World of Anime: The Melancholy of Leokane Suzumiya

Well time to start the World of Anime series with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya! I decided to start of with this since we did have a Haruhi Hunt awhile back so why not? I also hate anime that is in a high school setting so it's time to take this thing head on! So here is the first look at The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya!

Intro

Since I have only seen the first three episodes I don't have too much to really talk about but then that's why this is a first look not a full blown review. The anime starts of with Kyon going to school. Kyon (The protagonist and narrator) finds himself lucky enough to be able sit in front of Haruhi Suzumiya, a girl who finds humans to be too boring for her and would rather hangout with aliens, time travelers and espers. Kyon tries to make conversation but unless he is one of the three things mentioned earlier, she doesn't want anything to do with him. Now it seems he has no way to get to know her and continues to observe the little things that she does like have a different hairstyle everyday and the fact that while she has joined many clubs she never stays for long (She also doesn't care to change her clothes or as we find out later on anyone's clothes right in front of everyone and anyone). So one day Kyon tries to chat with her again using the fact of how she changes her hair everyday in which she states that it has something to do with *insert weird and total bullshit science explanation* and then they start to talk a little bit more. After their talk people are surprised that he even got to talk to her that long. As they talk more and more she states that there are no good clubs in which Kyon basically says "Start one yourself". So now Haruhi with Kyon's help (Which doesn't really want to) start a club and gain three new members Yuki, Mikuru, and Itsuki (No it's Suki) and then start to look for the weird things that one cannot explain. It goes into a crazy plot in which I won't tell and pretty much make you have to watch it yourself but enough about that, what did I think?

I Think....

That this anime is not interesting at all. Granted I haven't seen the whole anime but the problem is that I "Don't" want to see the whole anime and that's bad because you can't have an anime that in the FIRST THREE EPISODES makes you want to watch something else. The biggest problem is HARUHI HERSELF! For an anime based on her you would think she was a character would would like to watch but no she isn't. She is bossy and she doesn't care for anyone (Most likely because their humans) and is someone I would lose my temper with. The things she does to poor Mikuru......poor thing. Kyon on the other hand is a great character I thought and I'm glad it's told through his eyes and not Haruhi. Mikuru I though was a good character although she is basically just something to look at and feel sorry for in the beginning. Yuki and Itsuki I have no comment on at the point I'm at. Yuki seems like a boring character and Itsuki has yet to do anything at this point. So what's the final verdict?

Good or Bad?

Even though I might get killed or just never hear the end of it from fans of this I though it was bad. I can't say it's the worst anime ever but if you bore me in the first three episodes I don't see why I should continue watching. The story is dull and Haruhi herself can make me want to stop watching. Sad to say Kyon just can't get me to continue watching this anime.

Final Verdict: 4/10

no offense but you said yourself you;re not that into anime and don't know much about it
you also said that you hate highschool anime,so rating something you hate is kinda already biased on your part and haruhi isn't really something for people who are new to anime either
and if you want to rate the anime at least watch it first
considering you're used to fantasy action anime,and even barley those. switching suddenly to haruhi isn't really the best decision, the anime is meant mainly for fun and fan service rather than having too much concern for the plot, even the company that made it released the episodes in a different order than it should be
it's not the greatest anime ever or something or even close, it's just what's it's basically meant to be,a fun anime that most actual anime fans would enjoy watching, and it doesn't fail as an anime either seeing you gave it 4/10

A few things.

Yes I'm not as into anime as the rest of you but the thing is (And one of the reasons I made this World of Anime) that I wanted to explore and learn why anime is good for so many all things considered. Haruhi for example doesn't matter if it is anime or not because it could have been live action or cgi I wouldn't like either way. I know now that isn't the best thing to write about since I made this about anime not just any story line.

