The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi – Movie Review

As this story takes place between December 18th to December 20th, I find it fitting to compose this during this duration, after procrastinating for some time since watching it in a cinema a few weeks ago.

If you're one of those lazy tl;dr types and want to avoid the wall of text below, this movie can be summed up in one sentence below:

Completely redeems the franchise and undoes all the damage inflicted by the Endless Eight fiasco. Two and a half hours (of Yuki goodness) well spent.

Review (loads of spoilers included)

For those that have read the novel, most would probably agree that the fourth volume, the Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi to be best in the series.

After the fiasco that was Endless Eight, Kyoto Animation has to make sure they don't lose the fans faith in the series with Disappearance, and boy have they pulled it off, with spectacular results.

Kyo-Ani has more or less stuck to the novel, yet has somehow managed to pad it out to a whopping two and a half hours and STILL doesn't feel dragged out. Credit must go to novel author Tanigawa Nagaru for his involvement in the screenwriting process as well.

My review will also go on a chapter by chapter format, based on the novel:

Prologue (December 16th to December 17th):

Opening scene is similar to the opening scene in the first episode of Melancholy, with the caption "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" at the bottom and Kyon's narration in the background. A nice touch as this reconnects us with how we got fascinated with the series in the first place.

After having Kyon climb up the hill to school as before, the familiar season 1 OP Bouken Desho Desho plays out, though in the montage of what the SOS Brigade are doing.

The prologue felt long but also not long, due to the content and mostly Kyon's narration (Sugita Tomokazu must really be enjoying himself as the Straight Guy firing punchlines with extreme prejudice).

Chapter 1 (December 18th)

With the world turned upside down, Kyo-Ani decides to have the audience join Kyon in slowly realizing this cruel reality, and they did it brilliantly.

First it was denial at the odd reactions from his friends and thinking it must be just him, then feeling awkward from further conversations with them, to the point of him getting a bad feeling about all of this. Fear took him when he saw Asakura Ryoko reappear, panic ensues as he frantically asked every classmate whether they knew who Haruhi was, and despair sets in when he discovers Haruhi was never a student in his school as well as finding out Koizumi and his entire class has disappeared as well. All this coupled with the full-blast orchestral only serves to intensify Kyon's feeling of despair.

There were still some funny spots, like Kyon telling a seemingly oblivious Mikuru and Tsuruya-san about Mikuru's birth mark (on her chest) and ended up getting falcon-punched by Mikuru. And then there was Yuki. Though more of her next chapter below.

Chapter 2 (December 19th)

YUKI KAWAII YO, YUKI~~~

We have waited for far too long to see Yuki behave in such a cute and shy way, and we are not disappointed, let's just say. Words alone cannot describe how I feel.

First she gets all flustered at Kyon staring at her. I literally heard the entire cinema go "HNNNGGG", both boys and girls (and there were quite a lot of otaku girls who came to watch alone, I kid you not).

Then she goes to invite Kyon to her apartment (Kyo-Ani did well to include them walking side by side in the cold night) where she narrated her version of how she came to know Kyon, which was nicely contrasted with Kyon's visual memories of what really happened that day.

When Ryoko came to visit, Kyon decides to leave, but right on cue, Yuki gives the cinema yet another HNNGGG moment which I think I will cherish all the way to my grave.

Another mention must go to the effort put into showing Kyon's feeling of salvation amidst all the despair upon seeing the hidden bookmark left behind by "Original Yuki" - his ticket to get out of this upside-down world.

Chapter 3 (December 20th)

Kyon's hopes are rekindled as he realizes Taniguchi knows of Haruhi's existence, and Kyo-Ani duly invited us to join along in his quest to return to his own world. (Upbeat music certainly helped)

The scene with Kyon reuniting with Haruhi (and Koizumi) was just priceless, long hair Haruhi was just mesmerizing, especially when she had it tied in a ponytail per Kyon's request.

Haruhi deciding to reassemble the SOS Brigade in this world, thus triggering the Original Yuki's Escape Programme for Kyon, was also fun to watch, especially the part where she locked the room door and freaking out Mikuru, whom she once again kidnapped. (As well as making Kyon feeling nostalgic once again. )

As Kyon made his choice to go back to his own world, he had to first turn down Disappearance Yuki's offer to join her Literature Club, and seeing her look heartbroken was painful to watch for Kyon and for us as well.

