melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 1
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My original plan for Spring 2006 was to follow ãã‚Œãžã‚Œã®ç¿¼ (and watch the blashphemous 4:3 version) and also Black Lagoon (Mad Dog Meido 4tw), but well, I am just delighted at Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. I may have to bump Bell or Mad Dog off my schedule to squeeze this show in. No blog post can contain the pure win and awesome of the first episode, but I’m still going to try nonetheless.
Keep in mind I know nothing of the original work beyond, “Noizi Ito (Shakugan no Shana) did the character designs, and Kyoto Animation is handling the animation duties.” That’s a winning combo, even if Mine Yoshizaki isn’t involved. When I first started watching the show, I was hooked by the singing bunny girl, and I couldn’t stop watching. Even though nothing made sense, and all my housemates were thinking, “Yep, jason’s watching weird hentai again.” It didn’t matter. I was mesmorized by the horrible plot, gleefully bad acting, sarcastic narration, and Magical Girl/Combat Waitress Mikuru-run.)
After watching maybe seventeen minutes of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), I kept thinking to myself, “If I got together with a bunch of my friends and filmed a low-budget, d-grade home movie poking fun of Mai Otome and other plot-hole-filled anime series, it would look like this.” Complete with the off-color prevalent in older camcorders and the herky-jerky movement of the camera.
And that’s exactly what it is, only the director doesn’t think that it’s a low-budget, plot-hole-filled mess. In other words, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is an anime about an aspiring director, Haruhi, who dreams of working for Sunrise one day. The first episode was really one of her directorial creations/train wreck, hence why most of the episode was done in camcorder-like 4:3 while the rest was a more pleasant 16:9, and why we don’t see the real star of the show until there’s 30 seconds left, just like Mai Otome and Mai.
Great premise and hook (I’m hooked!), and I’m definitely looking forward to more (and some actual plot-like substance, though I’m happy with bouncy bunny girl who sings). Until then, Mikuru-run in a wet meido-waitress outfit 4tw.
Some thoughts on The Adventures of Mikuru-run 0 (which I think needs to be a spin-off series by itself… that’s it, I’m going to start pitching my idea of “The Akane/Kazuya Love Line, The Adventures of Mikuru-run, and Shakugan no Ponytail Shana-tan” as the “67% Noizi Ito Trifecta Hour.” Who wouldn’t watch that?)
- Loved the OP. Can’t be better. It’s like REC‘s Cheer, only Mikuru knows it sucks and plays the part wonderfully. Can joke-OPs be considered for the pantheon after one episode? Mmmm…
- Why can’t I shake the, “There’s no way in hell Mikuru isn’t operating a ‘side’ business” vibe. It must be the collision of fetish costumes… not to mention how all the store owners are geezers, and Mikuru isn’t exactly School Rumble‘s Akira in the brain department. (How do you pitch the part, “Mmm, I’m making this crappy ass movie, and I need you to run around in a bunny outfit in public in all seriousness. No, no pr0n is involved, though if it really starts to suck, you may have to take off your top.”
- Look for Mikuru’s eye colors constantly changing.
- Yuki’s Hecate impersonation is an 8 out of 10.
- Mikuru’s impersonation of a magical girl transformation sequence needs more nakkidness. The tease factor is a backbreaking, cold shower-inducing 9 out of 10.
- Beyond cheesy special effects 4tw. Loved the eye beam.
- The bit where they go from sci-fi story to harem to sci-fi… isn’t that any modern anime? Doesn’t School Rumble, Mai Otome, Kage Kara Mamoru, Gundam Seed Destiny, and Mushishi all do this?
- Production mistakes 4tw. Love how random people watching them film stare in horror at their work. That’s what life at Sunrise must be like.
- If I ever wrote for an anime series, I would definitely work in a combat waitress/meido/bunny girl from the future. There’s just no question about it.
- Loved, just loved the narrator. Hate, just hate how they’re not paying me royalties. If he said someting like, “Itsuki is passing up a Mikuru buffet,” there’s no question that I’ll be on the phone with my legal team now. None. Zippo. Nada.
