Poll: Advice on "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya"

[blackrave]

I haven't watched this anime, but I've heard this is really good, so I want to watch it
Problem is there are at least 2 watching orders, from what I've read/heard
One is chronological- a bit anticlimactic, but closer to source material
Another is airing order- with climax where it should be, but not exactly true to intended order
Also I found another order that mix both seasons together

Spoiler

01. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 1
02. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 2
03. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 3
04. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 4
05. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 5
06. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 6
07. The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi
08 (01). Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
09. Mysterique Sign
10. Remote Island Syndrome Part 1
11. Remote Island Syndrome Part 2
12 (02). Endless Eight
13 (03). Endless Eight
14 (04). Endless Eight
15 (05). Endless Eight
16 (06). Endless Eight
17 (07). Endless Eight
18 (08). Endless Eight
19 (09). Endless Eight
20 (10). The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 1
21 (11). The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 2
22 (12). The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 3
23 (13). The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 4
24 (14). The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 5
25. The Adventures of Asahina Mikuru ep 00
26. Live Alive
27. The Day of Sagittarius
28. Someday in the Rain

I'm not afraid to be slightly confused, but I just want to watch it in most enjoyable order
So what is the order fellow escapees would advice me to watch this series?

 

[Elfgore]

This is on my watch list, but it may be taken off it is this fucking complicated to watch it. I know it is supposed to be all supernatural and whatnot, but honestly this just hurts the show.

I also think you are missing the movie, which I have heard is considered on of the best anime movies in existence.

 

[blackrave]

This is on my watch list, but it may be taken off it is this fucking complicated to watch it. I know it is supposed to be all supernatural and whatnot, but honestly this just hurts the show.

I also think you are missing the movie, which I have heard is considered on of the best anime movies in existence.

I think it is after anything else
(in any order list I have seen)

 

[Little Woodsman]

At the anime club I used to attend we watched the first season in the order in which it was aired, and we *loved* it.
YMMV of course....
For the second season...it's perfectly acceptable to skip the middle six episodes of the "Endless Eight"...you get the point with just the first and last episodes of that arc. Watch them if you want but...

Spoiler: spoiler

They are literally the same episode over and over again, with minor details such as the clothes that the characters are wearing & the first bug they catch on their bug-catching day being different.

And *do* cap it all off with the movie, not sure if I'd say it's one of the best anime movies in existence, but it is excellent.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I also think you are missing the movie, which I have heard is considered on of the best anime movies in existence.

It's better than the actual show, although the ending practically kills the entire movie. No matter how good it is it can't escape the fate of nearly every anime show movie.

OT: Just watch it chronologically, it filters out all the filler episodes.

 

[Rowan93]

The correct order, as I understand it, is the airing order of the first series, followed by S1 and S2 in chronological order (the order they were put in for S2 to air).

I myself just watched S1 in airing order and then S2 in airing order, because I was watching it over the course of less than a week and I'd determined I was going to watch all of Endless Eight, so re-watching episodes in addition to that wasn't going to happen.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I watched Season 1 chronologically when I first saw it, and enjoyed it just fine. The second season I watched in airing order.

Oh, and be weary of Endless Eight, and keep in mind that you can skip it anytime you want (that wasn't really an option for people who watched it when it first aired, so be thankful.)

And save The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya for last.

 

[Someone Depressing]

It's complicated. Watching it is a challenge.

Read the books first. The books are amazing; they were even remade with a more slaptstic and insane sense of humour. However, the anime is pretty true to the books.

Do not let Kyon's rants about nothing confuse you. Sometimes, he'll go into monlougues that not only make no sense, but are insanely funny for a strange reason. Consider them completely seperate.

Do not laugh at I RAB YOU. You'll never see that flamboyant bastard in the same way again.

 

[Asita]

Chronological. Airing order will start you off with something you will not get unless you're familiar with the series, the characters and the elements involved. Also, in my humble opinion, the elements within the story don't lend themselves particularly well to a non-linear style.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I say watch it in airing order, and skip endless 8. For the endless 8 arc you can just watch the first and last episode, since the rest of the episodes are all exactly the same.

I watched Endless 8 as it was airing and it made me want to punch a baby.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I say watch it in airing order, and skip endless 8. For the endless 8 arc you can just watch the first and last episode, since the rest of the episodes are all exactly the same.

I watched Endless 8 as it was airing and it made me want to punch a baby.

Any reason they decided to do it that way? My brother was a fan of the show, but I couldn't stand it, but I have to admit, I was puzzled at this Endless 8 thing and how it was all the same, how did they not get lynched for it?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I say watch it in airing order, and skip endless 8. For the endless 8 arc you can just watch the first and last episode, since the rest of the episodes are all exactly the same.

I watched Endless 8 as it was airing and it made me want to punch a baby.

Any reason they decided to do it that way? My brother was a fan of the show, but I couldn't stand it, but I have to admit, I was puzzled at this Endless 8 thing and how it was all the same, how did they not get lynched for it?

