Forum - View topicREVIEW: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya DVD 1
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bci110
 Posts: 391 |
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I was looking forward to this review. Nice job, Theron!
I agree with everything in the review except for Theron's take on Michelle Ruff's performance as Yuki. I thought she did a pretty good job with the monotones, and while she did struggled a bit in the erlier episodes, I felt that she completely captured the character while performing Yuki's monologue to Kyon at the end of Episode 2/beginning of Episode 3. As for Wendee Lee's performance as Haruhi, I didn't expect her to completely match or even exceed the same performance level that Aya Hirano displayed. From what I heard, Aya was a tour de force during her run as Haruhi. But I felt that Wendee's performance was pretty good, and I think she did a great job thus far in portraying all of Haruhi's vast array of emotions. As for the show itself, being one of the alleged few that have never seen this show since it premiere in Japan last year (I'm not a fansub watcher), I don't recall ever having this much fun watching an anime series in my lifetime. The characters were very lively and enthusiastic (the Haruhi/Mikuru scenes and Haruhi's invasion in the Computer Club were the highlights of the volume in my view), and the animation was very fluid and consistent, (typical from Kyoto Animation, really). What I'm most impressed by this series so far is its presentation in having the main male character narrate the story. It definitely gives you a great perspective of what's going on in Haruhi's universe though his eyes, and Crispin Freeman's narration is absolutely perfect. It definitely got me hooked on the story thus far. I'm so hooked on the show that I'm actually watching the DVD every day since I received it (I received it from TRSI this past Tuesday; I pre-ordered the SE version back in February), which is something that I very rarely do. |
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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Well what is this? the reveiw goes up the same day that I watched this release? Pretty timely
 I'm pretty happy/surprised that I was able to get this one from Netflix so soon, I thought for sure that I wouldn't be seeing it until at least 3-4 weeks later.
Anyways, what to say about this series... well lets just say that my bank account is going to be taking pretty big hits from this one, I am definitely buying this one! I actually immediately mailed it back to Netflix so that I wouldn't over-watch it 
The 1st aspect of this show that grabbed me was the dialogue style for Kyon's narration in Ep 00. It is fantastic! Stylish, nicely delivered, and had me laughing at many -and I mean many- points. And that great dialogue style stays consistent throughout the rest of the volume. The animation and camera styles for the same episode were also great, and like the reveiw said, the reactions of the cast members of the amateur film were gold! Oh yeah, another part that made me laugh was when Kyon was describing Haruhi. "Haruhi eccentricity number 1; a different hairstyle everyday..." I actually knew a girl in highschool that was like that 
I've been pretty drawn in by this series, and now I am starting to see what so many others saw in it. |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2338 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Does the special edition dvd have the episodes in the order that they ran on tv in Japan?
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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Yes the special edition does have the original order...in fact I think that it has both version. |
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Shale
Posts: 337 Location: The Middle of Nowhere, DE |
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Starting with volume 2, the special editions will come with a second disk that has the episodes in broadcast order and subtitled only. Volume 1 is chronological order only.
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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It's unusual for me to agree with an ANN review, but this one I (mostly) agree with.
The only thing I would disagree on is Yuki and Mikuru. I liked Michelle Ruff's Yuki but found Stephanie Sheh's Mikuru sounds a bit forced at times. and there's just something about it that doesn't sit right with me. I was surprised about how much I liked Wendee Lee as Haruhi, though I too think it'll take a while to truly get used to it, after having associated Aya Hirano and her legendary performance. I totally agree about the subtitles. They're sort of weird at times, and way too big. The Japanese cast is a little better than the dub, but I might have to hand it to the dub simply for better translation. It appears that the reviewer really had to search hard for a negative to put in the overall stats. "Not especially deep." The show is more clever than complex. I think the stories in the later novels are a bit more complex, but nothing's very "deep" as far as Haruhi's concerned. It's not just a moe-fest, but it's not Foundation, either. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18222 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I find it rather odd that people are speaking out in favor of Michelle Ruff's performance here when I'm not, as usually it's the other way around. (I've liked almost everything else she's done, but a lot of people don't seem to care much for her past major roles.) Guess I'll have to give her another listen in this role.
Yeah, the only thing that kept me from giving a full "A" Overall was the soundtrack, which is good for what it does but not a stand-out. I put the "not especially deep" comment in the negatives partly because I was fishing for a second point and partly in response to some things which have been said over in the main series thread in the Anime forum; I don't actually consider its lack of Evangelion-like depth to be a problem. Really, the only true negative is the subtitle issue. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Really! Haruhi's soundtrack ranks as perhaps one of my favorites of all time. I love how composer Satoru Kousaki inserted snippets of a wide compass of genres including Electronic, Jazz, Blues, Latin, Classical, Rock, and of course, the MIDI goodness. Granted, the silly songs get played way more often and those I would agree are only average, but I think the actual gems showed up from time to time in the earlier episodes as well. For example, the theme that played during spoiler[Nagato's "true" introduction], that one I really liked. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Correct. Only the first LE comes with a true box. The others will come in a cardboard box, but those are only intended to hold the extra stuff that comes with it. The actual DVD cases will go in the box that came with the first LE. |
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Raven Shinobi
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Relieved to hear this, I was about to drop the series and label it "overrated" as I was watching the first episode -which I thought as I got to know the characters in later episodes that it would have been a more enjoyable experience if the episode was positioned in its correct chronological order and the same goes for the episode with the spoiler[baseball match] that made me wonder when the hell did Tsuruya become a part of the group. Love the series and can't wait to get my hand on all those extras! |
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Fiction Alchemist
Posts: 438 |
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Delete.
Last edited by Fiction Alchemist on Thu Sep 08, 2022 12:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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HitokiriShadow
Posts: 6251 |
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The LE release is exactly what they said it was from the beginning. I'm not sure what you are so surprised about. |
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Shale
Posts: 337 Location: The Middle of Nowhere, DE |
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Once again: volumes 2, 3 and 4 come with extra discs that feature all the episodes in broadcast order. |
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Fiction Alchemist
Posts: 438 |
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Deleted.
Last edited by Fiction Alchemist on Thu Sep 08, 2022 12:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DKL
 Posts: 1956 Location: California, USA |
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But people still want that awesome box... Hell, I wanted the awesome box, and I've never really seen the show (actually, I managed to get someone from another board to dive in with the box as well) And, even if people didn't want the extra crap from the first box, but still wanted the broadcast order... Who do you think wins in all this? |
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