Haruhi Suzumiya — BrandWiki

Haruhi Suzumiya

type	TV series
title	The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
director	Tatsuya Ishihara Yutaka Yamamoto
producer	Hideaki Hatta Atushi Itou
music	Satoru Kōsaki
studio	Kyoto Animation
licensee	Crunchyroll
network	CTC, SUN, Tokyo MX, TVA, TVh, tvk, TVS
first	Original airing: April 2, 2006 – July 2, 2006 Rebroadcast: (with new episodes) April 3, 2009
last	October 9, 2009
episodes	14 (original) 28 (rebroadcast)
episode list	List of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya episodes

Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒ) is a Japanese light novel series written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito. It was first published in 2003 by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan with the novel The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and has since been followed by 12 additional novel volumes, an anime television series adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation, four manga series, an animated film, two original net animation series and several video games.

After the anime adaptation aired in 2006, publishing company Kadokawa Shoten received offers for licensing the novels and their adaptations.[2][3] The novels are licensed for English language release in the United States by Yen Press and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and the anime adaptation was licensed for North American distribution by Kadokawa Pictures USA division which then sub-licensed production and distribution to Bandai Entertainment

Plot

Kyon is a sardonic, witty student at North High School in Nishinomiya who once sought to have an extraordinary life, but after deeming the notion childish, now seeks little more than a normal life. At school, however, he ends up befriending Haruhi Suzumiya, an eccentric schoolgirl that sits behind him in class who is constantly seeking to make life more interesting for herself, ranging from doing her hair a certain way each day of the week to actively searching for supernatural phenomena and figures. One day, Kyon accidentally plants in Haruhi's head the idea for her to start a club to engage in her eccentricities, so she establishes a club called the "SOS Brigade" (SOS団), short for "Spreading excitement all Over the world with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade" (世界を大いに盛り上げるための涼宮ハルヒの団) (In the school's official paperwork Kyon renamed it "Support the Student Body by Overworking to Make the World a Better Place Student Service Brigade") to investigate mysterious events, while roping Kyon into being a member himself.

Haruhi soon recruits three additional members: the laconic bibliophile Yuki Nagato, the shy and timid Mikuru Asahina, and the unflappable transfer student Itsuki Koizumi. Over time, these members soon reveal themselves to Kyon to be the types of extraordinary characters that Haruhi seeks: Yuki is an alien interface sent by a hive mind; Mikuru is a time traveler sent from the future; and Itsuki is an esper that works for a secret society. Each of them have been sent by their respective organizations to observe Haruhi, who is unaware that she masters the powers of a god. Haruhi's powers grant her the ability to create and destroy the fabric of reality on a whim. They activate without her knowledge whenever she wills really hard for something to happen or when she is in a bad mood. Each of the organizations believe that should Haruhi learn of her powers or be put in a bad enough mood, it could destroy the entire universe. As such, the three club members, together with Kyon, work to keep life happy for Haruhi to prevent such an apocalyptic scenario under the guise of being part of the S.O.S. Brigade, as well as combating external threats that seek to exploit Haruhi, all while forming a bond as a band of misfits.

Media

Manga

Kadokawa Shoten published two manga adaptations of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series in Shōnen Ace. The first one, by Makoto Mizuno, ran from May to December 2004 issues and was partially compiled in one volume published in August 2004. It was considerably different from the light novels, having little input from the original author. The second series, illustrated by Gaku Tsugano, ran from November 2005 and to November 2013 issues, having been published in 20 volumes,[9] with a younger target audience than the original novels. Though mostly consisting of straight adaptations of the light novels, the manga also included 13 new stories scattered throughout, each one chapter long, and most of them spinning off of one of the light novel stories. On April 17, 2008 Yen Press announced that they had acquired the license for the North American release of the first four volumes of the second manga series, promising the manga would not be censored.[10]

An official parody four-panel comic strip titled The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan by Puyo started serialization in Shōnen Ace on July 26, 2007, and in The Sneaker on August 30, 2007. It ended on December 26, 2018, and was compiled in twelve volumes. The first bound volume was released on May 26, 2008, and the last on May 1, 2019. Yen Press licensed the Haruhi-chan manga series for an English release in North America[11] and released the first volume on October 26, 2010 and the last on May 26, 2020. Another four-panel parody manga, Nyorōn Churuya-san by Eretto (Utsura Uraraka), was originally a dōjinshi starring a smoked cheese-loving, super deformed version of Tsuruya, published in three volumes (released in August 2006, February 2007, and October 2007) before being serialized in the magazine Comp Ace between November 2008[12][13][14] and October 2009 issues and being released in one bound volume.

