Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu 3p4g

Gazz Short Review:

"This anime proves that Tanigawa Nagaru, author of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya light novels is a genius. When you read the MAL synopsis, you already know that this movie will leave you enthralled if you watch it."

Summary:
+Excellent artwork and animation.
+Silent atmosphere intensify the mood of the story.
+ing characters does a great job improving the story.
+You'll be entertained from start to finish.

...
Watch it already. You'll never regret it.

Nineteen months. That's how long I had to wait for the R1 release of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya to come out. I could've done like most other people, and just see it fansubbed, but I waited, and now I've finally had the chance to see it, on blu-ray no less. Anyway, Disappearance is an adaptation of the fourth Haruhi Suzumiya novel by Nagaru Tanigawa. It takes place after the second season, and unlike the second season, it's been as well-received as the first season, if not more so. Now that I've seen it, I can understand why; it's good.

Story:

It's close to Christmas time, and ... Haruhi has cooked up yet another zany scheme for the SOS Brigade. Kyon, much to his chagrin, agrees to go along with it, knowing the consequences if he were not to.

The next day . . . Haruhi seems to have vanished. Ryoko Asakura is still around, Itsuki never transferred to his school, Mikuru and Tsuruya don't recognize him, and most drastic of all, Yuki is no longer an alien, but an ordinary human with no powers nor memories of what has happened. And Kyon is the only one who finds this strange. It's now up to Kyon to figure out just what happened, and see if he can return to the way things were.

The movie is long, and if you haven't seen the previous two seasons, you won't be able to make heads or tails of what is happening. However, if you like the Haruhi anime, you will like this movie. It is FUNNY. Not only that, it has quite a few touching moments as well. You could call it a comedy-drama, and a very good one at that. And even though it's long, you won't notice, since the film has a good pace, and you'll be too interested in the story to notice. However, there are some confusing things about it, and some things that are left open for a continuation, especially when you consider that this is only about the halfway point in the novel series. But Disappearance is as good as the better episodes as the first season, so fans won't be disappointed. 9/10.

Artwork:

It's like the first season, but with more fluid animation, better CGI, and more detailed backgrounds. In short, the most beautiful product Kyoto Animation has come up with yet, and coming from them, that means a LOT. Definitely see this on blu-ray if you can. I'm amazed by how far production values have come in Japanese animation in the last decade, and this film is a definite example of that. 10/10.

Sound:

Again, about as good as the first season, which would make it totally amazing. There's no new rock songs, but there are plenty of beautiful orchestrated pieces throughout. Again, I have no complaints. Even the sound effects sound amazing.

One reason I waited for the R1 release was so I could watch this in English. And again, Bandai and Bang Zoom own my soul. Could a dub for a foreign film even sound this good? Apparently so. Although I do still prefer Aya Hirano over Wendee Lee for Haruhi, the fact remains that Crispin Freeman will always be Kyon in my mind, and we all who my favorite character is. 10/10.

Characterization:

And speaking of which, Kyon is still an amazing lead. He reacts how you think he would react in a predicament like this, and you see new sides to his character. And you especially see new sides to Yuki throughout this film too. We also see more of Mikuru, and luckily for me, she's less of a moeblob in the movie, which I appreciated. We get some good character growth here. We still don't see much of most of the minor characters, but we do get some great scenes with the major players. 9/10.

Enjoyment:

As I already said, I enjoyed this as much as the better episodes of the first season. Would I say it's the best the anime version has to offer? I don't know. I do know I really liked it, and I'm not gonna get rid of my copy anytime soon. How could I? The humor alone makes it worth the purchase! The only thing that worries me is . . . do I have to read the novels now, if I am to see what happens later? I really don't want Kyoto Animation to abandon this franchise. 9/10.

(LATE EDIT) And with this came the last thing Kyoani made I like. From here on out, it would be unfunny comedy, loathsome facial designs, and moe pandering. Enjoy Kanon, Clannad, and Haruhi while you still can!!!!!!

ittedly, I was never much of a fan of the series. In fact I don't particularly like Haruhi all that much. I watched season one and she really rubbed me the wrong way, but I decided to give this film a try since it was getting so many positive reviews, and I’m glad I did. Simply put, this film is brilliant.

I think there are a lot of similarities between The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (TDoHS) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (TGWLTT). I felt both were trying to give a similar lesson despite the fact that one is saying "aim for the ordinary" whilst ... the other was saying "aim for the extraordinary". The underlying message is simple: You never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. Personally I think TGWLTT is better but only marginally. In TGWLTT, Makoto gains powers that allow her to shape the world around her and only gradually do we see the problem emerging. However in TDoHS, Kyon’s world changes at the start of the story and he has to figure a way out. This means that the story has to focus more on the conflict, so there’s not as much room for comedy. Not only that, but Makoto in TGWLTT learns her lesson in a more subtle manner than Kyon did. That’s not to say to say TDoHS’s way was worse. The moment the entire film is leading to, Kyon’s final decision and the introspection involved was by far the best part of the film and one of the most memorable moments for me. I simply prefer the way TGWLTT did it, since it gave a stronger impact for me.

However, there’s one thing TDoHS had that TGHLTT doesn’t and that’s background. As you probably already know, TDoHS is just one story in an overall series, with the previous stories giving it more depth. It also provides some amusing jokes, even if you haven’t seen the other stories. For example, I have no idea why Nagato has a room that can’t be opened because it contains Kyon and Asahina frozen in space and time, but I sure as hell find it amusing that it’s there. Another thing I think TDoHS has are better characters, partially helped by their stronger background. The two characters that are given the main focus, Kyon and Nagato, are so incredibly memorable with both characters given such significant exploration and depth.

It does take a while to get into, though. It took a whole 40 minutes just to get past the premise of the story with Kyon even lampshading on how long the prologue was, 20 minutes in. The story is, overall quite slow and much of the craziness in the series is vastly toned done. I actually like the upbeat craziness but I can’t complain about the lack of it in this film since this new tone as a serious and introspective story was so incredibly well done.

