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The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV).

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.

I would bet nearly anything that if many of the same people giving this show an "excellent" or "very good" just so happened to come across this show without encountering this hype, they would have given it a 10 and would be part of the hype.

People should just chill out about the whole rating thing. Theres no special prize for an anime coming first, all that matters is if YOU enjoyed it. Its a subjective thing... This anime put a really big smile on my face, for just about every episode I watched, and thats what mattered to me.

I should come clean now -

Had this not been a Kyoto Animation production and some other studio produced it, I would have given this an "Excellent" instead of "Masterpiece," even if it was the exact same thing. Had this been a GONZO production, I would have given this a "Very Good". Ah, the bias.

However, my number one pet peeve isn't that people don't like something; its that they would bother to come and bitch about something without even trying to back themselves up in the slightest.

The Animenation's equivalent to Answerman gives an opinion very close to my own.

Because of the show's disjointed narrative structure, the series lacks an unfolding sense of narrative development. Each episode feels encapsulated, so viewers never get a sense of the characters evolving. We don't see them changing; we just see them changed. Major events which should be intensely dramatic feel isolated and ultimately insignificant because they're not placed in context and their impact on the future is never illustrated. Rather than introduce viewers to characters, then depict the characters encountering major epiphanies and allow viewers to see how the characters react and mature, and allow viewers to empathize with the characters, the show simply drops elements on the viewer in random order. It may be fun to assemble the puzzle pieces, but the processes eliminates any sense of discovery, empathy, and amazement.

Furthermore, although Suzumiya Haruhi herself stereotypes Itsuki Koizumi as a mysterious transfer student, all of the major characters in the show are stereotypes, to one degree or another. Haruhi is the short tempered, aggressive heroine that we're seen before as Chidori Kaname from Full Metal Panic, Kaoru Kamiya in Rurouni Kenshin, and Tomo Takino from Azumanga Daioh. Kyon is the typical passive male protagonist from slice of life anime. He's similar to characters like Hiroyuki Fujita of To Heart and Kenji Tomosaka from Lamune. Yuki is the robotic introvert in the vein of Nadesico's Ruri Hoshino, Evangelion's Rei Ayanami, and Ninomai Kisaragi from Happy Lesson. Mikuru Asahina is the shy and easily embarrassed klutz, similar to Ai Yori Aoshi's Taeko Minazuki and Mahoromatic's Minawa Ando. The characters are interesting and fun, but not ground breaking.

I think that the fan reaction to the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu anime is based more on how viewers interpret and relate to the show than on criticism of the animation's technical qualities, which is a perfectly reasonable reaction to anime.

Steroid wrote:

The Animenation's equivalent to Answerman gives an opinion very close to my own.

Said opinion is well-thought-out and quite reasonable. I do have a couple of problems with the Ask John article, though:

I understand the problems Mr. John has here. But he's overlooking something; how hard would it be to go back and watch the episodes in their proper narrative order? Granted, nearly everyone's initial viewing of the series would be in the order it was aired, but I still don't find Ask John's argument all that relevant when the series can be viewed in a different order easily.

The parallel's he's drawn between the characters from other series are stretched rather thin. Just because a story's characters share some superficial similarities to characters from other stories does not render them stereotypical.

Well, sure, but doesn't interpretation and personal relation apply to any piece of artistic media? And isn't the ability to make something that can be easily related to require a certain amount of technique anyway?

Rather than introduce viewers to characters, then depict the characters encountering major epiphanies and allow viewers to see how the characters react and mature, and allow viewers to empathize with the characters, the show simply drops elements on the viewer in random order. It may be fun to assemble the puzzle pieces, but the processes eliminates any sense of discovery, empathy, and amazement.

Despite the fact that the Suzumiya Haruhi anime relies on anime stereotypes and conventions as much as it parodies them, the show does work.

It's a little bit disappointing to find that what Suzumiya Haruhi really wants is, in fact, not overtly what she thinks she wants.

The Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu anime is a vibrant and energetic show that winks at the audience, letting them feel like they've discovering something unique and unusual.

Viewers like myself who don't personally identify with the cast observe the show objectively and find it enjoyable, but not a masterpiece.

whether it's great is a matter of highly individual personal taste