Customer Reviews

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Volume 1 (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very orginal and creative title. When I watched the imports, it gave me a fresh interest in old steriotypes. You got the logical alien, the sexy timetraveler, the omipotent being who can destroy the universe, and the annoying esper who knows everything that you want to punch in the face. All this amazing adventures takes place in a high school drama setting.

Basically a guy nicknamed as Kyon just recently matured enough to relise there is nothing special about his life, a completely normal boy who goes to school. This all changes when he meets Haruhi Suzumiya, who is obessed with the paranormal and everything else you find in a Otaku(crazy fan), and utterly bored with her life in general. Because of certain series of events, Kyon is conscripted in start a club with Suzumiya called the SOS brigade. The club is has no real purpose except to solve mysteries and discover paranormal activities. Ironiclly an alien, timetravler, and a esper join the group in disguise revealling there nature and motive to Kyon; the only normal person in the club. All three of them inform Kyon that Suzumiay unknowingly is the a powerful being that can reshape reality to her will. Their mission to keep Suzumiya occupied with fun activities, with the alternative being the destruction of autoevolution/time line/universe.

The main story arc actally takes a back seat, with mainly just drama/comedy antics you find in many anime. there was no real action for the most part, but I couldn't stop watching until I finished it in one day. The main character Kyon with is pessimistic outlook on life, and is tentency to notice plot holes, and maintain a dry sense of humor; made me identiy with him easilly. The animation is high quality in my opinion, and the music.....is abolutely amazing! I spent half the day just listening to the ending credits!

So in short the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a good well rounded title that has everything a anime newbie would like, but still give someing new for those long time otakus.

I have fallen in love with this anime after listening to the ending song, Hare Hare Yukai, countless times!! Now I'm completely obsessed over it!!

OK. So it's a little weird at first. All of the episodes have been aired originally on Japanese TV ALL OUT OF ORDER. Plus the story line is a little confusing, too. You look at some random pictures over the internet and you, like me, had said, "Woah! This looks like a good anime! And I can't belive it isn't anything like those other maho shojou (though I am a maho shojou fan, big time) animes! I'll go watch the first ep!" WRONG! Well it isn't a maho shojou, but it's not a slice-of-life anime like Ichigo Mashimaro. It's pretty much a sci-fi show that involves your everyday striking-insane girl.

So now to the story of the show, It's about a high school freshmen named Haruhi Suzumiya. She introduces her self with the worlds most weirdest introduction, "I am not interested with normal humans. If any of you are aliens, time travelers, or ESPers, please join me. That is all." She meets a boy in her class named Kyon and starts to have him involved with everything she does! Getting bored with everyting in her path, she creates her own club called the SOS Brigade. She meets three other students who become part of the group. Yuki, who rarely says anything and just prefers to be left alone to read, found just reading in the room where Haruhi decided to start the club. Mikuru, an easily frightened girl who is constantly taken prisoner by Haruhi to do ridiculous things (like dressing up as a Bunny Girl), she only joined being a "Volenteered prisoner" and because of her big busts. And Itsuki, a new student who Haruhi got into the SOS Brigade saying he was a mysterious new student. But it turns out that Yuki, Mikuru, Itsuki, AND Haurhi are not normal humans. Yuki is an alien, Mikuru a time traveler, and Itsuki an ESPer. Haruhi was given a power that if she's bored, she will create a new universe and distroy the current one all wither mind (she has supposedly done this before), but is completely unaware of this. So that's what Yuki, Mikuru, Kyon, and Itsuki (who shortly finds out from each one of them) are trying to do, keep Haruhi entertained.

I would say that this show IS NOT for little kids who are not that experienced with anime (unlike my self who has loved anime since a very young age) for it includes some harassment (that Haruhi will force to happen for her own entertainment), violence (like knife stabing, though only noticed in a couple of episodes), blood (though not much, only in violent sences), and maybe mild language (from Kyon).

EXTRA!!!: The Limited Edition DVD includes TONS of goodies!!

* TMHS Box that holds ALL the DVDs!

* Double sided pencil board

* Hare Hare Yukai Single CD

* Cosplay Haruhi hair ribbon

* Haruhi-ism inron-on

I'm getting this right when it comes out!!

As one of my first real dips into the world of expensive limited special edition releases... I have to say this is a quality release. Probably one of the most ridiculously complex boxes I've ever seen, and full of useless yet cool goodies.
Anyway, Haruhi has been very popular in the fansub world since its airing last year, and it is definitely worth seeing, at least to see what all the hype is about. It's a quality piece of work, with beautiful animation from Kyoto Animation.
Bandai's DVD release does present the episodes in a different order from the Japanese broadcast, as the broadcast was not in chronological order. While some might be disappointed by this, the Japanese DVD release was the same way, and for the completists (which I confess includes me), the second, third and fourth volumes of the special edition will include bonus DVDs with the episodes in broadcast order.
On a technical note, the video quality is generally very good, but the opening credits sequence seems to have an unusual amount of compression artifacts. However the show itself is not affected. Also, the subtitles are unusually large, and make some odd choices of phrasing, using "future man" instead of "time traveller". Bandai would do well to address these issues in future volumes, which luckily do not detract too much from this release.
In any case, this series has had quite an impact on anime fans, and is well worth checking out. This DVD, while not perfect, is generally quite good and worth a purchase (although the more budget oriented might go for the regular edition).

