Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of the most famous and iconic Anime out there, creating probably one of the biggest fan bases, and can be found to be the founder of many internet meme's (Hare Hare Yukai, gender bender characters, endless etc) and is often either parodied or referenced in a lot of other shows. The story follows a guy nicknamed Kyon who ends up becoming the lackey for Haruhi along with the eventual creation of the SOS Brigade, once the club is formed they participate in many activities including a baseball game and a murder mystery to anme a few, there is alsosome supernatural element thrown in there which really adds to the story and its characters.
I would say the art for this show is adequate, it is by no means the best, the backgrounds are occasionally very simple paintings with not a lot of detail and the perspective of some shot is not always perfect, they also use some different art choices, there is one scene where they use real live actors with a Photoshop style effect on it, we are also treated to a grainy effect as well as some CG which all add to the show and always fit nicely into there respective scenes, the characters are genrally well drawn. The animation is really great, we have a fully animated concert scene without any still frames at all, and we are treated to some interesting camera angles and perspectives which really help this show stand out from others.
The sound is brilliant, the voice acting for the English dub is decent, Crispin Freeman as Kyon did an exceptional job whereas the rest of the cast, although fit there respective roles well, generally didn't stand out as amazing. The music is quite iconic, the opening tune is a nice song and includes some meaningfull visuals, the ending, Hare Hare Yokai, is quite probably one of the most popular ending songs, its got a catchy tune and the character dance makes you want to learn it yourself. Background music is mostly a nice calm soft score but it does vary it up by adding a good variety, like the 'dream sequence' there is a real nice epic classical song.
Characters, well where do you start, well for one it is highly unlickly you will find yourself disliking any character. Kyon is the protagonist who offers us a quick wit and some excellent lines in his narration, you sometime find it difficult to tell whether he is narrating or not, Kyon desribes himself as the SOS Brigades conscience, and he is quite right. Haruhi is an energergetic unprodictable girl as quite the infamous reputation in her school. Yuki Nagato is the robot silent girl of the group who doesn't show any emotion what so ever and can take things all to literal. Mikuru is clumsy and innocent and is often the victim of one of Haruhi's escapades being forced to dress up in various costumes, then finally we have Koizumi who tends to tease Kyon about his situation and offers more of his views of the current situation. The rest of the side characters are great when they make there appearance with Taniguchi and Kunakida being those two guys who pop up every now and again, Tsuruya, Mikurus friends is an insane person and Kyon's sister whose name is never revealed is simply adorable.
Overall this show is up there with the best comedies Anime has to offer, it is clever in its dialogue, it shows us camera perspectives and angles we would never have been shown, the characters are loverable, the show is one of those you can rewatch many times over and never get bored and THIS season definitely live up to most of the expectations you get when you learn of its fan base. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of those show every Anime fan needs to see at least once.