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is a Japanese
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
series written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by
Noizi Ito is a Japanese light novel and video game artist. She is employed by the H-game maker UNiSONSHIFT and is a part of the circle Fujitsubo-Machine. Unlike most romanized Japanese words and names, Noizi Ito's name uses the Kunrei-shiki romanization f ...
. It was first published in 2003 by
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
in Japan with the novel ''The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'', and has since been followed by 11 additional novel volumes, an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation, four
manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...
series, an animated
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
, two
original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...
series and several
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
s. After the anime adaptation airing in 2006, publishing company Kadokawa Shoten received offers for licensing the novels and their adaptations. The novels are licensed for English language release in the United States by
Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
, for young readers by
Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...
and the anime adaptation was licensed for North American distribution by Kadokawa Pictures USA division which then sub-licensed production and distribution to Bandai Entertainment. The anime is currently licensed by
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...
.


Plot

Kyon is a student at North High School in
Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density ...
. He is dragged along by his classmate, Haruhi Suzumiya, an eccentric schoolgirl who seeks supernatural phenomena and figures, such as
aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
,
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
ers, and espers. With Kyon's reluctant help, Haruhi establishes a club called the , short for (In the school's official paperwork Kyon renamed it "Support the Student Body by Overworking to Make the World a Better Place Student Service Brigade") to investigate mysterious events. Haruhi soon recruits three additional members: the laconic
bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
Yuki Nagato This is a list of the characters featured in the ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' franchise, written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito, which contains a multitude of other secondary, and minor characters who are introduced throughout the course ...
, the shy and timid Mikuru Asahina, and the unflappable transfer student
Itsuki Koizumi This is a list of the characters featured in the ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' franchise, written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito, which contains a multitude of other secondary, and minor characters who are introduced throughout the cours ...
. These members soon reveal themselves to Kyon to be the types of extraordinary characters that Haruhi seeks. They have been sent by their respective secret organizations to observe Haruhi—who is unaware that she possesses reality warping powers—and to prevent these powers from being unleashed. Each of the three believe that it would be dangerous were Haruhi to discover she had such powers. Together with Kyon, they work to keep life interesting for Haruhi and to prevent her from becoming bored enough to imagine a new world, as they and their organizations fear that this would destroy the current world.


Media


Light novels

Written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by
Noizi Ito is a Japanese light novel and video game artist. She is employed by the H-game maker UNiSONSHIFT and is a part of the circle Fujitsubo-Machine. Unlike most romanized Japanese words and names, Noizi Ito's name uses the Kunrei-shiki romanization f ...
, the light novels alternate between full-length novels and collections of short stories and novellas that initially appeared in ''
The Sneaker is a Japanese light novel magazine that was published by Kadokawa Shoten between 1993 and 2011. It was launched April 1993 then proceeded to be published monthly for most of its run. The magazine was aimed at a young adult male audience. It seria ...
'', a
seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Ma ...
novel magazine published by the Japanese publishing company
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
. Kadokawa Shoten published 11 volumes from June 6, 2003, to May 25, 2011. In an official guidebook titled ''The Observation of Haruhi Suzumiya'' published in June 2011, Tanigawa mentioned in an interview that he had finalized the plot for at least one more volume in the series. A short story was published in a special one-time revival issue of ''The Sneaker'' on October 31, 2018. A 12th novel, ''The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya'', was announced in August 2020 for release in Japan on November 25, after a 9-year break from publishing. The novels are licensed for release in North America by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and
Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...
. The novels will reprinted under Yen Press's Yen On imprint. They are also available in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and
mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...
by Kadokawa Media; in South Korea by Daiwon CI; in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
and
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
by
Editorial Ivrea Editorial Ivrea is an Argentine manga and comics publisher that publishes in Argentina, Spain and Finland. They also published ''Lazer'', a magazine which was specialized in anime, comics, manga, series and other media. The magazine has an acid ...
; in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
by Edizioni BD; in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
by Bongkoch Books; and in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
by IPM.


