The Order of Haruhi Suzumiya (In what order should this be watched?)
 

As every fan of the show knows, there are different orders in which it can be watched. The episodes aired in an order determinded by Haruhi, but during each promo, Kyon makes it clear that the chronological order is quite different. In what order would you choose to rewatch this show? Or if you've already rewatched it, what order do you recommend?


So, to watch it in chronologial order, you'd have to watch the episodes in this order:
2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 4, 7, 6, 8, 1, 12, 11, 9.

Then there is a third option. You can watch Episode 0 first as a prologue. This can work since it is an off-topic teaser which only incidently introduces us to the show. Then watch every other episode in Kyon's order:
1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 4, 7, 6, 8, 12, 11, 9.

Or maybe you'd prefer to watch the show in a random order each time, guided only by fate and luck. That way you might somehow notice a secret of Haruhism that would be hidden by blindly sticking to a predetermined order. Strike down all limits on our perceptions that chain us to the mundane world!

Once you vote, please tell me why you prefer that choice!

Edit by Mod (xris):
It seems NoSanninWa wasn't wearing the recommended tin-foil hat when creating this thread and poll, thus resulting in a number of errors. I hope they have mostly been corrected and that the poll is no longer confusing as to which order is which.

In addition, I would also suggest that the following are points of discussion when you post your own opinions.

1) A recommendation to first time viewers as to which order they should watch?
2) A personal preference as to how you would have preferred to watch the show?
3) A personal preference as to how you intend to rewatch the show?
4) Which order you prefer in general?

By all means, don't limit yourself to the above, feel free do discuss any other topic relevant to the subject at hand.

Ummm...I dunno... :heh:

First time watching, of course you should watch it in airing order -- or else you won't be able to appreciate the artfully constructed storyline to fit 14 eps.

If you want to analyse the series, then chronological order will be better because it's easier to see the links from previous events (e.g. Mikuru ponytail in ep4). Else I prefer the original order (because the deliberately mixed order is what I personally makes this series what it is).

Personally, I think that having ep1 where it is made some people go "wtf?" and turned them away from this great work of animation;(.

edit: Wait, isn't it Haruhi who says them in chronological order and Kyon who says it in airing order?

It must be watched in the Airing/Kyon's order the very first time you watch, if not, all is doomed, the world has ended for you.

After watching it in the airing order, then you can choose to watch it in any way you like. Haruhi's order, random order, from last to first episode etc, all you want.

What happened to me was .. I saw Adventures of Asahina Mikuru and then, I got the novel and essentially went random order there. With Haruhi it doesn't hurt.

Well I belive the best order to watch it, is in fact the order that the Anime was presented to us; or in other words... "as aired on T.V.".

This was actualy a very smart way to deliver the story content, but of course it would not have worked if Haruhi's caracteristics as a character had served as an influence to do such.

The development of the series storywise can be very well acompanied through its correct order yes.., however, and this of course.. giving its content, on the way the episodes where switched it actualy ended up emphasizing some in climax sort of prespective.

For as we know.., the last episodes of Haruhi (as shown in "as aired on T.V.") are actualy some of the first episodes to storywise.. be aired.
However.., these are the episodes that give us the conclusion to what the Anime is all about, and what realy are the facts & explinations behind some of the events we first got to see.

Hence, this way, they where able to deliver us something "unique" when watching it.., not only it felt as if miss Haruhi was realy in charge and much like NoSanninWa said & I quote " Strike down all limits on our perceptions that chain us to the mundane world! "
but it also was able to deliver us (what I consider) the best way to enjoy the story consearing on how the events where shown to us (timewise).

Hence.. why I definitly say.., the best order to watch Haruhi and enjoy it to its full potential is definitly.. "as aired on T.V.".
Also.. in the end.., with Kyon's little remark on each episode.., we never ended up beeing lost :)

And True fact is.., if the episodes (giving the same content), where to have been displayed properly.., I recon many would have lost a bit of the excitement of wanting to see the next episode just so it could show us what happened prior to the others we had seen; myself included ;)

Edit :

Needed to fix the order due to all the confusion.. :p
Now I just hope I got it right ^^

WAIT, wait everyone, we've totally messed up here lol

Haruhi's order is the chronological order, not the airing order!

Looks like this poll should be restarted with options:

Haruhi's chronological order

Kyon's airing order

Episode 0, then Haruhi's order

Random order

I don't think that I would have enjoyed it as much if I had watched it in chronological order. Kyon's order raises mysteries and keeps things interesting. You find out that Haruhi is more than she seems and might essentially be God, then you find out that something really bad happened at some point between episodes and the group tries to keep her entertained to keep it from happening again, then the show slowly gives you a better idea of what each of the characters are capable of and raises mysteries, then you finally find out about just how dangerous a bored/frustrated Haruhi can be. If you followed it in Haruhi's order, you'd find out about Haruhi's and the other's full abilities in the first six episodes or so, and the rest of it would be completely devoid of any mystery. It would still be a good show, but watching it in Haruhi's order the first time through would take away from it somewhat, IMO.

