The Final Thoughts & Overall Series Impressions of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Kogetsu Shirogane]

A lot of Haruhi's problem is that she doesn't realize what she's doing. Presumably. It's kinda hard to say exactly what she knows and doesn't know, seeing as she seems to be obfuscating stupidity in the later novels.

[Tyabann]

I think Haruhi's problem is that her dump stat is Wisdom.

Thus being generally unobservant and unable to connect the obvious together.

[Tsukasa27]

Well, I finally decided to watch this super-hyped show after hearing so much about it. I have to say first that I tend to dislike something when a lot of people say it's great and all. I don't know if it's acting marginal, more like being skeptical i guess .

I was really pleased overall by what i saw: An amazing piece of anime from a technical POV (animation and attention to detal were incredible!) with a very original story, blending different genres together and presented with sarcastic, intelligent humor (gotta love Kyon's comments).

Character design is very appealing and i also loved the OP/ED
There is no real low point, except maybe the disapponting ending if you watch in chronological order.

Not in my top 10 but definitely a must-watch!

[roriconfan]

The series is just average to good for me. It never gets too serious and it is based too much on fandom and fan pleasing to really count as great in my mind. Trully great series don't need all that for me. They are good even if they don't have great visuals or moe girls. Yet take that out of Suzumiya and it is nothing much anymore.

[Bill Bones]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

The series is just average to good for me. It never gets too serious and it is based too much on fandom and fan pleasing to really count as great in my mind. Trully great series don't need all that for me. They are good even if they don't have great visuals or moe girls. Yet take that out of Suzumiya and it is nothing much anymore.

Well, of course, you must be tired to death of those shows depicting teenage girls with god-like powers of which they are unaware but are controlled by their (teenage) subsconcious and (thrill-seeking) common sense, and live surorunded and closely watched over by allpowerful information-based aliens, espers and time travelers struggling to prevent the aforementioned teenager to destroy the universe if she grows bored of it.

I mean, half the anime shows are based upon exactly this premise.

[roriconfan]

Actually, she created all those herself exacty so not to be bored...

[Bill Bones]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

Actually, she created all those herself exacty so not to be bored...

Or maybe just created such a universe where this could be real and so it is.

What keeps SHnY above water is the premise itself. Fandom is appreciated, of course. But the premise... it could evolve in a thousand ways.

[roriconfan]

^ It could evolve all right. So far it is only scratching the whole deal. But also, so far all the evolution they did was E8. And it wasn't exactly interesting...
And may I remind everyone than most anime have interesting premises and most anime end up dropping them for superficial milking randomness.

[CrowKenobi]

And some (not all) anime are adapted from various sources... how many of those didn't follow the source as close as this one did?

[Ice Block]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

it is based too much on fandom and fan pleasing.

Fandom? There was no fandom before the show aired, and there was not much hype at all. Fan pleasing? Elaborate.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

great visuals or moe girls. Yet take that out of Suzumiya and it is nothing much anymore.

Wrong. Watch all 28 episodes again and come back with a more informed opinion.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

And may I remind everyone than most anime have interesting premises and most anime end up dropping them for superficial milking randomness.

This show does not follow the rules of "most anime". Too bad.

[roriconfan]

Originally Posted by Ice Block

Fandom? There was no fandom before the show aired, and there was not much hype at all. Fan pleasing? Elaborate.

What about the novels? They were around with their fans. And I was reffering to the fandom WHILE airing and afterwards.

Originally Posted by Ice Block

This show does not follow the rules of "most anime". Too bad.

I find it does. And if it didn't, it slowly will.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

What about the novels? They were around with their fans. And I was reffering to the fandom WHILE airing and afterwards.

Although the current fandom can certainly be a target of criticism, the fans of the novels were very quiet about their fandom.

In fact, the anime series debuted to absolutely no fanfare. Look at the monster it is now. Pretty interesting, eh?

Futhermore, due to the lack of fanfare and advertisement, most people only got into the show about the fourth episode, after hearing it was good from everyone else.

Yes, this show has an obnoxious fandom, but you can't say that it was always like that.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

I find it does. And if it didn't, it slowly will.

So you can read the future now? Ooooh! Tell me what I'll be doing in ten years!

[Ice Block]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

What about the novels? They were around with their fans.

The novel fans are the reason why the Ep00 reaction ratio was almost even. Plus, the number of Haruhi fans before the anime aired was exponentially smaller than the number of fans after the first two episodes alone. This is evidenced by the literal explosion of the fanbase over the course of a few weeks after Ep00 premiered.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

And I was reffering to the fandom WHILE airing and afterwards.

You stated that this is based on fandom. How can a currently airing show be based on its fandom then? Clarify.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

I find it does. And if it didn't, it slowly will.

