The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV)

The book that Yuki is reading in ep 2 is "The Fall of Hyperion", book two of the science fiction tetralogy "The Hyperion Cantos" by Dan Simmons (they *are* fairly unique books!).

Speculation says that Kyoto Animation's decision to end this anime at 14 episodes is due to their restaffing of manpower to work on the upcoming Kanon remake. This most likely is not true, however, since most anime episode counts are decided before the anime is aired.

In the preview for episode 8 which came with episode 7, the episode title was written in the same way as the title for Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, a highly successful fan made murder mystery sound novel (and concurrently airing anime), correct down to the black background, white words, and single red letter.

The card game that Kyon and Itsuki play in the beginning of Episode 9 includes cards depicting Gourry, Lina Inverse, and Nagi the Serpent from Slayers and Feris Eris from Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu. The Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Slayers, and Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu novels are all published by Kadokawa.

In the episode 12 preview, the dialouge Haruhi and Kyon said respectively, "Previews are useless! Listen to my song!!" and "BOMBER!!!" is a direct homage of the dialouge said in Macross 7.

At the start of episode 14 Kyon refers to Mikuru as "toki wo kakeru shoujo" - "the girl who leapt through time". That's the title of a movie produced by Kadokawa about a girl travelling to the past.

The official site says this series have 15,498 episodes (look for that trivia in this same page). That is actually a reference to the 5th novel of the saga, Suzumiya Haruhi no Bousou. The details are spoiler, but the fact is there's something that happens exactly 15,498 times in the second chapter beacuse of Haruhi, that's where that number comes from

In the first cut of the opening credits where Haruhi is seen full figure profile looking up at a shooting star in the night sky, followed by the zoom up close on her face, is a parody of the opening to Visions of Escaflowne.

All the locations shown in the anime are actually real locations, with the names slightly altered.

The artwork in the English DVD release of volume 1 (episode 00 and chonological episodes 01-03) adds in the mole in Mikuru's cleavage in early episodes, correcting an inconsistency with story elements later in the series that cropped up during the original TV broadcast.

The segment in the opening sequence with Nagato Yuki surrounded by falling snow is based on an illustration found in the short story "Editor in Chief - Straight Ahead" which was included in the 8th Suzumiya Haruhi light novel.

Winner of the "Best Animation TV Program Award" at the 11th Animation Kobe (2006)

Winner of the "Best Theme Song Award" at the 11th Animation Kobe (2006) for "Hare Hare Yukai"

In episode 00, the Mikuru movie, when the story progresses into where Koizumi and Mikuru started living together, Koizumi, Mikuru and Kyon's sister are seen playing UNO cards.

During episode 6 -Remote Island Syndrome Part One- when the group exits the terminal they are greeted by a butler and a Maid named Sonou Mori. That could be a deliberate reference to Kaorou Mori, the mangaka of Emma and Shirley, both series being about Maids in Victorian-era England. As a side note, the butler also has the name of the (female) mangaka of Full Metal Alchemist but this could be a coincidence...

The Chronological Orders are episode 2 ,episode 3, episode 5, episode 10, episode 13, episode 14, episode 4, episode 7, episode 6, episode 8, episode 1, episode 12, episode 11, episode 9

The background music (from 18:15 to 19:34) in the last episode "Someday in the Rain", one can hear the music played from the train scene in the film "Spirited Away" from Studio Ghibli, that was released in 2001.

Yuki Nagato (長門 有希) never says a single word in the episode "Someday in the Rain" (9th episode in broadcast order, 14th episode in chronological order), despite being on-screen for the majority of the episode, so her name (and the names of her Japanese/English voice actresses) are not included in the episode's credits.

Episode 8 is basically a giant tribute to Detective Conan. When Kyon and Haruhi sneak back into the room with the "corpse", they are animated as detail-less, black shadows with big white eyes, which is a common technique famous in Detective Conan. When Haruhi finally reveals who the "culprit" really is, a jazzy saxophone arrangement can be heard that is very similar in both theme and melody to the music played when Conan solves his own cases.

The 12th episode aired it's the 12th episode in the chronological order. All the other episodes aren't in the chronological order as they were aired.

A large poster of Haruhi appears in the background during a segment of a Canadian Tylenol commercial. The segment features a girl jumping on her bed, with the poster in the background. The punchline is "Just be yourself."

The frog costume Mikuru wears in 'Someday in the Rain' is a reference to the chapter 'Endless Eight' in The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya, where Haruhi forces the SOS Brigade to get a job promoting a local supermarket, by dressing up in frog costumes and handing out balloons. Afterwards, Haruhi tells Mikuru to keep the frog costume and add it to the costume rack for future use.

In the ending theme, there is a picture of Haruhi, Yuki, Mikuru and Tsuruya gathered round a large pot, whilst Itsuki and Kyon are standing slightly offside, Kyon wearing a reindeer head. This is a reference to an event in 'The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'.

In the shows opening theme, an image of yuki standing in what appears to be snow, is a reference to an almost identical illustration shown, in 'The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya', Chapter 'Editor in Chief, Straight Ahead!', highlighting Yuki Nagato's story about how she got her name.

