[TV Series] Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

TV, 14 Episodes, by Kyoto Animation

Genre: School life/supernatural, with a bit of a lot of other genres mixed in. Mainly comedy.

Plot Synopsis: The story revolves around the crazy antics of a most uncommon high-school student: Suzumiya Haruhi. Her eccentricity, together with her perpetual bad mood and sour demeanour, is (deservingly) legendary, arriving to the point of greeting her new classmates at the beginning of term with one of her most famous quotes:

"I have no interest in ordinary humans. If any of you is an alien, an esper, a slider or a time traveller, come and join me. That is all!"

As you see, this here is no normal schoolgirl.

But, when she was about to give up finding something interesting in the school (having previously joined and quit every single club and/or association in the school, because, quote Haruhi, "they sucked"), a conversation with one of her classmates, Kyon, gives her an idea: if there's no club that does anything interesting, she'll simply have to create it. Kyon (which will have the role of narrator throughout the series) is forcibly sucked into her project, and so, the SOS Brigade is born, and the fun begins. I won't get into more detail, because nothing I said would do justice to the presentation... just watch it.

Note: The series is every bit as eccentric as its protagonist, and has a lot of peculiarities. First is, the chapter order is nowhere near chronological, which helps keep the suspense and the fun. Second, little advice for first time watchers: the first episode is not part of the series, yet it is. It might seem very bad, but there is a good reason why that's that way. I'm sure you'll find the reason yourselves (hint: look at the credits at the beginning ;)).

Story 8/10: The story looks very random at the beginning, but when you start getting into it, you realize that there is a lot more to it than it looked like. The way plot threads cross one another is delightful for those who like detail. Nagato's "superiors" and her nature, the Agency Koizumi comes from, and, especially, the full extent of Haruhi's "peculiarity" (which I won't spoil here)... and in the middle of all that, the reactions of a normal, well-grounded schoolboy (Kyon) to Haruhi's endless crazy ideas.

Characters 11/10: Ok, I know I shouldn't be giving a rating higher than 10, but, seriously, the characters in this series are absolutely awesome. Each and every one has a distinct personality, and all of them are pretty empathic: you can easily feel for them, and identifying yourself with one or more members of the cast is almost automatic. Haruhi's endless genkiness and strong will; Kyon's mix of tiredness and bemusement when reacting to Haruhi's ideas; Yuki's inability to fully understand common humans and constant watch... The character interaction in this show is just great.

Animation 10/10: As we all know, Kyoto Ani tends to deliver top notch quality animation. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu is no exception. The expresiveness of every character is great, and the amount of detail is totally awe-inspiring, to the point that, in the concert of Episode 12, the motions of the guitarist and drummer are almost perfectly exact with respect to the song played.

Voice acting 9/10: The japanese voice acting is very good. Hirano Aya manages to give true life to Haruhi, who has to be one of the most darn difficult characters to voice ever. All of the others do their roles very well. Kyon's voice actor even manages to get the sarcasm across even if you watch it without subtitles and don't understand a word of japanese.

Oh, and the music is awesome. The ending's dance is simply epic (I swear I'll manage to learn it even if it's the last thing I do), and Haruhi's rendition of God Knows on Episode 12 is just beautiful.

Overall 10/10: Best anime I've watched in years. Great characters, funny as hell, and, amazingly, very surprising (and it's been a lot since last time an anime managed to surprise me). Really, this is heavily recommended for anyone who wants to have a good time.

Story: 9/10 Definitely interesting, and a bit quirky compared to most. The story itself is rather simplistic, but at the same time, out of this world, literally speaking. As for it's presentation, it was interesting to see the story appear in an order which is not necessarily "broadcast order", but rather displaced episodes airing in apparently random order. The first episode was strange, and really only fit in later on in the series, though in terms of storyline, it was in place.

