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Please note that in opposition to my usual reviewing style, this entire review does contain spoilers.
Plot
On the first day of high school a beautiful girl named Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself as having “no interest in ordinary humans”. She asks for any aliens, time travelers, or espers to join her. Watching her weird behavior is Kyon who sits in front of Haruhi and is the only person who talks to her. Because of Kyon, Haruhi gets an idea to start her own club. Forcing Kyon, Nagato, Kouzomi, and Mikuru, to join her club. But everything is not as it seems as strange things start happening around Haruhi. Nagato reveals herself to be an alien, Kouzumi a esper, and Mikuru a time traveler from the future, all assigned to look after Haruhi and observe her for their own reasons. Nagato because she believes Haruhi has the potential for auto evolution, Mikuru because she thinks Haruhi is the cause of a massive time distortion, and Kouizumi because he believes Haruhi is basically God.
Apparently God wears a bunny suit. I AM NOT WORTHY!
[Review Begins Here]
For the first 6 episodes The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya appears to be really promising tackling issues of Religion, God, Evolution, and what is unknown to us humans. And for the first 6 episodes it does a fantastic job of both exploring the philosophy of these topics, as well as drawing you in, with its interesting characters and dynamic subject matter. “O.K. Kyoto Animation, (I say after watching episode 6) you have a fantastic show with really good characters, and interesting subject mater”.
“What’s episode 7 going to be about? What? Baseball? O.K. it’s normal to have filler after a big plot arch.”
W”hats episode 8 about? Finding a guy who’s gone missing… 9? A beach episode?”
“10? A continuation of the beach episode?”
“11? School Festival?”
“12? Playing a Video Game?”
“O.K. Kyoto you have an insanely popular series on your hands, how are you going to close off your anime that had its first half devoted to exploring philosophical concepts? An episode about a guy going to buy a heater… does the heater have any underlying philosophical meaning? No? It’s just because the guys are cold? And nothing else happens in this episode? O….K….”
“So Kyoto, the popularity of the first 6 episodes was enough to warrant a second season. What’s going to happen in that? 9 episodes that are literally exactly the same, except in one of them Kyon will be wearing a different hat.”
I honestly can’t tell you how much better this series would have been as just a 6 episode short with the same amount of production budget with better animation, better character designs, and more impressive CGI. I can’t help but be reminded of Star Wars here. First half was good, and the second half was made purely for money and was terrible; except this scenario would only work if the second half was stretched out into 20, 30 minute episodes and a 3 hour movie.
For the most part the animation for this show is fairly average, having no definitive style or character design. But when the animation is let out of the chains of high school drama anime, and moves into the strange and weird stuff like Nagato’s battle with Asakura, or the space ship battle episode it will look very, very nice. And ya, there’s an episode where everyone battles in spaceships. Perhaps the earlier Star Wars comparison does hold some weight after all.
Excuse me, why does God need with a Starship?
The Op has some very nice animation in it, and a devilishly catchy song to go with it. My two favorite scenes in the Op where when Haruhi runs through what is presumably her mind, and when the camera does a close up on Haruhi’s eye to revel galaxy’s inside, as both are very impressive visually.
Now I don’t usually mention the Ed because most of the time the animation studio assigns about as much importance and animation quality to it, as they do to random civilian #257 walking down the street. But such is not the case with Haruhi Suzumiya. And to review Haruhi without mentioning the Hare Hare Yuki is a crime in 23 states and Cuba. But the thing about the Hare Hare Yuki is that it’s just O.K. It’s a catchy song with some nice visuals that I’m sure were very hard to animate, but still don’t think it’s near as good as the Op, and the Op isn’t all that fantastic to begin with: not even beginning to compare to Stein;Gates’ or Gosicks’. My point is that I don’t see why fans of the show seem to like the Ed more than the Op. It just makes no sense to me, when the best thing about a song is that it inspired the only genuinely funny and interesting scene in another show.
As for Haruhi and Kyon, both are very interesting characters that play of each other fantastically, with Kyon being the straight man to Haruhi’s madness. The English dub is really good, as is the Japanese sub, and it really doesn’t matter which one you watch. As to which one I recommend however, I would say the English dub. But my biggest problem with the show are the side characters, Nagato, Kouizumi, and Mikuru. Each one of these characters has about one personality trait, and almost no other personality outside of that. Nagato is the shy book type, like Shiori from The World God Only Knows, Mikuru is the moe blob just there to provide fanservice, and Kouizumi is the guy who stands in the background going along with whatever weird thing is going on, and all the while smiling like what Miketsukami from Inu X Boku SS must have been like in his high school years. These characters are O.K. enough I suppose, but with 3/5 main characters having as much personality as a brick wall, it falls on Kyon and Haruhi to carry the show.
