Kyon has found himself dragged through many adventures as of late—all because of the SOS Brigade club and its excitable leader, Haruhi Suzumiya. He has stopped believing in the supernatural long ago, but after being forced to join this club based solely on that, he has seen things that cannot be explained logically.
Joining Kyon on his various misadventures is the shy and soft-spoken Mikuru Asahina, the bookish Yuki Nagato, and the ever-cheerful Itsuki Koizumi. Whether it is summer vacation or a school festival, things involving their club and Haruhi herself always end up becoming strange.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
LoliConArtist
There have been a lot of negative reviews on this site, which I can agree with to an extent. However, most of them focus entirely on the Endless Eight arc, while disregarding the rest entirely. I can't say I disagree that the Endless Eight arc sucked; Having to sit through so many episodes of what was, for the most part, the same thing was somewhat annoying. The first time it happened, I had to check to make sure I didn't accidentally rewatch an episode. The changes are subtle enough to miss if you don't watch the episodes back to back. However, I do like the fact thatthe producers tried to do something different, which a lot of others do not. If experimentation like this never occurred, we'd likely never have had the pleasure of watching greats like Cowboy Bebop, or even the original series of Haruhi.
I also very thoroughly enjoyed the other episodes, especially the final ones that very nicely covered the events that had us watch the greatest first episode of an anime ever. And while the Endless Eight arc was long, I really, really loved the final moments of the last episode of that arc.
Art and sound was spectacular, which was always to be expected. You have to hand it to the artists who managed to draw the same episode different ways so many times. The Endless Eight arc was -not- enough to detract from the other episodes of the series, which are all incredible in their own right.
In the end, as long as you're one of those people who only see the negative aspects of something, or have a hard time pushing them out of your mind, you'll probably hate the season.
I personally enjoyed it very much as a whole, and will continue recommending series 1, and start recommending series 2 to anyone who hasn't seen them. And I suggest you not let a few bad reviews deter you from what is ultimately a very enjoyable viewing.
Bringerof_D
Endless Eight Arc - Enough Said? The entirety of the season can be summed up almost in much the same way as the first season, so i am going to focus my attention on the Endless Eight arc of this season. This arc seems to be the part most mentioned in reviews and in most cases negatively so. It is also the most prominent memory we have of the season when you mention the 2nd season. Eight episodes of the same events, over, and over again. Everyone can agree that this was not a cheap measure to save money. since the animation, clothing, and scene of everyevent were unique to each of the eight episodes. But hatred still seems to fill the hearts of the viewers about this arc.
Indeed it is long and boring over time. But like how FLCL must be completely confusing to get it's point across, so must this be the way of Endless Eight. This arc is the lead up to the movie "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" For those of you who've read the novels or have done your research you should already know this, but if not well now you know. This arc was intended to bore you. it was designed to make you angry. But what can you do? you are only the viewer of this show. you can only sit there and hope the next episode will advance the plot. sounding familiar?
if you have not guessed already the main character of this arc is not actually Kyon. Although the show is told through him It's Yuki we should be paying attention to. Ms. Nagato, the alien computer interface placed on earth as an observation tool unaffected by time loops or altered realities. she has the omnipotent power to know all and to do all, the only catch? she may not do anything. her job is simply to observe and assist when absolutely necessary.
now in order for us to fully understand this we'll also need to understand the philosophy behind Artificial intelligence and how it works. but to keep it simple, intelligence is intelligence. Be it natural or artificial it will learn and develop things called emotions (at least thats what pop culture tells us) We are not in a sense born with emotions. they are learned, just like data being collected, compiled and processed. It is inappropriate even to call it "excess" data build up. For us humans the compilation of data for emotions happens between age 8 and 18 this is when we try to establish what everything is to us. Yuki has entered as an AI into this stage of her life. and it is a confusing and frustrating time.
now you're angry having to sit through this 8 times. each time is ~25 minutes for us. Now then, lets do the math shall we?(sort of, not really) those 25 minutes each represent in that universe 14 days, an entire 2 weeks. Those two weeks have repeated, in one of the episodes the number was, 15,521 times. Yuki has sat through not only 15,521 episodes, rather she has sat through that many iterations of a 14 day cycle. Imagine how frustrated and angry she must be.
looking at it from the point of view that this is the lead up to the disappearance arc, it is an amazingly well done and high risk choice made by the director which i feel worked perfectly. Not only did he anger the fans, it was his exact intention to do so. the same effect cannot have been achieved with 3 or even 5 episodes. If this arc did not completely piss you off it would have failed to deliver the emotions of the characters in the story. Tatsuya Ishihara, i salute you for this bold move.
tehnominator
How terrifying is it to know that tomorrow, you won't remember today? Or that you don't actually have a tomorrow... because tomorrow is last week. And that this week is last week as much as it is next week. It's enough to make modern Western philosophy implode. Didn't T.S. Eliot have a poem or four about this? This is one of the issues that comes up in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009). Assuming you didn't just throw a remote at the TV/mouse at the monitor in frustration and said "To hell with this shit." Retrospect is quite a thing, especially when fans are left to comparea follow-up series to an original that was an undeniable cultural explosion. The first run of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu pretty much shook the anime scene so strongly that even today, smatterings of people can still be found at cons dancing to "Hare Hare Yukai". A pretty influential series, especially considering that it basically cemented the dry, sarcastic everyman as a staple lead for self-reflective otaku-centric anime for years afterwards and that Haruhi-ism actually is a thing.
But that aside, it seemed pretty much a guaranteed hit for Kyoto Animation, doing a sequel to a juggernaut in the midst of several critical and commercial darlings (Clannad and ~After Story~, K-ON). Franchising seems like the best thing to do, and how could you possibly go wrong with Haruhi? Oh ho ho.
What you end up getting is a series that, also in retrospect, seems a lot better than what the fan outcry was at the time it was airing. This "second season" should not be viewed as an entity onto itself. The episodes fall into place when you consider its role in the entire Haruhi chronology. It all makes perfect sense when you think of it as a whole. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu showed off its brilliance the first time by experimenting and mastering plot. 2006 saw the first series air out of order, yet the entire narrative functioned perfectly. It challenged its viewers the first time around. This time it might seem like a trial. The Endless Eight arc as it is known is perhaps the best way to drip-torture someone without water.
