The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Review
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) is a story about a high-school freshman, Suzumiya Haruhi, and those who are caught up in her antics. On the first day of school, she introduced herself in a bizarre way.
“From East Middle School, Suzumiya Haruhi. I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, sliders, or espers here.. come join me. That is all!”
Her classmates wondered whether she was serious or just kidding around. Kyon, a fellow freshman who sits in front of Haruhi, was interested in her because of her strange introduction. Little by little, he tried to talk to her, but Haruhi's answers would always be "Shut up!" "Moron!" "Be quiet!" "Who cares about that!?". However, as the days went by, Kyon becomes the first ever to talk normally with Haruhi and eventually inspired her to form the SOS Brigade which sole purpose is to find aliens, time travelers and espers.
The first episode of this series is quite likely the weirdest concept for an opener I've seen in years. It's pure metafiction -- a fan-produced magical girl film produced (very badly) by the SOS Brigade for their school's cultural festival, and chronologically, it's somewhere in the middle of the story. Kyon's running commentary as the narrator points out every production flaw and occasionally gets personally involved with the onscreen action in ways no narrator should. It's somewhat amusing, but it seems at first glance to be hardly relevant to the actual show, which really begins with the second episode.
Oddly enough, unlike most anime on television these days, Haruhi isn't precisely a serial -- the episodes do not run in chronological order. Further demonstrating this, the episode previews for the show have Haruhi announcing the chronological number of each episode, and Kyon loudly correcting her and giving the episode number as aired on television. However, this series is not episodic, either -- it is clearly supposed to be viewed in airing order as there is in fact an overarcing plotline. Confused yet? Its a very adorable seris. Have fun with them.
sources: themanime, animenfo
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