Alack, it's also one of those franchises that's becoming increasingly ignored over the last few years. The light novels have been on hiatus for a couple of years (if I'm not mistaken) and its most recent instalments (with the exception of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) have had shall we say... mixed reception? Yeah, Endless Eight and The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan have their fans but the detractors are more than numerous. Regardless, the original Haruhi series which came out in 2006 is something that I say should be watched by all, detractors be damned.
Before I get into the contents of this review, I should just make one thing perfectly clear: it's best to watch the series in chronological order. I have no idea who the idiot was that thought airing this series out of of order would be a good idea, but I say that person at Kyoto Animation or TVTokyo or whatever needs to get fired and have their entire pension stripped away from them. It doesn't help that Crunchyroll of places decided to retain this irksome trend as well. Thankfully, we have websites like Kissanime to remedy that but it's still something to be mentioned. Anyway, with that nastiness out of the way, let's talk about what really makes Haruhi so fun to watch.
Haruhi plays out like a strange cross between a mundane slice-of-life show and Bewitched, with a twist of Uncle Grandpa thrown into the mix: our average Joe with a dry, ironic wit comes across an eccentric girl who ultimately turns out to be an unwitting reality warper. Several beings, including an alien, an esper, and a time traveller find themselves gravitating toward our reality-warping heroine. If that weren't enough, our sarcastic protagonist always ends up having a part to play in the hijinks that go down, much to his own chagrin of course.
The story is divided up into two halves: the first 6-7 episodes (in chronological order), which is an overarching story where Kyon learns more about Haruhi and the last 7-8 episodes (in chronological order), which is mostly episodic comedy that involves the SOS Brigade taking on a random task just to appease God, lest She lead the world into oblivion. Whilst I'm quite the fan of the episodic comedy, I'm afraid I'll have to side with the detractors on this one by saying that the story episodes are better. Simply put, episodic comedy is inconsistent with some episodes being much funnier to watch than others. On top of that, comedy's subjective and not everyone's gonna find the same shit funny.
Meanwhile, most (if not all) of Haruhi's detractors can at least agree that Haruhi's story-based episodes are quite involving. From the very beginning, you can tell that something major's going to go down very soon as Kyon meets Haruhi for the first time. No spoilers here, but I'll tell you this: I REALLY want to know what the rest of Haruhi could've been like if it kept up this kind of momentum. Alack, the geniuses at Kyoto Animation just had to do their own thing. It's moments like this that make me wonder what Haruhi would've been like if SHAFT got a hold of it (assuming they treat it like Zetsubou Sensei and NOT the Monogatari series, that is).
In terms of characters, they're certainly not compelling individuals by any stretch of the imagination but that doesn't make em any less entertaining to say the least. Itsuki is amusing, Yuki is Rei Ayanami 2.0, so she's automatically best girl, and Mikuru is the resident shy and timid moeblob (though to be fair, if I were Haruhi's chew toy, I'd probably be shy and timid around others as well). The best of the characters would definitely have to be Kyon because without his constant sarcasm, this entire show would probably end up being rather annoying to watch. Also, the fact that he's voiced by Crispin Freeman in the English dub also helps out immensely in terms of his likeability. It's like listening to Hideki from Chobits snarking at every stupid thing that Chii says!
Haruhi herself is ultimately what will either make or break your experience. She's hot, she's hyper, and she also exhibits psychopathic tendencies. Imagine the male protagonist of a Rumiko Takahashi manga but with the gender swapped and a noticeable lack of empathy, and you'll basically have Haruhi in a nutshell. Don't get me wrong: Haruhi has that heart of gold somewhere but I really wouldn't put it past you if you end up hating the entire show because of how irksome she can get. THANKFULLY, she's balanced out by Kyon so she's not running TOO wild. Still though, I dread to imagine what the world would actually be like if Haruhi was real and she really turned out to be God.
Animation and sound are especially deserving of mention, considering how fucking AWESOME they are. Keep in mind that this show came out in 2006. Then again, this show ALSO came straight from Kyoto Animation so it's no wonder that everything looks so good. On another note, tell me how everyone in Haruhi can go into a dance sequence and it'll strangely fit with whatever song you decide to play over it? The animation would only serve to get better over time, as evidenced by the 2009 series and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
The dub is also fucking amazing as well. Crispin Freeman, Wendee Lee, Johnny Yong Bosch, Stephanie Sheh, and Michelle Ruff all had a hand to play in this dub and it turned out beautifully. Crispin Freeman really hits the mark as Kyon, as does Wendee Lee as Haruhi, Johnny Yong Bosch as Itsuki, Stephanie Sheh as Mikuru, and Michelle Ruff as Yuki. Really, my only complaint with the dub is that Steve Blum didn't have a hand to play in it whatsoever! It's not fair that the last time Crispin Freeman and Steve Blum were in the same dub was in Wolf's Rain, and they didn't even interact all that much together that time! Sorry, just getting a little ahead of myself. Still kinda salty over that, but I digress.
My own personal enjoyment of Haruhi goes up and down. Whilst I still find Haruhi so fun to watch almost 10 years after I first watched it, I can't help but feel like there was so much more that could've been done. Then again, that's the hindsight talking. For what it's worth, Haruhi is a good show that really should've had a better follow-up. It's disappointing to see what became of one of my favourite programmes but then again, it's not like this show was widely beloved when it first hit the market anyway. There were still people who were talking smack about this show, and it would seem that their criticisms of the show have been vindicated over the years. For what it's worth though, Haruhi isn't without merit and it's a joy that should be experienced by all in the near future. Here's to hoping that Haruhi gets a reboot that properly adapts the LNs without any Endless Eights or shitty spin-offs happening any time soon. Anyway, that's all for now. Feedback's always welcome and with that, I'm out. Peace :)
