Forum - View topicREVIEW: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Blu-Ray + DVD
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amagee
 Posts: 333 Location: Orlando, FL |
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Good to see someone else who was at the EU premier in Edinburgh stalking around. I remember enjoying it so much even though the subtitles wobbled and it took me till the second half of the movie to stop noticing it. 
I tend to agree with Mr. Martin on the issue of length. Given the depth of the movie, cutting scenes would be difficult, but it would not be too hard to effectively eliminate 30 seconds - 1 minute of stuff here and there and shorten the film by 20 - 30 minutes. I personally only ever notice the length of a film unless it's really awful (The Three Musketeers remake is a good example) or the film is just brutally long. This film luckily falls into the latter category but streamlining it would've made it even better in my opinion. In regards to the urgency to view the previous two seasons in length in order to enjoy it, I haven't found that to be true necessarily. I took a kinda-anime fan who had never seen Haruhi anything and had them watch (going by Season 2 numbers for simplicity) 1 - 6 and 8 and they enjoyed the film immensely without really missing anything. The random references to the "Endless Eight" fiasco, the movie creation arc, etc. did entice the lass watching it for the first time (in terms of making her want to see the rest of it) but she never felt those smaller references detracted from the flow or message of the film. I personally see this as the movie's big success. The amount of time to enjoy this sequel - which is essentially what it is - requires about the same amount of viewing time as seeing Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring before seeing The Two Towers. That isn't asking all that much. Even with the random references to previous adventures, I feel personally that they are no more debilitating to the viewers' experience than the multiple times Gundam Unicorn harkens back to older Universal Century series. |
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Sailor S
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Apparently I'm the odd one out here, because I rather enjoyed Endless Eight. Anyways, I'm glad to see this appears to have been done well. After reading the novel and the manga adaptation, I've been looking forward to when I can get to watching the anime. But, since I have to watch my DVDs and BDs in the order I bought them, it'll be awhile.
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Well, the second season's about $23 at TRSI, and given how the sales cycle through, I could probably swing a few more cents off if I time it right. The movie's a purchase regardless. I knew this when they announced it. I mean, it's Haruhi with long hair. *sigh* This industry owns me and they know it. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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I liked the movie a lot but I wonder why Kyon didn't consider staying in the alternate "normal" universe and just hanging out with alternate Haruhi. She's just as beautiful (moreso, actually due to that hair; remember Kyon's love for ponytails), has the same manic, vibrant energy (when she's not bored) but is socialized to the degree that she can sit down with another human and have an actual conversation with them, unlike original Haruhi.
Maybe I'm focusing too much on the romantic subtext; it's only in the original universe that Kyon can have reality-bending adventures. I was slightly annoyed that the movie's time-twisting plot meant that we don't see Kyon having to pay the price to return things to the way they were; the nanobot-injector was shaped like a gun for a reason; for all intents and purposes, he would have to kill alternate Yuki to get his own world back. |
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animefan1238
 Posts: 299 Location: Ma |
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This is possibly the best animated TV movie to ever be produced. The animation is so clean and detailed I really did get sucked into it, everything else around me kind of focused out. Yuki was a great in her other world self, Kyon and Crispin Freeman really showed the best of the character and of himself as a VA. The music was beautiful and used very well. Even though the Endless Eight arc really erked me, but this movie made up for it and makes me wish for a third season, if not then they ended it on a very high note.
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Ingraman
Posts: 1077 |
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Yeah, I double-dipped with the Haruhi movie. I bought the Japanese LE BD release with the beautiful DVD-sized steelbook case from Amazon, and bought the US release during the last TRSI/Bandai sale. Hmm... My copy of the US BD arrived about eleven months after the Japanese BD. Not too bad, I guess. The video bitrate for the US release might not have been quite as high as the Japanese disc, but at least they allowed us to have lossless audio...
Heh... ^_^ Long-haired Haruhi was on the mini-pencilboard that came with my copy of the Haruhi TV BD set. I lucked out there. I was dreading getting an Itsuki or Mikuru board. ^^;
Is that so bad? ;p |
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Jarm
Posts: 87 |
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...was too lengthy?
