Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu

Really, I juz knew this movie recently, although I've kept on hearing "The Disapperance of Haruhi Suzumiya" back in 2009, but I really haven't thought of it or somehow maybe watching K-On! and the other KyoAni anime made me lost track of Haruhi.

It's already 2014 now, and I saw this movie juz a while ago of May 13. Back in 2007-2009 I have much otaku-connections, which I don't have anymore [I still have 1 to 2 otaku friends whom I can call my friends as well as connections] after 2009, since my otaku-connections were like, from 2007-2009 and I split up with them because ... well, I juz grew up, I guess. The entire Haruhi Suzumiya anime, this brought me to a lot of emotions and events back on those years/days. I remembered "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" were like a fad, especially the "Hare Hare Yukai" danced alongside with Lucky Star's "Motteke Sailor Fuku".

For me, I rated 6 to 7 on the Haruhi series, and I get it that a lot of people like Haruhi because of the KyoAni animation quality rather than focusing the slow-paced, dragging-story; but this movie, I rated it as 9.



STORY = 9
I hope [since I haven't seen anything Haruhi nowadays, guess KyoAni moved on alright] this will be the last thing EVER for KyoAni to produce Haruhi Suzumiya, because this movie settles everything the series worked up so far. This movie is the definite conclusion to the entire reason why a normal high schooler [Kyon], along with a time-traveller [Mikuru], an utsuujin humanoid interface [Yuki], and an ESPer [Koizumi], to entertain and keep on entertaining the melancholic "godlike" Haruhi Suzumiya. Trust me, those who raises brows or even loathe on the entire Haruhi-storyline [I loathed their entire endless-8 episodes, a lot expectation for looping-episodes where only otakus like to point out fine details what differs each of those 8, but I'm only an "anime fan", not an otaku; so IMO that loop could have been a 2 to 3-part OVA and I wouldn't mind.], you juz need to watch this to bury your hatchet. There couldn't be a greater conclusion from the Haruhi Suzumiya series than this movie.


ART = 9
I well-remembered the 2006-esque (or season 1) Haruhi art, and the movie shows the blend of K-On! anime-technology but still retains the distinguishable 2006, which is the reason why a lot of people like this show for its animation rather than saying "why am I watching this again?".


SOUND = 9
Brings back memories hearing "Bouken Desho Desho" again. Yeah my feels man, my feels!


CHARACTER = 8
I mostly got this 8 rating on the conclusion of the movie. But yep, Kyon is Kyon, Haruhi is Haruhi [who has fewer screentime here], Yuki, Asahina-san, and Koizumi are still them, yep that's it. Although I can say that it makes me think Yuki Nagato [due to the events in the movie] must have been turned into a "Windows 8" in this movie, while she's a "Windows 7" in the series. Yeah that was a joke.XD


ENJOYMENT = 8
This movie caught me sitting a well 2hr 42mins and says "worth it!". If they [KyoAni] shortened the prologue, I could have given this a 9. Also, there were some sorts of "anticlimax" so that's also a -1 point deduction, hence a rating of 8.


OVERALL = 9

The ever-known title "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya",
I have lots of reminiscence on this anime: this is the show where an era of my life led me to some otaku-exploits and seeing and befriending real-life otakus in my locality, calling themselves (ourselves) as "Anime Kyoukai" [though I'm not attached much on that kyoukai thing~~goes to show I'm really juz not "otaku" compared to a lot of people there], got a girlfriend (now ex-gf) cosplayer, well, things like that. By real-life otakus, I mean those otakus who really, you know, DUEL with duel cards, they have "chuunibyous" in their system, and are know-it-all in anime that has a manga, anime, and visual-novel versions in it (eg. Fate/Stay Night), so yep meeting them is...somewhat a good experience. BUT I have to grow up, and leave them behind (I still see them in anime-conventions even 'til now, so I guess that's just them, 20+years guys still loving what they love to do).

One thing I can tell about the series Haruhi Suzumiya though, is even though a very very very lot of people like it, me and my ex-gf (and some other anime-fan-friends) never get much of the hype about this show, no matter how KyoAni-ish this is. Sure, it's KyoAni, but back then in 2007-2009, there really never has a term "KyoAni", but more of "Lucky Star", or "Haruhi Suzumiya", or "Clannad" [and only top-otakus got the gag about Konata and Haruhi = because both Konata Izumi and Haruhi Suzumiya are voiced by Aya Hirano; and yes they told me about that so I was able to understand it like them], the term "KyoAni" started to evolve on when K-On! came up. But that itself is the nice ring to it.

With this movie, I guess this is the right conclusion to the entire Haruhi Suzumiya legacy. KyoAni has moved on to make shows like Free! and Kyoukai no Kanata, but the Haruhi Suzumiya is already immortalized. I'm contented and didn't regret watching this movie at all, and I felt I fulfilled that 2007-2009 part of me who wished to see this movie, too, and that's it. Haruhi Suzumiya and her memorable friends lives on as part of the KyoAni legacy, and to the fans who love this ever-bored peculiar tsundere-disputing [I remembered otaku-friends of mine debated if Haruhi's a tsundere or not, and I was like "why are we arguing about this?" but yep that's what otakus are and I guess I would never fully understand why it matters to them, but it was fun] Haruhi Suzumiya, this movie is definitely for them.

Okay, so by now you've probably heard all the beautiful praise about this movie and how stunning it is, so I'm not gonna bother with all those details. I'm going to be the one guy who doesn't worship this movie, so be prepared. By now you've probably been told what the movie is about. Kyon, the main character gets stuck in a different world than the original and he has to go through a huge process to get back to his old one.