Wrong again. Clearly you need to rewatch the show, and take a closer look. To make it easier, I'll give you a few hints:

• SHnY was one of the first series to feature a conglomeration of several genres, including but not limited to: Sci-fi (setting, BLR, etc), comedy (various) / romance (Melancholy) / drama (Sighs), sports (Boredome), mystery (LIS), action (Melancholy IV, Mysterique Sign), slice-of-life (Someday in the Rain, E8), meta/troll (E8), music (Live A Live), space opera (Day of Sagittarius).
• The Melancholy of Asahina Mikuru Episode 00
• Endless Eight
• Someday in the Rain
• Haruhi 2006 airing order
• Haruhi 2009 pre-launch marketing and secrecy
• Disappearance viral marketing

[roriconfan]

Originally Posted by Ice Block

You stated that this is based on fandom. How can a currently airing show be based on its fandom then? Clarify.

This way?

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Futhermore, due to the lack of fanfare and advertisement, most people only got into the show about the fourth episode, after hearing it was good from everyone else.

The "it was good" part is a relevant term of course. All current anime are labeled great, even when they are average.

Originally Posted by Ice Block

• SHnY was one of the first series to feature a conglomeration of several genres, including but not limited to: Sci-fi (setting, BLR, etc), comedy (various) / romance (Melancholy) / drama (Sighs), sports (Boredome), mystery (LIS), action (Melancholy IV, Mysterique Sign), slice-of-life (Someday in the Rain, E8), meta/troll (E8), music (Live A Live), space opera (Day of Sagittarius).
• The Melancholy of Asahina Mikuru Episode 00
• Endless Eight
• Someday in the Rain
• Haruhi 2006 airing order
• Haruhi 2009 pre-launch marketing and secrecy
• Disappearance viral marketing

All these seem like a patchwork of half-baked ideas that were hyped along the way. Gintama has a plethora of genres too. So does Sayonara Zetsubo. So do hundreds of anime. The point is to make a uniform result instead of random events. And what was the uniform result? Haruhi's boredom that led to randomness? I didn't quite bought that although I like the idea.
Endless Eight was a bad idea by the way. Original but bad.
The random order of episodes was just a wacky idea. Original but not something to think "wow, better than if they were in proper order".
2009 secrecy was just a long teaser that disappointed many with the end result.
And the movie doesn't seem to help much the E8 aftertaste.
I'm not saying all these are not original. I'm saying they all have a bad aftertaste.

[Ice Block]

Uhuh... So people saying "it's good" makes it based on fandom and fan pleasing? Windows 7 is based on fandom and fan pleasing? Google is based on fandom and fan pleasing? Half-life is based on fandom and fan pleasing? WoW is based on fandom and fan pleasing (more like appeasing the whiners)? Please clarify what you mean by "XXX" is based on fandom and fan pleasing.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

All these seem like a patchwork of half-baked ideas that were hyped along the way. Gintama has a plethora of genres too. So does Sayonara Zetsubo. So do hundreds of anime.

How do the above seem like a patchwork of half-baked ideas? They don't seem half-baked to me. I don't know about Gintama, but SZS only has one formula: tropes in society-parody-satire-comedy.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

The point is to make a uniform result instead of random events. And what was the uniform result? Haruhi's boredom that led to randomness? I didn't quite bought that although I like the idea.

Why do you think the point was to make a uniform result in the first place? Because that's how most/every series works? Well, this is not your average series. Furthermore, when you take a look at Haruhi 2009, you start to see the significance of all the other "filler" episodes (the ones not containing "Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" in their title) in the 2006 run. Other eps that are "filler" now will make sense after seeing the movie, and so on.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

Endless Eight was a bad idea by the way. Original but bad. It served its purpose well.
The random order of episodes was just a wacky idea. Original but not something to think "wow, better than if they were in proper order". Random order was actually better than chronological order.
2009 secrecy was just a long teaser that disappointed many with the end result. How many series suddenly just show up without prior official notice? You should've been there when BLR hit.
And the movie doesn't seem to help much the E8 aftertaste. Look around you, and think again.
I'm not saying all these are not original. I'm saying they all have a bad aftertaste.

And, how do all these make the show follow the rules of "most anime"?

[roankun]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

it is based too much on fandom and fan pleasing.

i think you could only say that for the first manga. not that it was used for milking, just that it didnt follow the original plot. but you could see that they dropped it, and haruhi is still amazingly in sync with the novels.

i'm only saying this but... you're fighting a losing battle. i mean sure, you're entitle to your own opinion, but you have to admit that haruhi is different from all the "other anime" out there.

[Bill Bones]

Originally Posted by roankun

i think you could only say that for the first manga. not that it was used for milking, just that it didnt follow the original plot. but you could see that they dropped it, and haruhi is still amazingly in sync with the novels.

i'm only saying this but... you're fighting a losing battle. i mean sure, you're entitle to your own opinion, but you have to admit that haruhi is different from all the "other anime" out there.

That's the simple truth.

There are a hundred ways to pile "evidence" on how SHnY shouldn't deserve its status, but the simple fact is: whatever they say against the "parts", SHnY is MUCH more than the sum of its parts.

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

^ It could evolve all right. So far it is only scratching the whole deal. But also, so far all the evolution they did was E8. And it wasn't exactly interesting...

So I guess since it didn't interest you it must mean that the idea was a overall failure.