Manga

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
published two
manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...
adaptations of the ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' light novel series in '' Shōnen Ace''. The first one, by Makoto Mizuno, ran from May to December 2004 issues and was partially compiled in one volume published in August 2004. It was considerably different from the light novels, having little input from the original author. The second series, illustrated by Gaku Tsugano, ran from November 2005 and to November 2013 issues, having been published in 20 volumes, with a younger target audience than the original novels. Though mostly consisting of straight adaptations of the light novels, the manga also included 13 new stories scattered throughout, each one chapter long, and most of them spinning off of one of the light novel stories. On April 17, 2008
Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...
announced that they had acquired the license for the North American release of the first four volumes of the second manga series, promising the manga would not be censored. An official parody four-panel
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
titled ''The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan'' by Puyo started serialization in '' Shōnen Ace'' on July 26, 2007, and in ''
The Sneaker is a Japanese light novel magazine that was published by Kadokawa Shoten between 1993 and 2011. It was launched April 1993 then proceeded to be published monthly for most of its run. The magazine was aimed at a young adult male audience. It seria ...
'' on August 30, 2007. It ended on December 26, 2018, and was compiled in twelve volumes. The first bound volume was released on May 26, 2008, and the last on May 1, 2019. Yen Press licensed the ''Haruhi-chan'' manga series for an English release in North America and released the first volume on October 26, 2010 and the last on May 26, 2020. Another four-panel parody manga, ''Nyorōn Churuya-san'' by Eretto (Utsura Uraraka), was originally a
dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...
starring a
smoked cheese Smoked cheese is any cheese that has been specially treated by smoke-curing. It typically has a yellowish-brown outer pellicle which is a result of this curing process. Process Smoke-curing is typically done in one of two ways: cold-smoking and ...
-loving, super deformed version of Tsuruya, published in three volumes (released in August 2006, February 2007, and October 2007) before being serialized in the magazine '' Comp Ace'' between November 2008 and October 2009 issues and being released in one bound volume. Another manga, , also by Puyo, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's '' Young Ace'' between the July 2009 and September 2016 issues and was compiled into ten tankōbon volumes. It is set in an alternate universe of the altered timeline established in the fourth light novel, ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', where Yuki Nagato is an accident-prone video game addict as opposed to the shy bookworm of the altered timeline and the laconic alien of the original timeline. ''Yuki-chan'' has also been licensed in North America by Yen Press. Another spin-off manga by Puyo, titled , launched in the May 2012 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's ''
Altima Ace , also known as ''AltimaA'', and subtitled "Ultimate Magazine that you are crazy about," is a defunct Japanese manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. ''Altima Ace'' was a spinoff sister magazine to Kadokawa Shoten's '' Young Ace''. The firs ...
'' magazine on April 18, 2012 and the fourth and last chapter was released in the November 2012 issue on October 18, 2012, the final issue of ''Altima Ace''. The chapters were compiled in the ninth volume of ''The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan''.


Anime

The anime adaptation of , produced by the Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, contained 14 episodes which aired in Japan between April 2 and July 2, 2006. It was originally aired in a nonlinear order, with the prologue and first seven chapters of the first novel intermixed with chapters from some of the later novels. The "next episode" previews feature two different episode numberings: one number from Haruhi, who numbers the episodes in chronological order, and one number from Kyon, who numbered them in broadcast order. The DVD releases start with "Episode 00" and are then shown in chronological order. The anime was licensed and distributed by Bandai Entertainment over four DVDs released between May and November 2007. A complete box set was released on July 29, 2008. It was broadcast in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
on Rai 4 between October 24, 2010, and February 6, 2011. Each of the North American releases offered a limited edition collector's set featuring the English dub DVD in chronological order, a subbed-only disc containing the episodes in broadcast order, and an official CD release of the opening, ending, and insert songs appearing in the show. The second season of the anime series was announced in a full-page advertisement of ''
Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition a ...
'' on July 7, 2007, in Japan. Promotional videos included a live action sequence, inspired by the "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" chapter from the third novel '' The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya'', depicting Haruhi and Kyon breaking into a school shown by footage taken from surveillance cameras. On December 18, 2007, the anime's official website, haruhi.tv, was replaced by a fake 404 error with five form-input fields, a reference to the pivotal date in ''
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a 2010 Japanese animated drama film based on the fourth ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' light novel of the same name written by Nagaru Tanigawa. It was produced by Kyoto Animation, written by Fumihiko Shimo and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and Yasuhiro T ...
'', the fourth volume in the light novel series. A re-broadcast of the first series began in April 2009. Following a comment by Teletama, one of the broadcasting stations, that the 2009 broadcast would be 28 episodes long, there was speculation that the re-broadcast would be followed by the second season, though this was not confirmed by Kadokawa at the time. The first new episode, , was aired on May 21, 2009, as the eighth episode of the re-broadcast. Unlike the original run, the re-broadcast was shown in chronological order, with new episodes intermixed with the old ones. Episodes were later shown on Kadokawa's YouTube channel after the broadcast and started showing English-subtitled episodes. The second season features the controversial "Endless Eight" story arc, in which the members of the SOS Brigade are stuck in a
time loop The time loop or temporal loop is a plot device in fiction whereby characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition. The term "time loop" is sometimes us ...
which lasts for eight episodes, each of which is practically identical. Bandai Entertainment licensed the re-broadcast in 2010 and released a complete collection in North America on September 14, 2010.
Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...
released the season in a 4-disc DVD box set, including the ''Haruhi-chan'' mini-episodes, in the UK on July 4, 2011. Following the 2012 closure of Bandai Entertainment,
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
announced at Otakon 2014 that they had licensed the anime television series. Following
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
's acquisition of
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...
, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.


