Product Description

I thought that when I entered high school, my days of believing in aliens, time travelers and ESPers were going to be over. That is until she introduced herself. Claiming to be interested in only aliens, time travelers, and ESPers, Haruhi Suzumiya was the strangest girl I ve met in a long time. Before I knew what s going on, I ve been dragged into her weird club, and it looks like I m not the only one who has been drafted into this SOS Brigade of hers, because there are three other students who don t seem to be so ordinary themselves. Either way we ve all found ourselves caught up in Haruhi s quest to search for all things extraordinary. And what s this I hear about us making a movie?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7078 in DVD
• Brand: INFINITY RESOURCES INC
• Released on: 2008-07-29
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Original language: Japanese, English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 350 minutes

Features

• I thought that when I entered high school, my days of believing in aliens, time travelers and ESPers were going to be over. That is, until she introduced herself. Claiming to be interested in only aliens, time travelers, and ESPers, Haruhi Suzumiya was the strangest girl I've met in a long time. Before I knew what's going on, I've been dragged into her weird club, and it looks like

Amazon.com
Based on a series of best-selling novels by Nagaru Tanigawa, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006) overflows with zany energy. Despite the title, Haruhi Suzumiya is anything but melancholy: she's a bossy, outspoken high school girl who's searching for "aliens, time travelers, and espers." To aid her search, Haruhi founds a new club, The SOS Brigade. Although she doesn't realize it, Haruhi has actually found what she's looking for in her recruits: Yuki is an alien; Mikuru, a time traveler; Itsuki, an esper. Kyon, the put-upon narrator,is normal--at least superficially.Itsuki warns Kyon that the existence of the universe may depend on Haruhi's whims. When she gets upset, dark gaps open between dimensions, haunted by shinji (ghostly giants) whom Itsuki and other espers must destroy. Kyon wonders if he's having nightmares or protecting the world from destruction, but this storyline recedes as the series progresses. Like Dokkoida and Magical Shopping ArcadeAbenobashi, Melancholy spoofs the clichés of anime and otaku culture. When the president of the computer club challenges the SOS Brigade to a duel playing "Day of Sagittarius 3," the episode turns into an outrageous spoof of sci-fi anime, with Haruhi shouting commands from the bridge of an imaginary space ship. But the series stops, rather than ends, with the story unresolved as Haruhi and Kyon walk off into the rain. Given the popularity of Melancholy in Japan and the US, a sequel may be in the works. (Rated 13 and older: cartoon violence, risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Humor and crazyness all at once
There is certain shows developed in Japan that sort of slip under the radar and upon discovering it, you kind of wonder why you didn't hear of it in the first place (Fate/Stay Night, while admittedly a show with a distinct formula and some character moments cut from the story, instantly became a favorite). Then we have something like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, a 14 episode show that quickly became a hit and could be accurately be described as a sensation. But all that hype and praise brings with it the inevitable "overrated" remarks and people not seeing the brilliance against other projects. Can Haruhi Suzumiya become a victim of its hype or is it a brilliant show regardless? I say brilliant.

In high school, it's hard to develop an identity and stand out without being an outsider but for Haruhi Suzumiya, she enjoys her offbeat sensibilities. Declaring in school that she's not interested in anyone unless they're time travellers, aliens or espers (psychics in other words), Haruhi soon is introduced to Kyon, a sardonic high school student who enjoys just not doing anything. But their world gets changed when in comes Itzuki, Yuki and Mikuru, an esper, alien and time traveller, respectively. Turns out Haruhi is seen as a sort of god-like figure who can bend the universe and possibly even destroy it and start over lest she get bored. Luckily Haruhi is quite...eccentric.

