Here's a drinking game for those of legal drinking age: take a shot every time I say Haruhi in this review, I'm sorry in advance.
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is a slice of life, comedy, mystery, and sci-fi anime aired in 2006. Season two of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" aired in 2009.
The anime has a chronological order and broadcast order, as it was intentionally aired out of order when broadcast for the first time. For example, the second chronological arc finished before the first chronological arc in the broadcast order.
I don't know why they did that; I'm so confused that I just used Wikipedia as a source. From speculation I found, the first season only had one major arc, while the rest of the season were smaller episodes. The smaller episodes filled in the gaps of the season, spreading out the main plot. That's just a theory though.
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" was animated by Kyoto Animation, which are well-known for their other works such as "A Silent Voice," "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid," "K-On!," and more.
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" originated as a series of light novels, light novels are typically short books that have images in the same style you'd find in a manga, but with colour. However, light novels don't always follow that set of rules.
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" was written by Nagaru Tanigawa, with illustrations by Noizi Ito. The light novels started publishing in 2003 and are currently ranked in the top 100 manga on MyAnimeList.
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is extremely popular, both the anime and franchise. It's so popular that a character that only showed up in one episode got her own character song.
This song is longer than her screen time in the anime. If that doesn't spell out success, I don't know what else will. However, does it hold up to someone like me, the smartest person when it comes to the topic of carpets? Only one way to find out.
The Insanity of Haruhi Suzumiya
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" starts off simple with our protagonist, Kyon, in the same classroom as Haruhi Suzumiya. Haruhi Suzumiya is an eccentric person who makes it clear she's only interested in the supernatural in her classroom introduction.
This is surprisingly the most normal thing she does. She also changes her hairstyle each day, dates & instantly dumps every guy who asks her out, and changes into her gym uniform... In her home classroom! With other people still inside! Some of them are boys!
However, Kyon manages to become "friends" with Haruhi, even creating a club together, the SOS Brigade. The goal of the club is to find, investigate, and hang out with supernatural activity, with Haruhi as its president.
Other club members that join include Yuki Nagato, a deadpan girl that speaks little; Mikuru Asahina, a timid girl who's basically kidnapped & forced to join; and Itsuki Koizumi, a chill transfer student.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation]
So far, this seems like a basic high school slice of life anime, but with a psychopath as a main character. Well... That's only half of the premise.
At the end of episode two, Yuki tells Kyon that she's an alien A.I. sent to Earth to watch over Haruhi. In episode three—Mikuru tells Kyon she's a time traveler who's stuck in the past, and Koizumi tells Kyon he's an Esper & that Haruhi made him one.
[Credit for first two images: Funimation; Credit for last image: IMDb]
Not only that, but Haruhi is literally God. She can alter reality however she wants, hence why time travelers and Esper's exist, but she's unaware she has such a power. It's hard to believe at first for Kyon, but it's not too far-fetched. I mean, does this look like the face of mercy to you?
Within the first three episodes, the anime takes its premise and flips it on its head. Instead of being an average high school slice of life anime, it's an average cult slice of life anime.
The Visuals of Haruhi Suzumiya
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" looks incredible. It's one of those shows where the animation and visuals just ooze passion. Wait, that's a gross analogy... Poops passion.
The animation is smooth with detailed, vibrant visuals, making for wonderful eye candy. The anime also has a nice style to it that's visually pleasing, but also adorable.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation]
The music is good too. It isn't something I'll listen to while doing work, but it fits, and it sounds pleasing to the ear. Some songs stand out more than others though, such as "God Knows" and "Lost my Music." These songs are iconic and for good reason, with the English or Japanese VA, they sound wonderful.
This one segment cultivates everything that makes "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" such a stunning anime visually. The lip syncing is off due to the compression, but it's still a joy to watch.
I can only comment on the dub VAs since I watched the dub version, but the voice actors do a wonderful job portraying the characters. Their voices, tones, and more fit the characters perfectly.
