Kyon has found himself dragged through many adventures as of late—all because of the SOS Brigade club
and its excitable leader, Haruhi Suzumiya. He has stopped believing in the supernatural long ago, but
after being forced to join this club based solely on that, he has seen things that cannot be explained
logically.
Joining Kyon on his various misadventures is the shy and soft-spoken Mikuru Asahina, the bookish Yuki
Nagato, and the ever-cheerful Itsuki Koizumi. Whether it is summer vacation or a school festival,
things involving their club and Haruhi herself always end up becoming strange.
Note: This is a re-airing of the original Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu series, taken from the DVD
release and aired in chronological order, adding 14 additional episodes with new content. These new
episodes are episodes 8 (Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody), 12-19 (Endless Eight), and 20-24 (The Sigh of
Suzumiya Haruhi Parts 1-5).
2009 The endless eight arc is unforgivable. There's already a lot of issues with this series that stem from the unfortunate lack of anything ever mattering, but this awful arc takes that to a level that would almost be hilarious if it wasn't so sad. While I can appreciate the fact that the art and directing was slightly different in all eight of the episodes, it isn't nearly enough to fix the greater issues that stem from it. In truth, it's insulting to the viewers to produce the same story for eight consecutive weeks. If the direction they were trying to go was so incredibly important to the story that they couldn't step away from repeating the same events in at least a few episodes, then the director should have limited it to a total of three. 1) The club goes through the events of the endless summer vacation, 2) The club figures out what is happening, 3) Kon saves the day. This would have had nearly the same impact, without taking an already mediocre high school romcom and making it totally unbearable. With that short rant out of the way, I'll delve into a few other issues I had with the series as a whole. Most stories tend to either be character or plot driven (occasionally there is something truly magnificent that is both but it's rare, and certainly not the case here). The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya tends to forgo plot and instead tries to drive a fun story with it's "strong" characters. The issue with this isn't the direction, but instead the execution. It's problematic for a character-driven story to have terrible characters, and unfortunately, 4/5 of the mainstays in the series are genuinely bad. Kon is the only character in the series that is at all enjoyable and even he struggles to maintain a grasp on the viewer's interest after the endless eight arc. Haruhi is better written than the other three main characters but despite that, she's not at all likable. She's both a Mary Stu and a generic Tsundere. Her relationship with Kon is occasionally cute, but I found myself desperately wishing that he wouldn't fall for her because he didn't deserve a life that would be filled with misery, and frankly, that's the only thing Suzumiya was going to offer him. The other three main characters are incredibly 1-d, it's really unfortunate that this is the case because all three of them have the potential to be much better characters than they actually are. The thing that continues to stick out in my mind as I type this, is the wasted potential of the series. There was so much to work with and instead of actually adding flesh to the skeleton they built, they decided to go the sitcom route, and that only works if you're willing to write truly great characters. I walked into The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya expecting something lighthearted, funny, and potentially one of the all-time greats. What I got was a 26 episode high school romcom with bad characters and an episode that repeats itself 8 times. 3/10 do not recommend unless you've seen thousands of other series and literally have nothing else to see.
** THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS** It's time to do what no one who has reviewed this second season has ever done before: actually give an in-depth review explaining why this series sucked. Not just: The Endless 8 sucks because etc. etc. therefore, this show sucks. Nor will I be "ok, the Endless 8 wasn't very good, but the rest of the series was pretty decent due to *insert quick explanation here*." No, this review will show why the WHOLE SHOW sucks, not just one part. I'm sick of just "Endless 8 sucks so automatically, so the show sucks by default". Forgive my aggravated rambling; I needed that off my chest. Do you wanna know why this show is bad? Do you wanna know why this almost ruined the franchise for me? Then, let's find out, shall we? To be honest, nothing about this season added to the story of the series. It's 14 episodes of (mostly) pure, bona-fide filler. This show is a midquel that answers next to nothing about Season 1, particularly because Season 1 left little to be explained. This season takes place before the last 4 episodes of season 1. The 2nd season starts off well. It's a small adventure that only really becomes relevant in the Haruhi Movie. Then, the Endless 8 begins. Episode 2, is also good. Then, episode 3 redoes a lot of the previous episode with a twist! Everyone is in an absurdly high time loop spanning over 15,000 repeats. First off, since all of the following episodes of the arc literally go one repeat after another, why not start this off with say 50 loops, and then continually increase the number dramatically? It would be more like the show to do that. Then, episodes 4-8 repeat the exact same episode (episode 3) with minute changes. Finally, episode 9 breaks the loop in hilariously stupid fashion after terrible buildup with 7 episodes that show no progression towards the arc. This whole thing literally could`ve been resolved in three episodes. One for introduction, one for setup, and one for resolution. As for the final arc, I've actually seen people DEFEND this arc, which really boggles my mind as to something just as mind-numbingly stupid as the Endless 8. Honestly, we'll save this one's biggest problem for later as this arc`s biggest sin is how badly it botched up the characters. Let's put it this way. Season 1 established that when Haruhi is visibly upset, a different field of the world begins to suffer the wrath of giant monsters, and that could prove dangerous to the real world. At one point, Haruhi is the most unhappy she’s ever been via confrontation that she effectively deserved, and NOTHING HAPPENS!!! First off, Haruhi brought this on herself, and Kyon was scolding her for being basically tyrannical to her friends, and he's forced to APOLOGIZE?! WHY?! Haruhi also gets off scot-free for being so horrible. also, for how "smart" she is, she should've put two and two together during the final scene of Season 2. I get that maybe trying to hit her was a bit out of hand, but still, she needed some repercussion for being so damn awful! This season was pretty awful by this point by this moment killed any chance of it recovering. The ending sucked too, just to let you know. If you know Haruhi Suzumiya, you know that she's kind of a spoiled brat with an (understandable) god complex. She's a bit of an ass, a tyrannical one, but you understand why she's that way, and see her developed into a slightly more polite and caring person. Despite the fact that this season takes place after the events containing most of her development, this final arc, in particular, decided to DECIMATE all decency from her, and flanderize her obnoxiousness and bratty-ness to new levels. She actively treats Mikuru like a sexy slave, even more so than in season 1. She becomes a bigger dick than ever and ignores all sense of likability and development. Mikuru is reduced to a whiny moe slave for the series who only accomplishes following Haruhi`s demands, and only to varying effect. Itsuki is the same, only spouting off his stuff under unreasonable circumstances that only serve to make Haruhi a Karma Houdini, which sort of waters him down a bit. Kyon, is the same, only less entertaining, less intelligent, and less snarky, meaning that like almost everyone else, he is at least somewhat watered down here too. Yuuki Nagato is the only character with any improvement, as we see a more urgent and ambiguously caring side of her, as she does some risky things this time around. Unfortunately, the side characters are less present, and less likable, albeit, when Haruhi makes you drug your friend with alcohol, and you accept in a heartbeat, that's bound to happen. Knowing KyoAni, brilliant animation to them is as simple as doing a worksheet of simple math problems. Takes a bit, but it's easy and leads to damn good scores. Not much was stepped up, other than slight changes to character models, though I kinda like the change. While this season didn't get to show off its creative muscles like Season 1 did, the animation was still really good, and if it got to show off some of the amazing stuff Season 1 did, it would've gotten a 10, for even the minute changes in the Endless 8 are appreciated, as they change the clothing, and give new angles for repeated scenes. This is always a highlight of the franchise, and even though this season sucks, at least it lived up to KyoAni's expectations in the animation department. Too bad it was wasted in this garbage-tier anime. Unfortunately, the music isn't as good as in season 1. Luckily, it's still overall decent. The OP and ED themes are once again, great, really capturing the tone of the series, and are just as good, if not better than those of season 1, even if they'll never become as ubiquitous as "Hare Hare Yukai", season 1's ED. This season, otherwise, added nothing to the soundtrack, and the recurring themes aren't memorable, minus a few jingles in some of the themes. Also, while the dub has the same voice actors and talents, the repetitive dialogue for the Endless 8, along with Mikuru's aggravating squealing, bog it down a bit. Heck, Kyon doesn't even get any deliciously scathing monologues here. This series had no right to be as long and annoying as it was, and the botched characters, nigh-useless story, and painful moments make me hate this show, no matter how pretty it is, or how good it sounds. Honestly, this is an allegory for how this season made me feel about Haruhi herself, attractive and with a nice voice, but a total bitch. Yes, the first two episodes are good, and yes, the Endless 8 had the potential to be pretty good if they cut large portions out and made the set-up more in line with the spirit of the show, but overall, this series can't stack up to its predecessor in any way other than production. Lastly, thank God for the movie since if not for that, this would've actually killed the anime franchise as a whole with it being such a gigantic pain. With that, I bid you adieu.
