Suzumiya Haruhi

SUZUMIYA HARUHI

 2006/2009 series and "Disappearance" Movie

This Review covers the original 2006 series, the 2009 "second" series and the 2010 Movie. With the "second" series plugging gaps in the original series non-linear release order (an intentional aspect) it is easier to review as a whole, rather than two separate seasons. 

OVERVIEW - Taken from a series of Light novels, all of whom feature the title convention of being "the *something* of Suzumiya Haruhi" The anime is normally refered to as "The Meloncholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, and is a multi-genre story that covers pretty much just about everything in anime, The story of Haruhi's SOS Brigade takes place in a high school and follows the life of the titular character as seen by her mostly unwilling partner-in-crime, who is only known by his nickname, Kyon. covering topics from your general high school life style into time-travelling, ESP powers and alien over-minds and straight out the other side to the possibilities of reality, existence and the theological question of what is God?. Insanely famous for its heavy level of merchandising and possibly the most copied and recreated dance meme of all anime ever, its a real love/hate relationship for most anime fans.

REVIEW - The basic plot of the show is simple, The narrator, Kyon, enters high school hoping for a normal, quiet school life. The girl who sits behind him however, is looking for anything but. Standing out immediately by stating that she wishes to meet "Aliens, time travellers and Espers" during her self-introduction at the start of the year, making a name for herself by trying out for every single after school club and quitting them almost immediately and followed by the rumours of her odd, often possibly illegal behaviour in middle school, Suzumiya Haruhi is a girl who makes her presence known, like it or not. Kyon, for reasons he doesnt quite understand himself, tries to talk to her, and even when he thought a seating change would save him, she still ends up behind him. One day he asks her about joining all the clubs then quitting, and his response to her answer of "they were all boring" sets in motion the events of the whole series. All he simply said was "why not make one yourself then?"

Taking over the literature clubs room, and its only member, a silent girl called Nagato Yuki after roping Kyon into helping her (almost literally), she soon returns with another member, the "ultra cute" second year Asahina Mikuru, whom she literally drags into the room. Its not long before Haruhi's bossy, dominating and self-centered nature become apparent, essentually forcing these former strangers into being her "SOS Brigade" (The SOS standing for Sekai o Ōi ni Moriageru Tame no Suzumiya Haruhi or its english translations of either Save the World by Overloading It with Fun Haruhi Suzumiya or Spreading Excitement All Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya ) Soon after she grabs the "Mysterious" transfer student Koizumi Itsuki and the group is up to five, with each one being an almost perfect stereotype of the types of groups typical in anime and manga, by Harhi's concious design. Various events happen, normally created by Haruhi's unwavering selfishness and arrogance and her callous treatment of brigade members as tools/toys/object to be used, abused and bartered with. A prime example of this is when she used Mikuru to extort a PC from the computer club next door, forcing the club president into several questionable poses and taking pictures of them, threatening to show them to the school and claim the computer club had abducted Mikuru and were trying to gang-rape her. Kyon acts much like a conscience as much as he can, trying to keep Haruhi from going too far overboard. 

There is however, a serious twist to the story. Approached at first by Yuki, then Mikuru and finally Itsuki, Kyon is told by all three that Haruhi was the center of some galactic level event three years before, and each of the three were representatives from various organisations who were keeping a covert eye on Haruhi, none of them expecting to be "drafted" into the SOS brigade by the girl herself. Yuki is, in essence, an alien. Created by a Galaxy-wide intelligence as a humanoid interface, they seek to understand the massive "data rewrite" that happened around Haruhi 3 years previously, one which altered almost everything at a nearly in perceivable level. Mikuru quietly reveals to Kyon that she is a special agent from the future, sent to study Haruhi as she was the centre of a "time-quake" that now prevents anyone from travelling back any further than the event itself, three years previously. Itsuki informs Kyon that he is part of an Agency made up of people who all woke up one day three years ago with the knowledge that they now had special powers, and that Haruhi was the one responsible for it. 

Kyon of course thinks they're all insane to begin with, not really understanding what they are saying and not believing without proof. In short order however, Kyon is saved from death by Yuki, using her "data incantations" to re-order physical data, met by a Future Mikuru and is shown "closed space", the bubble-dimensions in which the Espers can use their abilities to combat giant destructive humanoids, supposedly created when Haruhi is depressed or upset. Kyon begins to believe and starts to understand that somehow, Haruhi has an unconscious ability to completely rewrite the world around them, or even to create and destroy the one they are in. Her desire to meet Aliens, time travellers and espers and have fun running around doing stuff with them had brought an alien, Yuki, a time traveller, Mikuru, and an Esper, Itsuki, to her and the SOS Brigade, and running around having "fun" was exactly what she was doing with them. All the groups however advise Kyon not to tell Haruhi the truth, as her struggle against what she wants to believe and her "common sense" that tells her that no such thing could exist would collapse and that could lead to the end of the world. Kyon then acts not only as the conscience of the group, but as the buffer between the first layer of truth (they're all high school students), the second layer of truth (three of them are supernatural beings with powers/technology far beyond normal) and the third layer of truth, (that Haruhi can literally rewrite physics with a thought, making her possibly the most powerful being in existence, a literal God) all of which makes Kyon's school life anything but peaceful. 