I'm pretty sure you've heard all the good things about it. The art is really good, and I can't label anything in this ... movie as "bad" since it's all pretty decent. But that's all it is for me; decent.

The story is okay. That's all. Whatever "plot twists" that may have happened could be seen a mile away if you used your head a little bit, combining the knowledge of the two seasons (which you have to watch before you see this movie) and the story isn't anything special.

(MINI TINY SPOILER)
Kyon just ends up traveling back in time, and does his stuff. YET AGAIN
(SPOILER OVER)

Whatever possible "emotions" I was supposed to feel aren't felt, since all I see is Kyon being forced into some terrible heap of trouble again, like the entire series has done. I just don't even understand what emotions I'm supposed to be feeling. I know this isn't a good review, but I can't write anything in depth since there is nothing I remember that's worth noting.

The only reason I wrote a review is to say that this:
"Fans and haters alike will not be able to deny that this movie is amazing and will love every moment of it."
Isn't true. It isn't amazing, but I'm not going to go as far as to say it's bad. I didn't love every moment but it didn't bore my to death at least.

Maybe this movie isn't my thing?

Maybe it was just over-hyped?

Or maybe the story just isn't so well done that it blows me away?

Anyway, I just wanted to inform the public that despite its fame and rank, this movie is not for everyone. Sometimes a movie is fine for what it is, but it just isn't your type of movie. That's the case for me.

So even though my enjoyment was "fair" I think this movie did do a good job for what it was supposed to. There's no specific thing I thought was bad, it just wasn't my type of movie I guess; which is why in the end I rated it a 7/10.

There are aspects of our everyday lives that are simply outside of our control, whether for better or for worse. It may be a difficult fact to swallow, and to compensate, we complain, we groan, we lament, but at the end of the day, we accept that there is nothing we can do. And that's okay. The good things in life are balanced by the bad things, after all (or at least, that's how it's supposed to work). But what happens when the scale tips over; when we are thrusted into a utopia where these struggles are lifted from our shoulders? Do we bask in ... the glory of this world, or do we struggle to accept the irreplaceable void in our new lives?

After two seasons of buildup, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya plunges Kyon into this very situation, a world in which Kyon must find his answer to, well, the disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

These questions are the driving force behind Disappearance's story, and they are a major part of the reason why Disappearance is so highly acclaimed by many. After all, it wouldn't be an understatement to say that many people make their way through the two seasons of Haruhi just to experience the series' unmatchable climax, the movie. For its majority, Disappearance shifts the series' focus onto Yuki Nagato, not on a certain arrogant individual we all hold close to our hearts (or for others, a good kilometer or two away). As stated by the title, Haruhi is absent for much of the film, which can either be a pro or a con. Personally, it was a breath of fresh air to see Nagato take much of the movie's screen time instead of Haruhi's tendency to attract attention to herself.

With Haruhi gone and Nagato essentially becoming a main character, Kyon finds himself in a new world where his "wish" is granted - he doesn't have to be bossed around by Haruhi anymore. The days of being dragged along with Haruhi's whims are now long gone; Kyon can return to the mundane high school life he always said he wanted. Yet, Kyon is left feeling unsatisfied for most of the movie, even though, as he stated himself, "Over night, he was snatched from the jaws of Hell and taken straight to Heaven. The thing is, this person didn't do this himself." This very doubt is what I think makes Disappearance so brilliant. After all the gripes and complaints Kyon had about Haruhi during the first two seasons, Disappearance explores Kyon's feelings about the SOS Brigade behind his mask of self-deprecation. It solidifies Kyon's character and provides closure to the contradictions between his thoughts and his actions.

However, Kyon isn't the only character to find closure. Our beloved alien, Yuki Nagato, goes through immense character development. As with Kyon, the past seasons were one huge buildup to Nagato's character overhaul. Especially with the infamous Endless Eight, the previous episodes were necessary to show Nagato's discomfort and the stress of being responsible for cleaning up all of Haruhi's messes. Disappearance brilliantly addresses Nagato's bottled-up distress and it was astounding to watch her transform remarkably from her character as an emotionless android. Kyon and Nagato's individual development as well as their relationship with each other are truly the pinnacle of the Haruhi series as a whole.

The pacing of the movie is done well, especially considering its taxing length of nearly three hours. There are many startling plot points that will keep you at the edge of your seat, but in between these twists, the movie does drag along at times. While Kyon's monologuing is great as always, especially at the end, I felt a lack of drive in the story at some points. It left me sitting and waiting for the next big plot point, similar to a series of peaks and troughs.

Another gripe I have is in regards to how often Nagato is used to fill in a loose end in a deus ex machina fashion. I thought that there were too many instances in which a problem was resolved simply because Nagato was able to fix them through some supernatural means. This was to be expected, though. Nagato's powers and her ability to fix any issues caused by Haruhi is a part of the series' foundation, after all. Yet, even though the deus ex machina is core to the series' theme, I still found its repeated usage in the movie to be annoying and a bit overused.

The quality of Kyoani's art and animation is just as good, if not better, than the previous seasons, especially with Kyon's monologuing scene towards the end. No disappointment here; it's Kyoani we're talking about, after all. The animation flows very smoothly, and it especially shows during the movie's most important parts near the end.

The soundtrack used during the movie's many crucial turning points are stellar and they really drive home the tone of each plot point. It was quite surprising to hear such well orchestrated pieces during the movie; a feat I would never have expected during my time watching the first two seasons. Every piece complements the movie very well throughout the entirety of the film.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a brilliant film that takes the aspects of the original series and propels them to completely new heights. Kyon finally comes face to face with his true sentiments about espers and the like; perhaps he isn't as different from Haruhi as he likes to assume. After all, he does say in episode one:

"Deep in my heart, I wished that aliens, time travelers, ghosts, demons, espers, or evil organizations may pop up in front of me. However, reality is rather cruel! Through I kind of wish they did..."