Characters: 10/10 First let me say, that Haruhi is God...in a sense. That alone was deserving of some observance. Each character is very interesting, and very well done, and in a way, everyone can relate to them. Haruhi was quirky, and interested in things that most people wouldn't be. She was so out-landing and up-spirited, it is very hard not to love her. Yuki was very intelligent, and rather bookworm-ish, very quiet, but typically understanding of everything going on around her, though she did have difficult understanding the common person. Kyon was also interesting in his own sense, and, being the only normal human character with significance, expresses traits one will find in many teenagers his age, such as constant boredom with the world around him, though he did show surprise at the various oddities introduced by Haruhi's godliness. Asahina appears as the typical shy person, though fills the role of a very cute girl, which is why Haruhi initially takes interest in her. Honestly, the manner in which they all interact is amazing. The relationships they build and the conversations appear all too realistic.

Animation: 10/10 Spectacular. The flow of everything is amazing, and everything runs very smoothly, as evident in the ending theme dance. Theres seems to have been extra attention put into accuracy and detail in the scenery, as well all motion occuring on the screen. The character designs are all fantastic.

Audio: 8/10 The voice acting was great. As the poster above me stated, Hirano Aya did a very good job with the voice of Haruhi, who's tones and moods were always changing. Asahina's voice did a great job of revealing her shyness, as well as the reclusive traits of Yuki. Kyon's seiyu managed to capture his outwardly carefree attitude and persistent boredom very effectively.
I was not a fan of the introduction theme, but the insert music was above average. It delivers the mood of the scene, but doesn't create any distraction...it plays it's hand subliminally. The ending theme fit the show perfectly.
(Toward the poster above me: I have memorized the dance...greatly due to insanity.)

Overall: 10/10 This is the best anime I have seen since BECK, and it is a lot for me to say that something has surpassed BECK. Truly a legend of a series, which has one seriously dedicated fanbase. It comes out in the U.S. in May, people, look out.

Story: 3/10
It is a normal boring School life anime, sugar coated with supernatural/sic-fic.
There's almost no point in every episode.
I see forcing a friend to play a sport and injurying her , and winning by cheating without any hard work once so ever, because a girl will destory the world if she doesn't win.
I see my own daily life, which I will be sitting here reading while hearing sounds. Do I really need to see that too in anime for up to couple of minutes? If you guys call that fun to watch , I can always tape myself reading in my room listening music.
I find none of the episode actually have any positive points to it.
The anime is not in order is because they have to get people to follow it, buy it , and watch it twice. Does it really add anything to the anime? No. People find it interesting only because it was never done this way before. And yet , if you think about it , playing it in non chronological order doesn't make a story any better.
Alot of the episodes are so un-creative/boring that I can even think of the plot line. Or even more, it actually already happened in my school life. The cultural festival episode is nothing special , except that we get to hear the main girl sings at the end. Again , the point of the episode? The fun of it? Sorry, I don't see any except that it is a regular school cultural festival.
And there's something that doesn't really make sense. She finds none of the clubs interesting , winning DID NOT interests her , but yet she go finds sport to play and have fun with it in her spare time when she's in SOS?

Characters: 7/10
A couple of the characters are well created. Kyon has to be one of them since he tells us every single thought and I really like his reaction most of the time(though I find alot of his "thoughts" annoying. Because alotmost of them I can see for myself , or have the same feeling , I really don't need another person repeating those things and telling me what "I" feel in my ear)
Haruhi, someone who can destory the world or "give up" on the world only because she's not special. I do not like this character 1 bit, but she is a well created character as well.
Yuki is an interesting character. Being more like a human each day after spending real time with them.
The other 2 are ok only. Not much dept, nor a development during the anime.

Animation: 10/10
Same thing as Xero XIII said. Such high quality animation( in terms of drawing only) is very rare.

Voice acting: 9/10
There's hardly any Jap voice acting that's bad. So this is , again , up to quality.

Overall: 5/10
High quality animation(drawings) , great openning/ending and good looking characters. In conclusion, an anime that has looks and looks only, with no depth , no point , no main plot line. If this anime wasn't made by the popular company(which I only later found out after watching it) and that it's played in weird order, I don't know if people will still find this interesting.
Don't be fooled by the weird order, it adds nothing to the anime.

