The Good of Anime: Aliens, Time Travelers and Espers Came True (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

Here is a first impression of it.

Are you special? How different are you from the rest of the world. You go to school, chat with friends, eat dinner with your family, gossip about your teachers, chat about your latest freak accident that you find the need to share. These things are happening all around the world, with people basically living the life you are having right now, a normal, normal sound life. If we think about our day like that everything seems grey, doing these things seem pointless anyway since the whole world is doing the same. Although we are thought to think we possess a special fruit that only we can give to the world, our talents, our intellect, our willpower but it will never show as something exceptional.

We are (not) special

                                                             
Do you ever feel like your existence is such an insignificant thing. You are a small organism in the earth filled with 7 billion people, surrounded by many species of plants and animals, in the vast solar system, in the gigantic galaxy looking under the microscope by an even larger universe. What could you bring? This might sound tad cynical but this is what this shows about.

But, but, but, what if you could be an extraordinary or even be around them, doesn't that sound like a fun way to live, to be the only person in the world that could interact with an extraordinary being. Better yet have all of them hanging out under the same roof, a time traveler, an esper, an alien and finally a god that could change the world depending on her mood, doesn't that make life interesting.

"I am not interested in ordinary humans"
quote by Haruhi

"There is something wrong with people seeking reality with fiction"
quote by kyon

This show stars with Haruhi and Kyon and with the deviant attitude of Haruhi, they formed a club called the SOS brigade (Spreading Excitement all Over the World with Suzumiya Haruhi Brigade), this clubs' purpose is to find time travelers, espers or aliens and extraordinary activity around the area to make the world more exciting. Without her knowing, those things are much closer than she expects.

How did the world become this way? What sort of power in the universe has caused such extraordinary things to appear. That thing is Haruhi Suzumiya. It is unknown to her that she has obtained god- like abilities that can change, destroy and reshape reality through her mood without her knowing. Due to her fantasies of having an extraordinary life, time travellers, espers and aliens have appeared in the world. However this is also a double-edged sword as she may come to destroy the world if her emotions don't come in check. She is an eccentric, anti-social, stubborn and impulsive person, she is quite mentally unstable as she shifts from melancholy to incredibly optimistic frequently. If she were to become bored with the real world "closed space" would appear and create a new world and destroy the old one.

Mikuru Asahina (time traveller)

Nagato Yuki (alien)

Itsuki Koizumi (esper)

Thus, Haruhi is needed to be observed dilligently so she won't accidentally destroy the world. The tine traveler, esper and alien has been sent by their higher ups to keep watch on her to make sure nothing happens, while also withholding their identidies as odd beings as it might cause her to intentionally change the whole world. They are there to keep her entertained and not let her get bored (albeit not very good job), all this sounds quite cheesy trust me its good. 

Finally Kyon (his nickname, real name unknown), is the spark that set Haruhi and him into this wild rampage. He is the person that without knowing set the motivation for Haruhi to create the club. He is a normal student, that haruhi considers uninteresting, but he manages to be the first person to chat with her. For an unknown reason Haruhi keeps dragging him into his world even with his relunctance. For instance every time there is a seat rotation he keeps having to sit in front of Haruhi, like it was fated. Kyon is forced into the club by Haruhi but he changes over time and becomes comfortable hanging around extraordinary beings, even though some requests by Haruhi seem unreasonable or impossible he still able to cope with her. He constantly makes snarky comments and monologues that helps to put spice to the show. He is also the only person that could speak to her normally and they build a relationship that they don't realise. I also like that he calls only Haruhi Suzumiya by her first name which is tad odd.

