Haruhi is… very… strong-willed.

I.E. She’s a crazy bitch.

Hahaha… her character is fairly close to what I pictured except she’s quite a bit more pushy and uncaring. I thought she’d just be a weird girl but she goes a bit beyond “just weird.”

I.E. Above and beyond weird.

She’s definitely fun to watch and quite hilarious with her antics but not quite “there” yet. What’s “there?” I’ll let you know once she gets “there.”

I.E. Once I figure out what “there” is.

On another note, I feel sorry for Mikuru.

In any other series, a character like her would go through these embarrassing scenarios, complain/cry and what-not, then go right back to normal and wait for it to happen again. Mikuru genuinely looks hurt and sad. I can’t tell if it’s part of the comedy yet… I wouldn’t normally feel sorry for characters like Mikuru but I really do for her.

And of course, lastly…

WTF was Yuki goin’ on about at the end?

See, this is about where I probably should be laughing. Or saying things like “hahaha, that’s silly, I wonder what’s gonna happen next?”

Unfortunately, I can’t. I pegged this anime to be more silly comedy than anything and though it has made me laugh a lot, it’s unveiling in a manner that’s making me go “hmm, what’s this about” more than “hahaha, next!”

Like, Yuki saying she’s an alien and shit… I should be laughing at her silliness but instead, I’m sitting here thinking “oh wow, is she?”

Maybe my point is that these characters come off as a bit more real than I originally assumed. They actually seem to have feelings and emotions… and shit, there might actually be a genuine story to this anime. Not quite sure if that’s a good or bad thing, yet.

Now that was a much more understandable first episode.

……..no, not really.

Hahaha but it was an interesting episode, for sure.

This was just an “introduction to the characters” episode. It wasn’t much but now I have a good feel for Haruhi’s crew.

Haruhi is every bit as weird as I read about… and I love it. She hasn’t quite displayed a completely unique personality but she’s definitely not a cliche. Yuki and Mikuru easily fit cliches (for now) but this isn’t called “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and some other girls” so no biggie. Heh…

I can definitely see myself enjoying this series since Haruhi is an interesting character… but that’s only part of it.

Kyon isn’t a perverted idiot. He’s well-spoken, patient, level-headed, and almost… mature. Sure, this probably won’t turn into a romantic comedy but it’s so refreshing to watch any type of anime set in a school where the male MC isn’t a complete jackass.

I give him a Haruhi thumb’s up!

I surely hope he doesn’t end up as an idiot, though. Even if Haruhi is the most fantabulous character in all of anime, if he turns into a worthless cliche, I’ll end up dropping this series.

Sonuva, Kyon was a good guy and I still ended up bitchin’ about whiny male MCs… and there was none in this episode… WTF…

(Yes, it’s the Japanese name. I’m using it cuz it’s shorter… plus it rolls off the tongue nicer than The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)

I put off this series when it first came out then went on my lil anime break and completely forgot about it. Since I’m gettin’ back into things, I definitely shouldn’t pass up something that’s so widely popular, should I? I’ll be watching this on DVD as they get released but will probably blog them by episodes opposed to discs. Or not… we’ll see.

Now without further ado…

Yep. This definitely constitutes as one of the strangest first episodes.

Evar.

Granted, it’s more like a preview episode than anything but even then, it doesn’t exactly preview a whole lot. I did get a solid sense of most of the characters so it wasn’t totally funky.

Oh yeah, it was funny as hell, too. The commentary was the main reason why I was laughing so damn much. If it wasn’t for that, this episode would have been a horrible start. Oh man, I sooo related with the commentary. It’s the same shit I’d talk about with my buddies if we were watching something cheesy. Almost too real I tell ya.

In the end, just a fun watch and it really piqued my curiosity for these characters.

Unfortunately, Haruhi didn’t make much of an appearance until the end.

After all I’ve read about this series, I’m really interested in her character. Her personality and even the bulk of her character seems unique. Plus, she’s voiced by Hirano Aya who’s doing an awesome job as Konata in Lucky Star. Okok… I also really find her voice fun to listen to.

The animation is solid. There’s more movement than just flapping mouths… by far. The jittery and “sloppy” camera effects during this episode were done well. I easily got a sense of watching an amateur video. Of course, I can only expect good things from Kyoto Animation. I won’t expect this to be as impressive as AIR but if it’s at least at Kanon 2006 level, I’ll be content.