Great review, but I felt you were a bit harsh on the "Story & Characters" section. A 6? I feel it deserves a bit better... if only for Mikuru. ;)
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi tv Review
Haruhi Suzumiya is a beautiful first year high school student who is smart, athletic, and won't turn down any guy who asks her out. The problem is that she isn't interested in anyone or anything who isn't an alien, time traveler, slider, or ESPer - as such no guy has lasted for more than a week with her.
When she realizes that none of the clubs at school cater to her highly eccentric tastes, she drafts her classmate, Kyon (the narrator and voice of reason) and forms the "Suzumiya Haruhi's Save our World by Overloading it with Fun" Brigade (the S.O.S. Brigade for short). Nobody quite knows what the club does other than to satisfy the whims of Haruhi, but it is becoming evident that there is more to Haruhi than it seems, and that there may be more truth to her delusional beliefs than reason would leave most to believe.
Story & Characters
After years of fervent research mixed with trial and error, the Japanese have finally done it. They have finally cracked the code; the code to full exploit anime fanboys the world over. Bunny girls, school uniforms, big breasted lolitas, and a cute little dance number to end the show to a catchy little tune. Enough to make any fanboy melt and go completely crazy for fourteen episodes. I describe of course Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.
Haruhi opens with a student film created by the yet unformed (to the viewer at least) SOS Brigade. It stars Mikuru Asahina as a combat waitress sent from the future to protect an esper. It is clearly a way of poking fun at many of the absurd anime plotlines that we subject ourselves to simply by being anime fans. What is so great about this opener is that it has very little to do with the show itself, but proves to be actually laugh out loud hillarious; a rarity in anime. The cameraman, Kyon, acts as the voice of reasoning in this episode by providing his own internal dialog that actually makes every situation funnier. Mentioning things like "I'm not sure why we did a cutaway shot here" or "where is that guy taking her, and why exactly didn't the villians deliver the final blow?" This episode in itself would have probably proven to be quite an entertaining ride as a stand alone OVA, but then the real show opened up.
Kyon is your average high school student. His real distinctive trait is that while he is learning to grow up to fit his high school image, he still has some childish traits in that he wants desperately to believe in heroes, espers, evil corporations etc. Enter Haruhi Suzumiya. During her introduction in class, she outright tells everybody that she doesn't care about you unless you are an alien or any other being out of the norm. This intrigues Kyon as he starts to try talking to Haruhi. Eventually (mistakenly) he convinces Haruhi to form her own club, and so she does; the SOS Brigade.
Once all the club members have been assembled, each one of them comes to Kyon one by one and tells them they are not
humans. Yuki is pretty much a walking computer program, Asahina is from the future, and Koizumi is an esper. Why they
are all there is that Haruhi is quite the special being in that she can unknowingly shape the universe and distort time.
A god of sorts. They are there to simply watch her and gain more insight into this being.
Now that the indroductions have been complete, a simple breakdown. The show at first seems to simply rely on insane
humor, and it works pretty well. Once a serious tone is interjected into the show, that's where it starts to go
awry. While the show still tends to go for the humor factor, there always seems to be a serious undertone which just
proves distracting from what makes the show good. But where the show truly shines isn't the overall slapstick on
screen, but the inner monologue of Kyon. Anytime something is going on, you will hear exactly what is on Kyon's
mind as he reacts to the events. Him making light of an already crazy situation, makes it all the more fun to watch.
But while that proves to be a shining point, Haruhi ends up missing the mark entirely. It attempts to take an 'Evangelionesque' turn towards the end and just feels rushed and incomplete. All of the work up to that point was just thrown together for an overall uninspired and boring ending. If an anime falls, the ending is where it happens.
Fun Facts: At the end of the two-part mystery episode (episode 8) there is plenty of references to the game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney. Haruhi's movements are exactly those of Phoenix Wright, the sounds match the game and all the characters act as one of those in any given case in the game. If you've played the game, pay attention to this scene as it is especially funny as it pays homage to a great game. For those who haven't, consider this your recommendation. Also during a battle with a cave cricket, the character Koizumi Itsuki throws two attacks and yells "Fumoffu!" and "Second Raid". Those two attacks are named after the two seasons of Full Metal Panic that Kyoto animation animated for (Gonzo did the first season if you remember). Count on me to notice these seemingly insignificant facts.
