Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Story: 10 Firstly, for purposes of this review I am talking about the episodes in chronological order, though they did not air that way. (I'll explain this later) Ok, the series starts out very mysterious and you honestly don't know what going on. But this all changes by episode six which ends the first plot. The most pressing mysteries are revealed, kind of. After that it switches to episodic format, which normally would kill a plot based series, but it doesn't do that. It just makes it fun. Definitely the most unique creation I have ever seen when it comes to anime.This show, in just fourteen episodes, covers five genres! You honestly have no idea what to expect out of it next. And somehow it made highschool... epic?
The ending episode was nice... but I felt a little dissatisfied and felt the story should go farther, which it does! A new series was released in 2009, so the fans after three whole years finally saw the return of the series. (however I've heard a lot of complaining concerning that series... I'll reserve judgment).
Now, this series can get confusing as far as what order do you watch it in. The show possesses three possible orders of viewing. The orders are: chronological, Kyon's, and Haruhi's. You can watch them in any of the three orders, I personally saw it in chronological.

Art: 10
Two words, Kyoto Animation. They have done it again. Granted, not all series done by Kyoto Animation are this good, but this one is. The movement of the characters are always smooth, and there are no annoying still shots. The actual design of the characters, besides the high quality, makes them seem to blend in with many other anime, however I think they were meant to look normal and the affect only makes them even more surprising. Backgrounds are very well done, the reason is because most of them are drawn from real locations, and keep true almost exactly. Shading is also perfect and makes the characters seem very three dimensional.

Sound: 10
Shields: check! Weapons: check! Forward Thruster: check! Voice acting: check! Background music: OH YEAH!!!
Quite literally, you can't get much better than this. There are even two musical numbers done by Aya Hirano!!! The enviroment sounds also feel like you have been sucked into Haruhi's world. The voice acting is also well done, in both the sub and the dub, however... in the dub Wendee Lee should not have been Haruhi. And that's really too bad because I like Wendee, just this role was not for her. Also, the English voice actor for Kakashi Hatake from Naruto voices the computer club president, you will soon realize why that creeped me out.

Character: 10
The cast is all fun and enjoyable and I can't say there's anyone I dislike. Kyon is perfect as the narator for the story and personal slave of Haruhi. Haruhi is spunky and in general is the most endearing character with simply being unique and unpredictable. (The fact that Aya Hirano voices her helps!). However the best character I think personally is Yuki Nagato. She's just so cool! It may take a while to see why, but once you start to see under her serious mask, she'll hopefully win your heart too.

Overall: 10
This is only the second series I've watched deserving of this rating. It really is that good. There are no real flaws I can point out (though I did look long and hard). It's a fun filled exciting journey that will bring you from high school to outer space (I'm serious). The show is a world wide phenomenon, and though it has more guy appeal there is a huge female fanbase and this show probably has something for everybody.

Parental Caution:
Rated PG-13
-This show is NOT for younger children, just accept that. (as are all of my series so far I've noticed, I need to watch some G and PG stuff. Anyway I'm rambling.)
-The intro has fanservice.
-Haruhi does a chest grab to Mikuru.
-Haruhi uses Mikuru for blackmail purposes by pushing a guy onto her.
-Haruhi treats Mikuru like her own personal doll and dresses her in a variety of fetish costumes.
-Haruhi sees men as sacks of potatoes so didn't care when she started to change for phys-edd in the class room one time. Nothing is shown besides her bra before the scene change.
-Haruhi and Mikuru are in bunny costumes on numerous occasions.

Are you starting to get the idea that Haruhi does the vast majority of things? It is all a part of the comedy but admittedly it's beyond acceptable behaviour.