Suzumiya Haruhi:Volume1 Editor's Notes

From Baka-Tsuki

This title, "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" has been awarded the Taisho Prize at the 8th Annual Sneaker Awards. This award is created to encourage budding writers, and since its establishment it has served to launch the careers of many writers.

So far only two people have earned the most prestigious Taisho Prize. That includes Yoshida Sunao in the 2nd awards (1996, "Genocide Angel") and Yasui Kentarou in the 3rd awards (1997, "Ragnarok"). As most would know, these two are now authors of some of the most popular series (Yoshida: Trinity Blood series, Yasui: Ragnarok series), and are still currently active.

In other words, one needs to be of the same caliber as these two writers, or even better than them, in order to be awarded the Taisho Prize. That is why the selection process is very strict. Right now another exceptional writer has appeared since Yasui Kentarou to win this prestigious honor, his first award in only his fifth year as a writer: Tanigawa Nagaru's "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi".

Every year in the Final Sneaker Taisho Selection Committee, many committee judges have fervently expressed their opinions on each work. Each judge goes through the selection process with the aim of "finding talent for the world to enjoy", but they will not award the Taisho Prize to any author who has not met the stringent requirements of such an honor.

Let us describe the selection process here. First, the judges discuss the pros and cons of the selected title. Based on these pros and cons, each judge determines where the appeal of the title lies to decide whether the title should be awarded the prize. During the presentation, the editors try and neutralize the cons to further emphasize the pros in order to show the connection between the title and its author.

The Final Selection Committee was unanimous in the awarding of the title to "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi". Using Suzumiya Haruhi, an unorthodox dynamic character, as the main pivot of the story, and told in a first person narrative, the reader is able to finish the story from start to finish in one go. Such a writing style, along with a wide cast of interesting characters, all led the judges to agree collectively that this title should be awarded with the Taisho Prize.

This is a high school drama about the antics of the eccentric beauty Suzumiya Haruhi, yet the story has successfully included a hidden plot that not even the title character Haruhi herself knows of. As to what secret that is, we'll let the reader find out, but as the reader is exposed to the unbelievable developments, they will have already indulged themselves in Haruhi's interesting world. This is the most appealing and amazing aspect of this title. Please enjoy the mixed-up reality of this work and the wonderful feeling that what should be abnormal is actually normal in the book.

On the other hand, each character has their unique characteristics that stand out clearly. The selfish, self-centered, and eccentric protagonist Suzumiya Haruhi has her never-give-up attitude in search of things that she believes to be interesting. She is either a very positive girl or a very annoying girl. Being turned around in circles by Haruhi is the narrator Kyon, whose true name is still not revealed yet. He's always dragged into all sorts of troubles by Haruhi, yet he is amazing to still be able to get along with her.

Then there is Asahina Mikuru, who always gets forced to cosplay in all sorts of costumes. She may be saying no all the time, but perhaps she secretly enjoys cosplaying. During serialization, the author experimented with all sorts of costumes for her.

At the time of publishing, the author has begun a series of short stories in Sneaker magazine. The stories take place after the events in this book. The selfish Haruhi, the cosplaying Asahina, and the ever sarcastic Kyon are still very active at the moment.

If you liked "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" after reading it, then please do recommend it to your friends and relatives, and please do look forward to the author's serialization in Sneaker magazine. The greatest wish of the author and editors is to let more people know about this wonderful story.

Sneaker Books Editing Department

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