I don't know exactly what it is about the school concert in episode 12 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya but…whenever I watch it, it never fails to send a shiver down my spine and put a huge grin on my face.
I don't think it quite has the same effect with YouTube's low resolution and bitrate but check it out;
It's hard to pin down what I love so much about this clip but I think the following things all factor into it…
- The songs Haruhi sings, "God knows…" and "Lost my music", are both great songs (IMO), "God knows…" especially.
- Aya Hirano (Haruhi's voice actress) sings them both really nicely.
- Kyoto Animation have synced up/animated the performance really well. Particularly Yuki's guitar playing!
- I love the amount of life they've put into Haruhi's face as she sings (like the two close-up shots starting at ~4:25 left on the YouTube version above).
Haruhi is a great series and I seriously recommend you check it out if you can. If you're not familiar with the series you can get a pretty good overview at the Wikipedia page for the anime.
If you haven't yet seen it and are thinking of doing so I'd recommend you watch the series in chronological order (as opposed to the anachronistic order it originally aired in).
Maybe you've already picked up the series and you're not sure what order you're watching them in? Well, if episode 'one' starts with Kyon talking and the first image is the spokes of a bicycle wheel you've got them in the correct chronological order. If however, episode 'one' opens with the SOS Brigade logo and then Mikuru in a bunny-girl outfit you've got them in the original anachronistic order. If you have them in the anachronistic order and want to watch them chronologically you want to watch them like this; 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 4, 7, 6, 8, 1, 12, 11 and finally 9. To tell the truth - I don't know how useful this information is, it's possible that all DVD releases country to country will have the series in the same order.
I can see why episode 6 (chronologically) was originally broadcast last though. Due to the way that episode closes it makes for a really nice finale to the series. Episode 14 (chronologically) closes in a nice way for the series too though, you won't really spoil things by watching episode 6 mid-series.
Oh, and if you do watch the series, and are familiar with the Phoenix Wright games on DS/GBA, see if you can spot the tribute in one of the episodes. If you aren't familiar with the Phoenix Wright games but own a DS, shame on you! ;) I'll have to come back to PW in more detail in another post.
If you'd like to pick up the full length versions of "God knows…" and "Lost my music" they're available on the Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsumeawase - Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu Gekichu Kasha single, along with "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" (The Mikuru Legend of Love).
Here's a few places the Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsumeawase single can be bought from;
This single isn't available on Amazon.co.uk (yet) but all of the above stores will ship to the UK for a reasonable price (and some even for free given a large enough spend in one order). I picked it up from YesAsia.com with another Haruhi single (Hare Hare Yukai) and a cheap item to tip it over their $25 free shipping limit. The two singles together allowed me to have a free capsule toy and if you do order from here (and it's your very first order from YesAsia.com) you can use the coupon code 'SA3OFF' to get $3 off your order total (as long as it's $15 or more).
If you're interested in watching the actual series on DVD you can also find it at the same stores;
Note: Amazon.com and PlayUSA.com carry the Region 1 English language version. Play-Asia.com carries the Region 2, Japanese language DVDs.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya © 2006 Nagaru Tanigawa / Noizi Ito
