Just started watching The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi thanks to a recommendation from Hui. This anime is having the same effect on me as FireFly. It’s making me feel really really happy watching it. Such an odd thing.
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There are TV shows that put normal people in extraordinary situations, where the viewer relates to the protagonist by thinking “Yeah I may feel and appear mediocre, but I’ll bet I could kick ass if the time came.”
The special thing about Haruhi is that she is an extraordinary person in a normal setting. She truly believes she is extraordinary, and wears it on her sleeve from day one, never condescending to any standard of normality. I find that inspiring.
Of course, Haruhi is aided by the fact that her extraordinarity just happens to be the truth. There are no if’s and but’s to her position in the center of her world. The story isn’t meta-religious dogma requiring the protagonist to go through various trials and tribulations to earn some overvalued prize. Her greatest/only enemy is boredom plain and simple, and since the only enemy of an anime series is also boredom, this is a perfect alignment.