As the song goes: She's got the whooooole world ..... in her hand. Somehow, this does NOT reassure me. Credit: Noizi Ito, Kyoto Animation

The Sexual Harassment of Haruhi Suzumiya or Now I Get It!

Perhaps I’m a bit slow on the uptake. Heck, sometimes it takes a looong time before I figure something out.

Some time ago I wrote a three part article The Head Trip of Haruhi Suzumiya. In the first part I mentioned how taken aback I was over some scenes in episodes 01, 02 & 03. I still hold to the same reservations but now I more fully understand as to what it’s about.

I originally thought it had to do with some kind of wierd Japanese sexual humor. I now see they were nothing more than satiric pokes at the anime trope known as moe’. It’s nothing more than the title characters’ way (Being the pushy, inconsiderate ASS she can be.) of pointing out some of the Mikuru characters’ moe’ aspects. In this case, cute, tiny, and uh ….. generous secondary female characteristics. Still, it could have been handled differently (Being as I’m from Ohio & not ohayo, I like my women real & of legal age.).

While Mikuru is moe’, Haruhi is definitely Moe Howard!

Article copyright © 3-24-2011 Jay Agan

This article originally published at http://jaysteevee.blogspot.com/

Here are some Haruhi goodies I found on You Tube:

While our anime marketers usually leave the opening/closing numbers alone, it seems the Russians like to re-dub them in their own language.

Here’s the Russian version of God Knows.

These are in Russian with “gratuitous” English in order to preserve their Japanese character (Eyes cross, brain siezes up.).

Here’s a couple unrelated ones for the opening/closing of the second season. Quite funny as seemingly no editing was needed. They just “fell in” on their own.

K-On! is one of those girly little animes I know absolutely nothing about. As a child of the Cold War, if anyone told me 20 years ago I’d be chuckling over something to do with the Soviet anthem, I’d have told him he was nuts!

Here’s an Azumanga one you’ve probably seen before.

"Let's see ..... Excedrin? Qualude? Cyanide maybe?" Credit: Kyoto Animation

Just Who IS This Guy? The Head Trip of Haruhi Suzumiya Pt. 3

In this installment I’ll go into what I think is the biggest head whack of all in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. No it’s not Endless Eight. While a bold experiment, it fell rather flat with the fans in Japan (So much so, Aya Hirano & the studio made a public apology.). A lot of U.S. fans weren’t too happy with it either. Eight eps (Weeks?) of the “same” thing? Could have been worse. Be glad it wasn’t Endless EighTEEN! Maybe Kyoto Animation could come up with a “third” season. Take out 5 or 6 of Endless Eight, replacing them with eps from an untouched story arc(s) from the light novels.

For me, the biggest trip/mystery of the series is that Kyon person.

Who IS this guy? Kyon (A nickname given him by an unseen grandparent.) isn’t even his real name. No older relations are ever seen (Adults being peripheral, at best, in this series.). His little sister doesn’t have a name at all (Every one else refers to her as “little sister”. Even in the closing credits.)

Though not the title character, he is the main one. As “narrator”, everything is seen from his POV, filling in & keeping things rolling.

You’re not sure at times if he’s narrating, thinking, talking to someone, or just mumbling/whining to himself. These things run/meld into each other. It always takes me aback when another character unexpectedly replies. (Itsuke claims an inability to read minds & it’s not certain Haruhi can either. At times they “respond” when it seems Kyon wasn’t talking to anyone at all.)

Sometimes he acts surprised when something strange happens. Other times not. Does he know more than what he lets on? Is he really the hapless mortal he’s playing?

In spite of his “ordinaryness”, he figures greatly in Haruhis’ scheme of things. He did, after all, get the ball rolling (ep 1) when he suggested she (who must be obeyed) be more of a mover & shaker in life. (Coming from a guy who wanted to coast & slide through life, don’t you find that a bit…..odd?) For some reason she has “chosen” him & her jealousy is, at times, evident.

Kyon is the only one who stands up to Haruhi. The others are “forced” to go along as they’re observers for their respective factions (Could they actually be there to observe Kyon & not Haruhi?). In spite of Haruhis’ self centered obnoxiousness, she actually listens to him & takes his advice…..sometimes.

