I preface the rest of the review with the statement that I really enjoyed it, but that I don't think it really was a good/great anime, and I do not think I would have watched it if not for the personal interest generated by my enjoyment of the Haruhi Suzumiya series and movie. To outline some of the reasons for both my enjoyment and my consideration of it as a mediocre anime in general:
Enjoyment:
— If you have watched the movie before watching this (a must in my opinion), there are questions left surrounding Yuki character, especially considering the scene after the credits. It is very enjoyable to have another series exploring that situation with 'normal' Yuki in a 'normal' world. She is a very likeable character in that she is cute looking (youthfully doe eyed and child-like), shy, clumsy, good natured, and child-like in her actions. I found myself wanting her to succeed in her plans to have a relationship with Kyon (one of the big plot points of the series); if you disagree with this opinion then this may not be the anime for you as it depends a lot on this for you to have the patience to make it through. What should be noted is that her character here (and predicament) is quite different to the one found in the movie, it is more stereotypically high school romance-esque in my opinion.
— There are quite a few comedic moments that play on the characters of the Suzumiya series, as well as knowing references to it too. This series can act as a good opportunity to spend more time with these characters and see them within new situations. They are much the same but without any kind of supernatural sub plot, and I actually enjoyed their company a bit more as the bullying Haruhi is toned down a lot, and she seems more caring and personable in this series.
— The music is great in this series, it includes quite a few pieces of impressionist European music (Ravel, Satie-esque, etc.) that add to the passing of time and allowing feelings and bonds to grow.
— The animation can be really pretty at times with more colour than the original series and the movie, the characters are more cute as well (although also more generic) and it is genuinely quite nice to be in their company doing a lot of the mundane things that are portrayed in the movie (up to a point).
— Dub is really good, with the original English voice cast back again.
The mediocrity:
— The plot really is very basic and the whole series is based around the hope of things happening between the two characters, but the problem really comes down to how nothing really gets in the way of it (this is true up until about episode 11). The pacing can be really slow sometimes with scenes and scenarios being repeated and drawn out to fill time it seems, it would feel like all the interesting events would be put at the start and ends of each episode to facilitate viewers to return.
Probably the most disappointing thing to happen to the plot comes in the lack of any kind of resolution to the many plot-lines of the series. I understand this is done to allow future material to be added, but some kind of balance could have been struck better. As alluded to above, around episode 11 (more than half way through) something interesting happens to Yuki's character (relating to the title), and this brings up some very interesting questions of identity and the self. This is handled very well with her relationships with others being an interesting stimulus for Yuki's character, and gave me hope for the rest of the series, but after around 3 episodes everything is pretty much back in tone to the first 10 episodes and the only implications come between Kyon and Yuki, giving them more excuses to put off their relationship, this is the point where it went from wanting of the relationship to boredom. It takes so much dependence on the stereotype of the aloof character not being to admit their feelings, but it would have been so much better if he explained something at least something to her! The end is frustrating and feels like its only intent is to allow for more material in the future.
— The animation, even though I said I enjoyed some aspects of it, is quite bland. Even though the characters are quite cute now, they look similar to a lot of modern series. The animation is also lazy at times, focusing on static objects to save money, and also being inconsistent sometimes with the characters (there is a point where Kyon moves his head and it looks like is face is about to fall off).
— The varying tone: other then the plot this is my biggest problem with this series, it seems to change in tone and intent all the time! For example the first few episodes are very tense with various silly romantic moments happening by chance to clumsy Yuki (they knowingly refer to these in the hopes to make it better), making me think its more Shojo in tone with Yuki as the main character trying to make her feelings for Kyon known, but at the same time battling her shyness. Later the show plays more to a guy demographic with T&A all over, now focusing more on Kyon being around all these anime babes, these same anime babes that we were meant to be enjoying for their personality not their bodies (or so I thought). It moves between the two before launching into another type of plot (episode 11 point) where it moves to big themes of sense of identity, self and what constitutes a person, where many of the characters conveniently disappear for a while, which then goes in depth into Yuki and Kyon and this time they spend together and their heart warming relationship. Then, it goes back to being a beach episode with anime babes in swimsuits! It left me confused about what the series was trying to do and also annoyed me as I signed up for the character focused romance part with a bit of comedy, not boring fan service-y parts.
Conclusion:
The series is too varied in tone and plot for me to recommend it to anyone who doesn't like the original series and movie, and even then I am unsure if it would appeal to all as it focuses a lot on the characters and not on a supernatural plot. The thing is that the characters outside of Yuki, and partly Kyon, are just played as they are in the original series and are put into normal situations with quite a lot of boring conclusions.
In my mind the reasons to watch this are if you are particularly fond of the 'normal' version of Yuki from the movie, and would like to see a more high school romance stereotypical version of her in romantic situations with a less snarky Kyon and going on more normal adventures with Haruhi, then it's good enough to make it through enjoying a number of sequences. I felt that it had a lot more potential considering the material of the earlier content, it was not explored anywhere near as much as it could have been (or should have been).
