The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol 1.
December 17th 2007 00:27
Category: Videos, Television
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara.
Ultra Director: Haruhi Suzumiya.
Producer: Takeshi Yasuda.
Created by: Nagaru Tanigawa (Story) & Noizi Ito (Illustration).
Produced by: SOS Brigade.
English Language Version: Kadokawa Pictures USA Inc, Bandai Entertainment Inc & Bang Zoom Entertainment.
English Voice Actors: Wendee Lee (Haruhi Suzumiya), Crispin Freeman (Kyon), Stephanie Sheh (Mikura Asahina), Michelle Ruff (Yuki Nagato) and Johnny Yong Bosch (Itsuki Koizumi).
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: MA 15 .
My first encounter with the antics of Haruhi Suzumiya and her cohorts came courtesy of a cover disc on a computer magazine I bought one day at a local newsagent. In addition to having all manner of various software applications and computer game demos the double sided DVD contained a single episode of the television series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Intrigued by the title and not bothering to check out whether or not there was any write up about this single anime episode in the magazine I stuck in my computer and sat down to find out what it was all about. Needless to say after watching that first episode I became determined to track down the first DVD and watch some other episodes.
So what exactly is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (or TMOHS for short)? On the surface TMOHS looks like a typical anime school drama set in Japan with most of the action focused around the title character, Haruhi Suzumiya, at least that’s what things appear to be at a quick glance. Looking deeper there is actually a lot more going on than would be apparent in just a simple school drama. Even though the series is named after its ultra director and she does have a pivotal role within the show its unusual to discover that the story is not being told from her point of view, rather it is being told from the point of view of Kyon, a male student at the same high school and in the same class as Haruhi. Oh and by the way Kyon is his nickname and the character wishes people would stop calling him that.
The story begins with Kyon walking on his way to school after locking up his bike and musing on certain aspects of reality, namely the fact that their seems to be no time travellers, aliens, espers or anime/manga/film heroes and the said evil crime syndicates that they fight or other strange phenomena existing in the real world. He accepts that reality is a lot more mundane though you get the feeling that he is slightly saddened by this fact, still despite this he moves on into his high school with nary a complaint believing that the school year will pass as normally as any other year. Enter Ms Suzumiya, Haruhi makes her presence felt in her first day in class with her introduction speech in which she claims not to be interested in ordinary people but will talk to any aliens, espers or time travellers. It’s a real attention grabber and before Kyon knows it he finds himself drawn to this eccentric beautiful young girl.
Now despite her unusual declaration Haruhi is not an airhead, as Kyon finds out via various means she is a Grade A student, an ace at sporting events and highly attractive to the various male members of the campus. But she does have some eccentricities that crop up even only after a short period of time. Still none of this seems to deter our erstwhile narrator from plunging headlong into the swirling maelstrom that is Haruhi Suzumiya. Everyone in his class thinks he’s trying to chat her up but the truth seems to be that he’s curious and his curiosity sees him becoming involved in a madcap scheme by Haruhi to sate her desires to find out about aliens, time travellers and espers. By the end of the first episode he and two others, namely Yuki Nagato and Mikuru Asahina, have become involved in Haruhi’s SOS Brigade with Haruhi herself taking the mantle of Brigade leader.
Things start to boil with the next two episodes; this is definitely no ordinary school drama as Kyon finds out. The team is swiftly joined by a mysterious transfer student; Itsuki Koizumi who is just the person Haruhi has been looking for to round out her club. Once Itsuki has been ‘recruited’ or kidnapped as Kyon likes to put it, it is then that Haruhi explains the rationale behind the club which is namely to find and hang out with aliens, espers and time travellers. There is a very cute irony about all this considering the events that swiftly unfold as Kyon discovers that his fellow brigaders are definitely not ordinary individuals including Haruhi. By the time Yuki then Mikuru spill the beans about themselves he swiftly comes to realise that he’s going to get a similar spiel from Itsuki. Each of the three have their own specific reasons for being in the brigade and sticking close to Haruhi and they are all fairly similar in that Haruhi is the core of the reason, but their particular view on what makes them want to be near her is different in each case. All in all there is much fun and wackiness with an ongoing storyline that looks likes it’s got the sustainability to last the series.
So essentially TMOHS effectively combines the genres of science fiction, comedy, fantasy and romance into its hyperactive narrative, the lead character is something to be seen and poor old suffering Kyon is definitely someone to be emphasised with. On an animation front the effects serve to produce a fairly dynamic world, quite often you’ll see movement in the background hinting that even as events are unfolding in the story the rest of the world is still going on in its usual day to day routine. Then there is the use of weird camera angles, in particular the fishbowl angle, which is used in a scene where Yuki is making a stunning revelation to Kyon about herself and Haruhi Suzumiya, in fact in the second and third episodes there are several such revelations. The perspective is employed to give the feeling that whilst Kyon and Yuki are talking they are being observed by something else, something that is involved with Yuki. From this scene there is the flowing river scene when Mikuru is talking to Kyon on a parkside bench giving him another revelation; the water flowing here looked spectacular, swiftly flowing to some unknown destination a leaf drifting along in its wake.