I wonder about this guy. Is he more of a force in the proceedings than we’re led to believe? (Here’s a guy who had all given up on anything wondrous happening in life, reduced to a jaded cynic (ep 1), only to have “IT!” dropped right in his lap.) Could he be the one making things happen & not Haruhi? Is this all nothing more than some fantastic form of (sub)concious wish fullfilment on his part?

Maybe I’m thinking too much. When it comes down to it, it’ only a “cartoon”, right, right?

Article copyright © 10-22-10 Jay Agan

This article originally published at http://jaysteevee.blogspot.com/

The "gang of five" with Kyon having a Maalox moment.

The Head Trip of Haruhi Suzumiya, Pt. 1

by

Jay Agan

When The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya first came out, I paid no mind. On the surface it looked like another of those countless moe/schoolgirl shows giving anime a bad name. I’m not into this type of sub-genre & the only Moe I’m a fan of is a one Mr. Howard of an ancient comedy trio you young-uns hardly know about. Not caring for any of that rule 34/jailbait fodder, I gave it a pass (I like my women real & of legal age. Some of you folks make me wonder.)

I figured it was also a Scooby Doo rip-off: Out of control little control freak forms an after school club investigating psychic phenomena & weird happenings. Ho-hum. Later, in passing, I read that three of the four she “forcibly” inducts into the club, are the very people she’s looking for. An esper, a time traveler, & an alien. A Scooby Doo rip-off with a twist. More ho-hum.

Leafing through a copy of Anime Rough Guide, I read a more concise brief about this show on p.227. Seems the title character is (unknowingly)……GOD! Oh? And it’s up to her four “friends” to see she doesn’t get bored &/or disturbed overmuch. Otherwise existance gets wiped & replaced with something else (Some theorize that “something else” was Lucky Star.). Attention Deficit Disorder was also mentioned. O….K….

As an ex-divinity student (I’m not a people person.), I got interested. If a story has a subject I find intrigueing I’m willing to let some things slide. I filed the show in the back of my mind & went my rollicking way. A few weeks later found me at the VGMX on Smokey Row in Columbus stoogeing around for flix (They actually had some Mexican horror films!). In the anime section I found the ep 00-03 disc of the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. 9.95 used, I snapped it up.

On viewing, I was pleasantly surprised to find not only is it a satire on theology & metaphysics, but also a multilevel elbow jab at:

1. Anime in general.

2. Various types of anime sub-genres/fans/”fetishes”.

3. Itself. (It is an anime, after all.)

A review of the principal “cast” pretty much sums up the plot as much as anything else.

Irritating, laid back esper, Itsuke Koizumi: Some in his organisation believes the title character to be God. Or at least someone with god-like powers. Main task is to undo/prevent some of the “damage” when Haruhi goes off the deep end.

Dead pan alien, Yuki Nagato: Humanoid interface/physical extension of the Integrated Data Entity observing this galaxy. Powers similar to Haruhis’ but can only manipulate data/reality already existant (Haruhi can create it out of nothing.). Believes Haruhi to be possible key to her/its own “evolution”. Also does “damage control”. Lots of it!

Nervous time traveler, Traci Lords……er, uh,….. Mikuru Asahina: Sent by her group to find out why they can’t go beyond a point three years in the past. Believe Haruhi to be the cause.

Put-upon Kyon: The poor slob who pays & pays for the mistake of putting a bug in Haruhis’ ear about her getting more pro-active in her life. And unfortunately, his & everyone elses’ as well.

Oblivious diety, Haruhi Suzumiya, (aka Goddess Dingbat): Literal center of the universe. Doesn’t know she’s God, but thats never stopped her.

I would like to conclude this first part, with a caveat. Some scenes in eps 01-03 are inappropriate for children. Wether Haruhi swings both ways or is just testing Kyon (He intervenes.), sexual harrassment, no matter who does it, is not a laughing matter. At first, I thought I was going to have to toss this. As not much is shown & Kyon mans up & intervenes, I let this slide. (In later eps. the title character just seems to regard Mikuru as a very unwilling dress-up doll. Then again what’s up with that ear bite in ep. 07? Some wranglers do that to control horses.)

Next installment will be a listing of the little “head trips” I found in this series. “See” you then……

Article copyright © 10-1-2010 Jay Agan

This article first appeared on jaysteevee.blogspot.com

...and you should too.

