The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya Thread

[Shaorin]

Only suggestion I'd make is that you should pick up the second season as well, since the episodes there actually take place during various points in the first season.

i was planning to do just that. too bad they switched to the K-ON art style for the 2nd season though;

it's cute and all, but being so integral a part of the series master tapestry, it would have served so much better

for it to match the 1st season's visual style...

Edited August 4, 2011 by Shaorin

[Keith]

i was planning to do just that. too bad they switched to the K-ON art style for the 2nd season though;

it's cute and all, but being so integral a part of the series master tapestry, it would have served so much better

for it to match the 1st season's visual style...

No..the same style is used in both seasons & the movie.

[Chronocidal]

Well, not quite. People who watched the second season noticed a definite shift in the artwork. It didn't stay consistent, but you can really see the difference if you watch Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody in it's chronological place in the series. The jump in the art is a little jarring, but not too terrible when you take into account that there was a three year gap between them.

One thing people complained a lot about was that Haruhi began to look not so much like season 1 Haruhi, and more like Yui from K-On cosplaying as her. It wasn't drastic, since they resemble each other a bit already, but the shape of Haruhi's face and her expressions changed a bit, especially in her eyes and mouth. Arguably though, I think that style more resembles the illustrations in the books anyway.

For the movie though, they stuck very close to the art from season 1.

Reminds me too.. now that I'm back in my old apartment, I need to rewatch Disappearance on my tv, which is about 3x the size of the one in the apartment I was renting in Virginia.

[ly000001]

Reminds me too.. now that I'm back in my old apartment, I need to rewatch Disappearance on my tv, which is about 3x the size of the one in the apartment I was renting in Virginia.

It should always be watched on the largest screen you have access to

[Shaorin]

No..the same style is used in both seasons & the movie.

Truly? thank goodness!

what in the world is up with the K-ON! style 2nd season cover art then?

Well, not quite. People who watched the second season noticed a definite shift in the artwork. It didn't stay consistent, but you can really see the difference if you watch Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody in it's chronological place in the series. The jump in the art is a little jarring, but not too terrible when you take into account that there was a three year gap between them.

One thing people complained a lot about was that Haruhi began to look not so much like season 1 Haruhi, and more like Yui from K-On cosplaying as her. It wasn't drastic, since they resemble each other a bit already, but the shape of Haruhi's face and her expressions changed a bit, especially in her eyes and mouth. Arguably though, I think that style more resembles the illustrations in the books anyway.

For the movie though, they stuck very close to the art from season 1.

Reminds me too.. now that I'm back in my old apartment, I need to rewatch Disappearance on my tv, which is about 3x the size of the one in the apartment I was renting in Virginia.

oh. bummer.

i don't mind the K-ON! style, i just prefer the season 1 style best.

further, like i said before, it was a bad decision on KyoAni's part, IMO.

any Anime series should have consistent visual design, start to finish, IMHO,

and the only time a noticeably different visual style is excusable in a series

is when you have ten or twenty years between installments.

in sum, i think KyoAni's obvious pandering to the Anime Chara flavor of the month syndrome

within the span of a successive installment in a single, continuing series storyline was very poor decision making indeed.

i'll be getting the 2nd season regardless i'm sure, i just hope this little gripe doesn't dampen the experience for me...

It should always be watched on the largest screen you have access to

i'll be seeing it on a 32" CRT monitor fed by a once $2000.00 TOTL DVD player,

so i think i'll be just fine in that regard, at least...

Edited August 4, 2011 by Shaorin

[Keith]

God man, that DVD player is more ancient than mine (which I still keep because it's mutli-region), get a freakin' PS3 or something! And really, I've watched both seasons intertwined many times now, only the nitpickiest of nitpickers can truly complain about a difference in style. More importantly, you need the season 2 parts of the story to prepaire you for Disappearance, and at this point, the best way to watch the series is in the new 2009 chronological order, though to save your own sanity, you may want to trim Endless Eight down to the first, a random middle, and last episode of that particular arc.

[Keith]

I should be surprised by this, but instead I'm pretty damned impressed. I love when people customize games.