I'll be blunt right up front and to the point. Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is a fine movie, great even depending on how you view it but it has a few overwhelming flaws that keep it from being all that I could be. But before I get too far into that I will put this up since, this review is not going to garner much sympathy. I liked the original series and that in no way holds sway over the opinion I'm about to state. So no more stalling on to the review.

Chances are you have already heard of the original series the Melancholy of ... Haruhi Suzumiya. And by some miraculous turn of events you live in a rock cave in the Himalayans and have not heard of the craze that is this show. I'll spare you a summary and just tell you to watch the original series. This movie is up and foremost made for the fans. While is not necessarily a requirement to watch the original it is pivotal to your over all enjoyment of the movie, as you enjoyment will increase exponentially depending on how much a fan you are to the original. Not to mention the numerous references to not just the two TV series but the manga to. Much the to the delight of fans and confusion to others.

The sound and art design have always been terrific in this series and this movie is no exception. The animation is crisp, and fluid. With many things being animated in every shot. The sound and music being on the same level with plenty of orchestrated pieces to fill out its terrific sound track.

The characters of Haruhi have always been a tricky point in the series. On one hand we have our terrific duo Kyon and Haruhi. Both of whom are wholly original and entertaining character and the series is always at its finnest when those to on the field with each other. Than on the other hand we have everyone else. Asahina, Nagato, and Koizumhi and others These character are beyond one dimensional to just being simple charater traits repeted at nauseum. Thats not to say they are not entertaining but they sure do lack any depth or complexion. Any attempt at complexity that does turn up for them is not shown through their actions but instead inferred through others.

But now on to the really meat of the movie the story. I'll be blunt right up front and say this. Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is one of the most horribly paced and agonizingly slowly plotted movies I have seen regardless of medium. This plot simply put does not need over two and half hours to be told. While it approaches nothing near the redundancy that was the Endless Eight, this doesn't excuse it. The story itself is rather simple. Think Its A Wonderful Life except its Haruhi who disappears and Kyon is the only one who re anything, though not quite that simple thankfully. I won't spoil it for you except that its not necessarily predictable and has a few plot twists and one as* pull near the end. Plus it all ties up nicely for long running fans a newbies alike. But the entire idea of taking your best character and making her disappear is not a very good one, since as a said earlier, the show is always at its most entertaining with Kyon and Haruhi. So most of the movie hinges on how well Kyon can the movie. On this note he does his irable job. They try to spice things up by changing up Nagatos character, but all they end up doing is replacing her stoicism with vulnerability and shyness and it falls flat. Plus Kyon's monologues only can go on for so long before he starts repeating himself. Yes, they do evolve over the course of the movie, this did not need to be dragged out for such a long time, because lets face it there was only so much to say.

In conclusion Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is a fine movie that has a few major flaws keeping it back from being what it could. The movie simply put needed editing and a lot of it. I meandering, molasses fulled pace coupled with it lack of Haruhi until well over half way through and then the fact that Kyon alone with his monologues is not enough to this behemoth 160 minute movie. Fan will no doubt delight in every minute of it but everyone else keep a finger on the fast-forward button for its going to be a long ride.

Rather than calling it The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, a more appropriate title would perhaps be The Melancholy of Kyon, because now it’s Kyon’s turn to make his decision. In essence, this movie is a major opportunity for character development of not just Nagato, but more crucially, of our beloved narrator as well. In the previous seasons, it is mainly about Kyon being dragged into situations and going with the flow. It was just always about Haruhi. The series was pretty much about Kyon observing and commenting upon Haruhi's actions. Sure, he gets pulled into all the bizarre events, but as far as he is ... concerned, he is just an observer. A key trait of the Suzumiya Haruhi series lies in Kyon’s narration to the hijinks that goes on around him. This movie thus goes beyond that, serving as a platform to truly explore his thoughts: where beneath the sarcasm, the continuous face-palms and the frequent sighs, is one who does genuinely enjoy the ludicrous situations that he sardonically remarks upon.

Shoutshitsu thus acts as both a response to and contrast with Yuutsu. In Yuutsu, Haruhi’s melancholy is derived from her frustration with how normal, how mundane the world is and thus yearned for some fantasy to exist. This climaxes with her almost re-shaping the world unknowingly due to her Reality Warping. As we already know, this results in the finale that is her subconsciously acknowledging that she is satisfied with the current world and that even though there is nothing supernatural (not that she knows of, of course), that’s fine with her. The world may, in her eyes, be boring but that doesn’t mean she has to follow suit. She can make life interesting for herself as long as there is the SOS Brigade to take command of. Kyon started out being similar to her; from the narratives in Yuutsu (more prominently in the novel's prologue), we can see how outwardly, he behaves like the average, typical guy, but well, the narratives say quite a lot. However, rather than get frustrated like Haruhi, he just heaved a sigh and moved on.

Haruhi, and by extension the other of the club, hence made him regain the fantasy that he used to have. The events in Shoushitsu thus challenged Kyon: the stable but very much dull world or the exasperating one filled with Espers, Aliens and Time Travelers? His long epic rage against the heavens of a soliloquy in Shoushitsu is his answer, a callback to the opening narration in Yuutsu's prologue. That’s why Haruhi got along so well with Kyon. The paths both of them took may be different, but in the end Kyon shared the same sentiments as her. This movie is Kyon’s affirmation that John Smith is every bit as eccentric as Espers, Reality Warpers, Aliens, Time Travellers and any other oddities.

Next, we have Nagato as the second focal point of the film, where we get to see her as beyond the emotionless doll that she was in the series. Or rather, it would be more appropriate to say that in the series, her development as a character was mostly subtle, more of a gradual build-up whereas the film finally provided her the vehicle to express more of herself. Last but not least, is none other than the titular heroine. As the name of the movie may have revealed, Haruhi does not have much screen time, but she does get her moments and similar to Nagato, one can see the stark difference in the world without the SOS Brigade. All in all, the movie excellently ties in the dynamics of the characters, bringing about a fulfilling addition to the franchise.

