Review of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Assuming you watched the 2 seasons of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya before this, its pretty obvious that his movie does an amazing job of connecting both seasons and providing us with so pretty decent character development. I was really happy to see this movie from Kyon's genuine perspective, as he makes his own decisions instead of being bossed around by Haruhi. This movie does a great job of letting Kyon develop as an individual, rather than Haruhi's personal servant ( as we saw in s1 and 2 ) We also have a lot of focus on Yuki, and I absolutely loved to see her in adifferent light other just the shy, quiet girl. Her development from a disconnected, but observant, character into someone who had such genuine feelings was amazing. I loved her character since s1 because it was obvious that there was more than what was at the surface, and in this movie, we got to see what exactly was beneath the surface.

That being said we also get a lot of focus on Mikuru, who we see in a more mature and independent state. Again, since she's not running around playing dress-up for Haruhi, it lets us see her as an individual rather than Haruhi's doll. We do see quite a bit of mature Mikuru, which served well for her development along as a refreshing sight for the viewer.

Koizumi is probably the character with the least development in the movie, though he does have a few moments that confirm my suspicions about the way he genuinely feels. He's there to provide insight and advice and serves to be a transparent and straightforward character, which we can all appreciate.

And lastly, we're on to Haruhi. Obviously we don't see too much of her ( because, you know, she disappeared ) but we do see a less intense and aggressive side to her. I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Haruhi because of her very self-centered and individualistic personality, but this movie did a good job of making me warm up to her. Although she is completely arrogant and close-minded at times, she does genuinely care about the Brigade members when it comes down to it, which makes me like her a LOT more than I did in s1 and 2.

- SPOILERS AHEAD IN TERMS OF RELATIONSHIPS -

I'll start off by saying I always thought Koizumi liked Haruhi ever since he was introduced into the show. They've had some scenes, or rather Koizumi had some scenes, that hinted at his feelings and care for Haruhi. They're not very dominant in the show, since everything moves a bit fast and Kyon's monologue switches topics very quickly, but it is noticeable if you look for it.

I honestly hope that Koizumi and Haruhi can be together somehow because they do look good together in the movie, although this probably won't happen because of the way Haruhi sees Koizumi as just a friend.

Now the movie mayyyyyyyy have also confirmed Mikuru's feelings for Kyon, which is seen when mature Mikuru and Kyon are talking in the park. Kyon doesn't hear what she says, but by the way, she was acting and the scene itself, I'm almost positive it was some sort of confession.

And lastly, we have Yuki. I absolutely love her and I'm so happy that she was able to act for herself, even if it was selfish of her. She wanted everything to be normal, a world where the Brigade members weren't running around at Haruhi's beck and call in order to save the world from destruction. And she created a world with a powerless Haruhi, where she would be able to live as just herself. Kyon realizes that Yuki is starting to develop emotions, and feelings, for herself, and even though I don't think these feelings are necessarily directed at Kyon, there's a high possibility that Yuki is or has been developing a crush on him.

I personally like Kyon with either Mikuru or Yuki, but this might be because I'm biased against Haruhi's personality a bit. Haruhi definitely cares for Kyon, and might even have a crush on him, but there's no way in telling that she actually likes Kyon for Kyon, or she likes him because he's always submissive towards her demands or even because he's "different" enough to entertain her / keep her attention.

- END OF SPOILERS -

If you watched the original series though, this movie will NOT disappoint you. Unlike a lot of other animes where the sequel movies provide little substance and character development, this movie ties up loose ends and lets us see the characters we want in the way we wanted. It's almost as if all the criticism we had for s1 and 2 was actually listened to and acted on in this movie. Feels nice right? If only all animes can be like this.

Overall a fantastic movie, they even stepped up the animation a bit in important scenes, and I was ECSTATIC to hear the first season's OP at the beginning of the movie. Definitely worth the watch.