__Disclaimer: This review will be for the entirety of the show, not just the 2009 portion. However, there will be NO spoilers in this review.__ I'm going to try my best to keep this an unbiased review, but Haruhi as a show and as a character has helped me on a personal level so that's one reason I love this show so much... the other reason is because it's genuinely a very enjoyable show. Haruhi used to be the Queen of anime, but of course all good things come to an end. The show doesn't have much of a story, really. It's more of a slice of life comedy show with supernatural elements thrown in. Although, after my most recent rewatching of this show (which I finished last night), I can say that this show has more character development and foreshadowing than I previously realized, definitely in the last four or five episodes. Now, when you get to the Endless Eight arc, at first you'll probably hate it for reasons I'll leave unknown for now. Just, don't give up on the show there. You can just skip the "bad" part and you will miss basically nothing. Personally I love the Endless Eight arc, but it's very understandable if you never grow to like it. Of course, when I first watched this show I also hated the Endless Eight arc, but then I began to like it more and more, and now I love it. Please don't give up on it, give it a chance. Watching this arc will also make Nagato's actions in the movie more understandable. The art style of this show isn't really anything special, but it's still very appealing; definitely on the Blu-ray. There are some shots that look very good, and then other shots that look like your basic slice of life moe show. But, throughout the entire show, Kyoto Animation has consistent animation and no "bootleg" shots. Of course, some shots are more detailed than others, but that's only when they need to be. The first opening of this show? Amazing. The visuals and song are both beautiful. You wanna know what's better than the first opening? The second one, with even BETTER visuals and song. Also, the second ending is very nice but probably the worst of all the openings/endings. But, the first ending is what spawned an anime phenomenon. The Hare Hare Yukai dance, or probably more widely known as the Haruhi dance. Easily the most iconic part of the show. Also, the soundtrack for this show is amazing too. The main background song in this show always makes me giddy to hear, and it's actually the first thing you ever hear in episode one. Amazing soundtrack. Now, the characters. Mikuru Asahina is a clumsy, moe character as Haruhi would put it. She's mostly in the show for fanservice honestly, but she still has some very good moments. Now, Yuki Nagato, she's a very silent and reserved character that only speaks when she needs to. Her design is nice, and she has some amazing moments in the show. While she's quiet, there is Itsuki Koizumi who is more talkative. He's a very polite and mature character, who is in stark contrast to Kyon. Kyon is usually always upset with something, he whines and complains a lot, but trust me his character gets some amazing development towards the end of the show and even more and better development in the movie. He's not exactly unlikable, but he's definitely my least favorite main character. As for my favorite character, that honor goes to Haruhi Suzumiya herself. She's kind of a tsundere type character, but that's not the aspect I like about her. Yes, she's rude, bratty, and to some she may be overwhelming, but the thing I love most about Haruhi and what changed me as a person is seeing her passion. Seeing her seize every single day. Seeing her try her best to enjoy her life, and not worry about being "normal". In the episode "Live Alive", you'll see her get some development though, and it is very heartwarming to see. All in all, if you like supernatural stuff then you'll probably like this show. If you like slice of life stuff then you'll probably like this show. You might not become a huge fan of this show, but it will definitely be a good, fun, and enjoyable watch. I hope this review helps, and I hope you enjoy the show.
I don't really look into the backgrounds of shows when I decide to watch them in the first place, usually it's just a quick glance at the OP or I get a recommendation from a friend. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is no different, I played the Will Stetson cover of _Super Driver_ in Osu! and thought I'd give the show a whirl; however, there was one thing I had heard about before going in, The Endless Eight. Before we talk about that, however, we need to talk about the rest of the show. Overall, it's not bad. The first arc is an enjoyable supernatural slice of life/romance, similar to that of [Monogatari](https://anilist.co/anime/5081/Bakemonogatari/) or [Bunny Girl Senpai](https://anilist.co/anime/101291/Rascal-Does-Not-Dream-of-Bunny-Girl-Senpai/). I honestly wished that they had kept going in the romance direction though, because after the first six episodes, the show starts to feel aimless. It's obvious that this is not Monogatari, it never was in competition to be, but I'm disappointed that it could have been a better predecessor. The show progresses at what I would consider a normal slice of life pacing, we get introduced to our main characters and mosey along based on whatever they are doing at the time or find interesting. It's cute and quaint, but after the first six episodes I kept feeling like something was missing. There were little things that developed the characters, and the show felt like that was where it was trying to go, but it just didn't. The plot kept forcing characters to stay in their boxes, when they so clearly wanted to develop and grow. After the Endless Eight, and trust me, we'll talk about it soon enough, we get to the movie arc. It felt like a breath of fresh air to see the plot move forward again and I was glad that we were back to the characters doing something, but something about this was just worse. The fact that Suzumiya was able to alter reality with greater ease, but Kyon getting _(rightfully)_ pissed at her didn't set off closed space really irked me. The arc wrapped up peacefully in a similar way to that of [Haganai Next's](https://anilist.co/anime/14967/Haganai-Next/) movie arc, but from a "professional" standpoint, I just felt disappointed. It felt like the show should have gone somewhere, but it didn't. Looking at it this way, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a dissapointing slice of life that could have been way better had it given itself the chance. What if we looked at it in a different light? Let's talk about the Endless Eight, remember how I said that The Endless Eight was the only thing I had heard about before going in? It was solely because of Youtube comments making jokes about "surviving" the arc. I, however, got the wrong impression. I had assumed it was a depressing or at the very least, very interesting arc to the show. The Endless Eight, obviously, is not that. It's essentially eight episodes of filler. From a purely critical standpoint, The Endless Eight is the _worst_ anime arc of all time. It is literally the same episode eight times in a row, with a half-assed conclusion tacked on. That's exactly why I love it. When I watched the Endless Eight, I was furious with how it ended, "how could Homework be the solution?" "They set up a vague romance the whole time why didn't they follow through" were my questions, and that's when it clicked. If you are planning on watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya for the story, watch the first six episodes then quit. It doesn't get any better. If you're watching Haruhi Suzumiya as a slice of life with some interesting plot elements? You'll get a solid kick. The realization has to be made that this isn't a predecessor to Monogatari, it's Haganai with some supernatural elements tacked onto the beginning to hook people in. Looking at it from this perspective, it almost immediately became one of my favorite time wasters. The plot was relatively interesting, even if it was dumb, and the characters were funny, even if they were wasted potential. The Endless Eight having a dumb cop-out finale is exactly what makes this show good, because there was no way it could have a strong emotional climax without coming off cheesy, so they went all in. ~~~Concluding:~~~ ~~~If you want good supernatural romance, watch [Monogatari](https://anilist.co/anime/5081/Bakemonogatari/) or [Bunny Girl Senpai](https://anilist.co/anime/101291/Rascal-Does-Not-Dream-of-Bunny-Girl-Senpai/). If you want a funny slice of life that tries to steal elements from these shows, watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.~~~ ~~~_The exception being the movie, the movie is really good and you should take it seriously._~~~
_I will preface this saying I have also read most of the Light Novels._ I mean this completely unironically. I like weird shit like this so it was right up my alley. Having it last 8 episodes was one of the ballsiest artistic decisions ever made in any anime production ever and it pays off in spades. It makes Tatami Galaxy’s exploration of a time loop concept blush. This is probably one of the few instances where an anime fleshes out and explores a concept more thoroughly than its light novel source material. It legit bumps it up a number of points for me. Honestly, I had a blast watching every single one of the episodes in that arc (and I still watch through all of them whenever I re-watch Haruhi). I get that it’s a highly contentious arc, but I genuinely do think it’s an amazing experience and genuinely manages to flesh out even minute character aspects and really puts you in the same headspace as Kyon and makes you understand Yuki that much more - essential for the Disappearance movie to have worked as well as it did. If you’re really that blasted about “watching the same episode 8 times”, pick and choose, man - Watch 4 episodes, watch endless 8 8 times, watch 8 minutes of each episode in different 8 minute chunks. You will be losing a ton from the intended experience though. Anime is such an interesting medium with endless possibilities. It’s really cool to see a series that actually took an artistic risk instead of having a more marketable by-the-books production that would no doubt make it more money. I don’t think something like it could release nowadays. The anime industry in the early 2000’s was a time of experimental “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” productions. Nowadays, with animation and marketing budgets ballooning, with production committees being much “safer” with their decisions, E8 will forever remain in its own class of interesting artistic endeavours that could only happen exactly when it did. Honestly, with 90% of shows coming out nowadays being the exact same concepts copy-pasted, which every single season people throw themselves at loving, E8 even speaks to the state of the modern anime industry. Except E8 is an interesting unique artistic decision, while most shows nowadays are bland, safe, and with tropes and concepts you've seen explored with the shallowness of a dwarven kiddy pool time and time again (one could even say endlessly). I don’t wanna see anyone who has ever watched more than a single isekai show or VRMMO show or ecchi show or... talk shit about Endless Eight. Other than that, it’s Haruhi. Good stuff. Characters are fun and have surprising depth. Each arc is (usually) a self-contained story that everyone can enjoy. 50 is average, btw. 80 is an amazing score.