KyoAni certainly went all out on this, for the production value is high in more ways than one. 5cm/s often gets praises about it being a movie comprised of amazing wallpaper-worthy scenes. Well, Shoushitsu deserves to claim some of the limelight in the visual department too. It’s not just the details given to the background, as the animation such as the characters’ movement is fluid - the scenes as envisioned by KyoAni are fantastic and I particularly like the snow motive that is being used throughout the film.

When it comes to audio, the studio didn’t hold back either. The voice actresses of the film’s main heroines sing the theme songs, so it sure is nice to hear the upbeat and energetic “Bouken desho? Desho?” as the opening theme again. This is contrasted with the ending theme: a quiet, soothing track by Chihara Minori. In addition, great use of orchestra pieces during the appropriate scenes. Hirano Aya returns to portray Haruhi’s over-energetic personality while Chihara Minorie did well in depicting the differences between both worlds’ Nagato. The highlight however, has to be Tomokazu Sugita, who shows just why he is the ideal voice actor for Kyon. Prior to this film, I’ve always been considering his best role as being Sakata Gintoki of Gintama. Shoushitsu just shows that yes, his role as Gintoki is great, but Kyon is not to be overshadowed too. The superb voice acting, along with the meticulous animation for the facial expressions, thus combines to convey an emotionally poignant and memorable performance. Indeed, his soliloquy near the end of the movie is absolutely fantastic. It shall suffice to say that every element in the movie worked seamlessly, for good art style and pleasant audio alone are not enough. In short, the movie is well paced and the scripting is well delivered.

Top-notch production values, intriguing storyline with poignant scenes, delivered by distinctively memorable and very much appealing characters, this movie is in essence, a perfect combination of faithfulness to source material and production staffs’ own creative input. This certainly is one adaptation done right, for it didn’t just meet my expectation: it exceeded it.

*The above is a spoiler-free version of the review. For the version that includes potential spoilers, see here:
http://mizunoyuutsu.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/shoushitsu/

In a circle of best friends, typically, the most significant, yet least noticed friend is the one who never talks. The quiet friends just eat their two-dollar lunches, type away on their computer, or read a book while the others have fun chatting. Therefore, expecting the quiet friend to destroy the world and create a new one would be similar to questioning the possibility of an alien’s existence in one’s neighborhood. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is about a quiet friend.

North High student Kyon’s world changed abruptly a week before Christmas. He woke up early, walked up the hill to school, and met his classmate, ... Ryoko in homeroom. Later, he discovered that the leader of his club, Haruhi, was absent, along with his fellow club member, Itsuki. Mikuru, his crush, even forgot his name, and in bewilderment, punched his face. Furthermore, his best friend, Yuki, has started to wear glasses again. To a normal student, it’s only a bad day that coincidentally involves the whole of the SOS Brigade, but to him, it’s a global scale dilemma. As quoted from one of the prequel novels, “Freud would have a field day with this.”

Ryoko was supposed to be dead by Yuki’s hands. Itsuki was an esper. Yuki was an alien who lost her glasses while killing Ryoko (who was trying to provoke Haruhi by killing Kyon). Mikuru was a time-traveller. Each of them were supposed to keep Haruhi Suzumiya from destroying the world.

Why watch The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya? Yes, the story is a 10, the characters are a 10... everything's a 10. However, none of these alone make Disappearance memorable. The moral is the most important part.: the loudest scream is the scream of silence.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is quite possibly the best movie I have ever watched. The characters, ranging from sarcastic Kyon to dangerous Haruhi, are lovable on various degrees. It is well worth the one-hundred sixty-three minutes of time, and the time that the next movie, The Disappearance of Yuki-chan Nagato, will take up. No matter how much the viewer knows about Haruhi, he or she will have their heart touched by this melancholic tale of a boy and his strange friends.

10/10 for everything, and deserves to be mentioned alongside even Miyazaki movies.

(Note: This is written all by me. It looks like the one written on LoidNerdy101's DeviantART, because I am him. Ask him for proof, and you'll see that it's me.)

As a heads-up, this is my first review on this site, so here goes.

Gosh darn this movie.
I already loved the show, for reasons unknown even to me. Then, along comes this movie, saying "Let's do ALL of that, but even better!" I can only like you so much, Haruhi. I am incapable of any more love.

Story: 10
So, my only major issue with the original series was the plot, and even that wasn't a big deal to me. So, now imagine being given a cohesive plot for a couple of hours. The pacing felt wonderful, and I loved the fact that they didn't make it a ... simple "this is bad, I must fix it" problem for the main character. There were reasons for him to leave the world as is, and without going into spoilers, they were legitimately heartwarming ones.

Characters: 10
The ONLY thing in this movie that was stronger than the story was the cast of characters. Kyon is the same as his old self: snarky, and a bit pessimistic, but still lovable. Asahina's personality is the same, but with less people surrounding her (hi-jinks ensue). Koizumi and Haruhi are oddly dull... well, for Koizumi and Haruhi. However, it's Nagato that steals the show. Sure she's the same, shy girl we knew, but now she's showing emotions. And that face... Stop Kyoto Animation, for you are breaking my heart with that smile.

Art: 9
The art style is terrific, taking the already pretty designs from the show and shooting them with a budget like there's no tomorrow. The only thing keeping it from being a 10 is a minor lack of pizzaz, and that's a nitpick really.

Sound: 10
Haruhi music is Haruhi music. It will always blend perfectly with the scenario. In addition, one piano theme is played a few times throughout the movie (including bookending it at the beginning and end), and it is honestly one of the most heartrendingly appropriate pieces I have ever HEARD.