It's summer, the last two weeks of vacation, and Kyon, Yuki, Mikuru and Koizumi are trapped in Haruhi's infinite time loop. Think less Groundhog Day, more deja vu. The characters have no idea what's happening to them save for Yuki (for obvious reasons). And so we, and they, are presented the same events ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
It's the same thing over and over. And over. Again and again. And again and again and again.
The episodes aren't entirely copy and paste of one another. Clothes change, maybe one time you'll see them at a store, another at the poolside. But the vacation is burned permanently into our minds and possibly their DNA at this point: pool, shopping, festival, bug-catching, part-time job. Every summer cliche in the book, really. So here is the reason for the outrage: what kind of cheap trick is this? There might be two camps about this situation. Either Kyoto Animation is laughing maniacally that they got away with this or (even beyond their control) the studio dared to show something deeper to its audience. In any case, what other franchise could do something like this? This is Nintendo-Revolution-surprise-Wii levels of throwing an audience and dedicated fanbase for a loop.
And so, if it's the latter and not some cheap cop-out, where is any depth in these pool-filled episodes of repetitious service? The aforementioned questions of time and existence and ignorance.
It's astounding to consider what a nightmare it is to have no tomorrow... and how much worse it is to not even KNOW that. Knowledge is what we crave, always. It's a terrible way to exist when one doesn't know. What about Yuki, for whom time "passes normally"? What is it like to observe eternity before you? Not bad questions or propositions, although they come at the expense of tearing your hair out.
The episodes outside Endless Eight come as relief. Some of these cover the troubled and joyless production of the supremely funny "Asahina Mikuru's Adventure" (which is easily one of the best and most creative episodes of anime ever produced). The high point of these episodes is what they propose: everyone is not what they seem. Wait, wasn't that in the first series? Yes. But here's the kicker: everyone is not what they seem... to Kyon. For instance, think for a moment that Mikuru's unbearable blubbering is act she's putting on to fool him. Really consider it. Huh.
But that leads to the most important questions people seem more inclined to ask: is this worth it? It depends.
Is it entertaining? Not in the slightest. Is it even good? Who even knows? To say it's horrendous is as right as saying that it's brilliant. It's not either one of those things yet it's not passable or average. What is this anime, then? It's Haruhi.
innerchihiro
Alrighty, let's cheer up Haruhi Fans. The second season of Haruhi has been seen as a failure by a lot of anime fans. But frankly I don't understand it. The art work is very good. VERY VERY GOOD guys, the animation is fluid and the characters are nicely designed. While it is not the same as the first season and there are certain things I dislike compared to it, there are also quite a few things with the artwork in season two that I think have lived up to season one's creativity, and in some ways surpassed it. I noticed a more detailed animation as far as hairand clothes and also a more unique use of lighting. I think most would agree that season two's artwork deserves at least a 8, but personally I give it a 10.
The sound is, once again, golden. The seiyuu are giving a tremendous amount of effort into the voice acting. (While unfortunately there is no second Haruhi concert, that is because it is the one and only.) The soundtrack features scores fitting to the events in this season, which are actually a bit darker than in season one. So in my book, Haruhi still is a 10 in sound.
The characters are fantastic as always. Kyon and Haruhi in particular grow in this season as we see the worst dispute between them (The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya). We see Haruhi get desperate, Kyon lose his cool, Koizumi under stress, Asahina suck it up, and Nagato show more emotions. Haruhi retains another 10.
So now comes the problem, or is it a problem? The storyline is quite memorable from this season. Basically we watched Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, a pretty good episode if I do say so, and then we get into two new arcs: Endless Eight and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Well, you know which one is more important right? :)
Quite frankly, I'm shocked and disappointed in the animosity shown by the Haruhi fans towards Endless Eight. Let's look at it from the animation company's point of view shall we? "Hmm, Endless Eight. How about we plan eight episodes about the same sequence of events and form eight animation teams to design them." If you look at it that way, its actually not such a bad idea. Its not as if they actually broadcasted the same episode every week guys, and if you weren't interested in the animation used each week, then you can hardly call yourselves animation fans.
Its so irritating to know that a show that I enjoy so much is getting 1'S IN ITS REVIEWS!! Can ONE ARC really change the way you view the series?? So much that you give it a 1?!! I can't think of ANY SHOW that I've given a one to, its just not possible. If you didn't like this show, at least give it points for animation and sound which it obviously deserves. And what these people are giving a 1 for is only half of the season, hell people were giving this season a 1 before it was even finished!
Basically, I urge the community to change its outlook on Endless Eight. While we all agree that the show should have been directed in a different way and that Endless Eight should have been kept as a one, two, or three episode arc, its not as if Haruhi was ruined as a series because of it. In my case, I actually enjoyed a majority of Endless Eight because I loved the animation, but I really wished the count hadn't been so long that we didn't get to see the Disappearance. Simple as that, don't flame the series because of something so simple.
And after the Endless Eight Arc, we watched the Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya. Now I have a confession. I don't really like this arc. The reason is that I actually found the Sigh the most boring novel in the Suzumiya Haruhi series. However, I'm glad to say that I enjoyed the anime version a lot more. It was a bit more dramatic than usual as you may have noticed, but if they hadn't made it that way we'd all be complaining that it was boring. The only part of the Sigh that I found interesting was the dispute. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen the series, but this moment is supposed to be as dramatic as it was in the anime. A very pivotal moment for the series as a whole. I found the story telling of the Sigh most befitting to the novel it was based on (even if I didn't really fancy that novel.)
So overall I give the story telling an 8. Minus one point for the repetitiveness of Endless Eight and minus another point because we didn't get to see the Disappearance because Endless Eight was too long. Fair, right?
I give the Enjoyment a score of 9. This is my personal enjoyment of the second season.
