Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

What really impressed me about Haruhi Suzimiya as an anime was the execution. I'm not certain that I would have loved this as a manga, but in an animated form I really loved it. As a film student, I was particularly impressed with the innovative method of story telling and the first episode, which I think was just sensational. *****SPOILER******* I have never seen an animated feature that was directed as a student film before and I thought it was both clever and brilliantly done. The angling and "film-making" were both truly realistic and even though it was just for fun, it was great how it tiesinto the plot later on as the anime's episodes are not in the sequential order of events that take place in the plot, which I loved and thought it really worked in favor of this particular anime.

*****END OF SPOILER*****

A warning, for those very few who have yet to view this cinema:

1. Nothing is in order. Watch it the way it was intended to be watched, then watch the 'second season' to see it lineal story line. It makes all the difference. It makes it wonderful.

2. Be prepared to be wildly entertained and engaged. This is one crazy ride and Haruhi brings a house down. You may feel you can move mountains by the end of an episode, as her enthusiasm and endurance for life is contagious. Everything becomes an interest and nothing can be boring when she is around, because in a way, she IS the embodiment of Life. Believe me when I say she can make any chore into a game. Not unlike a certain duo from Hunter x Hunter.

But wait, you might ask, why only an "8" then if it's so EPIC?

Of course no show is without it's weaknesses. For example, I can't help but love the characters, except that they are *all* stereotypical. And when I thought they might be more complex than they seemed, it turned out they weren't. It wasn't exactly a major let down, because I still liked them a great deal and didn't require them to be more meaningful than slice-of-life, but it felt as the series developed that there might be something more to it, and it turned out that while the finish was big, it wasn't all that impressive after all. Basically, while I like this anime a great deal, in the end it became somewhat prosaic for me to watch.

Ironically, the major weakness for me was in the plot. Not the actual day-to-day plot, which is great fun for slice-of-life and comedy, but the development of the resolution and ending of the series, which is more basic than one is led to believe and felt a bit more patched together than the rest of the show to me. Which is a shame for such a well put together show, but it really was the storytelling that won me over in the end.

With these "weaknesses" if one must call them that, there are obviously some major strengths as well. I really liked the music, because it is fun and frisky and makes me want to dance. And the animation is just brilliant as I said before. I think it must take a certain amount of talent to draw so many odd angles and they did a bang up job.

All I will say is if nothing else - just watch the first episode. This is one of the most brilliantly, originally directed anime I have EVER seen. There is no category for the directional aspect in the ratings, but if there were it would receive a 12 for that alone.