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R2 DVD Reviews
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Thursday, 01 September 2011 00:00 |
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Page 1 of 2
 Haruhi and the SOS Brigade are back for a second season of universe-manipulating fun, and to say that this is a strange one would be understating things. And I don't necessarily mean that in a good way - which is a shame, as the first season was pretty damned good...
The first strange thing to point out about this "season" is the way that it fits in to the show's timeline. When this was broadcast in Japan, it was alongside a rerun of the first season, which itself was in chronological order (as opposed to the out-of-order original broadcast), with the new episodes slotted into the timeline in the appropriate places to create a single 28-episode series. With the UK rights for the first season resting with Beez, though, Manga UK have had to make do with just releasing the new episodes - saving you an enforced double-dip, it's true, but also altering the experience somewhat.
It also doesn't help that the bulk of the new season, the eight-episode Endless Eight arc, is essentially the same episode repeated eight times. Let me explain that in story terms: Kyon's relaxing summer vacation is interrupted by a sudden phone call. - it's Haruhi, wanting the gang to join her in a whirlwind of summer activities, from swimming pools to summer festivals, part-time jobs, and bug hunting. Summers are meant to be enjoyed, after all. But unknown to the gang, at least initially, with Haruhi subconsciously not wanting the summer to ever end, they've become trapped in a repeating loop that shows no signs of ending. Finally, on the 15,498th loop, the gang finally realises what's going on. But how can they break the loop..?
On a purely technical level, this is a great idea - the problem comes in how it's presented. The first episode of the arc takes you in detail through the gang's summer; the second, the same, with Kyon maybe beginning to suffer a few tinges of deja va. The third, the gang realise what's happening, but don't know how to stop it; and so one, with each episode in the arc changing only very slightly in content from the previous. Cleverly, the animation for each episode is completely different - the gang choose different clothes, are shown speaking from different angles, and so on, each episode has been made completely from scratch rather than Kyoto Animation taking the cheap & easy route and reusing footage from one episode to another, and that at least gives you something to look at each time through. But the same story, eight times, with only minor differences each time? I admire their balls for trying, but it really doesn't come off. And that's half the series wasted as a result.
Fortunately, the rest of the series does come off rather better. There's the single-episode Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody tale, a fun little story where Mikuru takes Kyon on a trip to the past with her, and the five-episode Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya arc that follows the making of the gang's Adventures of Mikuru Asahina movie (that you'll have to dig up the first season to see). That movie was, if you remember, completely terrible, and this arc explains why - and it's not just down to Haruhi's lack of directing talent or script. It's the problems that arise thanks to her desires affecting reality again that get in the way. Mikuru Beam? Let's just say that that wasn't a special effect...
It's a fun little arc, but I have to say that by the end of it I'd grown rather tired of the sound of Mikuru's voice - she's got a particularly whiny tone whenever Haruhi's abusing her, and she gets abused rather a lot here. That also meant that Haruhi's antics also wore thin here, too - the way she mistreats those around her and uses them as her playthings is fine and funny up to a point, but I was really finding that the point had been crossed here, pushing her behaviour into distasteful territory.
So far, so hmmm, then. There are some added extras in with this set that brighten things up, though, as the first volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya and Nyoron! Churuya-san shorts have been bundled with the set (volume 2 gets a stand-alone release in October). These were originally created as web-only shorts - Haruhi-chan takes the usual cast (with some subtle changes - Yuki as an eroge game freak? I like it...) and turns the insanity up to eleven, while Churuya-san focusses on the smoked-cheese-obsessed chibi version of Tsuruya to have some fun that veers well into the surreal. As a break from the normal style of the series, these are both great fun - especially as this season isn't up to the standard of the first - and kudos to Manga for including them here instead of just releasing them separately.
Good as they are, though, they don't raise the overall 'experience' above average. The first season of Haruhi wowed me, in a big way, and I still hold it quite dear. This season just isn't up to the same standard, with Endless Eight in particular feeling more like a proof-of-concept gimmick that didn't quite work, than like a genuine attempt to entertain. Okay, up to a point, but firmly in the 'for completeists' camp.
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