Review of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is an impressive addition to the Haruhi series, a welcome alleviation to the disastrous fiasco that was the Endless Eight Arc. It marks the return to a more plot-driven series, and the events of the “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody” episode become a central part to the movie’s story. The movie starts off on December 16, eight days before Christmas Eve. The first twenty minutes of the movie are pretty much like a typical Haruhi slice-of-life episode, centering on whatever spews out of her mouth. However, come December 18, everything and everyone around Kyon change for better or worse. Haruhi and Koizumi attend adifferent school. Nagato and Asahina are normal people and unaware of their former lives as supernatural monitors of Haruhi’s godlike powers. And of course, the homicidal maniac, Asakura Ryouko, is back, although it seems like she’s just a normal person as well. Kyon quickly becomes paranoid and resolves to solve this major dilemma.
It’s hard to say much about the plot without spoiling it, but it’s captivating, with plot twists that are sure to keep you engrossed, despite its daunting time length and somewhat slow pacing. However, the movie creates an even bigger mess with the timeline, making it even more inextricably complex and creating paradoxes that we’re expected to ignore or forgive. Then again, this isn’t anything new anyways.
What stands out most though in this movie is the character development, namely with Kyon, Nagato, and, to a lesser extent, Haruhi. While still a central character in the movie, it’s somewhat ironic (albeit surprisingly suiting because of the movie title) that Haruhi isn’t the most explored character. Certain ideas are insinuated about her relationship with Kyon and we gain a little more understanding as to what happened that fateful day three years ago. Instead, Kyon and Nagato are the primary focuses of this title. In the TV series, we see Kyon as a sarcastic guy who prefers to eschew Haruhi’s various antics, despite ultimately getting dragged into them. However, in the movie, it becomes clear that Kyon has been deceiving himself all along, and this ultimate realization leads to a fantastic and emotional scene. Also in the TV show, I believe Kyon mentioned that Nagato actually has emotions hidden under her poker face and might even be tired from keeping up with Haruhi’s unremitting tomfoolery. We see what exactly he meant here. Furthermore, Nagato’s “normal” counterpart provides possible insight on who Nagato really is. All the other characters remain the same personality-wise except her. While she is still a reticent bibliophile, she can actually express emotions, blushing, showing fear, etc. And of course, the movie delves further into Kyon and Nagato’s relationship with each other.
Unfortunately, Koizumi has an almost irrelevant part in the plot, although I don’t remember him doing a whole lot in the TV series anyway. Asahina has a crucial role, but we don’t see a whole lot of character development going on with her.
While the movie does a good job answering most of the questions the viewer might have over the course of movie, some things are left unexplained and confusing. Without spoiling the plot, I felt certain things happened without reason or explanation. Nonetheless, these didn’t ruin the experience at all.
The animation is fairly good, but it’s just a slight improvement over what you’re used to seeing with the TV series. To be honest, the music isn’t all that noticeable, though I suppose it helped give the scenes more feeling, and there’s probably only one piece I actually liked. Voice acting is fantastic like always, especially with Nagato, whose seiyuu expresses the emotions in her voice perfectly.
Ultimately, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is pretty damn good. The plot is slow-paced, but highly engaging. The character development is top-notch. It even has some great, emotionally-driven scenes that have the potential to make an impact on you. This movie is a reminder of how good the Haruhi series can be, and for fans who began to doubt the animated franchise after the Endless Eight Arc, this should help to restore a little faith.