The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya Review – SOS Brigade vs Student Council and Ghosts

The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya is the eighth entry in the light novel series. It’s composed of two stories that take place after previous volumes. Just before Kyon officially becomes a sophomore, he and the gang have to face new situations.

This time the SOS Brigade is on a pickle that is much more trivial than usual. The student council still doesn’t recognize them as a club, but they want to check on the Literature Club, which still exists on paper. Thus they end up having to act like one.

To keep the brigade going, the student council decides the group should work on some literary activity. They will have to make a newsletter and distribute it at school. Haruhi is excited for this showdown against the council and leaves everyone to work on pieces selected through a lottery.

Even the side characters that previously interacted with the brigade will have to do something for this assignment. Curiously, Kyon’s mission is to write a love story, which leaves him in a hard place. He’s hardly the only one having trouble with the styles picked on a whim by Suzumiya, though.

Theoretically, failing to do as demanded by the council could spell the end of the SOS Brigade. In truth, it isn’t that bad, and the story is mostly a breath of fresh air after the more mysterious supernatural pieces of previous volumes.

But that doesn’t mean it has none of the intrigues of previous volumes. It brings back a character from a now distant story as well as introduces the student council president. Both are figures deeply tied to the stories Haruhi doesn’t know.

It also offers a glimpse at the characters’ personalities once again. Though the chapter doesn’t show all of the stories the SOS Brigade comes up with, Kyon’s, Asahina’s, and Nagato’s are a part of it. There are also more illustrations than usual.

The second story, Wandering Shadow, happens after a sports tournament at school. As expected, Haruhi wins it, but while refreshing at the club room, they get the unexpected visit of their second “client.”

Sakanaka, a girl from Kyon’s and Haruhi’s class, wants them to investigate the rumors of a ghost in her neighborhood. She walks her dog regularly, but one day the pet started rejecting going through an area. Her fellow dog owner friends having the same trouble started speculating supernatural reasons.

As this is Haruhi Suzumiya, this seemingly mundane quest could very well introduce some mysterious phenomena. Not spoiling the events, let’s say it features an intriguing twist that’s very Haruhi-esque. It’s a good depiction of how things usually go for the SOS Brigade while still not being predictable and teasing future events.

The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya feels like a breath of fresh air. It has more illustrations than usual in the series, and the story beats use the setting in unpredictable ways. Though it could be argued that it’s mostly mundane, this is a volume that benefits from its lower stakes.