This post is part of trzr23’s “Remembering Love” project, a project where bloggers rewatch their favorite anime during the month of May and post about why they love it each week. There’s supposed to be four posts in total, whether they choose just one anime to write about or several. However, due to my personal blogging preferences, I decided to dedicate just this one post for the project…
The rules trzr23 set down for the project are simple: rewatch all or part of one or more of our favorite anime and write about why we love them so much in any format we choose. But he made it clear that we’re not to review or critique the anime; it’s all about “remembering love” – remembering why we personally love it without trying to be objective. Since I’m only planning to write one “Remembering Love” post, at least at this time, I decided to go ahead with my #1 favorite. For those of you who know me, it’s no surprise at all…
trzr23 suggested that we not pick anime that have already been gushed over to death or that are common favorites. It’s funny that when most of us think of Haruhi, we think it’s one of the most popular anime and a generic favorite. But while that may well have been the case in 2006 when the original 14 episodes aired and they wowed people with their unusual style of production that had never been seen in anime before, I don’t think it’s an overly gushed about series anymore. If I was writing this post back in 2006-2007, it certainly would have been just one among many other praising posts for the series. But since then, and especially since the even more unusual “second season” in 2009 (which I’ll get to later), I think it’s been years since fans who were impressed by Haruhi in 2006 have “remembered love” for the series. The movie in 2010 brought a slow and steady flow of just about all positive reviews, but it definitely didn’t generate the phenomenal buzz that the 2006 airing did. Since Haruhi has been my #1 favorite anime and novel series since 2007, I’m always up for any opportunity to remember my love for it…
So what is it about this series that has made it consistently my #1 for years? One of the main reasons comes from Kyon’s deliciously savvy narration. It’s sometimes sarcastic, sometimes intuitive, and sometimes comically random. At times it reminds me of a less crude and a more witty version of Holden Caufield from “The Catcher in the Rye.” It can shift from humorous to philosophical quite naturally, and is sprinkled with cultural, mathematical, scientific, and historical references that add a helping of intellectual appeal. The range of funny metaphors he comes up with as he describes the situations and characters around him isn’t short on cleverness either. Unlike other series where we can freely see into the thoughts of all the characters, by sticking to Kyon’s POV only, the Haruhi series offers a unique way of revealing the characters through his amusing observations and sudden realizations about them. With this refreshing style of writing, I’m never bored.
And with it comes a refreshing premise and a refreshing blend of genres. If one looks up a synopsis of the Haruhi series, it’s not a typical premise at all. It’s not a typical science fiction or a typical “save the world” story, or even a typical school/slice-of-life series. It has all these characteristics and more, but it blends them all together so well that it’s hard to give it a defining genre. It can be jargon-heavy science fiction one minute and cute, funny school antics another minute without any feeling of disconnect. It has a great variety of themes together with a fun story that easily lends itself to comedy, sci-fi, romance, and even drama.
While there’s nothing typical about Haruhi’s story and genre, there’s nothing typical about how it’s produced either. Kyoto Animation is already known for their above-average animation, but the way they promote Haruhi stands out even more. A while back I wrote a post listing all the times KyoAni/Kadokawa had only tossed around clues of a new Haruhi anime since 2006 and never flat-out stated what the re-airing in 2009 would consist of. What anime never officially announces a new production? What anime messes up its official web site each year to coincide with important dates in the story’s timeline? What anime – heck, even what TV series – has the tenacity to make eight of virtually the same episode? Only Haruhi does.
