I just watched the Haruhi Suzumiya movie

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2158807

NOTE: This post is a part of an effort on my end to bring my Reddit content to Lemmy.

Original Posting Date: 30/7/2022

Post:

Update: I just watched the movie again and I've noticed and realised a few more things. Here you go.

Here's a link to my previous post about how I hate Haruhi as a character.

I realised that I hadn't yet watched the movie so I decided that I should go ahead and do that. And I did. Here are my thoughts -

So, first of all, I'm a huge Stein's Gate fan, as is probably obvious by the username. So when I read the title of the movie, I immediately assumed that Haruhi disappearing would be a major theme. However, I was slightly intrigued when it turned out that Kyon was the guy who gets transported.

How does me being a Stein's Gate fan relate to this? Well, there's only one Stein's Gate movie: Load Region of Deja Vu. That movie covers the same plot.

Spoilers ahead for those who haven't watched the movie or haven't seen the series (I highly recommend it. I cannot recommend it enough.):

spoiler

Main Character Okabe Rintarou vanishes from the present Worldline, and everybody forgets who he is. Only person to remember is his fellow lab-member (and my all-time waifu ❤️🤌🏼) Makise Kurisu. She is however slowly forgetting about him and she's on a mission to ensure she doesn't. The movie ends with Okabe coming back to the the real Worldline.

Alright. Now back to Haruhi's movie.

spoiler

So this movie does the same thing with a twist. Kyon (side character that will inevitably become love interest) is the only one who remembers the original world, as he's somehow woken up in an alternate world. A parallel reality. And he spends the length of the movie trying to get back to his original timeline and his world. Which he does. Lol.

Now I have certain things to say about the movie before I talk about the story, or rather the effect it has on the canon.

1. The animation. 🤌🏼 My god KyoAni outdid themselves. I've known about their standards because of conversations I've had with friends but goddamn. I wish I could explain it but maybe I'll just make a video review one day. That'll make it easier. Not that there aren't already tons of those.

2. The Music. 🤌🏼 The score really hits hard. Each and every beat hits you with a metric tonne of emotions and leaves you wanting more. I almost orgasmed just thinking about it. 😌

3. The direction 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 they really took the show's themes to their absolutely perfected version. This is where it really differs from Stein's Gate Load Region of Deja Vu. Stein's Gate is a mental gymnastics show of sci-fi time travel so it's got a more matter-of-factly vibe to it. This movie however has a dramatic flair that really makes it a more palatable consumption for anyone with a basic understanding of the show. And let's be honest, we could skip almost 10 episodes worth of content from the series' runtime and still have more than enough information to watch the movie. But more on that later.

Alright. Now for the story. So, here's the thing: I find this movie improves on the show on multiple levels, but somehow Haruhi as a character feels different. One of my key complaints about Haruhi (complaint is a weird word. More like my problem with Haruhi) is that she's an insufferable asshat with little to no awareness of how her behaviour affects others around her. People told me shit like "it's a character arc", or "watch the movie. She grows as a character. That's why it's worth it." No. She doesn't. The movie character might as well be a different Haruhi altogether. Maybe I'm digging too deep into this, but come on. The only time we see any, and I mean ANY, character development of Haruhi, is in the first two episodes, and then directly in the movie. It's astonishing how annoying she is like that. Forget the fact that she doesn't know her powers. She's an asshole all-in-all. She blackmails people (blackmails that Computer Club head with fake sexual harassment claims which were sure to ruin his entire life forever), she knowingly mentally and physically harasses Asahina-san with her groping and her forcible wearing of skimpy clothes and WHO COULD FORGET THAT SHE ROOFIED ASAHINA?! WTF HARUHI?! FOR A MOVIE SCENE?! SO SHE COULD GET HER KISS SCENE?! COME ON HARUHI!

So yeah. This is a great movie that I think was a beautiful send-off. I heard that their studio was attacked in 2019 leading to all major mangaka (atleast Attack on Titan did) and shows (also, Attack on Titan. Might've been for another reason but it happened and this is all I remember) suspending their work for a while.

Anyway, this might be edited or updated if I find more things to say or someone in the comments says something insightful. Defend her all you want, she's a sexually harassing, molesting, control freak with delusions of grandeur. And that's before we find out she has powers.

Also, Nagato Yuki is forever best girl.