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My favourite anime movie of all time and one of my favourite movies of all time in general – I watch it every Christmas and I’ve got far too much to say about it, haha. This nearly 3 hour long epic is a cinematic masterpiece, and I can’t wait to dive into it. Spoilers ahead!
First Things First…
So chronologically the movie comes after the series, which is titled The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya. If you go straight into the movie without watching the series first (like I did the first time) you’ll have no idea what’s going on. So if you intend on giving the movie a watch, I highly advise you to watch the series first – here’s a synopsis below.
Synopsis
If a survey were conducted to see if people believed in aliens, time travelers, or maybe espers, most would say they do not; average high school student Kyon considers himself among the non-believers. However, on his first day of school, he meets a girl who soon turns his world upside down.
During class introductions, the beautiful Haruhi Suzumiya boldly announces her boredom with “normal” people and her intention of meeting supernatural beings. Dumbfounded, Kyon learns of her frustration with the lack of paranormal-focused clubs at their school and unwittingly inspires her to start her own club. She creates the Spreading Fun all Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, otherwise known as the SOS Brigade.
Following the SOS Brigade’s founding, Haruhi manages to recruit Kyon and three other members: quiet bookworm Yuki Nagato, shy upperclassman Mikuru Asahina, and perpetually positive Itsuki Koizumi. Despite their normal appearance, the new members of the SOS Brigade each carry their own secrets related to Haruhi. Caught up in the mystery surrounding the eccentric club leader, Kyon is whisked away on a series of misadventures by Haruhi and the SOS Brigade, each one bringing him closer to the truth about who and what she is.
Via: MAL
Now that we have the foundation set, let’s get to it.
The Morning Of December 16th.
Kyon wakes up and heads to school on the frosty morning of December 16th. It seems to be a normal day; he finishes up classes and heads to the SOS Brigade clubroom as usual after school. Haruhi is planning to host a Christmas party in the clubroom on the 24th, so she asks Kyon, Mikuru, Nagato and Koizumi if they are busy and could attend, to which they all agree to. Kyon goes home and heads to bed, and this is where the story begins. (I guess this segment could be seen as the prologue).
A World Without Haruhi
Kyon wakes up the next day and heads to school as usual. He sees his friend Taniguchi, so he catches up to talk to him. Taniguchi is wearing a mask because he caught a cold. Kyon finds this weird because when he spoke to him yesterday, he was his usual self and doing well. Taniguchi explains that he’s had the cold for at least a week, and that Kyon should have noticed by now. This is the first event that makes Kyon think something weird might be happening again.
Kyon heads to class and notices that Haruhi is not present. He’s shocked that the virus that’s going round had got the best of her of all people, joking that her energetic, fiery personality could overcome anything. Asakura then arrives at class and takes her seat at Haruhi’s desk after saying hi to a few people. Outraged, Kyon demands to know what she’s doing being alive (again, check out the series to understand) to which she responds with confusion. She then asks everyone in class if they’ve heard of anyone called Haruhi Suzumiya to which they all reply with, you guessed it – nope. Everyone has forgotten about Haruhi and that she ever even existed. Such a good plot twist, the soundtrack mixed with Kyon’s disbelief is so well put together.
Life In The Alternate Reality
Kyon adjusts to this alternate world. He tracks down the other members of the SOS Brigade and they all attempt to send him back to his world. He finds out that Haruhi does exist, she just goes to a different school in that reality. Kyon tracks her down and she joins the team to help send him home. The gang find that the original version of Nagato left instructions for Kyon to return home on the clubroom computer – he follows them and ends up in yet another alternate reality, three years in the past.
The Return To Normality
After travelling through multiple time-spaces, correcting anomalies, Kyon ends up in his original world with the original SOS Brigade. The cause of the world changing overnight was Nagato. She wished for a normal world away from Haruhi’s mishaps so created a world where the members of the SOS Brigade live normal lives.
Conclusion
This film is incredible. The soundtrack is perfect, the cinematography between scenes is incredible and if you know and love the characters this movie is a real gem. This article has gone on for way too long but I only just scratched the surface of the plot of this movie, so go give it a watch if it sounds up your street! Check out our other news at LAN. We cover everything anime and game related, always doing our best to bring you the latest news and episode reviews! Today our recommendations are: Tokyo Mew Mew New 2 New Trailer and Visual, World Dai Star Anime Will Air on April 9 and The Great Cleric reached 2.5 million copies in circulation.