~~~WARNING: Your Trash is My Home. DOUBLE WARNING: SPOILERS WILL BE PREVALENT~~~ ___ __~~~Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)~~~__ ~~~img420(https://img3.goodfon.com/original/2709x1922/e/23/ikeda-shouko-melanholiya.jpg)~~~ ___ Gonna be upfront on the meme arc, Endless Eight- and this might be incredibly controversial given the rating of how this season compares to 2007, but I don't think it ruins the series in any form. Whilst 2-3 episodes may have only served __any__ sort of narrative purpose, it wasn't like I hated having to rewatch the same episode 5 times over with barely any noticeable changes which gave me lasting ptsd of time-loops! :D Jokes aside, Endless Eight is something which exists. You either hate it or turn your brain off to digest everything like a robot. I of course am the latter. Apparently within the novel, this arc only lasted ONE LOOP. Not 8 episodes. We really could've gotten 2 episodes & done. No 8 episodes needed. Somebody at KyoAni hates anime-only, because damn did they do us dirty with that. But to be fair- what about the memes? Would it have been worth the ease of stress, to go without Endless Eight memes? Of course not. Memes are for [me]me. ~~~img520(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/001/714/453/6c5.jpg)~~~ ___ Art & animation is absolutely fantastic. KyoAni is known for their visuals, and despite this being more than a decade ago you can clearly tell how much effort they'd put into every frame. One of my favorite scenes from the season being a little thing called 'God Knows'. Part of why I'm interested in starting Sound Euphonium soon is because of how well executed that performance was. From facial expressions, hand movement, the energy of environment. It more than delivered. This is only one of many moments which gripped me personally. ~~~youtube(https://youtu.be/k76j3YROSWQ)~~~ ~~~The series is more than pretty animation though. Haruhi Suzumiya has character.~~~ ___ If there's something I love about an anime, it's a series which grips me in entertaining characters that are able to keep me entertained through only exchanges of dialogue. Not a shiny gloryhole of plot. Sure that in itself is fun, but a cast which need only be on screen to have an enjoyable experience is something special to me. Normal average Kyon having monologues about Haruhi & the strange situations she puts him in- Haruhis energetic face rallying the SOS Brigade to their next misfit adventure- a cute time traveling Asahina who plays as Haruhis chew toy- the expressionless caring alien Nagato- & esper Koizumi who is the most calm smooth talker & handsome guy on screen at all times. They've all got their charms, and they all bounce off each other perfectly. Especially with that BEAUTIFUL soundtrack. I feel like happily dancing around in my weeb chair while watching an episode. ~~~img620(https://cdn.hk01.com/di/media/images/cis/5e56fbd05e00e37651d95dab.jpg/ndQ5EjzFz5AKoW9OG6sSg-t7lyLcuLN3lxDjPZcQ4z0?v=w1920)~~~ ___ Let me be clear, this series isn't without faults. No anime is. But I would be lying to myself if I didn't make clear that the series was extremely enjoyable despite that, and became one of my favorites instantly. Love the cast. Enjoyed the narrative, even with Endless Eight giving me some clear ptsd for future time-loops haha. & hell, even this review was fun to write. Got a bit emotional thinking back on my journey to The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Let me know if you're interested in a review on that. ~~~Until then though- feel free to check out my previous review on Mushoku Tensei, and let us all devote ourselves to Haruhiism. Much love! ~~~
img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) #~~~The Significance Of Haruhi Suzumiya~~~ ~~~img(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/80/66/ee/8066eee4df8e0dbc7eee9f7233b1438e.gif)~~~ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a show that was made in the year 2006 and has been considered a classic of it’s time. Let us talk about it's significance and why is it as important as it is - Haruhi was an anime that came out when the internet streaming was just starting or it was a fresh concept in Japan. It was one of the first anime to hit it off with the Japanese internet ( specifically a streaming website called Nico Nico Douga ) they made a trend of dancing to it’s end. People were even showing off their dance moves in full cosplay on the streets of Akihabara... at least until the police got involved. Can you imagine a group of people dancing in cosplay in the 00s? In Japan, you are **not even allowed** to dance in public yet people still did it in **fucking cosplays** lol. Just look at how cute this video is :D ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L4krBEWS9E)~~~ - It has inspired the animation we see in modern anime today. By the time Haruhi aired, the anime world had mostly moved on from hand-painted cels to digital colouring, but Haruhi went further than its peers in capturing modern camera techniques in animation. The anime is full of detailed backgrounds and realistic details. In the animations of the characters, even the smallest gestures were given a lot of detail (for example, the "god knows concert" scene is still a masterpiece). Studio Kyoto Animation and director Tatsuya Ishihara did a great job. Details that we take for granted today would not exist if it weren't for this anime and the people behind it. - Haruhi was one of the first major anime titles to inspire the anime pilgrimage phenomenon, where fans visit locations depicted in the anime and share photos of their travels online. In 2018, the Anime Tourism Association recognized Haruhi as a major title for inspirational pilgrimages. ~~~img75%(https://static.japanwalker.travel/images/5db302fe897f0.jpg)~~~ - It went on to influence many trends and tropes one can see in Japanese light novels today. There have been many anime that have come out after 2006 which can be considered equally good or better than it. Even so we cannot undermine the effect of this show. Even if I talk about it's problems, I do understand that it had a major impact in the world of anime and manga. A lot of people hold a special place in their hearts for it and I shall forever be grateful to it. img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) Okay so history lesson over, now we will discuss the show. Usually when you find people discussing this show online, you would find them discussing the two seasons separately ( that or complaining about the endless eight arc lol ) so I will also discuss the two seasons separately in this review. Spoilers ahead, if you don't want them just skip ahead to the Conclusion. img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) #~~~Season 1~~~ img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) The first season of Haruhi mainly consists of getting to know the show's characters, the premise and message well. Each character is given a lot of screen time and their circumstances are also explained in detail. In my opinion, this style of starting the series is rather interesting, Compare it to a show like Jujustu Kaisen, where the show just begins with it's action and story without any formal introduction or anything, I don't dislike that approach or hate it but I love the slow paced nature of this start, getting to know the characters and premise is essential to enjoying this story and the movie after all. img(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/06/61/92/066192b0e24705dc8f4d3d3dfc5f11af.jpg) Objectively speaking, this season is a more enjoyable and pleasant to watch compared season 2 for reasons that would be evident when I discuss the 2nd season. I thought the initial arcs were quite good and were the reason that I got hooked to the show. Imo, The animation style and the character designs are better too and the op & ed of this season are quite nice too. Obviously, there is also some boring moments in season 1 too but overall, it is good. I watched the show in broadcast order btw, fans of the show recommend that you watch in chronological order but imo it's doesn't really matter as I was able to understand what was going on. ~!img(https://i.imgur.com/CMaAuPB.png)!