Spinoffs

Two spinoff
original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...
series based on the parody manga by Puyo and by Eretto were announced in the October 2008 issue of the '' Shōnen Ace'' magazine. The two series were streamed in Japanese and with English subtitles on Kadokawa's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel between February 13 and May 15, 2009. All the
voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
of the original anime reprised their roles in both series. The first DVD of the series was released in Japan on May 29, 2009, with a release on Blu-ray Disc on August 27, 2010. The series has been licensed by Bandai Entertainment and has been dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment for DVD release. The first volume was released on October 5, 2010. As with the original TV anime, the two series have been re-licensed by
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
. An anime adaptation of ''
The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Puyo. The series is a spinoff of Nagaru Tanigawa's ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' light novel series, and is based on the alternate universe originally featured in the series' fourth volume and fea ...
'' by Satelight began airing in April 2015 and is licensed by Funimation, who began streaming a broadcast dub version in May 2015.


Film

An animated film by Kyoto Animation titled was adapted from the ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' light novel of the same name and released in Japanese theaters on February 6, 2010. It was announced via a teaser shown at the end of the 2009 re-airing of the anime. This film has also been licensed by Bandai Entertainment, who released it for the North American market on September 20, 2011.


Audio dramas

A series of
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
s have been released. The first volume, titled ''SOS Dan Radio Shibu Bangai Hen CD Vol.1'', is based on the anime version of the series and was released on July 5, 2006, by Lantis. The second volume was released on September 21, 2006, while a third was released on December 21, 2006. A drama CD titled ''Sound Around'', based on the anime adaptation, was released on January 24, 2007, by Lantis.


Video games

Six video games have been produced based on the series.
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
released an
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based ...
, , for the
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...
(PSP) on December 20, 2007. Banpresto released another adventure game available for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
on January 31, 2008, called . It was the 95th best-selling game in Japan in 2008, selling 139,425 copies. The third game was developed by
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
for the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...
, . It was released on January 22, 2009. The fourth game, published by
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
for the Wii, was . It was released on March 26, 2009, with the fifth game (), also by Sega, released for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...
on May 28, 2009. In February 2010 Kadokawa Shoten released ''The Day of Sagittarius III'' in Japanese and English in Apple's
App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
. Namco Bandai Games released a video game for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
(PS3) and PSP titled on May 12, 2011. The game is a sequel to ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', taking place shortly afterward. The PS3 and PSP versions sold a combined 33,784 copies in their first four days of sales. Characters from the ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' series also appear in the
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
PSP video game, '' Nendoroid Generation'', by Namco Bandai Games,
Good Smile Company is a Japanese manufacturer of hobby products such as the Nendoroid and figma product lines, as well as scale figures. In addition to production and manufacturing, its business includes design, marketing and distribution. Its products are usual ...
and Banpresto.


