Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)
I can't believe I managed to watch all of the Endless Eight episodes. That god-forsaken aboministic arc where the same crap happens for 5-6 episodes. I could have skipped to the last episode of the "Endless Eight" arc but I decided to watch every single second of the arc without skipping. Few people liked the arc so I told myself "why the hell not". [Story]: (4/10) 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 Kyonwho sits in front of Haruhi. Kyon unwittingly gives Haruhi an idea to start her own after school club. Thereafter Kyon and several others find themselves dragged, literally, into the Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade or S.O.S Brigade for short.
I could have rated this 1, but I didn't because I'm a fan of the Haruhi series. I tried to be more generous at my rating but it's insane that they fucking filled 8 episode slots with the same shit. Yes, it's the "Endless Eight" arc where the majority of the viewers hated the arc and some even dropped the series. There are some in the minority that liked it for God knows why. I thought the second season would be as enjoyable as the first season but in reality, it's not.
The problem with the "Endless Eight" arc is it's the same shit for 8 episodes. 1st episode started out like a normal episode. The 2nd episode started out like the first but reveals that they are in a time loop. The 3rd-7th episode is literally the same but with some few minor changes (their clothes, how the scene plays out, etc) that is not worth wasting your time. The 8th episode is the conclusion of the arc where Kyon finally does something to stop the loop. Why didn't they just do the 1st, 2nd, and 8th episode of the arc? The arc could have been finished in 3 episodes but they decided to do 8? Did they run out of source material to adapt or something? They should have filled those slots with a filler. A filler is better than getting the same episodes over and over.
There's also the 1st episode of the season which is important if you want to watch the sequel which is the movie. There's also the second arc named "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" which spanned into 5 episodes. Honestly, this is what saved the show from being a total abomination. It's a nice arc that explains what happened behind the scenes before they finished the movie called "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina" which I loved by the way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Art/Animation]: (9/10)
At least you get to gaze at the beautiful animation while watching the "Endless Eight" arc. It looks helluva lot better than the first season and the first season's animation already looks perfect to begin with. The characters looks more beautiful and detailed, the environment..especially the sunshine looks perfect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Sound]: (9/10)
There weren't really a lot of background themes in this season. Even if there was, they're probably all the same and some re-hashed from the 1st season. The OP theme song is "SuperDriver" by Aya Hirano and the ED theme song is "Tomare" by Aya Hirano, Yuko Goto, Minori Chihara.
The OP theme song sounded a lot better than the 1st opening and had made it into my favorite anime OP. The ED theme song sounds decent but I still like the funny ED theme song from the 1st season.
I watched the show in English Dub so I'm going to review the English VA. They all re-cast their roles so nothing changed about them. They're still the great old same voice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Characters]: (8/10)
I don't really know how to expand this category..This season is not really a sequel so nothing really major happened with the characters (Except Ep.1), nothing interesting happened, NOTHING! No new characters were introduced either.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Enjoyment]: (5/10)
I had to watch all of the "Endless Eight" episodes without skipping so I can experience what they went through, excluding the part where they waited a week just to see the same crap. Worst. Experience. Ever. I did enjoy the "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" and "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[OVERALL]: (5/10)
The second season of the famous "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is just downright terrible. The "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" and "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" is a great arc but not enough to save this show from being an abomination because of that god-awful "Endless Eight" arc. If you only watch the 1st, 2nd and 8th episode of the "Endless Eight" arc then continue watching the rest of the episodes normally then you might enjoy this season. There is a sequel to the series called "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" which really surprised/impressed the crap out of me. That will be touched on in my later review.
Pros:
+Outstanding Animation
+Great Soundtrack
+Great Characters
+The 1st and 3rd arc saved the show from being a total shit.
Cons:
-Mediocre Season
-Endless Eight Arc
-8 episodes of literally the same crap