Interest

Haruhi Suzumiya Website Goes 'Missing' Again

The official website for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya franchise is in it for the long con. Every year since 2007, the website has gone "missing" on December 18, a reference to the date the titular character disappears in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya film. The page first vanished with a false 404 error in 2007, a precursor to the announcement of the film reveal. The site has kept up the annual gag, sometimes preceding a new announcement like The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan anime in 2014.

This year the site is gone again and clicking "retry" will redirect to the Haruhi Animated 10th Anniversary site. Sometimes the 404 error message will hide a phrase that is only revealed when hovering over it. This year it reads "いてくれたか" (Ite kureta ka/Were you there?").

A new live-action commercial aired last month advertising "Suzumiya Haruhi no Taisei" ("The Completion of Haruhi Suzumiya"), a Blu-Ray boxset of the TV series, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (a film sequel), The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya, Nyorōn Churuya-san (two web short series), and footage of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisō ("The Extravaganza of Haruhi Suzumiya"), a voice actor concert from 2007. It went on sale in Japan on December 18, the disappearance date, for 29,160 yen (tax included; $263).

Funimation licensed the series and film, and began offering the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on September 13 to commemorate the anime's 10th anniversary. The release includes all the television anime episodes (including the "season 2" episodes that appeared in the 2009 re-broadcast). It also released the The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya, Nyorōn Churuya-san, and The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan anime.

[Via Yara-on!]