All-in-all, this is a movie that I cannot recommend enough. It's funny, sad, happy, and Haruhi ALL over the place. I'd recommend it enough that I'd say watch the entire show, just so that you can be prepared for this movie. Bonus points if you watch it on Christmas, a la "It's a Wonderful Life"

You know, I had my fair share of problems with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, even though I think it's overall a solid anime. Too many experimental themes and plotlines, practically unnecessarily convoluted timeline/watch order, and I never really felt like it had that big WTF type of moment (except for the God Knows scene but that scene is kinda random honestly and isn't really relevant to the main story) that made it stand out. That is, until I watched The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. I'm not joking when I say it is worth to watch the entire 28 episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi ... Suzumiya just for this movie.

This movie has one of the most well thought-out and intriguing plot, with some fantastic plot twists that really sucks you into the story that constantly keeps me on the edge of my seat. It manages to build upon everything that was established from the two seasons and utilize it to its maximum. The overall quality is just a complete step up from the already good Kyoto Animation quality, with fantastic art and music. I really enjoyed the pacing and I feel like it is a rare case where an light novel movie actually got its time to build up its story.

And of course we can't talk about Haruhi Suzumiya without talking about its fantastic cast of characters. What makes The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya particular interesting is that Haruhi herself isn't really present (cuz she's "dissapeared"), and this allows Kyon, which was already a fantastic character, even better. Kyon's monologues was always a huge part of why the original seasons of the TV series was so good in my opinion, and the movie was able to elevate that. Kyon's ultimate realization that he does enjoy the time he's spent with the SOS Brigade was such a satisfying conclusion to the movie as a whole. But the character that stood out the most was of course Nagato, and I liked how it was the SOS Brigade that slowly made her, a humanoid interface, slowly learn what it means to have "feelings" and slowly becoming "human", without making it feel like the cliche "kuudure slowly gains emotion" trope.

This is just one of the most satisfying conclusion to a series, and definitely solidfies The Dissapearance of Haruhi Suzumiya as one of the best anime movies of all time.

Kyoto Animation makes also this movie here, Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya. Well to see and understand the Story i belief just the Viewer musst see Season 1 and Season 2 bevore. In the plot is many of the history from Haruhi Suzumiya and the other of the SOS Brigade, here in the Haruhi Movie as maincharacter installed. Oh yes Haruhi is in the Movie very sympatically, Kyon are more in the basisplot involved and Yuki Nagato human. Mikuru plays here a interest role she standing by Kyon and be adventure round to Kyon's search from Haruhi.

To be honest I just found out recently that the haruhi suzumiya series had a movie. Then once i saw how high of a ranking this movie got, i wondered to myself..."Whats so great about this movie anyway?" ...The Dissapearance of Haruhi Suzumiya...i mean it just sounds like an episode title or something ordinary.

However..now i know why this anime got high ranking!!
NOTE: its best if you watched the first 2 seasons of Haruhi Suzumiya series to understand some of the scenes in the movie.

This movie was actually pretty emotional and it keeps you on edge. Like you never know whats going to happen ... next. The whole movie is told from Kyon point. And i watched the english dub and i say the english dub is pretty good (i watched both series in english too). All in all the movie is enjoyable, you may cry at some points, but if you love the haruhi suzumiya series then this movie is a MUST WATCH!!!

Usually, when it comes to the most popular animes I usually don't jump on it as fast as some people may, but I end up watching it anyway to see if the hype is really worth it. But in Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu (The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) I actually enjoyed it way more then I expected to, so here is my review.

Story:

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya story was a lot better executed the the original series itself it takes place Following on from the events of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime series, the story takes place from December 16 until December 24, ... a month after the cultural festival. The SOS Brigade, led by Haruhi Suzumiya (Aya Hirano), makes plans to have a nabe party for Christmas. However, on the morning of December 18, Kyon (Tomokazu Sugita) arrives at school and finds that the very nature of his reality has changed; Haruhi and Itsuki Koizumi (Daisuke Ono) are missing, Ryoko Asakura (Natsuko Kuwatani) has mysteriously returned, Mikuru Asahina (Yūko Gotō) does not recognize him and Yuki Nagato (Minori Chihara) is an ordinary human. Only Kyon is aware that everything is different and no one else re anything about Haruhi or the SOS Brigade. The only clue Kyon manages to find is a bookmark left by the alien version of Yuki before everything was changed, telling him to gather "keys" to run a program. While wondering about this clue, he gets to know the new Yuki, who appears to be quite fond of him. As December 20 comes, Kyon learns from Taniguchi (Minoru Shiraishi) that Haruhi was at another high school the whole time, along with Itsuki and others formerly from his school. By revealing his identity to her as 'John Smith', an alias he had used when he travelled back in time to assist a young Haruhi, Kyon manages to convince Haruhi to believe his story. With her assistance they gather the SOS Brigade together in the club room, thus bringing the keys necessary for a program built by alien Yuki.

Characters:

Now i'm going to give KyoAni tons of credit on the characters, they decided to put character development, yes, character development, Kyon, Haruhi, Nagato, etc all act different in a serious way we never seen them before and this was very refreshing. Kyon not acting so sarcastic and taken life more serious, Haruhi acting more mature and not so much as a hyper active 12 year old girl and I would have loved if the original series would have incorporated this element in the series too.

animation/sound:

Now this is KyoAni so you can expect the best of the best with them. Scenes where animated very well, some scenes where breathtaking and beautifully well done.Sound was also a plus with well orchestrated music and ballads that I thought fit the movie very well.

Overall The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is actually in my opinion a lot better then the original series itself and thats saying a alot, Characters being well develop, story taking itself more serious and showing how a moe anime can be just as good as some other anime movies. Yeah, this movie may have flaws and its NOT PERFECT, but if you hated the original Haruhi series this movie stops all your bad opinions about go away, well maybe not but you get what I mean.

Really, I juz knew this movie recently, although I've kept on hearing "The Disapperance of Haruhi Suzumiya" back in 2009, but I really haven't thought of it or somehow maybe watching K-On! and the other KyoAni anime made me lost track of Haruhi.