~ On a side note, I wanted to talk about the question raised by Haruhi Suzumiya herself, In a world filled with billions of people, how can anyone be considered "special" when every situation and event in your life has probably been experienced by millions of people just like you ? I am sure an answer popped into your mind, I would love to hear it. Anyways, I have thought about it and come up with my own theories >I am but less than a drop in the ocean of people that is the world. Everything I have done is experienced and has already been done by people before me. Nothing is that interesting or unique. Why is that a 'problem'? It's just rather boring and commonplace, Humans by nature seek different and new things all the time. But it can be said that the relationships one forms with various people throughout his or her life always will be unique. Like how in romcom there is always certain events that always happen and stereotypes that occur, yet each of them give off a different vibe and feel >Also, it can be said that even though it is common, some things are just unique and interesting for the person. They are what make life worth living. for eg finding your fav anime etc >Another theory which is inspired from mob psycho is that no one is special and everyone in the world is just a commoner, yes people could have some special talents here and there but they also have to struggle and work hard to get by, just like the rest of the world. If you want to be special, do interesting things and work really hard, you will find your own answer :) >Another one is that you don't need to be special for everyone in the world, as long as someone you care about thinks you are special to them, isn't that enough? img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) #~~~Season 2~~~ img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) #~~~Endless Eight Arc~~~img(https://i.postimg.cc/QNB5CBkL/Line-v4-1.gif) Time to address one of the most controversial arcs in all of anime which has caused roaring debates among anime fans for years.
Despite losing its relevancy a while ago, _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ maintains to be an iconic anime series to this day. It was a staple of the anime fandom in the late 00s–a time when anime was way harder to obtain, the most common way of consuming it being through watching Cartoon Network, watching episodes on a dodgy streaming site, or watching episodes in ten-minute slices on YouTube. Well, in America anyway. Despite all of that, the fact that it was released out-of-order, and some episodes having no context at all at the time, _Haruhi_ was still a hit worldwide. Goes to show you that ‘vibes’ is a huge contributing factor to whether or not an anime is a hit. In order to fill in gaps (and piss off many viewers), Kyoto Animation made a successor to _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)_, named…_The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)_. Only slightly confusing. _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)_ is nearly identical to its predecessor, _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)_. The second season of _Haruhi_ shares the same name as the first season, which is understandable when you find out that all of the 2006 edition of _Haruhi_ is contained within the 2009 edition. The fact of the matter is that this isn’t a ‘second season’ and more of a ‘remake’. The confusing part is that KyoAni includes episodes from the original series un-edited. Hell, the first ‘new’ episode doesn’t come to episode eight–the only reason I could tell that it was from the new season is because it had a different opening and ending. It makes it a nightmare to log on sites such as AniList or MyAnimeList. Like, how am I supposed to categorize an episode that I’ve watched if it gets counted twice? Do I just count it twice? Or only when it’s actually an episode from the 2006 edition? Clearly, KyoAni didn’t have pedants like me in mind when it came to the _Haruhi_ series. For shame. With the 2009 edition containing all of the 2006 edition, it renders watching the first iteration pointless. Not that you’re missing out on much, since the broadcast order in season one was swapped around to make little sense chronologically. The first episode in the season one broadcast order is the twenty-fifth episode chronologically–yes, it’s so far in the future that it requires context from the 2009 edition to make sense. Of course, there are, presumingly, traditionalists that prefer the broadcast order over the chronological order. I personally see no reason to watch _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ in the broadcast order since there’s no payoff. The only reason why the first season was broadcasted in that order was to end on a high note. It serves no purpose beyond that as far as I know. If you want to have the plot make sense, watch in chronological order. img1000(https://64.media.tumblr.com/6f96fbcbc6b26a0a3c2a9e474eb7e82a/bbc02ede92f853eb-35/s640x960/7422c28ef8f3b0179929f6181d153acf32451666.png) ~~~The two ways of watching _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_. Sorry if the image is a bit small, I took it from imgur.~~~ The plot of _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ is pretty simple: Kyon is selected by Haruhi Suzumiya, an energetic, annoying, and eccentric classmate, to be the second member of the SOS Brigade. Haruhi forms this club to research and investigate for proof of the supernatural. In her ideal world, aliens, espers, and time travelers exist. Thankfully for her, they do! It turns out that Haruhi has god-like abilities, and can will all three into existence. Too bad for her that they’re hiding in plain sight, purposely never letting her discover their existence. All three other three members of the SOS Brigade are important in their own right, since they all were gifted powers by Haruhi. The third member, Yuki Nagato, who’s the sole member of the Literature Club, has her clubroom annexed by Haruhi. That’s fine though, since Nagato is actually an alien sent to keep watch of Haruhi. Nagato is essentially silent, only speaking when spoken to or when she really wants to. This makes dealing with her challenging at times, but she is also more useful and less of a headache to deal with than others. She’s by far the most powerful person within the SOS Brigade, besides Haruhi of course. The fourth member, Mikuru Asahina, is ‘forced’ to join the Brigade like Kyon. Asahina, being the prototypical ‘alluring, cute girl’, is a time traveler from the future that’s ALSO here to observe Haruhi. Her inclusion makes coming to the SOS Brigade Clubroom worthwhile for Kyon, and Haruhi often uses her physique to obtain things she wants. Her fragile demeanor lends to her being frightened easily, something Kyon doesn’t mind if it involves her clinging to him. She’s rarely useful beyond following Haruhi’s outlandish demands. The fifth, and last, member is Itsuki Koizumi, who fits the bill of being a ‘mysterious transfer student’. That alone is good enough for him to be invited to join the Brigade. He accepts, because he’s an esper that’s here to, you guessed it, watch over Haruhi. Unlike Nagato and Asahina, Koizumi acts as a yes-man for Haruhi, which gets really on Kyon’s nerves. His insistence on always going along with Haruhi stems from him wanting to keep her happy, since his job as an esper is easier if she’s in a good mood. It doesn’t help that Koizumi is also a type-A ‘gentleman’, making it hard to find fault with him. Kyon is the only ‘normal’ person in the SOS Brigade. Unlike Nagato, Asahina, and Koizumi, he doesn’t have any special powers anointed to him by Haruhi. And unlike Haruhi, he doesn’t have god-like powers. Kyon’s inclusion is mere happenstance–only because he was the one to suggest that Haruhi form her own club instead of trying to find the one perfect for her. For whatever reason, she has picked him to be part of the brigade–and since she has the power to rewrite the world to her will, he has to be included, whether he likes it or not. Haruhi, unaware of her god-like powers, uses them for the silliest of reasons, such as changing the color of pigeons in one area or having specific cherry blossoms bloom out of season. The reason why her power is used for silly reasons is because…well we don’t exactly know why. The theory behind why she has these powers is disputed by the members of the SOS Brigade. Whether she was born with these powers, anointed by god, or given them after performing a ritual is unknown. All we know is that she has them, and that her finding out would only mean bad things. Part of what makes _Haruhi_, or at least this iteration of _Haruhi_, so infamous is the inclusion of the ‘Endless Eight’ arc. For those who don’t know, Endless Eight is an arc where Kyon and friends find themselves stuck in a time loop. This time loop, like most other things that happen in this series, is caused by Haruhi unconsciously. She can stop it at any time, but since she’s unaware of a time loop happening in the first place, she doesn’t. The only reason why Kyon and the rest of the SOS Brigade know about the time loop existing is because of how it interferes with other characters' abilities. What makes the Endless Eight arc interesting is that it isn’t just eight of the ‘same episode’, as some would want to imply. Yes, each episode goes roughly the same plot-wise, but to say they’re ‘the same’ is being dishonest. None of the episodes reuse animation from the other, making each one of them different, even if they’re the ‘same’. It goes without saying that Endless Eight is not made to be binged. It was only bearable because I watched only around two episodes a day. Even though the episodes are animated differently, they follow the same pattern. They do gel into one episode after a while. The fact that Nagato has the memory of all of the past time loops is crazy, but not tragic when you consider that the two weeks that repeat are filled with fun activities. It’s not like Nagato is spending those two weeks at school learning the same thing or in solitary confinement. It does get a bit dull–a point which is driven by the fact that we have to sit through this eight times. We get to feel what she felt, because watching the same episode eight times might as well be the same thing as going through the same two-week period fifteen thousand times. For all intents and purposes, Nagato doesn’t seem to mind. You have to keep in mind that this is the same girl that idled in her apartment until it was time to go to school and meet Haruhi. 