One of the more well-known factors consider the show was that the show's episodes were not presented in chronological order. While this worked in some cases such as episode 6 having all the makings of a "finale" and episode 11 which consists of Kyon narrating over a supremely amateurish movie Haruhi made makes for a unique and also bizarre premiere but then on the other hand, a 2 parter on an island vista is separated by a different episode so the cliffhanger isn't resolved until the following episode. My suggestion is to just watch the chronological order but exchange episode 14 (Kyon's trip for a heater) and 6's place and all will be well.

As for the episodes themselves, they're frequently hilarious from dialogue to Kyon's narration or Yuki's quiet badassness/bookish tendencies and just scenes played straight for comedy or using the moe conventions of nurse/maid/catgirl outfits for humor. But the main plot is also interesting and while Yuki's explanation of Haruhi's existence from her perceptive is Evangelion-level confusing complete with screen-filling text, it's quite intriguing and the idea that the world can literally revolve around you makes for good storytelling. Some episodes are generally good with at least one cool scene while others such as an arts festival, a computer battle or the hilarious baseball episode are definate highlights.

Will everyone like it? Maybe. Some people prefer the romance hilarity found in Love Hina while others are into more lighthearted affairs like Fruits Basket but I loved the show and can't wait for an inevitable second season and I heartily recommend you try the show out.

Short, but leaves a great impression.
Some of us dream of living in a world that is a little less ordinary. Usually we end up meeting someone that wants to live in that kind of a world a little more. Still, no one wanting that kind of life comes close to an eccentric girl named Haruhi Suzumiya.

This short lived 14 episode favorite is narrated by 14 year old Kyon and boy entering high school ready to adjust to the normal world. All he has to do is forget about his fantasies of the paranomal and fantastic. All of a sudden the girl that sits behind him in class is not ready to let that world go and before he knows it Kyon is dragged into starting the S.O.S. Brigade a club bent on uncovering the secrets of the world we just can't find or explain. All of a sudden the members begin to sign up and they each turn out to be something unexpected. Yuki Nagato is a silent genius with her nose in the books, Mikuru Asahina is a cute and extremly shy Junior with a few key 'assets' and Istuki Koizumi is an exchange student always with a smile on his face ready for the next S.O.S. Brigade adventure. Haruhi seems be enjoying herself, but Kyon knows something she doesn't Haruhi recruited an Alien Android a Time Traveler from the future and an ESPer that belongs to an entire organization whose mission is to keep the world in balance. Oh and apparently they are all keeping their eye on Haruhi because she has the ability to create new worlds and destroy old ones in the process. So why is she so bored with life...she doesn't know she can do that. So much for an ordinary life Kyon.

Strangly I discovered this show by stumbling onto a youtube music video of the three female leads dancing to an ultra poppy sweedish trance song. When I read about the show it seemed like a Breakfast Club meets X-Files kinda of show. Me being a fan of the anime comedy genre, I decided to give it a watch. The story is completly origional the chracters at least the normal ones are very relatable and the adventures they go on can be a bit Scooby Doo at times, but never the less alot of fun. Like your typical sci-fi anime there are alot of gaps to complete after the show ends. There is defintely a lot more to this story and I am hoping that I get to see it since there are rumors of a second season in the works.

Great series but too short!
I ran across Haruhi Suzumiya a while searching for another anime (funny as another posted it was Fate/Stay Night I was looking for :)) Anyways, it grabbed my attention so I began watching it. My first impression was this anime was gonna be a weird and interesting one. The main character is one of a kind character and not like your typical Japanese anime nowadays about high school girls (you know like they're all girly, and have the hots for this boy) Haruhi is NOT like that. It really is amusing watching the other main character, Kyon trying to interact with her. I'm sure it will keep you watching and wondering what the heck is going on...and that leads me to the beauty of Haruhi Suzumiya. It's just the mystery of this girl that keeps you hooked. You just have to know what Haruhi is all about. It would have been great had they taken this a bit further and see a more mature relationship with her friend Kyon. Unfortunately, I am not sure if there will be anymore of Haruhi Suzumiya. I'm sure if they did make a another set of episodes, it'll definitely be a hit. 4 stars.