The Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

[R Kenshin]

okay. I have a question. I hear this thing all around the web and I have one major question: What is this new fab for one anime. I have been waiting for something great that is fresh and new and I see many people raving for this new series. SO WHY SHOULD I GO OUT AND BUY THE LIMITED BOX NOW?!!?!?!
someone answer my question with a very logical response. Plz do not just spam out. BECAUSE ITS AWESOME or somethign like that even if it is. Why do you guys like this so much?

[I'M Eh-chan!]

okay. I have a question. I hear this thing all around the web and I have one major question: What is this new fab for one anime. I have been waiting for something great that is fresh and new and I see many people raving for this new series. SO WHY SHOULD I GO OUT AND BUY THE LIMITED BOX NOW?!!?!?!
someone answer my question with a very logical response. Plz do not just spam out. BECAUSE ITS AWESOME or somethign like that even if it is. Why do you guys like this so much?

First things first:

Everyone has different tastes.  So I may not be able to convince you to run out and buy the limited edition, nor do I require you to run out and buy the limited edition.

I will, however, tell you why Haruhi is so special for me:

The story.  The story is absolutely fabulous.  This series is based on an ongoing series of light novels by Tanigawa Nagaru.  Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is a sci-fi, comedy, school life, supernatural series.  What's most important is it successfully combines all of these elements into one series.  For me, it is a very fresh and exciting story.  The humor is top-par as well.  Here is a basic plot premise from AnimeNewsNetwork.com:

On the first day of high school a beautiful girl named Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself as having "no interest in ordinary humans". She asks for any aliens, time travelers, sliders or espers to join her. Watching her weird behaviour is Kyon who sits in front of Haruhi and is the only person who talks to her. When Kyon comments about Haruhi's joining every club in school and then quitting he unwittingly gives Haruhi an idea to start her own after school club. Thereafter Kyon and several others find themselves dragged, literally, into the Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade (the S.O.S. Brigade for short).

The characters.  Each character has their own unique traits and personalities, and I really can't say that there are any characters I hate.  Kyon's sarcastic wit and observations are hilarious.  He is an excellent narrator.  All of the other characters are superb as well.  I feel I can really relate to Haruhi and find many of my traits in her.  And the voice acting is great.  Each voice seems to really fit the character.

The presentation.  This show was originally aired anachronistically (out-of-order).  It was a wonderful experience.  Each new episode would give you hints as to the overall picture, and it was left up to you to piece things together yourself.  Unfortunately, the regular editions of the DVD releases will be in chronological order.  Broadcast order DVDs are included with the special editions, though.  Either way, it is a great series that can be enjoyed no matter which order you watch it.

The animation.  Kyoto Animation has done a superb job animating this series.  A lot of attention is paid to details, and the episodes were practically reviewed frame-by-frame to be cleaned up for the DVD release.  Facial expressions, body language, everything is well done.

The music.  This may just be a personal preference, but I love the music.  The BG, the OP and ED, and the insert songs were wonderful.  The music choices for some of the biggest scenes in the show are so well chosen I get chills watching them.

So that's what I think of the show and why I think it's great.  You'll have to decide for yourself whether it is the series for you, though.  It is hard to describe in words.  Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is definitely a show that needs to be seen to understand.

[R Kenshin]

sounds interesting  :wink:  Thanks a bunch Eh-Chan. Lol, you gave me a better review then most proffessionals I see on other internet sites.

[I'M Eh-chan!]

Hee hee, you're welcome Kenshin.  Glad I could help   :exhail:

[Poey]

Wait, why was this stickied?

Oh well, I'll leave it.

[Soske]

I think it got stickied because way back before we had that attack, it was auto deleted, and someone probably asked about it or the series was talked about or something.  Then when the site was rolled back, the topic came back and got stickied.  That's my theory for it anyways.

[R Kenshin]

only a few more days till you convert to haruhi-ism. I hope that its good.

[Poey]

I was thinking about converting but I dunno. We'll see.

[R Kenshin]

Apparently the anime is already out at animecastle.com as well as animecornerstore.com and has been out for some time. I know the release date is the 29th but I guess it is getting out sooner. Has anyone gotten a copy of the dvd yet?

[Soske]

Got my copy yesterday.  As suprised as I am to be saying this, the voice acting is pretty good.  The SE box art is nice too.

[Lord Il]

The SE box art is nice too.

It really is. There's artwork everywheres on it. One of the nicest done in anime boxsets I have.

I just got my copy of it yesterday. It wasn't even a preorder either. Wasn't expecting to find it at all. I walked into HMV and saw the regular copies of volume 1 on the rack.
Thing is, there's this drawer under the rack which pulls open with all kinds of goodies under there! And lo and behold, there was the special edition literally screaming at me, "Buy me! Bye me now, damn it!" O_O

This is really an incredible package though. The magnetic door on the box was a nice touch.

I'm curious though. Wasn't there supposed to have been a red SOS Brigade armband included with this, or am I just imagining things? O.o hmm... Maybe not as the package gives no mention of it.

[Soske]

The SE box art is nice too.

It really is. There's artwork everywheres on it. One of the nicest done in anime boxsets I have.

I just got my copy of it yesterday. It wasn't even a preorder either. Wasn't expecting to find it at all. I walked into HMV and saw the regular copies of volume 1 on the rack.
Thing is, there's this drawer under the rack which pulls open with all kinds of goodies under there! And lo and behold, there was the special edition literally screaming at me, "Buy me! Bye me now, damn it!" O_O

This is really an incredible package though. The magnetic door on the box was a nice touch.

I'm curious though. Wasn't there supposed to have been a red SOS Brigade armband included with this, or am I just imagining things? O.o hmm... Maybe not as the package gives no mention of it.

The red armband comes with the Vol. 2 SE box.

[Lord Il]

Ah, I see. Thank you for that, Soske.

I knew I read somewheres like Amazon or something that the red armband would be included eventually. I may wear it at the next con I go to for laughs. ^^

[Lord Il]

Had a busy week, but I finally watched vol.1 yesterday.

As Soske pointed out, the english voice acting is pretty good. But Crispin Freeman doing Kyon's voice is not what I'd consider a perfect match for the character. It's not that he's horrible, but I don't think he has Kyon's mannerisms down properly. He doesn't quite convey Kyon's disgust with Haruhi's demands with enough.... oomph into it.

[ElricJC]

I'm up to Ep. 9, found a good place online to watch the whole series, in addition to lots of other stuff, and I can definitely say that I am considering buying the series.  The non-sequential nature of the series is a bit hard to grasp at first but I can see why they did it.  Once I finish the series I will see if the whole is worth the purchase, but I get the feeling it will be.  I have no opinion on the dub since the version I've been watching is completely sub, so I'll have to at least check out the DVDs to see what that is like.