Fanlistings?

What is a fanlisting? It's pretty much what it sounds; a list of fans of a certain subject. In this case, that subject is Asakura Ryoko, from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. If you'd like more information or links to fanlistings, head on over to TheFanlistings.Org, which is the main site, or AnimeFanlistings.Org for anime/manga-specific ones, which is where this FL is listed.

SUZUMIYA HARUHI NO YUUTSU?

Translated as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, this cult series has taken anime fandom by storm. It started out (and is still continuing as) a series of light novels, but recently, a fourteen-episode anime adaptation was made, and that's when it really hit the big-time. The series has now been licensed for Western release, and the dub is being recorded. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu centers around the exploits of the title character, Suzumiya Haruhi, and is narrated by her hapless friend Kyon.

To sum it up briefly, Haruhi is an excitable girl obsessed with weird happenings, and forms a club (the SOS Brigade) to find and investigate these weird happenings. In particular, she wants to find time travelers, aliens and espers. All the while, she's blissfully unaware that aside from herself and Kyon, the three other SOS Brigade members happen to be an alien, a time traveller and an esper. It's a series that's hard to really explain, and I'd recommend anyone check out both the anime and the light novel series. As I mentioned before, the anime has been licensed and is awaiting Western release, and translations of the light novel series can be found at Baka-Tsuki.

ASAKURA RYOKO?

Ryoko is a relatively minor character in the saga of Haruhi, but in the parts she does appear in, she has a huge impact. At first, she seems to be the kind and caring class representative, who's dedicated to bringing Haruhi out of her shell. (She later becomes greatly enthused when Haruhi seems to take a liking to Kyon; happier about it than Kyon himself, in fact.) Taniguchi ranks her one of the best-looking girls in first year, and she's generally known as a smart and cheerful girl.

However, it's all just an act. In reality, Ryoko is, like Nagato Yuki, a humanoid interface; an alien, created by the Integrated Data Entity to keep watch on Suzumiya Haruhi and record any differences made in her. Unlike Yuki, however, Ryoko loses patience with all the waiting and decides to force a drastic reaction from Haruhi. Namely, by luring Kyon to an empty classroom and killing him. Fortunately for Kyon, Yuki intervenes, and the two have a showdown. Ryoko is defeated, but even in death sounds like her same cheerful self; it was the personality she was programmed with. Later, Yuki covers up Ryoko's sudden disappearance by saying that she 'suddenly moved to Canada'. Ironically, this inadvertantly leads to the very drastic reaction from Haruhi that Ryoko had desired.

Why Ryoko? I thought she was adorable as the class rep, and became completely endeared to her when her violent ways were revealed. I watched the anime before reading the light novels, and still regard it as the greatest twist of the series. She's an extremely interesting character, seeming like a kind and sweet girl and turning out to be cold and unfeeling to the point of murder. (Plus, COOL EDITION is hands down the best Haruhi character song.)

The name of this fanlisting, "Last Waltz", is from a part in COOL EDITION, one of Ryoko's two image songs, which discusses her true self. (The other image song, Koyubi de Gyutsu!, is sung from the point of view of her false self; at least, from what I can gather with my meagre Japanese skills.) In COOL EDITION, Ryoko declares that she 'wants to disappear like a last waltz'. I thought it was a pretty, poetic name for the FL.

As a final side-note, Ryoko's name can be (and often is) written as Ryouko. I've been using Ryoko on this fanlisting because Ryoko is what's written on her Character CD, basically. ^_^;;