The General Discussion of Haruhi Suzumiya

[RandySyler]

Originally Posted by Hooves

He probably enjoys synchronizing with Haruhi's connection if he was indeed aware of it he probably already knew about it from the beginning possibly and still continues to do it with admiration of Kyon.

That's true. I remember in the Disapperance, Itsuki mentions how he is slightly jealous of how Haruhi likes Kyon for being himself, that probably has something to do with his connection to them.

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by RandySyler

That's true. I remember in the Disapperance, Itsuki mentions how he is slightly jealous of how Haruhi likes Kyon for being himself, that probably has something to do with his connection to them.

That's where I got the idea of him keeping the synchronizing, before Disappearance, I was completely confused on why he would stay like that, and why he was growing weird feelings towards Kyon.

[Gamer_2k4]

So, I have a question. In the General Anime section of the forums, someone made a post comparing some new anime I've never heard of to Evangelion, and asking if it was considered legendary. A couple people responded that a more likely candidate was the Haruhi Suzumiya series.

Now, I know Haruhi is darn popular, but one of the things that made NGE legendary was how it altered the genre and led to so many imitators. I could be wrong, but I don't think Haruhi ever did that. Now, I'm not here to discuss its "legendary" status (aside from being pointless, I think it's much too early to make a call either way), but I am curious as to whether Haruhi has spawned imitators. Am I just woefully underinformed about the anime on the market today? Or is it that Haruhi is so unique that no one's been able to successfully copy it?

[Ithekro]

I believe it was Jason at blogsuki (Derailed by Darry/Meido on My Mind) that made that observation of Haruhi being the new NGE back when Haruhi was airing at 2006.

[Leo Keichi]

It's funny how Azumanga Daiou has so many imitators and nobody says it's legendary. OTOH, calling a slice of life story a legendary anime would be strange, heh.

But I think there are two types of "legendary" anime: the ones that spawn imitators, and the ones that are so unique nobody can do anything similar. Haruhi belongs to the second category. (On a side note, now I'm curious to see how the other novels of Tanigawa look like. They don't seem to get one tenth of SHnY's fame.)

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

Am I just woefully underinformed about the anime on the market today? Or is it that Haruhi is so unique that no one's been able to successfully copy it?

Compare the number of light novel adaptations before and after Haruhi was made into an anime. There's a rather stunning difference.

[Tensei]

It really is a huge differences, before I even read Haruhi a few years ago I didn't even know about light novels, and now that I look back, I find quite a few of the animes that I've watched been adapted from light novels, but can't find as many from before Haruhi

[wistfulloner]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

So, I have a question. In the General Anime section of the forums, someone made a post comparing some new anime I've never heard of to Evangelion, and asking if it was considered legendary. A couple people responded that a more likely candidate was the Haruhi Suzumiya series.

Now, I know Haruhi is darn popular, but one of the things that made NGE legendary was how it altered the genre and led to so many imitators. I could be wrong, but I don't think Haruhi ever did that. Now, I'm not here to discuss its "legendary" status (aside from being pointless, I think it's much too early to make a call either way), but I am curious as to whether Haruhi has spawned imitators. Am I just woefully underinformed about the anime on the market today? Or is it that Haruhi is so unique that no one's been able to successfully copy it?

As a concept, Evangelion is primarily a mecha anime, and how difficult can it be to plop a couple of teenagers in ass-kicking machines and call it a mecha anime? Mecha is a popular and profitable genre, since their target audience is wider, and this has the effect of creating other shows trying to play on Eva's success, creating your "clones".

Now Haruhi on the other hand is unique in its setting and plot, and I don't think there is an anime with a similar or comparable storyline. I mean, who can make a show about a main character who has godlike powers unknown to him/herself and an group of people existing to ensure such a status quo remains without Kyoani sending cease or desist papers?

Haruhi is just difficult to copy, while any NGE clone would just be seen as another mecha anime. In a way Haruhi should be praised for breaking new, and for others, untouchable ground in animation and story telling.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

Now, I'm not here to discuss its "legendary" status (aside from being pointless, I think it's much too early to make a call either way), but I am curious as to whether Haruhi has spawned imitators. Am I just woefully underinformed about the anime on the market today? Or is it that Haruhi is so unique that no one's been able to successfully copy it?

Yes and no.

As far as character design is concerned, Haruhi has inspired imitators.

Case in point...

Spoiler for Sorry Angel Beats! fans, but you know it's true. :-p:

I think it's patently obvious how the character designs of Angel Beats! were inspired by Haruhi Suzumiya.

Angel Beats! was a Key/PA Works team-up and an anime original. Having its leading ladies be a lot like a gun-toting Haruhi and a longer-haired Nagato is definitely intentional, I think.

And hey, it worked, so I'm most certainly not knocking it. It's honestly the Number 1 reason why I became interested in Angel Beats! to begin with.

More importantly, Angel Beats! ended up being a commercial hit, one of the best selling animes of 2010. Again, I have little doubt that drawing in Haruhi fans who liked the idea of seeing Haruhi as an action heroine played a significant role in that.


Content-wise, though, I can't think of any equally obvious examples of Haruhi influencing the broader anime industry. But then, even influencing character designs is noteworthy, I think.