In the first new episode of the 2009 airing, Kyon travels back in time by three years, and uses the alias "John Smith" when he meets a younger Haruhi. The same alias is often used by the time-traveling title character of Doctor Who.

The cat-men motif sometimes seen throughout The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was originally drawn by Haruhi seiyuu Aya Hirano on the backside of scripts. Staff members discovered the sketches and incorporated them into the anime. Various variations of the cat-men illustrations could be seen throughout Haruhi Suzumiya merchandise (namely CDs and DVDs).

Haruhi's guitar in the episode 'Live Alive' is an Italia Mondial II.

Episode 12, a further reference to "Linda Linda Linda". When Kyon is wandering the school festival, he peeps into a room with a Korean character on the window where one girl in sleeping with her head on the table, apparently staffing a deserted exhibit. Pretty sure this is a reference to Son in "Linda Linda Linda" asleep in her Korean exhibit. (The room with the "beef darts"!)

The 2010 film, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya, contains references to the opening theme of season 1, Bouken Desho Desho. When Kyon meets the alternate Yuki Nagato, he knocks over a pile of books. At the climax of the film, Yuki is seen standing in the snow with her hands raised. Both movements are seen in the opening for Season 1

The Haru Haru Dance in the end of every episode is very similar to the MikuMikuDance, an additional software tool for the Vocaloid program, danced by Hatsune Miku in the tutorial video

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was among Bandai Entertainment's top 5 most successful titles in North America, selling over 80,000 units per volume.

The order the episodes air is not always in their chronological order. For instance, everything in episode 1 actually takes place at some future time in the series, the episode which aired as episode 4 is actually episode 7 chronologically, and the episode that aired as episode 5 is actually episode 3 chronologically. While it may seem like some kind of odd mistake, it is in fact intentional. During the previews of each episode, Haruhi shouts the chronologically correct episode number of the next one broadcasted.

In episode 1(the mini-movie), there's a scene where Mikuru does a little ad for their model shop sponsor. Some model boxes can be recognized to be ones sold in real life, the most obvious one being the Perfect Grade GAT-X105 Strike Gundam from Gundam SEED(the rectangular white box) directly above Mikuru's head.

In Episode 2, when Haruhi Suzumiya is ranting about why she dragged an upperclass girl into the club, she holds up two magazines, both with characters from "Shuffle" on the cover. Yuko Goto (Mikuru Asahina), Tomokazu Sugita (Kyon), and Sayako Aoki (Kyon's little sister) were the seiyuus of Kaede, Rin, and Lisianthus from "Shuffle".

In episode 04, the baseball episode, the theme song from the show, "Touch", was played in the background as Kyon pitched his Yuki-modified baseball.

In Episode 5 (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya III), when Kyon is visiting a library with Yuki, he starts reading a book called 学校を出よう！ (Gakko wo Deyou!, Escape from The School!) before he falls asleep. This is a real book, actually the second volume of a light novel series written by the original creator of the Suzumiya Haruhi series, Tanigawa Nagaru.

In Episode 5, in the scene when their eating [15:38 - 15:43], the box of fries, the box for the burger and the drink cup all have a 'W' on it, this is (obviously) a spoof on MacDonald's 'M' but flipped upside down

In episode 6 (chronological) Kyon's little sister comes into his room and asks for scissors, whilst humming 'Bouken desho, desho' in the english dub version, and 'Hare Hare Yukai' in the original Japanese version.

In Episode 6 (Remote Island Syndrome Pt 1) at around the 9 minute mark, as the group disembarks from the ferry Kyon hopes to himself that the island isn't like Infant Island. Shortly thereafter Itsuki reassures Kyon that he won't see any "Kaiju." Infant Island is the home of Mothra, a frequent on-screen ally and enemy of Godzilla over the past several decades.

Also in episode 7, when Itsuki was battling a giant cricket, he yelled out attack names "Fumoffu" and then "Second Raid". Obviously these are the titles for the Full Metal Panic series which are also animated by Kyoto Animation.

In episode 7 during the fight with the giant cricket, other then the already stated "Fumoffu" and "Second Raid" lines, Yuki and the Cricket are shown to be using the Lambda Driver's 'shield' in a scene completely identical to many fights throughout Full Metal Panic.

Also in Episode 7, in the scene where the group fights the giant mole cricket in the desert, a green drone beetle is seen replenishing the cricket's HP (Health Points), which is a parody of SEGA's arcade TCG (Trading Card Game), Mushi King.

After the battle with the giant cricket in Episode 7, a poster of the three seiyuu playing Haruhi, Yuki and Mikuru can be seen behind Kyon in the computer president's room.

In Episode 8, when Haruhi is explaning the truth of the matter, her, Koizumi's and Asahina's motions are imitations of those used by Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth and Maya Fey of the Capcom Nintendo DS game, "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney", known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban.

In episode 8 (10th episode in chronological order) where Haruhi and Kyon are talking outside their rooms (at 4:20), we see Haruhi's legs as she paces. She pauses and turns to Kyon but her legs turn individually, her right leg becoming her left and her left becoming her right. This was fixed in the DVD version and dub.