It's already 2014 now, and I saw this movie juz a while ago of May 13. Back in 2007-2009 I have much otaku-connections, which I don't have anymore [I still have 1 to 2 otaku friends whom I can call my friends as well as connections] after 2009, since my otaku-connections were like, from 2007-2009 and I split up with them because ... well, I juz grew up, I guess. The entire Haruhi Suzumiya anime, this brought me to a lot of emotions and events back on those years/days. I ed "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" were like a fad, especially the "Hare Hare Yukai" danced alongside with Lucky Star's "Motteke Sailor Fuku".

For me, I rated 6 to 7 on the Haruhi series, and I get it that a lot of people like Haruhi because of the KyoAni animation quality rather than focusing the slow-paced, dragging-story; but this movie, I rated it as 9.



STORY = 9
I hope [since I haven't seen anything Haruhi nowadays, guess KyoAni moved on alright] this will be the last thing EVER for KyoAni to produce Haruhi Suzumiya, because this movie settles everything the series worked up so far. This movie is the definite conclusion to the entire reason why a normal high schooler [Kyon], along with a time-traveller [Mikuru], an utsuujin humanoid interface [Yuki], and an ESPer [Koizumi], to entertain and keep on entertaining the melancholic "godlike" Haruhi Suzumiya. Trust me, those who raises brows or even loathe on the entire Haruhi-storyline [I loathed their entire endless-8 episodes, a lot expectation for looping-episodes where only otakus like to point out fine details what differs each of those 8, but I'm only an "anime fan", not an otaku; so IMO that loop could have been a 2 to 3-part OVA and I wouldn't mind.], you juz need to watch this to bury your hatchet. There couldn't be a greater conclusion from the Haruhi Suzumiya series than this movie.


ART = 9
I well-ed the 2006-esque (or season 1) Haruhi art, and the movie shows the blend of K-On! anime-technology but still retains the distinguishable 2006, which is the reason why a lot of people like this show for its animation rather than saying "why am I watching this again?".


SOUND = 9
Brings back memories hearing "Bouken Desho Desho" again. Yeah my feels man, my feels!


CHARACTER = 8
I mostly got this 8 rating on the conclusion of the movie. But yep, Kyon is Kyon, Haruhi is Haruhi [who has fewer screentime here], Yuki, Asahina-san, and Koizumi are still them, yep that's it. Although I can say that it makes me think Yuki Nagato [due to the events in the movie] must have been turned into a "Windows 8" in this movie, while she's a "Windows 7" in the series. Yeah that was a joke.XD


ENJOYMENT = 8
This movie caught me sitting a well 2hr 42mins and says "worth it!". If they [KyoAni] shortened the prologue, I could have given this a 9. Also, there were some sorts of "anticlimax" so that's also a -1 point deduction, hence a rating of 8.


OVERALL = 9

The ever-known title "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya",
I have lots of reminiscence on this anime: this is the show where an era of my life led me to some otaku-exploits and seeing and befriending real-life otakus in my locality, calling themselves (ourselves) as "Anime Kyoukai" [though I'm not attached much on that kyoukai thing~~goes to show I'm really juz not "otaku" compared to a lot of people there], got a girlfriend (now ex-gf) cosplayer, well, things like that. By real-life otakus, I mean those otakus who really, you know, DUEL with duel cards, they have "chuunibyous" in their system, and are know-it-all in anime that has a manga, anime, and visual-novel versions in it (eg. Fate/Stay Night), so yep meeting them is...somewhat a good experience. BUT I have to grow up, and leave them behind (I still see them in anime-conventions even 'til now, so I guess that's just them, 20+years guys still loving what they love to do).

One thing I can tell about the series Haruhi Suzumiya though, is even though a very very very lot of people like it, me and my ex-gf (and some other anime-fan-friends) never get much of the hype about this show, no matter how KyoAni-ish this is. Sure, it's KyoAni, but back then in 2007-2009, there really never has a term "KyoAni", but more of "Lucky Star", or "Haruhi Suzumiya", or "Clannad" [and only top-otakus got the gag about Konata and Haruhi = because both Konata Izumi and Haruhi Suzumiya are voiced by Aya Hirano; and yes they told me about that so I was able to understand it like them], the term "KyoAni" started to evolve on when K-On! came up. But that itself is the nice ring to it.

With this movie, I guess this is the right conclusion to the entire Haruhi Suzumiya legacy. KyoAni has moved on to make shows like Free! and Kyoukai no Kanata, but the Haruhi Suzumiya is already immortalized. I'm contented and didn't regret watching this movie at all, and I felt I fulfilled that 2007-2009 part of me who wished to see this movie, too, and that's it. Haruhi Suzumiya and her memorable friends lives on as part of the KyoAni legacy, and to the fans who love this ever-bored peculiar tsundere-disputing [I ed otaku-friends of mine debated if Haruhi's a tsundere or not, and I was like "why are we arguing about this?" but yep that's what otakus are and I guess I would never fully understand why it matters to them, but it was fun] Haruhi Suzumiya, this movie is definitely for them.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is an impressive addition to the Haruhi series, a welcome alleviation to the disastrous fiasco that was the Endless Eight Arc. It marks the return to a more plot-driven series, and the events of the “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody” episode become a central part to the movie’s story.

The movie starts off on December 16, eight days before Christmas Eve. The first twenty minutes of the movie are pretty much like a typical Haruhi slice-of-life episode, centering on whatever spews out of her mouth. However, come December 18, everything and everyone around Kyon change for better or worse. Haruhi and Koizumi attend a ... different school. Nagato and Asahina are normal people and unaware of their former lives as supernatural monitors of Haruhi’s godlike powers. And of course, the homicidal maniac, Asakura Ryouko, is back, although it seems like she’s just a normal person as well. Kyon quickly becomes paranoid and resolves to solve this major dilemma.

It’s hard to say much about the plot without spoiling it, but it’s captivating, with plot twists that are sure to keep you engrossed, despite its daunting time length and somewhat slow pacing. However, the movie creates an even bigger mess with the timeline, making it even more inextricably complex and creating paradoxes that we’re expected to ignore or forgive. Then again, this isn’t anything new anyways.