Another thing is yes I don't like high school anime but that doesn't mean I never like any. I planned on doing a Fruits Basket post and planned on giving it a good score (Or at least a decent one) because I can just open my mind up and have fun watching an anime. My problem with Haruhi is that it started to feel like it was trying to be serious with the things going on. Honestly if it was just those five in the club with interesting characteristics just looking for weird things that go on no one else can explain. To put it in just one sentence I went in for a fun little anime and ended up feeling that I just got a serious sci-fi story with a few jokes here and there.

Lastly I probably gave the wrong impression. I did say I wasn't into anime but I'm not the newest guy to anime and trying to get into anime for the first time. While I haven't watched anything new I have a good pile of anime I can say I watched. If I gave the impression I'm new to anime in general or even said it I'm sorry for that.

No hard feelings to what you said at all.

(And yes I didn't think Haruhi was the worst thing ever, there are things I enjoyed which is why it got 4/10.)

fucking google crashing after me writing a wall of text...
i'll make this short
the case in most slice of life anime is the story will be somewhat dull and not too focused on and it's going to be rather slow with the plot leading to a simple story about somewhat normal people
you'll find some comedy,maybe a good love story in a slice of life,some kind of message or sometimes just plain silliness and fun

you basically came in expecting to get what you get from your normal action anime,you got bored during the first 3 episodes well fine then,but if you want to rate it then watch it all

anime is just generally more free than other things,and i mean more free in almost all aspects
the characters the plot and any kind of action can just be plain stupid outside of anime

Scat Cat wrote:

The biggest problem is HARUHI HERSELF!

I've watched both seasons and the movie and all it took was me to read this and I am 100% okay with your stance on the show. Honestly Rapunzel, I don't think he went into it expecting a super action adventure show. The show is told abstractly with it's airing order for the sake of insuring that the plot stays interesting and surreal at all times... it was their biggest selling point when it was initially coming out because its narrative techniques baited you along. If the premises doesn't latch on and what the story revolves around is an annoying bore, all there is left is the movies different telling and the ending of the first season I would say you would be missing out on, and spending 6 hours to get a satisfying ending really ruins one of the bigger points of doing any form of entertainment; the journey. School Days ending is god-tier but I couldn't rightfully suggest that anime to anyone because of how awful it is to watch to that point.

I don't really like the Haruhi series either, pretty much because of Haruhi alone. The rest of it is scifi cliches with no broken ground that I have no problem watching all over again if she wasn't a such a giant, unlikable nega-bitch. People will give you crap out disliking the show but I'll give you my stance from someone who's watched the whole thing. Unlike some things were sticking with it could be rewarding, if the plot isn't interesting enough to you yet and Haruhi does ruin what there is left, she's not going anywhere for another 9 episodes, then some more on the season after that. You have nothing to prove by finishing it unless you want to also dive into the worse second season as well just so the rather good movie makes sense.

Kitouski wrote:

Scat Cat wrote:

The biggest problem is HARUHI HERSELF!

I've watched both seasons and the movie and all it took was me to read this and I am 100% okay with your stance on the show. Honestly Rapunzel, I don't think he went into it expecting a super action adventure show. The show is told abstractly with it's airing order for the sake of insuring that the plot stays interesting and surreal at all times... it was their biggest selling point when it was initially coming out because its narrative techniques baited you along. If the premises doesn't latch on and what the story revolves around is an annoying bore, all there is left is the movies different telling and the ending of the first season I would say you would be missing out on, and spending 6 hours to get a satisfying ending really ruins one of the bigger points of doing any form of entertainment; the journey. School Days ending is god-tier but I couldn't rightfully suggest that anime to anyone because of how awful it is to watch to that point.

