Chances are you have already heard of the original series the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. And by some miraculous turn of events you live in a rock cave in the Himalayans and have not heard of the craze that is this show. I'll spare you a summary and just tell you to watch the original series. This movie is up and foremost made for the fans. While is not necessarily a requirement to watch the original it is pivotal to your over all enjoyment of the movie, as you enjoyment will increase exponentially depending on how much a fan you are to the original. Not to mention the numerous references to not just the two TV series but the manga to. Much the to the delight of fans and confusion to others.
The sound and art design have always been terrific in this series and this movie is no exception. The animation is crisp, and fluid. With many things being animated in every shot. The sound and music being on the same level with plenty of orchestrated pieces to fill out its terrific sound track.
The characters of Haruhi have always been a tricky point in the series. On one hand we have our terrific duo Kyon and Haruhi. Both of whom are wholly original and entertaining character and the series is always at its finnest when those to on the field with each other. Than on the other hand we have everyone else. Asahina, Nagato, and Koizumhi and others These character are beyond one dimensional to just being simple charater traits repeted at nauseum. Thats not to say they are not entertaining but they sure do lack any depth or complexion. Any attempt at complexity that does turn up for them is not shown through their actions but instead inferred through others.
But now on to the really meat of the movie the story. I'll be blunt right up front and say this. Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is one of the most horribly paced and agonizingly slowly plotted movies I have seen regardless of medium. This plot simply put does not need over two and half hours to be told. While it approaches nothing near the redundancy that was the Endless Eight, this doesn't excuse it. The story itself is rather simple. Think Its A Wonderful Life except its Haruhi who disappears and Kyon is the only one who remembers anything, though not quite that simple thankfully. I won't spoil it for you except that its not necessarily predictable and has a few plot twists and one as* pull near the end. Plus it all ties up nicely for long running fans a newbies alike. But the entire idea of taking your best character and making her disappear is not a very good one, since as a said earlier, the show is always at its most entertaining with Kyon and Haruhi. So most of the movie hinges on how well Kyon can support the movie. On this note he does his admirable job. They try to spice things up by changing up Nagatos character, but all they end up doing is replacing her stoicism with vulnerability and shyness and it falls flat. Plus Kyon's monologues only can go on for so long before he starts repeating himself. Yes, they do evolve over the course of the movie, this did not need to be dragged out for such a long time, because lets face it there was only so much to say.
In conclusion Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is a fine movie that has a few major flaws keeping it back from being what it could. The movie simply put needed editing and a lot of it. I meandering, molasses fulled pace coupled with it lack of Haruhi until well over half way through and then the fact that Kyon alone with his monologues is not enough to support this behemoth 160 minute movie. Fan will no doubt delight in every minute of it but everyone else keep a finger on the fast-forward button for its going to be a long ride.