All the atypical things about the Haruhi series coincide perfectly with the atypical traits of the titular character, Haruhi herself. It’s not typical for the titular character in a series to often be the antagonist too (at least she sort of is in the stories the anime has covered so far). Haruhi’s unusual personality brings out either a lot of love or a lot of hate. I’m in the former camp…in fact, I consider Haruhi my #1 favorite character, not just because of my feelings for the series. I actually think it takes a lot more effort to give a character a truly unique personality instead of a truly unique background history, and Haruhi has such an incomparable personality. Like I’ve said in other posts, the things she does and believe are so outrageous, and her view of the world is so unusual, I can’t help but be drawn into her outpouring enthusiasm and self-confidence. Despite this, there are numerous times where she shows that she has a caring, deep side to her (again, more so in post-anime stories) so that helps keep her otherwise radical personality grounded. I can understand gripes about her selfishness and tyrannical attitude, especially in her treatment of Mikuru, but there’s no malice in what she’s doing – she truly believes others are to do what she says. I don’t think of Haruhi as “mean” as opposed to terribly oblivious. Call it a mental disorder or a side effect of having god-like powers, but Haruhi is unlike any character I’ve ever seen and I can’t help but adore her for it.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, a lot of fans’ ability to “remember love” for Haruhi was hampered greatly in 2009 by Endless Eight. If you still think it was just a troll and nothing more, I explained the reasoning behind E8 in another post. Despite that, I can agree that it was frustrating at the time. But unfortunately, because it was “hip” to hate on E8, people decided to concentrate only on the frustration they felt about those episodes and forget the awe they felt for the 2006 series. Should we let eight repetitive episodes make us totally disregard the greatness of 20 other episodes + 1 movie, especially when it takes no effort to just watch the last E8 episode and act like the others don’t exist? Well, I hope that KyoAni doesn’t wait too much longer to make a proper Haruhi anime sequel. The anime has only adapted about five out of currently eleven light novels, which are still ongoing, so there’s plenty of material left to work with. The movie was a slight start but only further anime adaptations of the later novel stories would make anime-only viewers remember love for Haruhi. I eagerly await that time! =)
—–
Other bloggers participating in the “Remembering Love” project:
Nopy
Justin
Marina
@fkeroge
Kai
kluxorious
Ty-chama
chikorita157
Navi
Glo
BeldenOtaku
Well, it’s definitely no surprise you would choose that specific one :P But it is a good one to choose. I like the Haruhi Anime/light novels as well (was able to read the last novel thanks to you and other translators!), I like them a lot. As you mentioned, the way the story is told, the characters themselves, the very simple-yet-complex plot it tackles, everything about it just screams “interesting” and “novel”. I actually like the endless 8 when I watched it the first time around. I would not watch all 8 again, but the first time, I saw them all, and had a good time. They made enough changes to it to make it worth watching.
I did have a problem with Haruhi herself at the beginning. I actually started disliking her… A lot… I agree that she is not a bad person though, and deeply cares for everyone in the SOS brigade. It is much clearer in the books, and they have shown some hints of her future self. And none of them seemed bad in any way. We have to see what the author can think of next, and hopefully, get more anime seasons tackling some of the other light novels.
Of course, a faithful adaptation also helps, together with very good quality animation, voice actors, etc. Being a bit of a “quirky” anime though, it’s one that tends to attract people that absolutely love it, or absolutely hate it :P
Glad to know someone else who doesn’t think too harshly of Endless Eight, and who enjoys the Haruhi novels too =)
I can understand dislike for Haruhi in the early stories…but I think I did mention in another post that after The Sigh when Kyon got really mad at her, she hasn’t done anything outrageously tyrannical since. Hopefully more anime episodes will be made so people who don’t read the novels can see her character development.
heh you and I are on the same boat, girl. It sort of frustrating when people just remembered how bad the E8 was and disregard the greatness of the earlier series, or the episodes that came after that.
I remember reading on your blog a while back that you like Haruhi too, so I was wondering if you’d read this post ^_^ Always glad to know another Haruhi fan, especially a female one since there don’t seem to be many of those. Also glad to know someone else who agrees that people have been too blinded by the infamy of Endless Eight that they’ve disregarded the greatness of the rest of the series.
I think those of us who followed it on first broadcast were very lucky. Back when few people would have recognised the name “Kyoto Animation”, and only about three people in the English-speaking world seemed to know the source material, nobody had any expectations of the show. It just seemed to come from nowhere, and trying to work out just what this thing actually was, going through multiple layers of pretence including a first “this is rubbish” layer, after which we were hit by levels of animation and cinematography quality rarely if ever seen on television — the way the show introduced itself really is in a league of its own. Anyone coming to it now, when it’s got a reputation, some of its tricks are well-known and the rest of the world has caught up to it in certain respects is, unfortunately but inevitably, missing out on something.
But even when robbed on a few of its greatest strengths, it still amazes me. I have absolutely no interest in attending any sort of live music event. Except when I watch episode 12, when it seems the most natural and appealing thing in the world. And it’s not just because of all the effort they’ve put into the animation, it’s because it shows off a side of Haruhi’s personality which is strongly appealing, totally unexpected, and yet makes perfect sense once you realise what’s going on. Whilst creating iconic images at the same time. Genius. Or the (broadcast) ending of the first season – normally, a cynical chap such as myself would find such a combination of music, giants in the background for a kiss unbearably cheesy. But because I know it’s going to end with something like Kyon falling out of bed, it’s put into a context I’m happy with and allowed just to be something beautiful.
