My journey into KyoAni’s past has finally brought me to back to Haruhi Suzumiya, which was… well, not as friendly or endearing as it felt when I left it. Beyond the show itself aging like a sack of wet tomatoes in the sun, the fact is, I have aged too, and that means Haruhi herself is less enchanting than she is constantly abusive and a misery to be around. Still, it was a solidly rewarding experience running back through these episodes, seeing what things really do hold up and what things don’t work anymore. Haruhi was a pretty key show for me, so I didn’t mind stopping by to catch up.
You can check out my megasized review over at ANN, or my copious episode notes below!
Episode 1
Opening with the Kyon monologue that will carry us through
I’m sure some of this show’s material aged pretty poorly – anything with Mikuru in particular
Kyon’s classic voice, something that has since become absolutely cliche in anime. Haruhi suffers from the copycat saturation of success
His life is grey until Haruhi appears
Seeking an interesting high school life
The very solid character animation
Though the composite isn’t as strong as their later shows
“What’s she doing?”
The show is very propulsive, raising constant questions and mysteries
“I don’t have time for common humans!”
The hairdo gag
Plenty of the comedy is still strong
This series of expression shifts is excellent. The show knows conversational pacing for the actual character development scenes
Yeah, solid expression work and body language
“We common folk find it best to spend life in common ways”
Nice slapstick
Our first introduction to Nagato, her sitting unnoticed in an empty room
Kyon actually really does like Haruhi’s presence, but it’s very hard to justify her if you’re not inherently fond of her
Lots of strong perspective shots
The show indulges in slapstick with Mikuru that demands a heightened world to justify
“Moe is a pretty important concept to keep in mind”
This self-awareness that would later get run into the ground
The SOS Brigade
Episode 2
Many of their conversations kind of aren’t. Haruhi rambles about a wacky scheme, Kyon riffs on it
Haruhi abusing Mikuru to get a computer
The use of framing to separate Kyon is a nice touch
Mikuru is both a bad character and one that makes Haruhi worse, since Haruhi’s behavior towards her is unforgivable
She really is a moeblob
Kyon already entertained by Haruhi’s demands
The way the show shifts in tone based on the characters present is very strong
Haruhi locking the door is already a strong running joke. The show definitely understands comedy
The long-range body language of Haruhi arguing with the school staff. More strong comedy
Kyon’s fascination with Haruhi is definitely one of the key hooks of the series. And his feelings are far from pure in a variety of compelling ways
The alienating longer shots of Nagato’s meeting with Kyon
And the very different sound design
Messing with archetypes, another thing that’s become cliche
Episode 3
Kyon is an “irregularity” in Haruhi’s world
A second viewing actually is kind of rewarding, since there are tons of details and hints about relationships throughout
Koizumi’s so great
So many fisheye shots
And now the date music and framing for the Mikuru talk
God, Haruhi has some great expressions. And her feelings are all clear with no dialogue
Both of them are similar in that they could make each other happy, but want a life of greater glamour
Everything started three years ago
The melancholy sax of Koizumi’s monologue
Koizumi the first to raise the idea that this group and universe at large exists because Haruhi willed it so
“The biggest mystery is you”
“I guarantee that you are a normal human”
Episode 4
The fight with the class rep, Ryoko Asakura
Asakura’s dialogue feels pretty amateurishly yandere-ish on rewatch. “Please die” and all that
Haruhi is good at creating a sense of scale or “mythology” for its world
Episode 5
Haruhi actually making a series of smart deductions in investigating Asakura’s disappearance
Pretty disjointed switch into Haruhi’s big speech
Still reasonably atmospheric, though
Haruhi realizing she’s not special
It’s such an adolescent fear and philosophy
“I was at a standstill till I could no longer see Haruhi’s back”
Little tidbits of fantasy
Koizumi describing a human-centric theory of the universe, and centering it on Haruhi, so all these strange beings came about because Haruhi wished for them
Some cheap CG here. This segment isn’t really directed at all – very flat sequence, just a long monologue
Haruhi’s frustration empowers these giants
Episode 6
Kyon again wondering at his own place in this whole scenario. C’mon Kyon, you understand Haruhi better than anyone
So much of this show is all about the unstated courtship between Kyon and Haruhi. Haruhi’s moods shift based on Kyon’s actions
Haruhi was frustrated enough to commence creating a new world
The fundamental desire to lead a more interesting life, and finding things of value in the one we have
Episode 7
The baseball episode is pretty full of great gags all the way through
Keeping Haruhi entertained to avoid the end of the world
The color palette shifts nicely for the serious scifi moments
Nagato’s posture as she runs the bases is great
“We have slightly less common sense than normal”
“If you’re fine with it, then sure”
Episode 8
Time for Tanabata
The art design of the second season holds up better – less sharp-edged designs, cleaner video, smoother animation
The formative moment that guides Haruhi’s choice of high school
And then they just stay in Nagato’s apartment for three years. I forgot about that. Great trick
Nagato takes off her glasses once she’s synchronized with the current Nagato. Her evolving personality
This also provides a hint of her later feelings – staying in standby mode for three years
A fair amount of the appeal of Haruhi Suzumiya is how it layers these very compelling tiny scifi questions in ostensibly unrelated narratives
“This was a special case. Emergency mode. It has to be rare.”