In episode 9, during the walk from school in the rain with Kyon and Haruhi, Kyon complains that he did not recieve any appreciation from haruhi for picking up the heater. However, in the preview of episode 9 in episode 8, Haruhi thanks Kyon.

In episode 9, when Haruhi is undressing Mikuru from the frog costume, she sings a short line from the anime's ending "Hare Hare Yukai"

In episode 9 there are references to other animes starting at ~12:34. I believe that the lines "Amazing. Her presence on the stage is enough to alter the atmosphere. At any rate, she seems completely different from before. Like a different person from who she was a moment ago!" in time-frame 12:40-12:50 are referring to comments made by Mima in the anime Perfect Blue as a comment about TV star Eri.

In Episode 11, the president of the Computer Society pretends to be Leader Desslok (Desslar) from Star Blazers (Space Crusier Yamato).

In episode 11, the book Yuki is reading at the end is "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clarke. The left-hand page is actually a composite of pages 64 and 65 of the Roc paperback edition.

In Episode 11, on the cover of the fictional game "The Day of Sagittarius III" is picture of a young Captain Avatar (Captain Okita) from Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato).

In Episode 11: [14:18-14:21] One of the Nekoman (the muscular one in front) in Mikuru's spaceship is a homage to the character Kinnikuman. The distinctive characteristic is the symbol on its forehead.

In Episode 11, the Computer Club President screams "Glory to the Computer Club!" as he is being shot down by Yuki. This is homage to the original Mobile Suit Gundam, as many Zeon officers from said anime would shout "Glory to the Principality of Zeon!" as they would be shot down. Those officers also tended to be battleship captains.

In episode 11, when the SOS Brigade having a tough time in their battle against the Computer Club, Haruhi orders Kyon to launch in the ******, to which Kyon replies "I'm launching!". This is a tribute to Mobile Suit Gundam, where the censored word is the main robot, Gundam, while "I'm launching!" is one of the most famous quotes from the show, said by main character Amuro.

In episode 11, Haruhi says "Shining light on darkness and vanquishing evil is the duty of warrior of justice" is a reference to Sailor Moon.

In episode 11 (XIII), the background music that accompanied their battle was adapted from the first movement of the 7th symphony of Shostakovich in the beginning; and changed to the finale of the last movement of the 4th symphony of Tchaikovsky near the end. The symphony of Shostakovich was composed in 1941 and was dedicated to the Leningrad during its defense in World War II.

In episode 11 (broadcast order), The Day of Sagittarius, Koizumi's fleet's entire crew all have the henohenomohe(ji) face (a face usually drawn by Japaneseschool children using hiragana).

In episode 11 (as broadcast) the music used in the prelude is fom Maurice Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe"

Also in episode 11, when Haruhi orders the final attack, the sweep of her arm is a likely tribute to Sophia Forrester's famous order to attack in "Last Exile".

In Episode 12, The play Itsuki is performing in is "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard. Itsuki is playing the role of Guildenstern.

In Episode 12, a parody of the popular Japanese celebrity/comedian Razor Ramon HG, aka Hard Gay, appears in the school festival. He is the man in black clothes with a black cap that says "MG" on it (Hard Gay wears a cap that says "HG"). Appears at [2:28 - 2.30]

In Episode 12: The name of the band that Haruhi helped out, "ENOZ", is a parody of a real-life J-Pop band named, "ZONE". Due to this, instead of 3 members as originally written in the Novel, the band has 4 members in the Anime. The instruments used in the anime band mirror that of what the ZONE members use too. The name of the anime band members are also similar to that of the real ZONE.

In Episode 12 [06:59-07:04]: Kyon makes the following comment, "Anyway… enjoy the cultural festival. In a normal fashion." This is a reference to a similar comment Sagara Sousuke made in Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (another anime series made by Kyoto Animation) to Kurz Weber during the episode, "The Goddess' Visit to Japan (The Onsen Chapter)".

In Episode 12: The ENOZ concert is a reference to the Japanese live-action movie リンダリンダリンダ (Linda Linda Linda) (2005) from director Nobuhiro Yamashita.

In Episode 12 where Kyon says "Anyway… enjoy the cultural festival. In a normal fashion" at 7:02, you can see Nagato and Haruhi running in the background with their guitars.

In Episode 12, you can see the ENOZ members in the background at 3:22 - 3:35 with Haruhi's bunny ears visible near the end. This scene also matches whats shown at 15:40 -15:47 when Haruhi explains how she got involved. Also the 2 ENOZ members rush past Kyon as he's trying to get into the cosplay cafe [4:26]

In episode 12, "Live Alive", the lines from the song, "God Knows...": "anata ga ite watashi ga ite hoka no hito wa kieta shimatta" (10:50~11:00) can be considered some what of foreshadowing to the events of episode 14.

Ryōko Asakura lived in Room 505 in her block of flats, as noted in episode 13 (5th episode in chronological order). 505 is SOS in number form.

In episode 14, the song in the background of the closed space that Haruhi makes with the blue giants is parts of Mahler's Symphony No.8. 1st Movement or "The Symphony of a Thousand"