The only voice I minded was Stephanie Sheh as Mikuru, but that's only because of my personal preference against soft high-pitched voices. However, it's still a satisfactory performance.
The two Openings are amazing too. While the first OP's song isn't my preference, they both have excellent animation that knocks it out of the park. Although, by this point, that shouldn't be a surprise.
The two Endings are also incredible too since- Okay, guys, I'm running out of ways to say something is well animated.
Warning: The second ED seems like it could cause seizures due to quickly flashing images. I'm not an expert on this stuff, but if you're photosensitive/epileptic, please continue with caution.
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" would be an easy S rank from its presentation alone. However, there's still a story to dissect and critique. The presentation is only one half of a show.
The Characters in the Life of Haruhi Suzumiya
I'll get this out of the way: I don't feel strongly for any of the characters. I like Yuki and Ryouko Asakura, but the rest I just don't care for. I tried to like them throughout all 28 episodes, but I just couldn't, especially Kyon and Haruhi, who I found beyond annoying.
Kyon is a cynical guy that's annoyed by Haruhi's antics, which is fine, but his narration drives me crazy. He has a habit of narrating things that don't need to be narrated and without moderation. I get the source material is a light novel, and novels have a lot of narration, but it doesn't translate well to a visual medium.
Narration can work when well-paced. Too much narration can drive a person to return to monkey.
As for Haruhi, she's a meanie to everyone around her. She's selfish, has no social or ethical awareness, rude, and never thinks of the consequences. She's a spoiled brat basically.
Although, that isn't a terrible thing by default. Big meanie characters can be hilarious. Take Miki from "Ramen Fighter Miki" as a good example, she's hysterical. Also, yes, I am plugging a niche anime most people haven't heard of. Who's going to stop me? The IRS?
Haruhi Suzumiya has those moments of comedy gold, but they're rare. Haruhi Suzumiya is mostly just rude without a punchline, at least without punchlines I found funny. Comedy is subjective, and I get that, you know what I also get? Consent.
Haruhi Suzumiya becomes insufferable when she has any sort of interaction with Mikuru, as her treatment towards her can only be described as illegal. I'm not even joking, Haruhi physically forces Mikuru into outfits she's not comfortable wearing; forces her to do stuff without consent, such as going out in public in a bunny suit; and even gropes her- Ugh...
It's disgusting, it's uncomfortable, and I hate it. Even worse... Well, not as worse as the sexual harassment thing, is that Haruhi never receives consequences for her actions, so she never learns her lesson with... Anything. For me, part of the fun for mean characters is them getting consequences, without consequences, they drive me up the wall.
As for Mikuru and Koizumi: Mikuru is bland given she's shy and timid, not much else. It feels like she's only there for fanservice and to be the butt of some jokes. Koizumi is fine, he has some neat moments, but not enough for me to like him.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation]
I found myself liking Yuki and Asakura. Yuki conveys a lot of emotion despite saying so few words and showing the same expression. She also doesn't pick up social/ethical problems, but with her, it's more interesting because she's a literal alien. With Asakura, she has blue hair... Yes, I am weak.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation]
Apart from a few jokes, I can only say I only found the characters funny on rare occasions. Most of the time the comedy just doesn't land, which is fine, comedy is subjective after all. Except for deez nuts jokes, those are objectively peak comedy.
So... Not a great start, not liking most of the cast to an anime. However, a story can still be enjoyed if the writing holds up.
The Arcs of Haruhi Suzumiya
I'll be going into the three major arcs. I'll be skipping the Remote Island Syndrome arc since there isn't much to talk about there. To summarize my thoughts on it though: it's okay, nothing special, but harmless, I'd give it a C-.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (A)
Continuing from the The Insanity of Haruhi Suzumiya section, Kyon isn't sure whether to believe Yuki, Mikuru, and Koizumi with what they told him. To be fair, it's hard for anyone to believe aliens, time travelers, and Esper's exist within about two days, especially without hard evidence.