600 years is nothing compared to having the entire knowledge of the universe, something that would make a mere mortal like you or I freak out and kill ourselves. I don’t think she really cares either way. If she did, she would do something about it. Endless Eight is the defining _Haruhi_ arc, if not for all the right reasons. It is true that it does start to get old to watch after the fifth or sixth episode. It’s at this point where the episodes start to feel the same, even if they’re technically different due to having new animation and lines. For it to be enjoyable to watch would be defeating the point, but really anything past the third episode until the last episode due to these episodes having no new plot developments past a certain point. I enjoy weird stunts like these, but I can perfectly understand why someone would consider this pointless, if not pretentious. I was very glad to be at the end of the Endless Eight arc, but at the same time, that was the point it was driving home. It's things like this that set _Haruhi_ apart from other anime series. The light novel version of ‘Endless Eight’ is only a short story. It only covers the last instance of the two-week loop. In a way, the story is better that way, since it’s way easier to consume. Not as much when it’s the ninth time you’ve seen it in the last week, but I digress. The difference between animation and light novels though is that it’s easier to justify having eight of the same episode, rather than eight of the same chapters. Both would be controversial, but reading the same thing eight times would actually be torture. KyoAni saw a shot to go crazy with it and took it. Would I have taken it? Probably not, but I respect their decision to. It’s the only time (I know of) an anime doing something like this. That alone makes it interesting. It also makes you miss the other parts of the show–my favorite songs from the OST were missing from Endless Eight, making the arc all the more boring. One could say that was the point, but I heavily doubt that was intended. The reason why I talked so much about Endless Eight is that, as I said in the paragraph above, it’s the defining _Haruhi_ arc. It’s such a long arc that it’s impossible to ignore. Realistically, you could only watch the last episode if you want to keep it similar to the light novel, but let’s be honest: not many people have read the _Haruhi_ light novel, so how would they know that? The only reason it worked is because of how the 2009 edition of _Haruhi_ was adapted; with them being the second through the ninth new episode, but episodes twelve through nineteen in the chronological/airing order. You could skip episodes three through seven of Endless Eight if you wanted. It’s your call. img1000(https://64.media.tumblr.com/27ed270bf556dfe4656f4bef32a05236/bbc02ede92f853eb-08/s640x960/cca0326fb05a3f84ebe07860a480e87712f6eb88.png) ~~~I wanted to include this pic in the intro, but I saw another review on here do the same thing. So that means it's getting posted down here.~~~ Outside of Endless Eight, _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ is slice-of-life at its best. There is a multitude of reasons that make this so: The fact that Haruhi herself isn’t presented as anything other than what she is, an extremely baffling and uncontrollable girl, is satisfying. One thing that always slightly grinds my gears about slice-of-life anime is the insistence on having the ‘most beautiful girl’ in the cast–while Asahina was selected for that role by Haruhi, her skittish behavior makes you feel more sorry for her than anything else. Haruhi also hogs so much of the screen time that it makes whatever effect she wanted Asahina to have rendered moot. This alone makes Haruhi more interesting than your standard slice-of-life, which often takes the easy route out with which tropes it assigns its characters. The storylines in _Haruhi_ are often banal from the surface. From going on vacation to a villa on a private island to filming a movie for a school festival, Haruhi herself is the one that livens these arcs with her latent ability to ‘create data’. This manifests in ways such as nasty weather suddenly popping up to less subtle ways such as a cat speaking in Japanese minutes after Haruhi states her wish for it to. It’s unknown how she’s able to manipulate the world–the only known is that the rate of manipulation increases whenever she has mood swings. When she’s in a bad mood, ‘negative space’ forms. When she’s in a jubilant mood, she can get carried away with what she changes. The main job of the other three members of the SOS Brigade is to make sure that she doesn’t find out about her powers, which is where most of the comedy comes from. Due to all three other SOS Brigade members having different powers, they all belong to different factions. They only get along because all three of them share a mutual interest in keeping Haruhi happy. To Asahina, that means being Haruhi’s plaything. To Koizumi, that means going along with Haruhi no matter what. To Nagato, that means protecting Kyon whenever someone tries to kill him. Kyon is the one person to experience all the different types of supernatural phenomena that Haruhi has spawned into the world. His annoyance at being chosen by Haruhi never gets old. The _Haruhi_ series avoids issues many other shows with time travel as a concept by never taking itself seriously. The fact that there’s more than one way to time travel is a perfect example. If the _Haruhi_ world sounds like it was hastily made up in someone’s head, it’s because it was! Her supernatural creations contradict each other, a product of one girl’s imagination running wild. Above all else, _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_ is fun to watch because Haruhi’s goal every day is to have fun. It’s why a dull trip to a remote island can be interesting. Or how watching a really crappy homemade movie can be fun to watch, knowing that you watched five episodes of the SOS Brigade making said movie. Endless Eight is just a part of it–a part that can be shortened if you’d like. If you wanted to be a weird ‘light-novel purist’ (something that I don’t think exists), you could watch only the last episode. Or you could do what I did and watch them all because it isn’t all that bad if you don't try to binge them in one night…okay maybe it does get a little bit old by episode six. But isn’t that the point? We already had this discussion, but I’d like to add that it’s disappointing that Endless Eight’s inclusion sunk its rating. I mean, it has a lower rating than the 2006 _Haruhi_ adaptation, which is definitely an inferior product. What makes this adaption of _Haruhi_ so good is how it fills in the gaps that the 2006 edition had. And it does it without ret-conning anything and having episodes from 2006 flow with episodes from 2009 without it feeling janky. It speaks to KyoAni’s animation skills. _Haruhi_ is one of the most lively slice-of-life anime out there. And it isn’t an accident knowing how on point KyoAni was at the time. If you’re going to watch _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_, then don’t bother with the 2006 edition. The 2009 edition has much more to offer. Endless Eight does take away from the enjoyment, but there’s nothing stating that you have to watch every episode. I’ll look down upon you, but you can still do it. _Haruhi_ would be required viewing if you had an Anime 101 class. KyoAni did everything well, even the parts that made the show suck on purpose. Funnily enough, finally doing all of Endless Eight gave me a greater appreciation for _Haruhi_. I enjoyed it way more than the first time I watched it, when I only watched the first and last episodes of Endless Eight. Needless to say, it’s a must-watch. Its sequel, _The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya_, is also a must-watch.