ASOS Brigade

In December 2006, Bandai Entertainment registered the website ''asosbrigade.com''. On December 22, 2006, the website opened with a
live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...
presentation video resembling a fan-made production featuring Haruka Inoue and Akiyo Yamamoto in the roles of Mikuru Asahina and Yuki Nagato, with Haruhi Suzumiya being played by
Patricia Ja Lee Patricia Ja Lee (born July 19, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles of Cassie Chan, the Pink Ranger on the television series ''Power Rangers Turbo'' and ''Power Rangers in Space,'' and as the voice and motion capture act ...
. The video (in Japanese) confirmed the specifics of the licensing arrangement. After a few days a subtitled version of the video replaced the original on the site, translating the Japanese licensing announcement into English. The website linked to a blog on the
social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
website MySpace, which entered the list of the top 50 most viewed MySpace pages within 24 hours. On May 30, 2007, the SOS Brigade Invasion Tour was announced for Anime Expo 2007 on June 30.
Aya Hirano is a Japanese actress and singer associated with the voice acting agency Grick. Beginning in the entertainment industry as a child actor in television commercials, she appeared in her first voice acting role in the anime television series ''An ...
, Yuko Goto, and
Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...
were part of this event "being flown in directly from Japan". Anime Expo attendees were able to participate in the ASOS Dance Contest held on Friday and the winner would have the chance to dance on stage with the guests of honor. Ever since the event was announced, advance ticket sales for pre-registered attendees have caused AX officials to cut down on the number of tickets sold due to the overwhelming number of advance tickets sold (despite the event being free of charge to attend). In 2010, a new set of videos were introduced to announce the second season of English dubbed episodes. These featured
Cristina Vee Cristina Danielle Valenzuela (born July 11, 1987), known by her stage name Cristina Vee, is an American voice actress and voice director. She provides voices for English dubs of anime, animation, and video games. Vee's roles in anime include ...
in the role of Haruhi, Karrie Shirou in the role of Mikuru, and Gina Lee (episode 1) / Alice in the role of Yuki.


Music

The 2006 anime has two opening themes: , performed by Yuko Goto and used as the opening of episode one (sometimes called episode zero), and performed by
Aya Hirano is a Japanese actress and singer associated with the voice acting agency Grick. Beginning in the entertainment industry as a child actor in television commercials, she appeared in her first voice acting role in the anime television series ''An ...
and used in episodes two through fourteen. The main ending theme of the series was performed by Aya Hirano,
Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...
and Goto which spanned the first thirteen episodes, with the fourteenth episode ending with an extended version of "It's an Adventure, Right? Right?". For the new episodes of the 2009 re-airing, the opening theme is "Super Driver" by Hirano, and the ending theme is performed by Hirano, Chihara and Goto. The single for "Super Driver" was released on July 22, 2009, while the single for "Stop!" was released on August 26, 2009. "It's an Adventure, Right? Right?" was used as the opening theme of the film ''
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a 2010 Japanese animated drama film based on the fourth ''Haruhi Suzumiya'' light novel of the same name written by Nagaru Tanigawa. It was produced by Kyoto Animation, written by Fumihiko Shimo and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and Yasuhiro T ...
''. The film's theme song is by Chihara. Among the insert songs used were " God Knows..." and " Lost My Music" performed by Aya Hirano in Japanese and
Wendee Lee Wendee Lee is an American voice actress, writer, and director. Biography Lee studied dance and theater and later became a full-time dancer in her teens. According to her interview on the '' Magic Knight Rayearth'' DVDs, she started doing voices ...
in English in episode twelve. Segments of '' Symphony No. 4 in F Minor'' composed by
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
, '' Symphony No. 7 in C Major, "Leningrad"'' composed by
Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
, and '' Daphnis et Chloé'' composed by
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
were used in episode eleven, while '' Symphony No. 8 in E♭ Major, "Symphony of a Thousand"'', composed by
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
, was used in episode fourteen. was a live concert event held at Omiya Sonic City on March 18, 2007, that featured songs from the anime sung by the voice actors, which was also featured in episode 15 of '' Lucky Star''. The DVD of the concert was released on July 27, 2007. On April 29, 2009 was held in Tokyo with music by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Philip Chu as conductor. The event featured songs and background music from the anime arranged with a classic twist. A CD of the concert was released on June 24, 2009. The main theme song for the spin-off ONA series, "The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya" is while the ending theme is , both performed by Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, Yuko Goto,
Tomokazu Sugita is a Japanese voice actor and author. He mainly plays young men and is characterized by his "deep bass voice," and he often performs ad-libs and imitations. He is best known for his roles as Gintoki Sakata in '' Gintama'', Tadaomi Karasuma in ...
and
Daisuke Ono is a Japanese voice actor and singer who won the 4th and 9th Seiyu Awards for best lead actor for his role as Sebastian Michaelis in ''Black Butler'', Jotaro Kujo in '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' and Shukuro Tsukishima in ''Bleach'', as well ...
. A single of the two songs was released on April 20, 2009. Three singles accompanying the other spin-off ONA series, ''Nyoro-n Churuya-san'', were released, featuring songs sung by Yuki Matsuoka.


