Best order in which to watch Haruhi Suzumiya?

[BrikHaus]

This is how I would do it with the episodes you left out:

25 The Adventures of Asahina Mikuru Episode 00 (wtf episode)
1+2 The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi I & II
20 The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi I (filler without spoiler, linked to Episode 00)
3 The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi III (members claim their non-human status)
21 The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi II (members are "randomly" cast as what they claim to be, strange).
Remote Island Syndrome Part 1
Remote Island Syndrome Part 2
Mysterique Sign
4 The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi IV (we learn the AI and the Time traveller girls do have powers)
The Day of Sagittarius
8 Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody (more AI and time traveller power, filler linked to Melancholy 2-3 storyline)
22 The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi III (same, some powers are unleashed here)
5 The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi V (Esper dude proof, Haruhi is to be distracted)
12 Endless Eight I (can be put anywhere between Melancholy II and Endless Eight II)
7 The Boredom of Suzumiya Haruhi (funny filler, with foreshadowing for Melancholy VI, obviously because technically it's right after)
Someday in the Rain
13 Endless Eight II ("time" power of Haruhi, proof that she is to be pleased, can be put after Melancholy III, IV or V)
15 Endless Eight IV
19 Endless Eight VIII
23 The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi IV
24 The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi V (can replace "Live Alive" as ending)
6 The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Part 6 (apocalypse)
26 Live Alive
Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (film)

[Doonge]

Thanks a bunch.

I suppose the "weird stuff" happening in remote island and mysterique sign is weird and vague enough not to be linked to any character in particular? If I remember, the cricket stuff in mysterique sign is linked to Haruhi, but it's not that clear.

What is the rationale behind your positioning of "Someday in the Rain"?
Personally, I don't really care much about this episode (I like it, but it's secondary), and originally I put it at the end, right before the movie, because it's the chronological order and I've read it's a nice intermediary for the movie. (so I was just trusting blindly that advice).

Also, even though I think it's entirely possible to move Endless Eight I anywhere nearer the beginning, I'm not sure what to do with the 2-4-8 trio: they could be split. In the reddit thread, you can see that one commenter suggest they should be. In the draft I made here, I split them also, but I moved them back together because I was very doubtful the impact and experience would be similar.

TL;DR
Gotcha, with the exception of "Someday in the Rain" which feels purposeless move.

[thewayneiac]

Skipping Mysterique Sign could cause problems down the road if they ever animate any more of the novels. The girl who hires them to find the computer president shows up again, and it's assumed we know who she is. Same thing with Remote Island, Itsuki's minions show up again.

[BrikHaus]

I honestly don't know where to put "Someday in the Rain." It's a boring, pointless episode. I just picked a random spot.

[pwhodges]

I view in chronological order combining the two seasons, and following with the Disappearance film. That's order "E" in the Wikipedia episode list. This places Someday in the Rain as the last episode before Disappearance.

It works for me.

[TehDonutKing]

*obligatory post where i bitch about how the novels are better anyway*

[GT-One]

*obligatory post where i bitch about how the novels are better anyway*

And that's why I just ordered the first five novels yesterday.

As for the anime, which got me into all of this just a week ago, I've started watching the 'original' first season (and until the third episode, I already a had a lot of really good laughs so far), but decided to skip on the second season for now, since it didn't receive a local dub in Germany. I mean, I'm fine with watching basically the same episode eight times in a row, but a German release without a local dub? You won't take my money (for the moment)!

Then again, the movie did get a German dub, so I'm really looking forward to that.

[BrikHaus]

*obligatory post where i bitch about how the novels are better anyway*

I'm not sure if it was the author's work or the translator's, but I found the first novel to be very poorly written. It was almost as if a teenager had written it. Weak characterizations and a serious lack of refinement in the style severely hindered this book. I couldn't bring myself to read the second one. I found the series to be much more robust, whereas the book was too thin in terms of substance.

[robersora]

^
That's a common problem of Lightnovels, the ones I tried are all almost unreadable, if one ever had the pleasure to read a real one. I think this "easy reading" experience just doesn't translate well into other languages.

[Shinoyami65]

^Yeah, I tried reading some translated F/SN light novels and it really wasn't that great. Definitely not as good as a real novel.