Today, I woke up feeling like a hater. That means it is finally time to write my review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009). Because, OH BOY, do I have some mud that I will be slinging. SPOILERS AHEAD! For context, I watched the series in chronological order, as it is ordered on Crunchyroll. I also watched the dub, which will come into play later. ___ #__My Viewing Experience__ __A New Hope__ I started watching this show almost purely because of the title. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. So intriguing. And the first arc didn’t let me down. It was a fascinating character study into a complete wild card who has so much more power than they know. As the episodes moved on, I was shown teases of new plot threads involving aliens, time travelers, and espers (oh my!). These were some entertaining times. How couldn’t they be? It really seemed like things were moving somewhere. Then, everything went wrong. __The Empire Strikes Back__ If you have watched this show, it should be no surprise that Endless Eight is a controversial arc. For those uninitiated (and still reading this review), Endless Eight is an arc set in a time loop. On the surface, it is an interesting concept. An extended time loop arc with no end in sight? I’ll bite. However, it is implemented horribly. The obvious reason is that there is little to no change in the actual events that happen each episode. This is an eight episode long arc in which 5 episodes are completely redundant. Sure, there are slight outfit changes, slight placement changes, slight dialogue changes. It’s a cute idea. However, it is worse than boring. It is like a punishment whipped up by the cruel showrunners. You might be thinking, “Well, it’s a time loop. Of course it’s gonna have the exact same events”. That’s not what Yuki said! She says that sometimes there are events that happen differently. Sometimes it’s a different part time job, sometimes they don’t go to the festival. Yet, we never get a single moment of alleviation from this monotony. Another one of my reasons is that this arc takes away from my favorite part of the show: Haruhi Suzumiya. She is a wonderful character whose spontaneity brings life to every episode. Do you know what kills my enjoyment of that spontaneity? Repeating the same events every single episode. However, I can’t even spend much time talking about her because she is not prominent in this arc. The final reason I hate this arc is one that has truly taken away my enjoyment of the show as a whole. Besides Haruhi, the cast of this show is either mediocre or downright awful. I didn’t realize this before due to secret organization plots and Haruhi blinding me, but this is one of my least favorite ensemble casts in a long time. I think it was the third loop that made me hate Mikuru. I never really liked her, but she was enough of a side character that I didn’t mind too much. But something snapped inside of me when I heard her whining voice on the phone talking to Kyon. Every word she spoke, or rather sobbed, during her explanation in the park met my ears like nails on the chalkboard. Maybe she would be better if I watched subbed, but even her mannerisms have started to grate on me. The next to fall was Koizumi. This took until around episode 5 or 6 of the loop. With my hatred of Mikuru decided upon, I found Koizumi’s smug face and meaningless talk the new draw of my ire. He is less annoying than Mikuru, sure, but he is still a cast member who hurts the show. With 2/5ths of the main cast ruined for me, I finally reached the end of Endless Eight, where I was met with an entirely unsatisfying resolution to the time loop. __Return of the Jedi__ I wish I could say that my experience with this show returned to what it was. However, the harmful effects of Endless Eight lingered. I never got back to enjoying the show like I did at the start. It was alright? I guess? ____ #__The Cast__ A show like this is only as good as its cast. So, I will take some time to break down my thoughts on each main character. The format will be: __Name__ - Quality/Enjoyment of Character - Reasoning - Comparison __Haruhi Suzumiya__ - Great - Not necessarily a great person, but she is interesting and extremely charismatic - img220(https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExeTQ1dTdoNjhvd29uZXg3azRkc2lhd2s4bmQ4bTEwcmpyOWtmb21mcCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/L0ASCLSkRRN6qzOugS/giphy.gif) __Kyon__ - Meh - Just kinda basic. Kind of like a much worse version of Jim from The Office - img220(https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2021-03/5/20/tmp/16114ac08f26/tmp-name-2-6726-1614975945-12_dblbig.jpg) __Yuki Nagato__ - Meh - Pretty alright, but doesn’t do anything to elevate the other members of the cast - img220(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto,g_center,q_60,w_645/nkwx9crcef5eggskuezn.jpg) __Koizumi__ - Bad - He has no chemistry with the other cast members, is annoying, and keeps explaining everything - img220(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2f/79/6f/2f796ff190121aec91895d2ed5d67af8.jpg) __Mikuru Asahina__ - Awful - I hated every single moment of her on screen - youtube(https://youtu.be/-Hq5JEsqMOQ) Besides Haruhi, this cast is not particularly good. I don’t know how they managed to make an alien, esper, and time traveler boring. Oh wait, I know. It’s not doing hardly anything with them. There was a moment near the end of the season where Koizumi and Mikuru hinted that there was some strife between their organizations. This was the last time I had hope for the show. Could we actually see something interesting with the side characters? No, of course not. It just turned out to be nothing. ___ #__Conclusion__ Most everything added to the show in 2009 did nothing but ruin my perception of the original show. Endless Eight is one of the worst arcs of television I have ever seen. That being said, the original show is actually pretty decent. If I was rating the show as a whole, I would give a higher rating. For reference, I would probably give the original show a 70/100. However, I see no reason to watch a lot of the episodes added in 2009. That makes my score of these episodes:
_I REALLY dislike Haruhi_ And it has little to do with the anime's quality itself. At worst this series is just kind of mediocre and goes nowhere. But I could never help but feel like the core of Haruhi is just... terrible. It's a series that feels like it's at a constant battle with itself, a battle it made up, it has no reason to fight and that it's losing. A series that feels incredibly self-defeating, that constantly teases interesting stuff but never builds up on it or forgets it, that ruins any chance it could get at being something better. Let me talk about it For starters I have to say this, I've read some of the Haruhi light novels and I LOVED the first one, for a while it was one of my favorite things ever. Haruhi was this strange and unpredictable characters, all of the supernatural people surrounding her were so full of mystery, it felt like the series had an extremely good idea that any moderately good author could take to the moon and back, just put all these guys in increasingly wilder and wilder situations and you have a great series at hand. The next few LNs were kinda meh and by that time I was starting to get this strange feeling that the reason why I loved Volume 1 was because I completely misinterpreted it, or what Haruhi meant, or what the author wanted to say, so I stopped. I was gonna watch the Haruhi anime with some friends anyways, maybe that would change my mind, but all it did was reaffirm all my worries. And I think the best way I can go about explaining why this anime just constantly made me feel like shit the best I can do is a list . # __A self-defeating show__ What do I mean by "self defeating"? I mean that the show constantly looks for ways to solve problems in the most boring way possible. We can't let Haruhi have too much fun because we don't want her summoning Demonbane, but we also don't want her having too little fun because negative spaces etc. In the end this means that the entire show is about keeping Haruhi at bay, in a perfect balance. This is NOT something easy, this is something only really good authors can make work and make entertaining, and Haruhi's author, from the LNs I read, is not built for this, as such every short story or ever arc ends in the most boring, uninteresting, back to square 1 way possible. Haruhi stressed over baseball? Just hack the baseball, Haruhi's imagination running wild with the movie? Have her say "it's fiction tho". These aren't fun solutions, these are things any character could have pulled off on the first second, there isn't anything fun about a story ending with "And then the bad thing stopped", but it's the only thing this show is willing to do because... . # __Constant blue balling__ Haruhi (series) doesn't want to change, ever, Haruhi wants to constantly stay at the same exact spot with no character arcs or any sort of new stuff or anything and I don't know why. Is it because Haruhi is kinda episodic? Is it because the author just wants to play around with his characters without worrying about a plot?. If it is either of those _(and i'll develop on this on a later point)_ then the author just fucking blows at getting this through. Maybe I'm just viewing it in the worst light possible but I can't blame myself for thinking the author is constantly teasing the audience, blue balling them with a promise of a change, a promise of an interesting arc, a promise of consequence, just to immediately take it away and go "better luck next time!". It feels incredibly cynical and I can only think that this happens because Haruhi grew so successful everyone involved wanted to make it last forever, which would be hard if