going out to hunt them like that without equipping some kind of hearing protection. I daresay they’re probably the number 3 leading cause of noise pollution in the world today, right behind Rush Limbaugh and Spinal Tap.

Of course, Haruhi wins the competition. At only a mere 12 cicadas though, it’s clear that even she is no match for the legendary Yotsuba + Jumbo cicada catching gattai.

Mikuru apparently was only able to catch one lone cicada that appears to be dying of terminal carapace cancer.

“Catch and release!”

“That was very touching, but aren’t you the one who went out and caught them all in the first place?”

As always, Kyon comes right out and says out loud what everybody was thinking.

Best moment of the episode for me was definitely Mikuru’s reaction when the worm landed on her. That scream she let loose was awesome, almost as if Yuko Goto slipped out of character for a moment and back into Gotouza-sama mode from Lucky Star.

All in all I found this episode very fun to watch; Haruhi is at its best when the story revolves around Haruhi instigating ridiculous and hilarious activities with Kyon providing sarcastic narration. Of course, I’m still waiting for certain plots developments related to the Endless Eight story arc that will hopefully be forthcoming next week, but this kind of laidback slice-of-life-ish sort of episode is just fine as is.

Also, although I didn’t comment on this previously, I do definitely think that the animation quality so far has been surprisingly hit-or-miss. It doesn’t help that the RAWs I’ve been watching suck, but nevertheless I can definitely feel that the animation quality isn’t quite up to the standards I’ve come to expect from KyoAni. It doesn’t particularly impact my enjoyment of the story, but I do feel it could have been better with a more generous animation budget.

Although the animation quality is noticeably poorer, it still isn’t significant enough for me to not be thrilled at the prospect of more Haruhi. Also, I think a nice slice-of-life-ish introduction to the new eps was a good call on KyoAni’s part. Good stuff, and fun to watch, makes me think summertime might be worth the malevolent sunshine afterall.