By Cheyenne Ewulu
OK, OK. Everyone today is doing the Chika dance. And it’s cute and all. But let us not forget how real ones were doing the Hare Hare Yukai at every anime con in the world. Those were simpler times indeed.
That’s right, we are going to be talking about the anime that SHOOK the anime world, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Hello, and welcome to Funimation Flashback! The series where I, Cheyenne, revisit some of my favorite titles from my childhood. So, that means the late ’90s through the early ’00s. And as always, you know the drill! Before we get into today’s topic, be sure to follow Funimation everywhere for more anime content just like this.
I remember just how excited I was to finally watch this anime years ago. I swear, you could not go anywhere at a con, or on the internet for that matter, without seeing someone cosplaying or creating some kind of content from this show. I had never seen this kind of hype for an anime in my life.
For those of you who may have missed the hype train, here is a brief summary for you: Kyon, your typical nonchalant, sarcastic teenager, lives a boring life. That is, until he meets his new classmate, the ever-eccentric Haruhi Suzumiya.
She creates her own extracurricular club at school out of boredom called the SOS Brigade which she forces Kyon to join…which ends up recruiting some peculiar students. The quiet bookworm? An alien. The cute sophomore with the big jugs? A time traveler. The handsome transfer student? Esper. And the craziest thing is, they all exist simply because Haruhi has the ability to reshape the world as she sees fit.
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What. A. QUEEN. I love Haruhi because, first of all, me and this girl have the SAME taste when it comes to the kind of friends and partners we want. No, but in all seriousness, this anime is another anime on my GOAT list.
Where do I even start? I’m feeling nostalgic just talking about it. This is one of the many anime where you watch it thinking it’s going to go one way, then goes in a completely different direction, leaving you somewhat confused, but also satisfied at the same time but still craving more.
It’s such a fun, heartfelt show. If you are a new fan and you want a taste of the type of shows a lot of us “older” anime fans had the pleasure of enjoying back then, then look no further. This is the anime to get into.
This anime has one of the most memorable and ICONIC scenes in all of anime history in my opinion. And I know fans already know what I’m about to reference. That’s right, the forever legendary “God Knows” performance!
Seriously. No cap. I remember exactly where I was when I first watched that scene, and I still get chills when I rewatch it. You could tell that the animators took a lot of time and care to make that scene. I remember being mind-blown at how nicely animated the guitar playing was. Kyoto Animation really did the darn thing, and I will forever give them their well-deserved props.
And after all these years, the animation in that scene STILL holds up. It also showed off another one of Haruhi’s many talents. SHE COULD SING! I remember thinking, “What CAN’T this girl do?!” I was having a whole concert in my room like I was there in the audience.
“Lost My Music” was a great song as well. That is one thing I really miss about anime—the character music and soundtracks. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has some really amazing character songs.
Also, the looks in this show were iconic. From the school uniform with the SOS Brigade badge to Haruhi’s bunny suit…fans were cosplaying it ALL. This is an anime that had just a big impact on the anime community.
The ending and opening songs were adorable as well and really got you ready to watch the show. The ending song even came with its own dance number. Talk about good marketing.
Haruhi is just a badass main character overall. She’s pretty much a god, and of course she doesn’t know that herself, but everyone else in the SOS Brigade does. She has godlike powers that are activated depending on how she’s feeling at that moment. So if she’s happy, good things happen. If she’s upset…you get the idea. A lot of the series is just Haruhi’s friends basically trying to keep her happy so that she doesn’t destroy the planet.
Can you imagine having a friend who has the power to destroy the planet you both live on? And it could be anything. Literally. She could get irritated because she bought ice cream and it melted before she could finish it…then BOOM! The world as we knew it would be obliterated. It’s pretty nonsensical and has a lot of sci-fi elements to it. But it’s part of its charm.
I could go on for DAYS about why you should be giving this great anime another watch, but I feel like I covered a lot of the big reasons here. It’s just a nice feel-good show and really one of the best. It’s a quick watch with only 28 episodes.
So, what are you waiting for? Get to it! Or else I’ll tell Haruhi Suzumiya, and that’ll just make her mad, and you know what happens when she’s mad, right? Yeah. Thought so.
UP NEXT: The Works of Kyoto Animation, From Violet Evergarden to Free!