And finally the season gets an 8 overall. This is a fair assessment of this series, and even if it isn't it sure as hell is better than the reviews of people who give this series a 1.
shuffleair
After three years (of what seemed to be a long time of waiting) the second season of Suzumiya finally came out. What we weren't expecting was a troll from Kyoto Animations. But hey the message boards were extremely fun to go on when this show premiered. What made this Suzumiya season so "special" was that there was no announcement about it. One day I was surfing the web and people were screaming all over the message boards. "OMG NEW SUZUMIYA." I laughed and quickly scrolled down, until someone told me it was actually true. I was like, "WTF KYOTO ANIMATIONS WHAT." And behold a new seasonof Suzumiya was brought to the face of the earth. Of course it was bundled with the first season, so sometimes you had to wait like a month for the next episode. But at least we got something, right?
Which brings us to Suzumiya's second season's problem; Endless eight, which is basically the same episode eight different times with OMG DIFFERENT CLOTHES, OMG DIFFERENT YUKATAS, OMG DIFFERENT SWIMSUITS, AND OMG NEW ANIMATIONS! What disappointed me was that Kyoto Animations didn't skimp out on the budget for these eight episodes (and I'm proud of them for that). But it makes me feel like it was a waste of money, just animating the same thing over and over again. When they could have spent their budget elsewhere. I also feel bad for the voice actors, since they had to actually record it eight different times. I thought Kyoto Animations would record their voices once and then be like, "Okay, you guys go take a break for seven weeks. We'll call you when we get bored of trolling everyone."
It was tedious to watch each week of Suzumiya's EE to see if something would change. At least there was the fun thing of going on the message boards to see everyone's reactions. There are the people who will love Suzumiya, no matter what crap Kyoto Animations gives us. Then there are the people who rage and rage and blame the world for this torture. There are also the intelligent spectators, who very carefully planned out how many more episodes were left and were like, "Kyoto Animations is doing this, so we can understand how Yuki feels." And there were the trolls, they were the most interesting to see. One of my favorites was this youtube video about how Endless Eight will never end with Hitler. And another one was someone putting the broadcasting information and listed Endless Eight until 2012. Oh, I also like Kyon-kun, denwaaaaaaaa~
The other six episodes are actually quality episodes, five of them being Sighs and one being just a one-episode arc. Nothing could beat the Endless Eight arc in discussion though. Kyoto Animations kept the animations high quality and they were able to hire the voice actors to repeat the same lines again and again.
I don't know how I would feel if I was to marathon the entire show at once. I'd probably fall asleep or just stop watching the show overall. I guess this new season of Suzumiya was meant to be taken in slowly, instead of all at once, which most anime watchers tend to do. Since I was watching it while it aired, I was able to break away from watching it continuously and be able to discuss it with everyone online. (MyAnimeList forums were especially fun to visit during this time.)
Would I re-watch this? Ummm ...... no. I could barely make it through the first time. Would I tell my friends to watch this? Ummmm no ...... unless they were die-hard Suzumiya fans. It's very hard to recommend this, but for all you masochist out there I would tell you to watch all of Endless Eight twice, no three times. And everyone else can watch the first episode of Endless Eight, a random episode in between (I recommend the fifth repeat, since Izumi is wearing a speedo. lololololol!), and the last episode. So eight episodes all together for the whole series. Hey, that's almost as long as Endless Eight.
AstuteOtaku
Story: 8 I'm writing this review with great fear and trepidation. In the end I'll either get shot by those who behead anyone who insults Haruhi, and on the other I'll get shot by the people who are simply overreacting giving this show a 1. Let me start off with the fact that the story was superb! The writing didn't drop at all in quality. The second season instead gave us far more insight into Haruhi's character and mysterious forces working behind her. Her powers were shown to a much greater extent as well. It is really quite amazing howwell this series seemed to have such excellent continuity with the rest of the series and the attention to detail did not disappoint.
Now before everyone starts thinking this review will be just rainbows and lollypops, that ends here. The Endless Eight was a too endless. I honestly enjoyed it, the first four times through. And I did like the last episode, but it was nearly too much making it through the middle three episodes. I loved that there was insight into Yuki's character during this part, but the variances could have been much more noticeable. Basically you watch one good episode, eight times over! (It would have been perfect if it was the Forever Five)
The rest of the series was fun and enjoyable and the last plot was, well, different. I'll address this in the character section.
Art: 9
It was not at the same level as the main series somehow, it felt like K-ON!. So it deserves a nine, a high nine, but a nine. The faces really annoyed me at times, especially Haruhi's, which I thought was changed significantly. Nevertheless it does mostly blend well with the rest of the series, but it didn't test it's limits like the first season did.
Sound: 9
I saw no decrease in voice acting quality. Actually I thought it might have been even better as we get to hear the characters in different situations. I didn't like the intro or ending nearly as much though as the original ones. After all, what can beat Hare Hare Yukai. I thought the intro was actually very mediocre.
Character: 9
One place the show did step up was in the characters. They're different and deeper and in the case of Haruhi, darker. In the "Sigh of Haruhi" plot she seemed at times bordering on evil and we indeed saw her much darker side. This wasn't necessarily bad, it displayed more of her humanity, but it also showed how much of a brat she really was and I felt quite uncomfortable. Usually I can laugh it off when she's using/abusing her friends. But in that plot it just felt very unsettling, and I think that was the intention. This therefore caused what could have been a fun plot, be more of a serious and dark plot and I found I really couldn't laugh like I could with the original series so it disappointed me. Thus at the same time it felt like a step down because of the loss of general likeability.
Overall: 8
Taking all things into account this show does deserve this rating in my most unbiased examination I could muster. It explores a different side of things and it definitely deserves a look from those who've seen the original series. But it doesn't stand on it's own like all the other sequel shows I've reviewed.
Parental Caution
Rated PG-13
-Yuki tackles a girl and it looks... awkward.
-In the endless eight each and every episode has a scene at a pool and on some loops Mikuru is, focused on a little too much.
-In the Sigh of Haruhi episodes Mikuru is in fetish costumes, but they aren't overly immodest.
-Some swearing, I really didn't notice very much of it.
-Some physical abuse.