Rating:
Art
While I could say the art of Haruhi is it's strong point, that would be misleading. The art is a strong point among many others in the show. The animation isn't flashy but instead it exudes a certain charm to it. The character designs are not outlandish or overembelished, but instead simplified yet effective and cute. The clear emphasis was on the female portion of the cast, as the males lack very many distinctive features from one another. All of the females are paid extreme attention to so as to allow for at least one character to appeal to every viewer. Mikuru appeals to the fans of the big-breasted cutie. Haruhi to the popular, girl next door fan. I would even go as far to say as Yuki is built for the quiet, bookworm fans.
Where the animation truly shines is the framerate at which the animation is rendered. During the student film portion of the show, the animation was slowed and choppy so as to represent the amaturish feel of a student film. Once the show got up and running, the animation itself improved dramatically. When Haruhi goes into one of her insane rants, the animation shows her erratic body movements and sheer craziness accurately. Most notably is the ending animation, or the dance sequence. This sequence in particular represents the greatness of the animation in that the movements are just so smooth and fluid. You honestly don't find much better than this.
Also of very important note, is the cultural festival singing performance by Haruhi. One of the things anime has a tendancy to do is when someone is singing, they use the stationary open mouths with very little movement. This usually just proves to be distracting. For this show, the mouth movements were accurate to the song. Haruhi moves her mouth with the words and moves her body to the beat, almost to the point of being a bit over the top. But it just shows me that the animation was paid particular attention to in all aspects of this anime. Kyoto animation doesn't fail to impress once again.
Rating:
Sound
The music portion of the sound department is a hard part to score. I honestly do not consider the opening or closing of the show to be all that good as standalone songs. But, in the context of the show, it fits wonderfully. This show is intended to be a light-hearted, funny show. These songs along with the animation sequences are actually extremely entertaining when paired together regardless of one's skill with the Japanese language itself. The background music likely isn't going to make anybody rush out to purchase the OST, but again does more to assist the on screen fun as opposed to sell albums. The two songs that are sung during the cultrual festival are pretty good standalone songs, but they do seem pretty generic on the whole.
When you are talking about a show of this type, the voice acting is usually one of the biggest factors in determining the success and entertainment value of the show. There is Kotono Mitsuishi in Excel Saga good, and the overall horrible acting in Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. Thankfully, Haruhi has the voice actors that can make it happen. Since there are so many different personalities throughout, a lot of versatility was needed for success. Aya Hirano does a fantastic Haruhi, and brings out her crazy and eccentric personality. Tomokazu Sugita does an excellent Kyon and actually sounds as if he is as clueless as the character he plays. But I have to go against the main character here and say the best voice acting award goes to Yuko Goto as Mikuru Asahina. Maybe it's because that's my type of character, or maybe I just think that it would be harder to play her type of part. Mikuru is the type of character who unwittingly goes with the flow and gets put into some very embarassing situations by Haruhi. When she does, she gives out the cutest squeals and the helpless scream as she asks for Kyon's help. Her acting in the student film truly shows her personality and Yuko pulls it off well.
Rating:
Presentation
Haruhi is an entertaining enough show to watch, but it lacks those things that truly make it worthy of high praise. There are quite a few moments where you'll laugh uncontrollably, which is sometimes hard to find in the hit or miss comedy world of anime. And while the plot twist presented early on does prove to be rather intriguing, it loses it's steam quickly and doesn't really ever come to fruition. It seems that they had a solid idea when making it, but didn't really know how to properly execute when it came crunch time.
This show does have many things that will make it beloved among many viewers. Great characters and hillarious character interactions. Some well executed humor and over the top antics. References to other Japanese popular culture that makes it all the more fun to watch. But in the end, it just didn't come through in the "Wow factor!" department. Watch it and you'll enjoy it, but don't expect too much in the end.