[Shaorin]

God man, that DVD player is more ancient than mine (which I still keep because it's mutli-region), get a freakin' PS3 or something! And really, I've watched both seasons intertwined many times now, only the nitpickiest of nitpickers can truly complain about a difference in style. More importantly, you need the season 2 parts of the story to prepaire you for Disappearance, and at this point, the best way to watch the series is in the new 2009 chronological order, though to save your own sanity, you may want to trim Endless Eight down to the first, a random middle, and last episode of that particular arc.

it may be ancient (1998/2000) but it's built like almost nothing is anymore, reliable as all get out,

and with a Dual-Mono configuration, CLASS-A analog L/R audio output stage,

i can guarantee it sounds galaxies better than any PS3 ever could. the video output is nothing to sneeze at either.

anyway, i assume the DVD sets have the series' eps in proper chronological order,

rather than the weird, jumbled-up order that the T.V. broadcast was infamous for?

Edited August 5, 2011 by Shaorin

[Keith]

it may be ancient (1998/2000) but it's built like almost nothing is anymore, reliable as all get out,

and with a Dual-Mono configuration, CLASS-A analog L/R audio output stage,

i can guarantee it sounds galaxies better than any PS3 ever could. the video output is nothing to sneeze at either.

anyway, i assume the DVD sets have the series' eps in proper chronological order,

rather than the weird, jumbled-up order that the T.V. broadcast was infamous for?

Gonna have to call you on that one.a PS3, as well as just about every BD player currently on the market, will put out far superior audio/video to anything a DVD player can. My DVD player is from a close era, a Pioneer DV-525, purchased specifically in anticipation of the AnimEigo Macross box. As for the series sets, no, they're released in seperate chronological order), but there are plenty of places to find out where all the episodes fit together, or if you'd like, I can just post a list.

Edited August 5, 2011 by Keith

[Shaorin]

Gonna have to call you on that one.a PS3, as well as just about every BD player currently on the market, will put out far superior audio/video to anything a DVD player can. My DVD player is from a close era, a Pioneer DV-525, purchased specifically in anticipation of the AnimEigo Macross box. As for the series sets, no, they're released in seperate chronological order), but there are plenty of places to find out where all the episodes fit together, or if you'd like, I can just post a list.

the DV-525 listed at $425.00 in it's day. basically an entry-level model for it's time.

the DV-09 was PIONEER's very first ELITE series DVD player, listed at $2000.00, and was their TOTL reference player for three years.(1998/2000)

any way you slice it, there's a colossal difference there. the general performance characteristics between two models of DVD player

are bound to be quite disparate, when one is an entry level, and the other a TOTL reference,

with the best engineers and highest design budget allotment that PIONEER had to offer at the time.

in sum, although the DV-09 HAS been outmoded since, it IS still considered by many to be a FINE DVDP,

hard to beat in performance in the price range it sells for in today's used market,

and IMPOSSIBLE to beat in terms of craftsmanship.

anyway, pissing contest aside, so long as i pick up the 2nd season and the upcoming movie, i'll be fine?

Edited August 5, 2011 by Shaorin

[Keith]

Yup, second season + Disappearance will catch you up. Also, didn't say the 525 compared with a $2000 model, but I did say that a 12 year old DVD player doesn't compare with the performace of a bluray player in either sound or picture. HDMI & Digital audio + uncompressed audio formats & much higher resolution video compressions will make any DVD player look like VHS in comparison.

[Shaorin]

Yup, second season + Disappearance will catch you up. Also, didn't say the 525 compared with a $2000 model, but I did say that a 12 year old DVD player doesn't compare with the performace of a bluray player in either sound or picture. HDMI & Digital audio + uncompressed audio formats & much higher resolution video compressions will make any DVD player look like VHS in comparison.

perhaps, but what of all the material out there, most especially Anime, that was released during the Great U.S. Anime Boom,

that has not as yet, and is all but guaranteed to never see another video release, on BR or whatever format happens to supersede it in the future?

there are plenty of reasons to keep a top-flight DVD player around, what i outlined above chief among them.

to be honest, i actually HAVE a BR player. watching my first BRD on it, believe it or not, did NOT instantly make me want

to yank my S-VHS VCR, DVD player and LD player out of my system and kick 'em to the curb. why?

because i have RESPECT for all of these Video formats. i understand and can accept their weaknesses alongside their strengths.

each and every one of them were a revelation in their day, and the best examples of their respective media,

played back on the best examples of their respective playback devices, are STILL impressive for what they are, even to this very day.

one day, sooner, rather than later, even Blu-Ray will be kicked to the curb as an "Unwatchably Outdated" Video format.

and i'll be there defending IT, as well...

