Ask John: Please Explain the Ending of Suzumiya Haruhi

Question:
You’ve seen Haruhi anime right? Can you explain the ending, cause I don’t understand it?

Answer:
The 2006 Suzumiya Haruhi anime television series has two different endings: the chronological end of the story that is the last episode contained on the Japanese and American DVD release, and the final episode aired during the series’ original broadcast. The events depicted in the episode “Someday in the Rain” are chronologically the end of the original TV series. This episode occurs six months after Kyon first meets Haruhi and depicts Haruhi using Mikuru as a cosplay model while Kyon goes to fetch a heater for the club room. This episode is simple and mundane because the members of the SOS Dan have, by this time, become familiar and comfortable with each other, and their days have settled into a routine.

The events depicted in the episodes “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 5” and “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya part 6” occur only a few days after the formation of the SOS Dan, in other words, near the beginning of the story. But these two episodes were the final two broadcast on Japanese television in 2006. Although they’re not the chronological end of the story, these two episodes are the story’s narrative climax. Various supernatural happenings occur before and lead up to the events within these two episodes. The situations that occur after the events in these two episodes are more mundane and ordinary because Kyon becomes Haruhi’s anchor in these episodes, tethering her to a familiar and conventional reality.

Haruhi’s monologue at the train crossing in “Melancholy part 5” has an overt and an underlying message. Haruhi clearly explains her disappointment over learning of the ordinary-ness of her life, her realization that she’s just a average person among many millions of other typical people. Hidden within her anecdote, and borne out by the following episode, is the fact that Haruhi is simply lonely. She believes that she’s just a face in the crowd, so she wants someone to recognize her uniqueness. That’s precisely why she uses her unconscious god-like power to create a world for just herself and Kyon. Koizumi explains that Haruhi creates a world for two because Kyon is the person she wants to be with – the person she wants to acknowledge her.

Koizumi’s philosophical discourse in the taxi is merely semantics. The “Anthropic Principle” that Koizumi explains asserts that because humans can determine that the universe exists, humans can confidently state that the universe exists. Conversely, if humans weren’t able to verify the existence of the universe, they wouldn’t be able to confidently say that the universe exists. The statement, “The existence of humans permits the existence of the universe” in actuality means: because observant, intelligent human beings exist, they are able to say, “The universe exists.” If human beings didn’t exist, or weren’t smart enough to notice the existence of the universe, they wouldn’t be able to say, “The universe exists.” Kyon calls the theory “ridiculous” because the universe would exist with or without humans around to acknowledge it. It’s a mere linguistic exercise, and Koizumi agrees. Koizumi’s “Anthropic Principle” is merely a red herring, a linguistic theory introduced for the sake or pretension. Even Koizumi admits that it’s not a topic he tabled in order to explain Haruhi Suzumiya’s ability. Koizumi then moves into a straightforward and relevant explanation that Haruhi has the unconscious ability to manipulate reality to match her wishes.

This simple explanation forms the basis of the following episode. Haruhi gets bored, so she unconsciously creates an alternate world in which only she and Kyon exist – a world that satisfies her subconscious desire to be recognized as a unique person unlike all other human beings. After she excitedly explores the school, she decides that something should happen, or that something besides she and Kyon should be lurking around. So in response to her wish, the giants appear. Haruhi feels confident that things will somehow work out because everything that’s happening is exactly what she subconsciously wants to occur. Kyon’s philosophical uncertainty about his perspective on Haruhi’s nature is another pretension. It’s a simple thing that’s made to seem more complicated than it actually is. Kyon is surrounded by people that perceive Haruhi in grand terms, so he momentarily thinks that he should do the same. But he quickly realizes that it’s normal and fine if he just perceives her as an ordinary teen girl classmate.

Nagato’s final message to Kyon is, “Sleeping Beauty.” It’s a hint. Sleeping beauty was awoken by a kiss from her prince. Kyon explains to Haruhi that the world they’re both familiar with is fine, and that it has the promise of the excitement Haruhi longs for. Then he kisses her. Haruhi gets the personal affection she’s been longing for, and like sleeping beauty, the kiss wakes her from her dream world. She unconsciously eliminates the alternate world she created; she and Kyon return to the “normal” world where life goes on; and the SOS Dan eventually plays baseball, takes a vacation trip to a remote island, and competes against the computer club.