[Gamer_2k4]

Originally Posted by wistfulloner

Now Haruhi on the other hand is unique in its setting and plot, and I don't think there is an anime with a similar or comparable storyline. I mean, who can make a show about a main character who has godlike powers unknown to him/herself and an group of people existing to ensure such a status quo remains without Kyoani sending cease or desist papers?

Well, when you make it that specific, obviously no one can, just like no one can make a mecha show where the mechas are actually humanoids powered by the pilots' mothers' souls and instrumental in a plan to merge all of the souls of humanity without Gainax throwing a fit.

But it shouldn't be that hard to imitate Haruhi, right? Any school setting where the main characters have special powers probably could qualify, or perhaps something where the protagonist has some hidden power that drives the plot. I mean, heck, if Yu-gi-oh! came out after Haruhi and didn't have the card game plot glue, one could say it was derivative. The protagonists are a small group of classmates, the main character has a mysterious power that's he's unaware of (at first) that's pretty much god mode, as the story progresses more people with similar powers come out of the woodwork (Bakura, Pegasus, Shadi, Marik, Ishizu, etc.), and so on.

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if it's the format of Haruhi, rather than the content, that restricts the imitators. MHS is a six episode series with a lot of tangentially related supplementary material. How often do you see something like that, and how successful would that format be under normal conditions? In my experience (and it isn't much), most OVAs make their six episodes and call it good. Otherwise, you're kind of missing the point of an OVA.

That said, I guess the person was spot on who said that the biggest visible impact of the series was the increased amount of animes based on light novels. After all, intuitively, it's a format that wouldn't really work with anime, and I suppose it took Haruhi to show that that didn't have to be the case.

[Skane]

One of the reasons why Haruhi is not easily imitable, is that it is... believe it or not, a slice-of-life anime so far. A very eccentric one. It is mostly character driven. There is no "end-plot" to speak of.

NGE had its instrumentality plot. Angel Beats ended when they accepted their "situation". Etc...

When a show has a beginning and an end, it becomes that much easier to copy, because you have a point of reference for all three acts.

Haruhi however, has not ended yet. You can try to copy the first act, but without a point of reference for the second act and the final act, whatever you try to come up with will not be similar to Haruhi, because you don't know how Haruhi is suppose to be later on.

Novels wise, plot has begun to enter the story, but it has not overtaken the characters yet, because there is no clear cut antagonist... just rivals, terrorists, and fanatics. The characters are still the ones that move the story forward.

So that's why you can't have a Haruhi clone yet, because there is no plot to copy. Just characters.

Cheers.

[Ithekro]

Since 2009 they have added more of the meatier stories since 2006. The original run had one novel that had a complete story, and then parts of three other novels that had short stories. The 2009 run added a second complete story (Sign, novel two) and two more short stories...one taking a bit longer to tell than the other. Then they added a movie, which adds a third complete story.

They still have two or three (maybe four) complete stories to tell, plus several more short stories.

[Skane]

Except the stories are not complete, especially with all the cross-referencing going on now. It is not, "The End".

Natch.

[Ithekro]

Who said anything about an ending? Just more stories to tell.

[Gamer_2k4]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

a lot like a gun-toting Haruhi

Holy balls. I just watched the first episode of Angel Beats, and they're not even trying to be subtle with it. Sheesh.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

Holy balls. I just watched the first episode of Angel Beats, and they're not even trying to be subtle with it. Sheesh.

Indeed. I pity Yurippe's seiyu Harumi Sakurai. She was clearly told to imitate Aya Hirano's Haruhi Suzumiya voice right down to voice inflections, which is kind of hilarious. Unless Yurippe's seiyu just naturally sounds that much like Haruhi Suzumiya, in which case that too would be kind of funny.


Anyway, hope you enjoy Angel Beats!

[Archon_Wing]

To quote myself on Yuri, for the start of Angel Beats:

Spoiler:

So our poor guy (can't remember his name) gets dumped in the middle of a battle zone with Haruhi's undead relative. She then decides to spout a bunch of cliche jokes and invokes a few memes; I guess it was meant to be bad humor?

[mielipuoli]

Originally Posted by Leo Keichi

OTOH, calling a slice of life story a legendary anime would be strange, heh.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, if you include manga.

I think what makes the Haruhi series so popular, and so good, is that it isn't plot driven. It's all characters; it's the writing of the different aspects and the solid characterization that really shines through. There's a deep sympathy that you can get with each of them, and an understanding of why they are they way they are - even the eponymous brigade chief. Having that kind of really consistent character, as well as one that can be explored as a person, is what sets the series apart for me.

Hell, even moeblob Mikuru is interesting, when you stop and really think about her (remarkably terrifying) situation. And Yuki needs a hug, stat.

[wistfulloner]

I would like to know, how would you define a "Legendary" anime? I'm guessing it means its popularity, since people have to watch a series to call one legendary and, well, you don't get to become popular without viewer-ship right?

Originally Posted by Gamer_2k4

Well, when you make it that specific, obviously no one can, just like no one can make a mecha show where the mechas are actually humanoids powered by the pilots' mothers' souls and instrumental in a plan to merge all of the souls of humanity without Gainax throwing a fit.

I get your point, but perhaps like what Triple R mentioned, imitation can be in the form of its characters and their appeal to viewers, not just when there's a wholesale copy of storyline. I think copying the character concept (Nagato, Haruhi) should qualify as an imitation.

[Guernsey]

One thing sort of bugs me, why is Haruhi is still considered God despite Itsuki only alluding to this notion?