Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu

In the never-ending wait for a real second season of Haruhi, Kadokawa decided to present us with this short web series called the Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya. And to be fair and honest, these series of short mini-episodes was more enjoyable that I would have ever expected. Here is a short and fast review with its ups and downs

Story:
+ Nice and funny situations ensured in every episode
+ Many overused themes in animes but taken to the extreme for extra lols

- Could have been a little longer in length per episode but thats just me wanting more
- Those wanting actual substance should go look somewhere else

Art:
+ ... Rich in color
+ Nice blend of chibi and normal character animations, making some scenes even funnier
+ Chibi forms look very cute

- Obvious ploy to save animation budget (lol)
- The first couple of episode look downright bad

Sound:
+ All the original voice cast is present
+ Some nice selection of background music

- Haruhi sounds like Konata 80% of the time (although its obvious because of the chibi)

Character:
+ All the characters that made the original series a hit return with their quirks turned up to MAXIMUM
+ A lot of forgotten side characters are given many great moments to shine

- Haruhi is WAAAAY more docile and calm than her original version (good for those who didn't like that about her original version)

Enjoyment: For a small series that runs for approx 5 minutes per episode. I have greatly enjoyed watching this. It really was a great way to kill time when I had nothing else to watch.

Overall: If you were a fan of the original series then I would highly recommend you check this out. They are short in length so its something simple to watch and they are a perfect watch when you want to just flat out kill some time and have a nice and light anime break. In the wait for a real second season, this will surely be a great way to kill some of the anxiety.

Okay, the only reason that I'm still a Haruhi fan is for two reasons: 1) the original Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2006 and 2) this ONA. ^^

The original idea of The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya came from a parody comic series that pretty much subtly made fun of the original anime. And, I'm not usually one for these kinds of parodies, but I just couldn't resist~! ^^ Also, I love how evil Yuki is shown to be in the series... *devious grin* Not to mention that random lion that was thrown into the mix as well... ^^;;;;

The art... Well, let's just say that it's very ... rare to see chibis still keep their proper anatomy and such in tact. This, is a good thing. Haruhi-chan Suzumiya has managed to pull this off quite well. But, then again, we are talking about Kyoto Animation. Also, the first couple of episodes were done with 3D generated cell-shaded characters. After the first four or five episodes (give or take), though, they resumed to 2D traditional cell-shaded characters.

The sound was, unbelievably, astounding. Usually, I'd get annoyed with Mikuru's voice, but the situations that the story showed made it so that it was actually quite enjoyable~!

Characters seemed to be put on a more comedic spin. But, you do have to realize that this is a parody series that focuses on some points on the original series and pretty much spends about 2-5 minutes making fun of it. But, because they focused so much on the comedic side of things, there wasn't any real development in character. But, that's a given when you're watching a series of parodizing shorts on one of the Anime Industry's largest franchises.

The enjoyment was DEFINATELY 10/10~! Not only did it have the element of satiric comedy, but it also had some... risque-ness into it as well. (is that even a word??) Such as the "wall between hearts." (Or, something like that.) Also, there was some awesome ass-kicking in a few episodes. ^^

Overall, it's not a story and plot-driven anime. It's not exactly focused on character development, either. No, it's merely a satire that makes fun of the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise, and personally, I think that they've done a swell job~!

I give "The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya" a grand total score of 9/10!

So I’m not really sure about this show. I am not going to say if you liked the normal show that you will like this one. I’m not even really sure if we could call this the same as the main TV show as the art style, the humor, and even sometimes the idea of the characters is a bit different. Each episode is about 5 minutes long and consists of even smaller clips that mimic a day in the life style show. It reminds me a lot of Azumanga Daioh with the humor as each little skit seems to be trying to make a ... joke and though most are rather good, some feel like they fall slightly flat. I have a small feeling it’s because of the culture and because of the dub that was done.

I did sort of like the funny story lines that they did with Yuki and a really small Ryoko in where Ryoko was played off as sort of a baby version of herself. They were fun as Yuki would treat her like a pet or kid most of the time and Ryoko would pout about it.. Unfortunately, I wasn't really into some of the story lines with Haruhi. They just didn’t feel like they did the character justice. She was still scatterbrained, but she just seemed to have less of the over powerful girl happening in the god area.

In truth, I really am not sure about what the show was all about. It was pretty much just random.

The artwork is really chibi looking. I mean really chibi looking with large heads, small bodies, and tiny hands that sometimes look like mittens. Sometimes they go back to the normal look but it’s not for very long. Otherwise, the show was bright, cheerful, and a little bit insane much like the first show. The little bits of CG that they did so felt a bit off when placed over the drawn stuff and feel like they were just seeing how it would work. It did fit in with the show in the area of color and cell shading but you can almost always tell in a slight way that it was not like the rest.

The dubbing was done by the same people who did the original show and so it’s done really well. That really is all that I can say about it. It has the right feel for the characters in there personality and yet just enough crazy to make it actually work with the overly cartoon world. The only personality that was a bit confusing was Ryoko since we didn't have that much about her in the original show.

Overall, I don’t really know what to think about this Online show since it was sort of random. No real character story, no real development, just a simple comedy show with slice of life. You won’t understand any of the show if you have never seen the TV version, but you also wouldn't understand if you even watched the TV version. It’s just, it has the characters of the TV version but nothing much in the way of things from the actual show.