My first review! Yippie! Brace yourselves, for those who have yet to watch this beautifully crafted piece of work. The movie in itself is quite long. If you're not prepared to sit through almost 3 hours worth of this movie, then you better get yourself ready.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya was very entertaining. One winter day, before the Christmas break, Kyon discovers that Haruhi has gone missing and all the other students in the school do not have any recollection of her ever being there. Even the other members are acting strangely too. No one is an alien, a time traveler, or an esper. ... They are all normal human beings. Yuki is no longer a kuudere, but now a shy girl with actual emotions. Mikuru doesn't seem to recall that Kyon and her ever became friends. And Itsuki? Well.... he's not in the school.

Throughout the movie, Kyon tries to figure out what happened to Haruhi, until he eventually stumbles on a lead by his friend of her whereabouts. Haruhi Suzumiya does not attend Kyon's school. Instead, she is enrolled in another school with Itsuki by her side.

Story wise, it was pretty well done. As the movie progresses, we start to see some mysteries becoming unraveled as to why Haruhi disappears.

After watching this movie, I had a pleasantly new found appreciation for the Haruhi franchise. This is something you can enjoy even if you never liked the main series to begin with. Although, I do advise you to watch at least the first season of the series before you start with this one.

In a circle of best friends, typically, the most significant, yet least noticed friend is the one who never talks. The quiet friends just eat their two-dollar lunches, type away on their computer, or read a book while the others have fun chatting. Therefore, expecting the quiet friend to destroy the world and create a new one would be similar to questioning the possibility of an alien’s existence in one’s neighborhood. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is about a quiet friend.

North High student Kyon’s world changed abruptly a week before Christmas. He woke up early, walked up the hill to school, and met his classmate, ... Ryoko in homeroom. Later, he discovered that the leader of his club, Haruhi, was absent, along with his fellow club member, Itsuki. Mikuru, his crush, even forgot his name, and in bewilderment, punched his face. Furthermore, his best friend, Yuki, has started to wear glasses again. To a normal student, it’s only a bad day that coincidentally involves the whole of the SOS Brigade, but to him, it’s a global scale dilemma. As quoted from one of the prequel novels, “Freud would have a field day with this.”

Ryoko was supposed to be dead by Yuki’s hands. Itsuki was an esper. Yuki was an alien who lost her glasses while killing Ryoko (who was trying to provoke Haruhi by killing Kyon). Mikuru was a time-traveller. Each of them were supposed to keep Haruhi Suzumiya from destroying the world.

Why watch The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya? Yes, the story is a 10, the characters are a 10... everything's a 10. However, none of these alone make Disappearance memorable. The moral is the most important part.: the loudest scream is the scream of silence.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is quite possibly the best movie I have ever watched. The characters, ranging from sarcastic Kyon to dangerous Haruhi, are lovable on various degrees. It is well worth the one-hundred sixty-three minutes of time, and the time that the next movie, The Disappearance of Yuki-chan Nagato, will take up. No matter how much the viewer knows about Haruhi, he or she will have their heart touched by this melancholic tale of a boy and his strange friends.

10/10 for everything, and deserves to be mentioned alongside even Miyazaki movies.

(Note: This is written all by me. It looks like the one written on LoidNerdy101's DeviantART, because I am him. Ask him for proof, and you'll see that it's me.)

I will get straight to the point, this movie is one of the best out there. Although it is a movie, it is considered as the second season of the Suzumiya Haruhi series so you might want to watch the first season, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya first before watching this, since it requires prior knowledge of the series for you to fully understand the movie.

Story: The story revolves around the protagonist Kyon, who somehow finds himself in a messed up version of his world wherein there is no SOS Brigade, and it’s as if they’ve never met. He then tries to find a ... way to return everything back to normal and to find the culprit. Now, although the story seems pretty straightforward, no it isn’t. It starts out like a normal day for the protagonist then one morning, nobody remembers the name of his friends and his friends seems to have forgotten him. The movie is somewhat confusing, since things like time travel and parallel worlds are involve, it does its best to clarify everything in the end, leaving no plotholes(for as I can tell anyway) and giving detailed explanation for all the events. Also, one thing I could say is that it contains a lot of mindfuck moments, wherein you can never tell what will happen next, and even if you do there is always a twist or something. Overall I would give it a 10/10 for being one of the most interesting movies which actually made me think about what will happen, and not just provide cheap entertainment.

Art: The way it was animated was good. The characters were drawn well, the movements were well animated, pretty much like any well-animated anime out there. I would give it an 8/10 since it is pretty much just like any anime out there, nothing special.

Sound: Yes, it is wonderful. I especially liked Kyon’s narration of everything that was happening, as well as the voice acting for all the characters. I was actually only going to give this a 9/10 but then I heard the song at the end credits, so +1 point :)) 10/10.

Character: The characters were just awesome. Since everyone in the SOS brigade turned into normal humans (minor spoiler I guess?), it allowed some pretty interesting changes in the characters. I mean come on, how often do you see Nagato blush? The movie made certain developments in the characters, showing what they might actually be if the events in season 1 never happened, all while keeping the story interesting for the viewers.
Overall I would give it a 10/10, because it showed something vastly different from season 1, yet it still successfully kept the story interesting, and also because i’m diggin’ the long-haired Haruhi :))

Enjoyment: This movie WILL keep you on the edge of your seat, since there is no telling what will happen next. The scenario itself allows for some pretty wild yet very plausible outcomes, then throw Haruhi into the mix, who is pretty much the most random character in the entire anime universe, you’re bound get a really interesting story. I would give it a 10/10, because it WILL keep you hooked, and it will never get old, no matter how many times you watch it.

