The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

N

Nemphtis

Hunter
Yes, it has been discussed before but it was a real pain trying to find the original Haruhi topic so I finally decided to just make another one. I'm probably a little late on the whole Haruhi scene, but this is a discussion forum and I demand a discussion on Haruhi, again.

I recently finished watching the series and to be perfectly honest, it wasn't as great as many people were hyping it up to be. Sure, different strokes for different folks but after seeing the name 'Haruhi' all over the place I assumed this could be the next Black Lagoon for me. Please don't sharpen your knives just yet though, I just said it wasn't as great as I was expecting it to be, but it was still an enjoyable series to watch.

Also, when I asked people what they thought of Haruhi, the word 'random' seemed to pop out of everyone's mouth. Can we really call Haruhi that much of a random series? Hell, I thought Welcome to the NHK was even more random than this. The only reason people assume it's random is simply because the episodes are split into parts which contribute to the main plot and parts which are just there for the hell of it, much like GitS' Stand Alone/Complex episodes.

I don't know about my fellow AUKN members, but I thought Haruhi was pretty damn selfish. It seemed that Kyon was the only person who was anywhere near decent to actually be friends with. Haruhi usually didn't even listen to what other people had to say, and even though this was just for entertainment I thought she was quite the bitch. Ironically, I thought Yuki was the second most 'normal' girl in the SOS Brigade even with her background. Do I think Haruhi was random or amazing? Probably not, but I did enjoy it and found Kyon to be a good character to follow from start to finish.

You've all probably posted your opinions before, but for those of you who enjoy repeating yourselves, tell me what you thought of Haruhi and whether you agree/disagree with my thoughts on it.
 
I didn't get the hype to be honest. Average at best. I may finish it at some point but it's really low on the list.
 
It was alright. Didn't really laugh that much. I rather Lucky Star now, But that seems to be losing it a bit. There wasn't enough episodes of it really to 'fully' get it. But it seemed to be a rushed short random series.

Nothing special. Nothing horrible.
 
I also don't see the hype, I didn't particularly find it that interesting and the fact all the episodes were mixed up and screwed about just made it even less enjoyable for me
 
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I enjoyed it wasn't light hearted but wasn't creepy.
I laughed a few times.

Seems pretty good though second season should be better :)
 
I like when the episodes were mixed and the fact that this anime felt so different since one of the main characters was narrating the anime. The ending was but I like the op better.
 
Lupus Inu said:
Best thing about it was Hare Hare Yukai and even that wasn't all that great.
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I agree with that statement, Hare Hare Yukai was cool but people have turned it into some kind of addictive epidemic. I figured I was the only one who secretly said to myself "It's not all that great!" The only parts I found amusing was how far Haruhi would go to take advantage of Mikuru, aside from that I just watched the series with a (wait for it) melancholy mood.
 
i enjoyed the series, but its not half as good as the light novels. Once i read through them, yes i saw some of the funny bits, but i realised the series isn't meant to be full blown comedy. The broadcast order is weird, but its decent none the less, but as i do prefer the novels, i prefer to watch it in the chronological order.
 
In the words of Izumi (Lucky Star):
"They're already flaming away." XD

Haven't seen it all, but I don't think it deserves such a bland review. I admit, L.Star is superior in the comedy, but Haruhi's a series I saw before it and I still want to find out the ending. It made me wonder a lot of things, so I enjoyed it.
 
Maxon said:
Gimmicks + Moe = The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
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Hmm, I wonder. Moe? Nowhere near the extent of many shows, certainly. And definitely not the focus. Gimmicks? Like what? If you mean the episode shuffling, I'd say it's more a good directors decision than a gimmick, as it vastly improves the pacing of what would have been a very uneven show otherwise. If you mean Hare Hare Yukai... well, I guess. I never really paid much attention to it.


Personally, I really liked the show. Not that I would consider myself one of the unfortunate fans who wax poetically of its supposed wonders - indeed, it's not even in my top ten - but the slice of life setting was accompanied by such a variety of comedy, sci-fi and mystery as to steadfastly hold my attention throughout.
As to the characters, with the exception of Haruhi I found them all to be rather one-dimensional, albeit not especially offensive for it. Haruhi, on the other hand, I found remarkable - a delightful combination of wild fancy and down-to-earth common sense, so rarely portrayed and yet so in keeping with the spirit of humanity.

N.B. - rereading my post, it seems a little... odd. I blame it solely upon my reading too much Jane Austen, but I'm too tired to fix it right now. I beg your understanding ^^;
 
I found it funny at times but i didnt really enjoy it that much. I thought it was ok at best but the way the episodes was layed out annoyed me, alot. It made the whole thing confusing to watch >.<
 
Ramadahl said:
Maxon said:
Gimmicks + Moe = The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
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Hmm, I wonder. Moe? Nowhere near the extent of many shows, certainly. And definitely not the focus. Gimmicks? Like what? If you mean the episode shuffling, I'd say it's more a good directors decision than a gimmick, as it vastly improves the pacing of what would have been a very uneven show otherwise. If you mean Hare Hare Yukai... well, I guess. I never really paid much attention to it.
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If you really believe it's not a moe factory, I suggest you check out the Haruhi Suzumiya image thread on Anime Suki. Perhaps you take moe to mean something slightly different, like it's mostly lolis or something, but I make a bigger generalisation.

When I said gimmick, I mostly meant the episode order. If it's uneven in chronological order, then it's certainly uneven in televised order. I thought it was ok at first, but after another couple of viewings, it just made the whole thing feel disjointed. You're forced to remember more than you should. You can call it artistic, cool, or clever, but I call it pretentious.
 
I think the episode order was fine, and it never bothered me in Stand Alone Complex either, I wouldn't go as far as calling it a gimmick at all. However as I stated before, I'm just annoying that people call this series 'random' merely because of how the episodes are listed.
 
Arbalest said:
i enjoyed the series, but its not half as good as the light novels. Once i read through them, yes i saw some of the funny bits, but i realised the series isn't meant to be full blown comedy. The broadcast order is weird, but its decent none the less, but as i do prefer the novels, i prefer to watch it in the chronological order.
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In which language did you read the light novels; Japanese? If there are English translations I'd kill for a link to a place I could order them.

Also, I loved Haruhi. It's one of my favourite series for being funny and involving. I thought the character development was handled well, and the story was interesting and provocative.
 
adamcube said:
Arbalest said:
i enjoyed the series, but its not half as good as the light novels. Once i read through them, yes i saw some of the funny bits, but i realised the series isn't meant to be full blown comedy. The broadcast order is weird, but its decent none the less, but as i do prefer the novels, i prefer to watch it in the chronological order.
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In which language did you read the light novels; Japanese? If there are English translations I'd kill for a link to a place I could order them.

Also, I loved Haruhi. It's one of my favourite series for being funny and involving. I thought the character development was handled well, and the story was interesting and provocative.
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i've been reading them online in english, though i'm personally hoping for a license at least in the US so i can actually have the novels.
 
Maxon said:
If you really believe it's not a moe factory, I suggest you check out the Haruhi Suzumiya image thread on Anime Suki. Perhaps you take moe to mean something slightly different, like it's mostly lolis or something, but I make a bigger generalisation.
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Um, sure there are moe bits there, I just wouldn't say they're particularly dominant.

Maxon said:
You can call it artistic, cool, or clever, but I call it pretentious.
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Hmm, I don't really call it any of them. I just think it would've kinda sucked if they had 6 episodes of plot followed by a series of largely standalone episodes.
 
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