It’s a quick episode this week with not much going on. Scott and I discuss the video games we’ve been playing, including my hopeless addiction to Borderlands, which may be the closest thing to a WRPG I ever play.

We talk about Media Blasters’ new initiative to launch anime DVD/BD rental kiosks and speculate on how well they may work out. There’s yet another Haruhi game coming out, this time for PS3 and PSP; so if you’re fluent in Japanese, don’t hesitate to import it. K-ON! continues to be awesome by winning awards and stuff. Section23 picks up a bunch of new licenses for the moe-loving crowd.

After that’s all said and done, we talk a bit more about the Fall anime shows we’ve been watching, including how surprisingly great Squid Girl is.

Otaku in Review – Episode 36 – We Love Squid Girl | Subscribe in iTunes

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This week we invited Greg (also known as @Thedigitalbug) from Reisen Goes to School by Bus to come on and discuss New York Comic Con / New York Anime Festival 2010. On the show we focus mostly on NYAF and discuss the ups and downs (mostly downs) of Reed’s first attempt at combining the two conventions into a massive mega-con. For more of my thoughts check out my con report.

We also give our review of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, which is a fantastic film and you should see it.

Other than NYAF, we also discussed ANN’s recent troubles with that which we have dubbed “Oreimo-gate” and the effect that this may have on future simulcasts. Also, looks like J-pop idol Sayaka Akimoto from AKB48 might be getting into a bit of trouble by crushing the unrealistic hopes and dreams of thousands of otaku.

Otaku in Review – Episode 35 – New York Anime Festival 2010 | Subscribe in iTunes

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In September 2009, Reed Exhibitions, the company that brings us New York Comic Con (NYCC) and New York Anime Festival (NYAF), announced that in 2010 they would be combining both conventions into one super-huge mega-con. This news was met with mixed reactions. Some were delighted to hear that they would be able to get into both cons with only one admission – two cons for the price of one. Others were fearful that this was basically an excuse to “eliminate” NYAF, and that Reed would end up focusing mostly on the NYCC portion, while NYAF got “shoved into the basement.” Unfortunately, our worst fears came true, and as a result this year’s NYAF was far less enjoyable and far more frustrating.

But before getting into all that, let’s talk about the panels that took place…

Industry Panels – Aniplex, Bandai, FUNimation, Crunchyroll, Yen Press, Vertical, and Anime News Network

For full details on what got announced at NYAF 2010, see my earlier post.

Aniplex kicked off the industry panels talking about their partnership with ANN to simulcast Oreimo and togainu no– oh wait, never mind. Hopefully ANN can resolve the issue and continue along with their plan to simulcast both series. Simulcast hiccups aside, Aniplex announced the release details for Durarara!! and R.O.D. (Read Or Die).

Bandai Entertainment spoke about their current and upcoming releases including Gundam Unicorn, Haruhi-chan Suzumiya / Nyoro~n Churuya-san, and 5 Centimeters Per Second. They had some impressive announcements regarding some new Gundam acquisitions and more details about the release of K-ON! The most exciting moment for me was when they announced that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is finally being released on Blu-ray.

FUNimation Entertainment spoke about their new upcoming anime-social networking website, and you can sign up for the beta here. The website will have a free membership option and a premium “elite membership” option with extra features. Still no word on if HD streaming will be a part of this, which is something FUNimation really needs to work on. Not much was revealed in terms of new announcements, which made the panel rather disappointing.

Crunchyroll revealed that several titles will be available on their site soon, including the return of Gundam titles, along with a simulcast of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes. Most of the panel was simply a Q&A session though.

Yen Press revealed that they are working on an iPad app (via Scott VonSchilling).

Vertical ran the panel in their traditional fashion, with a presentation of their current and upcoming releases. Ed Chavez spoke of some of the titles his company is known for, including Chi’s Sweet Home (made the New York Times Best Seller list), Twin Spica, and Black Jack. Osamu Tezuka’s Ayako is coming soon, with all 3 volumes included in one omnibus for $24.95. Ed announced the acquisition of a new Tezuka title and another fan-favorite manga. Check out Ani-Gamers‘ post for full details.