Chapter 4 (July 7th, 3 years ago)

Much of this chapter overlaps with scenes from the Season 2 episode Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, yet it doesn't mean Kyo-Ani has slacked off and reused those animation reels as they're drawn largely from this Kyon's perspective.

It felt both nostalgic and refreshing at the same time to see Original Yuki again (albeit 3 years younger). (And to an extent, Future Mikuru as well. ) The CG effects of Yuki morphing her specs into a needle gun was impressive, while her injecting the necessary vaccine (needed to protect Kyon and Future Mikuru from the effects of the temporal distortion that they will confront) by sinking her teeth into their arms was cute to watch.

Chapter 5 (December 18th - return)

Once again we see cute Disappearance Yuki return, but the most impressive scene was not Kyon narrating about why Yuki went haywire and decided to change the world, but rather his own monologue explaining why he had decided to reject that world Yuki had offered him and chose to return to Haruhi.

(Visually depicted stunningly as Kyon walking through a train station ticket counter, with Yuki on one side clinging onto his sleeve, as in Chapter 2, with Haruhi waiting on the other end with her back faced to him)

Kyo-Ani had decided to brilliantly visualize his entire monologue, via scenes of Kyon talking to his own reflection in the window, or by kicking his own clone's head, as without this monologue, Kyon's return would have felt rather meaningless and written for the sake of an adventure.

Next would be Kyon reluctantly pointing his gun at a terrified Yuki (even more HNNGs) and blood splattering due to Ryoko appearing to "protect" Yuki. The subsequent blurring of Kyon's vision seems to hint at a possible animation attempt for novel volume 7 and beyond.

Chapter 6 (December 22nd - back to normal)

We have the usual reunion scene, where Koizumi calmly welcomes Kyon back, Haruhi gets all flustered at seeing Kyon alive and well and Mikuru being moved to tears.

But the best scene is still left to Yuki, as this movie is really all about her, despite Haruhi being the title character.

Her scene with Kyon has been switched from Kyon's hospital ward to the hospital roof. It was a nice touch to see Kyon showing his sentimental and chivalric side by offering Yuki his coat and kneeling while holding her hand as though proposing to her as he pledges to defend Yuki from her alien boss should they try to mess with her.

As Yuki proceeds to catch some of the falling snow with her hand, reminiscing a shot seen in the first season OP (as well as in the volume eight novel), and Kyo-Ani added another fine touch by having Kyon say "Yuki", though as Yuki reacted to him calling her first name for what seems to be the first time, we discovered to our disappointment (and probably hers as well) that he was referring to the snow instead.

Don't leave until all the credits have rolled out

Ending song 優しい忘却 Yasashii no Boukyaku (A Gentle Memory Lapse), sung by none other than Chihara Minori (Nagato Yuki).

Unlike the version below, the version sung in the movie only contains Minorin's vocal, which amplifies Yuki's feeling of loneliness and sadness.

A nice bonus scene shows Yuki in a library, where she sees a little boy helping a girl register her library card, to which Yuki raises her book and covers her mouth (implying that she smiled), and the movie ends.

Final thoughts

What have I not said that is contained in the brief conclusion in red above? If I have anything to add, I would say my faith in the series has been totally restored, so I hope Kyo-Ani don't screw us all again with another Endless Eight. That said, I don't think they could.

Full praise must be given to Chihara Minori, Yuki's seiyuu, for virtually voicing two characters, as she has to perform her usual calm Yuki persona, as well as the cute and shy Yuki persona.

Music is top notch as well, especially when used to convey the various changes in Kyon's mood as the story progresses, from fear to despair and then hope.

Besides Minorin's moving ED, another mention must go to the use of Erik Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1 - The Colours of Autumn piano composition. The ambience fits Yuki's personality like a nice warm glove.

So, to conclude, if you're a certified Haruhi-ist or jaded one (due to Endless Eight) and the movie appears in a cinema near you, go watch it. If the DVD or BD comes out, go get it.