Best order in which to watch Haruhi Suzumiya?

[shinji_ryoji_89]

I just got this series and I was told that it has different viewing orders, so, in your opinion, which one do you think is the best way to get more out of it?

[child of Lilith]

You should watch it in the order it was originally aired on TV. It's good either way, but the original TV order is the best way to go.

[Mr. Tines]

The first 14 episodes work better in original broadcast order.

[InstrumentalityOne]

Both.

TV order makes the most sense IMO.

[The Eva Monkey]

You should always watch things in the order in which they were produced.

Would you ever tell someone who had never seen Star Wars to watch them in order, I to VI?

[TehDonutKing]

Ignore the anime and read the novels. The series was made by Kyoto Animation, who make a living off bastardizing the source material.





Fuck you, KyoAni.

[COACH]

DVD order. The broadcast order was just a gimick. The DVD order is in chronological order, like the novels. The only problem is that episodes 1-6 are the really plot-heavy episodes, while 7-14 are mostly seen as filler (but entertaining filler nonetheless).

[Oz]

The broadcast order might be a bit gimmicky, but that sort of craziness fits perfectly to the first season. Just be mentally prepared for Endless Eight.

[TehDonutKing]

The broadcast order might be a bit gimmicky, but that sort of craziness fits perfectly to the first season. Just be mentally prepared for Endless Eight.

The novels only showed the end of it.

[thewayneiac]

Broadcast order is an absolute must. It's the intended order; switching it into chronological order for home video was a failed gimmick. Also, note that the episodes that need to be in chronological order relative to each order are so ordered.

Broadcast order:

11, 1, 2, 7, 3, 9, 8, 10, 14, 4, 13, 12, 5, 6

Episodes 1-6, in red, are the major arc from the part of the story that was animated for season 1. The rest of the episodes, with the execption of the 2 part 9-10, which I've bolded, are all stand alone episodes, and their order doesn't matter. When you watch in chronological order, not only is the show shockingly front loaded and anti-climactic, it also ceases to make sense when they drop hints about what went on in the earlier episodes. In effect, they are trying not to reveal too much about things you've already seen! A show's thrilling climax should be at the end, not the midway point. But the midway point is exactly where it is in chronological order. When they cousulted the original author about this problem, he suggested this episode order.

Note on the above episode order: I used the 1-14 system that was used in the original broadcast. The video version not only re-orders the episodes, it also re-numbers them from 1-14 to 0-13. so now some of the episodes have three numbers. Thank you Kadokawa! They did this to cover up the fact that ep. 11 still comes first, with its number changed to zero. It's the rest of the eps. that have been switched to chronological order.

[Fazmotron]

The best order is to watch episodes 1-6 and skip the rest.

[ZapX]

Absolutely broadcast order. After that you can watch it any way you please but broadcast order (as wayne pointed out) is the way to experience it the first time.

Also, if you get your hands on them, do read the novels as they're very, very good. The show is quite faithful to them with the exception of EE but there are other subtle insights into the characters gleaned from Kyon's narration.

[COACH]

Absolutely broadcast order. After that you can watch it any way you please but broadcast order (as wayne pointed out) is the way to experience it the first time.

I watched the series in DVD order the first time, and I liked it well enough. Broadcast order seems needlessly confusing, to me. This ain't Boogiepop Phantom.

They even re-broadcasted season one in chronological order when they aired season two, so I think "broadcast order" was a one-time gimick.

Also, if you get your hands on them, do read the novels as they're very, very good. The show is quite faithful to them

Faithful, aside from the fact that the order of events is different than it was in the novels...

[drinian]

Endless Eight first, of course.

[toe mash]

Broad cast order, by miles. Even if the first episode is a huge troll, its worth it, even if just so you get a real climax, which I found satisfying.

I think 1st season of Haruhi might be only anime where at the end I felt completely happy with how it ended the second I finished it, and wouldnt mind it if it didnt continue after that because it gets wrapped up very nicely.

[TehDonutKing]

Absolutely broadcast order. After that you can watch it any way you please but broadcast order (as wayne pointed out) is the way to experience it the first time.

Also, if you get your hands on them, do read the novels as they're very, very good. The show is quite faithful to them with the exception of EE but there are other subtle insights into the characters gleaned from Kyon's narration.

Faithful? What anime are you watching?

[Xard]

Faithful? What anime are you watching?

I'm tired of this stupid bs you've been spewing out for god knows how long.

we get it, endless eight raped your mother or something.

big deal.

get over with it.

or you could argue why haruhi adaptation is oh so terrible

[TehDonutKing]

I'm tired of this stupid bs you've been spewing out for god knows how long.

we get it, endless eight raped your mother or something.

big deal.

get over with it.

or you could argue why haruhi adaptation is oh so terrible

Endless Eight was fine. They just made Tsuruya say Nyoro~n in Season 2.

And Nyoro~n Churuya-San is outright soul-raping if you suffer from Fictional Character Attraction for Tsuruya.

And Kyon's Sister sucks. Why take out Tsuruya, then add in Kyon's Sister whenever possible?

And yes, I know my reasoning is stupid. I'm really just a butthurt little prick who keeps thinking this is sos-dan.com.

[The Bastard King]

Endless Eight was amazing simply for the scene during the last episode when Kyon goes batshit insanesuggests they do their homework.

In fact, forget watching Endless Eight first. Watch the first seven episodes of Endless Eight, loop them for a month of viewing or so in random order, than play the last episode.

[drinian]

Speaking seriously, I would say to watch season one in broadcast (non-chronological) order first. You will get the same experience that people watching back in 2007 did as it aired, and I have to believe that it was part of the reason for Haruhi mania.