Story 7/10: The story was interesting..did get a bit boring at some points but then picked up at others, wasn't one of the anime's that i when i was watching i was like OMGFGNEXTEPSIODELOL. But the storyline was enjoyable and it had its up and downs, it turned out okay though. I mean if you watch it both ways it sorta works (kyons/Haruhi's way).

Characters 10/10: I love the characters in this. They have their own highly unique characters in this which makes it even more awsome in so many ways. The personalitys had a great effect on the whole show altogether and effected it in a way i don't know how to explain? I especially liked haruhi because of her nature. She may act rude but she is nice..in a way. Each character's nature has been developed and refined.

Animation 10/10: The animation was pretty much spot on, i really didn't see any flaws in it.

Voice acting 10/10: The voice actors played off their parts awesomely. Aya Hirano like always did an awesome job on her character and fitted the character of haruhi perfectally. Nagato's voice actor played out her emotionless voice nicely too.

Overall 8/10: was enjoyable, i would reccomend this to people. It may be random, but there is something behind it which makes the series even more lovable/enjoyable? I have watched this twice and i may watch it again sometime.. xD

Story : 8/10 There are hundreds of school girl animes around the world, but this is the most interesting anime I've seen, they put in in non-chronological order it's because it makes the ending episode more 'dramatic' . The chronological order, though it's making more sense and easy to understand.

Characters 8/10 The characteristic of each character are diffrent, and they truely act it out. very well made.

Animation 10/10 by Kyoto Animation product. such good wrok are rare.

Voice acting 9/10 Aya Hirano is the seiyuu for Suzumiya Haruhi, and her voice are 'dominating' in the entire anime series. Hope that she can continue her sucess in 1st season in the coming 2nd season.I'm really looking forward to it.

Overall 10/10 Very recommended for me. Good artwork, storyline, and audio.
nobond should walk pass this and ignore it.

Story:8/10 i liked the story line of the first six episodes in the time line... the others pretty much random but the story is cool...

Characters: i go for 10/10 i really liked the characters... each of them have a special traits, i liked the idea of kyon ,knowing that something does not exists and still beliving it exists... anyways i see no flaws on the character of each..

Animation:10/10 well its kyoto animation so its cool, i don't know is someone else seen it, but on episode 12, haruhi was already running around the school with the enoz people before the concert started.. so even before the concert. kyoto already made it that haruhi was already helping enoz but didn't mention it.. or something like that.. hope i make sense..

voice acting:10/10 voice of kyon is really superb. his emotions and everything... yuko goto has a very great talent to be able to do the voice of mikuru crying and everything.. if you know what i mean..

overall:10/10 i really love it don't i... artwork animation characters storyline everything... its a must to watch for anime fans....

story:10/10 for the first six episode in chronological order.. not the order it is shown... the main plot is cool the build up is not too long and not too short.. its just right... its pretty much interesting if you understand the main plot...
6/10 for the other episodes... its much like an epilogue of the 6th episode of the chronological order... its pretty much like an ordinary high school life but its the fun part of high school...

characters:10/10 the main character,kyon, is pretty much cool, he knows that something does not exists but still believes that that something is in reality... pretty much like that thats why i like kyon... the other characters are just too unique to i can't see any similarities of their character in other animes i watched

animation:10/10 well its kyoto so its cool... i've been a fan of kyoto animation.. their high quality artwork... oh.. i wonder if anyone had seen it.. in episode 12 i think... the festival... you can see haruhi running around the school in the backround (bearly noticable) before it was even explained why... its one point of kyoto animation that i really liked about them... the details...

voice acting:10/10 kyons voice is really unique.. his expessions are just too damn funny.. and the other voices are really fitting for the characters...

overall:10/10 highly recommended for people with weird tastes in life(jk)
it has really good quality and for those who don't like nudity or violence in anime... heres one

10 out of 10! A devout Haruhist here!

I was shocked by how this anime was when I first stumbled upon it! I saw it first in English, and after that narrative by Kyon in the first episode I was absolutely Gobsmacked.....by the way I mean the chronological first....meaning the first day he met Haruhi...I mean the production values really are great for this anime...everything from the voice acting to the storyline to the obscure "camera angles" they use in each scene really had me from the get go!