Anime News Network had a panel which was essentially a Q&A session with their editorial staff, consisting of Gia Manry (ANN’s Interest Feed), Erin Finnegan (Shelf Life), Mike Toole (The Mike Toole Show), and Todd Ciolek (The X Button). Unfortunately, Chris Macdonald and Justin Sevakis were unable to attend the panel.

Hatsune Miku Concert

The creators of Hatsune Miku came all the way from Japan to this year’s NYAF and were proud to present a video of Hatsune Miku’s “film concert” in which the virtual idol appeared on a video screen on stage and performed her immensely popular songs. I only caught the tail end of the presentation, but later proceeded to purchase it on Blu-ray (along with a free poster) for a hefty premium. I’m sure it’s worth every penny.

The concert includes popular songs by Hatsune Miku and other Vocaloids including “World is Mine”, “Just Be Friends”, “from Y to Y”, “Melt”, and “Yellow”.

Minori Chihara Spotlight & Concert

Voice-actress / J-pop idol Minori Chihara also joined the ranks of NYAF’s numerous guests. She held an autograph signing, a Q&A panel, and opened up for the cosplay masquerade with a concert. Chihara is best known for her role as Yuki Nagato in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya franchise, but has worked on several other anime roles and has a notable singing career.

During the Q&A panel, Chihara expressed her great appreciation for her fans and how much she loves being in New York. She discussed the various challenges of the roles that she has played, mostly focusing on the difficulties of playing the monotone, emotionless Yuki. For her, working on Haruhi was “exciting” and “a great learning opportunity.” When asked what her favorite character that she has voiced was, she responded that she loves all of her characters, but if she had to choose one, it would be Yuki. Chihara spoke about singing outside of Japan, and that it is a “different experience” that makes her feel “more free” because of the fans’ excitement. Her favorite American music artists are Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and much to everyone’s surprise, Britney Spears. Recently, Chihara’s voice acting can be heard in Occult Academy (Mikaze) and Yumeiro Patissiere (Maize).

Chihara performed her Haruhi songs “Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite”, “Yasashii Boukyaku” and of course “Hare Hare Yukai”. She also performed the OP songs to Ga-Rei-Zero (“Paradise Lost”) and Minami-ke (“Keikenchi Joushouchu”).

Cristina Vee K-ON! Concert

Bandai Entertainment brought to the con goers a special K-ON! concert with Cristina Vee, who will be the voice of Mio. The concert featured various songs from the first season, including “Cagayake! Girls”, “Don’t Say Lazy”, “Fuwa Fuwa Time” and a few others. The instruments were unplugged, but the vocals were live, and the crowd was lively. Cristina Vee sang very well, making this even more enjoyable. Midway through the concert, Stephanie Sheh (voice of Yui) got on stage and sang some songs that the band had already performed, which felt kinda redundant, but still fun. Check out the band’s performance of “Don’t Say Lazy” here.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Bandai Entertainment was proud to present the US East Coast premiere of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. In the movie, Kyon wakes up one morning to find that not only is Haruhi missing, but none of his friends even know who she is. Itsuki is also nowhere to be found, and Mikuru doesn’t seem to even know him. Kyon has to unravel the mystery of what threw him into this alternate universe and figure out how to set things back to the way they were.

The film is absolutely fantastic. The animation is smooth and detailed and for the most part, the film is very well directed. There are some parts that drag on for a bit too long, especially near the end, but it’s a great movie overall. It’s an absolute must for all Haruhi fans. It will be coming out on DVD in Spring 2011.

The movie was shown on 35mm film in one of the larger panel rooms. Unfortunately, the video screen wasn’t high enough and thus being able to read the subtitles became a bit of a nuisance with peoples’ heads getting in the way. NYAF really needs to set their video screens up higher, as this wasn’t the only panel where this was an issue.

Anime in Academia

Alex Leavitt from Department of Alchemy hosted a panel where him and a group of other panelists from the Anime and Manga Research Circle discussed the great amounts of research that has been done on anime and manga. Check out Japanator’s report for more details. They also discussed the controversies revolving around fan art – the fact that artists are making money off of someone else’s creation – and controversies about fansubs, scanlations, and the sort. It was a very informative panel run by some great speakers.