The Meat of the Show

The show is a sci-fi, slice of life, comedy and romance-ish mix. There are two seasons of the show consisting of 28 episodes and a almost 3 hour long movie. The show's plot centers around Haruhi's eccentric personality along with the shenanigans of the SOS brigade. As they search for extraordinary things that aren't there, solve mysteries, make a movie etc. It parodies many tropes found in anime and smashes them together and is somehow able to be self aware of what its doing. This show is quite episodic. Character development is also quite subtle. However its going to be a fun ride if you can connect with the characters and enjoy comedy. (Warning watch this show in dub and the endless 8 arc please skip 6 out of the eight episodes watch S2 episode (2,8,9) cause it is basically the same episode that loops again and again with different scenes which is stupid to watch through and who thought it'll be a brilliant idea to bore us to death) did I say this show is unconventional. Being aired out of chronological order is not already evident of that but also is able to mix all these genres together and be one of the best shows ever animated.

Many shows try to imitate the formula it created but none of them has succeeded in making another hit like this show did back in 2006. The two reasons is that Haruhi while tiresome and frustrating to watch I admit, brings so much life to the show, scenes trot along keeping you entertain while in the background Kyon gives his cynical monologues to contrast it, kind  of outstanding and really entertaining. Also the animation truly made scenes more memorable, scenes transitioned perfectly, thanks to the director's brilliance, some drawn-out talking scenes are helped with some unusual art direction. Pretty good for its time for a school anime.

The movie (The disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) is where the show shines as a serious drama and the bubbly atmosphere is toned down for this movie. In this world Haruhi obviously from the tittle has disappeared and Kyon decides if he should pick the world with crazy beings that he thought he hated or a normal life that he wanted. The movie is quite atmospheric and the pacing I say is quite slow at the beginning showing a world devoid of haruhi and the dullness of it. The second half is when the show picks up the pace and has the most intense scenes given this shows lighthearted nature. This movie's quite the contrast to the series but is still very satisfying. It has a fantastic soundtrack too.

At the time in 2006, this series is the pinnacle of what a TV series animation should look. Popping colours, incredibly detailed backgrounds, fluid animation and cinematography that is superb, the camera is never still for very long. The 2009 second season got a better budget and finally the 2010 movie is the series at its most beautiful. Made by Kyoto Animation, the king animation studio for shows with good budgets. Just look at these screenshots


Season 1 (2006)



Season 2 (2009)




The movie (2010)
- eyegasms galore

This is my favourite anime series, this just hooked with me because of the characters. I just find both Haruhi and Kyon to make this show one of the best. The sillyness of the TV series and the epicness of the movie is just groundbreaking. I recommend this to any new anime fan. You should watch it too if you could. For nostalgic reasons this is my favourite anime ever it might not be as fresh as before but its still good and I think Haruhi as a person is an inspiration to become passionate about our dreams even if we deem them impossible. I kind of see myself in Kyon too. Believe in Haruhism salute to the almighty god.


*Make another season dammit, they toyed with us in the movie that its going to continue, 5 years haven't happened yet. But still waiting.

How to Watch (brief summary of each episode)

* watch in chronological so it won't be too difficult to follow, most of the time you watch online or buy its going to be in chronological order so you won't need to worry about that. It was originally a light novel so these are short stories coupled together to create these episodes.

1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (part 1-6)- girl meets boy and they make club with supernatural stuff in it.
2. The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya- they play baseball, pretty harmless right?!?
3. Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody- kyon travels to the past on Tanabata and meets young Haruhi
4. Mysterique Sign- some guy disappear, who will solve this mystery?
5. Remote Island Syndrome (part 1-2)- Christie mystery and Phoenix Wright, awesome.
6. Endless Eight (part 1-8, don't watch eight ep of this)- Summer never ends, ever.
7. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (part 1-5)- they make a movie, Hwazzah
8. The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina- the product of said movie, a parody of what not to do in a movie.
9. Live Alive- a school festival and a damn good concert
10. The Day of Sagittarius- Now let's play a RTS
11. Someday in the Rain- perfect execution of the mundane life and great platform for the movie, pay attention to Yuki
12. The Disappearance of  Haruhi Suzumiya (the movie)- an amazing film that the anime world agrees its a great Christmas film cause it's set in December the 18th. Kyon is shifted to an alternate dimension without Haruhi one day but retains all his memories and given a chance to change it back, will he do it?

Good Luck!