AKA Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. Based on A series of novels by Tanigawa Nagaru. Studio: Kyoto Animation. Length: 14 25-minute episodes.
|
If you're reading this, you should already have watched the entirety of Haruhi. If you haven't, go read my review instead. This here will spoil too much. Right now. Shoo!
OK. Back when I wrote that review, I mentioned that Haruhi is somewhat deceptive when you first start watching it. First it looks like something insane (the movie), then like it'll be some realistic, fairly grounded show, with a rather crazy cast. Then like some sort of wacky slapstick comedy. Etc. Eventually though, it settles in as, to use one of my favorite sayings, a realistic, down to earth show, filled with magic robots. Or, at least, aliens, time travelers, and espers... and a megalomaniacal nerd who controls the universe. Just for fun though, let's look at it from some of these other perspectives.
Harem Series: If you look at Haruhi as a harem series, it defies a lot of conventions, but it's workable on some level. We've got some random guy constantly hanging out with a bunch of girls, who vaguely conform to the standard personality types, and have odd unique quirks, and who all seem to have a crush on him to some degree. What sets it apart from the rest of the pack are how A- One of them is a guy, B- Kyon has enough of spine and wherewithall to enjoy the situation and play favorites, and of course, C- Choosing the cute helpless one (or, in all likelyhood, any non-Haruhi option) causes the world to end.
Philosophical Pondering: Unlike a lot of shows that ponder the nature of existence and the human condition, Haruhi actually goes and answers the questions it raises. Is there a god? Yes, and she's a very nerdy highschool student. How was the universe created? She got really bored one day and made drastic revisions to the previous draft. Is reality only what we perceive it to be? Basically yes, but only if you're Haruhi. More importantly, it's a nice comedy that tackles this stuff.
Wacky Slapstick Comedy Series: Not really wacky enough. I mean, we've got the baseball episode, and the movie, but otherwise it's pretty mundane.
Comedy Series: Japan, as a general rule of thumb, doesn't really do sarcasm. There's a few exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, the comedy found in anime sticks to puns, spoofs, and non-sequiturs. Here though we have an incredibly cynical character commenting on everything (Kyon), and a ton of black humor (Mikuru abuse), which are really really refreshing changes of pace.
Sci-Fi Action Series: Waaaaaay too much filler! There's only 2 or 3 fight scenes really, and they all tend to end pretty abruptly.
Creepy Mirror On My Own Life: Well, first off, Nagato is me-in-highschool to a truly disturbing degree. I mean, there's a few little differences, mainly that last I checked, I'm not a humanoid interface for a data integration entity with freaky inhuman powers. Still though, mannerisms, speech patterns, spending all freaking day in school reading hardcore sci-fi novels and completely ignoring everything around me? Did all that. I suppose recently, I fit the Kyon mold pretty darn well too... or Haruhi if I'm working on something.
Beacon For Obsessive Fans: I've seen about 20 minutes of footage recreated using stop motion Gundam toys, a Simpsons artist doing fan art of all the characters, and thousands of people downloading fansubs, all just this week. Enough said.
