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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV).


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Oroboro



Joined: 13 Nov 2012
Posts: 143
PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:24 pm Reply with quote
The second season can be more accurately described as an "interquel", as all of its 14 episodes take place chronologically in between the events of the first season. It consists of a standalone episode "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", an eight episode arc titled "Endless Eight", and a 5 parter collectively known as "The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya"

Endless eight specifically involves a spoiler[time loop. And they literally did the same events animated eight different times, without reusing a single frame or voice. It's interesting from an artistic standpoint and an exercise in trolling, but is somewhat mind numbing to actually watch.]
For the most part, EE is skippable, and the general idea can be gotten from watching episodes 1, 2, and 8 of the EE arc.

All in all the first and second season come to 28 episodes, with the final episode being the rather dry "Someday in the Rain". It chronologically leads directly into the movie though, which is glorious.

Since you've already finished the series, I wouldn't necessarily say you have to go back and watch the second season. Ultimately I don't think it's super great on it's own, but adds up to a more complete show when added all together. If anything, the standalone episode "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" ties into the movie quite a bit though.
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ultimatemegax



Joined: 26 Jan 2010
Posts: 412
PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 8:53 pm Reply with quote
Adding on to what Oroboro said, it bugs me immensely how people recommend the "first season" in "broadcast order" after the series was re-designed to specifically have 28 episodes in one season and a movie. It's much easier and hassle-free to say "watch the 28 episode order followed by the movie" both as the recommender and as a new viewer. You have arguments from people who watched the 2006 airing as it happened in Japan, which impacts their opinion of the show and so they recommend that since it was so impactful for them at that time. Just think of it as one season now (regardless of how the licensors call it two seperate seasons) and it's much easier to digest.

Sohma_Curse, Endless Eight was a creation from the producers/supervisor/assistant supervisor of the show once one of the stories that was to head the "second season" got changed into a movie. When the "second season" was announced in July 2007, it was to contain Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (1 episode), Endless Eight (1 episode), The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (5 episodes), and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (7 episodes) for a total of 14 new episodes. After plans changed for Disappearance to become a movie, they had to fill 7 episodes in what they called a "new animation" (the re-airing to make it 28 episodes). Tanigawa had severe writer's block during this time and likely couldn't create 7 anime-original episodes like he did for Someday in the Rain, so alternative measures had to take place. This meant the other stories had to be extended to fill that gap and the best one to do so was Endless Eight. Now you have 14 new episodes that consist of Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (1 episode), Endless Eight (8 episodes), and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (5 episodes). Each episode was newly animated and new dialogue was recorded each time.

In the "re-airing" version, the older 14 episodes are left untouched while the new 14 episodes were animated in ~715p HD. At times this can be jarring given the changes to the the character designs between the years, but I personally think it's overblown.

So that's the gist of the "new animation"/"re-airing" of Haruhi Suzumiya.
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Crisha
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Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 10:26 pm Reply with quote
Anime Marathon Discussion (Nov. 6th, 2015 - Nov. 15th, 2015)

Spoilers Reminder for Marathon Discussion: Tag all spoilers within your post(s) and record the episode number(s) you're discussing at the top of your post.
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:24 pm Reply with quote
Marathon Episodes 1-6

Perhaps, if I had watched Haruhi when it was still a major series in middle/high school then my enjoyment of the show would prompted me to finish it. Instead, I simply could not like anyone within the first six episodes and had no desire to watch Kyon or the S.O.S Brigade be Haruhi's lapdogs for 20+ episodes.

Since this was the introduction arc, the main point was for Kyon to be told multiple times that Haruhi isspoiler[ a god (or the God) and her boredom prompted the creation of everything three years ago.] As a child, she wentspoiler[ to a baseball game and soon realized that she was only one of many humans on Earth declaring herself not special.] So, to prevent boredom, Haruhi searched for espers and other mysteries until she forms a club thanks to Kyon who unwittingly gave her the idea.

For the next few episodes, I was both intrigued but heavily bothered by the notion that whatever Haruhi did or wanted, she got it. Only once did Haruhi get in trouble by dressing as a Playboy bunny that there seemed to be consequences to her actions. I was most bothered by her assaulting the time traveler girl and Kyon did nothing to help her. If anything, he seemed to enjoy watching her and then I had a weird idea.

spoiler[What if Kyon's the "creator" and Haruhi is just the vehicle of his fantasy, the active hero to his passive narration? Within these six episodes, it just kept bothering me that the reason Haruhi can't know that she's god is not because she might destroy the world but, that she isn't god at all. That the three characters keep saying it's Haruhi is to trick Kyon into thinking he's normal, therefore prevent any drastic changes.
]

The more I kept wondering about this theory only made me less likely to finish the series. Not because it was a terrible arc but, only because I didn't want to "cheer" for either Kyon or Haruhi since both were just plain unlikable. Kyon was too stuck up for me while Haruhi is the Alpha Bitch with little appeal beyond that. Even if the trio revealed themselves, I have no sympathy for Haruhi or Kyon realizing their world was filled with such mystery. I much rather watch actual shows about time travelers, psychics, or robots than these two.

Maybe, in the future, I'll give it a second chance since Funimation will re-release the series. For now, I couldn't force myself.
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louis6578



Joined: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 1861
PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:50 pm Reply with quote
My opinion of the overall show without spoilers. Discounting the movie...

I don't get the hype around it. Mainly because I got it spoiled for me that spoiler[Haruhi is God] before I even watched the damned show. I think that if I watched without knowing, I might have enjoyed it a little more, but even then, Haruhi isn't an amazing character in my mind. Or at least, she isn't the epitome of everything awesome about anime like people built her up to be. This may be the one time that hype ruined the show for me. Granted, Hope Chapman's interpretation of Haruhi and Kyon does make the show feel better to watch at some points. You know, if you just interpret them as jerk kids on purpose (like Timmy Turner from FOP being selfish with his wishes, but in the way a kid would be selfish and mean rather than in a villainous way).

I don't find Mikuru rape/abuse funny, but I'm not nearly as offended by it as some people I know (I know unwarranted fanboys of this show as well as unwarranted haters). I also probably should have watched it in release order instead of chronological order (it always felt like the first arc was good, but then suddenly the show stops trying. Now I know why). Kyon is actually a fun character though. I do feel like he's a little too passive, but hey, he's got way more personality than your typical light novel protagonist. I love his snark, especially in the English Dub (though I find Haruhi is better as Aya Hirano).

I don't think it's a "must-see for anime fans" or whatever. I would say that most people should TRY this anime, but drop it if you're not loving it. Go in blind. Don't look it up.

I do love the movie though. And in terms of your theory of Kyon spoiler[being god] I believe it too. Kyonism ftw.
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