Spoiler: The Panel 4

This should need no introduction, as I already told you about how awesome this panel is in my Otakon report. This was the premiere of Disorganization XIII’s fourth edition of “Spoiler: The Panel”, and damn was it hilarious. The panel makes fun of various anime in ways that will keep you laughing your ass off. Some new additions to the panel were bits on Sora no Woto, Durarara!!, Blood+, Valkyria Chronicles, and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. Check out this video of “Spoiler: The Panel 3” and see what you’ve been missing out on.

Castles, Forests and Bath Houses: The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki

Charles Dunbar from Study of Anime ran a panel where he discussed the great films of Hayao Miyazaki, the themes central to his works, and his philosophies on animation, life, humanity, and the world. This panel was a great learning experience for me, as it helped me to realize the deeper meaning in many of Miyazaki’s works. It also made me realize that I still have not seen many of his films, and probably should.

At the panel, Dunbar discussed how Miyazaki is a man who “makes his own world” in his movies – and thus it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where his movies take place. From the coming-of-age story Kiki’s Delivery Service to the “stranger in a strange land” motif in Sprited Away, Miyazaki really makes his worlds and environments seem “alive.” His legacy can be found in many places, from Japanese anime all the way to Western animation.

The Changing Faces of Anime

Evan Minto from Ani-Gamers hosted this panel, where he spoke about the changing aesthetics and art styles that the anime world has seen over the past few decades. Evan explored the various art styles featured in Tezuka’s works, harem, bishounen, the “Sons of Dragon Ball“, and of course the moe aesthetic.

New York Anime Festival: Now With 80% Less Anime Stuff!

There's always a bigger fish.

As I mentioned earlier, the combining of NYAF with NYCC presented a lot of issues. As a result of the merge, NYAF was essentially “eaten up” by NYCC.

NYAF just isn’t NYAF anymore - Almost all of the NYAF events and panels were thrown into a small, secluded area in the basement of the convention center. This resulted in that area getting overcrowded with little room to move or breathe. In the past, NYAF occupied a much larger space in the convention center with a fully-sized dealers room, and several hallways of panel rooms. This year, NYAF was quietly “shoved off to the side.”

NYCC has always had an anime presence in the past, and merging NYAF into it didn’t seem to change that much. What used to be an exciting and lively full-sized convention has now been thrown into the basement and treated like a red-headed stepchild. It’s almost insulting to anime fandom as a whole.

Inconsistent schedules – I’ve already done a fair share of complaining about the online scheduling system, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The schedule printed in the official convention program was a month old and had incorrect times and missing panels. The panels were listed in a linear fashion, which made planning things really frustrating. An easy-to-read grid schedule was nowhere to be found, except on their website. This would have been fine if the website was actually accessible, but…

No free internets for you – In this day and age, Internet access is pretty much something one should expect to have at a convention — but not if you’re at NYAF! As a result of the convention being in the basement, there was barely a speck of a wireless signal to be found. Got 3G capability on your phone? That’s great, but you’re not getting it at NYAF. Tweeting during panels was near impossible unless you shelled out a hefty premium of $69.95 to get access to the Javits Center’s Wi-Fi for the weekend.

Now, I realize that Reed Exhibitions had no control over the wireless signal or the Javits Center’s outrageous price for Wi-Fi. However, this is just another issue I had with NYAF being in the basement. The upper floors had a clear wireless signal, but trying to surf the web while in NYAF’s basement area was a futile attempt.

Dealers Room? More like Dealers Row – The massive NYCC dealers room (called the “Exhibition Floor”) sported a lot of big companies such as Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sega, Marvel, Wizards of the Coast, and more. That’s great for comic book and video game fans, but what about anime fans?

The anime section of the dealers room consisted of a row and a half of booths against the back wall. FUNimation and Bandai had their booths close to the front, but the bulk of the anime stuff was thrown into the back. The dealers room as a whole was very crowded, and this “anime row” was twice as bad. It seems that Reed underestimated the popularity of anime-related merchandise and felt that it just wasn’t important enough to warrant a more open area in the dealers room.

NYCC so swallowed NYAF, by the way, that I don’t think it does NYAF good to call itself a separate convention…
– David Cabrera

This NYCC has been pretty much like the NYCCs of the past, except the anime stuff has been ghettoed to the basement.
– Scott VonSchilling

This was Reed Exhibitions’ first attempt at combining the two conventions, so I’ll grant them a little leeway there. I did manage to have fun at the convention and do plan to attend NYAF again in the future. I just feel it could have been handled a lot better. Either return NYAF back to being its own separate convention or at least give it a reasonable amount of space.