However, that changes when he chats with Asakura in episode four, part-time classmate, full-time best girl.
Ryouko Asakura asks Kyon about change. She goes on about how people regret what they don't do more than what they do, how change should be forced to prevent a dire situation from becoming worse.
While she's not wrong, this conversation is just strange. Ryouko Asakura has never brought up anything about change before and how she goes about the conversation is odd. She even says something about her superiors like Yuki did before, it's as if she's an-
OKAY, RUDE! Yeah, Asakura, like Yuki, is an alien A.I. sent to watch over Haruhi. Unlike Yuki though, Asakura is corrupted. She's fed up with being an observer and watching the same things repeatedly. She feels if she doesn't force change, things will only get worse. To fix this, she decides to kill Kyon, which is a bit of an overreaction.
This is unexpectedly philosophical for this anime, but it's also why Asakura is my favourite character, she's compelling. She hates seeing nothing change, stuck watching over everyone while she can't do anything about it without risking her destruction.
In the end, she decides to force change, to see how Haruhi will react to Kyon's death. It's a fascinating premise. I'm honestly sad she dies so early on, this moment is easily my favourite part of the anime, especially the fight scene between her and Yuki. The visuals, the music, the animation, it's a fight that's absolute hype.
So, aliens exist for sure now. Combine this with Kyon seeing the grown-up Mikuru from the future, Koizumi's abilities as an Esper, and he's now a believer. Koizumi also explains the Anthropic Principle and closed spaces, which is long, but interesting.
Basically, Haruhi's negative emotions cause giant beings called Celestials to appear in closed spaces. Only Esper's can go to closed spaces, but can bring others with them. Esper's go there to destroy Celestials as the Celestials can permanently change the world from within the closed spaces.
It's interesting seeing Koizumi's powers in action after all his exposition. Itsuki Koizumi also explains his own philosophy on Haruhi's place in the universe, being that of a God, due to her powers. It makes sense though, Gods are known to reshape, destroy, or create things, all of which are things Haruhi can do.
Later, we also get Haruhi's explanation for why she looks for the supernatural from herself. When she went to a baseball game, seeing the thousands of attendants made her realize she was a small, ordinary part of the world.
She resolved that if anyone should lead an interesting life, it should be her, and what's more interesting than the supernatural?
It's a great explanation for Haruhi's desire to find the supernatural and why she's so disinterested in ordinary people, as ordinary people will cause the ordinary life she's actively avoiding. I think we've all had the realization we're all ordinary people and that we aren't special, but still strive to make our lives unordinary.
Haruhi Suzumiya just takes it to an extreme by blocking out the ordinary. To her, living an ordinary life is worse than death.
This all comes to a head in the finale when Kyon and Haruhi transport to their school in the middle of the night inside of a closed space. Haruhi Suzumiya finally gets bored of the world and is now unknowingly creating a new one.
By using a hint dropped from future Mikuru, Yuki's help, and Koizumi's information of the situation, Kyon kisses Haruhi to escape the closed space finally. With that, everything goes back to normal- Well, as normal as it can be with an alien, time traveler, Esper, and God.
It's a satisfying ending to the arc as each character played a key role, the world is safe, and Haruhi won't be risking the destruction of the world anytime soon now that she has a clear crush on Kyon. Before, it was implied Haruhi had a crush on him, but now the writings on the wall.
Sure, the narration and me not liking the characters did get in the way unfortunately, but it's still an insanely entertaining arc thanks to the storytelling and premise. It had me invested as soon as Yuki dropped the alien reveal, while making me want more philosophy, romance, and compelling character moments from the rest of the anime.
Endless Eight (E-)
So, this is what they call "digging your own grave." Even if you've never seen "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," you've likely heard of this infamous arc. Some consider it one of the worst arcs in all of anime and... I can see why.
At first, Endless Eight is quite enjoyable. The First Episode has the SOS Brigade spending the last two weeks of summer doing multiple activities. Going to the pool, baseball, watching "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and more.