Overall: With everything I mentioned above, I can easily say that this is one of the best, if not the best animes of all time. As a story-driven movie, it did its best at keeping the viewers hooked, was very successful at doing so. I would say that this movie is very deserving of all the attention it has received and I would gladly give it a 10/10 for keeping me completely entertained, from the very beginning down to the extra clip at the end of the credits.

btw, english isn't my first language so sorry if there are any errors

Admittedly, I was never much of a fan of the series. In fact I don't particularly like Haruhi all that much. I watched season one and she really rubbed me the wrong way, but I decided to give this film a try since it was getting so many positive reviews, and I’m glad I did. Simply put, this film is brilliant.

I think there are a lot of similarities between The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (TDoHS) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (TGWLTT). I felt both were trying to give a similar lesson despite the fact that one is saying "aim for the ordinary" whilst ... the other was saying "aim for the extraordinary". The underlying message is simple: You never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. Personally I think TGWLTT is better but only marginally. In TGWLTT, Makoto gains powers that allow her to shape the world around her and only gradually do we see the problem emerging. However in TDoHS, Kyon’s world changes at the start of the story and he has to figure a way out. This means that the story has to focus more on the conflict, so there’s not as much room for comedy. Not only that, but Makoto in TGWLTT learns her lesson in a more subtle manner than Kyon did. That’s not to say to say TDoHS’s way was worse. The moment the entire film is leading to, Kyon’s final decision and the introspection involved was by far the best part of the film and one of the most memorable moments for me. I simply prefer the way TGWLTT did it, since it gave a stronger impact for me.

However, there’s one thing TDoHS had that TGHLTT doesn’t and that’s background. As you probably already know, TDoHS is just one story in an overall series, with the previous stories giving it more depth. It also provides some amusing jokes, even if you haven’t seen the other stories. For example, I have no idea why Nagato has a room that can’t be opened because it contains Kyon and Asahina frozen in space and time, but I sure as hell find it amusing that it’s there. Another thing I think TDoHS has are better characters, partially helped by their stronger background. The two characters that are given the main focus, Kyon and Nagato, are so incredibly memorable with both characters given such significant exploration and depth.

It does take a while to get into, though. It took a whole 40 minutes just to get past the premise of the story with Kyon even lampshading on how long the prologue was, 20 minutes in. The story is, overall quite slow and much of the craziness in the series is vastly toned done. I actually like the upbeat craziness but I can’t complain about the lack of it in this film since this new tone as a serious and introspective story was so incredibly well done.

Ok. This is a redeeming movie for Haruhi fans around the world. Especially on that second season. God I hated endless 8. So after the second season was over, I thought there was no hope for the Haruhi franchise. Boy was i wrong.
The story was great but has a slow start but after that slow start it becomes AMAZING (I'm looking at you Steins;Gate). The plot twists to suprises and some other stuff is amazing.

The art is AMazING too. I mean imagine how much a full 12 or 24 episode would look like with a normal budget. Now fit that into a 2 hour long ... movie. Kyoto has pretty good animation so you would imagine a budget for a series into a 2 hour movie made by kyoto it would and does look AMaZing. You can see everyone's breath because it's winter obviously and everyone is wearing their winter clothes too. Except for the girls. WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY WEARING SKIRTS IN THE MIDDLE OF FUCKING WINTER. There's Kyon wearing like a trench coat with 5 layers of cloths on while the girls have fucking skirts.

The sound is Really good. Just putting it out there.

The characters are really good but they are much different from the original series. Every single character changes in this movie. Well, there really isn't any character development for any of the other characters because they are different from their normal selves for no particular reason. But, Kyon however, takes so much character development that Kyon might have sucked all of the other character's character development and put it all on himself.
Kyon goes through lot's of character development and goes through alot of problems.

Enjoyment. The movie is great, but the beginning is kind of slow so it may not be enjoyable. But, all of that slowness is all worth it.

Overall, this is a Fantastic movie. If only the series was this good.

As a heads-up, this is my first review on this site, so here goes.

Gosh darn this movie.
I already loved the show, for reasons unknown even to me. Then, along comes this movie, saying "Let's do ALL of that, but even better!" I can only like you so much, Haruhi. I am incapable of any more love.

Story: 10
So, my only major issue with the original series was the plot, and even that wasn't a big deal to me. So, now imagine being given a cohesive plot for a couple of hours. The pacing felt wonderful, and I loved the fact that they didn't make it a ... simple "this is bad, I must fix it" problem for the main character. There were reasons for him to leave the world as is, and without going into spoilers, they were legitimately heartwarming ones.

Characters: 10
The ONLY thing in this movie that was stronger than the story was the cast of characters. Kyon is the same as his old self: snarky, and a bit pessimistic, but still lovable. Asahina's personality is the same, but with less people surrounding her (hi-jinks ensue). Koizumi and Haruhi are oddly dull... well, for Koizumi and Haruhi. However, it's Nagato that steals the show. Sure she's the same, shy girl we knew, but now she's showing emotions. And that face... Stop Kyoto Animation, for you are breaking my heart with that smile.

Art: 9
The art style is terrific, taking the already pretty designs from the show and shooting them with a budget like there's no tomorrow. The only thing keeping it from being a 10 is a minor lack of pizzaz, and that's a nitpick really.

