The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 Vol. 4

Actors: Aya Hirano
Directors: Tatsuya Ishihara
Format: Animated, Box set, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: Japanese, English
Subtitles: English

The second season of the offbeat supernatural comedy The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is even odder than the first. High-school sophomore Haruhi retains her impatience with the ordinariness of everyday life--and her godlike powers to transform reality. In the multi-part adventure "Endless Eight," she tries to wring every possible bit of fun out of summer vacation. Unsatisfied, she traps the members of her SOS Brigade--Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina, and put-upon narrator Kyon--in a Groundhog Day-like time loop. Haruhi doesn't feel like she's had all the fun she can, so the days between August 17 and 31 repeat more than 15,000 times. It's a clever idea, but the filmmakers repeat the same episode with only minor variations; viewers can skip from episode 3 to 9 without missing anything. Once Kyon finds a way to break the loop, school begins and Haruhi decides the Brigade will make a film for the arts festival. Once again, things Haruhi imagines begin happening: Asahina shoots laser beams from her left eye, a cat starts talking, and cherry trees blossom out of season. Koizumi's comments to Kyon in episode 13 about the various organizations battling over Haruhi's powers suggest that a third season may already be in the works. The extras include promotional spots, video of location-scouting trips, behind-the-scenes clips of Aya Hirano's music video, and a CD. However they fail to include an explanation of Tanabata, a festival unfamiliar to most Americans, which is the focus of episode 1. In Japan, people celebrate the summer night when the stars Vega and Altair look closest together by writing wishes on pieces of paper and hanging them on branches of bamboo, which the Brigade members do. (Rated 13 and older: risqué humor, alcohol use, cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon