The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Review

We all have that one person we know, who is a bit different. Most of us also had that phase in our life when we thought everything existed, and was possible. That feeling doesn’t go away for some people. When on the first day of high school, a girl in your class stands up and introduces herself in a peculiar way, asking that espers, time travellers, and aliens notify her of their existence, you start to wonder if they are serious or not. Most people would try to make their best first impression in high school, others would try to stay calm and cool, remaining good students in the process. Not this particular girl however. She’s a troublemaker, a rebel, who enjoys humiliating the student council and the school system. Clearly anything but normal. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya takes you through the high school life of Kyon, his bizarre

classmate, Haruhi Suzumiya.

Story

As explained previously, our story starts on the first day of school, when Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself in a peculiar way. Kyon does not think much of this at first, but soon is thrust into Haruhi’s own SOS Brigade: a club with no purpose, an odd assortment of members, functioning in the literature club room with one member. What follows is the recruitment of various students, all of which are peculiar in their own way. To the surprise of Kyon, all the recruited members meet Haruhi’s requirements, as they are espers, time travellers and aliens. This makes Kyon the only human member of the SOS brigade, since Haruhi is the unknowing god of the universe. According to the other members, god must not know she is god, and be kept entertained, or the universe will fall under chaos. Yet in this case, Haruhi, our god, cannot be kept entertained by television or a puppet theatre. Haruhi has a twisted standard for entertainment, preferring to humiliate others, and accomplish odd or impossible tasks. And so the adventures of the SOS Brigade begin, each being more far-fetched than the last, still keeping the viewer entertained and glued to the screen, waiting for god’s next move. As the episodes for the series were released out of order, the viewer needs to pay attention to what is happening, as some subtle hints give you information on what is to come. However, if you want to watch the series in chronological order, that’s also acceptable. As for filler and extra episodes, the infamous Endless Eight takes the cake, as eight episodes in the series are almost identical, just with different camera angles and slightly different clothing. This is part of the time loop in the latter half of the first season, as the characters are stuck in a 2 week time loop without realizing it.

Characters

As explained previously, our main character, Haruhi Suzumiya, is a bit out of the ordinary. To start the series, she had shoulder-length hair, with a different hairstyle each day, depending on the day of the week. After a conversation with Kyon about her hair, she cut it to around her shoulders. As Haruhi is the god of the universe, she is able to create a closed space, which acts as a new world when being entertained, to avoid harming the real-life world. Haruhi often has ridiculous requests, such as wanting to advertise with a fellow club member in bunny girl suits, and blackmailing the computer club to get a computer for their own clubroom. Next we have our point of view, and narrator, Kyon. As far as main protagonists go, he is one of the least interesting characters in anime. With little to no care for anything, and having a flat and uninteresting personality, he is a good person to have viewers in the point of view of, but nothing else. When a character’s personality is about as interesting as a brick, it’s either for the viewer to put their own feelings into the character, or the production staff did that deliberately to anger viewers. Next is our time traveller, Mikuru Asahina. Mikuru is your typical fanservice girl, with tons of moe shoved into her personality. Innocent, shy, and submissive to Haruhi’s orders. Of course she’s someone Haruhi would pick on. Mikuru is always falling victim to Haruhi’s entertainment needs. From being a bunny girl advertiser, to being blackmail material for the computer club’s reputation, Mikuru has experience with all of it. Our next character is the alien, Yuki Nagato. Yuki is the kuudere of the series. Cold, silent, and doesn’t show her emotions. As well as being the literature club’s only remaining member, she later falls into the SOS Brigade, even if the only things she does are read and write at an amazing pace. Yuki also has a very computer-like way of thinking, making you wonder what her home planet is like, for her to have such an apparent high intelligence. Finally, we have our esper, Itsuki Koizumi. Itsuki is a “mysterious transfer student”, in the eyes of Haruhi, a perfect match for the SOS Brigade. He is polite, and uses expressive hand gestures when speaking. Itsuki is smiling most of the time, and urges Kyon do the same, to please and entertain Haruhi. Character development is through the series, and can be slightly confusing at times if you are watching the series in release order, but main characters had good back stories, and were enjoyable and entertaining.

Sound

The soundtrack for the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was done by Satoru Kosaki, known for works such as the soundtracks for Lucky Star and Oreimo. For being a slice of life, and supernatural show, the soundtrack works well, and has a large variety of tracks for the length of the show’s two seasons. The soundtrack is good background music, and the tone of the music fits the upbeat and light tone of the show. The first opening, Bouken Desho Desho? by Aya Hirano, describes the series perfectly, and is great on its own. As for the dubs, both capture the personalities of the characters perfectly, from Haruhi’s eccentric personality, to Yuki’s silent one.

Animation

The animation for the series was done by Kyoto Animation, known for other works such as Air, and Kanon. For its time, the animation is well done, and hasn’t aged very much since then. After Kyoto Animation did K-On, they did the second season of Haruhi, which incorporated some of the new character design features, courtesy of the K-On phase. The opening and ending animations fit the series well, and the first ending animation of the series, featuring the main characters dancing, became a huge hit. This dance later became part of many other Kyoto Animation shows, and a staple of the time. Nothing took away from the series in terms of animation, so no problems there.

Final Thoughts

Overall, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a fun and entertaining series to watch, but be prepared for things to happen out of the ordinary. Characters are likable, and well developed, (except for the soulless Kyon), the dubs are well done, and the animation has stood up for its time. So, considering the categories of sound, animation, story, characters, and my personal enjoyment, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya receives an overall score of 8.4 out of 10, with a recommendation to buy the series rather than streaming it. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is available for legal streaming on Crunchyroll, however it is in release order, so if you want to watch the series in chronological order, you’ll need to jump from the first to second season repeatedly. As for buying options, the series will be available from Funimation in DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

And that’s a wrap up, thank you for reading. Reviews will be posted daily through the month of November, so stay tuned!

-Takami