More Coverage

Want more coverage of NYAF/NYCC 2010? Check out the links below. More links will be added as more coverage becomes available.

• Ani-Gamers
• Anime News Network
• Chu★Blog
• Cimi Says
  
• Disorganization XIII
  
• Japanator
• Manga Therapy
• Reisen Goes to School by Bus
• Reverse Thieves
  
• Out-Of-Time Productions – Day 1 | Day 2 Part 1 | Day 2 Part 2 | Day 3 | The Fan’s POV | Crispin Freeman | Tom Wayland | In Pictures

This year’s New York Anime Festival marks the end of the convention season. With that, there were several exciting new announcements from the companies.

Aniplex announced the release dates for Durarara!! The series will be released in 3 parts. Part 1 will be released on 1/25/11, Part 2 is coming on 3/29/11, and Part 3 will street sometime in May 2011. Part 1 will include a clear slip case and 5 collectible postcards. Some new dub cast announcements were made: Mela Lee will take the role of Erika, Brian Beacock will be Walker, and Steve Blum will be Kyohei.

R.O.D. (Read Or Die) Blu-ray will be available on 1/18/11 and includes all 26 TV episodes and the 3 OVA episodes. The box set will mimic the R2 box art and feature a 48-page booklet… all for the insane price of $159.98. Yes, really.

Bandai Entertainment had a healthy slew of new announcements that surprised the audience. The original Mobile Suit Gundam will be released with a dub in a 2-box release consisting of 42 episodes total. Gundam Unicorn is finally coming to DVD for those who have not yet embraced the wonders of Blu-ray. Each Gundam UC DVD will have 2 episodes at a MSRP of $29.98. Finally, the Gundam 00 movie has been licensed and will be dubbed.

Details about the release of K-ON! have been revealed. The first release will hit stores in Spring 2011. The series will be released in 4 parts on DVD and Blu-ray, with Standard and Limited Editions available. No details yet as to what the Limited Editions will include.

Additional cast announcements for K-ON! were made: Ritsu will be played by Cassandra Lee and Tsumugi will be played by Shelby Lindley.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya will be released in Spring 2011. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is finally coming to Blu-ray.

FUNimation strangely didn’t have much to announce. Summer Wars will see a theatrical release including New York and Los Angeles in December 2010. They also announced the dub voice cast for Sekirei, which is as follows:

• Minato – Joel McDonald
• Musubi – Alexis Tipbon
• Tsukiumi – Lydia Mackay
• Miya – Monica Rial
• Kusano – Tia Ballard
• Kazehana – Kelly McHalen
• Matsu – Colleen Clinkenbeard
• ADR Director – Jason Grundy

Last but not least, Crunchyroll had some new acquisitions. They will be simulcasting Tantei Opera Milky Holmes this season. They have also acquired some older titles for streaming, including Lucky Star, Cosplay Complex, Demonbane, and Magician’s Academy (Macademi Wasshoi!).

And that’s it for the announcements. Check out my full NYAF 2010 con report here.

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.

In what was originally a short story in the novel The Rashness of Haruhi Suzumiya, Endless Eight involves the SOS Brigade getting stuck in an endless recursion of time. The viewers are presented with what is essentially eight episodes of the same thing happening, with minor variations in each episode. Your enjoyment of this arc really depends on your tolerance for repetition and how much patience you have. When Endless Eight originally aired, no one knew how long it was going to be. Fans were largely unhappy with waiting a week in between each episode just to find out that the next episode was yet another repeat of the last – essentially feeling like a waste of 8 weeks. In DVD form, however, this arc is much more bearable because there’s no waiting to see if the next episode is finally going to resolve the story. It can easily be viewed in one sitting, taking up less than 4 hours of your time. To this date, there is a large group of fans that hate Endless Eight, as there is a small but vocal group who think Endless Eight is brilliant. Your mileage may vary.

