Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

This series is downright hilarious at points. What makes the humor work so well is its sublime combination of weird science fiction and realistic high school comedy. In one episode, the brigade will have to save the world from Haruhi's boredom, the next episode they'll be playing a baseball game. The jokes here are varied, and range from very subtle wordings to limited (thank god) use of fanservice comedy (along with some very funny 4th wallbreaking everytime they do it.) The comedy in Haruhi is something all anime fans will find something funny in. Another big part of the shows success is the characters. All ofthe characters are really unique and each bring a nice element of surprize and familiarity to the show. Everyone here is likeable, even the side characters that appear in maybe 2-3 episodes in the series so far. At the end of the day, you realize how fun it would be if you were friends with this cast of characters.

There is one issue with Haruhi I have, and this may or may not be important depending on who you are. One of the things I still just to do not understand is why this show is broadcast out of chronological order. I tried watching it first in the broadcast order, and what would happen is I would get confused at the end of every episode trying to think where this episode is in the timeline of the show. Personally, it makes things for me unnecessarily complicated while watching it. However, as I watched the episodes in chronological order, I felt relieved not having to put together an unnecessary puzzle.

For once in these reviews, I can actually talk about the dub since half of the episodes I have seen were the dub. The dub in short is REALLY DAMN GOOD. Wendee Lee plays Haruhi, Crispin Freeman is Kyon, Stephanie Seph is Mikuru, Michelle Ruff is Yuki, and Johnny Yong Basch is Itsuki. All of their voices are perfect for their characters, and even the side characters are cast excellently. The translation of the humor is also really good, keeping all of the subtle nuiances. It will probably be funnier if you have an understanding of Japanese culture, but still hilarious either way.

In conclusion, Haruhi is the funniest anime I have seen in recent memory. It does a great job of creating its own universe outside the typical another day in the high school life comedy animes, and establishes characters you really want to see more of. At the end of 14 episodes, you'll be begging for more, I know I was.