[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya episode 2: Now it starts properly!
After the bizarre first episode I was in two minds about this series. It consisted almost entirely of an amateur video which, if it were to be made for real, would be to magical girl anime what Peter Jackson’s Braindead is to zombie films. Only worse. It was not until the final scene that we meet the show’s cast proper; because this little snippet left little to go on in terms of forming an opinion on the show I decided to give it another chance.
This ep jumps back to where it all began: as her first-day-at-high-school introduction Haruhi Suzumiya stands up in class, informs them that unless you are an alien, ghost or ESP-er she doesn’t want to talk to you. She then sits down in defiant silence to looks of bemusement (not to mention amusement) from her new classmates. In the scenes that follow we see how this attitude causes Haruhi (above) to have no friends; a situation that doesn’t seem to bother her one bit. Despite her antisocial attitude it has the reverse effect on classmate Kyon, who has the (mis)fortune of sitting in front of her in class. Intrigued by this strange girl and her strange views he actually manages to strike up a conversation with her, or as near to a conversation as anyone can have with her. During one of these strange exchanges Kyon suggests that if Haruhi isn’t interested in any of the ordinary school clubs she might as well start her own…
At first I must admit the thought “not another high school comedy…” crossed my mind but fortunately while The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is indeed a high school comedy it is at least an enjoyable one. The best way to describe it (and its lead character) is ‘quirky’: Haruhi is most certainly weird, very obnoxious, possibly insane but at least she’s interesting. At this stage there are just the standard high school stereotypes who surround Kyon and Haruhi but the way that the two of them interact is entertaining on its own. Kyon doesn’t pass judgement and accepts the oddest of things with curiosity instead of overreaction: the precise qualities that a conversation with Haruhi requires. This means that he is the only one in class who can actually talk to her and as a result the two of them get on remarkably well. It’s a bit early for making predictions like this but I wouldn’t rule out some sort of romance between Haruhi and Kyon…of course, he would have to be an alien or ESP-er for this to be on the cards (okay, that’s two predictions)!
Anime high school comedies often rely on fanservice and slapstick to deliver the laughs, which rarely works for me. In the case of this show the sharp dialogue, rapid camera pans and dry humour offer a different type of comedy that has a ’sitcom’ feel to it: not in the American, Friends-style “look at Me! I’m soooo witty!” sort of way but more in an understated and deadpan fashion that is quite refreshing.
I had a much higher opinion of Haruhi Suzumiya at the end of this episode than I did at the beginning. If the supernatural themes that Haruhi goes on about actually make an appearance I can see the show doing very well; equally this particular type of comedy works well from my own personal perspective (the only way to find out if it’s to your taste is to see it for yourself) so it succeeds there too. Right now the series looks promising - I seem to share Kyon’s view that Haruhi Suzumiya is odd and slightly nuts but that just makes me want to get to know her better.
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