Review of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Admittedly, I was never much of a fan of the series. In fact I don't particularly like Haruhi all that much. I watched season one and she really rubbed me the wrong way, but I decided to give this film a try since it was getting so many positive reviews, and I’m glad I did. Simply put, this film is brilliant. I think there are a lot of similarities between The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (TDoHS) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (TGWLTT). I felt both were trying to give a similar lesson despite the fact that one is saying "aim for the ordinary" whilstthe other was saying "aim for the extraordinary". The underlying message is simple: You never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. Personally I think TGWLTT is better but only marginally. In TGWLTT, Makoto gains powers that allow her to shape the world around her and only gradually do we see the problem emerging. However in TDoHS, Kyon’s world changes at the start of the story and he has to figure a way out. This means that the story has to focus more on the conflict, so there’s not as much room for comedy. Not only that, but Makoto in TGWLTT learns her lesson in a more subtle manner than Kyon did. That’s not to say to say TDoHS’s way was worse. The moment the entire film is leading to, Kyon’s final decision and the introspection involved was by far the best part of the film and one of the most memorable moments for me. I simply prefer the way TGWLTT did it, since it gave a stronger impact for me.

However, there’s one thing TDoHS had that TGHLTT doesn’t and that’s background. As you probably already know, TDoHS is just one story in an overall series, with the previous stories giving it more depth. It also provides some amusing jokes, even if you haven’t seen the other stories. For example, I have no idea why Nagato has a room that can’t be opened because it contains Kyon and Asahina frozen in space and time, but I sure as hell find it amusing that it’s there. Another thing I think TDoHS has are better characters, partially helped by their stronger background. The two characters that are given the main focus, Kyon and Nagato, are so incredibly memorable with both characters given such significant exploration and depth.

It does take a while to get into, though. It took a whole 40 minutes just to get past the premise of the story with Kyon even lampshading on how long the prologue was, 20 minutes in. The story is, overall quite slow and much of the craziness in the series is vastly toned done. I actually like the upbeat craziness but I can’t complain about the lack of it in this film since this new tone as a serious and introspective story was so incredibly well done.