Wraith7153
Let me say something up front here, I laugh at everyone who insists on griping like a child over Endless Eight. Also, my art and sound scores may be a bit high. That's because as long as it falls within reasonable parameters I don't really care. That said, I found the series as a whole very enjoyable. The Endless Eight arc added to that for many reasons, not the least of which was my amusement at how badly everyone seemed to overreact to it. In addition to this, however, there were also the many minor variations made in each loop. In one case, they even grantedItsuki a line almost on par with his "Oh, it looks like we're going to get some rain" comment in Someday in the Rain in terms of downright hilariously purposeful blandness. Aside from that, Mikuru Asashina and Nagato Yuki were able to generate increasingly strong hug-urges in each loop.
Moving on from the "endless" recursion of time, the final arc provided good laughs (with a moment of frustrated anger thrown in for good measure) as well as intriguing plot developments. As for the ending, I applauded the highly appropriate conclusion and was left even more excited for the upcoming movie and prospect of a second season than I was before.
P.S. I have no doubt that many of you disagree with my review. I decided to post this because it seemed this part of the series was being sorely underrated due to the unnecessarily massive amount of whining over Endless Eight.
NinjaKirby1322
T: Watching Haruhi, I see. The first season again? NK: I'm trying to forget that the second season exists. T: It couldn't have been that bad. What went wrong? NK: They made a second season. T: Come on. A little more detail would be nice. NK: That is the true mistake, though. The first season of Suzumiya Haruhi was enough. The characters were designed well, the stories were all the right length and really helped show how the characters developed over the course of the series. It ended on a very good note and nothing needed to be added. T: The ending was open, though.It would make sense to add more after the events after the first season.
NK: Yes it would. They didn't.
T: Wait, do you mean that the second season takes place during the first season?
NK: Correct. And there were only three stories. 14 episodes. Not quite as concise as the first season.
T: What were the stories, dare I ask...
NK: A one episode trip back in time for Kyon. That was actually good. Then the Endless Eight began.
T: The...Endless Eight?
NK: Eight episodes that repeated the same two weeks of summer vacation because Haruhi didn't do her homework. I just summarized over half of the second season for you.
T: Um...spoiler warning?
NK: Why bother? You're wasting time by watching the same thing eight frickin' times. I figured I'd remove curiosity for that part of the story for everyone.
T: And the final story?
NK: The other 5 episodes were about the making of the movie that acted as the prequel episode to season one.
T: That's it?
NK: That's it. No further character development, no captivating plot, nothing. Just a 14 episode time sink.
T: There had to be something good, right?
NK: I have two good things to say about the second season. First, the characters were intact. They weren't acting in a way that would surprise you despite the obvious cash-in that this season was supposed to be. Second, the opening was actually enjoyable despite the how bad the season was. It makes me wish that it was the opening for the first season.
T: So...no recommendation.
NK: If you've watched the first season, this is entirely pointless. If you haven't, you can actually find the broadcast order for when the episodes were aired in chronological order with season one. That might be a bit better context-wise, but you're better off just watching season one. Hopefully, the movie is better. The first season deserves such a better follow up than this.
StarPebblit
I'm going to say right now that my general review for this will be negative. Don't like, don't read. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Now as far as I'm concerned, people that reviewed this with an 8, I can only assume they reviewed each Endless Eight episode with a 1, totaling the entire review to an 8. Well, that would be funny anyways. Story 3/10: Like most people, I'm going to rate this very badly. There was no story as far as I'm concerned. Aside from the few episodes that were different, the repetition of Endless Eight had no good excuse for even happening. So what ifthey included different outfits each time, different camera angles, and maybe a few seconds of extra scenes. IT'S STILL NO EXCUSE. To be honest, I'll admit that I didn't bother to sit through the entire 24 mins of every episode of Endless Eight. There was no point in wasting my time doing so. So, the story in general sucked.
Art 8/10: I'll admit Haruhi's art level is high quality. First series had high quality, second series had high quality. I give kudos for the poor artists that had to re draw scene after scene for Endless Eight. I would have quit, or bashed my head in. So whatever, the art of Haruhi will be as it is. Good.
Sound 7/10: It's been probably close to a year or over half a year since I watched this, so I can't remember much about the sound. I do like Haruhi's sound though. It's one of the better qualities of the show. Can't have a good anime without good music. It keeps you entertained to say the least. So it was pretty good.
Character 5/10: I guess I'm only giving this half because Haruhi's characters in general are pretty plain. Nothing we haven't seen before. I for one quite dislike Haruhi's character in general. She's too annoying for me to handle. Sorry to any Hirano Aya fans (which I know there are many) but I just can't stand her voice. It drives me up the wall, and Haruhi's character with said voice just has me hitting my head against the screen. Besides Haruhi, everyone else is alright. Except, as I said, it's already been done. I guess there's no such thing as an 'original character' anymore.
Enjoyment 2/10: To say the least, I hated The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2009. As I said before, there were a couple good episodes near the end, but Endless Eight just shot everything down and turned what could have been an okay series, to a dreadful one. I really wasn't expecting them to go as far as to really do 8 episodes of the same shit. It started to seem all too clear as to what KyoAni's plans were when the 3rd and 4th episodes came out for this arc. Terrible.
Overall 2/10: Seriously...there's nothing more to say. If you want to watch it, go ahead. There's no one stopping you. I won't say it's completely unwatchable, but I can't say you'll enjoy it as much as the first series. Just watch the first couple episodes, ONE episode of Endless Eight, and then the last episode of Endless Eight and carry on from there. You don't even need to watch half the series to understand where it's going.
-flow-
“I'm getting bored and just fed up watching something that doesn't seem to be changing at all.” - Asakura Ryoko, chronological Episode IV of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya In 2006, Kyoto Animation made a simple little anime called The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It was based on a popular series of light novels written by Nagaru Tanigawa. Even still, nobody expected it to be very big. Kyoto was not trying to make a popular anime. All they wanted to do was make a good anime. And maybe that’s what went wrong with its 2009 sequel of sorts. That they forgot what Haruhi truly was. That they, ratherthan wanting to make a form of art, made a capitalistic envoy instead.
Story/Enjoyment
The story is entertaining, but nowhere near the levels of the first season. The first story was Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, by the way the only story with a good amount of screen time. While pretty interesting, the spunk of any given first season episode is gone; the episode just chugs along.
