The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya (volume 10 is now publishing!)

Cover of The Sneaker issue containing the first Haruhi chapter in three years

After a three year hiatus since the release of volume 9 in mid-2007, the Haruhi novels have finally started publishing again in the latest issue of The Sneaker magazine. Chapter 1 of volume 10, “The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya,” is out!

Scans and info after the jump. I will continuously update this post as translations, images, and other resources for volume 10 become available…

*Credit goes to Akibablog, Cartoon Leap, and this thread on AnimeSuki for the majority of these scans and info*

WARNING: This post contains major spoilers. Do not scroll any further unless you’ve read the Haruhi novels, especially vol. 9, and/or you don’t mind being spoiled.

First of all, from ANN:

“Tanigawa reports that he has completed 75% to 80% of the novel (vol.10). So far, he has written 370 pages in the novel’s current draft; 400 characters can be written on each page of Japanese-style composition paper.”

As of my writing this, only questionable summaries and bits of info as to the content of ch.1, vol.10 have cropped up on places like 2chan. This issue of The Sneaker was actually supposed to come out on April 30th, but a few stores released it early. Perhaps when more copies are available on the actual release date, more info will follow suit.

A full translation of chapter 1 has yet to be available. But a few things have been confirmed so far…

* Ryouko Asakura returns
* Kyon has an encounter with Kuyou
* The β timeline is the prominent one in ch. 1

UPDATE: 04/28/10
A few more things in ch.1 that are not 100% confirmed, but are likely…

* Kimidori interferes in the confrontation between Ryouko and Kuyou
* Haruhi is apparently good at cooking
* Kyon contacts Sasaki again

UPDATE: 04/30/10
A more chronological summary of what happens in ch.1 (courtesy of mine and Ultimatemegax’s translations from this Japanese blog).

“a-7:
Nothing special worth mentioning happens.

b-7:
Yuki stays in bed.
Yuki is calmer than I thought, but it’s no ordinary illness. Kyon is worried, too.
However, we get to see an unexpected side of Haruhi.
For the first time, Haruhi’s mother is mentioned.
Or should I say that Haruhi has too much common sense…though there’s a reason why she was like that from the start.

Kyon leaves and encounters Kuyou…
After this – Ryouko Asakura!
I thought this was a dangerous development and that she would try to kill Kyon…
No, on the contrary, he was saved by her!

Kuyoh mobilizes beyond reality.

Asakura soon vanishes, the normal course of action with her.
Kimidori looks on from the side.

And with that, I wonder what will happen from here on.
The mystery about the division has yet to be revealed.”

* Kyon later contacts Sasaki to find out about Yuki’s illness. He arranges to meet with her and the anti-SOS Brigade.

UPDATE: 05/01/10
Scans of all the pages for chapter 1 are now available for download here. If anyone wants to help with translation, leave a comment =)

MAJOR UPDATE: 05/02/10
This weekend, Ultimatemegax and I have been working on translating chapter 1 of “The Surprise.” We decided to launch our own blog where we’ll post each page of the chapter as we translate it (and subsequent chapters when they come). We’ve already translated page 1, with page 2 on the way. Check ’em out here! =D

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The following are scans from The Sneaker issue that contains ch. 1 (along with some of my translations):

The table of contents. Seventy pages for chapter 1 of The Surprise.

A reintroduction to the characters (it has been three years after all).

As was hinted at the very end of vol. 9, the gang goes to visit Yuki. The large subtitle reads “Nagato is far from recovering…”

Poor Yuki is still suffering from the effects of Kuyou’s influence.

The line to the right of the picture reads “We’ve kept you waiting!” Biggest understatement of the year.

The cropped line to the right of the picture says “A part of the previous publication.” Below that, the line in bold says “The story so far,” and the rest of it is basically a summary of the story up until this point (from a third-person perspective, not Kyon’s).

Kyon’s encounter with Kuyou! From what I can tell, the words going down the middle read “Why are you here? Seems like you were waiting for me, huh?” The large red and black line just says “The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya.”

Ryouka Asakura returns, apparently to attack Kyon yet again.

My (amateur) translation of the words on the page:

“…was cold like (*cropped*). Like (*cropped*) it was quiet. Too quiet. All at once, I noticed it. I blinked…what happened to the railroad crossing signal? And the harsh, fading (*can’t discern kanji*) sound? Why didn’t the train come?”

Apparently Kyon’s encounter with Kuyou and/or Ryouko happened at the railroad crossing.

—–

Once again, I will keep updating this post as more translations and other stuff relating to “The Surprise” becomes available in the coming days/weeks/months. Also, feel free to share any additional info you may have in the comments section (but please make sure it’s reliable).

Stay tuned.