Edited August 6, 2011 by Shaorin

[Keith]

You just seem to be missing the point of HD. I'll tell you that I started my bluray adventure running my PS3 through component cables on a 27 inch CRT, and I thought that was as awesome as it got. Then when my CRT died, I moved up to an HD set and hooked it up through HDMI, and that's when the true difference really hits you. But all that aside, considering most bluray players have decent to great upscaling capabilities, as well as superior audio/video outputs (assuming you have a TV & sound system to take advantage of them), there's really no reason to keep such an ancient DVD player in active use. Besides, as high end as it may have been at one time, I guaruntee you the software it came pre-loaded with has been outdated for some time, as newer players over the years improved their ability to handle mpeg 2, though results still varied. Fact of the matter is, the only thing that looiks good on SD sets & hardware, is non-anamorphic SD material.

To get back on topic, less than a month and a half until Disappearance!

Edited August 7, 2011 by Keith

[Chronocidal]

I should be surprised by this, but instead I'm pretty damned impressed. I love when people customize games.

One MAJOR thing wrong with this...

There is no way Yuki would die that easily.

Makes want to see a massive GITS mod for GTA4 though. I would love driving around in a tachikoma.

I do need to get my laptop hooked back up to the tv though so I can see Disappearance in a decent size.

[Keith]

One MAJOR thing wrong with this...

There is no way Yuki would die that easily.

Makes want to see a massive GITS mod for GTA4 though. I would love driving around in a tachikoma.

I do need to get my laptop hooked back up to the tv though so I can see Disappearance in a decent size.

I'd be surprised if that hasn't been done. Naked gun toting Makoto for the win! As for Yuki, I agree, she'd be all Agent Smith an'sh!t.

[Shaorin]

good stuff. much better than i was expecting. best Anime i've seen in a while now, in fact.

the worst thing i can say about the series, however, which IS a PRETTY DAMNED BIG worst, for me, at least,

is that Miku-chan♥ IS, sadly, INDEED a WUSS, more often than not.

i cannot disagree with that, much as i'd love to. i found it, at different times, amusing, endearing and sadly pathetic.

i cannot and will not let that affect my love of Mikuru, however, she is my Eternal Sweetie♥ regardless.

i can very much understand where all the Yuki Nagato love comes from; she is most sweet, earnest and endearing,

as i might imagine many reserved, bookwormish women out there can be.

Haruhi? i was expecting to loathe her the whole way through, but found her to be quite fun and charming, despite her eccentricities.

i guess she really would be a blast to be around, providing she was in a good mood.

anybody ever feel that she might be something of a closet Lesbie though?

the majority of the series both me and my little sister thoroughly enjoyed,

though the island mansion episode we both could have done without, as we both agreed that it smacked too much

of a SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERY, and certainly didn't do anything to help poor Mikuru's case, either.

last ep had a big fat block of filler material that was most annoying, three to five minutes worth, that felt more like fifteen.

come ON, KyoAni, couldn't you have thought of anything better than that?

on the whole, a worthy addition to my Anime collection. i look forward to the second season and movie...

[Keith]

Before you make any final judgements on Mikuru, watch the second season. More exposure to who she grows up to be may just change your mind. Also be prepaired to hate then love Haruhi all over again. I won't say more, since it could potentially spoil the movie, but prepaire to order Disappearance, it's out next month.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Keith

[Noriko Takaya]

Sorry... Couldn't resist.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Noriko Takaya

[Shaorin]

Sorry... Couldn't resist.

that's Lovely♥

[Marzan]

Wow, where did you get that pic?!

I definitely don't think Kyon could give Haruhi one of his witty comebacks if he found her like that!

[Noriko Takaya]

Wow, where did you get that pic?!

I honestly cannot remember, but if you'd like the hi-rez version in 1920x1080 here is a link to where you can download it from my site: http://toponeraegunbuster.com/Miscellaneous/haruhi.jpg

[Marzan]

I honestly cannot remember, but if you'd like the hi-rez version in 1920x1080 here is a link to where you can download it from my site: http://toponeraegunb...eous/haruhi.jpg

You sir, are a star. Thanks/

[ly000001]

Wow, where did you get that pic?!

