Forum - View topicThe Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV).
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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About the marathoning. I love marathoning shows. I do it a lot, and it's fun for me to get to the good parts, the bad parts, everything quickly and dissect them thoroughly. I especially love the really special shows that make me want to race through them even faster than I can, because I just can't wait, even when I have already seen the show before. To me that is superb storytelling.
Now before getting flamed I'll say that I like SHnY, I really do, even defended in this forum on a few occasions. Now, I didn't have a chance the first go to marathon this one because I was in the middle of about 3 or 4 different series, as I usually am, as well as some other things. So I did take my time with it, although not by choice, and when I finally got to the end I felt entertained which is very important to me. But since I saw some episodes so far apart I wanted to see it all again and more importantly try to catch anything I may have missed, so typically, I marathoned it the second time around, did it in 2 days. What did I discover? The series didn't really make me want to go through it all in one go. Though I thought the series was very entertaining, it never had that effect on me; to draw me in so much that I felt like I wanted to race through it. Every single one of the series I rate a 'masterpiece,' and the majority of the 'excellents,' I can watch for hours on end and not even care what time it is, and even the longer series make me want to race through as many episodes as I can so I can get more of the goods. This is a special feeling to me, as I mentioned, and it has never been something I felt with SHnY, and this was one of the main reasons that I could not rate it so high, and I am very liberal with my ratings. Not to say SHnY is bad, like I said I really liked it, I thought the animation was superb and the characters and story were fun and interesting, and I gave it a 'very good,' but I can't see it as more, because I know that some other series can be even more entertaining to me. I don't know, maybe I'm just too subjective with these things. |
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selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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I totally agree, it's hard not to rate a series that makes you want to watch it faster than is possible high. There's many series that have made me want to do that, and it's not unheard of for me to stay up until 5 in the morning to finish an entire 26 episode series I had intended to stop around episode 6. However, the more anime I've seen (it looks like we've seen about the same), the more I've come to love anime where each episode or short arc is quality, and watching more only takes away from that. Mushishi is an example. I watched the first two episodes in my first sitting, then watched 3-10 in my next, and 11-20 in my next sitting. Then I realized "What am I doing? If I watch them all this fast the show will be over tomorrow!" After that I started to watch the episodes one at a time, usually before I headed to bed, and the soft relaxing music, combined with the spellbinding world really had be even more amazed than before. I've come to the conclusion (although I'm sure it seems obvious to some people) that there are two major types of anime. The "story" type, and the "action" type. The 'story' type anime are the kind that you watch with the primary purpose of seeing the story, and how it all unfolds. Naruto, Bleach, Hikaru no Go, Elfen Lied, My Hime, Nana, Monster, Twelve Kingdoms, these were all shows that seem to fit into this category for me. I simply could not watch them fast enough. I had to know how things were going to turn out, I had to know why things were the way they were. Then there's the second type, the 'action' type. Of course, I don't mean this in the 'fighting' sense, but more in the sense of what's import is not the overall story, but the 'actions' that occur (there's probably a better word for it, but I'm at a loss right now). Obviously this is more a slice of life oriented category, and includes shows like Mushishi, Kino's Journey, Kamichu!, Black Lagoon, AzuDai, Lain, and Haruhi. Although I do so enjoy the sound of my own voice, my point is that I don't think you're supposed to want to marathon Haruhi, and that's not inherently a bad thing. Some shows are meant to be taken one at a time, and despite how awesome they are, don't necessarily make you skip work or sleep to marathon the rest of the series. Some shows make you want to marathon the whole thing, some in chunks like, some for only an episode, but I don't think that's indicitive of the quality of the show, only the style. It's when you come across an episode you just don't even want to finish that there's problems 
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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This is a special feeling to me, as I mentioned, and it has never been something I felt with SHnY, and this was one of the main reasons that I could not rate it so high, and I am very liberal with my ratings.
I tend to be the opposite. Generally, I like marthoning a series (although watching it week by week as it airs and discussing it with other people is fun too), but there are some series where I just can't handle more than one or two episodes at a time. Utena and Card Captor Sakura were both such examples. I enjoyed them both, but I just couldn't watch a lot of episodes of them on end (I could watch more than one or two episodes of Utena at a time for the first 13 or so episodes; for CCS I tended to watch 2 or 3 episodes while occasionally managing 4-5). Then there are shows like Nanoha A's that I watch most of in a single sitting. Shows that are action-packed or plot-heavy tend to be easier to marathon.