And Endless Eight just sent my respect for KyoAni into the stratosphere. While I don’t think the experiment worked; I don’t like feeling frustrated, and the payoff, while good, wasn’t worth it, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for them to have just done the same things in the second season that they did in the first. People would enjoy it, they’d make money, all would be fine. But they pushed the boat out. They tried something never before done on television. Yes, the experiment failed. But experiments do fail sometimes. I’d far, far rather talented people do experiments than just follow a well-known formula for producing success which will inevitably become soulless. If you keep experimenting, sooner or later, the experiment will work. That’s how the greatest shows in history get made. Like Haruhi.
I actually didn’t watch Haruhi as it was airing unfortunately but watched it a little while after in July or August of ’06. When it was airing I had only just started watching anime seasonally and I was in the midst of planning my first trip to Japan. I did hear about the first two episodes on ANN, but didn’t take much notice of it until after it had finished airing, when I was discovering Anime Nano and hearing nothing but good things about it. I then watched the fansubs in the non-chronological broadcast order. So yeah, I didn’t discover Haruhi “in the raw” as it was airing and shocking people weekly, but I got into it fairly soon after.
I totally agree with what you said about the effort KyoAni put into the show’s animation, cinematography, production, and everything about it really. As you mentioned, the way the show was introduced in the original broadcast and the gall to make Endless Eight is not only something that stands out in anime, but in the medium of television in general.
I think Haruhi would be dismissed nowadays even without E8. It was the victim of a typical “megahype followed by cynical backlash” routine. E8 gave a good pretext for it, but even with other famous shows, it’s clear that internet audiences have an instinctive mechanism to stop everything from being universally considered the best thing ever.
When I first saw it in 2010, with maybe a dozen other shows behind me, and barely knowing anything about the anime fandom, it instantly became one of my favorites. I was quite baffled by how pretty much everyone else had the consensus that “it’s a decent show, but not as great as everyone else claims it”.
I’m wondering whether KyoAni still has plans with it. They are already busy with that Chū-2 Byō thing for next year. If they delay it for even more years, it would already start feeling like a retro revival, just like Lupin III, or Saint Seiya.
Yeah, anything that ever becomes phenomenally popular will always garnish a lot of hate. The delay of a second season after the 2006 airing plus Endless Eight only served to fuel the backlash against Haruhi. In my opinion, it’s gonna take another good TV series rather than just a movie for the people who were wowed by it in 2006 to get back into it. Like you mentioned, it does seem like KyoAni has been ignoring it in favor of other works. But it’s always been surprises and mind games with them as far as how they promote Haruhi, so you never know when it will suddenly pop up again. But yes, they really shouldn’t wait that much longer.
Hrmmm, I’m not sure Kyon would like to be compared with Holden. He has very little of Holden’s acerbic arrogance. But they both certainly share sarcasm.
I was never a great fan of Haruhi – I loved episode 00 and the movie, but that was it. I didn’t find Endless 8 to be that much of a drag, even when fandom was wailing and gnashing their teeth. And while I never loved it, I always watched it and didn’t feel I’d wasted my time. I totally understand those who DO adore it.
But I think Alterego 9 is quite right – just like Lucky Star and K-On, it would likely have ended up suffering the backlash even without Endless 8: that’s just the way these cycles tend to go in this somewhat holier-than-thou fandom.
Heh, yeah, he’s not totally like Holden Caufield…but I just thought the very informal, sarcastic narration style is similar. Like I said, a less crude version of him…Kyon certainly doesn’t swear as much as Holden does XD
I remember reading on your blog that you’re not big on Haruhi, but at least you can understand what people like about it. Glad to know you were one of the few who didn’t get crazy about Endless Eight though. I’m hoping you’ll end up liking more than just episode 00 and the movie if KyoAni ever gets to animating more episodes of later stories.
Come to think of it, Haruhi was one of the shows that I watched when I got back into Anime in late 2008 after giving up Pokemon several months earlier. The story was very interesting and enjoyable since the characters were interesting. However, the thing that annoyed me is obviously Endless Eight, which kind of ruined it for some people. I remember the rage they received in the blogosphere and the fandom when Kyoani decided to do 8 full episodes of it… But it was a creative move since nobody else in their right mind would do it.
Aside from that, I need to watch the movie since I heard its good… of course, I read Disappearance back in 2009 and it was the second interesting story in the series besides Melancholy.
Endless Eight certainly was a creative move even though, like Logopolis said above, it seemed to have failed the series (more so for Western fans) than benefited it.
I didn’t know you haven’t watched the movie yet – I of course highly recommend it =)
Like you, Haruhi is the one anime I could watch forever, and still be satisfied. That’s including Endless Eight. Oh where to begin? I think you described how it came out of nowhere and got the attention of people who never were into anime because it was that big. The shifting of episodes to finish with the end of the first novel was such an intelligent decision to pull off. It’s something that gave the series its signature style and yet made it so that you WANTED to re-watch it again and again.