What stands out most though in this movie is the character development, namely with Kyon, Nagato, and, to a lesser extent, Haruhi. While still a central character in the movie, it’s somewhat ironic (albeit surprisingly suiting because of the movie title) that Haruhi isn’t the most explored character. Certain ideas are insinuated about her relationship with Kyon and we gain a little more understanding as to what happened that fateful day three years ago. Instead, Kyon and Nagato are the primary focuses of this title. In the TV series, we see Kyon as a sarcastic guy who prefers to eschew Haruhi’s various antics, despite ultimately getting dragged into them. However, in the movie, it becomes clear that Kyon has been deceiving himself all along, and this ultimate realization leads to a fantastic and emotional scene. Also in the TV show, I believe Kyon mentioned that Nagato actually has emotions hidden under her poker face and might even be tired from keeping up with Haruhi’s unremitting tomfoolery. We see what exactly he meant here. Furthermore, Nagato’s “normal” counterpart provides possible insight on who Nagato really is. All the other characters remain the same personality-wise except her. While she is still a reticent bibliophile, she can actually express emotions, blushing, showing fear, etc. And of course, the movie delves further into Kyon and Nagato’s relationship with each other.

Unfortunately, Koizumi has an almost irrelevant part in the plot, although I don’t him doing a whole lot in the TV series anyway. Asahina has a crucial role, but we don’t see a whole lot of character development going on with her.

While the movie does a good job answering most of the questions the viewer might have over the course of movie, some things are left unexplained and confusing. Without spoiling the plot, I felt certain things happened without reason or explanation. Nonetheless, these didn’t ruin the experience at all.

The animation is fairly good, but it’s just a slight improvement over what you’re used to seeing with the TV series. To be honest, the music isn’t all that noticeable, though I suppose it helped give the scenes more feeling, and there’s probably only one piece I actually liked. Voice acting is fantastic like always, especially with Nagato, whose seiyuu expresses the emotions in her voice perfectly.

Ultimately, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is pretty damn good. The plot is slow-paced, but highly engaging. The character development is top-notch. It even has some great, emotionally-driven scenes that have the potential to make an impact on you. This movie is a reminder of how good the Haruhi series can be, and for fans who began to doubt the animated franchise after the Endless Eight Arc, this should help to restore a little faith.

There are three major parts worth mentioning about this movie: Character Development, Character Interaction, and Style.

First off, it is a MUST to see the original series in order to fully appreciate the character development occurring in Disappearance. Throughout the original series, generally all of the characters were static with very little change to who they were from the first time they are introduced. Even the two main characters, Kyon and Haruhi, are essentially the same from beginning to end regardless of watching the show in chronological order or airing order, as the only change that seemed to occur was Kyon's ability to better accept the ... situation.

With Disappearance, the main focus is the development of Kyon as he is sooned faced with a reality too harsh for him to accept: a life where everything is logical. The entirety of the original series was focused on the daily life of a quintet of abnormal high school students with their own unique backgrounds and reasons to become acquainted with Haruhi. So when all of the fantasy is taken away, the only "normal" person of the group is then given a choice to accept this new reality he himself had wanted, or return to how the world was supposed to be.

While at a glance this idea of alternate universe existence is a reused plot in many stories, it helps bring a real sense of indecision to what Kyon really wants and presents a real conflict for Kyon to overcome. On a side note, it is also acts as a an interesting concept to be debated during and after the movie.

Next I would like to mention the character interactions. From beginning to end, the characters all fit within the universe of Haruhi Suzumiya, but because of the normally abnormal characters suddenly becoming abnormally normal people, in comparison with their original characters, a whole new light is suddenly shown upon the personalities of these heroes and heroines. Certain traits of each character become more apparent and is then shown in the light of a "normal" person, rather than the show's abnormal individual. All of these new interactions, however, help tie back to the development of Kyon as we watch him interact with these now normal characters, and helps juxtapose their new found normal-ness with his abnormal-ness, which was not as apparent in the original series.

Finally, though this the most opinionated part, is the style. Anime itself is an art both visually and storytelling wise. Very few scenes in the movie are without reason, every scene is meant to either create tension or further the overall tone of abnormality necessary to bring out the meat of the movie: the characters. There are some nice visuals, but the main focus is never to have a flashy moment to create a wow factor, but rather enhance the experience, as visuals should.

If there is anything to complain about, it would be the run time as it is a movie that requires you to pay attention. However, every scene is necessary to create the experience and even skipping a little would dampen it and make it less enjoyable than it should be, so as long as a long run time is not a problem it is fine.

As a recommendation, I would suggest watching this in the English Dub. Normally I prefer watching anime with the original voice acting and subtitles, but Crispin Freeman does a phenomenal job voicing Kyon. Not to say Tomokazu Sugita's performance was sub-par, but Crispin gave Kyon so much life through his performance that you could really feel the emotion in his words and it never felt fake.

To break it down:
Pros:
+well-executed character development
+interesting character interaction
+directing and visuals greatly enhanced the experience
+amazing english voice acting

Cons:
-long run time
-requires full attention

My first review! Yippie! Brace yourselves, for those who have yet to watch this beautifully crafted piece of work. The movie in itself is quite long. If you're not prepared to sit through almost 3 hours worth of this movie, then you better get yourself ready.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya was very entertaining. One winter day, before the Christmas break, Kyon discovers that Haruhi has gone missing and all the other students in the school do not have any recollection of her ever being there. Even the other are acting strangely too. No one is an alien, a time traveler, or an esper. ... They are all normal human beings. Yuki is no longer a kuudere, but now a shy girl with actual emotions. Mikuru doesn't seem to recall that Kyon and her ever became friends. And Itsuki? Well.... he's not in the school.

Throughout the movie, Kyon tries to figure out what happened to Haruhi, until he eventually stumbles on a lead by his friend of her whereabouts. Haruhi Suzumiya does not attend Kyon's school. Instead, she is enrolled in another school with Itsuki by her side.