Jeez, the direction is so much stronger for this season
“I’d prefer for things to stay nice and ordinary. Would you prefer for something to happen?”
Episode 9
The glitched logo episode
This crappy CG cricket
The show has a decent mix of music. Reasonable guitar rock here, the various genre pieces for the different scifi scenes. The dorky clubroom music is likely the worst
“She probably normally solves these problems by herself, quietly from the shadows.”
Episode 10
The closed circle two-parter begins
God, Koizumi’s so great
Many small beats to echo the mystery genre framing. Shots emphasizing the other characters, talking about the locks of the rooms, etc
This show sure has some gazey shots
Episode 11
They sure jump to locked room mystery mode quick
One of the few times Haruhi and Kyon fully get along – when they’re legitimately experiencing a dangerous adventure together
Actually using some live-action shots here to reenact the murder
Kyon getting Nagato to open the door is a nice little bit
Koizumi being set up as the villain in a variety of ways
Haruhi lost her interest when she realized the culprit would have to be her friends
The Ace Attorney conclusion
Episode 12
Just a legitimately nice summer vacation. Little did we know the hell that would ensue
This goofy smooth jazz music
I like this steel guitar track
Episodes 13-19
Kyon’s commentary sure gets more aggravating as it repeats like this
“This is the 15,532nd time”
The show definitely does illustrate Nagato’s feelings well
The final cafe scene is excellent. Love the surreal sequence of images as Kyon tries to piece together the exit
Episode 20
More experimenting with halfhearted but interesting framing tricks
Haruhi once again getting jealous and tormenting Mikuru
Episode 21
The episode break literally occurs mid-sentence, emphasizing the fact that this is essentially just another short film
It’s interesting to see this again, divorced from the context of coming out years after the original Episode 00
The relationship between Kyon and Koizumi is probably the most interesting one
Episode 22
Haruhi’s unreasonable anger and the intense music here really sell the tension
“How the hell is a normal person supposed to shoot a beam from their eye?”
“You don’t get jokes, do you?” Haruhi is just textbook abusive
Love how the actual beam shows up. Such a tense, screwed-up moment
It’s hard to find Haruhi sympathetic at the best of times, but she’s just a monster in this story
Episode 23
Yuki just carelessly destroying a fence
Haruhi is getting too passionate about playing god
The music doesn’t let Haruhi off the hook at all – it’s all these slow, ominous piano keys, as Mikura basically makes a sacrifice of herself for the sake of Haruhi’s tyranny
“Did you just want to see Asahina dumped in the lake?”
And now it’s just dissonant noise. Damn
And they actually drug her. Holy shit, I forgot that
And they actually make a serious point out of her being physically abusive, too
“You’re the one being selfish. You’re just hitting her because you want to”
“Miss Asahina is not your toy.” “She is!”
Man, the animation of her anger is so, so good
Tsuruya apologizes, at least
I love Koizumi’s perspective here. His idle musing on whether Haruhi is planning to “fix the world” places him in a softly dangerous cultish position
“Suzumiya thought that no matter what happened, you’d always be on her side”
Koizumi is being monstrous in his own way here, chastising Kyon for not being “logical”
Kyon getting defensive for Haruhi’s sake – “at least she’s trying to create something”
Haruhi in the clubroom, thinking about wearing the ponytail to win Kyon back
The cherry blossoms start blooming for the sake of Haruhi’s shot
Episode 24
They find a cat
And the cat can pretty much immediately talk. Welp
This is a very philosophical cat. Love him responding thoughtfully while slowly sinking down Yuki’s cape
Koizumi suggests making the ending of the movie “it was all a dream” to maintain reality
Mikuru says not to trust Koizumi
Mikuru’s theory is that the world has always contained all these strange phenomenon, and Haruhi can simply gather them effectively
Koizumi alluding to the shadow war Haruhi has inadvertently created
Koizumi is even more direct in his condemnation of Mikuru, saying she was basically designed to win him over specifically
Koizumi’s so great. Their rapport definitely holds up
Episode 25
Oh my god Mikuru’s song. This fucking episode
Their low-budget film production style really holds up
The sound design and un-direction are quite strong
“To think the Mikuru Beam was useless…” This episode is still very good
So many great funny details, like Nagato and Mikuru both making dramatic exits in the same direction
Interesting conversation between Koizumi and Nagato, that seems to reflect Nagato’s actual position between Koizumi and Mikuru’s camps
The show getting caught up in different genres is great
The transition back out of this film is very unnatural, which isn’t surprising, given these were from entirely different seasons. The show overall is extremely disjointed
Episode 26
Nagato’s fortune telling still a solid gag
Conveying Kyon’s boredom quite well
The show performance is still quite good. Remarkable how much genuine enthusiasm Haruhi shows here
Haruhi briefly realizing there’s already magic in the world
“I felt like I was doing something at that moment.”