Sound: 10
Haruhi music is Haruhi music. It will always blend perfectly with the scenario. In addition, one piano theme is played a few times throughout the movie (including bookending it at the beginning and end), and it is honestly one of the most heartrendingly appropriate pieces I have ever HEARD.

All-in-all, this is a movie that I cannot recommend enough. It's funny, sad, happy, and Haruhi ALL over the place. I'd recommend it enough that I'd say watch the entire show, just so that you can be prepared for this movie. Bonus points if you watch it on Christmas, a la "It's a Wonderful Life"

Rather than calling it The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, a more appropriate title would perhaps be The Melancholy of Kyon, because now it’s Kyon’s turn to make his decision. In essence, this movie is a major opportunity for character development of not just Nagato, but more crucially, of our beloved narrator as well. In the previous seasons, it is mainly about Kyon being dragged into situations and going with the flow. It was just always about Haruhi. The series was pretty much about Kyon observing and commenting upon Haruhi's actions. Sure, he gets pulled into all the bizarre events, but as far as he is ... concerned, he is just an observer. A key trait of the Suzumiya Haruhi series lies in Kyon’s narration to the hijinks that goes on around him. This movie thus goes beyond that, serving as a platform to truly explore his thoughts: where beneath the sarcasm, the continuous face-palms and the frequent sighs, is one who does genuinely enjoy the ludicrous situations that he sardonically remarks upon.

Shoutshitsu thus acts as both a response to and contrast with Yuutsu. In Yuutsu, Haruhi’s melancholy is derived from her frustration with how normal, how mundane the world is and thus yearned for some fantasy to exist. This climaxes with her almost re-shaping the world unknowingly due to her Reality Warping. As we already know, this results in the finale that is her subconsciously acknowledging that she is satisfied with the current world and that even though there is nothing supernatural (not that she knows of, of course), that’s fine with her. The world may, in her eyes, be boring but that doesn’t mean she has to follow suit. She can make life interesting for herself as long as there is the SOS Brigade to take command of. Kyon started out being similar to her; from the narratives in Yuutsu (more prominently in the novel's prologue), we can see how outwardly, he behaves like the average, typical guy, but well, the narratives say quite a lot. However, rather than get frustrated like Haruhi, he just heaved a sigh and moved on.

Haruhi, and by extension the other members of the club, hence made him regain the fantasy that he used to have. The events in Shoushitsu thus challenged Kyon: the stable but very much dull world or the exasperating one filled with Espers, Aliens and Time Travelers? His long epic rage against the heavens of a soliloquy in Shoushitsu is his answer, a callback to the opening narration in Yuutsu's prologue. That’s why Haruhi got along so well with Kyon. The paths both of them took may be different, but in the end Kyon shared the same sentiments as her. This movie is Kyon’s affirmation that John Smith is every bit as eccentric as Espers, Reality Warpers, Aliens, Time Travellers and any other oddities.

Next, we have Nagato as the second focal point of the film, where we get to see her as beyond the emotionless doll that she was in the series. Or rather, it would be more appropriate to say that in the series, her development as a character was mostly subtle, more of a gradual build-up whereas the film finally provided her the vehicle to express more of herself. Last but not least, is none other than the titular heroine. As the name of the movie may have revealed, Haruhi does not have much screen time, but she does get her moments and similar to Nagato, one can see the stark difference in the world without the SOS Brigade. All in all, the movie excellently ties in the dynamics of the characters, bringing about a fulfilling addition to the franchise.

KyoAni certainly went all out on this, for the production value is high in more ways than one. 5cm/s often gets praises about it being a movie comprised of amazing wallpaper-worthy scenes. Well, Shoushitsu deserves to claim some of the limelight in the visual department too. It’s not just the details given to the background, as the animation such as the characters’ movement is fluid - the scenes as envisioned by KyoAni are fantastic and I particularly like the snow motive that is being used throughout the film.

When it comes to audio, the studio didn’t hold back either. The voice actresses of the film’s main heroines sing the theme songs, so it sure is nice to hear the upbeat and energetic “Bouken desho? Desho?” as the opening theme again. This is contrasted with the ending theme: a quiet, soothing track by Chihara Minori. In addition, great use of orchestra pieces during the appropriate scenes. Hirano Aya returns to portray Haruhi’s over-energetic personality while Chihara Minorie did well in depicting the differences between both worlds’ Nagato. The highlight however, has to be Tomokazu Sugita, who shows just why he is the ideal voice actor for Kyon. Prior to this film, I’ve always been considering his best role as being Sakata Gintoki of Gintama. Shoushitsu just shows that yes, his role as Gintoki is great, but Kyon is not to be overshadowed too. The superb voice acting, along with the meticulous animation for the facial expressions, thus combines to convey an emotionally poignant and memorable performance. Indeed, his soliloquy near the end of the movie is absolutely fantastic. It shall suffice to say that every element in the movie worked seamlessly, for good art style and pleasant audio alone are not enough. In short, the movie is well paced and the scripting is well delivered.

Top-notch production values, intriguing storyline with poignant scenes, delivered by distinctively memorable and very much appealing characters, this movie is in essence, a perfect combination of faithfulness to source material and production staffs’ own creative input. This certainly is one adaptation done right, for it didn’t just meet my expectation: it exceeded it.

*The above is a spoiler-free version of the review. For the version that includes potential spoilers, see here:
http://mizunoyuutsu.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/shoushitsu/

Usually, when it comes to the most popular animes I usually don't jump on it as fast as some people may, but I end up watching it anyway to see if the hype is really worth it. But in Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu (The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) I actually enjoyed it way more then I expected to, so here is my review.

