Haruhi Suzumiya

Psh watch all eight and truly understand the horror!

Also watch it from a technical perspective it's very interesting especially the cinematography and costume design.

There are six or seven novels' worth of content that hasn't been adapted to anime. One of my favorite stories there is "Snowy Mountain Syndrome," which concerns the gang getting trapped in a surreal mansion on their winter holiday trip.

Aside from other short stories, there are two novel+ length stories: The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya (novel 7) and The Dissociation and The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya (novels 9 and 10-11, respectively; Surprise is split into two books, but these three books form one mega-arc).

Admittedly, though, and perhaps this is just my opinion, I found both Intrigues and Dissociation+Surprise a bit underwhelming. They are actually rather similar to Melancholy and Sigh in some sense, which I found inappropriate: didn't really get a feeling of forward momentum, that things had changed or were progressing toward something. I think Tanigawa may have felt this way, too, which is why Surprise hasn't been followed up with a mainline novel.

To be fair there was a four year gap between Disassociation and Surprise. While it's been longer than that since Surprise came out that doesn't mean we aren't getting a followup.

edited 12th Nov '15 10:14:27 AM by Chariot

I don't think the author has any idea how to wrap up the series, so if you insist on getting a satisfying ending you might as well move on to another series. If that doesn't bother you, then you might as well read the novels and watch what anime there is.

Honestly, if you're looking for a satisfying ending, you should probably not read light novels that aren't self-contained or actually complete with a satisfying ending.

In my experience, the two seasons of anime capped off with Disappearance make for a decent arc.

Alternatively if Surprise doesn't get a follow up then its ending would count as one where it's implied more stories will happen offscreen in which case YMMV as to whether that's a satisfying ending or not.

edited 12th Nov '15 11:10:35 AM by Chariot

I'm mainly just interested in seeing the Haruhi character development. It has been a LONG time since I watched the first season or whatever it was but while there were hints of a better person in there, that's all they were. I have read a lot of defenders shouting down Haruhi haters by saying "she changes later!"

I'm curious to see if this change is for the better. Her being less of a bitch might rob her of her...um..."charisma" or whatever you want to call it.

Does she soften up a bit? Yes. A bit. Enough to, for example, participate in secret Valentine's Day chocolate making. Not like she's so direct as to announce it as such, though.

Is this for the better? Arguably, no. I think once she does get a little nicer and more sociable, Tanigawa runs out of steam. She's no less charismatic, I think, but the stories themselves no longer involve her character growth as much...because she's kinda done. And as a character arc, it does leave me a little dissatisfied because I would've liked to see her go a little further—not necessarily in being less abrasive, but just in how her goals change.

The problem is that Haruhi's goals are, and always really have been, to have fun and goof off with friends. Once she starts to accept that, the threat of her dissatisfaction begins to fade, and the uneasy alliance between the various factions and Kyon changes to genuine friendship (for the most part). That's why you get outside conflict like the Anti-SOS Brigade bringing the focus back to Haruhi's powers rather than the silly stuff the Brigade gets up to.

I agree that goofing off with friends is something Haruhi wants, but that's not at odds with her quest for the unusual or strange. And while the last novel gives some hints about how her mindset toward that will change, I'm still not satisfied with that. There's just too much unknown about how she changes from who she is now vs. who she will be in the future.

She doesn't really believe in the abnormal in the first place. Hanging out with friends fills that need of hers, and the desire for the abnormal naturally disappears. It was implied that she'd just be a normal person in her future.

(x5)

Disappearance definitely, when you get a chance.

The scene with the train still gives me chills.

edited 12th Nov '15 8:38:33 PM by Soble

She doesn't believe in the paranormal? That's an interesting interpretation. Can't say I see it entirely that way. I've always felt that searching for the paranormal was Haruhi's way of searching for people like herself—people who don't quite fit, who feel out of place with the rest of society. Part of that is a search for meaning, too. I think Haruhi feels like only fantastic beings like those would understand and appreciate what she's realized about life and that other people simply would not relate.

Now, finding something worthwhile in the Brigade helps her realize this is not the case, but I don't think she'd be so smart to realize that her obsession was pointless in this respect. People have a hard time letting go of things like that.

It's the interpretation Itsuki gives in the very beginning. She wants to find the supernatural, but doesn't actually believe in it (which is why it's all hiding from her: actually finding it would defy her own expectations).

I don't think she'd make a conscious choice to give up looking, she would just steadily forget about it as she enjoys herself.

Yeah, that's basically my reading of it too. Haruhi doesn't really believe in it; even the elements of her subconscious wish-granting that are the hardest to ignore (cherry blossoms in August?) are just brushed off. Haruhi is kind of a skeptic, actually.

In some ways, opposite of Kyon.

So whatever happened to Haruhi? Is it Deader Than Disco? Everyone was raving about it a few years ago but then it just kinda...faded away.

Did this second season really do all that?

No, it's because the author hasn't written anything new for it in years and the last novel before that one also came after a gap of several years.

edited 14th Nov '15 12:54:01 AM by Arha

...But it is dead now though.

Setting aside the spinoffs, yes, it's been dead for awhile and probably isn't coming back unless the author finally figures out something to actually do with the setting.

The obvious thing, for me, would be for Haruhi to learn the truth somehow. Of course, where you go from that is a different story.

Actually... there was a fanfic that took that idea and ran with it. Kyon Big Damn Hero.

Pretty sure there have been a few fanfics with that premise. BDH just cranks things up with the massive multiplayer crossover and multiverse stuff.

It's a real shame, what happened. I actually really enjoyed BDH.