[Review] The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Hanners]

http://www.uk-anime.net/manga/Intrig...miya,_The.html

The Haruhi Suzumiya series returns to full-length story telling in this volume - can it deliver another high point for the fans?

[Ross]

Nice artwork aside, it baffles me why people like this series.

[Hanners]

I think it's because when its premise is put to good use, it works spectacularly well - Melancholy and Disappearance are both superb stories in their own right. The trouble is, there seems to be an increasing build-up of material in-between those bright moments which are nowhere near as entertaining or smartly plotted - every single book show flashes of promise, but doesn't deliver on it very often.

[Necro]

I'll agree with Hanners for the most part. The disappearance was really, really well done and worked amazingly in film. The original series showed off the first books really well in my opinion and make me love the series and the characters. I'll be the first to admit that some of the stories in the novels are slightly lacking and could have been expanded on (Snowy Mountain Syndrome is one that seemed a bit rushed), but I'm continuing reading as a fanboy for Haruhi mostly

[latro]

I actually preferred this one to Disappearance myself. I loved that the series is finally starting to speak more about characters besides Nagato and deal more with the back story. It makes me hopeful of an interesting and satisfying conclusion (though I'm sure everyone can see the huge cop-out ending that is potentially on the horizon....)