Story:

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya story was a lot better executed the the original series itself it takes place Following on from the events of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime series, the story takes place from December 16 until December 24, ... a month after the cultural festival. The SOS Brigade, led by Haruhi Suzumiya (Aya Hirano), makes plans to have a nabe party for Christmas. However, on the morning of December 18, Kyon (Tomokazu Sugita) arrives at school and finds that the very nature of his reality has changed; Haruhi and Itsuki Koizumi (Daisuke Ono) are missing, Ryoko Asakura (Natsuko Kuwatani) has mysteriously returned, Mikuru Asahina (Yūko Gotō) does not recognize him and Yuki Nagato (Minori Chihara) is an ordinary human. Only Kyon is aware that everything is different and no one else remembers anything about Haruhi or the SOS Brigade. The only clue Kyon manages to find is a bookmark left by the alien version of Yuki before everything was changed, telling him to gather "keys" to run a program. While wondering about this clue, he gets to know the new Yuki, who appears to be quite fond of him. As December 20 comes, Kyon learns from Taniguchi (Minoru Shiraishi) that Haruhi was at another high school the whole time, along with Itsuki and others formerly from his school. By revealing his identity to her as 'John Smith', an alias he had used when he travelled back in time to assist a young Haruhi, Kyon manages to convince Haruhi to believe his story. With her assistance they gather the SOS Brigade together in the club room, thus bringing the keys necessary for a program built by alien Yuki.

Characters:

Now i'm going to give KyoAni tons of credit on the characters, they decided to put character development, yes, character development, Kyon, Haruhi, Nagato, etc all act different in a serious way we never seen them before and this was very refreshing. Kyon not acting so sarcastic and taken life more serious, Haruhi acting more mature and not so much as a hyper active 12 year old girl and I would have loved if the original series would have incorporated this element in the series too.

animation/sound:

Now this is KyoAni so you can expect the best of the best with them. Scenes where animated very well, some scenes where breathtaking and beautifully well done.Sound was also a plus with well orchestrated music and ballads that I thought fit the movie very well.

Overall The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is actually in my opinion a lot better then the original series itself and thats saying a alot, Characters being well develop, story taking itself more serious and showing how a moe anime can be just as good as some other anime movies. Yeah, this movie may have flaws and its NOT PERFECT, but if you hated the original Haruhi series this movie stops all your bad opinions about go away, well maybe not but you get what I mean.

Well.
This is the first time I've ever given something a perfect ten. Even Death Note, which I hold to be my favorite anime ever doesn't get a perfect ten.
I can explain this.
It took everything I loved about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and tripled it.
The story was mindblowing. Everything came together beautiful and made the original anime, which already made enough sense to me, make even more sense. It added another layer, and was focused around one of the coolest concepts in the series: time travel and what the supernatural powers like those of Haruhi and Nagato could really do.
Speaking of Nagato, she was one ... of my favorite characters in the original series, and she got even more screen time and dialogue than ever. She got a personality, a new layer--Nagato's character developed in the time that it takes Apple to come out with a new version of the iPhone. It was that fast, but it was better than the new version of the iPhone, because she actually improved in a noticeable way, instead of her screen just becoming slightly larger and having the invaluable ability to bend when you don't want it to.
Woah. That metaphor fell apart. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, Nagato was awesome in this movie.
My only complaint is that this movie made endless eight worth watching. Or at least worth seeing most of.
Overall, I loved this movie so much. It was so great that I was able to stay awake into the early hours of the morning watching it without the help of coffee or anything. It was so enthralling and entertaining that there was no need for me.
10/10. Must watch. Now.

To be honest I just found out recently that the haruhi suzumiya series had a movie. Then once i saw how high of a ranking this movie got, i wondered to myself..."Whats so great about this movie anyway?" ...The Dissapearance of Haruhi Suzumiya...i mean it just sounds like an episode title or something ordinary.

However..now i know why this anime got high ranking!!
NOTE: its best if you watched the first 2 seasons of Haruhi Suzumiya series to understand some of the scenes in the movie.

This movie was actually pretty emotional and it keeps you on edge. Like you never know whats going to happen ... next. The whole movie is told from Kyon point. And i watched the english dub and i say the english dub is pretty good (i watched both series in english too). All in all the movie is enjoyable, you may cry at some points, but if you love the haruhi suzumiya series then this movie is a MUST WATCH!!!

What if you woke up one morning, and everything changed?

This is the question that pretty much sums up the plot of the 2010 anime movie, "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya". Ever since the second season was released, some of it's credibility was gone due to one certain story arc. But now that they've made a movie based on the fourth book, will they learn from their mistakes and make the series even better then it was in 2006, or has Haruhi jumped the shark? Let's find out.


The Story

Now the story is pretty much one we've heard of before. It's basically the tale of "It's a ... Wonderful Life". However, while it is a take on the timeless tale, it's actually better told than other takes on the film (Shrek 4, Fairly Odd Parents, Rugrats, and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie). Plus, one thing that feels fresh is that the world changing around Kyon is COMPLETELY unexpected. Which makes his reaction to it more powerful. It also has a few subtle connections to the "Back to the Future" films (Mostly the 2nd one). But much like those films, "The Disappearance" takes a very familar story, and makes it feel brand new again by the way they cleverly tell it. Sure the ending's a little predictable, but the plot twist REALLY makes up for it.

The Animation

This is probably KyoAni at it's all time best. Not only does it resemble the animation of Season 1, but it has SO MUCH detail to it. From patterned scarves, to accessories in lunch boxes. The background of the school and the cities resembles the ones in real life. And some shots of the film has so many frames, that it looks WAY to real to be drawn on paper. It proves that traditional animation can look just as real of computer animation.

