The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 2 (涼宮ハルヒの驚愕 (後)) is the eleventh volume in the Haruhi light novel series. It was written by Tanigawa Nagaru with illustrations by Ito Noizi. This eleventh volume was originally released in Japan in 2011 and in English in 2013.
Click here to read the synopsis of the tenth volume, The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, part 1. This series is 20 years old at this point, but spoilers follow.
We pick up seamlessly from Part 1 and the crisis facing Kyon and the rest of the SOS Brigade. In one reality a strange new girl named, Watahashi Yasumi, has joined the club. In the other reality Nagato is stricken with an attack coming from the rival alien entity being referred to as the Heavenly Canopy Domain. In the reality with Watahashi, Kyon lazily goes about his days, relishing in the rest he's been able to get, in spite of the crazed exam Haruhi concocted for all of the applicants for the Brigade. Something about the diminutive Watahashi doesn't sit right with him, but everyone with a know about the supernatural assures him she isn't someone to be worried about. She is a whirlwind of enthusiasm and dedication to Haruhi's ambiguous plans for the future, the perfect accomplice in her madness. But in the back of his head something is nagging on him about the lack of interaction with from Sasaki and the rival group.
The rival group was the other Kyon's problem. Haruhi continued to neglect club duties in favor of she and Asahina fruitlessly nursing Nagato back to health. Frustrated with the lack of progress, the rival time traveler Fujiwara, forces his hand and gives Kyon an ultimatum. He along with the rival ESPer Tachibana bring him to his own school in the evening, trapping him in Sasaki's version of closed space. There he will have to choose the future of the world, who will control the powers of a god. His level headed but reluctant friend from middle school of the whirlwind of absurdity that is the girl who sits behind him in class. Factions outside of his control are trying to force him to bend to their will through making a choice between A or B. He is resolved with his decision and can't understand how they can force the transfer of abilities between the two candidates but is at a loss for how to prevent any of it. All he want's to be able to do is restore Nagato to her fully functioning self again and let her defeat the dangers posed by the rival alien interface. Yet, he is alone with two of his three enemies...convinced the most dangerous one will appear at the worst possible time. He will have to rely on his own stabilizes...of which he surely has none, at least not on the level of the strange beings hes spent a year with. Backed in to a corner is he really able to do what he knows must be done?
This third part of the story arc went by really fast and had an interesting resolution to it's climax. Through hints and down right blatant signs, the nature of Watahashi was always known, but there was a bit of a twist in her background as well that was fun. The story did wrap up quite satisfactory as well and leads one to wonder if there was a need for any further volumes. Though, the next volume took about 9 years to come out and was released in 2020. The concern then is how will the quality hold up for this grand 'conclusion' to the SOS Brigade? Reading these last three volumes made me yearn for a return of the fantastic anime at the hands of Kyoto Animation. I would love to see this story line play out in a two part theatrical release. The prior volumes can be jammed into a single cour of of TV anime. But this entire arc, of the rival factions trying to force Haruhi to give up her abilities needs to be on the big screen, with higher animation.
In the end of the day this entire franchise is a absurdist romance store. It all comes down to Haruhi having emotional attachment to Kyon and her being really hard at being honest to him and perhaps herself. Its hard to tell given the entire story is told from Kyons point of view, and he has been quite ignorant of her emotions. In this third part of the anti-Brigade arc he starts to admit some things to himself, about her and himself. He is also given a teasing glimpse of a potential future but even then feigns ignorance in its implications. At the center of everything, Kyon has to ensure that he likes Haruhi as more than a school compatriot and that he will be faithful to her. But, as this is a story about crazed super natural happenings, that decision is literally weighed against life, death and the fate of reality its self. Yet, he still tries to downplay the reality of her feelings for him and why she lashes out and behaves the way she does. Yet, he also comes back to her really just being a normal high school girl, even if she isn;t interested in living the idealized version of that. He knows, particularly after he experienced a world with out her, that he wouldn't want it to be any way. Now he just needs to be honest with her...but what sort of world shaking effect could that have and would she even be willing to be honest if he was?
Next up, volume twelve, The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya.
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