The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 Episode 1 (sorta kinda....maybe?)

This week marked a special event for many anime fans across the globe. The long awaited day had finally arrived. Those whose patience were tested an inch from snapping were handsomely rewarded. Truly this is the exact opposite of Judgment Day.

Shame on you ALL!

And what exactly is this awesome event? Well, the second season (sort of) of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. REJOICE MASSES REJOICE!

At least I hope there are people rejoicing though. I mean, this anime did first air in April of 2006. Granted that 3 years really isn’t that long of a time period but this is anime we are talking about. A market that has dozens of new shows coming out 4 times a year. After a while people probably got tired of the studios antics and how they were constantly April fooled about when/if a second season would be released.

For those who have been patient reap your rewards and read on.





When the spring 2009 anime line-up was announced there were many upset people across the web. What was this “rebroadcasting” nonsense? Hadn’t loyal fans been put through enough with the “deleted” website that might contain clues to a second season? All that information about the second season being put on hold due to people not agreeing where the series should go was believed yet angered many. So when people saw this rebroadcasting crap they expressed their anger in the form of upset smiley faces -____-.

Yet they (we) were wrong. This was another trick by the studio and we were so use to their tricks we couldn’t actually believe that they were telling us the truth. XD Silly surprises.

Haruhi is like the twin sister my parents never wanted.

The reason behind the whole rebroadcasting this was this series is now being shown in chronologically order instead of INSANE wtf is going on order. So the first few episodes were season one and everyone rolled their eyes. But now, this new episode is number 8 chronological and thus had to be “delayed” as it were. This show borders on this makes NO sense at all so it would have ruined the feel of the series if they had started the spring season off with episode 8.

If you want to continue being a cash cow you better start caring!

Is it a little bit too late though? Are people flocking to this new discovery with renewed spirits for their favorite anime? Or have they suffered from LOST syndrome and grew bored with the huge time in between seasons? Only time will tell but for me it has only been about a year. Had it been three years since I first watched this series I might have a different mindset but a year seems about right for a second season.

Given that this series is a bit unconventional it would be a little special and hard to make a proper summary. Well, maybe not given the fact that the series is now being broadcast in chronically order. But I wanted this episode independently of the others thus it seems random like usual. So yeah, no summary.

In terms of personal opinion this episode felt different to me. I can’t pinpoint what it was exactly but the show felt different. The characters sounded different even though they don’t. Their faces looked a bit off and almost SD at points. Even Kyon’s dramatic run on sentences had lost something but I am not sure WHAT. I am just so good at explaining things.

Art style anyone?

The first part of the episode was pretty boring. Given Haruhi’s usual antics the writing down of wishes was very very tame. Almost normal. Had it not been for Kyon’s fun killing spirit about the whole thing I might have fallen asleep. Crazy Haruhi would have made them write down wishes and later that night accidentally taken them to a dream world were their wishes came true in very bad ways. But….nope. She just may have broken the law to obtain the bamboo shoot but that is barely on the radar with insane Haruhi. You let me down you little psychopath.

Is petty theft all you got O great Haruhi?

The real interesting part of the show consisted of Kyon getting sent back to the past for no reason. Or at least for no reason as of yet. Sometimes Mikuru’s vagueness gets on my nerves. But Kyon was willing to go along with it so he can only blame himself.

Err, okay.

In the past they meet up with Haruhi the middle schooler and she was acting as crazy as ever. Or really, perhaps it was the start of the crazy. In any event Mikuru’s mission was to have Haruhi and Kyon meet in the past. For what reason we are not sure why.

Such a way of words.

But the results of said meeting are….well the entire series. Three years ago Haruhi might have just begun to fall into crazy land. If Kyon had not confirmed her crazy ideas and told her where she could find espers, time travelers, and aliens she might have given up all that “nonsense” and moved on to something else. Perhaps even be normal. Perhaps she would not have had that power at all.

Best codename ever.

So walk with me down this scary thought pattern of thinking. Haruhi creates things with her minds. Perhaps the only reason that aliens, time travelers, and espers exist is because Haruhi wants them to. Someone at time traveling head quarters made Mikuru take Kyon back in time. Kyon then tells Haruhi about time travelers thus making her believe they could actually exist. So according to some of the Brigade members three years ago SOMETHING happened. And that something could be their very existence, that Kyon’s words made her create aliens, time travelers, and espers.

The only school that can house all the crazy.

So in effect…the time travelers sent Kyon back in time to make sure they will exist later? X_X Or maybe that was not their intent but that is how it sounds. That is full of grandfather paradox, Novikov self-consistency principle, and a bunch of other concepts that fly over my silly little head.

As long as 378974 Sakura's don't start showing up I think I will be fine..

Add that to the possibility that Kyon might be the one with the real power and this show is turning into a real cluster….well you know. Everything is a result of Kyon’s casual words. At this rate it will be hard to tell what the heck is going on but that is the point of the show right?

Are you telling me this is all my fault?

I think people who follow the manga will better understand this show than those of us who are only currently on the anime. The time jumps are expected and they already know how most of this is going to play out. Not to say it’s not an adventure now but I am sure they are experiencing something different than I am.

To me this series might be better watching it as a complete whole rather than one episode at a time. It is already made of special without watching the videos out of “order”. So perhaps I will watch the entire series once season two (sorta) is out. But I am pretty much lying and I will watch the new episodes when they come out and I will continue to be confused. It is in my nature! So I hope that this season (ish) makes a little bit of sense and maybe something gets explained. Or if they don’t at least make season three come out in a timelier manner.