Everybody’s probably heard about this already from other sources, but just thought I’d offer my opinion…
Something told me to watch “Someday in the Rain” today, especially after the below Newtype scan of Yuki and her alternate form was revealed yesterday (though it didn’t actually refer to any film of “The Disappearance”).
I was almost ready to turn off the live stream after Hare Hare Yukai came on, but I decided to see if anything would happen after that. And sure enough, there was the short commercial announcing a spring 2010 theatrical release of “The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.”
Being the hardcore Haruhi fan that I am, I’m happy about this news. I would have preferred TV episodes because I could watch them sooner, but a movie is fine too; movies usually have higher animation budgets after all. I know plenty of fans are still sore over the “Endless Eight” fiasco, even thinking that an “Endless Eight” movie would be the next troll. But many who have read the novels agree that “The Disappearance” is one of the best, if not the best, story of all in the Haruhi series. It’s too bad we have to wait until spring 2010 for the movie release; even then, those of us who are not in Japan at the time will have to make do with someone’s poor quality camera rip before the actual DVD comes out months later. But hopefully some nice trailers with actual animation footage will come out during the next few months.
The folks who made this poster over two years ago predicted a movie for “The Disappearance”…and they were right. Not bad.
If anyone’s interested in a spoiler-free synopsis of “The Disappearance,” I’m offering it in italics below:
“The story starts out very normal. It’s mid-December and the SOS Brigade are planning a nabe party for Christmas. However, when Kyon comes to school on December 18th, everything is different; Haruhi has disappeared and in her place, sitting in the desk behind Kyon, is a seemingly normal Ryoko Asakura. Itsuki is also nowhere to be found, and Mikuru, Yuki, and Tsuruya-san do not recognize Kyon or appear to have any memories of Haruhi and the SOS Brigade. The only help Kyon is able to come across is a bookmark left to him by the humanoid interface version of Yuki which offers a clue about what he needs to do in order to restore the world he once knew. He must travel back in time, interact with the past event in ‘Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody,’ find the culprit responsible for changing the world, and of course, find Haruhi.”
I’ve already read Baka-Tsuki’s translation of “The Disappearance” novel twice, but I’m still excited about seeing it animated =D It definitely ranks as one of my favorite stories and is probably the most suspenseful and intricate one. So hopefully this movie will help restore the respect for the series that was lost because of “Endless Eight.” Restoring respect for KyoAni however is another story.
AnimeNation offered this lovely thought to dwell on:
“Since the ‘Endless Eight’ chapter from novel 5 got literally adapted into 8 anime episodes, wouldn’t it be ironically apt if the ‘Disappearance’ movie never actually got made?”
That would be going too far XP Maybe the “Disappearance” movie will disappear from theaters only to be altered into TV episodes after all. You never know what will happen with Haruhi XD
UPDATE 04/05/10
A camera rip, filmstrip video, and artbook scans for the movie are now available. More info on my post here.
I really wonder if the novel can fit the movie´s length? I heard the novel is very extensive. Just hope they don´t skip too many parts, especially “Blushing Yuki”..Well, I dont think They will skip that considering that She was shown in the “teaser”
@Toonleap
Yeah, I’m a little concerned about the length issue of the movie as well. I doubt the movie will be more than 2 hours, which would be about 4.5 episodes, and that’s still less than the anime adaptations of the shorter novels “The Melancholy” and “The Sigh.” Well, as long as they only leave out minor scenes and don’t make any unnecessary changes, I’ll be satisfied.
Hi Yumeka, you’ve been commenting a lot on my blog, but I didn’t realize you had your own until I clicked on your name today ;p I’m gonna add you to my blogroll if that’s cool, awesome anime site :D
Anyways, this new Haruhi movie is probably the best anime news I’ve heard all year. I hope KyoAni is behind the production, because all their movies in the past had very high production value and Haruhi definitely deserves the same treatment. I think they could make Disappearance into at least a 1.5 hour movie at least if they extend some scenes. There’s always sloooooooowwww panning if they run of ideas.
“Since the ‘Endless Eight’ chapter from novel 5 got literally adapted into 8 anime episodes, wouldn’t it be ironically apt if the ‘Disappearance’ movie never actually got made?”
That’s not even funny >_<
@kyon
Thanks for the blogroll link =D
I was actually thinking that a 1.5 to 2 hour movie wouldn’t be enough time for the whole novel. “The Melancholy,” which I believe is a shorter novel than “The Disappearance,” ran about 150 minutes if you combine all the episodes, and that’s already longer than your average movie. So a faithful adaptation of “The Disappearance” would probably be about 175 minutes or something. So yeah, they’ll probably leave out some scenes for time constraints but hopefully they won’t change too much and will give us stellar animation =D
I’m not a huge Haruhi fan, but I’ll probably give the movie a look.
That said though, I can’t help but feel that this means that Kyoani’s going to be ending their Haruhi adaptations. If Disappearance is meant to be the best Haruhi arc, it seems fitting to make a movie out of it to end the series with a bang.
Just noticed you even add my site in your blogroll and I never did…I feel so bad….
Just added your nice website in my blogroll as well…Thanks to Kyon for reminding me that.
@ Snark
Really? You think this movie will be the last Haruhi animation by KyoAni? I’m pretty sure we’ll see the rest of the novels adapted eventually (if the author ever decides to finish the series) but I wonder if it will be by another studio. I have mixed feelings about that; KyoAni’s trolls are frustrating, but then again, I really like their animation. I can’t imagine KyoAni giving up their cash cow, but you never know what might happen.
@Toonleap
Thanks for the link! =D
According to Anime News Network, the film is 162 minutes. That should be enough time to prevent excessive chopping, if much at all, and deliver a great story that is hopefully better than that trailer (which is gorgeous btw).
It’s hard to bottle up my expectations, the series has become my favorite, and I just cannot wait!
when will it be showing here in the philippines ?
anyone know where to download the movie??
@ Unknown
The movie is still in theaters now and so far no one has uploaded a camera rip. So we probably won’t be seeing a download until the end of the year when the DVD comes out.
i’ve already watched the movie
@ minami
The movie has already been out in theaters and people not living in Japan have recently been able to watch it via camera rip (me being one of them). If you noticed, the post here is old and the movie has become available since I wrote it.
does anyone know if ‘the endless eight’ is english dubbed yet? i can’t find it anywhere!
@ emily
Season 2 of Haruhi, which includes Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, Endless Eight, and The Sigh, were actually just dubbed and released on DVD box set a few days ago.