The original broadcast would of been better and I believe Bandai made a gross error in releasing two versions. I got the cheaper which means I got the weaker linear release. For those who's cherries haven't been popped yet. Buy the special edition to truly enjoy this show.

About the show: first of all I would like to say that this is one of my all time favorite shows to watch. I watched the fansubs before it was licensed in the US and I can say that this is definitely one of the best animes out there. It's got it all: action, comedy, drama, romance, and even sci-fi stuff.

About the DVD: I am not one to usually like the English dubs of anime but this is one that is actually pretty good. I still prefer the subtitles and Japanese audio but its not a big deal with this one. The special features on the disc are great. The first 4 episodes of the Adventures of the ASOS brigade and some commercials for the show and the making of those commercials. The CD of the TV show and radio show's EDs is great too. You also get a cool Haruhi head band, a double sided pencil board, a Haruhism iron on, and a cool box to put it all in (and the following volumes).

Overall anyone that is a big fan of the series should pick this up and anyone that is just a regular fan should still get it because you really get a lot for your money! Shop around and get the best price you can!

The first episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is actually a so-bad-it's-good video created by the cast later in the show's timeline, featuring a Battle Waitress from the future, in a Bunny Suit, defending an Esper who is unaware of his powers from an Evil Witch from Space. It is directed by the main character and narrated by the show's narrator, and is chock-full of obviously-drawn-in special effects and wooden student acting, among other things. Near the end of the episode, a cat clinging to the Witch inexplicably begins to speak; the Witch bops it on the head with her wand before the director notices, saying that as well as being a witch, "she is also a ventriloquist." But is she really?

Though the next episode is Melancholy's "proper" beginning, what's so remarkable about Episode 00 is that it perfectly summarizes nearly everything in the show.

About the show itself--the narrator is Kyon, a student who has recently given up dreams of aliens, espers and time-travelers for high-school life. But when he meets Haruhi Suzumiya (the Director), an eccentric transfer student who longs to meet aliens, espers and time-travelers, he is literally dragged (by his shirtcollar) into the Spreading Excitement All Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, or S.O.S. Brigade for short. Other inductees include Nagato (the Witch), who uses the clubroom as a reading room, Koizumi (the Esper), a mysterious transfer student, and Mikuru (the Battle Waitress from the Future), who Haruhi just grabs out of the hallway so she can exploit otaku fetishes to raise club awareness. Yes, really.

But Kyon quickly discovers that in her search for aliens, time-travelers, and espers, Haruhi has unwittingly gathered together a group of none other than aliens (with magical powers), time travelers (who enjoy dressing up as waitresses) and espers (who are only useful some of the time.) What is even more worrisome, though, is that Haruhi is quite literally Director--and if she ever gets bored of Spreading Excitement All Over the World, she could easily abandon it and everything in it...

Besides the absolutely bizzare first episode, the others are business as usual--establishing exposition, etc. They are, however, pretty funny. Most people seem like the love-her-or-hate-her, unknowingly all-powerful high-school student Haruhi the best, but though she often overpowers everybody else through sheer force of personality, Kyon still holds his own, possibly because he has most of the best lines. The other characters hold their own too, but they don't really come into their own until later episodes. While there's plenty of reasons to watch the Japanese dub--the person who voiced Haruhi is supposedly now legendary--the English dub is pretty good too, with Crispin Freeman nailing Kyon and Wendee Lee holding her own against the Japanese seiyuu with Haruhi.

It's certainly not perfect, but at any rate, this is probably the best high-school comedy drama parodying anime stereotypes while exploiting fetishes and featuring questionable science fiction and crazy battle sequences while presenting metaphysical questions about the nature of reality ever, though admittedly most of the latter come up in the next disc. Reccomended! Also stay for the closer.

So I bought this set, and it's awesome. It's just plain awesome to actually have these episodes on DVD. The box is awesome too. As far as the review of the DVD goes, buy it. If you're an anime fan, or even if you're a non-anime fan living in a sea of fans of something else (video games, etc.) you'll enjoy this and find a real character connection with the narrator, Kyon.

