The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1 Episodes 1-6

High schooler Kyon’s life was ordinary and very dull before he came to high school.  That all changed when he met her: Haruhi Suzumiya.  She’s beautiful beyond compare, ambitious beyond the most ambitious and determined to live a life that is far from ordinary.  When an unlikely friendship sparks between the two, Kyon is thrust into an unexpected adventure that Haruhi is completely unaware of.  Haruhi is so determined to meet Aliens, Time Travelers and Espers that she creates a club dedicated to finding them.  And is it happens an Alien, a Time Traveler and an Esper become the core members, each with their eyes on Kyon and Haruhi.  Why are they all drawn to the force of Nature that is Haruhi and what is Kyon’s role in all of this? 

 

There was a time in the world of Anime when Haruhi Suzumiya was at the top of the Otaku pyramid.  Everyone was cosplaying Haruhi and her various outfits and just about everyone was attempting that catchy Hare Hare Yuki dance.  It was bizarre and stranger was that I had no idea what the heck it was even about.  Well, the time has come for me to tackle this former heavyweight juggernaut of a title on the Anime Corner.  Can I make heads or tails of this interesting but confusing setup?  Consider this challenge accepted.  Also, quick note: now that the series is back on DVD and Blu Ray, both season one and two have been folded into their true canonical form.  So I wont be splitting this into Season 1 and Season 2 for the review but rather reviewing everything in its true order (why the series was ever put out this way in Japan was always confusing to me…amongst other things but we’ll get there).

 

So, what’s Haruhi Suzumiya about?  Well, at the end of the first six episodes, one could just sum it up like this: Boy meets Girl; Girl wants to meet everything extrodrdinary; Boy ends up meeting said extraordinary people; Boy slowly falls in love with Girl…oh and Girl just so happens to be GOD.  No you didn’t read that last part wrong, they flat out say it throughout the series.  Yes, one of our main protagonists is supposed to be God incarnate, capable of shaping the world as she sees it.  But here’s where, as interesting as that may be, the bigger questions get asked.  Example: if Haruhi is God why isn’t she aware of her powers or the fact that she has all three of the people she’s always wanted to meet in her club right beside her?  Koizumi through his annoying info dumps claims that if Haruhi knew about her powers, she’d grow bored and unexcited and the world would be taken out by creatures that look like the giants from Naussica of the Valley of the Wind.  I’ll get more into Haruhi’s boredom in a bit.  This kind of story setup could be taken a couple of different ways for me.  One would think that people like Koizumi and Nagato are full of crap and are just creepy.  On the other hand, we see examples of their own abilities and what Haruhi’s subconscious is capable of.  It’s easy to take it at face value but is it all really happening?  According to Kyon, that’s a yes and we just have to accept it and roll with it…which in and of itself can be a fun ride at times.

 

Onto Haruhi.  She’s still one of the biggest Anime icons out there.  How do I sum up Haruhi Suzumiya herself: she’s a locomotive who will steamroll through you if you don’t roll with her or get the hell out of her way.  It’s Haruhi’s way or the highway.  From dragging poor Kyon around with superhuman strength to setting up one of her club members to be inappropriately touched by a geek club so she can have blackmail material on said club, there is no length Haruhi wont go and no low she wont stoop to in order to get what she wants.  It almost makes her an outright villain on many occasions.  And if you cant get behind her, why get behind the show?  Granted there have been plenty of Anime where the central protagonist is a jerk and can still be loved to death, i.e. Death Note’s Light Yagami.  While Haruhi’s more antagonistic antics were kind of a put off, I did enjoy her sharing with Kyon her reasons for why she acts the way she does.  Haruhi wants to be special in a universe where she is only a tiny spec.  She wants to meet other special people and enjoy special moments and adventures.  It sounds selfish but its very heartfelt as its one of the few times we see Haruhi vulnerable in the premiere episodes.  That also brings us to Kyon, the viewers gateway to the events on screen.  He’s not a Time Traveler, Alien or Esper so why is he caught up in all of this madness?  I’m sure that question will debated and examined in later weeks.  From what ive seen so far from the first few episodes…well he’s there cause he’s head over heels in love with the crazy ball of energy that is Haruhi (hard not to do so cause she is really cute).  I do think he and Haruhi have some good back and forth banter.  Haruhi shoots for the stars, Kyon tries to keep her grounded.  Kyon wants to stay home and do nothing, Haruhi gets him out of his comfort zone.  As far as pairings go, it isn’t bad and there is potential if Haruhi doesn’t kill Kyon or get him arrested on one of her romps.

 

The rest of the cast is kind of hit and miss.  Mikuru’s shyness and simple accepting of Haruhi’s forced dressing occasions felt so wrong and it made me wonder why the heck she’s even sticking around.  Koizumi I spoke of a little bit above, comes of as the most pretentious and acts like the smartest guy in the room when most of what he says could be summed up on one or two sentences rather than half an episode of dialogue.  Then there’s Yuki Nagato.  She’s our Rei Ayanami of the series…but cooler (COME AT ME EVERYTHING).  She may look and act like a distant, emotionless android but she is the most bad ass character of the show.  Her digital showdown with Ryoko Asakura had little emotion coming from both opponents but Yuki made it clear through silent actions she wanted to protect Kyon and not just because he holds some higher purpose with Haruhi.  She even took Kyon’s advice and began to stop wearing her glasses after the battle.  In all honesty, Kyon and Yuki might not be a bad pairing either as I think Kyon could really get Yuki to open up, even if she doesn’t project emotion like everyone else.

 

It's important to note that Kyoto Animation is the studio bringing this project to life.  Usually theyre the studio that somehow manages to make real life look even more amazing in Anime form.  Haruhi Suzumiya is definitely not an exception as even for a TV series, it still looks really damn good.  The action set pieces do stand out but really, Kyoto Animations lingering shots of everyday Japan could make any Anime worth watching.  I don’t think they have their TV Shows have the “feature film quality” level of detail that Ufotable brings to Fate/Zero or Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (though Free would eventually change my opinion of that down the line) but the bottom line, Haruhi Suzumiya is no slouch in the looks department, even many years later.

 

Haruhi might be a bit of a handful at times but I’ll admit, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya continuously grew on me for several reasons.  By the end of this set, I’m ready for more adventures with this quintet of unusually special individuals…who aren’t X-Men lol.  Will the lid ever be lifted on Haruhi’s powers and, if so, how we’ll she react?  Will Kyon ever do anything about his feelings for Haruhi and does Haruhi feel the same way, hence why she keeps him around?  Will the “organizations” that Mikuru, Yuki and Koizumi work for ever come more into the spotlight?  We’ve got a lot of ground to cover with this one.  See ya next week as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya continues.