Another manga, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (長門有希ちゃんの消失), also by Puyo, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace between the July 2009[15] and September 2016 issues and was compiled into ten tankōbon volumes. It is set in an alternate universe of the altered timeline established in the fourth light novel, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, where Yuki Nagato is an accident-prone video game addict as opposed to the shy bookworm of the altered timeline and the laconic alien of the original timeline. Yuki-chan has also been licensed in North America by Yen Press.[16] Another spin-off manga by Puyo, titled The Intrigues of Koizumi Itsuki-kun (古泉一樹くんの陰謀), launched in the May 2012 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Altima Ace magazine on April 18, 2012[17] and the fourth and last chapter was released in the November 2012 issue on October 18, 2012, the final issue of Altima Ace. The chapters were compiled in the ninth volume of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan.

Anime

The anime adaptation of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱), produced by the Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, contained 14 episodes which aired in Japan between April 2 and July 2, 2006. It was originally aired in a nonlinear order, with the prologue and first seven chapters of the first novel intermixed with chapters from some of the later novels. The "next episode" previews feature two different episode numberings: one number from Haruhi, who numbers the episodes in chronological order, and one number from Kyon, who numbered them in broadcast order. The DVD releases start with "Episode 00" and are then shown in chronological order, with Yuki narrating the "next episode" previews.[18]

The anime was licensed and distributed by Bandai Entertainment over four DVDs released between May and November 2007. A complete box set was released on July 29, 2008. It was broadcast in Italy on Rai 4 between October 24, 2010, and February 6, 2011. Each of the North American releases offered a limited edition collector's set featuring the English dub DVD in chronological order, a subbed-only disc containing the episodes in broadcast order, and an official CD release of the opening, ending, and insert songs appearing in the show.

The second season of the anime series was announced in a full-page advertisement of Asahi Shimbun on July 7, 2007, in Japan.[19]

Spinoffs

Two spinoff original net animation series based on the parody manga The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan (涼宮ハルヒちゃんの憂鬱) by Puyo and Nyoro~n Churuya-san (にょろーん☆ちゅるやさん) by Eretto were announced in the October 2008 issue of the Shōnen Ace magazine. The two series were streamed in Japanese and with English subtitles on Kadokawa's YouTube channel between February 13 and May 15, 2009.[13][32] All the voice actors of the original anime reprised their roles in both series. The first DVD of the series was released in Japan on May 29, 2009, with a release on Blu-ray Disc on August 27, 2010. The series has been licensed by Bandai Entertainment and has been dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment for DVD release. The first volume was released on October 5, 2010.[33][34] As with the original TV anime, the two series have been re-licensed by Funimation.[30]

Film

An animated film by Kyoto Animation titled The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの消失) was adapted from the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel of the same name and released in Japanese theaters on February 6, 2010. It was announced via a teaser shown at the end of the 2009 re-airing of the anime.[38] This film has also been licensed by Bandai Entertainment, who released it for the North American market on September 20, 2011.[39][40][41]

Audio dramas

A series of radio dramas have been released. The first volume, titled SOS Dan Radio Shibu Bangai Hen CD Vol.1, is based on the anime version of the series and was released on July 5, 2006, by Lantis. The second volume was released on September 21, 2006, while a third was released on December 21, 2006. A drama CD titled Sound Around, based on the anime adaptation, was released on January 24, 2007, by Lantis.

Video games

Six video games have been produced based on the series. Namco Bandai Games released an adventure game, The Promise of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの約束),[42] for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) on December 20, 2007. Banpresto released another adventure game available for the PlayStation 2 on January 31, 2008, called The Perplexity of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの戸惑).[43][44] It was the 95th best-selling game in Japan in 2008, selling 139,425 copies.[45]

The third game was developed by Kadokawa Shoten for the Wii, The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの激動).

ASOS Brigade

In December 2006, Bandai Entertainment registered the website asosbrigade.com.[57] On December 22, 2006, the website opened with a live action presentation video resembling a fan-made production featuring Haruka Inoue and Akiyo Yamamoto in the roles of Mikuru Asahina and Yuki Nagato, with Haruhi Suzumiya being played by Patricia Ja Lee.[2] The video (in Japanese) confirmed the specifics of the licensing arrangement. After a few days a subtitled version of the video replaced the original on the site, translating the Japanese licensing announcement into English.[58][59] The website linked to a blog on the social networking website MySpace, which entered the list of the top 50 most viewed MySpace pages within 24 hours.[60]

On May 30, 2007, the SOS Brigade Invasion Tour was announced for Anime Expo 2007

Music

The 2006 anime has two opening themes: "The Mikuru Legend of Love" (恋のミクル伝説), performed by Yuko Goto and used as the opening of episode one (sometimes called episode zero),[67] and "It's an Adventure, Right? Right?" (冒険でしょでしょ?) performed by Aya Hirano and used in episodes two through fourteen. The main ending theme of the series was "Hare Hare Yukai" (ハレ晴レユカイ) performed by Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara and Goto which spanned the first thirteen episodes, with the fourteenth episode ending with an extended version of "It's an Adventure, Right? Right?".[68] For the new episodes of the 2009 re-airing, the opening theme is "Super Driver" by Hirano, and the ending theme is "Stop!" (止マレ!) performed by Hirano, Chihara and Goto. The single for "Super Driver" was released on July 22, 2009,[69] while the single for "Stop!" was released on August 26, 2009.[24] "It's an Adventure, Right? Right?" was used as the opening theme of the film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. The film's theme song is "Yasashii Bōkyaku" (優しい忘却) by Chihara.