It's from a magazine called Nyantype, who are also responsible for this

I definitely don't think Kyon could give Haruhi one of his witty comebacks if he found her like that!

Kyon: (thinking) Keep cool, keep cool, don't let this affect me, think of nothing, absolutely nothing, maybe if she also had a ponytail- DOH!

[Marzan]

It's from a magazine called Nyantype, who are also responsible for this

Wow, that seems like the 'moe' bible!

[BeyondTheGrave]

thread necromancy..

So watched the season 2. Only viewed 3/8 of endless eight. Felt knid of ripped off. since one whole disc was nothing but endless eight.

Then viewed The Disappearance Of Haruhi Suzumiya. Which was really good.

I have a question though. What was the bonus scene in the credit all about?

[Chronocidal]

Which bonus scene was that? I need to watch it again to remember.

Also, I can actually say I've watched the entirety of Endless Eight multiple times. I didn't appreciate it at the time because I expected Disappearance to be part of that season, but that kind of evaporated when the movie came out. Better not to break it up anyway, and I love what they did with it.

The fun in E8 is that they basically took the story, and used it to throw in a ton of random anime references from all over the place. There's definitely a few Macross jokes in there, on top of Eva, and who knows what else. It does take patience, but if you sit and pick out the details, you can tell they had fun with those episodes.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Scene with Yuki in the library

[Chronocidal]

Oh, no real importance about that. It was just a nice little side-note to the ending, kind of a callback to the similar incident that happened earlier in the series. I don't think the book version actually mentions it, because the books are purely from Kyon's point of view.

If you want to get conspiratorial about it though, you could basically read that scene as Yuki showing that she definitely has feelings for Kyon. She's remembering the scene where he helped her get her library card, and it looks like she's trying to hide herself blushing behind the book while she thinks about it.

I mean, as if her feelings for Kyon weren't obvious already from the entire plot.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Chronocidal

[BeyondTheGrave]

Oh, no real importance about that. It was just a nice little side-note to the ending, kind of a callback to the similar incident that happened earlier in the series.

Was that in the first season

If you want to get conspiratorial about it though, you could basically read that scene as Yuki showing that she definitely has feelings for Kyon. She's remembering the scene where he helped her get her library card, and it looks like she's trying to hide herself blushing behind the book while she thinks about it.

I mean, as if her feelings for Kyon weren't obvious already from the entire plot.

Do have a slight conspiracy about that.

maybe yuki's programming has changed some.

Edited July 14, 2012 by BeyondTheGrave

[Chronocidal]

Oh, it's absolutely changed. A TON. That's part of why Endless Eight is so important. Yuki was not supposed to operate solo for anywhere near that amount of time. They were in that loop for 300 years. Just like a computer left to run too long without a reformat or cleanup of any kind, she's going to collect garbage data. That garbage data is developing into a personality with its own emotions, and it's own will.

Basically, Endless Eight directly caused Disappearance.

[BeyondTheGrave]

thought it was 600 years endless eight went on for.

[Chronocidal]

Number I've got from the book is about 15000 times repeated, but I forgot they were actually repeating a two-week period, so I only used half the days. Yeah, I thought 300 sounded a bit short myself.

[Keith]

Endless Eight strengthen's the plot of the movie if you ask me,

sitting through every episode really makes you understand why Yuki did what she did. I mrean really, if you're tired after 8 times going through the same episode, just imagine how she felt after her severe repetition. As for the library scene, I agree that it was there to strengthen just why she chose to set up reality the way that she did in Disappearance. She gave Kyon a perfect opportunity to both escape the crazy life he was sucked into, and fall in love with her. And she even gave him an out should he choose to go back.

And yeah, the original event took place during the first season on the SOS Brigade's first official outting. Kyon took Yuki to the library to get her card after Haruhi got mad that he was out searching with Mikuru.

In retrospect, E8 is one of the greatest setups of all time, Kudo's to Kyo-Ani for actually having the balls to do it.

[Beltane70]

I actually enjoyed the Endless 8 arc, especially considering that I was right about what Kyon had to do to end it.

[Chronocidal]

It was definitely one of those things that you love to hate.

In my case though, I read the books, so I had the E8 ending spoiled from the start. It was much shorter in the book, and they only showed the final loop.

Speaking of the books though, I forget which one they're up to, but they're definitely going forward with the translations. I want to read the full translation of the latest one though, because holy cow does stuff get messy.