But the packaging is where this set's all at. Great box with high-quality art on every side, even the inside, the doors to the front are magnetic, and there's places for the other DVDs and CDs from the other limited edition volumes. Getting the CD drawer out was a bit of a hassle. When I finally got it out, I put a loose piece of tape on the bottom of it to use as a pully to get it out easier next time. There's also a box holding the extra goodies that is holding space next to the dvd, where the others should go if you collect 'em all. This is where I get a little confused. It seems like they want you to buy the other dvds, and put them in this box. That presents a few problems. The first, being if you copped out and got the dvd only editions, is that now you have to take that box of goodies out and throw it somewhere. I guess if you actually used them for stuff then they'd already be gone, but collectors try to keep it all together and can't in this situation. The other issue involves the CDs. There's a drawer, for all the disks that come with the other limited edition dvds. Let's say you're a good fan, and you buy all 4 volumes, put the CDs and DVDS in this case, and think everything's complete... until you realize that you have 3 other fancy-shmancy boxes with extra goodies and nowhere to put them! You can't exactly keep them with your dvd collection as it defeats the purpose of having the volume one set.

Maybe they just don't want us to box it all in their specially designed volume one package.

This is perhaps one of the better anime to come out in recent years. I honestly did not like it very much when I first saw it, and I watched it in chronological order instead of broadcast order. After telling a friend about it who wanted to see it, we watched it in broadcast order, and it was like a whole different show. I liked the show way more after seeing it in this order, and the characters grew on me too. The characters at first glance are rather cliche and stereotypes, but they manage to really break the bounds. The story is also quite fantastic and humorous. The show also contains many hidden references and funny little parodies that only certain fans may get or appreciate.

Now on to the box set: this is one of the most beautiful and nicely done special editions, definately worth the money. Also, the order of episodes for the special edition discs is similar to the broadcast order, so I highly reccomend this ordering. The stuff you get with the box set (and the design of the box itself) are above and beyond usual special edition boxes. Just look at the picture.

The first disc of this series sets up all the characters...even from episode 00, which is Haruhi's insane little anime-style movie (commented upon constantly by Kyon, the cynic). As we watch, and listen, from Kyon's point of view, Haruhi appears in school and starts her own club, dragging in apparently innocent members into the SOS Brigade as she searches for X-Files level oddities in her own world...Of course, she cannot see the forest for the trees; as her club grows, each member reveals him/herself to Kyon, who sees Kyon as a Key of some sort. There is an esper, a time traveller, and a alien, all there to watch Haruhi, who did something three years ago that has troubled different organizations, so they are researching her. What does Kyon have to do with any of this? Simply because he is the only normal human that Haruhi has paid any attention to.

A must-watch, with giggles and a bit of fan-service (no nudity, just panty shots) and a lot of odd-ball entertainment.

Definitely far, far above the caliber of Excel Saga, so don't expect that level of insanity.

If you're an Anime Otaku (and you understand what an Anime Otaku is) then this series is for you. This review concerns Volume 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Limited Edition).

BLUF: Worth every penny

Details: If you're reading this - then you already know the story behind this anime. (If not, I won't spoil the series here.) Watching this series in Broadcast Order is essential to appreciating it. Volume 1 of the Limited Edition box set includes a gorgeous art box for the DVDs and CDs associated with this season of the show. It also includes a CD with Music from the series that is actually an imported version of a CD sold on the open market in Japan - and if you like the music in this show, you'll want this CD. Finally, there's beautifully drawn insert that has the show's characters in various poses on both sides that's printed on plastic (the pencil board mentioned in the description and it's actually very nice) and other goodies in the box.

So is it worth paying extra for this version versus the Regular Edition? ABSOLUTELY. It's actually a great value:
-Same DVD you get with the regular edition (price varies - but $9 as of this writing)
-A Gorgeous Art Box
-Hare Hare Yukai CD Single (about $25 from Amazon Japan depending on the Dollar/Yen rate)
-Other goodies thrown in for good measure

First time viewers need to know, that you will also want to invest in the other Limited Edition volumes of this series. Each includes the Regular Edition DVD + an English Subtitled DVD of the show in Broadcast Order (very important) + a US release of the Japanese CDs associated with this season of the show (big value) + other goodies. The Limited Edition is worth it for the CDs and the Broadcast Order DVDs alone. The Goodies are what make this a very special Limited Edition release that is well worth the extra money.

Also, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that people who watch this show view it in Broadcast Order the First Time. If you do this with the English Dub, you'll actually lose part of the story (while this is minor with most anime, but it is particularly true for this series). Dub Fans, bear with me - you'll appreciate why I tell you that after you've seen it through.

The Hare Hare Yukai CD Single contains:
-Hare Hare Yukai - the full version of the (pleasantly addictive) ending song used in the Anime Series
-Welcome Unknown - the full version of the ending song for the radio drama series broadcast in Japan
-Karaoke Versions (No Vocals) of the above songs - so you can embarass yourself in the privacy of your car

Finally, if you haven't watched this series yet - there's enough depth to this show that you'll get something different out of every viewing.

This series has my strongest recommendation.