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The Mike Toole Show - Whatever Happened to Haruhi Suzumiya?

For me the "Moe Era" didn't really hit for me until Haruhi Suzumiya got reversed engineered into Luck Star and that's when a lot of other studios jumped on the bandwagon formula of cute girls in clubs and referential Otaku humor sold like hot cakes Haruhi was the rock and Lucky Star was the wave and K-On and the like was period of moe Inundation.

... I would kill to get Haruhi on BD. Granted, there is a Japanese BD box set of both seasons, and it does include the English DUB on it, but its like 400$....

What impresses me the most about the film is probably its characters’ body language—like the great Tsuneo Kobayashi, director Yasuhiro Takemoto has a gift for this kind of expression. He communicates more in the characters’ posture and expressions—Kyon's sideways glare and rueful smile, Haruhi, placing her arms akimbo and seeming to grow a foot taller, Mikuru's blubbering, bashful adorableness—than the film's dialogue itself.

The realistic depiction of subtle body movement is something that Kyoto Animation has been getting increasingly good at in recent years.
While it's obviously most noticeable in their two big theatrical productions, it is also starting to become an impressive element in their TV series. This is especially effective in the Hyouka series, which relies very heavily on gradual character developement, where it really helps to make each character's behaviour feel distinctive and natural.

I really do feel Endless Eight killed any good forward momentum the title had going for it. I remember spirits were high going into that season, and low coming out. It's funny to see people try to defend it with saying how how every episode was still animated differently enough, or that you're supposed to empathize with Yuki's boredom by emulating it yourself. Yeah, that's entertainment!

Also, while I generally think the movie was a more positive than negative experience (a little too long and in dire need of cuts), it's a dour and mellow film that's not exactly enthralling or going to set fire under anyone's feet. Its slow pace and narrow focus make for more introspection than excitement, the same high energy that launched Haruhi in the first place is absent.

As Mike's pic illustrates, moe's been around a lot longer than just the last couple of years. In fact I'd say moe was always with us in one form or another...

I really do feel Endless Eight killed any good forward momentum the title had going for it. I remember spirits were high going into that season, and low coming out. It's funny to see people try to defend it with saying how how every episode was still animated differently enough, or that you're supposed to empathize with Yuki's boredom by emulating it yourself. Yeah, that's entertainment!

Also, while I generally think the movie was a more positive than negative experience (a little too long and in dire need of cuts), it's a dour and mellow film that's not exactly enthralling or going to set fire under anyone's feet. Its slow pace and narrow focus make for more introspection than excitement, the same high energy that launched Haruhi in the first place is absent.

Look at the other shows on that top five rescue list. The reason those shows stuck around are because they are shows that did something really cool and original --and-- were either unable or unwilling to be successfully imitated. Haruhi, bless her heart, was mined and stolen from so much that it's really not original anymore. I could probably reel off a list of a dozen shows influenced by Haruhi and her successors in the last year.

When was the last good anime space opera, like Outlaw Star? The only one I can think of in the last five years was Bodacious Space Pirates, and that's stretching a little.

Basically, if a new fan were to watch Cowboy Bebop today, it would still be relative fresh. If that fan were to watch Haruhi today, he'd be seeing things he'd already seen before in other shows.

Compare reactions of Love Hina in 2001 to today. We we first saw Haruhi, it was something amazing and special, and it's lost some of that luster. Also, there was that whole Endless Eight thing that really pissed people off.

And you have to watch Haruhi in broadcast (non-chronological) order, since the climax of the series is in episode 5 -- if it is watched chronologically, it is punchless. And due a lot of confusion, both in the fandom and corporate levels, this fact isn't distributed like it should be.

If I had to pick the start date of the 'moe era', the most logical starting point would be Cardcaptor Sakura. The first instance of 'moeblob' on the other hand, would be PitaTen, from 2002. We hit peak moeblob with K-On, and moe shows have been winding down of seasons late.

When was the last good anime space opera, like Outlaw Star? The only one I can think of in the last five years was Bodacious Space Pirates, and that's stretching a little.

If I had to pick the start date of the 'moe era', the most logical starting point would be Cardcaptor Sakura. The first instance of 'moeblob' on the other hand, would be PitaTen, from 2002. We hit peak moeblob with K-On, and moe shows have been winding down of seasons late.