In addition to having four full length episodes, episode 00 being the Adventures of Mikuru Asahina; an SOS Brigade film, this DVD came literally chock full of extras. There is the Adventures of the ASOS Brigade which is a fan made production and has three short live action episodes revealing something about the series, there is the making of two Japanese television commercials as well as the commercials themselves. If this thing tickles your fancy then its well worth getting your hands on a copy, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed watching it all, it was something definitely different and a rather pleasant experience.
Ultra Director: Haruhi Suzumiya.
Producer: Takeshi Yasuda.
Created by: Nagaru Tanigawa (Story) & Noizi Ito (Illustration).
Produced by: SOS Brigade.
English Language Version: Kadokawa Pictures USA Inc, Bandai Entertainment Inc & Bang Zoom Entertainment.
English Voice Actors: Wendee Lee (Haruhi Suzumiya), Crispin Freeman (Kyon), Stephanie Sheh (Mikura Asahina), Michelle Ruff (Yuki Nagato) and Johnny Yong Bosch (Itsuki Koizumi).
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: MA 15 .
My first encounter with the antics of Haruhi Suzumiya and her cohorts came courtesy of a cover disc on a computer magazine I bought one day at a local newsagent. In addition to having all manner of various software applications and computer game demos the double sided DVD contained a single episode of the television series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Intrigued by the title and not bothering to check out whether or not there was any write up about this single anime episode in the magazine I stuck in my computer and sat down to find out what it was all about. Needless to say after watching that first episode I became determined to track down the first DVD and watch some other episodes.
Now despite her unusual declaration Haruhi is not an airhead, as Kyon finds out via various means she is a Grade A student, an ace at sporting events and highly attractive to the various male members of the campus. But she does have some eccentricities that crop up even only after a short period of time. Still none of this seems to deter our erstwhile narrator from plunging headlong into the swirling maelstrom that is Haruhi Suzumiya. Everyone in his class thinks he’s trying to chat her up but the truth seems to be that he’s curious and his curiosity sees him becoming involved in a madcap scheme by Haruhi to sate her desires to find out about aliens, time travellers and espers. By the end of the first episode he and two others, namely Yuki Nagato and Mikuru Asahina, have become involved in Haruhi’s SOS Brigade with Haruhi herself taking the mantle of Brigade leader.
Things start to boil with the next two episodes; this is definitely no ordinary school drama as Kyon finds out. The team is swiftly joined by a mysterious transfer student; Itsuki Koizumi who is just the person Haruhi has been looking for to round out her club. Once Itsuki has been ‘recruited’ or kidnapped as Kyon likes to put it, it is then that Haruhi explains the rationale behind the club which is namely to find and hang out with aliens, espers and time travellers. There is a very cute irony about all this considering the events that swiftly unfold as Kyon discovers that his fellow brigaders are definitely not ordinary individuals including Haruhi. By the time Yuki then Mikuru spill the beans about themselves he swiftly comes to realise that he’s going to get a similar spiel from Itsuki. Each of the three have their own specific reasons for being in the brigade and sticking close to Haruhi and they are all fairly similar in that Haruhi is the core of the reason, but their particular view on what makes them want to be near her is different in each case. All in all there is much fun and wackiness with an ongoing storyline that looks likes it’s got the sustainability to last the series.
So essentially TMOHS effectively combines the genres of science fiction, comedy, fantasy and romance into its hyperactive narrative, the lead character is something to be seen and poor old suffering Kyon is definitely someone to be emphasised with. On an animation front the effects serve to produce a fairly dynamic world, quite often you’ll see movement in the background hinting that even as events are unfolding in the story the rest of the world is still going on in its usual day to day routine. Then there is the use of weird camera angles, in particular the fishbowl angle, which is used in a scene where Yuki is making a stunning revelation to Kyon about herself and Haruhi Suzumiya, in fact in the second and third episodes there are several such revelations. The perspective is employed to give the feeling that whilst Kyon and Yuki are talking they are being observed by something else, something that is involved with Yuki. From this scene there is the flowing river scene when Mikuru is talking to Kyon on a parkside bench giving him another revelation; the water flowing here looked spectacular, swiftly flowing to some unknown destination a leaf drifting along in its wake.
In addition to having four full length episodes, episode 00 being the Adventures of Mikuru Asahina; an SOS Brigade film, this DVD came literally chock full of extras. There is the Adventures of the ASOS Brigade which is a fan made production and has three short live action episodes revealing something about the series, there is the making of two Japanese television commercials as well as the commercials themselves. If this thing tickles your fancy then its well worth getting your hands on a copy, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed watching it all, it was something definitely different and a rather pleasant experience.
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