One of the more interesting aspects of the series is that the first season aired its episodes in such a way that they were completely out of chronological order. Its main, 6-part arc was split across the whole season and because of this, there are references to events that have taken place previously chronologically, but had yet to be aired when the show first broadcast. Many have found this confusing while others find it a great way to really intrigue the audience. The sequence for this, should you wish to follow it, is as follows

1. "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00"
2. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1"
3.  "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 2"
4.  "The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya"
5. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 3"
6.  "Remote Island Syndrome Part 1"
7.  "Mystérique Sign"
8. "Remote Island Syndrome Part 2"
9.  "Someday in the Rain"
10.  "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 4"
11.  "The Day of Sagittarius"
12.  "Live Alive" (notable as being the 12th episode chronologically and in broadcast)
13.  "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 5"
14.  "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 6"

In 2009, a second season was announced, but its broadcast was included in the re-run of the first season. The reason being was its episodes took place in the same time-frame as the first season and in fact explained many of the references, events and inconsistencies of the first season. It also brought in another exceptionally well known (and mostly hated) meme thats spread across the internet, known as "Endless Eight" due to eight consecutive episodes of almost exactly the same events and dialogue repeated. Thankfully the studio didnt have the budget to screen all of the 15,000+ loops the gang themselves experienced, but the 8 alone provoked rage and dread in fans. (Note to those in the "I hate Haruhi fans" camp, if their endless Haru haru dancing bugs you, walk by saying either "Endless Eight" or "Kyon-kun, Denwa" and watch them turn from a cosplaying flash-mob into a murderous lynch mob ^_^b)

The other aspect of the 2009 re-run/second season was that it sorted out the insanely unfollowable chronology of the first season, with the episodes of the second season interspaced into the correct chronological positions within the run. Its for this reason that I decided to review both seasons together, because honestly time flows in one direction, regardless of time travellers and possible-gods machinations.. The order for the first/second season in chronological order is as follows. (second season episodes in RED)

1.  "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1"
2. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 2"
3. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 3"
4. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 4"
5. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 5"
6. "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 6"
7. "The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya"
8.  "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody"
9.  "Mystérique Sign"
10.  "Remote Island Syndrome Part 1"
11.  "Remote Island Syndrome Part 2"
12.  "Endless Eight"
13.  "Endless Eight"
14.   "Endless Eight"
15.   "Endless Eight"
16.   "Endless Eight"
17.   "Endless Eight"
18.   "Endless Eight"
19.   "Endless Eight"
20.  "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1"
21.  "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 2"
22.  "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 3"
23.  "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 4"
24.  "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 5"
25.  "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00"
26.  "Live Alive"
27.  "The Day of Sagittarius"
28.  "Someday in the Rain"

A quick note on "Endless Eight", common advice on this on the internet is to "watch the first two, then skip to the last of the eight" but I would advice against this for your first ever watch through, simply because while the actions and dialogue are basically the same, the studio animated each episode individually, altering angles, clothing and perspectives each time. You will notice something different in each episode regardless of how much the same they are, and it also gives hints into the events and reasons of the movie (and why i reviewed it at the same time too)

The story itself is very interesting, with its "three layers of truth" and in the way that the central figure isnt the perspective from which the story is told, with Kyon effectively being the only "100% normal human" out of the entire group, his insight, while often snarky and reluctant, on how everything is happening gives you an honest "everyman" insight into the frantic whirlwind of calamity, chaos and insanity that is Haruhi, one she would not have herself as she's both completely unaware of the truth of most of her SOS brigade, and so insanely egotistical that we'd never see any of her flaws (of which she has many). The characters undergo a lot of growth in the 6 month period the two season cover, and the movie's few days worth of action sees possibly the most growth in them all. As noted before, each of the characters was handpicked by Haruhi for their stereotypical aspects as she feels that by having that kind of group assembled they're far more likely to have the "strange encounters" she seeks and is basing this on popular culture representations such as manga and anime, so while it can be said the characters are "typical boring stereotypes" there's really a reason for it in-universe. 

While Haruhi's personality is quite annoying, with her pronounced arrogance, egocentric view on all things and bossy behaviour, not to mention the way she treats people as objects, and the SOS brigade as her personal slaves/property (at one point she even states that Mikuru is her toy) she develops and actually shows enjoyment in being around her brigade members, compassion and consideration for others towards the end of the series. I think a large part of the story-to-come (as the series/movie covers up to most of the 5th light novel and bits of the 6th out of 11) will beging to have Haruhi become a little more stable and normal, rather than the aloof personna she presents to begin with, because while the insane time travel/paradox, bubble dimensions and alien interactions are what creates the action in the show, its essentially a story about Haruhi. 

