Anime was fine. The Endless Eight was really a Challenge to watch. I would recommend to watch the anime in chronological order otherwise it's a bit complicated. Watch the Movie at last, It was the best thing in this entire series with a great thriller plot.
Chronological Order - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Melancholy_of_Haruhi_Suzumiya_episodes#Season_1
Honestly rather disappointed with this. Loads of plot points that felt unfinished, show felt all over the place. To be honest I only kept watching for the Mikuru fan-service and like most agree the Endless Eight episodes are rather tough to get through (even though they are animated differently with each one). After season 1 the show goes down hill in my opinion.
This is one of my favorite slice of life animes with cool twists with Haruhi essentially being a god and there being time traverlers, aliens and espers all in the mix. The first season is magnificent and while the Endless Eight is brutal to watch all the way through, the rest of season 2 is still great too. Just watch the first 2 and last 2 episodes of EE. Haruhi is probably one of the best female protagonists that I've seen with her energy, impulsivity and overall passion and Kyon is the perfect foil to her craziness. Each episode is entertaining and a joy to watch over and over again. And the movie, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, is just brilliant and makes up for the disappointment of EE. You'll need to watch the series (and make sure to watch it in chronological order, not the season order) to get the movie, but it's completely worth it.
Normally I like to rate individual seasons of a show rather than rating the whole show. However Trakt does not have season 2.
I already have my review of season 1 where season 1 is listed, but in short Season 1 is an 8/10 & has weird humor that I enjoyed.
Season 2 had the same weird humor I enjoyed. For the most part if you enjoyed season 1 you will like half of season 2. There is an infamous part of season 2 called endless 8. I won't go into detail as to not spoil anything. All you have to know about it is that you should watch endless 8 part 1, 2, and the last one. Any more and it is painful. You will know what I mean when you get there.
For Season 2 I'd give it a 6/10. Endless 8 lasted too long and was painful to watch. The other episodes made up enough for it that I didn't give it a worse score.
Since I am doing the whole review the score for the show as it is with 2 seasons. 7/10. Season 1 was good, season 2 had a lot of good stuff, screw endless 8 :sweat_smile:.
Bonus thoughts on the show:
Endless 8. I know I mentioned I really dislike it, but I think the concept is good. I think if it was 3 episodes it would have been perfect. Also the way endless 8 ended was really, really, ... really dumb! You will see what I mean. :sweat_smile:
Pro tip: Skip Endless Eight; Just do it.
Review by NoahBlockedParent2022-01-02T03:06:22Z
First off, figuring out the order in which these episodes should be watched was probably the hardest task for any Anime I've seen, find a chronological list and just stick with it even if things seem off. And that's even after watching things like Steins;Gate which is literally has a different and confusing time travel paradox every other episode.
Kyoto Animation did an excellent job with this one as the animation, sounds, and visual themes all work perfectly to contrast the completely inane occurrences of this show, and I mean inane in the best way. While the story can feel incoherent at times, it really has a remarkably well woven thread throughout the entire show and the character's get fleshed out along the way. Enjoy the crazy ride with this one.
My recommendation for the truly endless eight, watch the sixth one and the last one. Do NOT condemn yourself to watching them all, you will only make yourself miserable or bored of the show unless you do what I did, which is essentially to leave it on as background noise while completely ignoring it.
Then after Season 2 go straight for the movie, Disappearance of Haruhi Suzimiya. It's truly a fitting conclusion for the series and was a nice that had all the niceties of the show wrapped up in one package.