Story
It all seems very odd at first. And it is! Allot of people think that the story of this anime is leading nowhere but that is certainly incorrect. There's still seasons to come, I've actually read allot of the light novels, so I know a fair bit of what should be happening in the anime, and it seems to be doing a pretty much perfect job of keeping with the original story. And to me this is one of the most cryptic and intriguing stories I've seen in a while, but it keeps it fun while you try and decipher the mystery that is Haruhi's existence. And seeing as there is narrative by the "main" character in every episode, it does a good job of avoiding the trap that most book-to-tv shows fall into and leaving viewers to guess what the character is thinking. In fact it almost seems like they used the books as a direct script for the dialogue.

Charcters:
Everybody loves Haruhi, and with good reason, because she's not just your standard ditzy anime character, occasionally, between her antics and demands, she shows a very caring side, and I love depth in the charcters.
Personally though, I think Kyon is great. I REALLY like his character, his sarcastic, cynical and griping narrative just makes me laugh every time, and I really can't wait to see just what exactly his true role in the series will end up being. As for Mikuru, Nagato, and Koizumi, I liked all three charcters, because the roles they have seemed so unique to me. One of the funniest things to me was the fact that Mikuru really IS a Moe character, whether it's for humor or not, that IS pretty much the purpose she seems to serve in the series, not just the Brigade.

Animation:
I loved the artwork, the movements are fluid, the characters well drawn, but my favorite part of the animation is the way they used something like camera angles in the scene. For instance, in a scene where two characters are talking, the "camera" my actually be focused on a desk in the classroom, or the characters will be off-center in the screen. These artsy things just make me think that allot of care was put into the production, and it also shows off the quirkiness of the series, and it makes me appreciate it even more.

Audio:
I think it goes without saying now that I loved the audio, too. The music is never overbearing, save in the theme songs, where it fit's in perfectly, and heck, it SHOULD be overbearing, this is HARUHI! As for the voice acting, I've only watched the English dub, and honestly I've felt no desire to hear the Japanese. It's so well translated and spoken that I can't imagine reading the subtitles to be an improvement, and the voices fit perfectly, I couldn't think of any better choices for ANY charcter!

It's not even my favorite anime, and I can't seem to say enough to do it justice, watch it! You'll be glad you did....If I HAD to find negatives....Haruhi yells, ALLOT, Sometimes the storyline can be allot to take in, and thinking too much isn't what you feel like doing...Well, there isn't much negative really, just watch and be amazed!

story(10/10) the story at 1st doesn't make much sense but a few episodes in it really becomes a whole lot more interesting. not to mention the plot in haruhi suzumiya is one of the most original and one of the most unique plots i've even seen in an anime.

characters(10/10) the characters are all awesome. the each have their own distinct background personality, with no two characters being the same. also each character has an unforgettable personality that is unique to them. also the character's personalities are as diverse as they are unique. kyon is somewhat sarcastic because he's always miserable from being dragged into haruhi's crazy antics but is still a nice guy. koizumi is a very nice guy, whose very optimistic and he always has a smile on his face. haruhi herself has a personality that's a mix of things. on one hand she's very, very bizarre, but on the other hand she can be normal sometimes as well. and the rest of the characters have just as diverse and unique personalities.

animation(10/10) the animation in haruhi suzumiya is top notch. it's some of the best i've ever seen. everyone in the show has a "hairlo" or shiny ring around there hair. the animation is very realistic and very pleasing to the eyes. i don't know what else to say other than that the animation is great.

audio(10/10) i like both the voice acting from both the japanese and north american versions. i haven't seen a lot of the japanese version but i have seen enough to know that it has great voice acting. the north american version is probably one of the best dubs in anime so far. that especially is shown during the concert at the school festival where haruhi sings as a backup singer for the band enoz. also the music is fantastic. the best examples of the music are the closing and opening themes especially the song that plays during the hare hare yukai dance.

overall(10/10) this is by far my new favorite anime and i can't wait until season 2.