idk Haruhi started having doubts of her friends, or something changed in the world, or she started having feelings for Kyon or if Asahina revealed her top secret stuff. Hey speaking of Asahina... . # __Flanderizing and ruining your own characters__ Haruhi in the first light novel is an extremely interesting character, she feels like if you made her choose between thing A and thing B she's find a way to call both of them boring and choose thing 鍵. Her everchanging hairstyle to differentiate the days, her dropping in and out of clubs and relationships to try out everything, that monologue about wanting to find something special in this world. It's genuinely beautiful_ (And something I really, really liked)_... And it lasts one volume, because for the rest of the story Haruhi gets boiled down to a just pushy and demanding girl, nothing more nothing less, all those strange behaviors and complexities of Vol1 are lost forever. The other characters don't get ruined as hard but they aren't likeable either Asahina is just whiny and constantly teases "top secret" info which, let's be honest, we'll never know what the fuck it is Nagato just exists there, she doesn't talk much, and the few times she does something instead of a funny joke it falls flat and makes you wonder what was even the point Koizumi is the most redeemable one, he's just charming But the real problem is Kyon and his constant, predictable, repeated monologues. "There's Asahina, her boobs are awesome" "Koizumi talks to me and I hate his face" "Nagato is just sitting there" (haruhi says X thing) "Ugh not X thing (he'll do it anyways)". Kyon has exactly 1 opinion on anybody at any time and, due to the constant blue balling, won't ever move past that. And I want to develop more on Haruhi... . # __Haruhi did nothing wrong...__ ...Which is why the author did everything in his power to make sure Haruhi went from interesting character in desperate need for something fun to pushy bitch in every following story And this might be my main reason for my hatred for Haruhi and also the most personal and subjective one. But I also struggled a lot with finding somewhere I belong, some place fun, something unlike anything else, something to hold onto and give me joy. Growing up, trying to beat that alienation was a huge struggle of mine and seeing Haruhi explain exactly what I felt nearly brought me to tears, this character was me, she's struggling with what I'm struggling, and I hope to God she finds what she's looking for... Which if you remember what I wrong so far, the exact opposite happens. I can't help but feel personally insulted when Haruhi becomes the antagonist, I can't help but feel like the author is a gigantic hack when he simplified Haruhi so much in future stories, it's a direct slap to the face to see the character that names the series, the character whose pain reminded me so much of myself, constantly get written as this overlypushy brat instead of the person in pursuit of happiness. It feels like Haruhi's core message is "Being special is bad and you should feel bad for it, mediocrity is the way to go". And that brings me to my last point . # __You suck at getting your message across__ Let's just say for a second that I misinterpreted Haruhi, let's just say the author actually wanted to say something like "there's fun in mundanity too", which is a perfectly sensible statement. Well, I'm not someone who lies to himself in order to consider something I found pretty whatever "peak", I can only have the opinions I can have, I can only write out of my heart and I won't lie to it, what you see is exactly what I feel With this in mind, even IF the author or the anime just didn't get across the message right, that doesn't change the fact of, well, everything I wrote so far. Even if I could gaze directly at the author's heart that won't change how I feel about the boring balancing of Haruhi's boredom, or the stagnation of all characters, or the one-dimensional and repetitiveness or their personalities. Haruhi, to me, is either incredible terrible at getting its own message across, a show with a message I absolutely despise, or a cynical piece of shit that had a good idea at the start but when popularity struck the author completely gave up any dignity and started writing whatever the fuck to pay rent And about Endless Eight? I think 5 episodes of the fucking movie arc is way more insufferable. At least Endless 8 had a gimmick to it, Sigh of Haruhi is boring as shit and ends boring as shit __In Conclusion,__ I don't like Haruhi whatsoever, whatever the truth might be about this monument of early 2000s otaku culture I couldn't care less, watching it felt like a personal insult to one of my teenage years' biggest struggles and nothing will change that Apparently the movie (which I'll watch in like, 2 weeks from writing this review) fixes ALL my issues with this anime, and I'm open to have my mouth shut, but we'll see For now, thanks for reading. I didn't proofread shit. Fuck you. Goodbye
Note: I watched this in chronological order. I'm sure I missed any possible nuance by not going by the original Japanese broadcast order, or the DVD releases, or whatnot, so do keep that in mind. In my defense, this was also how I watched all of The Clone Wars (minus the movie, but whatever) and it was great. _It is in fact, possible, my children_... Take a drink every time I say "Haruhi." So: I watched all 28 episodes of Haruhi Suzumiya, an apparently hugely-remembered anime from the 2000s. And it waaaaaassssss........a novel experience to say the least. Ultimately, the harshest thing I can say about it is Haruhi herself, but we'll get to that later. For the most part: ehhh, I didn't love it, at least after watching the 2nd half or so, but I can still appreciate it. To kick it off, I must say, I quickly became a huge fan of Kyon. Throughout it all, he's the single most consistently enjoyable and relatable character during all of the SOS Brigade's antics. The undisputed anchor; the show would be nothing without him, frankly. Sardonic characters also tend to be easy wins for me. There's also a very "nonchalant" attitude towards everything that happens. The stability of the entire world rests in the hands of a smug, pushy, high-and-mighty high school girl, who is and must stay completely oblivious to it. And no matter how much she makes your eye twitch: you simply can't do anything about it. It's for the greater good. You could say that's Kyon's struggle throughout it all, as he's now a key player of a mission involving an alien kuudere, a time-traveling doormat moe girl, and a borderline creepily chilled out ESPer to keep Haruhi happy and stimulated at all costs. Which makes the scene in the Sigh arc where Kyon's patience runs out hit all the more harder, at least for me. All of this submission, taking all of her crap, just to keep her happy no matter who gets hurt? It's a joke of a deal, and Kyon fully knows it. __SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT:__ Going off the opening 6-parter arc, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I touched on while logging this show, one thing I really appreciated was how every high-concept plot beat was delivered in a way that still keeps you invested and on the same page. I wasn't confused so much as I needed to pause or rewind to quickly get myself up to speed again. I quickly fell for Kyon, got the gist of Haruhi wanting to create a club that's apparently supposed to find and explore the supernatural (when really, as the show goes on, becomes blatantly obvious is just her excuse to have a friend group she can always fall back on), and these three colorful supporting characters who'll stick around to secretly make sure her unknown powers don't break the fabric of space and time. With Part 6 especially being a more than enough glimpse into Haruhi's feelings becoming destructive. And by extension, the show tackles escapism with Kyon having to convince her to snap back to reality, which he hastily does by kissing her. Ep. 7-9 continue the setups surrounding Haruhi's powers, as well as properly introduce us to Mikuru's time travel nature, and while the Remote Island two-parter was gripping, it kinda fell apart by the end. The final resolution essentially boils down to "it was a prank all along, except it depended on Haruhi's emotions to rewrite the world into that," and it came by a bit too quickly for me to care by the end. As for the infamous Endless Eight arc, you might be surprised to find out I did like it. Now: did it _need_ to be 8 episodes long? Hell no. You could've gotten the point across perfectly fine in only 5 (6 if I'm feeling extra nice). Yes it feels monotonous and like a chore to grind through, and yes, you desperately hold out hope for something notably different to happen as the episodes wind down. But frankly, you kind of find some fun in seeing all the slight variations between the episodes, and in memorizing all the key lines and plot beats. It's an arc you can clearly tell was an unconventional, experimental move by the creators to see how far they can push this idea. If Yuki has to sit through this crap for she knows how much, you're gonna get a taste of it. And even by the end, you'll feel a little bad for her knowing she's lived the script thousands of times and has to simply play it out as her objective. And funnily enough, without a sense of irony, I'd say they succeeded in really (dare I say) making you _feel_ like this goes on for millennia. In the most charitable and poetic takeaway I can give: "You sit through all of that. You start to memorize it, internalize it, live through it only to forget it all for God knows how many times. You never go anywhere and you don't realize it enough to change in time. And after everything: it finally ends. And....despite the liberating feeling of breaking