The movie, "The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi" deals with a week in which the SOS brigade prepares for christmas, and part way through Kyon seeminly ends up in a world with no paranormal beings, Yuki, Mikuru and Itsuki are all normal people, and Haruhi, while still batshit fucking crazy "Eccentric" has no reality warping powers. Kyon's class no longer even has Haruhi in it, as she and Itsuki are in another school. As Kyon works out what has happened, how to fix it and who was responsible, he is presented with the choice of living in a world with no crazy events, the quiet school life he wanted at the start of the series, or to return to a world with aliens, time travellers and espers and a midly pyscotic narssosistic egomaniac as a reality warping God who sits being him in class. While i wont reveal the exact ending here, it actually has a fair degree of drama to it, and is fairly touching in places and re-opens a few questions many had since the final part of the arc known as "The Meloncholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" regarding Kyon and Haruhi. 

While I dont find the "Suzumiya Haruhi" series to be "life changing" or "deeply philosophical" or even a "Must see" anime, it has aspects and potential to reach those levels. As each of the series, and the movie as well, leave the plot dangling, likely due to the continuation of the light novels used as the source, it remains to be seen if the story will reach its real potential, as well as the answer to many people's ultimate question "will Haruhi ever learn all the truth, as Kyon has?". Much is made of the potential for romance between Kyon and Haruhi, as much as Kyon wants there to be romance between anyone BUT Haruhi, as well as potential romance between many of the characters but its never heavily touched on in the series or movie, just hinted at. As a high school show, it deals with some heavy details, life, death, creation, existance, so it'll never really fit into that group of anime, but in the same regard, it'll never be held up as a "show that makes you think" because for all its heavy philosophical content, there's so much high-school-life in it as well, taking away from the seriousness in it. Hard to catagorise and one I would suggest people check out at least once before utterly condeming it.

SUMMARY -

Story -  As much as Haruhi's character annoys me, I have to mark this part highly, simply because Haruhi's character annoys me. Its a testement to how well the characters are written, performed and develop that they can cause actual irritation without making you want to just no longer bother with the whole show. The non-linear aspects of the story, involving time travel in most cases, are exceptionally well done, as is the abilities of the data-altering aliens, The Espers are more like a shadow organisation for most of the series, providing indirect support and behind-the-scenes stuff unlike the other two groups representatives. There are hints of power-struggles happening behind the scenes, between the three groups and inside the three groups, but not much is made of this in the series/movie really. A great building block to start an epic tale maybe, but on their own they're just reasonably enjoyable. 8/10

Production - The series would have been pretty cutting-edge production wise in 2006, with good though minimal use of CG and 3D, its 2009 season makes the wise decision to stick to the same level of production as the 2006 series, as the second season was meant to slot into the first, and it creates a good sense of continuity across the two, often the only way to tell which season you're watching is the different opening/closing themes. The movie has massively increased production values, making full use of its obviously increased budget to throw in buckets of CG movement and 3D aspects even when they're not exactly essential. Having said that, there is also a good deal of attention to detail in maintaining a continuity of style and look with the series. Backgrounds through out are stunning, and come from detailed reproductions of real places in Japan. Voice acting is above par but not so amazing it'll stand out. 9/10

 Music - I'll skip the opening/ending themes for these, as none of them are particularly impressive or stand out, and they also dont conflict with the feel and pace of the show. In fact, a great many of the second season shows seem to skip the intro completely. Finding examples for them on youtube is very very easy too, especially the ending for season one (see above for six versions..). In terms of Score and insert songs, its well done, adding the required depth and mood/emotion enhancement that scores should, but never really standing out. The insert music is most notably the two songs performed by "ENOZ" in the "live Alive" episode, both in fact sung by Haruhi's voice actress, Aya Hirano. The first one, "God Knows" is probably the most popular, with Aya Hirano performing it live on many occasions. With nothing "jumping out" but with no errors, this is a reasonable example of how to score a series.  7/10

Accessability - Pretty typical for a high school show, with aspects that newcomers may not get too well, like the infamous self-introduction scene, as most western schools dont get the class to do things like that, and the whole "after school club" culture, various school festivals etc. It has to be said however that the "psuedo-science" in the series, used to explain the aliens, time travellers and espers seems actually pretty grounded in actual science theory, and as such I suspect most people will feel like Kyon when presented with it all, which adds another layer of accessability problems for this show, it again has the "not essential to the plot but you'll enjoy it more once you get it" feel, resulting in middling marks here 6/10

Overall Impression - Thats a tough one, you can switch off your mind and enoy the series/movie as an odd high school drama/comedy, or sit back and really think into the various theories presented by three conflicting points of view, each with their own very specific and technical backgrounds which are laid out in full for the audience to hear in long explinations. I think in all honesty that this story has SERIOUS potential to become something amazing, but the two season and movie are but the tip of the iceburg of it, and as such, as they are right now, are not really something you'll regret missing for now. I would say that if you want in on something that may in the future grow into something wonderful, check this series out, but if you're just jaded from the endless dance routines from hairy guys in sailer uniforms at conventions, best to keep avoiding this one. 7/10

Final Score - 37/50