This was a series I'd been looking forward to seeing for years, and I didn't finally manage to watch it until very early this year (very early as in January/February/something like that) at which point...well, I revelled in watching it if only because I'd been waiting so long. I've watched both seasons, but I'm going to stick with the first one here.
The Basics
Episodes: 14Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Parody, School, Sci-Fi, Slice of LifeAired: April 3, 2006 to July 3, 2006Directed by: Tatsuya IshiharaProducers: Kyoto Animation, LantisOpening Theme: Bouken Desho Desho ? by Aya HiranoClosing Theme: Hare Hare Yukai by Aya Hirano
The Review
The Story: When Kyon enters high school, he begins talking to one Haruhi Suzumiya and before he knows it he is entangled in all of her craziness. Haruhi is interested in only one thing: the supernatural, as she makes abundantly clear on their first day when she says that if you aren't an alien, time traveller or esper, she isn't interested in talking to you. She wants to find a club for these things, but it turns out (how shocking) that there isn't one.
So she takes the obvious Haruhi action (which Kyon accidentally gave her the idea for) and makes one of her own.
She commandeers the book club's room, and even commandeers some members. Kyon is forced to join, as is Yuki Nagato (the one member of the actual book club), Mikuru Asahina (for the sexy/cute mascot quality) and Itsuki Koizumi, the “mysterious transfer student”. Not that Itsuki ever complains. She calls her club the S.O.S. Brigade, and their purpose is to seek out the supernatural. The series revolves around their (read: Haruhi's) exploits.
The Characters: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is interesting in that, as the title character, Haruhi is indeed the main character, but she isn't the viewpoint character—Kyon is. He's not only the most normal person in the series, but also the one who seriously will not put up with Haruhi's crap, and when he feels she's taken something too far, he makes that perfectly clear to her (not that she ever really gets it).
One of the things which adds to the funny of the series is that although Haruhi is on the lookout for the supernatural, she never realises she's surrounded by it. Yuki is an alien, while Mikuru is from the future and Itsuki is an esper. All three of them are there to watch Haruhi herself. What sets them apart, however, is their personalities. Yuki is a quiet bookworm (her first time at a library is a sight to behold), Mikuru is shy and cries a lot, and Itsuki...Itsuki is just ever-smiling.
They're great, especially under direction from Haruhi, who expects a lot more than they're capable of.
The Episode Order: There are two ways to watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. One, you can watch it in the basic series order, from episode one to fourteen, but that's definitely the less fun way. When the series first aired, they showed the episodes out of order. Episode eleven aired first, followed by episode one, and it kept up with randomness from there. There was even two-parter by the name of Remote Island Syndrome which was separated when it aired. Watching it in that order is so much more fun, and for me, it expresses what the anime is really about.
Haruhi lives for excitement and the unusual—and as such, watching it in the crazy order really suggests Haruhi's personality. It's such an improvement that way.
Conclusion?: This series consists of mostly win and nothing more. The characters are highly entertaining, the events are amusing, and it's always great for a laugh. In fact the humour is its strongest aspect, in my opinion. Granted, there were some moments that didn't lead to laughter (which led to quite the opposite, actually) but the ones which were funny were hilarious. And occasionally inappropriate. Still, for an upbeat happy-time series, Haruhi is the right anime to watch, I guarantee it.
My rating: 8/10. I dunno. It isn't one of my favourites. Yes, it's awesome, but it kept me feeling like there was something missing. Even watching the second season didn't help with the missing feeling, so I can't give Haruhi any higher than an 8, no matter how much I love Itsuki.
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