Then came Endless Eight. The exact same thing over and over again. It could have easily been accomplished in one, two, or even three episodes if you wanted to give the feeling of a loop. But instead, Kyoto Animation decided to drag this on for eight episodes. Needless to say, it gets extremely boring and repetitive. Each episode by itself is passable. But put together, it is one of the most boring, redundant, pointless, and driveling arcs ever devised.
After that ends, we get The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya. It’s interesting, but the charm, the wit, the feel of the first season are still, well, disappeared. The story itself is a bit tedious, too.
Story: 6/10
Enjoyment: 4/10
Animation
Another weak point for the show. Kyoto Animation began a show shortly before Haruhi Season 2 called K-ON!, a moe-blob anime with cosplaying, tea-drinking, and a surprisingly small amount of actual rock performances. (Or so I hear; I didn’t have the patience to watch the show.) This show had an extremely large influence on Haruhi Season 2’s animation, and it really hurts it. The character’s eyes are taller, more childish. Everybody suddenly develops buckteeth. The colors are less bold, more washed out. There is much less detail. The animation is not as smooth. Animation changes are expected, especially in a period of three years, but for the animation company to regress rather than advance is a terrible thing. I often found it painful to see K-ON! expressions copied and pasted onto everybody, and had to rewatch a first season episode to try to blot it out of my mind and only think of the first season designs whenever I thought of the characters.
5/10
Sound
The sound is average, which means highly disappointing. In 2006, we got Hare Hare Yukai, Bouken Desho Desho?, God Knows, and Lost My Music. All excellent pieces of J-pop. Even the background pieces are memorable. But in 2009, all we get are Tomare!, Super Driver, and a couple new background pieces that are extremely meh. Tomare! and Super Driver are still fairly good J-pop songs, but when you think of how Hare Hare Yukai, Bouken Desho Desho?, God Knows, and Lost My Music were done so well three years before, they don’t stand a candle.
7/10
Characters
Exactly the same. Still excellent. Haruhi is still God (though she doesn’t look the part anymore due to the K-ON!ification of the animation), Kyon is still snarky, Yuki is still awesome, Mikuru is still a moe-blob, and Koizumi is still gay. Koizumi and Mikuru are still meh, but that’s just a case of me not liking their personalities and mannerisms; they’re still good characters. And I do not think Haruhi is a bitch, because there is so much more to her character. One small complaint: Kyon seems a lot less observant and a lot more slow than last season. (His lines aren’t quite as memorable this time around, too.)
9/10
We have deeply regressed. Haruhi was such an original show. It was indescribable. The second season, however, can be easily described in two words: troll, and disappointment. Which is a pity, because this show had so much promise. There were so many more stories to adapt. There was so much more character to develop. There was so much more merriment to be had.
Kyoto Animation has turned an excellent show into an average show. And they will never learn from their mistakes, because they will still sell hundreds of thousands of Endless Eight DVDs. They will have succeeded in milking as much money as they can from this hot property.
All we wanted was a good show.
Instead, we got a big middle finger.
ZeroReq011
15,532 reiterations, and we've only endured episode length instances of 8. Should we really be complaining? Well, Kyon should have. Better yet, he should have done something productive much earlier to spare us the stupidity, if not the time. But he'll redeem himself yet. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009) is the next installment (discounting the Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya shorts) of an anime series originally based off the light novel franchise by Nagaru Tanigawa. It was directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, scripted by Yasuhiro Takemoto, and produced by Kyoto Animation, the same studio that animated the Full Metal Panic Series, the Key holy trinity, Hyouka, andK-On! Hosting three new stories from the source material set in between the events of the first season, it was aired as a surprise (however unwelcome to many when they viewed its contents) with the previously animated material from the series in chronological order. No fresh or innovative doses this time around. This season wasn't much successful either. Truth be told, it was more aggravating than confusing.
Let's cut to the worst: Endless Eight. Perhaps the producers, deciding to withhold the exploration of any material beyond what they used in the movie, somehow felt they needed to broadcast the same number of episodes as its prequel. Perhaps they wanted to experiment. Perhaps they wanted to be cheap. In any case, the reactions to this (almost) eightfold repetition can be likened to an experiment with grease over an open stove. And that's that.
Well, not exactly that. While I didn't happen to watch this show while it was airing, which would probably make Endless Eight all the more monotonous, I would loathe to dismiss the other arcs solely on this one grievance. The rest of the show, on the whole, still has that humorous hyperactive charm about it. Bamboo Rhapsody is comparable, if not not better, than some of the other content aired 3 years ago, and the Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya is the best that I've seen, defying expectations to what I thought would be a comedic telling of the back story behind Episode 0. While it presents the female lead in a rather nasty light (though she's more excitable than nasty herself), it also features a sincere confrontation where, for once, Kyon puts his foot down against Haruhi's antics. How Haruhi reacted to it... that's something to see for yourself. It was executed beautifully, from the slow but sure escalation of frustration to backlash, the emotion so vividly rendered. For consistency's sake, I would like to have criticized Kyoto Animation for changing the character models and animation style, but the reactive expressions that it allows lends itself more to the approach this season's going for than the sweeping motions the previous style would ever permit. In addition, however subtly, we begin to get the impression that the rest of the SOS Brigade may have something more going on with them then before. It's only an impression, though, for the sake of the leisurely pacing, I'm satisfied with just that.
The OP “Super Driver High” by Haruhi's Seiyū Ana Hirano and the ED “Tomare,” or “Stop,” by Yuko Goto and Minori Chihara, the Seiyū for the other two female leads, in addition to Hirano, emanates of the same factor that defined the OP and ED of the previous season: energy. The vocals are just as brazenly peppy and addictingly catchy as before, and the electric guitar get their own nice spotlight moments in both songs. At times, it even seems to surpass them in amount, though the ED's lack of choreographed dancing was sorely missed. Though what we have instead is nothing to scoff at, a mixture of what appears to be neon lighting imprinted throughout different parts of the school setting's premises combined with a flip-book style sequence of shots, blurs, epilepsy, and all, of the main cast. The OP's visuals also utilize something of flip-book and shaky cam, but the most obvious things that standout are those elements one would normally find in comics and manga. The images, names, and onomatopoeia literally pop out from each character introduction scene.
