The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

RATING: 8/10

Genre: School life, Supernatural
Duration: 3 hours

“The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya” is based on the fourth book in the series of Haruhi Suzumiya light novels. The movie already assumes you are aware of all that has transpired in the first two seasons of the anime. There are some very minor differences between the movie and the original novel. A few of the episodes in the anime take place earlier than they do in the books. So they happen before The Disappearance in the anime but post-Disappearance in the books. Newcomers to the series are better off starting with the anime or the first novel. Otherwise the movie will only serve to confuse.
Anyway, it starts off with a normal enough prologue. It is mid-December and day by day it's getting colder. Haruhi is planning a Christmas party, complete with Mikuru Asahina as Santa (honestly, who else could it be?). Two days into planning and something weird happens with Kyon caught in the middle of it all. Yes, weird, even by Haruhi standards.
While watching the Endless Eight, I lost tab and ended up watching 12 of them. You don't need to know exactly what the Endless Eight are, but after watching these very boring episodes, I lost faith in the Haruhi Suzumiya anime. The first season being out of chronological order and the majority of the second season being stuck in a loop would lead one to expect some form of temporal skew with the movie. There is a bit of that. But thankfully, nothing as confusing.
It is a long movie adapted from a light novel so there is a generous deal of every character.
The movie has a good deal of drama too. As is always the case with Haruhi Suzumiya, the colours are vibrant and the characters lively. Kyon's narration is as interesting as ever. It makes one feel as though they have a more personal stake in the outcome. You just can't have enough of these characters.