I happened to enjoy that stunt they pulled considering it was an interesting approach to the subject material. Yes, E8 had its moments where it didn't seem like it did enough to stay fresh, but overall it served it's purpose. Also you must not be paying attention to the show or something if you're saying its only scratching the whole deal. Its built off its premise several times already, but you seem to feel like there is nothing, but randomness coming from it all. While you are well entitled to think that way I disagree with your feelings on that matter.

You also seem to act as if you know what the "rules" of a good anime is when in the end it comes down to nothing more than one's own interests.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

All these seem like a patchwork of half-baked ideas that were hyped along the way. Gintama has a plethora of genres too. So does Sayonara Zetsubo. So do hundreds of anime. The point is to make a uniform result instead of random events

Again with the "random" talk, what randomness? I'll give you the episode order being random (even though honestly it fit the series well and actually helped save the "big" scenes for towards the end of the airing), but nothing else seems random at all. You must have not watched the show or are just so ticked off by certain aspects that you dubbed it as randomly placed nonsense.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

Endless Eight was a bad idea by the way. Original but bad.

Your opinion, not fact.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

The random order of episodes was just a wacky idea. Original but not something to think "wow, better than if they were in proper order".

Funny since I think it worked better for the story to be originally aired that way because, as I said, it saved the "big" scenes for the latter part of the first season, thus making it feel like the show actually reached it's climax at the end instead of near the beginning. Random, sure, but it works (well it worked for me anyways).

Originally Posted by roriconfan

2009 secrecy was just a long teaser that disappointed many with the end result.
And the movie doesn't seem to help much the E8 aftertaste.
I'm not saying all these are not original. I'm saying they all have a bad aftertaste.

Again this is all just your opinion, not facts. Also you sure talk as if you know how the fans feel about everything.

[PrincessFrani]

I have to be really honest about this. The first season of this series is what turned me into such an anime freak I am today. In other words, it changed my life. I know it sounds weird but it's all true.

Anyway, the first season was really good and the whole drama we usually see in some animes were never taken to the extreme and I like those kinds of animes. Possibly what really kept me watching this was when Mikuru, Itsuki, and Yuki explained to Kyon of what they really were.

For the second season, it was good but not as good as the first. And I'm sure everyone knows why so I'm even going to say it. Anyway, it was interesting to see a connection of how Haruhi got her start in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody. It was also interesting to see how the Mikuru movie was made.

Overall, it's a good anime to watch and it's one of my most favorites.

[dragon4dudes]

Season 1 was much better than the Rerun of Season 1. No doubt. the Rerun was kind of a letdown, but I pretty much learned to enjoy almost any form of anime.... *cough* Endless Eight was a pain to watch over and over again. But I watched to a) wait for the next new part and b) for the little differences in animation. Actually I think the general consensus is that Kadokawa made a mistake with E8. It is possible the because of the nature of E8 and because of the artist change (I might be wrong about the artists being changed) or because KyoAni wanted to try out new animation styles and techniques, E8 was done in that fashion. I may not have been the best, but it's a possible motive. As many noticed, as the rerun progressed, the art and animation quality definitely improved. just compare the art and animation from BLR to Sighs 5; Sighs 5 has so many less kinks. That would be true of anything, practice makes perfect. Reason Kyoto Animation didn't practice before the airing, they (artists) were pressed for time and other stuff they had to do.

Sighs was an improvement and it allowed me to better my opinion of the Rerun. It would have been nice if Disappearance was shown, but it wouldn't be a rerun like was advertised so I'm not complaining.

About the 2005 airing; the reason for its "randomness," which it isn't completely, is for an epic ending. If watched in chronological order all the way through, "Someday in the Rain" would have put a large dampen on the fan base, no doubt about that. It provided a nice transition from the first 8 episodes to the last 5 episodes, regardless of how boring it was. It did take be a while to adjust to the odd style, but it worked. Rental Magica, also a Kyoani I believe, also had its episodes in non-chronological for the a better ending, more closure, than would have been otherwise with a chronological order. The Rerun of TMoHS is in chronological order because it would allow for a new fan base to emerge and understand all of it. And because the then-current fans had hyped it up, they could make the experience more enjoyable for the, for the lack of a better term, noobs.

Haurhi is different from most other anime because it creates such a vast array of possibilities of interpretation. It generates thought about how the world works, inspires "What if" questions from the fans, and did create such a fan base. Many anime I've seen have given me a short period of "OMG THIS IS EPIC!!!!!" feelings, most recently Macross and Code Geass, but Haruhi is one of few that I have had a long standing interest in. Also, I enjoy reading the vastly different responses to the anime in general. There are the people who absolutely love it and continue to worship it and there are people that hate its guts now. I find the arguments between the two sides enjoyable. Both sides have valid points about the same bit of Haruhi and both sides pretty much use the same bits as evidence for their opinions, but the interpretation of that bit is just so different. That may be why I enjoy Haruhi so much.

Lastly, the movie makes sense, unless Disappearance is to appear with some other full arc novel such as Intrigues (You know what, screw the italics) or something like 2005 run of Haruhi is to be done again. I don't think it would work quite as well I can't make that judgment though. I don't remember anything from vol 4 up until vol 8 or 9.

I think that's the end of my rant. Remember, just my opinion.