Does the series suffer from Endless Eight? Yes. Is Endless Eight this franchise's death knell? Well, I'll end with this. I'm not saying one should omit Endless Eight from their memory or, for anyone who has yet to watch it, viewing experience. In fact, watching through all, or at least part of it, (specifically, the first two episodes and the last one if you'd rather forgo the distinction of having survived it all) is crucial to being able witness the full impact of the movie. Just don't omit the rest of the show, or the series, for that matter, because of it.
I give The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009) a 7 out of 10.
kiiratanaka
For all the otakus out there who were waiting and waiting for Haruhi 2 to come out, this was a dissapointment. We all heard rumors about how Endless Eight was bad, but God, actually sitting through it made you want to drop the anime right then and there. The first episode was great, then we hit Endless Eight, then we have five episodes which are the making of the movie (episode 00 of season 1). So, overall, it seemed as if there were only 7 different episodes. I usually try to be fair with reviewing anime, but this actually was one of the worst I'veseen. Sorry to all you Haruhi fans, but this one gets an overall 4. I know, I'm dissapointed too...
CodeBlazeFate
** THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS** Well, this is my first review, and I'm going to do what no one else has done: actually give an in-depth review explaining why this series sucked. Not just: The Endless 8 sucks because etc. etc. therefore, this show sucks. Nor will I be "ok, the Endless 8 wasn't very good, but the rest of the series was pretty decent due to *insert quick explanation here*." No, this review will show why the WHOLE SHOW sucks, not just one part. I'm sick of just "Endless 8 sucks so automatically, so the show sucks by default". Forgive my aggravated rambling; Ineeded that off my chest. Do you wanna know why this show is bad? Do you wanna know why this almost ruined the franchise for me? Then, let's find out, shall we?
To be honest, nothing about this season added to the story of the series. It's 14 episodes of (mostly) pure, bona-fide filler. This show is a midquel that answers next to nothing about Season 1, particularly because Season 1 left little to be explained. This season takes place before the last 4 episodes of season 1. The 2nd season starts off well. It's a small adventure that only really becomes relevant in the Haruhi Movie. Then, the Endless 8 begins. Episode 2, is also good. Then, episode 3 redoes a lot of the previous episode with a twist! Everyone is in an absurdly high time loop spanning over 15,000 repeats. First off, since all of the following episodes of the arc literally go one repeat after another, why not start this off with say 50 loops, and then continually increase the number dramatically? It would be more like the show to do that. Then, episodes 4-8 repeat the exact same episode (episode 3) with minute changes. Finally, episode 9 breaks the loop in hilariously stupid fashion after terrible buildup with 7 episodes that show no progression towards the arc. This whole thing literally could`ve been resolved in three episodes. One for introduction, one for setup, and one for resolution.
As for the final arc, I've actually seen people DEFEND this arc, which really boggles my mind as to something just as mind-numbingly stupid as the Endless 8. Honestly, we'll save this one's biggest problem for later as this arc`s biggest sin is how badly it botched up the characters. Let's put it this way. Season 1 established that when Haruhi is visibly upset, a different field of the world begins to suffer the wrath of giant monsters, and that could prove dangerous to the real world. At one point, Haruhi is the most unhappy she’s ever been via confrontation that she effectively deserved, and NOTHING HAPPENS!!! First off, Haruhi brought this on herself, and Kyon was scolding her for being basically tyrannical to her friends, and he's forced to APOLOGIZE?! WHY?! Haruhi also gets off scot-free for being so horrible. also, for how "smart" she is, she should've put two and two together during the final scene of Season 2. I get that maybe trying to hit her was a bit out of hand, but still, she needed some repercussion for being so damn awful! This season was pretty awful by this point by this moment killed any chance of it recovering. The ending sucked too, just to let you know.
If you know Haruhi Suzumiya, you know that she's kind of a spoiled brat with an (understandable) god complex. She's a bit of an ass, a tyrannical one, but you understand why she's that way, and see her developed into a slightly more polite and caring person. Despite the fact that this season takes place after the events containing most of her development, this final arc, in particular, decided to DECIMATE all decency from her, and flanderize her obnoxiousness and bratty-ness to new levels. She actively treats Mikuru like a sexy slave, even more so than in season 1. She becomes a bigger dick than ever and ignores all sense of likability and development. Mikuru is reduced to a whiny moe slave for the series who only accomplishes following Haruhi`s demands, and only to varying effect. Itsuki is the same, only spouting off his stuff under unreasonable circumstances that only serve to make Haruhi a Karma Houdini, which sort of waters him down a bit. Kyon, is the same, only less entertaining, less intelligent, and less snarky, meaning that like almost everyone else, he is at least somewhat watered down here too. Yuuki Nagato is the only character with any improvement, as we see a more urgent and ambiguously caring side of her, as she does some risky things this time around. Unfortunately, the side characters are less present, and less likable, albeit, when Haruhi makes you drug your friend with alcohol, and you accept in a heartbeat, that's bound to happen.
Knowing KyoAni, brilliant animation to them is as simple as doing a worksheet of simple math problems. Takes a bit, but it's easy and leads to damn good scores. Not much was stepped up, other than slight changes to character models, though I kinda like the change. While this season didn't get to show off its creative muscles like Season 1 did, the animation was still really good, and if it got to show off some of the amazing stuff Season 1 did, it would've gotten a 10, for even the minute changes in the Endless 8 are appreciated, as they change the clothing, and give new angles for repeated scenes. This is always a highlight of the franchise, and even though this season sucks, at least it lived up to KyoAni's expectations in the animation department. Too bad it was wasted in this garbage-tier anime.
Unfortunately, the music isn't as good as in season 1. Luckily, it's still overall decent. The OP and ED themes are once again, great, really capturing the tone of the series, and are just as good, if not better than those of season 1, even if they'll never become as ubiquitous as "Hare Hare Yukai", season 1's ED. This season, otherwise, added nothing to the soundtrack, and the recurring themes aren't memorable, minus a few jingles in some of the themes. Also, while the dub has the same voice actors and talents, the repetitive dialogue for the Endless 8, along with Mikuri`s aggravating squealing, bog it down a bit. Heck, Kyon doesn't even get any deliciously scathing monologues here.