Kyon's. It's the order that I first watched it in and started loving the show.

Erm are you trying to confuse me? :heh: :D I think Haruhi's order is Haruhi's order, the airing order. Kyon's order is the chronological order. I got the clue as to the chronogical order by listening to Kyon at the end of every preview.-------

HEY WAIT. Erm. Sorry C.A.. Yes. Kyon annouces the real airing order, Haruhi the chronological order. :heh: I suppose Kyon has always been the more level-headed guy. So what do I vote for now? Haha.

Anyway, Haruhi or Kyon aside; theres only one real answer to this question. Obviously, the first time round you watch this, to maximise the viewing pleasure and prevent you from getting bored halfway thru the whole series, you have to watch this series in AIRING order.

I'll withhold my vote until someone clarifies the Haruhi/Kyon thing.

No lol Haruhi is the chronological order.

Here's the episode preview at the end of episode 5(Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu III):Chronologically Lone Island Syndrome (Part 1) is episode 9, by airing, it is episode 6. Haruhi is chronological, Kyon is airing.

You see that everyone was confused and voted for the chronological order of Haruhi lol

EDIT: Well the poll is totally wrong now lol, I guess it will go wrong even more when people vote first instead of reading the posts first lol

Sounds like the (current) poll will need to be deleted and recreated but this time making it clear which is the aired order and which is the chronological order.

Haruhi order (i.e. chronological)
Kyon order (i.e. as aired)
Modified Haruhi order ("Ep 0" first, folllowed by chronological order)
Random order

This is correct as I understand it. Any objections?

Oh yes, the poll should be made public as well.

Hmmm I'm still quite worried that people will still be confused between Haruhi and Kyon's order.

Maybe just:

Chronological order
Airing order
Episode 0 first, then Chronological order(this was written Episode 0 + Kyon's order because it was thought by NoSanninWa that Kyon's order is chronological, but actually is Haruhi's)
Random Order

Yes, I think I agree with you.

Airing order
Chronological order
"Ep 0" first, then Chronological order
Random Order

(Note: I realise that my post above had a glaring error since there is no difference between "Kyon order (i.e. as aired)" and "Modified Kyon order ("Ep 0" first, folllowed by episodes as aired)". Thery are the same, oops. Error has now been corrected).

lol that's a really nice switching of places for Chronological and Airing orders, I think this should be sufficient :D

EDIT: The higher choice always seem to be the likelier choice to happen, no proof for that, but it just happens :p

The first post is also very misleading as well since the mix up just makes it more confusing which is which. A better solution might be to recreate the entire thread (or at least heavily edit the first post).

I would also like to ask what is the actual point of the thread?

Is it....

1) A recommendation to first time viewers as to which order they should watch?
2) A personal preference as to how you would have preferred to watch the show?
3) A personal preference as to how you intend to rewatch the show?
4) Which order you prefer in general.

I know option 3 is specifically mentioned but IMHO the obvious answer is really the same with any show, that is watch it in order as was intended (i.e. the order it was aired).

I think it should really be a more general discussion covering all these aspects and include thoughts as to why it was reordered and the effect this has on the viewing experience.

Curses, you notice my subtle ploy :)

No, no, no, of course I didn't do that on purpose, of course not :heh: I just rearranged them in alphabetical order, which is the correct way to arrange polls, ahem :innocent:

(or at least select the correct titles so the alphabetical order is the order you want in the first place, heh)

Hmmm I would put it this way:

Thread name: Suzumiya Haruhi Episode Order Discussion Thread

Poll: Which order would you recommend first time viewers to watch in?
EDIT: To think again maybe a better Poll would be:

Poll: Which order do you think is the best way to watch?

Discussion: All of your 4 points.

1) A recommendation to first time viewers as to which order they should watch?
2) A personal preference as to how you would have preferred to watch the show?
3) A personal preference as to how you intend to rewatch the show?
4) Which order you prefer in general.

Point number 3 is probably for people who intend to watch the show, they may want to talk about how they're going to watch the show. Then some of us would reply to the person recommending him in various ways to watch, the pros and cons etc.

Couldn't agreed anymore. :cool:

oh, and I have to remind you, xris:

not EVERYONE like offical aired order, and it is not intended(DVDs don't use it), we have the right to dislike it and yell it out loudly.

God, KyoAni, if you are planing an 2nd season, don't ever do it with that dumbass order AGAIN, just give us the proper Chronological order already! :mad:

.

lol before the thread is deleted:

The Airing order is actually much more interesting, in many ways better than the chronological order, especially for us who watched it every week.

This creates a suspense and longing to look forward to the future episodes. It batters us with questions from the start and then solves them all at once, giving us a huge sense of satisfaction.

This is the power of the random episode order.

It was a great experience and those who got it couldn't agree more that it was genius for kyoani to do this.

I agree with you, but it wasnt exactly a random order, the way KyoAni did it. It would have taken a degree of planning.

About the 4 points of discussion, I would like to second it.

Perhaps you should explain why you didnt like it. :)