Among the insert songs used were "God Knows..." and "Lost My Music" performed by Haruhi Suzumiya (Aya Hirano / Wendee Lee) in episode twelve.[70] Segments of Symphony No. 4 in F Minor[71] composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 7 in C Major, "Leningrad"[72] composed by Dmitri Shostakovich, and Daphnis et Chloé [73] composed by Maurice Ravel were used in episode eleven, while Symphony No. 8 in E♭ Major, "Symphony of a Thousand",[74] composed by Gustav Mahler, was used in episode fourteen.

"Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisō" (涼宮ハルヒの激奏) was a live concert event held at Omiya Sonic City on March 18, 2007, that featured songs from the anime sung by the voice actors, which was also featured in episode 15 of Lucky Star. The DVD of the concert was released on July 27, 2007. On April 29, 2009 Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensō (涼宮ハルヒの弦奏) was held in Tokyo with music by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Philip Chu as conductor. The event featured songs and background music from the anime arranged with a classic twist. A CD of the concert was released on June 24, 2009.

The main theme song for the spin-off ONA series, "The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya" is "Ima Made no Arasuji" (いままでのあらすじ) while the ending theme is "Atogaki no Yō na Mono" (あとがきのようなもの), both performed by Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, Yuko Goto, Tomokazu Sugita and Daisuke Ono. A single of the two songs was released on April 20, 2009. Three singles accompanying the other spin-off ONA series, Nyoro-n Churuya-san, were released, featuring songs sung by Yuki Matsuoka.

Reception

Sales and popularity

The first novel of the series, titled The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, was awarded the Grand Prize in the eighth annual Sneaker Awards—only the third Grand Prize given out in the Award's history. The series has become a success in Japan, selling over 4,300,000 copies in September 2007[75] and surpassing 8,000,000 copies when the tenth and eleventh volumes were released in May 2011 after the limited editions set a record 513,000 first pressing.[76] As of 2017, 20 million copies of all versions of the light novels and manga volumes internationally are in print.[77]

According to Newtype USA, the light novels' anime adaptation was the most popular anime series in Japan in December 2006.[78] A 2006 online poll of Japan's top 100 favorite anime, conducted by TV Asahi, placed the series in fourth place. The first two DVD volumes had sold 70,000 and 90,000 units respectively as of August 2006,[79] and by the end of 2007, the seventh installment of the series had sold 45,000 units.[80]

Accolades

The anime placed fifth in IGN's "Top Ten Anime of 2007" feature.[81] The anime won the Animation Kobe Award for TV Feature in 2006.[82] At the Sixth Annual Tokyo Anime Awards, the series won the "Best TV Anime Series" award and Aya Hirano won the "Voice Acting Award."[83][84] The series' spin-offs, The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya and Nyorōn Churuya-san, won the Network award at the 14th Animation Kobe Awards.[85]

At Anime Expo 2008, the series received several awards by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation. Sugita won an award for Best Voice Actor (Japanese), Hirano for Best Voice Actress (Japanese), Kaeko Sakamoto for Best Casting Director, Shoko Ikeda for Best Character Design, Haruhi Suzumiya for Best Character Design, and "Hare Hare Yukai" for Best Original Song.[86]

Cultural impact

The anime series became an Internet phenomenon in Japan, Asia, and English-speaking countries. Over 2,000 clips of the series and user-created parodies and homages were posted to video sharing websites such as YouTube[87] and the Japanese video-sharing website Nico Nico Douga.

One particular homage is the recreation of the dance choreography in the ending animation of the theme song, "Hare Hare Yukai", which generated so much public interest that it was credited for establishing the cover dance genre on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube.[88] The popularity of these clips (and those of other popular Japanese series) led the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) to request that YouTube remove clips claimed to be under the copyright of their members.[89] Business journalist Tadashi Sudo attributed the anime series' success towards coming out during a time when the Internet streaming market was new and being able to take advantage of it.[88] An example described was how Nico Nico Douga was established around the same time the anime series debuted, with the two being able to capitalize off each other's success.

Haruhi Suzumiya

Plot

Publication

Media

Manga

Anime

Spinoffs

Film

Audio dramas

Video games

ASOS Brigade

Music

Reception

Sales and popularity

Accolades

Cultural impact

External links

References

Spinoffs

Film