This series had no right to be as long and annoying as it was, and the botched characters, nigh-useless story, and painful moments make me hate this show, no matter how pretty it is, or how good it sounds. Honestly, this is an allegory for how this season made me feel about Haruhi herself, attractive and with a nice voice, but a total bitch. Yes, the first two episodes are good, and yes, the Endless 8 had the potential to be pretty good if they cut large portions out and made the set-up more in line with the spirit of the show, but overall, this series can't stack up to its predecessor in any way other than production. Lastly, thank God for the movie since if not for that, this would've actually killed the anime franchise as a whole with it being such a gigantic pain. With that, I bid you adieu.
xm0123
After the first season of Haruhi Suzumiya, fans couldn't get enough. In 2009, a second season came out. And what were the fans' reactions? "THIS IS THE WORST SHIT EVER! PHUK HARUHI! PHUK KYOANI! I'M NEVER GONNA BE A FAN OF HARUHI AGAIN!" Pay no heed to these people, for they are butthurt fanboys, or trolls, or both. Having just finished the second season in preparation for the film version of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, I can say that the second season . . . is definitely a disappoint compared to the first. Was it a waste of time though? Story: The antics of the SOS brigadecontinue in three story arcs. The first arc is the first episode. It's a clever episode, more mysterious than funny, but it intrigues you. The second arc, and where most of the complaints come from, is about Kyon and friends stuck in a re-curring timeloop. The so-called "Endless Eight" runs for eight episodes; five of those episodes are wholly unnecessary. You only need to see parts 1, 2, and 8 to see everything. Also, the ending to this arc was a let-down, I thought. The last arc is about the making of Haruhi's movie. This is definitely the best part of the second season, for it's here that the show acts like the Haruhi I remember, the Haruhi I love. It's hilarious, fun, and even dramatic occasionally. However, the developers could've used those five superfluous episodes from Endless Eight to make another story arc or two, and because of that, the story score suffers. 5/10.
Art: For the most part, still good. However, some of the character designs don't look as nice. For that, I'm deducting one point from the art score I gave the first season. 8/10.
Sound: There's new music, but it's not as catchy as the music from the first season. The background music is still good.
The voice-acting, in both English and Japanese, is still top-notch. No complaints here. It's reassuring to know that even though this season doesn't match up with the first one, at least the characters still sound good. 8/10
Characterization: And speaking of characters, this is the one thing that kept me going throughout the season; the characters are still great, even if the stories are not. Kyon is still a sarcastic master of observation, Haruhi is still an energetic troublemaker, Yuki is still a silent yet kickass "Data Entity", Itsuki is still the token bishounen, Mikuru is still the token moeblob, Taniguchi is still obsessed with girls, et cetera. Not as much character growth here as in the first season, but there's a reason why this cast has become iconic among anime fans, namely, I didn't drop Endless Eight because of them. 9/10.
Enjoyment: The last five episodes were great. The other episodes were good although not great, or complete and utter filler. Filler and I usually do not gel well together. If these characters weren't so likable, I probably would've dropped this series. Was it a waste of time? For the most part, no. If the entire series were as good as the last five episodes, I would've given this season an 8. As it stands, I'll go with 6/10.
But of course, I'm sure a ton of people are gonna downvote this review because I didn't join the hate bandwagon. Luckily for us all, I don't care if I get all downvotes or not. I only write these reviews out of boredom. But seriously, if you hate the anime version of Haruhi that much, I have a suggestion; read the original light novels instead. I've been told that they handle the stories in the second season much more effectively than the anime. As for me, I'm still a fan of Haruhi. I like the premise and the characters too much to abandon it just because a story arc ran a little too long. Still, I'm not going to be buying the second season on DVD. Let's hope that Disappearance is worth owning.
Tarral
okay so ill make this short because this was an anime i absolutely will never watch again or think about again. story -was mediocre. fair enough i didnt see them in chronological order which made it hard to keep watching, but i expect atleast the episode's to suprise me a little. boring boring boring. art - good art i have to say i liked it and it was almost the only uplifting point in the anime. sound -faircharacters
-now the characters were okay main was the one who i ofcourse liked the most because of his personality of being "smooth" or not fucking around like a twelve year old. the rest were okay highscoolers except the supernatural shit. fukn do it right nothing was ok with the supernatural, esper, alien etc things going on unsatisfactory i could say at least.
combo that with Haruhi who is a amazing person. oh my god what shit was going on in her head. i.. i.. i just dont like her because she is portrayed as a fukn smart person but acts like a twelve year old. but she not all at fault i have to say that the whole gang made me cringe more than one time.
enjoyment
- now why do i hate this piece of shit that much but love it.
well thats why when my enjoyment is as good as a 3 , but then i got my hopes up when i saw a fist flying towards haruhi. you know a plan is 50%planning and 50% execution so enjoment would be a ten if it were executed. so 5+3=8 ill be fair and give enjoyment 8 because the second season was rubbish but putting that little fucker back in place was the damn right thing to do haruhi YOU DONT DESERVE TO BE A GOD U LITTLE SHIT.
overall
- it.. was just rubbish. for a second season this was so bad i wnted to take my own life during 8 neverending episodes of please end it. overall it could have been good for me personally if they spiced things up a bit. personally tho i think this was written by someone with one more chromosones than all us others even if u had downs. but ill be honest and say that as a slice of life relaxing type of anime it was great maybe in the top 10 and for those who love highscool, slice of life see it it is probably good in your eyes.
-off to listen to some death metal then to cool off.
AquaHaze
I actually watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya(2009) (but never felt compelled to write a review until now) a long time ago and I've seen a lot of negative thoughts about it. I do agree that this anime wasn't all that good but at the same time I don't think it deserves a 1 that a lot of people give it. Lets start off with some pros the artwork and animation was very good, the sound was awesome with one of the best openings I've ever heard and the characters are as lovable as ever. Because these departments in the anime do sowell I cannot see why anyone could rate this a 1.