I don't really like the Haruhi series either, pretty much because of Haruhi alone. The rest of it is scifi cliches with no broken ground that I have no problem watching all over again if she wasn't a such a giant, unlikable nega-bitch. People will give you crap out disliking the show but I'll give you my stance from someone who's watched the whole thing. Unlike some things were sticking with it could be rewarding, if the plot isn't interesting enough to you yet and Haruhi does ruin what there is left, she's not going anywhere for another 9 episodes, then some more on the season after that. You have nothing to prove by finishing it unless you want to also dive into the worse second season as well just so the rather good movie makes sense.

well that's what it seemed like to me idk whether i'm right or wrong i'm just saying what it seemed like,also you're probably the only one who thinks the airing order makes sense,it's based on a novel and it just started scrambling the events for almost no reason at all,it's gotten to the point where people started making their own order of episodes to make it better,and the journey does matter but that doesn't mean get the plot over with and just be silly the point of the anime is to tell the story an anime without a plot gets kinda pointless,i mean look at k-on as fun as that is to some people it is just a plotless show and you can honestly quit it any time and it won't make a difference,yea that is a popular anime but it doesn't mean it's a good thing,i don't think they should just get the plot over with if that's what you're saying because i might have gotten the wrong idea

as for you hating haruhi ;/ ok sure you don't like haruhi which is a main character in the show but i don't find it as a good excuse to calling the show BAD or anything,because even if YOU don't like haruhi that doesn't mean that she is in fact a bad character or that they did anything wrong with her,it's just that you didn't like her i mean sometimes when a character is just genuinely horrible and stupid and so bad that it ruins the show,yea then i guess it's fair to say that character is bad and makes the show bad,but you're actually talking about a character that is really really loved with a little amount of people actually hating her and i don't find her horrible i find that she can be a bit unlikable but that's all really,i mean look at an anime like accel world,not sure if you;ve seen it but that anime has a main character that is easy to just hate but the anime itself is pretty good and i don't find people saying the main character is fat a whines a lot a good reason for the anime to be bad,i mean there's a difference between not liking an anime and calling it a bad anime

and you're getting me wrong here i am not some haruhi fanboy who thinks the show is an epic awesome w.e anime,it's way too overrated tbh it's just a decent fun anime
but i don't think you can justify a 4/10 saying it actually fails as an anime because it honestly doesn't

Scat Cat wrote:

Final Verdict: 4/10

^
:/!

I was the same as you at first. I watch the first 6 episodes and stopped. Then recently re-watched it and finished it. I love Action, Slice of Life, Romance, etc. I love all genres except I am not much of a fan of Mecha anime though. (Keyword: 'much'. ;/) I must say this review is kind of accurate indeed. And honestly.... if an anime doesn't capture you in at least/most 5 episodes then it is not doing its job. Even if it 'has a good ending'. What if the ending was terrible? What if it was good but not satisfying? you just wasted some time of your life watching 12-25 (Average anime season) episodes.... I have been there... and done that... and man..... it sucks. Overall i would give it the same rating.

@ Rapunzel, because efffffff quoting giant things too often;

You're actually completely wrong on a few points. The Suzumiya light novel is in anachronic order given it's release date and intended reading order, so the airing order is completely accurate with the book. Secondly, the events were scrambled to give a finale, and make perfect sense. It's trying to pull a bait and switch for suspense to keep it interesting without ruining the biggest event, which is in the middle of the story chronologically. I watched the show first in chronological order and thought it was awful and watched it again a year later in air order and found it 100x better, if not simply for the fact that chronologically, episode 7 feels out of place while the finale is absolutely boring. In it's intended, anachronic order it's final episode was built up to and resolves many questions it litters around. This is also commonly recognized and agreed on in the Haruhi community, google it, majority agrees. It's funny you bring up K-On! because I love pointless shows, K-On!, Lucky Star, Yuruyuri all included. That's the thing though, it's trying for a scifi, bigger then life approach with interesting story telling techniques. Haruhi doesn't push the moe blobs like K-On does, the comedy that Lucky Star does, the character depth that Clannad does, yet borrows from a big pile of cliche seen in anime over and over and over again that these anime all share from and builds off of that with it's own idea, which is in fact its bizarre plot and story telling. Haruhi is very much so about the plot were K-On isn't, the two aren't even relatable minus the pile of cliches they and all anime seem to borrow from. Even the light novel has writing techniques incorporated to elude to mystery that are impossible to keep during translation from Japanese to English because how different our written languages are purely for plot telling devices, this is portrayed through the anime as best as it can.

