Anime review: the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Well, for our inaugural Spinning Altar anime review, we have tonight's The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

We watched the first three episodes, which were provided as a preview copy by our lovely Clotho. Wiki says it's a smash hit in Japan, and we had a lot of fun watching - there was certainly a large amount of cackling. I found it didn't really draw me in, though. It was nice to see a lead male character that didn't seem to exist solely to freak out and get beaten up by all the women, and the premise of the series is an interesting one. I found it a bit too referential, though - it made use of most of the anime highschool cliches; aliens, cute shy girls with huge knockers, skimpy costumes, and blackmail.

I do realise I've just made it sound irresistible to some readers. Me, I just didn't quite find it had enough to interest me other than laughing at the deft use of anime tropes. It was definitely fun, but we all agreed we're going back to watching Haibanei Renmei next week.


You can find out more about the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on its Wiki page. If I've made it sound like a must-have, Madman Australia will be releasing it in mid September.

I give it 3 pairs of scissors.