The episdoe shuffling was handled brilliantly in this series. If people don't like it, then they don't like it, but that's an issue with the viewer rather than the creators. I'm not trying to bash you or anything, but the achronology (is that the right word?) just doesn't seem to work for you. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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That's probably why a Chonological order was set up. 
Then while I think about it -- any other anime series using Anachronology?
It's the "completely new" feeling. Not sure how much anime you've watched -- but after watching a bunch of 'em, they're starting to look like same ole same ole, particularly stuff like Harem, Shoujo, and Action anime. While this series does have a romantic element between Haruhi and Kyon, it doesn't focus on it. Instead, it focuses on the "unknowns"; and the episodes are lined up so that the audience learn a little bit about the "unknowns" with each release. And so:
That's the key part. Y'weren't supposed to understand the story until later -- when a big light bulb finally hits yer head. Something tells me -- this series would have been boring if released chonologically. One more thing - the first episode managed to piss me off - because - someone recommended Haruhi to me. Then I see the first episode; and I thought, "WTF is this crap?" Then I jumped to the 5th episode; and further shuffled the rest of the episodes. Eventually, I've come to see this series as one of the best I've seen in a long long time. Oh, how fooled I was.
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undeadben
Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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I may be a bit different I guess, but I don't see a difference with wanting to marathon with any type/style of show I have seen. Anything from Air to Elfen Lied to GTO to Azudai to Fumoffu and FLCL to longer series like HxH, Kenshin, and Ranma to slower paced series like Haibane Renmei, Kino's Journey, and Gunslinger Girl; if I feel the story is outstanding I will race through it and often times repeat over and over again, when I have time. It is the way a story entertains me and draws me that makes me want to race through it. This was another point I wanted to make, but somehow I flubbed it in my previous post. I'll say it again SHnY is a very entertaining show, and it is discussion worthy, but it is not overwhelmingly special in my opinion. Its story and characters are not groundbreakingly (I'm making up words, need sleep) original, it's a bit predictable, and it is not as fun in its comedy or as deep in its drama as other series. So it did not make me want to sit through it as quickly as possible.
I agree with this, I mean I have seen a lot of episodes like this and there's not much sense wanting to race through when some episodes just plain suck.
I agree with Utena, I am glad I was watching 3 different series at the same time when I saw this so I didn't sit down and rush through it. Forgetting that some of the music alone would have driven me up the wall, other aspects of the story didn't really invite a marathon either. The other two shows I was watching at the time were Fushigi Yuugi and Ceres. So I guess each series helped me watch the others with a clear head. There's also only so much "Miaka!" "Tamahome!" one can take in a sitting. But, while I enjoyed Utena (and FY come to that) if it had really drawn me in completely, I could have forgiven the few annoyances and would have wanted to forget the others and marathon it. However I raced through CCS, as soon as I had the two boxes and the movies together I sat down and I watched it through, couldn't get enough. Maybe I was just in the mood for 'cute' at the time but I just found that show to be really charming and completely enjoyable. But then again just remembering it makes me want to have another go so maybe it wasn't just a mood. And I still want to watch Nanoha and Nanoha A's, I even hear there's a third series next year. The more good things I hear, the more I want to jump on those series.
I've seen my share, I'd say more than some not as many as others. It is not that something is "completely new" to me. Anime that I have been watching for years, if I truly love it, will still call for an occasional marathon sitting. And while I agree that a lot of anime from the same genre can seem like it is the 'same old material' a special series in the genre can entertain you thouroughly despite the similarities it shares with another. Ok, I have gone off topic here enough. My apologies to everyone. I'll stop now. I think I may have gotten carried away, because I had even said that I feel I am too subjective over these things anyway. It is not like I don't like SHnY, I know I'll watch it again sometime. Heck for the animation quality alone I'd kill for an R1 release so I could buy it. But, I think the first point I was originally trying to make, which I totally lost somewhere, is that I feel that not enjoying it fully if marathoned is not a fault of the person who marathoned it, it is a fault of the series for not being brilliant enough to want to marathon. If that makes sense (I am going to sleep right after this post) So, *in my best Forrest Gump impersonation* "that's all I got to say about that" |
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Stupidman007
 Posts: 394 |
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Actually, undeadben, what you said is a very valid point. From my point of view, SHnY is definitely not a series that someone would want to make a marathon out of. Also, what you've said is somewhat proven by the ratings that it received. At about half point of the show's televised release, it actually topped Kenshin OVA as the top spot on the weighted average. Soon after, its ratings has declined and to a point of where it is right now.
