Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Story For the sake of this review, I will refer to the first 11 chronological episodes as season 1. They were originally broadcast out of order, but I watched them in choronological order. The premise of the show is very interesting but the execution is not very good. It takes too long for things to happen. I think the behind the scenes for season 1 is actually more interesting than the actual season itself. Supposedly the series was aired out of order to keep viewers interested since pacing for first 6 episodes is very slow and I can attest to that. Put off watching itpast episode 5 for 2 years.

Art

Stellar animation and art style

Sound

Opening theme is pretty decent. Not a huge fan of the ending song

Character

The title character is perhaps one of the most unlikeable and interesting characters of all the anime I watched. She is callous, egotistical, fickle, and bossy but all of her shennigans drive the plot foward. I primarily watch the series to see how much of a brat she is with the other lead characters. If an anime has a character I hate this much, then the creators succeeding in creating a good character. The other leads are mainly one note, but they bounce off with the lead character well.

Enjoyment

Pacing problems aside, I did not like this series too much. It takes too long to capture my attention and actions driving the plot take too long to resolve. At the end of the day, I found myself bored for the majority of the time and the worst thing a show can be is boring in my opinion. Despite being a comedy, I did not find myself laughing much if at all. The series had so much potential but squandered it. It definitively deserves better.

Overall

The season has a more interesting backstory behind the series which I find very rare in anime. Pacing problems are huge and I could not get myself invested in any character other than the title character. I would not recommened the series other than watching a few clips here and there.