The melancholy of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQujDygN-jE - 7:16

https://ww1.gogoanimes.org/watch/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya-dub-episode-5 - 6:45 to 9:45

     At the time of year I taught my Analyzing Anime class, another one of the classes being taught

here is a philosophy class (Introduction to Philosophy).  Since I have the saint name of Thomas

Aquinas as my monastic name, I'm asked to come to the class when the class talks about Thomas

Aquinas and his Five Proofs of the Existence of God.  As another monk in my monastery has

mentioned to me before, these proofs are more like demonstrations, which is a better way to

understand them.  Another good way to understand these proofs, or demonstrations, is to try to relate

them to something else that is considered to be God in some form of entertainment, like anime. 

There are definitely some anime out there that talk a lot more about God, theology, and/or philosophy

than others (although I believe all anime talks about these ideas, and others, to an extent -  why my

class is called Analyzing Anime).  However, in terms of demonstrating the Five Proofs of the

Existence of God, the best example I've seen of this is with the character Haruhi Suzumiya in the

anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and is seen in the first video here that I also show to this

philosophy class (everything else the first video talks about before getting into these proofs is worth

seeing too, although I think the anime easy enough to understand without seeing it).

     As for the melancholy part of this anime, which is seen in the title of it, I believe this can be seen

in the second video that I found of this anime (I've never actually seen this anime as of this writing,

but I like using the videos I happened to find of it - that also includes other anime I write about now).

The title of this second video alone is a question that can inspire melancholy, or a feeling of thought

provoking sadness that has no observable cause, which is a feeling Haruhi talks about when posing

this question to the character Kyon.  The fact that Haruhi asks this question to Kyon, and all of us

really, adds to the idea of melancholy seen in this anime.  The anime is called The Melancholy of

Haruhi Suzumiya, so it's the melancholy of the  character Haruhi Suzumiya.  Since Haruhi can be

seen as the first cause, or God, according to the five proofs, or demonstrations, of God's existence of

Thomas Aquinas (there is a lot more he wrote, but these five proofs are the main thing), it also makes

sense that she can inspire feelings of melancholy, even in herself, since none of us can understand

why these feelings happen, meaning knowing where they come from.  We can know why they

happen, which Haruhi explains in this second video, but not what that really means.  All we can do is

reflect on what inspires feelings of melancholy, which is what the character Haruhi does in this

anime, as well as represents.  Understanding all of this also requires reflection.

 

   

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