La disparition de Haruhi Suzumiya

Truth be told, there's little about this film that isn't impressive. I'm not specifically talking about the fact about how this film is the 2nd longest animated film of all time, the flawless animation (especially considering its runtime), or how excellent it is overall as a film and finale to a superb television series.

As giving as little information as possible, the premise revolves around the protagonist from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", Kyon, and involves him getting in a situation where he realizes Haruhi Suzumiya, whom his life practically revolves around, suddenly disappears, and in a place where everyone knows Haruhi for her eccentricity, has never heard of her. This leaves Kyon not only puzzled, but also looking for answers to hopefully get to the bottom of the situation and have everything return to normal. This isn't really a spoiler as this synopsis is also on the back cover of the DVD and Blu-Ray cases. Anyway, the story itself is fairly straightforward for viewers and fans of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" anime though if you haven't seen said anime, I would not recommend you watch this film as it's almost like "Serenity" to "Firefly" as you would need to see the series first to understand context, characters, and various choices made throughout the film. Despite clocking in at 2 hours and 43 minutes in length (which shocked me when I first found that out) there was never a dull moment, in fact I believe the length is definitely a strong point of the film. I say this because a lot of animated films won't always take time to stop and smell the roses, or something similar, where this film has the excellent pacing of a well-known live action film such as "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", "Apocalypse Now", or "Blade Runner". There was one particular element of the film towards the end where I was a bit puzzled for a particular someone and how the logic behind them being there and how they were supposed to know about the events taking place (RA).

I saw the series and the film both in the English dub, and has quite superb voice acting where I cannot imagine better English voice actors from the list of actors usually involved in Funimation/Bang-Zoom dubbing productions; and I do plan on re-watching the series and film in the Japanese audio at some point down the line. At this point in mid-2018, roughly 8 and 1/2 years after this film was released, (even though we had "The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato") the chances of another season to adapt the rest of the light novels made after "The Disappearance" seems rather slim, though perhaps this fate is better than everything being produced in the "Death Note" franchise.

In the end, this is a film truly like no other, not just because of the length, the animation quality, the excellent and intriguing premise/conflict, but it's because of all these things that this film is as excellent as it is, and hopefully will sometime soon be considered a modern day animated classic.

As a fan of the franchise, this was a wonderful treat for me. My expectations were very high ever since the Endless Eight fiasco in Season 2 but the film did much more than just fulfill those expectations.

What I really loved about this film was that it took its time, it did not rush into the situation but lovingly and subtly guide us through it. Never overblown, patient and mild, hauntingly realistic in some cases and plenty of time to express proper emotions rather than make the characters throw in goofy faces and tones.

Though predictable, the story was interesting and rather amusing. The movie was based less on Kyon's Journey, but rather him finding his true thoughts and beliefs at the end of it. These sorts of movies are quite rare, many exaggerate the adventure and its moral message does not reach the audience in the right atmosphere. So bravo to this movie.

Unfortunately, this movie will prove alien to anyone who is not familiar to the franchise, so any casual movie goer will find this film very difficult to follow and hollow in information and detail. Be warned. The movie does not stand alone.

The movie is a masterpiece to someone if they are a fan of the franchise, a puzzle to casual watchers, a surprise to Haruhi haters and probably the best piece of anime of 2010. I am looking forward to Season 3 now more than ever.

I have always loved animation and anime from an early age. Having loved the show, I knew I had to see this film, and I loved it just as much. Initially I was worried about the length due to whether it would be long winded or padded out, but actually it is just right. This length ensured that the story and characters were developed well as well as maintaining your interest and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzamiya does that superbly. The storyline is compelling, with its great ideas developed perfectly without it feeling rushed or sluggish regardless of the length and you are left thinking about it for a long while afterwards. The characters are instantly likable, never annoying, jarring or stereotyped, basically true to the personalities they have on the show. The script has some light-hearted moments, but also some poignancy and a lot of depth. There is also some clever references to the show, showing that they have these great ideas without completely ignoring the show, which I have seen movies based of TV series do. To those who say that it is a good idea to see the show before the film, I absolutely agree, the thought of people being confused by any references to the show was what immediately came into my mind while watching. The music has a haunting ethereal quality to it, and the animation is superb, beautifully coloured and drawn with something interesting to look at in every frame. The voice acting is also fine, I do find the original voice acting to be superior to the dubbed version(though dubs are good for those introducing themselves to anime and for them to fully comprehend the story) but that is largely true to that of most animes. I know that I have added very little to what has been said already and so wonderfully might I add, but I have done my best. Overall, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a wonderful film in every way, anime or otherwise, it doesn't feel like a direct copy of the show but it doesn't ignore it either. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This was perhaps one of the best animated feature films I've ever seen. But you don't need me to tell you that.

To start off, the animation style was pretty much identical to the anime series'. It was dazzling to see in 1080 P. I can't describe it in words, so you'll have to see it to believe it.

The music was pretty well done as well. Using a combination of songs from the anime series and some newly composed songs, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya has a impressive repertoire. The background music is fantastic, and it fits very well with each scene.

Lastly, the voice acting is amazing as well. The five original voice actors from the anime reprise their role in the movie as well. Again, you'll have to listen to it for yourself to believe it.

If you're not a fan of the Haruhi series, this movie won't change your mind. But if you're a fan of the series or are interested in the series, this movie is well worth your time.

It gets a 10/10 from me.

This is a very long movie, but in my first viewing I found it captivating until the end. I watched this before I watched the TV-Series, which compelled me to watch the TV-Series. I found the movie much better, but I must admit the TV-Series was good as well. I can confirm its possible to watch this without watching the TV-Series, but I cannot confirm this is the best way to watch the movie. The mystery keeps you glued to your seat, the only issue with not watching the TV-Series is the very end lacks punch. ON my second viewing I found the end a lot more moving, which proved this was one of those movies you can keep on re-watching. The only issue with the 2nd viewing is the mystery was gone.