The Series:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya received a lot of buzz before
its R1 release and if the number of posts on web sites about the show is
any indication, sold very well after it came out. There were originally
two versions each volume, a plain episodes-only DVD, and the same disc
in a limited edition version that included some cool, and unusual bonus
items such as CDs, pillow cases, and one of the best series cases to come
along in a while (included with the LE for volume one.) Now Bandai
has gone back and released the first volume again, this time as a "bundle"
with two new CDs. I'm not sure why they did this, but I'm happy that
they did because now I get to give my thoughts on this fun and enjoyable
series.
Kyon is a normal, average high school freshman. He sits
in front of an attractive girl, Haruhi Suzumiya, and figures it wouldn't
hurt to be friendly to her. He's wrong. She lets him, and the
rest of the class, know in no uncertain terms that she is only interested
in aliens, time travelers, and psychics (or ESPers as it is translated
in the series.) Ordinary people hold no interest for her.
Even so, Haruhi slowly starts warming up to Kyon and talking to him,
something that amazes the kids who went to middle school with her.
He starts to learn about his strange classmate: she's good at all
sports but won't go out for any of the school teams. She has joined
every school club there is, but only for one day each. They were
all too boring. Then something that Kyon says triggers an idea:
If she doesn't like any of the school clubs, she'll start one that isn't
boring. And so is born the SOS Brigade which stands for (in the English
translation) "Spreading Excitement All Over the World with the Haruhi Suzumiya
Brigade."
To become an official school club, they need five members. Kyon
is quickly wrangled into joining, and when Suzumiya takes over the Literary
Club's old room, that club's only member, Yuki Nagato is absorbed into
the Brigade. Mikuru Asahina is an attractive but shy girl that Suzumiya
found walking down the hall one day, and since every club needs a hot babe,
Mikuru was forced to join (and wear a maid's costume at every meeting.)
They need one more member, and Suzumiya wants someone odd, like a mysterious
transfer student. So when Itsuki Koizumi starts attending their school,
Suzumiya insists that he join.
The club spends a lot of time looking for strange phenomena and people,
but only Kyon knows the truth. He's become the confidant of all of
the members of the club, and he's discovered that the Brigade consists
of just what Suzumiya is looking for: an alien, a time traveler, and a
psychic. There's something odd about Suzumia herself too. She
may be a god and just not realize it, so poor Kyon can't tell her that
what she's looking for is right in front of her face.
This is a hilarious show. Though it doesn't have the same trimmings,
it has the feel of a good harem series like the first Tenchi serial.
It's probably because Kyon has that same 'trapped' look on his face through
most of the show. There are several laugh-out-loud moments on this
disc too, such as the way Suzumiya gets the computer club to give the SOS
Brigade a computer. The show is irreverent and goofy, without being
too removed from reality.
Even the episode order is humorous. The story is not told in chronological
order. Though the DVD release is slightly different than the broadcast
order, it doesn't really matter since neither arrangement tells the story
as events happened. In both cases the series starts with a home made
movie that the Brigade makes. It really should be shown as episode
11 or 12, and that first episode reveals some spoilers to the show, but
it's hilarious none-the-less.
The DVD:
Audio:
This show comes with the original Japanese soundtrack in stereo as well
as an English dub in both stereo and DD5.1. I alternated languages
while watching the show and prefer the Japanese audio just a bit.
The English cast did a fine job, but the Japanese voices seemed to 'fit'
the characters and situations a little better. It's too bad that
there isn't a Japanese surround sound option, because I did enjoy the wider
feel of the 5.1 English track. The rears were used occasionally,
but not as much as I would have hoped. All three audio options had
good quality sound, with clear voices and a good amount of dynamic range.
There weren't any dropouts or distortion, which isn't surprising since
this is a recent show.
Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image is just great. The show
is very colorful, and those colors are reproduced wonderfully with bright
and solid shades that make the show fun to watch. The lines are tight
and sharp and the detail is excellent. What's most impressive is
that digital defects are largely absent. Aliasing, which plagues
animation, is so minor that it's not worth mentioning. There is a
little banding here and there, mainly in larger scenes, but I would guess
that this is a problem with the master and not the DVD itself. Overall
a fantastic looking disc.
Extras:
This disc has a lot of fun bonus material. First off there are
clean songs for episode 00 then there is a set of live-action promos for
the show and two behind-the scenes featurettes that discuss the making
of those promos. These run about 25 minutes in all. In addition
there's a series of four TV previews. The most entertaining extra
are the three episodes of The Adventures of the ASOS Brigade.
These are live-action 'homemade' promos for the R1 DVD release that were
originally shown on the web. Generally funny and amusing, these clips
have the same spirit as the show themselves and are a nice bonus.
There are also two CDs packaged with this disc, Character Song Volume
6, Kyon's Sister, and Character Song Volume 9, Kyon. These are short,
only two songs on each disc which are both presented as regular songs and
a karaoke version. The disc insert opens up and contains lyrics in
both Japanese and English.
Final Thoughts:
This is just a funny show. I had read Todd Douglas' reviews of
the volumes (one,
two,
three,
and four)
and knew he liked it but the irreverent nature of the show along with the
unexpected plot twists that come flying out from left field make this a
must-see. With the nice image, great bonus material and two CD's picking
up a copy of this is a no-brainer.
Highly recommended.