Why did that happen, one may ask, but what you've stated is a great example of what is the probably the most plausible reason. Many people who saw the series after that time probably made marathon runs, or at least viewed episodes in chunks. However, like many have said already, SHnY is a show that isn't meant to be viewed in chunks, instead upon first viewing it, I've always felt that it's a series that was made perfectly for the weekly new episodes. That, I believe is an important factor to why most of us who saw the show on first release is in love with it. Not to mention that we probably all saw each episode at least 3-4 times during the week until the next episode. I think the best way to rate something is simply to say how much you liked it. Anything else, and you're just going to make things harder for yourself 
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Animefreak6969
 Posts: 587 |
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Thats very true, however I did follow the show every week and loved, It's in my favorites, however i watched em all together a few times and it was just as interesting to me and it didn't make me feel like i wanted to stop at all. But thats just me and my mind set.
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Lainofthenet
 Posts: 44 Location: Canada |
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I watched Melancholy over two days about a month ago. Like some of the people mentioned above it was one that I just had to finish once I started and yet I knew that saving it for viewing over time was something I really wanted to do. I had a hard time rating it but I think the thing that mattered to me was the amount of work and thought that went into it. If one can look at something like "Haibane Renmei" and appreciate the thought that went into its view on life and death (and the more somber elements of both) then I think Melancholy deserves the same kind of praise for its commentary on living and having fun. I was also impressed by the realities that Haruhi created when bored and how close they are to the depressed state of mind I often find myself in. The world becomes colorless, small and if left to itself can become utterly destructive. It is the best depiction of depression I've seen. I also am impressed by how many puns are in this series and how the trivia section in the encyclopedia seems to grow. Melancholy has a little something for everyone. While I loved the game episode for its SF elements I found the concert episode was almost too beautiful for words. The animation and the audio syncing was as good as anything I have ever seen. I showed that sequence to a friend that has only a passing interest in anime and animation but one that is heavily into music. He was more into the audio but could easily see what I was saying about the meshing of the visual and audio elements. I surely wish someone would get this licensed. I need to watch it again. I'm really glad that at this point in my life something can delight and surprise me as much as it did. There are so many things that could be included as extras that I really hope care is taken with it.
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KyuuA4
Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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Question... Marathoned? As in, watch it all in one sitting?
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Samurai-with-glasses
 Posts: 628 |
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It can occasionally also mean watching *a lot* of episodes at once, but not all, as well; though usually reserved for god-forsaken long series like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Naruto. |
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Animefreak6969
Posts: 587 |
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Ya, like for me every Sunday i set aside for anime, I wake up at 8 or so in the morning go to the computer and watch anime until 10 or so PM thats around 12 or 14 hours worth and like 20 something episodes which is the length of most series or seasons so i call that Marathoning along with the meaning of marathoning just one series.
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KyuuA4
Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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And so - for all the Marathoners. Y'can't Marathon the Haruhi series. 13 episodes is far to short for that.
And I'll take this opportunity to proclaim: Haruhi is God! Worship her or be smited. 
Once I dared to try Marathoning Fushigi Yuugi. Got up to the 53rd episode before the Anime Group splits for the day. I'll never do something like that ever again. |
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13
 Posts: 2 |
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sorry if this is a noob question or whatever lol, as i'm sure that this has already been thoroughly discussed and debated in this forum. but instead of skimming through 70 pages of posts to find it, i figured i'd ask here first then go back to looking.
anyway here's the question: what is the 'better' way to watch this anime? in the order the episodes were released? or in the chronological order in which the story takes place? like i said i'm sure this question has come up like 100 times in this forum, gomen ><. but yeah if some forum veterans wanna help out and post to link where it's discussed that would help me out a lot. thanks~ ;x |
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KyuuA4
Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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Personally, I never watched this series in Release order or Chronological order. I went about the episodes randomly and however I felt like it. Nevertheless, I found myself trying to piece together the Chronological order (before I ever looked it up). Plus, I actually looked for a few details here and there while watching each episode at least 5 times.
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13
Posts: 2 |
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lol interesting, the third choice of random viewing. well i guess i should have elaborated on my question. the main reason i brought this up is the fact that i haven't watched any episodes yet. i've just heard about it from friends and looked up plot descriptions online and stuff.
so i guess what really i meant to really ask was: in what order would you have prefered watching this anime your first time? (out of the 2 choices i posted earlier :P) well there's no real 'right' answer to this question, i'm just interested in hearing everyones opinions and stuff before i start watching it. so lemme know what you guys think~ |
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