Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Before I begin I apologise to all women I know irl who watch animes, because they all love this one... And I hate it. Well "hate" might be a strong word but I dislike this. WHy? Well because of the person the anime is named after. The whole story revolves around how our heroine, Haruhi, has god-like power that affect reality without her knowing. If she does understand she has god-like powers the shock could affect the world our male lead, the blunt-and-forgettable Kyon lives in. Haruhi, with her powers but without her consent, has created 3 people who represent her dreams... A timetraveller,an esper and an alien. Despite that sounding remotely exciting all of them appear way too human like and in fact with the exception of the alien (aka a cute and adorable emotionless loli) the other 2 are also blunt and forgettable. All of them join Haruhi's occult club in order to keep an eye on her so that she won't destroy the world, by keeping her in blissful ignorance.

Technically the anime is about what you would expect from a 2006 series, with voice acting that actually doesn't fit as well as most people think. I'm talking about Hirano Aya as Haruhi, the female lead. I'm not sure why but I get the feeling that she didn't put nearly as much effort as she did in Fairy Tail (I'm actually kinda thankful for that). Then again, perhaps it just isn't in her character to act stupid 24/7.

For the psychological analysis part, I can understand why almost every woman that watched the show actually liked Haruhi. Haruhi has mystical super duper powers (powerful person tag checked), but doesn't know she has them and therefore doesn't have any responsibilities (princess but not queen title, check). The fact that she doesn't know she has those powers also creates the faint hope that perhaps the female viewer watching this might also have hidden secret powers (hopes for the viewer, check). Because everyone else knows she has those powers they meet her every whim (leadership + constant company, check). Also finally, there is considerate and serious male lead who loves her for what she is and will constantly support her instead of consider her a freak of nature (love dream covered, check). So this is propably because I'm male but... I hate that f£$%ing bitch.

Perhaps my being an SS class lolicon affects my judgment, but Nagato on the other hand (the alien) is extremely likeable. The writers seem to have realised it too, and whereas the first season centered around Haruhi, the second season offered equal screen-time to Nagato, with the movie actually being almost 100% devoted to her. When I did share my opinion that she fit way more as a protagonist than Haruhi I got the same answer from three different women: Nonsense! (no further explanation provided of course). That is also understandable. Whereas Haruhi is the woman every young girl would like to be (see my subtle diplomatic move here?), aka everything taken care for her but still powerful and feared, Nagato is exactly the opposite. She never stands out or object to anyone, takes care of EVERYONE'S problems, tries to keep with Haruhi's stupid whims, usually single-handedly saves the world from certain damnation by sacrificing her own mental stability and she never utters a complaint or even asks for help. Especially in the "endless 8" episodes (season 2, you'll understand if you see them) even the most heartless, cruel bastard will come to feel for her. But of course, she's exactly in the position no young, energetic, happy girl would ever want to be.

To sum up the series... If you're male you'll propably come to realise sooner or later that the protagonist deserves decapitation with the mortal kombat announcer shouting "Fatality!". (Hell, first Isshukan friends, then Boku wa tomodachi bla bla, then Zexal, how come all the series I review lately have 100% unlikeable protagonists?)