The Characters

The one thing that drives this film more than the story is the characters. And the main stars of it are Kyon and Yuki. We see Kyon at his most tragic state. As the unexpected change in the world around him as overwhelmed him to a point of melancholy. Which causes us to see a new side of him, and feel sorry for him, as he lost what he took for granted, and grew accustom to. As for Yuki, we see a new human side to her that's SO adorable, that it makes you want to reach into the screen and give her a hug. Now I won't say that much on her because, it would spoil a bit of the ending. But let's just say that her impact on the film proves that she can be more than just an emotionless girl, or a Rei Ayanami clone. But a more human, believable, and understandable character. The other characters don't do that much (Especially Mikuru) Who only time travels and gives the male fans eye candy. Tsuruya and Kyon's Sister are still their minor selves, but their still a lot of fun to watch. Taniguchi and Kunikida on the other hand, actually play more important parts then the actual show. As for Haruhi and Itsuki, we see more of their deeper parts in the alternate world, and the ending shows Haruhi's more loving and caring side that we all prefer. This film has to have one of the greatest character developments I've seen in all of anime, and they've REALLY done something right.

The Music

This has to have one of the most beautiful film score's I've ever listened to. The music goes through multiple emotions from happy, sad, riveting, excitment, fear, and really gives us warmth into our hearts. As for the song "Tender Oblivion", it is probably one of the best songs that the series has ever given us. Possibly topping "God Knows" and "Bouken Desho Desho".

Conclusion

"The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" is one of the best anime film based on a tv series ever made, and it's right up their with the Hayao Miyazaki films. Not only does it make the series a million times better then it was before, but it proves that it can still be great, despite it's letdown of a second season. A must watch for any Haruhi fan. As for those who are new to the series, watch the first 2 seasons first, in order to get the characters, and their relationships more. (Though only watch the first and last episode of the Endless Eight arc) Even if your thoughts on the series is neutral, you might like the film more. For being one of my all time favorite films, I give "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya", a solid 5 stars out of 5.

Kyoto Animation makes also this movie here, Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya. Well to see and understand the Story i belief just the Viewer musst see Season 1 and Season 2 bevore. In the plot is many of the history from Haruhi Suzumiya and the other Members of the SOS Brigade, here in the Haruhi Movie as maincharacter installed. Oh yes Haruhi is in the Movie very sympatically, Kyon are more in the basisplot involved and Yuki Nagato human. Mikuru plays here a interest role she standing by Kyon and be adventure round to Kyon's search from Haruhi.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is an impressive addition to the Haruhi series, a welcome alleviation to the disastrous fiasco that was the Endless Eight Arc. It marks the return to a more plot-driven series, and the events of the “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody” episode become a central part to the movie’s story.

The movie starts off on December 16, eight days before Christmas Eve. The first twenty minutes of the movie are pretty much like a typical Haruhi slice-of-life episode, centering on whatever spews out of her mouth. However, come December 18, everything and everyone around Kyon change for better or worse. Haruhi and Koizumi attend a ... different school. Nagato and Asahina are normal people and unaware of their former lives as supernatural monitors of Haruhi’s godlike powers. And of course, the homicidal maniac, Asakura Ryouko, is back, although it seems like she’s just a normal person as well. Kyon quickly becomes paranoid and resolves to solve this major dilemma.

It’s hard to say much about the plot without spoiling it, but it’s captivating, with plot twists that are sure to keep you engrossed, despite its daunting time length and somewhat slow pacing. However, the movie creates an even bigger mess with the timeline, making it even more inextricably complex and creating paradoxes that we’re expected to ignore or forgive. Then again, this isn’t anything new anyways.

What stands out most though in this movie is the character development, namely with Kyon, Nagato, and, to a lesser extent, Haruhi. While still a central character in the movie, it’s somewhat ironic (albeit surprisingly suiting because of the movie title) that Haruhi isn’t the most explored character. Certain ideas are insinuated about her relationship with Kyon and we gain a little more understanding as to what happened that fateful day three years ago. Instead, Kyon and Nagato are the primary focuses of this title. In the TV series, we see Kyon as a sarcastic guy who prefers to eschew Haruhi’s various antics, despite ultimately getting dragged into them. However, in the movie, it becomes clear that Kyon has been deceiving himself all along, and this ultimate realization leads to a fantastic and emotional scene. Also in the TV show, I believe Kyon mentioned that Nagato actually has emotions hidden under her poker face and might even be tired from keeping up with Haruhi’s unremitting tomfoolery. We see what exactly he meant here. Furthermore, Nagato’s “normal” counterpart provides possible insight on who Nagato really is. All the other characters remain the same personality-wise except her. While she is still a reticent bibliophile, she can actually express emotions, blushing, showing fear, etc. And of course, the movie delves further into Kyon and Nagato’s relationship with each other.

Unfortunately, Koizumi has an almost irrelevant part in the plot, although I don’t remember him doing a whole lot in the TV series anyway. Asahina has a crucial role, but we don’t see a whole lot of character development going on with her.

While the movie does a good job answering most of the questions the viewer might have over the course of movie, some things are left unexplained and confusing. Without spoiling the plot, I felt certain things happened without reason or explanation. Nonetheless, these didn’t ruin the experience at all.

The animation is fairly good, but it’s just a slight improvement over what you’re used to seeing with the TV series. To be honest, the music isn’t all that noticeable, though I suppose it helped give the scenes more feeling, and there’s probably only one piece I actually liked. Voice acting is fantastic like always, especially with Nagato, whose seiyuu expresses the emotions in her voice perfectly.

