Okay. I am a HUGE fan of the original series. The original series is God-tier for me and will always be one of my most recommended series. If you are in the same boat, you will have grand expectations and this series will either meet these and bask in the same holy light as your favourite series, or it will be judged with the sharpest scrutiny and perhaps earn undeserved hatred - depending entirely on what you liked/ disliked about the original series.
This spinoff is based on the work of art film 'The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya', what made this film so beautiful was Kyon's awareness of the Haruhi world and his determination to find her and rectify the absurdity. This series features an ignorant Kyon; and every treasured character from the original franchise is similarly morphed into mediocre, uninteresting, slice of life-genre characters. I did not know it was possible to make the most dynamic, multifaceted, and charismatic character in anime ever, boring, but The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato certainly achieves this - Haruhi does not shine. Kyon also morphs from being a philosophical existentialist to a boring high school boy. I found it devastating that these two particular characters who I identified with, related to, were gone (or poorly reimagined, or there - but not there, or should the series be renamed to the disappearance of everything good about your favourite characters... but I digress).
The original series features fan service alongside an incredible storyline. The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato Chan is basically pure fan service. If you enjoyed the fan service elements of the original series, you are in for a treat! But if you do not care for this, you will find the series painfully boring. Particularly the spa retreat episode. Which had no purpose other than heavy fan service. I do not doubt that this sole feature contributed to polarized reviews.
Now, were the characters likeable? They are likeable in that they were likeable in the original series. I am not convinced that they are likeable or memorable enough if this series were a stand-alone series. Disappearance Yuki is endearing because she is contrasted with the unfeeling and emotionally disconnected Melancholy Yuki. I did not like the new art style. It was attractive enough, but made the characters look chipmunk-like; also Mikuru having ombre pink hair felt off-brand for her. The oversaturation of moe on my dearly loved and cherished favourite characters was cringe-inducing for me.
The series was difficult to finish, I did not find myself excited to watch the next episode except for the anchor where Disappearance Yuki reverts back to Melancholy Yuki and I was momentarily excited that the new series would make a brilliant transition back to original series and the genre would flip. But alas, no joy.
I consider myself a fair person and I can distinguish that my personal feelings are not reality and that my perspective will never be unbiased for this series. If I had watched this series with completely new characters it might not have been disappointing. For that reason I can't definitively say that this is a bad series, so my final review is a 5/10, the ghost of the original series echoed through this spin-off breathes enough life into it to make it an on par viewing experience to a complete watch through of the Endless Eight episodes.
My advice is if you enjoyed the supernatural/ philosophical elements to the original series, steer clear of this one. If you did not enjoy the supernatural/ philosophical elements of the original series, you may enjoy this. If you sought fan service in this original series, you will likely enjoy this (however the art style is inferior).