However, in the next episode, everyone does the same things with the same dialogue. Halfway through the episode, it's revealed time looped. Due to Mikuru being unable to contact her people from the future, they conclude they're stuck in a time loop.
The reason why- Oh, come on, we already know, Haruhi. Haruhi Suzumiya wanted to do more stuff in the first episode of Endless Eight, as she felt something was missing. Problem is, Kyon and Koizumi don't remember earlier loops, they can only sense Déjà vu. Only Yuki is unaffected due to being an alien A.I..
However, by the second episode, they've already looped over 15,000 times, over 500 years. Yuki remembers all those years, and you do see that she's suffering.
Admittedly, Mikuru not sensing Déjà vu feels like a plot hole. She's just as close to Haruhi as Kyon and Koizumi, so she should sense it too. Although, this isn't that big of a deal... At first.
The second episode highlights the depressing nature of the time loop. The use of low saturated visuals whenever Kyon senses Déjà vu or when everyone finds out gives a sense of languishing inevitability.
However, the next episode is the same thing... Then the next.... Then the next... Then the- Do you see the problem?
[Credit: Kyoto Animation]
An arc that should realistically be three episodes, is dragged out for eight episodes until the time loop is resolved. You're practically watching the same episode eight times. Haha Endless Eight and eight episodes, hilarious, BUT I'M IN PAIN!
It's obvious that practically watching the same episode eight times, especially as the latest content, is mind numbingly boring. Even the discovery of the time loop is looped. This is the reason Endless Eight is so infamous, watching the same thing repeatedly is just boring.
Therefore, the plot hole with Mikuru frustrates me, because the writers never caught onto it or didn’t fix it, which is weird if they didn’t since they wrote the time loop discovery scene seven times.
Endless Eight is missing what makes the Groundhog Day scenario so much fun. The scenario focuses on the protagonist trying to stop the loop, which results in them growing as a person or sacrificing something to become a better person.
Since Kyon only senses Déjà vu, with Yuki being the only one unaffected but unable to do anything because of her observer role, Kyon never tries anything different to stop the loop until the plot decides he does.
Even worse, Kyon has multiple ways of resolving this problem, but never tries anything different. In fact, he has eight or more solutions to try.
Ask Yuki to tell everyone (minus Haruhi) that they're in a time loop early so they can brainstorm solutions
Ask Yuki what they've done to stop the time loop in earlier loops
Cancel the summer plans with Haruhi
Get minor or major injuries so they can't do summer activities
Have Kyon kiss Haruhi
Try doing different activities
Do something on the last day of summer since Haruhi put that day to the side
Criticize "Harry Potter" so much that Haruhi won't even want to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" anymore
Will this work? Realistically, probably not, but they're at least worth trying, it's better than twiddling their thumbs. I didn't even feel relief when Kyon broke the loop, I just felt empty, like Kyon's hopes and dreams before that point.
The weirdest part is that Kyoto Animation put a ton of effort into the visuals and animation. Characters wear new clothing each loop, scenes are reanimated, new angles, and more.
[Credit: Kyoto Animation]
Why did Kyoto Animation do this? What are their motives?!
All I have left to say is that you know something is seriously wrong when the Disney sitcom "The Suite Life on Deck" does a superior job in doing a time loop scenario in one episode and manages to make it more rewarding and even kind of compelling. A Disney sitcom... AND THIS ISN'T EVEN MY LEAST FAVOURITE ARC IN THE ANIME!
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (F-)
This arc shatters my heart since the concept of the SOS Brigade making a movie sounds like comedy gold. While the final movie is indeed comedy gold, the creation process is excruciating.
While making the movie, Haruhi believes in her movie so much that the script of the movie is being merged into real life. For example, at one point, Mikuru fires a genuine laser.
Although, I didn't find this conflict interesting. By this point, the supernatural stuff didn't interest me as much since it wasn't being used for intriguing scenarios like in the first arc. After a while, it just feels like Haruhi's powers are an excuse to add conflict to stories.