I have no idea how they got away with it. I know for a fact that viewership went down like crazy during that arc, and I really don't understand how they didn't anticipate that. There was a pretty big fan outcry at the time as well.

 

[Weaver]

DON'T watch it in the airing order.

I watched it in combined 1&2 and really liked it. This is also known as the 2009 broadcast order. The show was re-broadcast in 2009 in yet another order of airing. This was a FULL chronological ordering combining both seasons and makes way more sense IMO. I even manned through the endless 8 and watched the entire anime in one day . Out of the FIVE viewing orders ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Melancholy_of_Haruhi_Suzumiya_episodes#Episode_list ), this one is the one I recommend the most.

Watch the movie after you've seen the show, it's a really amazing movie but it does not in any way stand on it's own.

I say watch it in airing order, and skip endless 8. For the endless 8 arc you can just watch the first and last episode, since the rest of the episodes are all exactly the same.

I watched Endless 8 as it was airing and it made me want to punch a baby.

Any reason they decided to do it that way? My brother was a fan of the show, but I couldn't stand it, but I have to admit, I was puzzled at this Endless 8 thing and how it was all the same, how did they not get lynched for it?

There are actually really small differences in each episode (different clothes, sometimes they're eating different food, etc). Other than that, it's one hell of a grind that must have taken some gargantuan balls to actually air with.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I say watch it in airing order, and skip endless 8. For the endless 8 arc you can just watch the first and last episode, since the rest of the episodes are all exactly the same.

I watched Endless 8 as it was airing and it made me want to punch a baby.

Any reason they decided to do it that way? My brother was a fan of the show, but I couldn't stand it, but I have to admit, I was puzzled at this Endless 8 thing and how it was all the same, how did they not get lynched for it?

I have no idea how they got away with it. I know for a fact that viewership went down like crazy during that arc, and I really don't understand how they didn't anticipate that. There was a pretty big fan outcry at the time as well.

Ah okay, so the fan reaction was negative toward it at least. Because that sounded like some lazy ass excuse for an "arc".

 

[Akytalusia]

put down a vote for the chronological mixed seasons order. but, about endless 8; i'd say give it a shot if you -really- enjoy the series and can appreciate the effort beyond the content, since from what i recall, despite being duplicate scenarios, the actual scenes and dubs were made independently from each other, and not just copied, so they're actaully all completely different from each other if your brain contains a discrepancy detection program. but if you're a normal person with things to do, then don't feel bad if you just want to watch the first and last episodes, you won't be missing any new story related content. -.-...

 

[Weaver]

put down a vote for the chronological mixed seasons order. but, about endless 8; i'd say give it a shot if you -really- enjoy the series and can appreciate the effort beyond the content, since from what i recall, despite being duplicate scenarios, the actual scenes and dubs were made independently from each other, and not just copied, so they're actaully all completely different from each other if your brain contains a discrepancy detection program. but if you're a normal person with things to do, then don't feel bad if you just want to watch the first and last episodes, you won't be missing any new story related content. -.-...

To this day I still contest it was a level of avant-garde genius we rarely see in anime. It also makes a world of sense with the haruhi movie.

Spoiler: PLOT SPOILERS

It lets the audience tangibly feel the exhaustion put on Yuki, who is the centerpiece of the movie. We only saw 20 minutes 8 times in a row. Yuki went through 15,532 summers. I forget the exact wording in the movie, but her "emotions" were like an accumulation of floating point rounding errors or the like. Doing summer 15,532 times obviously added very heavily to the accumulation of errors or whatever it was that made her actually gain a semblance of emotion in the movie.

All that said, it doesn't mean it was pleasing to watch and anyone should feel free to just watch the first and last one if they're short on time

 

[Redd the Sock]

Chronological. I swear the people behind the anime like fucking with the audience. There's no point to watching the first season in airing order and things make less sense that way. The second season splices into the first, but it really isn't vital to do so (and yeah, no one knows what they were on with the endless 8 schtick.) Then, yeah, there's the movie which is good if rather long. If you're a totala complitionist there are some Haruhi Suzimiya Chan shorts out there, but they're comedic gag side stories.

 

[Palademon]

I think it's best to watch the first series in broadcast order because otherwise the climax is in the middle, and then it's just slice of life.

Then watch second season chronologically. It just adds a bit more, apart from the Endless Eight being horrible.

Overall I watched the first series quite content. Wasn't great, but quite fun.
Second series is fun for the first and last episodes. Endless Eight would've been far more bearable if they had a good justification. The justification was very disappointing.

But you'll need to watch the second series to appreciate the movie, which is great, and came way out of left field. I was expecting a feature length cash in, that would be as decent as the first series.
What I got was TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF EMOTION.

 

[Queen Michael]

Here's where to start. Right here.

The first novel. Go to the source, comrade blackrave.

 

[ThreeName]

Broadcast. It makes it a lot more interesting. I wasn't big on the second season, but the movie is great.