Anime Review The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Few anime can brag that they have their very own religion based on them, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya does. While isn't really a religion, it has a huge fan base made up of people all over the world. I first found this anime while searching a review site, and I happen to fall in love with the animation style. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which has somewhat of an animation style like Clannad, or Kanon, will make any anime fan scream for joy.

It first aired on April 2, 2006 in Japan, but has since been released on DVD in America. So your probably wondering if The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is even worth watching, and while I think it is, I also believe that I should explain the story a bit.

First of all, the story is told by a character named Kyon, a seemingly normal Japanese boy who goes to high school. Siting behind him in class is the hyper-active Haruhi Suzumiya, who on the first day of school, tells everyone to leave her alone unless they are a alien or time traveler. So you pretty much get the picture, she has a very active imagination.

At first when Kyon talks to Haruhi out of interest in why such a beautiful girl seems so weird, she begins to open up to him a bit. One day while stareing out the window in class she thinks up an idea to start a school club to study paranormal activities. So after that, basically the two of them start looking for a club room, Haruhi ends up finding the reading club which has only one member left, and using it.

That one member (Yuki Nagato) left from the reading club ends up converting to the paranormal club now called the SOS Brigade. Yuki is a very silent and strange girl, but nothing is as it seems, later on Haruhi recruits the ever so shy Mikuru Asahina, a girl with a pretty good figure I must say. Last but not least, the group recruits Itsuki Koizumi, a very interesting male character, who you will always see smiling and calm.

Throughout the story, the group endures the comic actions of Haruhi, who is very cute I have to say, every character you see in this anime is important in their own way, which makes things very interesting. Your probably wondering now what the story line catch is, right? It turns out, that Haruhi, can unknowingly change reality with her thoughts.

Her mood and how she feels at that moment can change how reality works, Kyon isn't the first to figure this out, but he is the first normal person to know. You see, all three of the other characters are either time-travelers, aliens, or an ESP'er from an organization known as the Agency.

I know all that sounds strange, but once you see this anime everything will fall into place, each of the groups involved believe that Haruhi is responsible for a shift in the time space continuum. However, they think that talking to her personally will have very bad side effects and that it could mess things up very badly, so they instead inform Kyon.

Of course Kyon is pretty much overloading on information, seeing as each of the groups contacted him and told him their version of the story. The one thing that they know for sure is that Kyon has an effect on Haruhi, meaning that she may just be in love with the boy. The story kind of reminds me of The Matrix without much action, and tons of comedy thrown in because of how Haruhi seems to create her own reality and everything may not be as it seems.

In the second season expected to be released later this year, we can expect that Haruhi and Kyon's relationship grows, and possibly that she finds out about her true nature. Which ever the case, personally I can't wait to see what Haruhi and crew do this time around, just wish the anime wouldn't be delayed so many times.

I seriously have to recommend this anime to anyone that likes Japanese animation in general. Season two should be coming up pretty soon, so consider this a preview of whats to come in the future, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of the greatest anime series's you will ever see, thats a fact. The storyline is well thought out as you can see, and has tons of twists and turns for everyone to enjoy.

Final Score - 5 Stars (1 being the worst, 5 being the best)