Story wise, it was pretty well done. As the movie progresses, we start to see some mysteries becoming unraveled as to why Haruhi disappears.

After watching this movie, I had a pleasantly new found appreciation for the Haruhi franchise. This is something you can enjoy even if you never liked the main series to begin with. Although, I do advise you to watch at least the first season of the series before you start with this one.

Generally speaking I don't really watch anime movies(?), as if it doesn't have any other franchise, the amount of cut scenes usually destroy any semblance of enjoyment I get out of the story. And about this movie;

First thing I gotta say is that this movie is long. And I mean really long seriously; 2 hours and 40+ minutes. It didn't help that it was pretty late in the night when I sat down to watch it. But did I consider it a waste of time? Hell no!

The movie tells us the story of what would happen if Haruhi Suzumiya never came to ... North High(if I'm not mistaken about the school's name). As you can guess Haruhi being the god/ time distortion/ a much more evolved version of humanity/ etc. that she is, when that school is out of the picture, never gets to create the aliens, time travelers and espers.

So what happens when Kyon suddenly wakes up in such a world, his whole world turned upside down?

In my opinion the movie had one thing the previous franchise lacked: Character development. Taking on a much more serious approach, showing us the shock, panic, horror, hopelessness Kyon experienced throughout the movie, the story and the characters itself deserves 10 out of 10. Art itself is easily superb as it was with the previous show and the music itself was pretty much spot on.

It may seem a little too generous of a rating, especially from someone who didn't like the anime all that much (I'm looking at you Endless Eight). The movie from what I heard at least follows the light novels much more closely and that's a plus in my opinion. Though gotta say that I haven't had the chance of reading them yet.

If you want to see a character driven and much more serious version of the previously and still loved by many Haruhi Suzumiya, this movie is for you.

And If you don't have any idea about what Haruhi Suzumiya is? - Well, This movie is too long to watch while wondering; Who the hell is he/she? What the hell is going on? What're they talking about?

This movie was a menace to my principles; it brought me closer to my utter nightmare, finding the perfect work worthy of my perfect score. The reason I am scared of anime this powerful is because if I do find a perfect work, anything I will watch after it will seem boring, prehistoric or otherwise not as good. This anime challenged this principle of mine that a perfect work cannot exist. Even having said all that, I am still hesitating on the final score since it was without question one of the best works I have seen; I will it for a long time.

The ... first thing that should be mentioned about this movie would be that fact that it is imperative that you watch the first episode of the second season of this series, you will still be able to enjoy the movie if you do not see that episode, but the experience will less likely be as pleasurable as it could. The story in this anime is actually pretty complicated, simply because is has to be more deduced and guessed rather than it being simply thrown on the spectator, making it a very interesting and developed story. This said complexity pushes you to theorise and elaborate on things you took for granted or thought were immutable if you are a suzumiya fan. Sadly, to comprehend the actual movie you have to have watch at least the first season of the suzumiya chronicles, else you will not understand a thing and will be lost by the time the two and a half hours are finished, then again, even if you have seen the suzumiya series, you will probably still be slightly lost by the time the credits roll. And that is the only thing i can actually criticise, the fact that this movie was so complicated was what made it so enjoyable but so confusing and sometimes irritating, that is the beauty of this movie, it confuses you to a point you are forced to reflect to comprehend and actually made it a very enjoyable experience. Unsurprisingly, the mood of this movie drastically changes from the anime to this, being less of a comedic parody and focusing a lot more on character development and on the drama part that was slightly showed in the anime, yet, this change only positively affects the overall outcome of the movie. I have read some complaints everywhere on the net about the fact that hahuri suzumiya wasent present enough in the movie and that it made it boring, if you are such a person, i will be pleased to refer you to the actual title of the movie (hence the disappearing part) and gently ask you to shut up. The main aspect that i found interesting was the character focused story rather than event focused story, plus we actually got a focus on kyon’s character which is simply amazing. In the end, all the changes made in the story rendred it amazing, all the changes from the anime we loved absolutely fitted in the movie I now adore, it was simply amazing.

Ps: question everything, especially kyon’s origins. It might bring you interesting reflections.

Obviously enough, the characters in the movie were as breathtaking, if not more, than the characters in the anime. The story shaking the very foundations of the anime actually did the same thing to the characters, ever so changing them and revealing a part of them that was left unexplored (as i mentioned in my first Haruhi suzumiya review). The fact that we are shown this new aspect of the characters refreshes the subject and actually made the whole experience not only as breathtaking as the anime but surprisingly traumatic and even odd. Then again, that weirdness only complemented the actual beauty of the final work. Also, the fact that we are shown this new side of the characters permits us to define their personality and their background a lot more, it permitted us to completely redefine the characters and make us bond with them again. In the end, I was not only entirely astonished by the characters; it also brought me back to the point of worship of Haruhi I was before the endless 8.

I don’t know what to say about the artwork. By that I mean, isn’t it obvious that it is simply amazing? It was detailed, beautiful, smooth, nice, magnificent, and almost made me depressed because it was realistic and made my world look like total crap for a second. The real beauty of the movie was actually the details of the facial expressions and the care they took to make it representative of the emotions lived by the characters.

The music was also obviously amazing, but better than that the movie actually exploited almost perfectly the impact of silence. The music was excellently placed and very emotive, it stated perfectly the emotions shown in the scenes. It was perfect.

In the end, this is definitely one of the best works I have ever seen. It was complicated, yes, but it was wonderfully special. There is no way comprehend how I appreciated this anime. I recommended it to anyone.

Best quote:

Ryouko Asakura: hey... Hey! What’s wrong? I was trying to talk to you before but you’re acting like you have just seen an alien or something.

Kyon: -seeing an alien wouldn’t be unusual, I saw something far more ridiculous.

Entertainment: 10/10

Value: 10/10

It was that good to me, and I would recommend it to anyone.