Ultimately, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is pretty damn good. The plot is slow-paced, but highly engaging. The character development is top-notch. It even has some great, emotionally-driven scenes that have the potential to make an impact on you. This movie is a reminder of how good the Haruhi series can be, and for fans who began to doubt the animated franchise after the Endless Eight Arc, this should help to restore a little faith.

There are three major parts worth mentioning about this movie: Character Development, Character Interaction, and Style.

First off, it is a MUST to see the original series in order to fully appreciate the character development occurring in Disappearance. Throughout the original series, generally all of the characters were static with very little change to who they were from the first time they are introduced. Even the two main characters, Kyon and Haruhi, are essentially the same from beginning to end regardless of watching the show in chronological order or airing order, as the only change that seemed to occur was Kyon's ability to better accept the ... situation.

With Disappearance, the main focus is the development of Kyon as he is sooned faced with a reality too harsh for him to accept: a life where everything is logical. The entirety of the original series was focused on the daily life of a quintet of abnormal high school students with their own unique backgrounds and reasons to become acquainted with Haruhi. So when all of the fantasy is taken away, the only "normal" person of the group is then given a choice to accept this new reality he himself had wanted, or return to how the world was supposed to be.

While at a glance this idea of alternate universe existence is a reused plot in many stories, it helps bring a real sense of indecision to what Kyon really wants and presents a real conflict for Kyon to overcome. On a side note, it is also acts as a an interesting concept to be debated during and after the movie.

Next I would like to mention the character interactions. From beginning to end, the characters all fit within the universe of Haruhi Suzumiya, but because of the normally abnormal characters suddenly becoming abnormally normal people, in comparison with their original characters, a whole new light is suddenly shown upon the personalities of these heroes and heroines. Certain traits of each character become more apparent and is then shown in the light of a "normal" person, rather than the show's abnormal individual. All of these new interactions, however, help tie back to the development of Kyon as we watch him interact with these now normal characters, and helps juxtapose their new found normal-ness with his abnormal-ness, which was not as apparent in the original series.

Finally, though this the most opinionated part, is the style. Anime itself is an art both visually and storytelling wise. Very few scenes in the movie are without reason, every scene is meant to either create tension or further the overall tone of abnormality necessary to bring out the meat of the movie: the characters. There are some nice visuals, but the main focus is never to have a flashy moment to create a wow factor, but rather enhance the experience, as visuals should.

If there is anything to complain about, it would be the run time as it is a movie that requires you to pay attention. However, every scene is necessary to create the experience and even skipping a little would dampen it and make it less enjoyable than it should be, so as long as a long run time is not a problem it is fine.

As a recommendation, I would suggest watching this in the English Dub. Normally I prefer watching anime with the original voice acting and subtitles, but Crispin Freeman does a phenomenal job voicing Kyon. Not to say Tomokazu Sugita's performance was sub-par, but Crispin gave Kyon so much life through his performance that you could really feel the emotion in his words and it never felt fake.

To break it down:
Pros:
+well-executed character development
+interesting character interaction
+directing and visuals greatly enhanced the experience
+amazing english voice acting

Cons:
-long run time
-requires full attention

What to say about this masterpiece? Haruhi Suzumiya's film is incredible, I would even say that it is much better produced than the anime series, which is also very good. The theme of melancholy and nostalgia present for those who watch the anime nowadays also makes its presence felt in the film, in addition to the excellent development of the characters, especially Haruhi and Kyon. The animation is very well produced and in the same style present in Kyoto Animation's anime, especially in anime from the 2000s to the early 2010s. Anyway, what I can say is that I would recommend this film to anyone, ... but as long as you've watched it all seasons of Haruhi Suzumiya as you will understand the movie from the moment you watch both seasons of the Haruhi anime. For those who currently watch the series or remember Haruhi nowadays, it gives them a unique feeling of nostalgia or that "I wish I had seen more from that time, especially from the late 2000s to the early 2010s". Haruhi is remarkable, much more than a simple work, it is a masterpiece of the anime and manga industry.

A masterpiece. After seeing this movie, I forgave KyoAni for what they did with Endless Eight. Again, this is one of my first times reviewing so please bear with me.

The story was a very captivating. With Kyon's decision, he has seriously developed from just being a character watching in the sidelines, to taking a major role. The same with Nagato Yuki. She took a very huge character development after this story. Unfortunately, the other three SOS brigade members did not seem to appear much.

The art I must compliment the most. The animation was smooth, and they have ... returned to their original style of drawing instead of K-ON's. The CGI was also well played. The stage directions are also worthy of a praise.

The enjoyment is out of this world in my opinion. No matter how many times a person watches this, they will enjoy it to their fullest extent. No matter what age, what country, or maybe even belief.

Over all, it was a very phenomenal movie. Everything was perfect in my opinion. Once, again, I apologize if this was not helpful.

I feel extremely bothered for giving the score that I did, and there are two reasons for that: it is on MyAnimeList top10 of films and the amount of reviews giving this film 9 and 10.

The film is good, but maybe what I am missing, and some other people will as well, is a bit of context. If this film was a standalone kind of thing I would give a 7 with no remorse, but it seems that people really liked the series, 1st season was great, 2nd season was bad and this film was the series' redemption, that's why I think people gave the ... film a high score because it saved the series from the 2nd season fiasco.

I haven't watched anything about those characters before, so I am not emotionally attached to them, but don't mistake me thinking that this is a bad movie, which is not, but it's just not as good as people are portraying - if your interest is just watching the movie, maybe if you watch the series first you will enjoy it better.