the cycle, once the next day finally arrives, it still feels as mundane and ordinary as any other day. And all that's left is that question of what you'd do if you had to now live this new day over and over again. To which the show essentially replies with: 'be sure to not forget.'" The Sigh arc were the final episodes to be aired, and after sitting through "Someday in the Rain," I can definitely see why it would have a longer-lasting punch as a finale where Kyon sits down and tries & fails to convince Haruhi about Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuka. Compared to "Someday" which was a more toned-down episode that continues the monotony I can respect the series for tapping into, even if it gets inevitably boring. Though that little scene of Kyon finally taking a peaceful nap after those long walks hit close to home, as he finally finds some precious peace and quiet. Though after that digression, isn't boredom supposed to be one of its themes? Haruhi is notorious for her electric, up-and-attem energy, and her biggest enemy, canonically, is boredom. It doesn't matter what it is, so long as it keeps her deeply interested, she's sold. Of course, it's in the Sigh arc where Kyon's pent up frustration towards her is at an all time high after she has Mikuru's drink spiked, and can't help but lash out, though Itsuki intervenes. This scene remains a standout moment for me, and as mentioned before, a part of me now wishes this was the last arc I watched, as I feel it sets up whatever _Disappearance_ is going to do, much better. The final few episodes bring the series to its slightly dour, chronological end. Though not without Yuki shredding on an SG, and Haruhi fronting a band that you hate to admit gave a pretty damn good performance. And that episode ends with another introspective look at Haruhi: she rarely gets any real praise from others (presumably because of her reputation), and once she deservedly gets some, she doesn't know what to do with it. But as soon as Kyon manages to dig deeper into her, as if on cue, she reverts to her signature attitude again. Between this and her baseball story, it's definitely needed to ensure the audience sticks around and sees how her character ends up. Because frankly, she's probably the first anime character I can confidently say I felt like wanting to punch in the face half the time. Bossy, smug, rude, and an overall nuisance to be around, any other parts of the show I feel risk drowning due to me remembering her stupid face. Don't let her cuteness fool you for a second. Yet, on the flipside, I still can't say she's a complete lost cause as far as likability (or I guess, tolerability). What few moments we get humanizing her give her depth beyond the mean girl persona. And again, both her and Kyon drive the show, and they serve as great foils to each other. She's there to bring him up, he's there to keep her down when needed. And giving the show credit, I'll forever be grateful it's at least clearly aware that Haruhi isn't supposed to be a saint. Overall, I didn't love The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. For as high-concept and well-defined as its characters are, I felt like it was missing something to make it feel like a more "emboldening" experience, which is why I'm placing my bets on Disappearance for that. I'm not one to say endings are necessarily paramount in a story, but what that DOES mean is I had to have found something worthwhile I can always turn to during those beginnings and middles for me to be forgiving towards an ending, no matter how good or bad it is. Because otherwise the ending has to actually be good and/or impactful for me to change my outlook on what came before, which does happen (not an anime, and forgive this odd example, but that's how I feel towards that Adam Sandler movie "Click." First two thirds are typical Sandler comedy schlock everyone pokes fun at, but the 3rd Act is considerably better executed, to where I can confidently say it saves, or at least salvages the whole movie). It has really good setups, pretty novelly executed ideas, and you can tell the writers know what they're doing, but I guess Haruhi was simply too much of a brat for me to handle personally. And it doesn't feel like there's a ton of plot progression for me to be super excited for the next episode. I kinda wish it did more supernatural stuff, even if keeping it mostly down-to-earth is a creative choice I respect and can appreciate. Otherwise, I definitely jived with Yuki's cold nature (even if she's basically a far less interesting Rei Ayanami), and I like Itsuki's Kaworu Nagisa ass demeanor. Mikuru's precious, but like Haruhi, her characterization can be a bit too much to handle (she's a textbook doormat). And for one last time: all praise the almighty Kyon. Any sense of high praise circles back to him. I'm glad I watched it, but I doubt I'll revisit it. Not a bad show by any means, but masterpiece material? I'm sorry. In conclusion: _Disappearance_ better be as masterful as y'all keep sayin' it is. I'm gonna hold you to that. Future Mikuru better show up. Suzumiya makes me miss Fujioka. P.S.-I didn't watch the Mikuru Movie episode first. Though personally, I don't think it would've changed much. Certainly charming though (Yuki "yelling" curses was probably the funniest scene in the whole show). [no song of the day today]__
These are my thoughts on the 28 episode anime not including the movie, as I have not seen the disappearance as of writing this review. Haruhi is a series that feels like another early adaptation by kyoani, who are to their credit putting alot into it, that feels unfocused and without an identity largely due to the source material. What I mean in one sense is that you can clearly feel that this is a light novel adaptation by the way the plot progresses, and it overall feels like a story I would rather read about than watch. Additionally, I feel like the entire show is about Haruhi's insanse abilities and those of the people around her when this is only expanded upon in a satisfying way in like a few moments. One highlight for me that I could tell many other people latched onto was the episode where they battle the computer club in that space war game. It's a really fun little episode that plays up the drama of the situation with stunning visuals and gives even just a little life to Yuki who I feel like is never really fleshed out. While I like Haruhi as a character for the most part, I can't say the same about most of the other characters and there were some problematic moments. I just can't imagine that Haruhi would deliberately drug Mikuru, her alleged friend, for her own pointless movie. Maybe its that I _can_ imagine it but I'd rather not. Yuki is nice and I like her but ultimately she's just a blank expression set piece, Koizumi ended up coming off as smug oftentimes, kyon was almost likeable but just a little too gross here and there, and Mikuru was just hopeless. Don't get me wrong, there were great moments involving these characters here and there and I don't hate them or anything but I just feel like they never completely gel as a group for me. For a mostly slice of life setting with some science fiction and psychological elements, I need a cast of characters that I enjoy spending time with and I just don't fully get that here. There were certainly some highlights, and when kyoani puts their characteristic flare on things it really elevates the material. The entire episode showing the movie they made with the grainy filter and shitty camera work and acting was honestly a treat and really funny. I loved when Haruhi got on stage and just started shredding with Yuki at the school festival, but I do have a soft spot for guitar girls. Even the last episode; I actually thought it was cool how it just showed Yuki sitting in the room reading for like at least 3 minutes. It really immersed me in the scene and felt like a moment from my life that I could relate to. Ultimately, the show feels like a slice of life that decides to focus on the plot at the expense of character scenarios which I don't like. As an avid slice of life enjoyer, I have nothing against the genre but I feel like you need to establish a foundational cast of interesting characters that play off of each other in interesting or humorous ways. This is because in slice of life, you often don't have battles or dynamic setting and world due to it being a slice of life in (usually) our world. I feel like haruhi just barely doesn't have it for me. I can only watch Haruhi strip Mikuru and laugh maniacally to Mikuru's dismay so many times until it just feels cheap. Just realized I haven't mentioned endless 8. Surprisingly these episodes weren't even a huge drawback for me. I thought it was interesting to see how the setups changed through the episodes. That being said, I absolutely understand the criticism and think the same effect could have been achieved in half the time; 4 episodes MAX. It absolutely dragged on after 8 episodes of the same shit and no one should be put through that weekly. Which reminds me of something else. I watched the series in chronological order, not airing order. Diehard fans might say that this could have taken enjoyment out of solving the mystery, but I think it's just another example of this show being a product of its time and hard to fully appreciate in the modern day. It feels like something that you had to "be there" for when it was airing. undeniably, Haruhi remains an icon of the medium and I don't deny that. But I feel there is something essential lacking and can't fully recommend it to someone looking for a cute slice of life or a trippy psychological. There are better examples of both in there own and even better shows that combine these two ideas better. I'd recommend rascal for people who want something like this.