Endless Eight aside, the other arcs contained in Haruhi 2009 are excellent. Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, at only one episode long, isn’t technically long enough to be considered an “arc” but it does have its own story that sets it apart from the rest of the series. In this episode, Kyon travels three years in the past and interacts with the Haruhi from that time period. We learn a little bit more about Mikuru and her mysterious “that’s classified” time-traveling ability. Also, the mystery surrounding the strange rooftop drawing that is mentioned in the beginning of the first season is revealed.

The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya takes up the later 1/3 of the second season, and consists of five episodes. This arc revolves around the making of the video seen in the very first episode of the first season of Haruhi. Due to Haruhi’s mysterious powers that she is still unaware of, things go a bit awry during the making of the film. To make matters worse, Kyon gets a little upset with how Haruhi is handling the project and, ignoring what Haruhi is capable of, ends up further complicating things.

Although the second season has received much criticism, most of which points to the Endless Eight arc, I would still highly recommend picking this up. The humor of the series is still present and makes for some great entertainment. There’s enough sci-fi and mystery thrown into the mix for people with those particular tastes. As with any Kyoto Animation production, the art and animation is very smooth and detailed. There’s certainly a noticeable quality that can be seen in nearly any KyoAni production that puts them above most other anime series, and Haruhi is no exception. The music continues to be great, with a very catchy opening theme sung, of course, by Aya Hirano. The three leading female seiyuu return to perform the closing theme, except there’s no super-happy dance routine this time around.

Unlike many of Bandai Entertainment’s releases in the past few years, I’m glad to say that they didn’t skimp here. The dub, like that of the first season, is top-notch in quality. Crispin Freeman (Kyon) really steals the show with his sarcastic tone, and caused me to burst into laughter quite often. Stephanie Sheh (Mikuru) and Michelle Ruff (Yuki) capture the tone and personality of their respective characters with near-perfect precision. The box set is packed with extras including location scouting videos, promo videos, commercials, more adventures of the ASOS Brigade, and behind the scenes of Aya Hirano’s music video for “Super Driver.” The opening and closing theme songs are even included on a bonus CD! There’s no nice art box or free bandanas, armbands, and pencil boards thrown in this time around, but considering the condition that Bandai has been in throughout the past few years, this is still an impressive release.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is often regarded as a masterpiece, both in story and visuals, among its fans, and is generally respected among the rest of anime fan community. Without resorting to an insurmountable amount of fanservice, the Haruhi series delivers an excellent sci-fi story unlike anything seen before. The second season, although it has its issues, continues to deliver what fans loved about the first season. If the existence of Endless Eight is what’s holding you back from making the purchase, rest assured knowing that the rest of the season more than makes up for it. If you’ve already seen the second season via fansub, the dub and the extras make this totally worth dipping your money into.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Second Season is licensed by Bandai Entertainment

ENJOYMENT
Continues to deliver an original, fresh story with hilarious comedy and great production value

4/5

RECOMMENDATION VALUE
A must for Haruhi fans; highly recommended for all other anime fans (watch Season 1 first though)

5/5

REWATCH VALUE
Easily rewatchable, though you may want to skip past Endless Eight

4/5

Purchase Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 at RightStuf

This week Michael Camacho from The OtakuGamer joined us to talk about what he’s watching from the Summer season, including why he loves Seitokai Yakuindomo so much and why I was not at all impressed with it. We also get into a debate over Mitsudomoe (and why it’s amazing), which turned out to be rather civil, much to Scott’s disappointment.

In the news: some kickass new licenses, an amazing composer you probably have never heard of is coming to Otakon, and the unfortunate passing of Speed Racer voice actor Peter Fernandez. All this and more on this week’s Otaku in Review podcast!

Otaku in Review – Episode 24 – I Prefer the Other Seitokai | Subscribe in iTunes

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This episode we present a special in-depth review of all the ups and downs of Crunchyroll. Although the site is clearly the leader in the anime streaming business, it still has a lot of issues to iron out, which we go into detail about. See also: Crunchyroll’s Premium Subscription: Why You Should.

News

• Ouran High School Host Club manga to enter final arc
• Durarara’s Final DVD to Add DVD-exclusive Episode 25
• Angel Beats’ 7th BD/DVD to include Unaired Special
• Final Bakamonogatari Episode Streams Today
• Haruhi S2 DVD price announced
• Section23 adds two new Licences

Otaku in Review – Episode 20 – The Crunchyroll Special | Subscribe in iTunes

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