Nagaru Tanigawa's light novel Suzumiya-Haruhi-no-yūutsu can be read as an answer to the problem of our mass society where individuals are reduced to interchangeable parts. In the novel the author suggests two alternatives to this critical situation, both of which put an emphasis on the importance of commonplaceness. The first alternative is an assumption that individuality becomes irreplaceable in the process of familiarization. The other one is the affirmation of absolute individuality irreducible to any generalization. These apparently similar ways of thinking should be distinguished from each other in the degree of commitment to self.