- Itsuki’s generic lines were hilarious as well… they remind me of certain anime bloggers who recycle the same things over and over again. DO YOUR BEST deshou, k?
20 Responses to “melancholy of haruhi suzumiya 1”
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Haruhi = sunrise director, BRILLIANT!
There is a bit of tongue and cheek humor in that its not a pan-up, its a tilt. I also though the joke with the two eye colors was a play on a certain grand admiral in LOGH, and lo and behold same two colors but reversed.
Perhaps many a baby girl will be named Haruhi this year. If the LOGH joke is true then there is much to be hoped for in terms of plot like substance. Perhaps every anime club will adopt the title SOS (Shoot Our Scriptwriters) Brigade.
Mikuru BEAM!
If you’ll also notice, every time Mikuru has the colored contacts in, her eyes are tearing up. :-p I think I’ve watched the ep three times and caught new ‘goofs’ each time.
Oh my, you just made me spray my monitor&keybord with coffee from the laughter at reading this.Especially thinking about the almighty “low-budget, d-grade home movie”, because I had the same idea.
I think there might actually be some semi-serious plot substance in this anime, as silly as the first episode puts itself up as (and such plot material would require some incredible shift in overall mood established by Episode 1, lol). Did Itsuki’s conversation with Yuki in the bedroom strike you as suspicious foreshadowing?
Mikuru is played by Gotou Yuuko (Nanami in Lamune, Hiyori in Mizuiro 2003, Kaede in Shuffle, and parts in many ero-games). She deserves all the credit she can get for her inspired perfrormance, both in the anime and in the OP.
Cute, ditzy, well blossomed school girl as combat waitress and bunny girl = win
On plot note, I wonder why Haruhi only asks/talks to Kyon at the end.
Looking forward to real life part, seems Mikuru cosplays quite a bit in real life too :d
Oh, and another thing about its extremely high level of detail is that people actually blink.
I took me two passes to really get it. I had no knowledge of this series, and when I started it up I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. A lot of “huh,” “WTF,” and “wait a minute” came to mind, but then I caught onto the sheer awesomeness of this one. On my third time through, I was laughing my ass off! :) Aside from School Rumble (and for some reason Zegapain for the Kawasumi Ayako factor), of the new shows nothing has really caught my interest until this. Sheer awesomeness for this entry (jason, your post always win!) and for this series!
Best. Episode. Ever.
Wow. Just… wow.
If the rest of this series is half as funny as the first episode, I may explode.
Is it just me or does Itsuki seem really insane? Did anyone else notice that when he went off in the bedroom scene that he began looking/listening to something beside him (nothing was there) and then nodding to himself? Perhaps, he suffers from multiple personality disorder or something equally disturbing. Notice how he refers to himself as ‘We’ for quite a while during that conversation.
i like french toast
I highly doubt that Itsuki was crazy. Remember? It was a very bad movie, and he was probably “acting” and working with the horrible dialogue that was given to him.
…Or it could just be that he really does have Esp power? :p
……….or he is just receiving the instructions from Haruhi?
I read the novel before knowing the anime actually exists, had been wondering why they used this as the first episode (appeared in book 6)…..but……..eye-catching i suppose…
whered you get episodes???
Re-read this post after finishing the series, and found this:
>>Plot hole 1: He’s starting at her eyes instead of her soaking, wet “melonpan†(or Itsuki’s just haardo gay)
Jason, your powers of premonition are scary indeed. XD
Bwahahahaha my post is late! Yay! Haruhi! _> Miruku beam! *runs out the door*
My favorite is when Mikuru fires her eye beam and actually hits Yuki (which is why the camera shakes) and Yuki gets really pissed off and pounds on her ;)
Ah, still the Sunrise bashing. Reading these old-ass entries from way back in the Mesozoic era, I’m awed by how fresh and funny the writing is. Good times, good times.