As Jay posted about in a thread the other day, we will try an anime group viewing for anyone interesting in watching an anime with us. We tried to pick an anime that's both English Dubbed for more casual watchers and one at least most have never seen. All there is to participating is simply watching one episode with everyone else every day and maybe discuss each episode as well as the show goes on. The first anime we'll be watching is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

To easily watch the series, go to http://www.watchcartoononline.com/anime/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya (Click one of the other players if not working)

The watching starts TODAY, so let's do THIIIIIIIIIIISSSSS?!

Well now I know why it's an episode 0, but even for an episode 0 a 20 minute long watch for a gag on bad filming and only one minute of what you'd expect is kinda overboard.

Yeah, I suppose I should have known this would have nothing to do with the actual show based off of it being an Episode 0, but oh well, I got a kick out of it for the joke on bad filming though we've not yet even been introduced to the characters and everything.

For those who will be watching this anime with us, watching this episode most likely isn't necessary, so just start on episode 1 tomorrow with us.

Sucks that I can't put this episode 0 anywhere on MAL.

Komodo Dragon wrote:

Well now I know why it's an episode 0, but even for an episode 0 a 20 minute long watch for a gag on bad filming and only one minute of what you'd expect is kinda overboard.

This literally led me to almost not want to watching it but I'm glad I did, definitely should have started with Ep. 1

Ares Vendetta wrote:

Yeah, I suppose I should have known this would have nothing to do with the actual show based off of it being an Episode 0, but oh well, I got a kick out of it for the joke on bad filming though we've not yet even been introduced to the characters and everything.

For those who will be watching this anime with us, watching this episode most likely isn't necessary, so just start on episode 1 tomorrow with us.

Sucks that I can't put this episode 0 anywhere on MAL.

Mal has 14 eps for it, your site goes up to "13" which I assume mean MAL put in an extra slot for ep 0.

Interesting first episode.  

Thus far I'm liking the main character/narrator and Haruhi herself, as well as the meta-ness of the show; looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Guh. Oh right.

*puts down Kokoro Connect for a second*

OK, after the abortion that was Episode 0, the actual proper show actually looks quite promising. I was kind of worried that Haruhi was going to end up being as immense a bitch as that Toradora chick, but she seems to be a good balance of quirky, and not being so quirky that it makes you an annoying bitch. I approve.

Also, the narrator reminds me a lot of the D-Frag MC, minus the yelling, and I enjoyed that character a lot, so double plus.

I'll start joining this after I get done with Hunter X Hunter.

It was an amusing enough episode, the main chick is interesting, I liked it.

So...The videos broken for anybody else?

Well...That's an interesting, yet not completely unsurprising development. I wonder where that will go.

Also, Haruhi's voice changes between annoying as fuck to bearable on a seemingly line-to-line basis. I'll probably get used to it, but damn it can be so grating.

Alright so, first of all: apparently there are only 14 episodes that we will be watching for this particular season (counting episode 0 and since we probably won't be watching season 2 unless everyone else wants to), but WatchCartoonOnline has the episodes listed like this season is completely different and has it listed as "2006" while there's 28 episodes of "2009", but apparently that's incorrect. The first 13/14 labeled "2009" are the same ones we're watching right now, so it's kinda all fucked up on that site for some reason.



Anyway, also apparently every fuckin stream of episode 2 on WatchCartoonOnline is broken one way or another, so I suggest watching it at http://www.dubzonline.org/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya-dub-episode-2/# Where it worked perfectly for me.

Now onto the actual episode thoughts...

I thoroughly enjoyed it more than the first episode, most notably the computer club part. Haruhi and Kyon in particular keep getting better as I enjoy Haruhi for the selfish sociopathic bitch she seems to be and Kyon for being the straight-man narrator that's just observing and giving commentary on all of the ridiculousness. I had a feeling something like that at the end was coming, but was kind of surprised by who it exactly was about. Enjoying the show thus far.

Best Quote: "Then I'll tell everyone at school that all you geeks ganged up on her and [BLEEP]ed her."

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hen-house-hustle-a-live-action-anime-parody--2

Lol Haruhi is kind of a bitch, but an entertaining one. Hmm, Aliens....we will see how that goes.

This new "Haruhi is a God" development is quite interesting, as is "Everyone but MC is paranormal in some way". Very much a foreshadowing episode, but I think I might have an idea where this is going now...

I'll admit, I was thinking this show might be something more generic when we first started watching, but it's gotten more interesting with more mystery that's suddenly developed. I'm not very good when it comes to foreshadowing, so unlike GI, I have no clue where this could potentially go from here, but I'm enjoying the show more with every episode.

Side note: Though it seems as though Haruhi may be God, the true God is none other than Johnny Yong Bosch, voice of characters such as Vash The Stampede, Rossiu from TTGL, Lelouch from Code Geass, Ichigo in Bleach, and now Itsuki here in this show. Praise be to JYB.

Lol she's pretty likeable to me for a bitch lol, she's just really compelling and enjoyable.

OK, so that's NOT how I expected it to go. I thought this was a "Keep Haruhi as distracted and engaged with shit as possible, all the while hiding the weird shit she is inadvertantly creating" show. Then again, maybe it will still end up that way. Kyon fights off aliens and time travelers and ESPers alongside the other SOS members, while Haruhi fails to grasp the reality of the situation, looking too deep into things to find something interesting, that she is ignoring everything that happens right in front of her face.

This is legit.

I had a feeling some shit was going down when that chick turned out to be the one who invited Kyon to meet up with her. Her niceness just made it all the more seem like she had bad intentions, so that whole escalating of wanting to murder Kyon just to make Haruhi do something interesting was certainly unique. I'm too assuming it'll be something like Kyon and the other members of the SOS Brigade fending off supernatural beings while Haruhi is none the wiser, but thus far I haven't been able to predict where this show is going, so who really knows by this point. Nonetheless, I'm still enjoying everything going on and liking the show more than I thought I would earlier on.

Ares Vendetta wrote:

I'll admit, I was thinking this show might be something more generic when we first started watching, but it's gotten more interesting with more mystery that's suddenly developed. I'm not very good when it comes to foreshadowing, so unlike GI, I have no clue where this could potentially go from here, but I'm enjoying the show more with every episode.

Side note: Though it seems as though Haruhi may be God, the true God is none other than Johnny Yong Bosch, voice of characters such as Vash The Stampede, Rossiu from TTGL, Lelouch from Code Geass, Ichigo in Bleach, and now Itsuki here in this show. Praise be to JYB.

That side note is so fitting, he's a definite legend.