Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Haruhi Suzumiya is a light novel series authored by Nagaru Tanigawa which began in 2003 and is still in production. Naturally, a manga and anime version followed. I got introduced to Haruhi via the anime nearly three years ago, and I loved it enough to buy it on DVD, which is not something I can say for every anime I've seen. So, what do I make of Haruhi? Let's find out. Story: An ordinary high school boy known only as Kyon leads a boring life. He is sarcastic, pessimistic, and basically seems disinterested in a lot of things in life. That was until he met a studentin his class named Haruhi Suzumiya. Haruhi is WILDLY eccentric; she is bored of her life, makes strange demands, and behaves nothing like any of the other students at the school. She enters school clubs, only to quit them the next day. Kyon suggests to her that she start her own club, which she does, with gusto. She takes over the school's literature club and renames it, depending on what translation you're following, something to the effect of "Spreading Joy with Haruhi Suzumiya" or something. To make the club official, she must have at least five members. She forcibly makes Kyon, Yuki Nagato, the lone member of the literature club, a girl names Mikuru Asahina, and a transfer student names Itsuki Koizumi join.

Oh, but that's not the beginning of it. It turns out that Yuki is an alien "data entity" sent to observe Haruhi. Mikuru is a time traveler from the future who has also come to observe Haruhi. Itsuki is an esper who, you guessed it, has also been sent to observe Haruhi. Why? Because Haruhi has the ability to alter reality by merely wishing it; however, she is not aware of this. She can't be made aware of this, nor can she know about the backgrounds of Mikuru, Yuki, and Itsuki, yet they dump this information on Kyon, the only "normal" one of the bunch. Looks like Kyon's life isn't boring anymore.

This is a weird, WEIRD series. Even by Japanese standards, this is weird. However, it is also brilliant. What initially pulled me in was the humor; this was the first anime I ever saw that made me laugh my ass off. Part of its appeal is making fun of cliches of Japanese pop culture, and to see a show make fun of the things I have become tired of seeing in anime, yeah, that interested me. But it's not just a comedy, it's a mystery series, too. There are elements of romance and drama, most of which is properly executed. I will warn you though, you need to be knowledgeable of Japanese pop culture, because if you're not, you're going to be lost. Also, the anime cuts out some details from the novels as well. Nonetheless, the first season is well done in this regard. 9/10.

Art:

This is the first series by KyoAni I saw, and I was not disappointed. The backgrounds are nice, the character designs are nice, and the animation is really fluid for a tv series. There's not much here that already been said, but Haruhi is indeed a feast for the eyes. 9/10.

Sound:

Haruhi is probably the closest I've ever seen an anime be like a musical. There are several vocal songs in the soundtrack, some of which are performed in-universe, and they are all superb. The instrumental tracks are great, too. Some of them are eccentric sounding, others are sweeping orchestras, but the soundtrack is amazing.

As is the voice-acting. Okay, I'm gonna draw a lot of controversy by saying this, but it needs to be said. If you have the option to see Haruhi in either English or Japanese, watch it in English. Why? Two words: Crispin Freeman. He. IS. Kyon. Do NOT try to convince me otherwise. It is, to this day, my favorite performance of his. (Yes, I just said Crispin Freeman as Kyon is better than his performance of Alucard.) Not only that, some other characters, like The Computer Club President, and Ryoko Asakura, (Bridget Hoffman's voice is sooooo pretty!) also sound better. On the other hand, some characters, like Haruhi, sound slightly better in Japanese, but only slightly. However, there are reasons why I consider Bandai and Bang Zoom to be the best English dubbers in the business, and this show is one of those reasons. 10/10.

Characters:

Haruhi is eccentric. She can be mean-spirited, selfish, and unable to weigh in consequences, but she can also be very reflective, and even, as the title suggests, melancholic. But she's not the main star; Kyon is. He is on my list of favorite anime characters for a reason. Most of the humor is courtesy of him. He frequently narrates, and often snarks in a deadpan manner of the life and situations around him. But he's still very complex, and very human at the same time. Most of the other characters are either anime stereotypes taken in a deconstructive direction, or minor characters who only contribute comic relief. I like most of the other characters, particularly Yuki. However, I have one complaint, and that's Mikuru. Remember in my reviews of Kanon and Clannad, I said I like moe girls, but only if they had more to their personality than helplessness? Unfortunately, Mikuru is completely helpless. It gets annoying to see someone unable to stand up for herself and cry at the drop of a hat, even though she's at least in her teens, and can move through time. And, this is just personal, but even though in-universe she's made out to be this adorable beauty of a girl, I . . . don't really find her all that cute. But that's just me; I don't despise any character in this show, and I understand that Haruhi is spoofing moeblobs, so I can let it slide. Overall, this casts gels together very well, but it's Kyon who makes it memorable. 9/10.

Enjoyment:

If you know anything about anime that has come out in the last ten or so years, you're gonna like Haruhi. Not only does it poke holes at countless plot devices, it somehow plays them straight at the same time, and in an entertaining fashion. It was the outstanding humor that drew me in (and the baseball episode remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life), but I found so much more to like. For example, there is a scene in episode 6 (chronological order) that was simply magical; I have no other way to describe it. There are some genuinely heartwarming moments in this series, in spite of the zaniness. All that to a great soundtrack, and you can see why I like this so much. I used to list Haruhi as my third favorite anime series of all time way back in the day. There are just two things you need to be aware of. One: don't watch it in the anarchic broadcast order, unless you want to be lost. Two, like I said, you need to know about anime to understand this. If you don't know about moe girls, the "mysterious transfer student" cliche, the "ordinary school boy gets drawn into fantastic adventures!" cliche, and so forth, you will be completely lost. If those aren't a problem, you just might like it, maybe even more than I do! 9/10.

I have yet to see the second season, and I have yet to see the movie, but I am looking forward to the movie's eventual (fingers crossed) English release. Also, I need to read the original light novels, and not just the sample chapters online either, but I'm lazy like that.

Lastly; the dance. It is made of win.