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Reviewed by Penny Kenny A student is missing. A grandmother vanishes. A murder occurs in a locked room. What do all these things have in common? The SOS Brigade. More specifically, Brigade Chief Haruhi - a high school girl who lives for mysteries and excitement. Too bad her classmate and fellow brigade member Kyon doesn't share her - or the rest of the brigade's - enthusiasm for odd adventures. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya isn't a book I would have picked up based on its cover. It looks like a typical perky, high school girl story. Well, Melancholy does have a perky high school heroine. But it also has alternate space-times, alien life forms, time travelers, and Espers. The science fiction elements of the story sneak up on readers gradually, giving an added punch to the mystery element. The only character readers really get to know in this volume is Kyon. He's the reader surrogate, the average guy swept up into strange events beyond his control. He comes across as a bit mopey and unhappy about being involved with Haruhi; yet, he also seems fascinated by the weirdness that follows her. How he deals with the problem of the vanishing grandmother is especially interesting, as it happens to be his grandmother that's missing. Watching him deal with his exuberant younger sister while trying to get his grandmother back without letting anyone know what's really happening is extremely enjoyable. Though like Kyon, I'm a bit puzzled as to what some of the things he saw are supposed to mean. Readers wanting to know more about the rest of the SOS Brigade members are out of luck. Though Kyon name-checks them and mentions their special abilities, that's about all we get on them. Twice, motivations for two of the team's behavior are hinted at, but it's not enough to make them fully-developed characters. In previous volumes they might have had larger roles, but here in volume four the other members of the SOS Brigade are basically deus ex machina that wrap up any problems with little difficulty. The final arc of the volume, which is basically a murder mystery on an island, reads a bit like a Kindaichi Case Files mystery - only with fewer clues. At first it's hard to see how it ties in with the other stories in this volume, it's so far removed from the others. In the end, however, Gaku Tsugano brings it all together on a note both slightly chilling and humorous. The story can be difficult to follow at times, mainly because of the extreme number of close-ups on faces. It cuts the narrative flow and creates unnecessary confusion. When not focusing on faces, Tsugano has a strong sense of pacing. Dramatic scenes get a nice build-up, then explode off the page. The characters are attractive and fairly distinguishable from one another. There's a bit of cheesecake, but not enough to be distracting. While I wouldn't recommend a new reader begin with volume four, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is worth checking out at the library. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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