And then she once again gets caught up in her own plans
Like with Endless Eight, there’s a brief window there for Kyon to steer her, but he generally lets it pass
Episode 27
Time for the computer game episode. This CG doesn’t look so terrible!
Kyon’s shtick sure does wear thin after a while
Koizumi: “I just got a bit jealous of the unseen trust that exists between you and Miss Suzumiya”
Definitely one of the more immediately entertaining episodes
This is a really great Nagato episode. Her getting into the game is a lot of fun
Nagato and Koizumi are essentially the only characters that hold up, but they hold up very well
Episode 28
And we’re here! Someday in the Rain, at last
Another strongly atmospheric episode. Feels like a predecessor to much of KyoAni’s later work
These quiet moments with Nagato really do capture a lot of the after-school atmosphere
Haruhi and Kyon’s bit at the end is good, too
Yes, Koizumi is best character, and key to making the show work, insofar as it does. He often gets neglected by the fandom, but he’s one of the best parts of the show.
Oh yeah, personally I’ve never had any problem with seeing Haruhi as an antagonist, but Mikuru’s character is just bad by any standard.
The 1st season holds up so much better in the broadcast order, paralleling the subtle relationship building occurring in the stand-alone episodes to the slow-burn self-realization Kyon has during the “origin story” arch. The school festival episode is magic. Of course the rock concert was a sakuga bomb back in the day, but with hindsight, the Haruhi character development in her wistfulness the day after is still so compelling. The lack of following up on that is what sinks the show, with Oregairu harshly criticizing that backtrack into escapism (Haruhi in effect rejecting “the real thing”) years later. But when you watch the 1st season as its own thing, in broadcast order, that failure to launch doesn’t taint the proceedings. (with Someday in the Rain serving as a glimpse of what “the real thing” would have looked like)
It doesn’t help that Disappearance yet again centered around Kyon and all but dehumanized Haruhi, regurgitating the origin arc’s revelation. That’s another place where Oregairu seems like Wataru’s “fix” of the genre, by fully exploring Yui, Yukino, and even Hayama’s perspectives and lives outside of school as important, revealing that Hachiman is actually closer to being the Haruhi figure in his own group.
Hmm, I have to disagree woth you on this as I recently watched Haruhi and it stills hold up well (surely the 1st season did). I do think that watching it in broadcast order is way more better experience, as the climax will be at the end so it gives you a satisfied feeling. The chrononical order kills it, and worst of all you have to get through that Endless 8 arc.
For the things that you think it’s dated, Kyon still has his sharp and cynical observation for me, and for Haruhi, I was afraid I’d would find her annoying this time but I still grew attached to her; and I’m getting older as well :). The only character that didnl’t work well for me was Mikuru
Anyway, for better or for worse, I still see Haruhi as a staple for how LN adaptation should be.
How does this new revelation bode for your top 30 + addendum?
I haven’t seen Haruhi, but I’ll probably watch it at some point, if for no other reason than because it’s Haruhi. I have a feeling the LN-isms won’t bother me too much since I’ve mostly avoided the generic LN adaptations that keep coming out.
Are you also going to review Disappearance? I keep hearing that it’s actually better than the main series.
The C+ score seemed rather low, but makes sense in the context your notes provide. My impression of Haruhi is probably skewed since I’ve watched the first season more than once but never finished the second (I dropped it really early in Endless Eight).
This exercise makes me wonder how some of my old favorites like Full Metal Panic (2002) and Mai-HiME (2004) would fare if they were reviewed today.
Having just watched the series recently, I find the review rather interesting in that I disagree on a few main points. For one, I thought your “cultish” comment on Koizumi’s behavior in the Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya arc is how I felt about him the whole time. Throughout the whole show he happily serves the role of the smiling yes-man, not even trying to question the things Haruhi says and does because she’s actually a goddess to him. This is interesting because, even when Kyon finally snaps and wants to smack Haruhi for all the abusive shit she’s done, he’s still doing it because he cares about her and wants her to improve as a person. Koizumi never has that kind of realization or development, so he sort of falls flat to me.
I can also see where you’re coming from on Mikuru. She certainly succumbs to a lot of the “cute” character problems: she’s spineless, exists in large part only to be acted upon rather than to drive the story in any way, and the harassment she suffers seems as though it was meant to be entirely a joke most of the time. For me, though, getting to see the tough, powerful, experienced woman she’s eventually going to become has a lot of impact. Haruhi’s “full steam ahead” attitude seems to have rubbed off on her in some way, helping her grow as a person. At the same time, she feels somewhat tragic, since you get the feeling that her employers from the future essentially threw the young Mikuru to the wolves in order to appease Haruhi and keep their own position intact. Those are a few of the thoughts I had about her throughout the series, but they were more than enough to make me interested in the character beyond her surface-level presentation.