I wanted more! 
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Jealousy is an ugly thing, so if you don't want to see mine, you had best keep these little secrets to yourself. The best I got was the Figma figure because no one's done scaled 1:4 yet (wake up, FREEing!). 
For me? Nope. For my wallet? I get abused nightly by the leather stitching as a payback for violating it during the day. 
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I suppose I'll be the first to say that I didn't like this movie. Instead of re-writing the same thing I did over a year ago, I'll just copy that response:
I should end it by saying that I'm not a Haruhi hater. I saw Melancholy I-VI and was absolutely entranced pretty much the whole way through. And then I saw that the rest of the episodes of seasons 1 and all episodes of season 2 (except perhaps Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody) can't hold a candle to those six episodes. This movie doesn't either by the way. |
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CG-LOVER
 Posts: 355 Location: East Lansing, MI |
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I agree 100% with this review. A great movie, but a little long for my tastes. This is the best installment of the Haruhi anime franchise to date.
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Sailor S
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Actually, they already did some time back. http://myfigurecollection.net/item/72_suzumiya_haruhi_no_yuuutsu_suzumiya_haruhi_1_4_bun Unless you want one without the bunny suit, then I'm not certain. |
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Ingraman
Posts: 1077 |
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I think that PetrifiedJello's looking for a Haruhi figure that's both 1:4 scale, _and_ has the long hair from the movie... I do remember when all the 1:4 bunny suits came out. Didn't every girl who had a degree of importance get one? I think that even Kyon's Imouto was represented. ^^; |
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Sailor S
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Ah, well there's always the Azone which is 1/3 scale. http://myfigurecollection.net/item/61374_suzumiya_haruhi_no_shoushitsu_suzumiya_haruhi_hybr
But yeah, I'd love if FREEing brought out a 1/4 scale of the Disappearance Haruhi. And yes, they did do a bunny suit version for all 6 of the girls with any level of importance. The Ryouko Asakura one looking the nicest in my opinion. EDIT - apparently there were 7. I didn't think they'd have gone so far as to make one for Emiri Kimidori |
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Bonham
 Posts: 419 Location: NYC |
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The pacing in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya reminds me a lot of the more calm pacing found in films by contemporary Japanese directors like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (or, hell, even Takeshi Kitano), so it feels more of a piece with them while still being a more conventionally dramatic picture. Scenes don't and shouldn't just run for purely narrative purposes; otherwise, you just have a plot summary with visuals. Granted, I suppose you could shave off some arbitrary amount, like 15 minutes, while still maintaining the atmosphere*, but I'm skeptical it would be much of an improvement.
Regardless, I'm definitely in agreement with most of the others on here that it's one of, if not the best entry in the franchise. I look forward to watching the Blu-ray once my finals are over. Also, considering how well-done this is, I might even prefer they adapt other major stories of the series for film rather than television. *No other anime I've ever seen has made me really feel that it's winter as much as this one has, save for Tokyo Godfather.
As for his friend knowing Haruhi? I generally look down upon coincidences solving conflict, but this one is hardly a real stretch of the imagination. I can't even begin to recount the number of times that a friend of mine knew another friend that went to a different high school from us or just from myself because they knew each other in middle or elementary school, from their (past) neighborhoods, from hearing about them from family or a friend, etc. Sometimes solutions pop up in the most unexpected ways, with people not doing much of anything (what one might call "luck," I guess). I can understand why you take issue, but I don't really find Kyon's reactions and resolution to be a crucial failing, nor expect him to react how I and some others might react.] |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Own it. 
*licks gold star and sticks it on your forehead.
Nope. I'd ice skate in hell before I ever get a chance to own one of these. When these were put on pre-order (I believe it was HLJ I was at), the system hit me with an "Out of stock" message because the demand was so high, and quantities were very limited, the systems taking the orders were having trouble. I believe the asking price is around $4000 now. |
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Long-haired Haruhi was on the mini-pencilboard that came with my copy of the Haruhi TV BD set. 
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