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.0000 (above average)
Reviewed by shoujoboy, Jul 04, 2006
Comments
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tobiast88 Jul 04, 2006
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Lumenesca Jul 04, 2006
Excellent review. I totally agree with you in the art section!
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fluke Jul 04, 2006
I personally liked the darker undertones in contrast to the lighthearted-ness. I also found the ending to be very good as well, so I'd have to disagree with you on those 2 points. I think the best voice acting has to go to Aya Hirano...I mean come one...she did both the voice AND the singing voice as well, how awesome is that, fantastic they got someone of that caliber to do it. Very good review I'd say, seems you touched on everything, I'd just have to say you gave it too low of a rating, I personally think Haruhi is one of the rarest and most original animes out in a long time. I think most of /a/ would agree with me, hehe.
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lixuelai Jul 05, 2006
I disagree on your take of the Story and Presentation. First of all the storyline is much deeper than a typical school life comedy. The whole point of the show was Kyon's take of the entire situation. What makes Kyon funny is his down to earth approach to life when everything around him seem but down to earth. As for Presentation Kyoto Animation did an incredible job making it into 15 eps. There will likely be sequels so I wont jump and say the ending sucked. Frankly I thought it was quite good. It was a life-as-it-goes type of ending. (btw Suzumiya Haruhi no Yutsu is the FIRST of EIGHT novels)
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afdsdfs Jul 05, 2006
i think story and presentation deserve atleast a 9.
it's base mostly on volume 1 of the novel, wich have 8 vol so far.
so giving it a low score because of the ending is like giving second raid a low score cause ending sucks and leave alot of unsolve material.
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Nucleous Jul 05, 2006
I agree with most of comments already given, the darker undertones in the story is what attarcted me to the story, the ending was really satifying and not rushed if you ask me, it concluded really well, the ending was left open to continue the story but it was also satisfying to just end it there!
I think Kyoto did one amazing job with the animation so I agree with you there 100%.
As for sound the songs that Hirano Aya sang in episode 12 were superb I just fell inlove with them and her voice acting is amazing aswell, the background music fits well with every situation, the OP & ED also superb listened to it through every episode which I hardly ever do with any anime so I would score the music about a 9.5 to even a 10.
As for you presentations score I disagree it has more serious issues than actual comedy so I would not call it a hit or miss comedy I would score that higher aswell.
All in all very nice conclusive review here, just some issues I have, that's me for ya always trying to disagree. :)
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ahjin91 Jul 05, 2006
anyone know which fansub haf tis project or torrent can give me?
THX! -
Yoru-chan Jul 05, 2006
I agree too, good job!^___-
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Nucleous Jul 06, 2006
You can dload a.f.k version it's the one with the best quality and translation.
Jut google it, I'm not sure if can give links out here on MT? -
KKKEEENNN Jul 06, 2006
Quote by NucleousI agree with most of comments already given, the darker undertones in the story is what attarcted me to the story, the ending was really satifying and not rushed if you ask me, it concluded really well, the ending was left open to continue the story but it was also satisfying to just end it there!
I think Kyoto did one amazing job with the animation so I agree with you there 100%.
As for sound the songs that Hirano Aya sang in episode 12 were superb I just fell inlove with them and her voice acting is amazing aswell, the background music fits well with every situation, the OP & ED also superb listened to it through every episode which I hardly ever do with any anime so I would score the music about a 9.5 to even a 10.
As for you presentations score I disagree it has more serious issues than actual comedy so I would not call it a hit or miss comedy I would score that higher aswell.
All in all very nice conclusive review here, just some issues I have, that's me for ya always trying to disagree. :)
I totally agree with this guy. The music and presentations, very unqine. I tell you right now, this isn't a ordinary comedy school life anime, it's actually a life-threating one.
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Rosegirl18 Jul 07, 2006
When I first watched this show, I quit it 10 minutes into the story, but after reading the first two paragraphs of your review, I think I want to give it a try again.
