Anime Expo 2011: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Review

There are some anime series that become so big, the small screen can’t contain them anymore. It was only a few short years ago that you couldn’t be anywhere near anime without hearing about Haruhi Suzumiya and her S.O.S. brigade. The fandom surrounding this eccentric girl and her war against everything boring eventually became known as Haruhi-Ism, and became a true anime phenomenon. All was well as long as Ms Suzumiya wasn’t bored, which could literally cause the universe to implode, which is ironic because although a movie was inevitable, I was surprised when the movie was dare I say… boring?

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya starts off fine enough. It’s near Christmas time and Haruhi is already planning all kinds of crazy things for the S.O.S. Brigade. As usual, the club members have no objections except Kyon, the only normal guy in the group and the usual straight man compared to Haruhi’s craziness. After all, the other members, consisting of Mikuru, Yuki and Koizumi, are just there to observe. The time traveller, alien and esper respectively, were sent by their various factions to make sure Haruhi never gets bored, while leaving her completely unaware of what they really are.

Then one morning, Kyon gets to school where the unthinkable happens, Haruhi is gone. Kyon is the only one with memories of her, the club or their adventures, and its as if it was all one bad dream. Yuki and Mikuru are regular students, Koizumi is nowhere on campus and none of the other classmates know who Haruhi is. As Kyon struggles with they mystery of why everything has suddenly changed and is forced to find a way to fix it, but after all of the complaining and annoyance towards the group, is he really better off in a world without Haruhi?

First off, I want to say that I was so happy that this was an original film. Too many films based on series as of late are just recaps of the series with Dorritos and Coca-Cola products added in, (*cough* Evangelion.) With that said, this movie is very unfriendly to first time viewers, so watching the two seasons of the series are practically a must if you want to understand what’s going on. Part of the fun of the movie is watching Kyon react to this new world and finding all of the changes, so the viewers who have invested so much time into the show will be intrigued as to why this is happening.  With this being one of the first English screenings, the veteran voice actors like Crispen Freeman, Michelle Ruff and Wendee Lee bring the material to life and add real weight to it, (especially Freeman’s performance as Kyon.) But it’s not long before Haruhi’s presence is sorely missed, and I couldn’t help but think that her disappearance was one of the worst things that could happen to the series.

As much as I like Kyon, he’s only entertaining when playing the foil to Haruhi’s eccentricities. A whole movie with Kyon thinking to himself in a panic didn’t hold my interest for long. I know, at first he goes into a fit of panic and goes ballistic on some of his classmates, which was a surprising turn for the character, but these outbursts don’t last long. In fact, they usually lead to unnecessary monologues to himself and long pauses where literally nothing happens. The centerpiece of the film drags on so much that even a series fan like myself just wanted Kyon to shut up and find her already. And there’s so many false finishes or moments when you think the film is reaching a turning point, only to come to a halt again… I felt like the audience was being trolled hard. The only positive of the lack of Haruhi was way more screen time for Yuki, who is a big part of the film and my personal favorite. By the time the film finally nears its conclusion, the narrative picks up in a big way, and without spoiling anything, it’s jump out of your seat shocking, especially when you’re eyes are half closed for the time leading up to it.

So as it turns out, Haruhi disappearing wasn’t the best idea for the film. It’s like Pokemon without Pikachu. It’s like Dragon Ball Z without Goku. And as weird as it is to say, it’s like Evangelion without Shinji’s constant whining. At about 2 hours and 40 minutes, what really should of disappeared was an hour of the unnecessary stalling. The beginning is the S.O.S. Brigade that everyone knows and loves and the last half hour is edge of your seat exciting, but most of the time in between is the slowest of slow grinds that barely keeps you interested only because you want to know what its all leading to. Only the most dedicated Haruhi-Ists will find the movie worth seeing until the end when it’s released on DVD this fall. It’s just too bad that the girl who hates boredom passed so much onto her fans.