Another convert to Haruhi-ism, here.
Absolutely brilliant. The most engaging, original and fun series I've seen in a long time. Thanks so much for the recommendation. I loved the way they parodied just about every visual anime-style throughout the series, from space-fleet command decks, to the park-bench's hundred-different-camera-angles, to deserted classrooms bathed in red. The fragmented nature of the storyline seemed very weird for a while, but at the end it made complete sense why they did it like that. The random Full Metal Panic references in several episodes cracked me up, as I've recently been watching Fumoffu.
Seriously, everyone who hasn't checked this out yet - you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't. The SOS Brigade demands it!