Great observation and overall review as always, shoujoboy-san. -
TrigunPreacherGirl Jul 08, 2006
Thanks so much for making this review, I had no idea of the plotline and such of this series, just the wallpapers I've seen posted here. The character Kyon sounds interesting, and the series itself appears to be pretty cool. I'm looking forward to this series, since I don't think it's liscenced where I am yet. Thanks again! :D .
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SnakeLegend Jul 09, 2006
I love this series, though its kinda misleading at times. As you get through the story, you get to know more in-depth things that you didn't get to know at first. I was confused too in the first few episodes, then i realised that they're like Shuffled around. I was like, wow, wtf at this. But then its very unique, not many animes are like this. Its very very nice as long as you're a person who was a few laughs and dirty quotes ;)
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cagalli-y-a Jul 09, 2006
Great Review~!
I, personally, liked the ending. I think it made the series seem longer but it does leave an uncomplete feeling. I really like how this anime is so unique from others and I throughly enjoyed it, right to the end.
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white-zero Jul 09, 2006
Decent review though I have to point out on the art/graphics section. No anime is perfect in that. By giving it a 10 i.e. excellent grade, you declared that this is the best looking anime on Earth ever. Or is that really your intention, hmm?
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shoujoboy Jul 09, 2006
Quote by white-zeroDecent review though I have to point out on the art/graphics section. No anime is perfect in that. By giving it a 10 i.e. excellent grade, you declared that this is the best looking anime on Earth ever. Or is that really your intention, hmm?
When grading the art category you look at much more than meets the eye. In fact, the description for this category says "Review the artwork and character design. Do not only look at aesthetic value, also consider if the style used matches the genre and concept of the anime." This means that the animation does not have to be better than all other anime, but whether or not it is perfect for this show. In my opinion, this animation matched this genre of show perfectly, hence the ten. Game-Set-Match.
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afdsdfs Jul 10, 2006
Game-Set-Match? lol
the animation through out the show i find is very good. ep 12 when haruhi sing, the animation seem better than the other eps.since animation during the band for ep 12 is better than most of the animation in the other ep. it mean that it's possible for the animation to be better. therefore it's not PERFECT.
yes, art work and animation is good, but i bet they can do a better job if you double their budget. -
littlejonny100 Retired Moderator Jul 10, 2006
The fight is on. Having now seen haruhi through I think it was very over-rated but I still think it's hilarious that the show is half monologue. Definately an accurate review, the show had it's great moments but the plot fell short, especially the ending. I like the way you point out how they appeal to every persons little love (or fetish) and It's the 'moments' that make this anime worth watching.
I was amazed at the two songs 'god knows' and 'lost my music' and it would be interesting to know exactly what the producers were trying to achieve throughout. At the same time there were completly dead parts (ep 9 I think). Also the manner in which the episodes are shuffled around, I'm one who thinks this worked against the show. Unfortunately I wouldn't really recommend this anime after seeing it through but each to his own opinion. -
kince Jul 12, 2006
basically I feel that the weird episode arrangement is one of the attraction of Suzumiya Haruhi.
Personally, I find the character developement of haruhi very intresting.
I'd love for sequels, however, Suzumiya Haruhi no yuutsu anime did cover quite a few stories from the other volumes.
but then.. we can hope cant we ^^
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kenkaze Jul 12, 2006
I agree with your verdict, but as said about you were a little harsh on the story and characters part. A sequal would be awesome but I doubt they would do one as kince said. Truly random it was with the way majority of the episodes were out of order.
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elfenlied05 Jul 14, 2006
weel iths good the story
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Eternal82 Jul 14, 2006
I still feel that the story rating is too harsh! A 6 is far too low. A 7 is lowest i can accept.
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shoujoboy Jul 14, 2006
Quote by Eternal82I still feel that the story rating is too harsh! A 6 is far too low. A 7 is lowest i can accept.
Holy crap! That could be one of the funniest comments I've ever seen. "A 7 is lowest i can accept?" That makes it sound like you are going to challenge me to a duel now.
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solidvanz Jul 20, 2006
i believe that this series should get better rating than 7. Maybe 9 or 10 from my opinion as this series follow very closely and loyalty to the original novel with little good changes.
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