It would be impossible to watch this movie without being well acquainted with the previous two seasons of Haruhi. You have to know what is different in order to follow the story. This is also a great story for those who are into the relationship stuff with the different characters.

It simply begins with Kyon waking up one day and Haruhi is gone, no one re her, and Nagato and Asahina are normal humans. I found myself pulled along with Kyon's tramatic experience of a world without Haruhi, wondering if he is happy that his life is normal as he always wished and mentally complained ... about.

All in all, this is a Kyon and Nagato movie and really a wonderful delve into both their characters.

A Note about the Series (no spoiler):
I know most people hated the Endless Fight episodes, and watching them and waiting a week and watching and waiting and frustration and disbelief and waiting and waiting and waiting and then Finally. Victory! Something different! And then impressed that they had the balls to go eight episodes like that. And when i watch the season again (someday soon i guess) i'll probably skip some of the endless fight, or watch it and pick out the difference camera work. But nothing could remake that first feeling and relief and jumping up and down that Kyon got off his butt and fixed the problem! And the relief that it was finally over! It was a victory and really different experience as a viewer. So i don't hate it. It made me appreciate Haruhi a little more.

I will get straight to the point, this movie is one of the best out there. Although it is a movie, it is considered as the second season of the Suzumiya Haruhi series so you might want to watch the first season, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya first before watching this, since it requires prior knowledge of the series for you to fully understand the movie.

Story: The story revolves around the protagonist Kyon, who somehow finds himself in a messed up version of his world wherein there is no SOS Brigade, and it’s as if they’ve never met. He then tries to find a ... way to return everything back to normal and to find the culprit. Now, although the story seems pretty straightforward, no it isn’t. It starts out like a normal day for the protagonist then one morning, nobody re the name of his friends and his friends seems to have forgotten him. The movie is somewhat confusing, since things like time travel and parallel worlds are involve, it does its best to clarify everything in the end, leaving no plotholes(for as I can tell anyway) and giving detailed explanation for all the events. Also, one thing I could say is that it contains a lot of mindfuck moments, wherein you can never tell what will happen next, and even if you do there is always a twist or something. Overall I would give it a 10/10 for being one of the most interesting movies which actually made me think about what will happen, and not just provide cheap entertainment.

Art: The way it was animated was good. The characters were drawn well, the movements were well animated, pretty much like any well-animated anime out there. I would give it an 8/10 since it is pretty much just like any anime out there, nothing special.

Sound: Yes, it is wonderful. I especially liked Kyon’s narration of everything that was happening, as well as the voice acting for all the characters. I was actually only going to give this a 9/10 but then I heard the song at the end credits, so +1 point :)) 10/10.

Character: The characters were just awesome. Since everyone in the SOS brigade turned into normal humans (minor spoiler I guess?), it allowed some pretty interesting changes in the characters. I mean come on, how often do you see Nagato blush? The movie made certain developments in the characters, showing what they might actually be if the events in season 1 never happened, all while keeping the story interesting for the viewers.
Overall I would give it a 10/10, because it showed something vastly different from season 1, yet it still successfully kept the story interesting, and also because i’m diggin’ the long-haired Haruhi :))

Enjoyment: This movie WILL keep you on the edge of your seat, since there is no telling what will happen next. The scenario itself allows for some pretty wild yet very plausible outcomes, then throw Haruhi into the mix, who is pretty much the most random character in the entire anime universe, you’re bound get a really interesting story. I would give it a 10/10, because it WILL keep you hooked, and it will never get old, no matter how many times you watch it.

Overall: With everything I mentioned above, I can easily say that this is one of the best, if not the best animes of all time. As a story-driven movie, it did its best at keeping the viewers hooked, was very successful at doing so. I would say that this movie is very deserving of all the attention it has received and I would gladly give it a 10/10 for keeping me completely entertained, from the very beginning down to the extra clip at the end of the credits.

btw, english isn't my first language so sorry if there are any errors

This Review is out of 100. 35/100 for Story, 35/100 for Characters, 15/100 for Sound, 15/100 for Animation

Story (34/35) Nice atmosphere, intriguing story, better end than the series.

Characters (33/35) A lot of much needed development for the entire SOS Brigade

Sound (13/15) Great, fit this movie very well.

Animation (14/15) Top notch.

... Overall (94/100)

I can't be the only one that was surprised that this amazing movie came from Haruhi Suzumiya. The series isn't bad, but this movie is so much better. The storytelling is a lot more dark and complex than the usual Haruhi series. It starts out only a little more dark (due to it being winter) and the beginning is what you would expect from the usual Haruhi episode, but the rest of the movie is completely different. The atmosphere is totally changed from the show, and it is a welcomed change, as it fits this sci-fi time travel story like a glove. The story can get really complex and confusing, especially if you aren't paying close attention. This was the first and only time this series has ever confused me, and I was glad. I didn't know what was gonna happen next, and kept me at the edge of my seat, something the series could not accomplish in 100 years. (34/35)

You got tons of character development in this: everyone from Kyon, to Koizumi, to God herself all get some important and needed development. The two characters that get the most are easily Kyon and Nagato. This movie explores what Kyon really thinks about the SOS Brigade, now that he is given that chance to go back and be normal again. Sure, most people would kill to be in his position, as they always seem to be having fun, but Kyon never seems to like his life all that much. Nagato is surprisingly human in this movie, and we get to know a lot more about all the mysteries surrounding her. (33/35)

Unsurprisingly the music is great, as is the rest of the movie. It was tweaked to fit the movie's darker atmosphere better and did a pretty good job. (13/15)
The dub is also pretty good, I suggest you try it before trying the sub.

Since we are still talking about Kyoto Ani here, the animation is top notch, an some of their best work to date. Fluid, good looking, pretty much everything you come to expect from a blockbuster movie like this. (14/15)

This was an amazing movie and easily one of my favorites. The only reason it isn't 100% perfect is because the series is not as good and you sort of have to watch the series to appreciate the film. Some characters might get on your nerves, like Mikuru.