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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV).

Yeah, those hastily-introduced metaphysical elements in ep. 4 certainly threw me for a loop; not so much because of what they alluded to, but because they came out of nowhere. I don't know how the series compares to the novels thus far, but ep. 4 gives me the impression that the series' producers skimmed past some of the material from the novels.

Well having watched episode 4, as much as I enjoyed it I was certainly left confused. I tried going back through episodes 2 and 3 and I couldn't figure out exactly when Itsuki joined. He just sort of showed up. Coupled with the discussion of spoiler[the other world and the slight mystery in the show] I thought I had missed something. The idea that everything is out of order is both quite creative and does help explain things. In any case the show hasn't lost it's steam at all. Each episode is a pure joy to watch and each time both the opening and ending themes get more addicting. I'm glad this show is getting as popular as it is, although even though it seems inevitable I really don't want this show to spawn followers of Haruhi-ism (i.e. fangirls imitating Haruhi's personality...I've seen it done with other anime characters).

To be honest there are too many moments in the show that I enjoyed, and being only 4 episodes in I'm sure there will be many more to come. Although some highlights as you mentioned are spoiler[Haruhi's exploiting of Asahina, her blackmailing of the science club, and I actually liked the scene about Haruhi's hair.] But those are just a few out of many. If you wanna keep talking about it one on one feel free to PM me.

Just finished episode 4, and MAN I love that show. No matter that it's only 4 episodes, I have no hesitation to rate it "Masterpiece". They'd have to screw up really badly in later episodes to make it drop below that.

Anthony P wrote:

Yeah, those hastily-introduced metaphysical elements in ep. 4 certainly threw me for a loop; not so much because of what they alluded to, but because they came out of nowhere. I don't know how the series compares to the novels thus far, but ep. 4 gives me the impression that the series' producers skimmed past some of the material from the novels.

Hastily introduced? Did you miss the previous 3 episodes? Maybe all the laughing made you miss the clues. It's a hilarious show, but what *really* got me hooked was all the foreshadowing in earlier episodes. Sure the stuff in ep 4 has references to unseen episodes, but it didn't just come out of the blue. The first episode had a bunch of hints:
- Mikuru's blue-eyed "miracle beam" fritzes the camera
- talking cat
- blue aura/energy shield that protects Itsuki in the finale
- (I get the feeling I'm forgetting some)
Also in episodes 2 and 3, Mikuru shows hints that she has special reasons for joining the SOS brigade. Not to mention Yuki declaring she's an alien. I love the metaphysical elements in ep. 4 precisely because they were foreshadowed so thoroughly.

After seeing all the hype here, and this series popping up in the top 10 anime list (still confused how this happened for a series with 4 episodes so far?), I decided to see what it was all about...

and after watching the first episode, I must say I'm really disappointed, have no clue what you need to smoke to enjoy that, but didn't find it funny at all and found the whole thing painful to sit through. From what it seems that the series doesn't really start until episode 2, so I'll most likely continue for another episode or two and give you guys the benefit of doubt, but so far I'm not impressed at all.

Well, up until ep. 4, those metaphysical elements were simply jokes. All those portions of ep. 1 you mentioned were clearly part of an amateur film, and not scenarios taking place in the series' characters' lives;

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Well, up until ep. 4, those metaphysical elements were simply jokes. All those portions of ep. 1 you mentioned were clearly part of an amateur film, and not scenarios taking place in the series' characters' lives;

Um, no. All of those portions that he mentioned were very clearly not intended to be part of their film. They did not intend for Mikuru to actually shoot a beam that messed up the camera. They did not intend for the cat to suddenly start talking. Don't believe us? Just look at the characters' reactions after they happen. Also compare the quality with the really bad special effects they actually used. They were not special effects: the cat actually talked, Mikuru actually did some sort of magic that messed up the camera and made Yuki really mad at her.

Personally, I think this series is going to continue to be great, partially because they understand how to foreshadow. Yeah, there's going to be weird stuff, but they're warning us beforehand.

patch wrote:

After seeing all the hype here, and this series popping up in the top 10 anime list (still confused how this happened for a series with 4 episodes so far?), I decided to see what it was all about... and after watching the first episode, I must say I'm really disappointed, have no clue what you need to smoke to enjoy that, but didn't find it funny at all and found the whole thing painful to sit through. From what it seems that the series doesn't really start until episode 2, so I'll most likely continue for another episode or two and give you guys the benefit of doubt, but so far I'm not impressed at all.

I agree with you about being disappointed from the first episode. I didn't get what everyone thought was so great about the first episode. But I decided to go ahead and watch the second episode anyway. As my post on a previous page in this thread says, I retracted every judgement that I made about the show in the first episode. I urge you to continue watching.

Quote:

Well, up until ep. 4, those metaphysical elements were simply jokes. All those portions of ep. 1 you mentioned were clearly part of an amateur film, and not scenarios taking place in the series' characters' lives;

Um, no. All of those portions that he mentioned were very clearly not intended to be part of their film. They did not intend for Mikuru to actually shoot a beam that messed up the camera. They did not intend for the cat to suddenly start talking. Don't believe us? Just look at the characters' reactions after they happen. Also compare the quality with the really bad special effects they actually used. They were not special effects: the cat actually talked, Mikuru actually did some sort of magic that messed up the camera and made Yuki really mad at her.

one3rd wrote:

patch wrote: After seeing all the hype here, and this series popping up in the top 10 anime list (still confused how this happened for a series with 4 episodes so far?), I decided to see what it was all about... and after watching the first episode, I must say I'm really disappointed, have no clue what you need to smoke to enjoy that, but didn't find it funny at all and found the whole thing painful to sit through. From what it seems that the series doesn't really start until episode 2, so I'll most likely continue for another episode or two and give you guys the benefit of doubt, but so far I'm not impressed at all. I agree with you about being disappointed from the first episode. I didn't get what everyone thought was so great about the first episode. But I decided to go ahead and watch the second episode anyway. As my post on a previous page in this thread says, I retracted every judgement that I made about the show in the first episode. I urge you to continue watching.

Hmm, Same thing with my friend. He hated the first episode but loved the second episode. Personally I loved the first episode and thought the second episode was good but didn't measure up to the first episode. Those seem to be the two opinions.

Dang, I really should have watched the forth episode by now but I've been caught up in this extemely addicting dating sim as of recently and haven't done anything else. Having given more hours at work because of the recent quiting (actually they were fired) of three people within the last week hasn't helped either.

and just to clarify spoiler[all of the three girls in the SOS brigde are not "normal" humans right? ]