Reception

The first novel of the series, ''The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'' was awarded the Grand Prize in the eighth annual Sneaker Awards—only the third Grand Prize given out in the Award's history. The series has become a huge success for light novels in Japan, selling over 4,300,000 copies in September 2007 and surpassed 8,000,000 copies when the tenth and eleventh volumes were released in May 2011 after the limited editions set a record 513,000 first pressing for light novels. As of 2017, 20 million copies of all versions of the light novels and manga volumes internationally are in print. In December 2006 ''The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'' anime adaptation was the most popular anime series in Japan at that time according to '' Newtype USA'' magazine. The first two volumes had sold 70,000 and 90,000 units respectively as of August 2006. It was fifth in IGN's "Top Ten Anime of 2007" feature. A 2006 online poll of Japan's top 100 favorite animated television series of all time, conducted by
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
, placed the series in fourth place. By the end of 2007 the seventh installment of the series sold 45,000 units. The anime adaptation won the Animation Kobe Award for TV Feature in 2006. At the Sixth Annual Tokyo Anime Awards, the series won the category "Best TV Anime Series" and Aya Hirano won the "Voice Acting Award." Its spin-offs, ''The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya'' and ''Nyorōn Churuya-san'', won the Network award at the 14th
Animation Kobe The was an event established by Kobe in 1996 to promote anime and other visual media. The were given annually until 2015 by Kobe and the Organising Committee to creators and creations. Event Animation Kobe has been held annually in Kobe since 1 ...
Awards. At Anime Expo 2008, the series received several awards by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation. Sugita won an award for Best Voice Actor (Japanese), Hirano for Best Voice Actress (Japanese), Kaeko Sakamoto for Best Casting Director, Shoko Ikeda for Best Character Design, Haruhi Suzumiya for Best Character Design, and "Hare Hare Yukai" for Best Original Song.


Cultural impact

The anime series became an Internet phenomenon in Japan, Asia, and
English-speaking countries The following is a list of English-speaking population by country, including information on both native speakers and second-language speakers. List * The European Union is a supranational union composed of 27 member states. The total E ...
. Over 2,000 clips of the series and user-created parodies and homages were posted to video sharing websites such as
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
and Nico Nico Douga. The popularity of these clips (and those of other popular Japanese series) led the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers ( JASRAC) to request that YouTube remove clips claimed to be under the copyright of their members. The popularity of the series made Aya Hirano one of the earliest examples of the " idol voice actor" crossover in the late 2000s. Haruhi, Yuki, and Mikuru (voiced by Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, and Yūko Gotō), along with Japanese drama actor Toma Ikuta, made their first Japanese ad appearance in promoting Lotte Acuo Gum in March 2010. The non-chronological broadcast order of the anime inspired a math problem: "What is the fewest number of ''Haruhi'' episodes that one would have to watch in order to see the original 14 episodes in every order possible?" In 2011, efforts to solve "The Haruhi Problem" on
4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...
led to a proof of the lower bound for the minimal length of superpermutations, solving what had been an open math problem since 1993.


Notes


References


External links


''Haruhi Suzumiya''
at
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

Official ''The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'' anime website

''The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'' anime
at Kyoto Animation
Official North American manga and novels website''Haruhi Suzumiya''
at
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

ASOSBrigade.com
via the
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
* {{Authority control Haruhi Suzumiya 2003 Japanese novels 2004 manga 2005 comics endings 2005 manga 2013 comics endings 2006 anime television series debuts 2006 Japanese television series debuts 2006 Japanese television series endings 2007 manga 2018 comics endings 2009 comics endings 2007 video games 2008 video games 2009 anime ONAs 2009 Japanese television series debuts 2009 Japanese television series endings Anime and manga based on light novels Bandai Entertainment anime titles Book series introduced in 2003 Comedy anime and manga Crunchyroll anime Kadokawa Dwango franchises Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko Kyoto Animation Lantis (company) Light novels Science fiction anime and manga Science fiction book series School life in anime and manga Shōnen manga Television shows based on light novels Yen Press titles