Forum - View topicThe Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV).
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DaZ616
 Posts: 327 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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Dont worry about it....i just figured it out...
sorry about that. -DaZ |
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W3b3r
Posts: 59 Location: Australia |
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Is it Mikuru's friend?
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selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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That's two bad. I've never seen Trust and Betrayal (like most poeple I'd assume), so it's not like it's really an active comparison I don't think. You have to take the ratings with a grain of salt sometimes 
I'll be honest, I'm a bit of a critic when it comes to cinematography and writing. I hate cheesy speeches, I hate bad camera work, I hate low quality animation, and most of all, I hate one-dimensional characters. Haruhi has absolutely none of this. It has UNQUESTIONABLY the best cinematography and writing I've ever seen; don't get me wrong, many shows have their moments of brilliance, but I've never seen a show that can keep me as captivated as Haruhi even when nothing happens. Just as a comparison in cinematography between Haruhi and normal anime, it's like the difference between Band of Brothers and Mash. Watching the same archetype characters do more or less the same thing again and again may amuse some people forever, but I know I for one like a change of pace once in a while. The characters in Haruhi are as real as any I've ever seen, I mean Ichigo is great and all, but he's not really much deeper than a kiddie pool. Even the character considered a "rei clone" showed me more real personality in 13 episodes than I got out of all 167 episodes of Kagome from Inu Yasha. Of course the order of the episodes was a big factor! Is that really such a bad thing? Have you ever seen the movie Memento? The movie isn't told at random, but rather in reverse order if I remember correctly and it's loads of fun (in a way) to watch. If the episodes were shown in order a lot of the charm, thinking, mystique and pace (oddly enough) would be removed from the show. The thing is, the show kept drawing me back for more. You don't, you CAN'T catch all the references they make because throughout the entire series the characters nearly all know more than you. You miss, or completely misunderstand the significance of something someone may have said earlier on, and each episode along in the series (many of them anyway) illuminates everything you've seen so far just a little more. Though it was not my original intention, I ended up rewatching nearly every episode each week waiting for the next episode (yeah that means I saw the first episode 13 times at least  ). I can honestly tell you that even after seeing an episode 10 times I was still missing things, and not small things at that. The most important thing to occur in an episode might have been something I didn't notice until I saw the end of the show. Honestly, I don't think this show would be anywhere nearly as great to someone who just sat down and watched the whole thing once. A show that can truly leave you perplexed about so many things until you see the middle of the story earns at least special recognition I'd hope.
Also, I think you and enough other people are underestimating this to the point that I feel I should at least mention it: writing a script is a HELL of a lot harder than it sounds. The writer who came up with Kyon's dialogue has a lot of talent as hard as that is to believe to some people. I'll be honest though, I can't comprehend the mind of a person who finds the dialogue just "amusing", that part alone guaranteed this show a 10 in my book. Thought I'd at least try to answer some of my "why's" and probably where some of the differences between people lie. Man, I'm tired, I'm done for now. I lost my train of thought. 
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PantsGoblin
Subscriber Encyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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I rated them both the same (excellent). One thing about T&B that I didn't like... throughout the first 30 minutes or so (which would be the first OVA I think), I pretty much found it to be a bunch of crap. I found it to be extremely boring and if I were watching it in OVA form instead of movie form, most likely I would have not watched anymore after the first episode. Basically a lot of high quality hack and slash animation that goes on for too long. I know the purpose it was supposed to serve, but that didn't prevent it from boring the hell out of me. I admit, the climax more then made up for it though (so much that I rated it excellent). |
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Quadraxis
 Posts: 54 Location: Holland |
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Indeed. I've already been thinking about that for a while, especially since you can see the contrast between the Haruhi earlier in the series (where she says that guys are worthless and that love is a mental disease) and later on, where she is acting a lot more friendly with Kyon and occassionally actually seems concerned about him. The episode shuffling especially brought that out. Also, I think I'm going to rewatch this entire series now. Even though I've seen some episodes 6 times already, it just stays fun watching them. And that is something only really good shows can do for me. |
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Azathrael
 Posts: 745 |
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Yes, but one of the reasons why novel-based anime are so successful is because the script has been tested and proven. A novel can only entertain with words, with the occassional fanservice pictures, so I'm guessing it took a lot more effort on the creator (or writer) to find a way to entertain without sound and animation. So no, nobody's really underestimating anything here, at least not I. Amusing is still the right choice of words for me. I can tell you right now that if I read the novel, the entire anime will look "amusing" at best. It's an argument of personal preference and I'm sure you must've read enough books to understand that those subtle jokes and references work a lot better when you're reading it in a book. Because, as you've mentioned, you'll otherwise be watching an episode over and over again because all those jokes and references are skimmed by in a time frame of 20 minutes. I've never considered anime as an exception to the book-based movie (or anime in this case) formula. The book is 99% of the time better. Getting back to the point, the anime was more of a "read the novel please!" than something like Full Metal Panic or Banner of the Stars, both of which pleased me without urging me to read the novel. This is not because Full Metal Panic and Banner of the Stars is necessarily better than The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya; it's because the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is unique in both story and episode presentation that enticed me to want to read the novel. |
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T0FFe3m@n
 Posts: 114 Location: Liverpool, England, UK |
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I honestly cannot fathom how this series is so increadibly popular. Having watched all 14 episodes myself, I came to the conclusion that, on the face of it, there was nothing special about it at all really... it isn't even particularly original.
The most overrated series in years imo. Can't believe that it's #1 on the anime list when there is sooooo much stuff that is clearly superior to it that it's not even funny. |
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Niceguy9418
 Posts: 82 |
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I'm just getting into to this one myself. I must say after the first episode I though it was the stupidest thing I've ver seen. But I never draw a conclusion with so little data. So I'm up to about ep 4 or 5 (can't remember) and I have to say I think it's funny as hell. I'm a bit confused with the whole random-chronological order thing (episode 1 was #11, episode 4 was #7? Whatever.) But I have to admit I'm pretty hooked now.
