With all its paranormal nonsense, it’s small wonder that we’d get a time-travel segment in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, an anime that manages to outlive and exceed expectations and continue to gain new fans. At the centre of this storm is the eponymous Haruhi, the boss-girl of the SOS Brigade, an after school club she runs to search for aliens, espers, time-travellers, and generally make life for her more interesting.
Even more interesting is that Haruhi is a god, though she doesn’t realise it. Even the members of her club – bar our hero Kyon – are exactly what she’s been looking for, but they cannot reveal themselves to her. They’ve no problem letting Kyon in on the secret however, which means he has to do quite a bit to make sure Haruhi stays just the right amount of happy, otherwise the universe might collapse in on itself or something.
In one instance, Kyon must go back – three years back – and meet the Middle School Version of Haruhi on some urgent matter. This is the figma we’re looking at today and quite reasonably, Haruhi is shorter than her matured counterpart. One thing that is longer however, is her hair, which extends past her shoulders in length and looks more aligned with her look in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya; even her trademark yellow ribbons are there.
Haruhi’s attire is quite childish, though it’s within reason considering her age. As you might have guessed, this isn’t a school uniform, so for once we have Haruhi in casual dress. Her bright orange shirt is just that little bit too big for her, with red cuffs and collar and a little panda face on the chest. Haruhi wears a pair of denim shorts and a dull orange pair of casual shoes. Despite the character, Haruhi’s clothes are a unique addition to the figma line – partly because no-one else would wear such an ensemble (it might not be extravagant enough!).
The bratty persona remains though, and in contrast shows that Haruhi did mature a little before she met Kyon, since this rude little first year screams of arrogance. Both faces for Haruhi echo this; the first face has her looking straight ahead, frowning in irritation over a simple matter. You either feel you’re in trouble of feel you’re going to be in trouble. The second face has Haruhi questioning something in that horribly skeptical fashion kids do, like they’re supremely sure of themselves on any topic.
Five sets of hands are included for Haruhi to use – covering a wide range. There’s a pair of pointing hands, a pair of grasping hands, a set of fists, a set of open hands with the fingers spread, and a set with the fingers closed. The famous bench that pops up many times throughout the series finally makes an appearance here too; complete with a nice wood look and a sturdy design. The only other accessory for Haruhi is the paint cart for drawing white lines, used by “John Smith” in the episode “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody.” The wheels actually turn, but that’s about it for this item.
Besides the figma stand and carry bag, we’ve covered everything included for Middle School Haruhi. The uses of the bench are a key part of this figma, especially if you have other characters from the show to use it with. The sculpt and design of Haruhi is solid, and I’ve no complaints about how she has been executed. But the fact remains that I really don’t give a toss about Haruhi as a person though. Here, everything that annoys me about her is distilled into one bratty little package that I’d love to smack across the back of the head. No doubt the fans will enjoy her, but there’s not much else going on here.