Haruhi is the story of a normal high school girl who doesn’t want to be normal and the guy she sits behind. It’s also the story of alien factions battling, espers saving the world in secret, and who knows what the time travelers are doing? Yet it’s all tightly woven together so that the sides always seem to fit together without having any one side suffer. It’s a good work that is executed extremely well by Kyoto Animation, and propelled them into common anime fan knowledge.
The novels were already popular without the anime (the 7th volume had a 150,000 first pressing), but the anime skyrocketted them to be published around the world. It’s one of the few truly worldwide franchises in anime.
You can’t ignore the immense popularity of Hare Hare Yukai. Even for someone who doesn’t care a lot about it, like me, you have to realize that it was a craze in 2006. With the sudden uprise in YouTube’s popularity, it became easier to see for people all around the world as soon as it was released, something much more difficult to do now.
But to be honest, I think Haruhi was in the right place at the right time, and is remembered for that. It’s definitely one of, if not THE, anime of 2006 with another wonderful movie in 2010. I could go on, but I think that’s the basics of what I feel about the original 14 episodes.
From what I’ve seen, most people prefer the original non-chronological broadcast order. I feel like I’m one of the few who prefers watching it in chronology. I definitely agree that airing it the way they did in 2006 was a great move and a key factor in how impacting the series became. But I actually didn’t grow to love the series the way I do now until I watched it in chronological order a year later in 2007.
But even before I considered Haruhi a favorite, I still couldn’t help but get drawn into the phenomenal affect the series had on anime fandom – I remember relishing in all the many Hare Hare Yukai parody videos on YouTube back and joining in people’s excitement/apprehension when it was finally licensed by Bandai. I even remember the first Haruhi product I bought – a desk mat at a little local anime con in November of 2006.
Actually, it was the major promotion the series got at Anime Expo ’07 that helped turn me into a fan. And if I hadn’t become such a fan of the series, I might have never started talking to you, the Haruhi guru (and a great friend! ^^) So funny how things work out.
I agree totally, the non-chronological order thing was cool but not the way to rewatch the series. I don’t know whether or not it is the superior thing for a newcomer, but when I rewatch Haruhi I see no reason not to watch it in chronological order, since it makes sense, is the original and logical presentation of the story and the way it was sold on the DVDs.
It just makes sense to me that non-chronological was the way to introduce people to the anime and that chronological is the way to properly engage with the story and its characters.
I agree =)
Aside from the controversial Endless Eight, Haruhi had been one great franchise, and the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie is so awesome I could not even put it in words properly :D
I thought Endless Eight was a brilliant idea. I just wish it didn’t eat up seven episodes that could have been other things instead
Glad to hear you liked Disappearance so much! It definitely helped alleviate people’s distaste for the series after Endless Eight, but we really need a proper anime sequel in order to really revive its popularity.
Haha…late comment is late. Somewhat ^^
When I look back on Haruhi (for someone who had not gotten into the series at all), I think, “I might have missed an opportunity.” I remember one of my friends called it one of the best series he had ever watched years ago. Decided not to watch it anyways (whoops). Last year, I finally watch a few episodes at my school’s anime club and I thought it was just ok. Now at this point (on my nice backlog of shows I need to check out) Haruhi is nowhere in my tops to check out again just yet. Maybe it’s because of the hype it generated and Endless Eight…
However, I will try and give it a shot hopefully sometime this summer, and maybe stomach watching the (supposedly) same eight episodes if I get to that point ^^
Wow, you’re one of the few anime fans I know who hasn’t watched Haruhi. People seem to place it amongst anime like Evangelion – anime that are must-sees more so because they’re so impacting to the medium over just being good shows. I do hope you decide to watch all of Haruhi (I’d recommend chronological order). And don’t feel obligated to watch all of Endless Eight – that’s something only dedicated fans should do XD If you do watch it, I’d love to know your thoughts.
Ah Haruhi… one of the great anime of the last decade. I still love the series and also hope for the day when more of the series will be adapted into anime. Until then, there’s just memories.
It’s scary to think what might have been if Haruhi was never subbed. I was in AFK’s IRC channel when someone mentioned that they should sub Haruhi. It wasn’t making waves in Japan and none of the other fansub groups had picked it up. The first episode was a total flop, but when episode 2 came out, everyone knew there was something special about this series. I hear it was because of Haruhi’s popularity online that it eventually caught on in Japan. Whatever happened, I’m glad to see that so many people have enjoyed this series.