Also, before this point, we've had the entire world at stake and a time loop lasting over 500 years, the stakes here just seem minor in comparison. The only interesting aspect is that Yuki is the one getting hit by the lasers, so no one dies, and it's hard to not feel bad for her. Good on Yuki, I'm not a fan of death either.
However, what makes me hate this arc in comparison to Endless Eight is because the anime now decides to take Haruhi's abusive treatment towards Mikuru, which the court system would have a field day with, seriously.
However, this time, Haruhi verbally abuses Mikuru by harshly criticizing and blaming her. She even makes Mikuru get thrown into dirty water, gets Mikuru's friend Tsuruya to spike her drink with alcohol, calls Mikuru her toy, and even hits her on the head.
It just comes off as a weird double standard to me since Mikuru being sexually harassed by Haruhi, forced into outfits, forced into joining a club, and doing stuff she's clearly not comfortable with before this arc isn't treated seriously. Don't get me wrong, this stuff is horrible, it's just odd to take it seriously now when it's been a problem since episode two.
Haruhi Suzumiya is honestly at her worst in this arc because she goes from "not funny but pretty interesting" to "wow, what a peepee poopoo!" She's so insanely unlikeable here. She doesn't even learn her lesson, she gets away with this stuff scot-free, and is even rewarded for it because her abuse of Mikuru ends up in the movie.
SHE STILL SEXUALLY HARASSES MIKURU AFTER THIS! If you want a character to be mean in an arc so they can learn a lesson, fine, but if they don't learn a lesson, then it just makes the arc intolerable and feel like a waste of time unless they're an antagonist.
If it wasn't for the iconic Live Alive episode where Haruhi plays in a concert, doing something selfless for once, I would've come out of this anime disliking Haruhi.
Kyon isn't safe from being unlikeable here too. He wants to protect Mikuru, but does little actual protection. I can give a pass on the dirty pool thing since Koizumi prodded him to not stop Haruhi due to the universe being at risk, because Haruhi, but the rest of the time there isn't much of an excuse.
At least with Koizumi, he dislikes what Haruhi is doing but lets it happen because it'd create Celestials in the closed spaces. As for Yuki, she's an alien, I don't think she recognizes why Haruhi's behaviour is socially unacceptable.
However, Kyon does eventually properly call out Haruhi after multiple episodes of abuse towards Mikuru... When Koizumi is about to kiss her for the movie. Kyon only finds out a bit later that Mikuru was drunk.
Although, it feels shallow of Kyon to say enough is enough when his own personal romantic desire towards Mikuru is threatened. Sure, what crosses the line is Mikuru's drink being spiked, some physical abuse, and Haruhi calling Mikuru her toy, but still... It rubs me the wrong way for why he initially intervenes.
It's not often an arc leaves me genuinely angry, and I sat through Endless Eight. This arc is just uncomfortable, and while it has a few positives, like a few jokes, I can only count the redeemable qualities on one hand.
The best part is Yuki's witch costume since it's adorable, that's the only major positive.
Overall (E+)
I think I set myself up for disappointment with the first arc. I was expecting more subversion of expectations, philosophy, interesting character moments, expansion on character, and more from the rest of the anime. Instead, the first arc was the only part of the show I was heavily invested in and my opinion on the cast never improved afterwards.
I wasn't that interested in the supernatural stuff after the first arc, the cast is bleh, the cast rarely feels expanded on after the first arc, the comedy didn't land for me, the arcs only lowered in quality overtime, and I can't say there's any special takeaway I had from the anime apart from the first arc.
Sure, the anime looks and sounds amazing with the stellar animation, visuals, and great voice acting. However, it can't save a story someone isn't invested in.
I don't think "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," despite its questionable decisions, is bad. I think my expectations just got subverted into the wrong expectations. One of these days I need to revisit it expecting a slice of life, not something philosophical.
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