Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)

I don't have much to say here, but first and foremost, I wanna make one thing clear. The reason this review is so low isn't the Endless Eight. I mean, it doesn't help. Not in the slightest. But it's not the main reason. I've talked to a few people about this anime, and they all seem to agree on the same thing. "You aren't really supposed to like Haruhi." I've wondered what the aim is with Haruhi's character, and some people have just called her a tsundere, some a mild antagonist, others the central negative force in the whole anime and the enjoyment is supposedto come from watching the relatable characters deal with her. I was leaning towards the last option, but as I watched and finished this season, I realized even if that's the point, the writing doesn't lend itself to that. Any time Haruhi does something bad, from mildly annoying to STRAIGHT UP SEXUAL ABUSE, the writing always seems to lead back to "Well she acts like that for a good reason", or "You know, really, you're just as bad." And yeah, weird and fucked up sexualization went over a lot smoother in older anime, but god, its so egregious. And most of the rest of the cast is just as bad, Kyon is a useless observer to whom bad things are just something he watches and sympathizes with instead of action, and Itsuki is a yes man who would rather empower Haruhi to do whatever she wants than come up with any solution, ever. Yuki and Mikuru are fine, Mikuru's squeals can be grating, but the abuse she receives seems to merit it, and Yuki is the only consistently interesting main character.

I loathe Haruhi. I plan to watch the movie, but I seriously doubt anything it can present can lead me to change that loathing to enjoyment, or even acceptance. I can understand why it was enjoyed in its time, and many of the shows it went to inspire are amongst my favorites. I just don't understand how the Moe genre, known for cute girls doing cute things could've spawned with the help of this absolutely intolerable hellspawn.