But as I feel I must, I want to once again mention the first 6 episodes and remind you just how amazing I thought they were. If your happy with a fantastic plot and story and some filler afterwards then this show is for you, but if you’re hurting for money to an extent where you can only buy one or two DVD’s and want full value and enjoyment for your money, I can think of seven or so anime off the top of my head I would rather buy for the same price. But overall I don’t think The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya lives up to all the hype that surrounds it. Remember, you can email in recommend anime for future reviews, by mailing your suggestion to webmaster@ultimateotaku.com.
If You Want To Buy The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya You Can Do So From Amazon.com
First off, you have very good points about the characters’ personality. Come to think of it, you really don’t get to see flexibility in those extraordinary three’s personalities (but only in the first season and the first few novels). I assure you, if KyoAni ever decides to animate the later novels post-Disappearance, you’ll see considerable character development (or at least, more back stories and spotlight moments).
Have you read the novels? ‘Cause things would be easier to understand if you see it in a bigger picture than Melancholy (which was merely the take off platform) and the rest of the animated episodes so far. The animated episodes actually only tackle so few of the main plot. That is why they all felt like filler. Boredom, Mysterique Sign, Remote Island, Day of Saggitarius, Live Alive, Someday in the Rain, Sighs, Endless Eight… They all contribute very little to the overarching plot started by Melancholy.
So you can’t really blame KyoAni for putting up a lot of “fillers”, because 1.) there was a lack of source material because the novels were still ongoing and 2.) those stories that really carried the main plot were too short to make a whole season. Take the Melancholy episodes for example.
And this is what really struck me in your review. Why do you say the movie Disappearance was just filler? I believe many would agree that it was more plot intense than Melancholy. It has one of the strongest plots in the series, affecting and foreshadowing all novels that succeed it. I agree, Season 2 was somewhat a disappointment, but I believe KyoAni’s movie rendition of Disappearance, with its great animation, design, and soundtrack, was enough to make us forgive and forget the bad things about Season 2.
I think you’re overrating Melancholy too much. Yes, it did set expectations at a mark, but think of it this way, Melancholy was only the introduction. Disappearance is the rising action/conflict. I guess you’re looking for philosophical stuff like those in Melancholy but the reason why it’s lacking is because of the almost total absence of Koizumi and his intelligent blabbering in Disappearance.
Let me be clear, before I get on your nerves. I respect that you appreciate Melancholy more than Disappearance, but I can’t just keep my mouth shut and allow you to call Disappearance a “filler”. Haha. Because that is really… I don’t know… beyond the bounds of my reason to ponder why you do :p
Ok this is getting long… Looking back this review was mostly about the 2006 episodes (Season 1). I would love to see your review on Endless Eight. I expected at least Sighs to live up to the awesomeness of Melancholy, but it didn’t. And it was mostly because Sighs was, in my opinion, the worst of the novels – and partly because Nagaru Tanigawa himself wrote the script. (I’d say leave novelists to their novels, and scriptwriters to their scripts). Oh, and did you know? The reason why the episode Someday In the Rain felt… different… was because Tanigawa wrote the script for that one too, upon request from KyoAni for an episode not found in the novels.
Forgive me if I’ve based most of my comments on the novels. It does seem a bit out-of-place and aside from the point because you’re reviewing the ANIME. Maybe it’s because the plot issues of the anime could be answered by reading the novels. I understand that this review is intended for those who want to watch the anime and not necessarily read the novel, but I guess a little background information could be helpful, if not at all.
Glad to have read this. I’ll take the SOS Brigade’s picture now (because Google Images brought me here and not your “the BEST” tactic :p) Peace out.
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Well I read your comment a couple of times, (also don’t worry about the length, like I said I love long comments and constructive criticism. If I didn’t I would have made a website designed around giving out constructive criticism.) and the thing that strikes me about it is that you seem to be focusing on one sentence in the review. “First half was good, and the second half was made purely for money and was terrible; except this scenario would only work if the second half was stretched out into 20, 30 minute episodes and a 3 hour movie.”
Well I will admit firstly that while I did re-watch the first season before writing the review, I didn’t re-watch season 2 or the movie. I think I saw the movie about a year ago, and I didn’t really remember any significant plot movement or character development that didn’t reset at the very end, except for Kyon is slightly more accepting of Haruhi and her Brigade. But because I didn’t want to re-watch the movie, I made it a point to try and avoid talking about it, and I believe I only mention it in the one in sentence. I don’t remember it being terrible, and if it had been I wouldn’t have watched all 3 hours of it.
When making this I wanted to avoid mentioning the movie at all, but I did in the one sentence, because I thought it made the joke work a little better.
