Product Details

• Actors: Tomokazu Sugita, Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, Yűko Gotô, Crispin Freeman
• Writers: Fumihiko Shimo, Joe Itou, Katsuhiko Muramoto, Nagaru Tanigawa, Shôji Gatô
• Format: Anamorphic, Subtitled, NTSC, Dolby, Widescreen
• Language: English (Unknown), Japanese (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Bandai
• DVD Release Date: May 29, 2007
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000NVT0PM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,382 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Volume 1 (Limited Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Despite the series title, Haruhi Suzumiya is anything but melancholy: she's an eccentric, outspoken high school girl who's searching for "aliens, time travelers, and espers." To aid her search, she founds a new club, The SOS Brigade, and blithely usurps space, shanghais members, and steals equipment. When she gives orders, Kyon, the long-suffering narrator, obeys, as do the three other members. Although she doesn't realize it, Haruhi has actually found what she's looking for in her recruits: Yuki is an alien, Mikuru is a time traveler, and Itsuki is an esper. Kyon is normal--at least superficially. Haruhi possesses extraordinary but unrevealed powers that draw the exotic cast to her. Based on a series of best-selling novels by Nagaru Tanigawa, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya overflows with zany energy. Like Dokkoida and Magical Shopping ArcadeAbenobashi, the characters make fun of the clichés of anime and otaku culture. The challenge for the filmmakers is to maintain this level of insanity while presenting a coherent story. (Rated 13 and older: cartoon violence, risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

The annual school culture festival has begun and with it comes the debut of Haruhi's surreal film! Who did she threaten this time to have her movie shown? More importantly what other event has she schemed up and what impact will it have on the rest of the SOS Brigade? At least I've got Mikuru and the cosplay cafe to look forward to, but perhaps someone should explain to Yuki that fortune-telling isn't about eerie accuracy! The computer club counter-attacks! After Haruhi extorted the club's president for their best computer challenge the SOS Brigade to a not so friendly strategy game. How are we going to win when our chief's strategy doesn't exist? We should just raise the white flag and give up. Can we win without the help of Yuki's bogus magic or will defeat drive Haruhi into a world-ending rampage? It is a slow day for us in the club room, that is until Haruhi arrives. She's somehow managed to swindle a heater from one of our movie's sponsors. I hope Mikuru's okay while I'm forced to make the exhausting trek in the rain to retrieve it. What bizarre activity while I'm gone? Limited Edition includes Haruhi iron-on, SOS pillow case, pencil board, Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya CD Haruhi No Tsumewawase, Vol. 1, and Limited Edition Box. Also includes a bonus DVD that contains episodes 11-14 in original TV broadcast order! Genre: Comedy/ Action.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Realistic story in very fantastical setting May 12, 2007

By D. Fliflet

Format:DVD

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. Read more ›

37 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TMSH wa SUGOII ne!!~ April 10, 2007

A Kid's Review

Format:DVD

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!! Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great anime... with nice shiny box June 13, 2007

By Michael Possingham

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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).