Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol. 1 Review

Originally published on otakureview.net

Intro



Jumping into a series that I really should’ve done more research on first… after all, a series like this doesn’t gain a worldwide cult following for no reason.



The Story



One of the most innovative animes to come out in recent history because of its viewing style, this anime is about a boy named Kyon entering high school and meeting a girl named Haruhi who is only interested in aliens, espers and time travelers and it isn’t long before he’s drawn into her club at school along with three other people.



This is where things get interesting because the first episode on this volume is actually from the middle of the series in which the characters are all together working on the movie for the SOS Brigade.



The first real episode of the series though is the second episode on the volume. In this episode (episode 01), we meet Kyon for the first time and are taken to the point where he first meets Haruhi Suzumiya in class. He’s warned right away that she’s very odd and has quirks that go way beyond normal but he just can’t help notice things about her. After awhile though, Kyon becomes the first person to ever strike up a real conversation with Haruhi and before long, she strong arms him into helping her create her own after school club which is formed after practically stealing a room from another club and kidnapping a few members from around the school and a name is chosen: Spreading Excitement All Over The World With Haruhi Suzumiya’s Bridade, or SOS Brigade for short.



In episode 02, Haruhi has decided that the SOS Brigade needs stuff so after blackmailing the computer club into giving her a computer and internet connection, she dresses herself and Mikuru in sexy bunny outfits to recruit more members. Meanwhile, the other member of the SOS Brigade, Yuki, has pulled Kyon aside to tell him that she is an alien.



In the final episode of the volume, Yuki lays it all out for Kyon. She explains what Haruhi is, what she is capable of and what his role in her life is now that the two have come together. Naturally most of it is hard to believe but he grants her the benefit of the doubt for now. Back to the SOS Brigade though as Haruhi finally gets her wish and a “mysterious” new student has entered the school named Itsuki Koizumi and in absolutely no time, she has gotten him to join the club.



After the fifth member is added, the club is made official and the goal is made clear: find aliens, espers or future men and play with them. I’m guessing that Haruhi meant that in an innocent manner… though with how much she has roughed up Mikuru within this volume, it’s hard to say. The club meets up over the weekend and decides to go on a city search for phenomena. Haruhi, Itsuki and Yuki exploring the east side while Kyon and Mikuru explore the west. While on their walk though, she reveals that she is from the future and once again, Kyon learns that he has a role to play. And then the next day at school, its Itsuki’s turn to reveal that he is an esper and he lays out his theory for what has happened.



The Good And The Bad



Naturally the first thing that someone has to mention here is the “first” episode, episode 00 which is the student film. A lot of other critics have said that if you know nothing about the anime, starting with this episode is a chore and the audience will get bored but I watched it first knowing almost nothing about the anime that I didn’t learn from its incredible build up and laughed myself silly throughout the entire episode.



From the stupid plot that made absolutely no sense, the narrator having no idea what was going on half the time, the purposely terrible writing and acting and the terrible camera work and editing, I just laughed myself silly because of how bad it was. I suppose that since I had no idea who any of these characters were, I was able to just view it as a stand alone feature and laugh at how bad it was as opposed to knowing who the characters were and laughing at them being stupid in a film that they made. As long as you go into it with that first attitude, you should be able to laugh along with it.



I wasn’t able to keep up with the opening animation too much as a lot of it just went by so quickly but the closing animation was quite fun to watch with the SOS Brigade dance sequence which always fun to watch. Normally I will watch the opening and closing animation sequences once so that I can get a feel for what they are like and listen to the theme songs but with this series, I just couldn’t make myself skip over the closing animation because I enjoyed the dance sequence so much and I just wanted to see it again and again. I wouldn’t be shocked if by the time I’m done with this series I’ve already learned how to do the dance and get up to do it along with the characters every time an episode ends.



The animation is really quite good and the character design is really wonderful. In particular I absolutely adored the designs of Haruhi and Mikuru. They were just so well designed and wonderful to look at throughout the entire volume. The animation in this volume is also just plain incredible with its vibrant colors and gorgeous use of smooth flowing animation with obvious CG animation being used in select scenes.



The story thus far has given me headache with trying to follow it. Admittedly, the story isn’t the most complicated that I’ve ever had to try to follow but after a long week it’s definitely one that I’m starting to worry I’m gonna have to take notes with future volumes.


Music



The music in this series tends to be very good though it some places it seems to go along with the over all theme of this series and becomes over the top making scenes seem much more dramatic than they really are or even really need to be. I did particularly enjoy the opening and closing themes of the series though and with over a dozen soundtracks released for this series, I’m certain that I’m going to find lots of more music that I enjoy.



Dub vs. Sub



For a cast of characters this insane, you’re gonna need some very talented and equally insane voice actors… luckily Crispin Freeman, Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee and Stephanie Sheh picked up their phones to answer the call to this series. Crispin Freeman does a great job as Kyon, Wendee Lee does a great job as the spastic Haruhi, Stephanie Sheh is hilarious as Mikuru Asahina and Michelle Ruff does nicely as the quiet, deadpan Yuki Nagato. As an added bonus to me though, even though it’s a small role I love seeing Bridget Hoffman in the cast list as Ryoko Asakura.



I really didn’t hear anything from the sub cast which turned me away from the series though I did find that there are many times throughout this volume that not only will a character be talking but while they are talking, Kyon will start in with his inner monologue which causes even more text on the screen to appear and you’re scrambling for your pause button to keep up with it all. This problem was even worse during the third episode when Yuki was explaining everything about her side of things to Kyon and there was text everywhere. That scene alone made my head hurt with trying to keep up with everything.



There are obviously pros and cons to both tracks, I think that the plot is a little easier to understand when you’re reading it during sub mode but with all the text, it really makes you want to switch back to the dub track to give you mind a break.



Extras

There are a few extras worth noting though including a number of clean animations, individual original episode previews and original trailers from Japan for the series. Also included on the volume are behind the scenes clips of the making of this series as well as some adventures of the ASOS Brigade which is certainly something that is going to please a large percentage of the male audience.



Overall



I’ve been hearing about this series for months now but I’ve kept myself in the dark as much as possible with it simply because I wanted to be able to make my own opinion about this series and not be swayed by hype that I had heard from other fans who had followed it since its birth in 2006 or other reviewers who were going to tell me their opinion of it and have that accidently shape my own.



After watching this first volume though, I’m starting to wish that I had let other fans and reviewers talk to me about this series so that I would’ve had an idea of what I was getting myself into. The series is not terribly confusing but the pacing is non stop from start to finish and there are lots of little things that are going to make you pay attention or in my case just kind of say ‘interesting’ and then move on.



With all the hype behind it, I’m not willing to commit to a decision on if it has lived up to it yet. I will say that I am intrigued by the characters and the ideas that it has thrown out thus far. The designs are cute (I’ll admit it, I’m quickly becoming a Fanboy for both Haruhi and Mikuru) and the story is enough to make me want to learn more about what is coming down the line. I’m going to recommend this series if for no other reason than I think that this is officially one of those series that every fan is going to have to see at least once.



Final Grade: 87% - B