And if as you say, the story really does pick up in the novels, I might pick up a copy if I have some spare change knocking around next time I visit Barns and Noble. But yes, thanks for the comment, and hope you might be tempted to revisit my website at some point in the future.
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I checked out this review merely due to the cockiness of claiming to be the “best” out of all the other Haruhi reviews. How an opinion can be the “best”, I don’t know.
Anyways, I read the review and first, I’ll say that I agree with many of your points. However, I think your missing the main point here. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has broadcasted for 6 years now, but I assume you are watching it for the first time, considering how a large chunk of your review focuses on comparisons with very recent anime like Gosick or Steins;Gate for some reason (I think Inu x Boku might even be still airing). I know it’s your opinion, but keep its age in mind whenever you mention stuff like “could be better animated”. 6 years may seem like a short time, but honestly, just take a look at Detective Conan or Naruto and see how much the animation improves over time.
That aside, let me be blunt: you watched the entire series wrong. You aren’t the only person that found the first six episodes to be incredible and the following episodes to be just fillers without a purpose. In fact, Kyoto Animation themselves realized that as well. The way Haruhi originally aired and should be properly be watched is an out-of-order method, where the later sidestories are sandwiched between the first six episodes, with the climactic episode six actually actually the last episode. This may sound bizarre, but trust me, Kyoto Animation is not as stupid as you think.
Now, your next question might be “why would they do that?” When Kyoto Animation chose to adapt the series from the original light novels, they encountered a problem: the books aren’t finished, they have no cohesive plot and much of the books were simply short stories. There’s actually not of a main plot in the entire Haruhi franchise other than “keeping Haruhi happy”. That’s the reason why Kyoto Animation chose to adapt the first book, since it is the most conclusive, and mix some of the short stories from later books as well.
Also, about the ending. While I also prefer the opening to the ending, it don’t get why it’s so difficult to ending suddenly took off. How many anime endings before Haruhi include a well choreographed dance, upbeat music filled with moe characters? The dancing gave fans a new medium to express their love for the series beyond just lip-syncing to the opening.
Anyways, I’d suggest you check out the 2009 Haruhi version (skip Endless Eight), along with the Disappearance film. I respect your opinions, but overall, I don’t think this review lived up to this hype as the “best review” of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, as the article name so claims. I honestly suggest trying to do a little bit of research next time you watch an anime and write a review about it, since I’m sure some stuff like Haruhi’s unconventional order should be pretty common knowledge.
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Well first off thank you for the comment. It’s very rare I get one of such length, so please allow me to address the things you have brought up.
Firstly, I am under no delusion that my review is the “best” review. It is indeed as you said that no one opinion can be better than another. Calling it the “best” review is simply a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tactic I employ. If you Google search a review of something and amongst the “Anime Review…”‘s and “Review Off…”‘s you see “The BEST review Off…” you are more likely to click on it, are you not? In a sea of messages in bottles you might have to give your message in a bottle a golden cap for it to stand out amongst the rest, am I right? You even said you clicked on the link specifically for that reason, so it worked I suppose.
And while yes, it may be unfair to compare a 6-year-old anime to recent ones, this review is intended for people who have not watched it yet. Hence, the people of 2012. If I were to review, say Sailor Moon. I would call the animation dated with no uncertain words, because I’m comparing it to the standards of today, for people who want to watch it today.
Also I am aware of Kyoto’s airing dates, as I was before writing this review. However I watched this series from the official DVD release. If Kyoto truly wanted this series to be watched out-of-order, they would have forced Bandi (the American licensor) to include it as such. Also the official DVD’s released in Japan also have them in numerical order, so I think you can hardly call this the “wrong order” to watch them in. Furthermore, I am an anime critic so I review an anime by watching episodes 1-12 or 1-24 of what have you. If I were a book critic I would not first read chapter 6, then 4, then 10, then 1, in the hope of having a more pleasurable experience.
Also please allow me to pick on your choice of words when you said “The dancing gave fans a new medium to express their love for the series beyond just lip-syncing to the opening.”. A new medium? I’m sorry but dancing, even in anime, is not a new medium by any means.
Also I did watch the second season, and the film. I even referenced it in my review when I “talk” to Kyoko. The second season and film are again, undiluted filler. None of it goes remotely close to exploring the same concepts of the first 6 episodes, besides using them as a framing device.
Thank you for your time.
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Thanks for the review it was good also ever hear of Otakuism? Otakuism is the religion of those who devote their lives to following anime. It is a time-honored, renowned religion with lots of history, values, and perversion. It has not the conviction or honor of any other religion, but by Haruhi, we’ve got BUNNYGIRLS! And Hentai on Sundays – aw, heck, WHENEVER YOU WANT IT!
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