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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After you've seen the whole thing, you may see why they chose to show things out of chronological order. If not, someone posted an analysis on the method to their madness a few pages back.
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RDespair
 Posts: 244 Location: California |
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My simple test to determine whether or not you're going to be a fan: watch the first two minutes of Episode 2. If you relate to Kyon's monologue & Haruhi's announcement, then this is the series for you. Otherwise, I make no promises. Why is this series so popular? Well, it could have something to do with: #1 - Beautiful art. #2 - Catchy music. #3 - Beautiful Opening Animation Sequence with lots of hints for the plot. Amusing dance sequence for the ending. #4 - Entertaining characters with a surprising amount of depth. #5 - An out-of-order episode style that actually makes a lot of sense in retrospect. #6 - Unpredictable plot. #7 - Kyon's wisecracking commentary. #8 - Lots of little details that are easy to miss on the first viewing. #9 - The Adventures of Mikuru-chan. That said, nothing is going to appeal to everyone. Yeah, it's currently at the #1 spot on this website. So what? No matter what anime is in the top spot, there are going to be people who dislike it or think it's overrated. Heck, in my own personal opinion, half of the titles in the top 10 at the moment are overrated. The ANN rankings aren't intended to be God's truth to man; they're mostly just a guide to give people suggestions on which anime series and movies they should try out. If you don't like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya so be it. There are plenty of other good anime shows out there for you to enjoy. |
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I freely admit to anyone that Haruhi isn't a show for everyone, but the closer I look at the series, the more I'm convinced that it is NOT being overrated when looking at anything I value in a series. As I said, this isn't my favorite show, but no matter how hard I've tried neither I nor anyone else can come up with any reasonable problems with the show; the only reasonable element anyone I remember saying was the episode order, but clearly most people get over it and come to enjoy the mysterious view it presents to the viewer. I don't mind if people don't think it's a masterpiece, but if you're gonna bother to come and bitch about how overrated it is, give comparisons on shows that did things better.
But for god's sake, don't make stupid examples like "well Yuki's character isn't as fleshed out as... say Tenma's from Monster" One more thing that is possibly more of a personal issue: a work doesn't have to be your favorite, nor do you even really have to LIKE something for it to be a masterpiece; it just has to be one of the best at what it does. I don't LIKE the Mona Lisa, I don't LIKE classical paintings, but I appreciate it as a masterpiece of painting. |
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RDespair
Posts: 244 Location: California |
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The Haruhi harassing Mikuru scenes grew old quick. That's the only problem I can come up with. |
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Zero89
Posts: 147 |
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The two shows are (...well, for the most part) two totally different types of shows... If you need to have some emotionally distressing situation like (death) to make a series memorable, than you probably aren't going to have two many "memorable" scenes in SHnY... spoiler[(maybe asakura?)] This show is (at least not yet) that type of show... I've seen many shows that have had many memorable moments like these.... (Elfen Lied, Ceres, Trigun, and Tsukihime to name a few)... Is SHnY my favorite? as of right now, yes...  Does it need that one defining moment to be considered great IMO? Obviously not There's just something special about this series that I can't adequately express through words... but I'll try
It has memorable and deep characters... Not to mention like-able characters... Something that most series too often fall flat on their face trying to create... [( Eva, Gantz, etc.) IMO of course  ] I honestly not only don't hate any characters in this series, I like all of the characters in this series...
It has an unusual plot... (that I think the anime has only breached the surface of) I won't mention how unorthodox its made its self... Its used many different (legitimate) theories that have made me actually think...  I like not having everything flat-out told to me.
Its insanely detailed and fluid animation... The unbelievable voice acting.... The mesmerising music... I'm sure I'm missing something, but I'll just say that it's on a level of greatness that I didn't know existed... It's made me love the depth of the series without having to resort to a traumatic, or an overly emotional scene... It may not be the right series for you... but you can surely appreciate the fact that it was (at the very least) well made, right? I might want to throw in the fact that the series of novels this is based on is not done yet... and did you really expect that big of a climax on something based on the 1st book of a series of novels
depends on your definition of spam
Can anyone tell me what he meant by that?... I'm.... just not sure
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omar235
 Posts: 1572 Location: Florida, Jacksonvile |
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I agree with RDespair, you either like it or you don't. For me Haruhi was popular because I had just finished a gory anime series and needed to get a few laughs. I saw this on the forum and decided to check it out, it was a good comedic relief. I thought it was a very unique series with characters that I could relate to. So I guess for me it just had what I was looking for. I will say though there are better series (of course this is my opinion).
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I sort of see Azathrael's side of things. I haven't seen it all yet, and I do like it quite a bit, but best ever? Or even one of the best? That I don't see. I usually don't download anime but when something is so overhyped it's hard to not take a look.
Unfortunately, like most series this hyped, it didn't live up to all the hype it gets. Although, unlike anime like One Piece and Naruto and Eva I have actually enjoyed what I've seen so far, just not to the extent all the praise made me think I would. The animation is great, but it's hardly alone. It makes you think, but so do many others. The music is nice, but I've heard many many better soundtracks. The voice acting, the praise I really don't get, was good but certainly not anything so incredibly amazing you had to hear it to believe it like people make it seem, and certainly nothing that couldn't be reproduced by another voice or done by anyone else. It is a right series for me, although I think I'll hold off on the rest until it gets licensed, it's just not the best series to me. It'll certainly get a very good to excellent rating, but not a masterpiece, sorry. |
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