I remember watching AFK’s subs – I didn’t know that that’s how their subbing of the series started XD I wasn’t sure what to make of the first episode (episode 00) but after that I started seeing what was so special about the show. It’s actually been re-aired in Japan in chronological order a couple of times – I think that’s the best way to rewatch the series =)
If you haven’t read them already, I’d highly recommend the Haruhi novels. You can always just read the non-anime stories if you want to know what happens later on and don’t want to wait until KyoAni decides to make a new season. But maybe not knowing what will happen later makes it fun, too ;)
My apologies for the long rambling post to follow. Reading all this provoked a rash of memories.
I consider the first season of Haruhi to be my favourites anime. Contrary to some here, I much prefer viewing it in the broadcast order. This order gives it a sense of magic that I find reduced in the chronological ordering of the show. Episode 00 isn’t supposed to make sense. Watching it first helps scramble your mind so that you can watch what happens next openly. The show’s creators placed a lot of faith in the viewer. I think that it paid off for everyone. Also, running the episodes in this order allows the show to develop itself before shifting into overdrive for the last five monster episodes.
By the way, everyone characterizes Kyon as being sarcastic. I don’t think that he is. He’s droll, and more prone to observation than action; and his observations are insightful as well as humourous. Most of his asides are to himself. If he really was sarcastic, I don’t think that the three maidens of the SOS would adore him so. Nor would Tsuruya-san likely be impressed with him, and given how she looks after Mikuru-chan, would probably have tried to steer her away from him.
Someone mentioned Hare Hare Youkai’s importance. I agree with this. I don’t recall any anime prior to this having such a great ED. The music was great. The animation was great. It did a wonderful job of humanising Haruhi and the whole gang in an inventive, captivating manner. I remember looking on youtube and all over for a ‘full’, dance-only version of it and being mightily pleased when I eventually got to see one.
There are so many great touches in this show. The transition from grey to colour when Kyon first saw Haruhi, while done first some 67 years earlier, helped bring to life one of anime’s most unique characters. The weird and unusual angles and perspectives that KyoAni gave us, for example, in that same episode, the close-up of Haruhi’s left eye, fierce and determined. The way Nagato floats when she walks the stacks in the library, or how Haruhi stews when she drew the wrong straw, or how the cosplay is handled again and again. Many shows have done the same things but with these and a hundred other things, KyoAni did them better in this series. Most shows that have two conversations going at the same time are irritating. But when Koizumi and Kyon discuss the significance of victory, Haruhi is busy telling Mikuru-chan that she’ll make Nelson pale with fear, and I couldn’t wait to see how she would do it. How the music went back and forth on the Day of Sagittarius, between the computer music and an orchestra, depending upon whether they were in character or not, or Haruhi’s rousing hellfire speech or the Mikuru-chan fleet, Nagato’s levelling of the playing field, Koizumi’s silent observation of Kyon’s conversation with her on the subject of cheating….
And then there’s Live Alive — with its unmentioned musician, background activity as Kyon wanders the school grounds, Nagato’s fortune telling, complete with costume, Tsuruya-san managing to be both over the top and straight as she lines them up and takes their money outside the Acorn, Asahina-san’s jaw-dropping appearance inside the cafe — even Kyon couldn’t keep his mouth closed, and he could barely look away from her as she greeted them and put their water glasses down on the table. As Kyon put it, will I ever see a finer sight? Or Kyon’s exhausted movement as he gets up off the stairs to go to the auditorium, his half-dozing through the various performances before ENOZ stepped on stage, the way the sudden rain drove a crowd into the auditorium and finally, the astonishing performance by the band, including Haruhi’s long glance to stage right — what was she hoping for? After the festival, when the real band shows up to thank her, how she drags Kyon along for moral support, and the effect that their conversation had on her. Every high school anime does a festival. There have been many hundreds of animated festivals. But has there been one such as this?
I could prattle on for a long while (and I already have) about all of the elements of this show that have me permanently smitten, but I’ll just add one more piece that I didn’t see in the other comments. The performances by the various seiyuu were crucial to creating such a memorable show. Whoever chose them, especially Hirano for the role of Haruhi, should get an award. She was spectacular in creating Haruhi. From Haruhi’s insane self-introduction, which was delivered perfectly straight, through to her shocked reaction to Kyon’s approach in their shared dream, Hirano brilliantly poured herself into the mad, charming, sociopathic possible goddess we all love (or hate :)
I agree with all you said. Nice post :D Kyon is fantastic, I always wear like him on Cosplay events. I know there’s no question here, but I just wanted to make a lot of compliments to you :D