Now time for the dreaded endless eight arc. I agree with most people on this one, this arc just plain sucked (although I do the like the idea). Although there were some minor changes through-out each episode in the endless eight they were too minor to change the fact that it is basically the same thing over and over again. Believe me watching the same thing over and over again is not fun.
Now the content in the remaining episodes that were not in endless eight was actually quite good and although one bad arc does not make the whole anime bad I cannot simply overlook it. Considering this is a 14 episode series the majority of the series was endless eight
In conclusion although endless eight was something I would want to forget and it took up most of the series, this anime also had some good stuff too and that' why I give The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009) and 5/10
movoning
honestly I don't understand all the animosity toward this season. I thought it was brilliant. the endless eight was brilliant. What's the point in showing the same story eight times? to piss you off. It achieved its point so give back its points. In the entertaining world, nothing can be repetitive or it wouldn't be entertaining. As a work of entertainment, the endless eight broke the boundary, just like episode 1 of the first season did. I enjoyed getting tricked and tortured because it was intended that way, and because it's intended that way, in the end it's no longer trickery or torture for me but simply enjoyment.If you only feel torture, I'm sorry, but you have been tricked and fell into the trap of the entertainment world. The show is only trying to pull you out of it.
Give back its well deserved effort and points.
Balibuli
I've enjoyed the first season of Haruhi very much. The original 14 episodes have a cult status for me, and the story of Haruhi had a huge influence on me... no, I should even say that it changed my life. The story by Nagaru Tanigawa, which KyoAni decided to animate, had everything which a good story should have - a very original, very well thought-up story, well defined personalities of the main characters, and an epic climax. To all this, KyoAni added good art, well done voice acting, great soundtrack (I think that "Bouken Desho Desho?", "Hare Hare Yukai", "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu", "God knows..."and "Lost my music" are among the most recognizable and remembered anime tunes today)... and an interesting ordering of the episodes, with the main story from the first book going after the "what the hell?!" first (or zeroth) episode of The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina, and being intertwined with short stories adapted from later books. It all made the series epic for me.
After watching the anime, I've read all the light novels, save for the last, tenth installment which simply isn't around yet. There are better and worse stories among them, but overall, the books are great, too.
During the three years of waiting for the new episodes, we were promised the anime version of Disappearance/Vanishment (Shoushitsu - the English translations of the title vary), another great installment of the series (second best behind the Melancholy, I would say), but in the end...
In the end we got trolled. First, we were told that a new season is going out, then we were all disappointed hearing that it's just a rerun (this time in chronological order), then, finally, we were happy to see the not animated before gaps in the original timeline of the books are being filled with new episodes.
The first new episode was "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody", a short story from the third book, and a pivotal turn in the timeline. When I was reading it in the book, it was really shocking and entertaining to me. I already knew what's going to happen when I was watching the anime version, so maybe it's because of that, but I had the impression that it's too static and affected, and I didn't really enjoy it much.
Then, after few already-seen episodes, we got "Endless Eight", another short story from the fifth book. A short story - yet, with respect to its title, turned into eight episodes. Eight episodes for a short story... it sounds frightening - and it sure was. It's very difficult to explain what it means without giving a huge spoiler... When the first episode of Endless Eight aired, those who haven't read the book probably thought about it as a unimportant filler episode, or as a kind of introduction, similarly to the first episode of Remote Island Syndrome - while those familiar with the story smiled to the clever idea which the makers thought up. Second episode shocked everyone as it did not conclude the story, and with every another more and more fans were getting upset as the story was not progressing even a little bit, even though the mood varied slightly between the episodes. The finale of this story arc was certainly worth seeing, and it was probably the best scene in the whole second season - but it should have happened in the third episode, fourth at most - but not the eighth.
Sure, the way KyoAni did Endless Eight is one and only, and it may turn into an anime legend one day. But it was certainly boring to wait for several episodes to see a progress of the story - that's not a soap opera!
Finally, as a supposed ending of the season, KyoAni animated the second book, "The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya". It's about the filming of The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00, which we've seen in the first season already. For this reason, and for this story arc being one of the least interesting portions of the book series, I doubted the very point of bringing it to the screen, but KyoAni apparently wants to have the entire Haruhi universe timeline animated. Well... it isn't bad, but nowhere near the first season, either. And the feeling of staticness and affectionateness which the Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody episode had, and which gone during the Endless Eight arc - returned, though at least with not as huge strength as in Bamboo Leaf.
I assume that this is the end - some suggested that The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00 might get re-animated - we even get a hint of that in the last episode of Sighs, where the ending credits in the screening we see, differ slightly from the actual ending credits seen in the original episode. But even if so - there's not much that can be done differently in that episode. Others suggest that after the remaining four episodes of the original series, there might be something more (Disappearance?) - but if so, I would consider it the third season then.
To sum everything up... the new episodes in the 2009 airing of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are merely a shadows of their three-year-older siblings. The art is still good - though I hoped for real HD, not upscales. The voice actors are doing their bests - though they cannot do much about such static scenes. The opening and ending themes are great once again - though the BGM seems "glued-on" and doesn't really flow well with other aspects of the show. There are too many "thoughs" for this show to repeat the success of its predecessor. Maybe the fact that I've read the books before made me receive this show as I did. Maybe if the anime version had been the first for me to know, my rating would be better. But I find this show just mediocre.
I admit - Endless Eight and The Sighs are not the best moments of the storyline - I would even say that they are the worst, so the animators couldn't do much. But Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody could be done better, Endless Eight could be two times shorter, and The Sighs could also be more condensed and shortened by an episode or two - then we could have Disappearance animated in this run, and the overall impression of the show would be much better.
Ramemal
The fanbase for this series is greater than the series itself. Don't get me wrong, this show is reasonably good and the characters are extremely likable. However, that does not justify for the crappy 8 episodes of the same thing. When you over-analyze anything, there's usually a reason behind it. The main reason for this show is that it wasn't very good. So you'd have to spew some bullshit to defend it. The fact that the "endless eight" is unique does not make it enjoyable. Rambling on about how each episode is different does not make the story deep. So out of the 14 episodes, there areactually only 6. Out of the 6 episodes, there's no real pacing, because it just branches off the original series.
There's no other way to put it. The 2009 version of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuustsu mediocre to be kind.