As for me personally, (have no clue about Leo) you're mixing a dislike for Haruhi for what is actually me despising Haruhi. The story is okay. Haruhi not included entirely, if she was likable and I watched it from beginning to end, I would find it simply no better then "good". You're also mixing what other people think about Haruhi with what I think about Haruhi. Last time I checked this ENTIRE thread was about Leos opinion, then yours, then mine. Never once was it important how much other people liked her. I personally think she would be best off having a stroke, but that's just me. If it paints a point, I enjoy ecchi anime to be frank but I absolutely, positively hate and will not watch nearly all harem anime because that requires the personality and thoughts of the characters to be involved and nine times out of ten, that deludes the entire story because even if it tries, your characters are built off of a shallow premise. Ecchi can be ecchi and still move towards an interesting premise. Harem requires the characters to partake in the ridiculousness. Yet, harem is still one of the best selling things in anime period, the genre will move on with or without my opinion.

And finally, like this is a topic about our opinions, never once did I say the show is bad, nor do I think Leo did. I simply don't like it. Given the fact that I've seen both seasons, the movie, and most the light novel and the light novels origin, I'm far, far, far more familiar with the show then you're giving me credit for. Leo is describing how I felt about 4 episodes in. I wasn't impressed when I was finished, so based off of my own experience I'm simply telling him I gained nothing finishing it. I doubt he will either, unless scifi fantasy cliches completely elude him and the middle and ending is actually something he hasn't seen before in story telling, which I doubt it.

your gif is addicting....

well i don't know for sure and i'm not bothering to search around but what i heard from peop;e is that they prefer the novel order but idk
as for the k-on part i'm guessing that's a misunderstanding on what you meant earlier on my part,you say it's going for a sci fi bigger than life thing but i felt like most the episodes were just somewhat random fun rather than going by the plot,maybe the first couple of episodes actually seemed like they're caring a lot about the actual plot but the more it went on the less plot was included,and i'm probably not the best to describe it but i honestly found it quite fun in a way i mean you're saying it lacks somethings other animes have well all animes lack in a way or 2 actually and k-on even though i honestly find it fun isn't the best example to say as an anime that has more than this,i honestly liked the characters had fun watching it and didn't find the plot to be anything bad,i'm probably wording this wrong...what i'm trying to say it has it's own stuff that makes it fun to watch or at least to me

i mean you say you read the novels and rewatched the anime and know quite a bit about it so if you did all that there must be something worth while that you liked so you know that it's likable and is fun in a way,but i'm just guessing here ;x

as for haruhi you were saying haruhi is the problem with it,i took that as the problem with the show not what you didn't like ;x so yea i'm just saying you didn't like her for whatever reasons you had but she's not a bad or unlikable character really

yea well you see as much as rating is a personal opinion it's also you grading the anime to other people so he basically said with 4/10 that the anime is bad,he might not like it but i take ratings that even if you don't like a show at least take it for what it was,you're showing your opinion to other people who might enjoy it if they watch it and you're telling them this anime is that bad because you weren't that into it,i believe in rating it for what it actually was over your basic opinion i mean it will include some of your opinion but you have to give the anime what it deserves,or at least that's what i think

btw i'm not here saying the anime is great or anything i just think he hit it a bit too hard
if i'd rate it i'd probably give it something near a 6 but that's just me

lol

danna45 wrote:

lol

Thank you for wonderful insight. I'm glad you've made such a huge contribution to this thread, I can see why you would revive it after its three years of death.

I'm sure you wanted to promote forum activity or something like that, but I'm gonna be a butt; that's spamming and necroposting. And those are bad.