Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu is an attempted creation along that line, a romantic comedy created from the Suzumiya Haruhi series, with studio Satelight putting it to screen. In place of the supernatural we have a focus on romance. In place of Haruhi as the lead we have Yuki. The pieces were all rearranged on the board ready to start the game but then this anime didn’t know how to move them. It’s a show that relies too heavily on referencing the original series as opposed to crafting its own meaningful story. It’s all a big bunch of fanservice and if that’s all you’re after then there’s a few things you might enjoy spotting. But if you wanted to see some more creative spark or interesting developments in the story department you might walk away feel a bit sour.
I’ll also end up doing something in this review I normally like to avoid, and that’s compare it to another show. Given the franchise this anime is inspired from into I feel it’s only fair I draw upon Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu as a reference. Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu show fails to stand up on its own merits as a spin-off and there’s no better way to show that than by making this comparison. Note that this review contains minor spoilers for the original Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu series.
Story
Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu is a story packed with few surprises. Yuki wants to tell Kyon how she feels about him but every time she comes close to doing so she falters in some manner. Rinse, repeat. You get to watch episode after episode of it. The presentation can be fun and light hearted at least. It’s not as if the show is ever terrible, but it’s never memorable. As I watched on I couldn’t help but notice there was a serious imbalance between comedy and drama. It opts for laughs over love on too many occasions, and there’s little to no complication in the romance area. If there’s little external forces to come between our pair then what’s there to keep it interesting? There’s the odd curveball though that saves the show from being a complete flop, which I’ll come to.
More than the characters involved, nothing annoying me in Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu more than its boring episode structure. It tells you “Here’s your Valentine’s episode”, “Here’s your beach episode”, “Here’s your summer trip” and the list went on. It was sleep-inducing. While there’s a share of Easter eggs to be found in these episodes that pay homage to the original series, sometimes clever and subtle, often that’s all they are: references. They serve little purpose and it’s like the writer was saying “Hey remember this scene guys? This was in the original series!” You have a laugh, nod in agreement, and then go back to watching droll rom-com nonsense.
These generic episode set ups were still made to be exciting in the original series because romance was not at the forefront – it was a product of the mysteries and adventures the cast found themselves in. At least when Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu resorted to these stereotypical anime scenarios they came with that added spice of having to appease Haruhi. Even when the SOS Club were thrown into seemingly mundane situations you always had to expect the unexpected. It was a show that knew how to have fun because of that kicker. Here these same situations are used for nothing more than cheap laughs and with little to no romantic progression. When love is the theme, and you strip away the supernatural, things all come crumbling down.
By the time that Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu decided to start being serious and start exploring the mind of its lead character I had lost interest.
There was a serious imbalance in the way the show built up to its major complication. I was falling asleep. When the psychological drama came around it was like an alarm clock taped to my ear. I really wasn’t ready for it. Talk about a jarring tone shift. As jarring as it was though, I must say it was welcome. Here we are with not only some complication of substance, but also comes with one of the more clever throwbacks to the original series. It was the first sign of meaningful development for Yuki. It also changes up the dynamic between Yuki and Kyon a great deal. Dare I say the show even became somewhat interesting? It saves the anime in its run home but all I kept asking myself was “why didn’t this happen earlier on?” If you’re able to overcome how sudden – and maybe a bit ridiculously – things take a turn then you might get more out of this series than what I did. The ending is charming enough and I actually got a lot more out of it than I expected. While not entirely satisfying or complete, the presentation and references this time around were fun and felt useful.
Characters
Yuki obviously gets the big turnaround in behaviour when compared to the rest of the cast. Instead of the alien of few words, she is now driven a lot more by emotion. This gave her much more potential to express herself but watching her felt like a chore. How could they have made Yuki more interesting? Putting her character on a greater offensive would have been a great start. Don’t get me wrong, she really wants to make things change. She tries to express herself but you can guess how it always ends. It’s normally something along the lines of… awkward situation, exasperated overreaction then back to square one. You can find that one in the first chapter of “Writing Generic Romantic Comedies 101”. I wouldn’t be mad if Yuki followed the start of those guidelines but then actually took something away from her experiences, and learn to fend for herself. Instead it’s always mother Asakura to the rescue and Yuki herself doesn’t seem to take anything on board. It’s like every episode restores the status quo.
Speaking of the devil, that’s all Asakura’s role in this series is. She’s there to pick up the pieces Yuki leaves behind and do everything for her. She’s more of a parent than a friend. I understand that this is another interesting tie-in to the original Haruhi series (in particular the film) given the ‘protective’ nature she had there, but watching it here is tedious. She had the potential here to play a much more active role in this love story but content to hang back to provide annoying comedy (hey look she’s pulling a scary face again) and repetitive relationship advice to Yuki.
This may sound a little mean, but Kyon is just too happy and untroubled in this show. His best asset was his frustration as a result of the situations he found himself thrown into with Haruhi. He becomes just another generic anime high school male character this time around when left alone to his own devices. While we get the odd look at the old Kyon we know and love, it sadly isn’t the one taking centre stage. It’s unsurprising that some of my favourite moments in this anime came from his dialogue with Haruhi. It’s not a good sign when your main female lead can’t bring out the same level of engagement. All Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu will do is make you miss Kyon’s non-stop stream of amusing thoughts and inner monologues.
Everyone else in the show just feels like they’re there to advance the story and take the group to somewhere new. They don’t feel like active players in character relationships, again just there most of the time to remind everyone what series’ spin-off you’re watching. Haruhi manages to steal the show away from Nagato quite often. I thought she was going to add a bit of conflict this story but I was let down with that idea. Everyone else isn’t even worth touching on.
Thank goodness the original cast returned for this and helped to correct that somewhat. Tomozaku Sugita, while limited with his capabilities in this show, still gives Kyon that snarky edge through all his rom-com suffering. Minori Chihara actually gets the chance to put some sentences together as Yuki and does a fair job in a new role as the blubbering, timid female lead. You also don’t need me to tell you that Aya Hirano, as Haruhi, was excellent. I have to say that people have ragged on the character designs a bit too much. I actually like that Satelight tried to distance themselves away from KyoAni’s designs and make something unique on their end. Are they memorable? Not really, but they’re far removed from the worst I’ve seen. It’s fair that you compare the roles of characters between this and the original series, but it’s unfair to do the same for the art style.
Summary
Here’s the big problem with a spin-off that changes up the dynamics and personality of its characters: The original series is crafted around the interactions and clashes of those personalities. Changing this up is asking for trouble. Now in Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu the roles of these characters have become uninteresting and out of place. All the drama in this show is boring and everyone outside of Kyon, Yuki and Asakura don’t seem to have anything to contribute. I’d struggle to recommend Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu even to a fan of the franchise.
If you could sum up the show you could call it “References: The Anime”. All it does is serve as a reminder that you could be watching its more superior reference anime. Granted, Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu never tries to emulate Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. It knows it’s only a spin-off. It goes for a completely different theme in its story but its execution was iffy. Pointless, meandering slice-of-life antics took up too much of the show. When it finally ditched them I’d come too far through the 16-episode count. It tries its hardest to look back of those SoL previous experiences and make them feel significant but it falls flat on its face.
Score: 4/10 (Poor)
