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Anime Review: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Second Season
In 2006, the anime adaptation of Nagaru Tanigawa’s Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series took the anime scene by storm. By mixing a wide variety of different genres into an original story, the series offered an exciting experience unlike any other at the time. Being only 14 episodes long, it’s needless to say that fans wanted more. In late 2007, a second season was finally announced. And then… we didn’t hear anything about it for a while. It wasn’t until 2009 that we finally started to hear news pop up again about the much anticipated second season of Haruhi.
But fans got their hopes up too soon. Instead of airing the alleged second season, Kyoto Animation (“KyoAni”) later confirmed that they would simply re-air the first season of Haruhi. Fans had been teased, and they weren’t happy. But KyoAni had a surprise up their sleeves. That surprise was called “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody” and it was a brand new episode that was aired during the re-airing of Haruhi‘s first season. This was the first of what makes up the so-called “second season” of Haruhi (commonly referred to as Haruhi S2 or Haruhi 2009), all of which aired during the re-airing of the first season. A pleasant surprise, indeed. But was all the anticipation and putting up with KyoAni’s teasing worth it? Well, that depends…
In writing this review, I’m going to assume you’re already familiar with the Haruhi series. If you aren’t, then be warned: this review may contain spoilers from the first season.
Haruhi 2009 takes place during the events of the first season, and is divided into three arcs: Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Endless Eight, and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. The arcs are shown out of chronological order, though the episodes within each arc are in order. Two of the three arcs, Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, focus on giving some backstory and explaining some of the mysteries that were left open. Endless Eight, however, takes a completely different direction, and is by far the most controversial part of the Haruhi anime series.
Anime Review: Samurai Harem (Asu no Yoichi)
Samurai Harem… with a title like that you might be thinking “Another harem anime? No thanks!”
Well, yeah… this is another harem anime. The staple and arguably overused tropes are present in this series – everything from the main character walking in on a girl changing to him “accidentally” pushing in on a girl’s chest. Even though we’ve seen these jokes plenty of times before, they somehow still manage to be funny, and this show is no exception. Toss this in with some damn good character designs, and you have what will make this show worth all your while.
Samurai Harem tells the story of a young boy named Yoichi. Despite living in the modern-day world, he grew up secluded from civilization and has spent his whole life practicing with his father to one day become a samurai. Because of this, he lacks common social skills and is vastly unfamiliar with modern technology. After completing his samurai training, Yoichi moves to the city into a house occupied by the four Ikaruga sisters. You can see where this is going.
Anime Review: To Love-Ru (Collection 1: Episodes 1-13)
When Sentai Filmworks first announced that they would be distributing To Love-Ru (also known as Trouble or Toraburu), at first I was indifferent about it. I had heard of the show before, but I never really thought about it being worth my time because it just looked like another typical ecchi series. I couldn’t have been any more wrong about this. Shortly after the license announcement, Scott VonSchilling of The Anime Almanac started to rave about the wonders of To Love-Ru. So, I decided to give the series a try. I’m very glad I did.
The story revolves around Rito, our perverted male lead character. He’s been unable to confess his love to his classmate Haruna, the love of his life. One day while Rito is taking a bath, a completely naked girl appears out of nowhere. It is soon discovered that Lala, the mysterious girl, is actually an alien from outer space. Shortly after, Rito accidentally (and hilariously) enters into a marriage contract with Lala. Yes, in the anime world, people can even get engaged by accident. However, Rito is not interested in Lala, for he wants Haruna, the girl of his dreams. And that’s the plot. Don’t enter into this series expecting a story, or you will be disappointed. Just enjoy it for what it is: an ecchi harem comedy. And a hysterical one at that.
What makes To Love-Ru so good is its ability to be consistently funny. Unlike many ecchi harem shows, the jokes here are frequent and humorous. While the jokes themselves aren’t all that original, the amazing cast of characters and the show’s presentation make it all feel nice and fresh. The show also has great production value. The animation is smooth, and the character designs are excellent. Personality-wise and appearance-wise, To Love-Ru has an amazing cast of characters that really make it enjoyable to watch.
Just like in any ecchi series, there is a healthy portion of fanservice. However, it’s not excessive. Some ecchi shows seem to go by the belief that “the more fanservice, the better!” (I’m looking at you, Rosario+Vampire), but To Love-Ru maintains a nice balance and doesn’t go over the top. That said, if you’re someone who just can’t stand fanservice, I still wouldn’t recommend this show to you. But if you can handle it, this show is definitely an under-appreciated gem that should not be overlooked.
To Love-Ru Collection 1 is currently on sale and is licensed and distributed by Sentai Filmworks. Official series information is available at TheAnimeNetwork.com.
ENJOYMENT – Very highly entertaining
RECOMMENDATION LEVEL – Not for everyone, but would recommend to most
REWATCH VALUE – Good for some laughs you may have missed the first time
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