THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA

The welcome trend of translating popular Japanese series into English continues with this first of ten in Tanigawa’s popular series. Completely normal high schooler Kyon narrates as his boredom is smashed by a strange and beautiful girl. Haruhi Suzumiya isn’t interested in anyone other than “aliens, time travelers, sliders, or espers.” As “ordinary humans” don’t interest her, Haruhi forms a school club, the S.O.S. Brigade, with a mission to find the extraordinary, conscripting Kyon and three other club members. But Kyon discovers that, unbeknownst to Haruhi, the S.O.S. Brigade is peopled with just the aliens, time travelers and espers it seeks. Kyon’s narration is beautifully physical, effectively evoking a manga aesthetic of robot fights and giant monsters. The playfulness and visual joy of the genre, however, are accompanied by slapstick, dubious-consent sexuality. Manga and anime fans will find it familiar enough, but readers unfamiliar with the genre will be less comfortable with scenes—all played for laughs—of girls unwillingly dressed in sexy outfits and groped. (Science fiction. 14-16)