The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

[PyTom]

And, the final episode is out.

Of course, it ended where I thought it would... no big surprise there, but it's the perfect ending point, as it manages to join both the big story of the greater SOS-dan with the little story of Haruhi and Kyon. In the midst of all the awesomeness involving aliens, time-travellers, espers, closed space, video games, giant monsters, rock concerts, movies, and talking cats, Haruhi is fundamentally about the relationship between Haruhi and Kyon... even if that was hard to see at times.

Haruhi is, I think, a 10-year show, one that people will still be talking about 10 years from now. One that people try to copy... usually failing. Of course, in Haruhi's case, the show distinguishes itself not for the strangeness of its ending, but by the characters it had, their situations and ther relationships. The ending made sense, and was well executed, without a need to rush due to time or money.

Anyway, Kudos go to the Tanigawa Nagaru, the author of the story, and to Kyoani for turning that story into remarkably well-executed animation. And thanks go out to strato and a.f.k. for translating it.

And now, I guess, the only thing left is to wait for the second series.

[Taavimon]

I agree with everything PyTom said.

I hope the eventual American DVD release will use the TV order unlike the Japanese discs.

[DrakeNavarone]

Ah, another great episode, as expected of the finale. A really fitting end to a really great series, although it is a bit of a shame it's over already. Of course I'm hoping for a second season, but I'd like to see an english release of the books even more.

Even though it was the finale of Suzumiya Haruhi, the real highlights were the parts she was missing. Kyon and Tanaguchi's conversation, the brief moments with Kyon's sister, and Yuki watching Kyon and Mikuru playing around by the computer.

Now that it's over, I can say this with full confidence: Haruhi really is the best show this season, hands down.

[PyTom]

Okay, so now that the series is over, what are people's favorite episodes?

For me it's #11, "The Day of Sagittarius".

It's a Yuki episode, but one with a strong Haruhi component, and everyone in the SOS-dan is involved. It had reasonable roles for everyone except Mikuru, who spent most of the episode cowering, but that's par for the course for her. The production values were excellent, as usual.

What's fairly interesting is how, since the episode spanned a week, we saw character development inside the episode. Haruhi went from the "All Ships Charge!" to a saner commander, while Yuki goes from not knowing how to use a mouse to a super-hacker over the course of the episode. There's a fairly nice talk between Kyon and Itsuki about how Kyon and Haruhi now trust each other.

And then there's the space battle. Space battles are always cool... especially the shot with Yuki at the end.

Couple in references (Gundam! Working Code!) and... well... this one is my favorite episode.

So what do other people think?

[ShiraiJunichi]

I haven't seen the entire thing yet, but so far, I liked #11 the most as well

[DrakeNavarone]

I'd have to say my favorite has always been episode 1, Asahina Mikuru no Bouken.

It was the first, it was the best. It is the perfect introduction to this series and this one episode parallels the entire series so well. It become obvious later on how well Yuki, Mikuru, and Koizumi fit into their assigned roles, but Kyon and Haruhi fit their jobs too. Haruhi can completely reshape the world (or in this case, the movie) in whatever way she wants as the director, while all Kyon can manage is to just take everything in without much say in the situation as the cameraman.

Also, all the characters (with the exception of Asakura) make an appearance in this episode, which is a plus. The minor characters, like Taniguchi, Tsuruya, and Kyon's sister, always make the show more fun, so it's always nice when they have a scene here or there. (Poor Kunikida, the only time he got more than a couple lines was in Live Alive...)

All that aside, the real reason I love this episode is because it is outright hilarious. That's it, plain and simple. And I really don't need any other reason to like this episode the most...

[Iaman]

I would just like to offer a big thank-you to everyone here because I'd never heard of this anime before you guys started talking about it. It's now one of my favorite anime, and I find myself constantly wanting more... I guess that's really how it always is with good things. The only thing that can fill this void right now is HAIBANE RENMEI. Oh well.

[chronoluminaire]

I was really torn between Day of Sagittarius, Live A Live, and Melancholy VI. Melancholy VI was an excellent ending, and more "plot" focused than the others. But DoS and LAL were just utterly awesome. I ended up plumping for Live A Live when I had to vote for my favourite episode over at the SOS-dan.com forums.

[Watercolorheart]

Has anyone heard anything about Season 2?

Because I read the novels like the Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody chapter and then Volume 2, and I *really* want to see them animated ...

[PyTom]

Nothing hard, but I get the impression it's not so much a matter of "If" but "When". Newtype ran a headline claiming "The Return of Haruhi Suzumiya", but it wound up just being a scam, on the order of:

"Coming up at 11: Ford Cars Recalled!"

"Why, I remember my old Ford, that was a good car. Why, it drove me and the missus over the..."

(IIRC, that's taken from the Newhart show.)

[Vatina]

I think my favorite episode is 11 as well, if I remember correctly.... I loved the mystery on the island as well
And the concert was so well animated! I just love Kyoani, they're great. It makes me want to own this: http://www.e2046.com/product_info.php?products_id=6255
Unfortunately it's one of those "collect-and-paint-yourself" figurines <_<

[Watercolorheart]

Can anyone tell me if Yuki Nagato's book, Hyperion is any good? I'm really "into" sci-fi right now, and I was thinking of buying it along with the Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

Was anyone here enough of a geek to read it already?

Off-topic: Waaannt! http://www.e2046.com/product_info.php?p ... =111111111

[Jake]

Off-topic: Waaannt! http://www.e2046.com/product_info.php?p ... =111111111

Even further off-topic, but the modeller in me feels he ought to let you guys know just on the off-chance... I'm pretty sure e2046 (along with the other well-known, HobbyFanatics) is a recast seller - meaning they sell copies of kits that aren't produced by the original copyright owner. (The signs that give it away include abnormally cheap prices, lack of included instructions (or hasty photocopies), occasionally smaller parts count and total lack of mention of the original manufacturer of the kit.)
Sometimes, recasts are the only way you can get hold of a kit if it's a wonderfest one-off or out of production or something, but a lot of the stuff you see at e2046 is still available from mainstream legit shops like Hobbylink Japan (e.g.: this and this). Personally, I see kit recasting in the same light as fansubs, and figure it's one of those things people need to make their own decisions on, but whatever your moral stance on the matter you should be aware that a recast kit is nearly always significantly lower quality and harder to assemble.

[Watercolorheart]

Aww .... too bad, that Nina looked *****in' ...

On a side note, I started reading Hyperion. Yup, this is definitely to Yuki Nagato's taste because it's the HARDEST science fiction I've ever read, and I got through Schismatrix Plus in only 2 days ... plus, I read all kinds of classic scifi ...

I'll give my final impression when I finish the book, so far I'm about 1/6 of the way through, with a good set-up and lots of mystery, but haven't seen much in the way of actual plot development yet.

[chronoluminaire]

Hyperion was a weird book. It was good. But, BE WARNED: it's incomplete. It doesn't end! You need the second one to get the ending. (And the first has random spoilers for the second thrown in at the end... <_< ) It's good mystery/sci-fi/horror, though.