“FEATURE: The Complete Guide on How to Watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”

 

The one above all, who controls all of time, space and those who occupy it, Haruhi Suzumiya recently made her return to the website you’re reading this article on. 

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya TV anime is more than just a classic series. It not only helped make Kyoto Animation a household name but was also one of the first big viral anime hits around the world — if it were released today, the “Hare Hare Yukai” would be the top sound on TikTok. 

 

In a time when streaming services weren’t yet a thing, MySpace was the dominant social media, and George W. Bush was still president of the USA, Haruhi Suzumiya had to find an inventive way to get on people’s radars — by broadcasting the series out-of-order, or in the perfect order, depending on who you speak to. Let’s look at all these watch orders so you’ll be completely informed on how to watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

 

We’ll be starting with the main series, then branching off into the side-story anime series’.

 

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2006 Broadcast Order

 

 

 

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya aired over two anime seasons, one in 2006 and the second (kind of – we’ll get to that!) in 2009. While the 2009 release made some sort of sense, when the series first aired on Japanese TV in 2006 it was aired in an order now dubbed “Kyon’s Order.” This is because, as great as Kyon is, he’s an unreliable narrator at the best of times.

 

People’s first taste of Haruhi came in its first episode that aired on April 2, 2006, “The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00.” The episode was the student film shown by the SOS Brigade in the “Kyon’s Order” Episode 12 — yup, viewers needed to wait 12 weeks to understand what The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina even was. It would be another three years until viewers got to see the arc where the film was adapted. 

 

RELATED: In Defense of Endless Eight

 

Here is the full “Kyon’s Order” for the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya:

 

• The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two
• The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three
• Remote Island Syndrome (Part One)
• Mystérique Sign
• Remote Island Syndrome (Part Two)
• Someday in the Rain
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four
• The Day of Sagittarius
• Live Alive
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Six

 

Then watch the second season episodes as they were released and finally The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya film.

 

 

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of this order for a few reasons. One, it’s not chronological. Two, why is “Mystérique Sign” in-between parts one and two of “Remote Island Syndrome?” And three, it cuts up the story of the Melancholy arc too much to be watchable as a complete narrative arc.

 

But, those who watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as it aired all those years ago swear by this order. One commenter on the ANN forums around that time exclaimed that “part of the fun of watching Haruhi is watching it out of order trying to figure it out!” The order was so popular it was a special edition on the physical release in the west — where it wasn’t even on TV!

 

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2009 Broadcast Order

 

 

 

 

Next up is the 2009 broadcast order for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, also dubbed “Haruhi’s Order” or the chronological order, though due to some shenanigans, it’s not actually chronological to the character. 

 

When Haruhi Suzumiya was first adapted in 2006, the team at Kyoto Animation, led by Tatsuya Ishihara and Yutaka Yamamoto, decided to only adapt the first major novel and some side stories, culminating in an original anime episode written by series creator Nagaru Tanigawa “Someday in the Rain.” Though, because it was aired out of order, things got stranger than the events at North High.

 

 

When it came to creating the second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, instead of just putting out a second season, it was decided to rebroadcast the first season as well. They didn’t tell people that new episodes were coming, only that it would be two cour (airing over two seasons, aka during spring and summer). “When were the new episodes going to air? Watch each week to find out!”

 

The new episodes were instead inserted into the series chronologically, making the first new episode of the season the eighth episode overall for the new broadcast order with “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody.“ 

 

RELATED: Making a Wish at The Haruhi Suzumiya: Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody Exhibition for Tanabata

 

Here is the full chronological order for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya:

 

• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Six
• The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya
• Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
• Mystérique Sign
• Remote Island Syndrome (Part One)
• Remote Island Syndrome (Part Two)
• Endless Eight I
• Endless Eight II
• Endless Eight III
• Endless Eight IV
• Endless Eight V
• Endless Eight VI
• Endless Eight VII
• Endless Eight VIII
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five
• The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00
• Live Alive
• The Day of Sagittarius
• Someday in the Rain

 

And then finally watching The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya anime film.

 

 

 

This is my personal favorite order when I do a rewatch. It’s also the order used on Crunchyroll, making it super simple to figure out. Though, the original light novels released their stories out of order like "Kyon's Order," each major arc (yes, including “Endless Eight”) is a tightly packed plot that builds on each story through the SOS Brigade’s first two semesters in high school.

 

RELATED: The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya Light Novel Reminds Us of the Good Times with the SOS Brigade

 

The only issue with this order is losing “The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00” as the first episode of the series. Not only was it used as the first episode of the broadcast order, but was even the first episode on the home release of the first season that was generally chronological. It was always the first episode no matter what. For that genuine Haruhi Suzumiya experience, especially as a first-time watcher, I'd recommend watching “The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00” first.

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Home Release Order

 

 

 

 

As mentioned above, the home releases of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya were again different than the two other versions, mainly because it is basically just cutting up the first and second seasons. With the full two-season chronological order currently streaming, the home release order has been superseded over the past decade, but here it is for those who may be interested.

 

Here is the home release order for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya:

 

Season 1 –

 

• The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Six
• The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya
• Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
• Mystérique Sign
• Remote Island Syndrome (Part One)
• Remote Island Syndrome (Part Two)
• Live Alive
• The Day of Sagittarius
• Someday in the Rain

 

Season 2 –

 

• Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
• Endless Eight I
• Endless Eight II
• Endless Eight III
• Endless Eight IV
• Endless Eight V
• Endless Eight VI
• Endless Eight VII
• Endless Eight VIII
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four
• The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five

 

And, as usual, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya anime film as a finale.

 

 

What to do about Endless Eight?

 

 

 

Even if you haven’t seen The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya at this point, you have likely heard about the infamous "Endless Eight" — eight episodes of basically the same story but with different animation and voice work. There are some differences here and there, but most of the plot in each episode is exactly the same. 

 

I won’t go into why this happened, or the production behind it, but to me, it’s brilliant. The arc showed me when I was first getting into the medium that anime can be a little weird, do something kooky and fun, and not be tied down to the norms of traditional television. 

 

But yes, "Endless Eight" can be a bit of a slog to get through, I understand that. Maybe you just want to any% run the series to get to Disappearance as soon as possible?

 

 

 

While I personally rewatch all eight episodes on a rewatch (sometimes dipping from Japanese into English as well!), here are the three episodes that you need to fully understand the arc.

 

• Endless Eight I
• Endless Eight II
• Endless Eight VIII

 

But, and I must stress this without giving away spoilers, watching all eight episodes immensely helps to empathize with a certain character in Disappearance. Heck, watch all the episodes eight times over for the fullest effect! 

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Spin-Off Anime

Image via Netflix

 

Due to the popularity of the main series, a bunch of spin-off anime was produced to either help promote it or a spin-off manga. The first of these was The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya & Nyoron! Churuya-san, which was based on the parody manga series of the same name. These were originally released as web shorts between the first and second seasons, but can be watched at any time.

 

The big spin-off, though, is The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, which was based on the manga of the same name and follows an alternate universe that was shown in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya anime film where Haruhi never went to North High nor created the SOS Brigade.

 

It’s a wholesome watch that has no bearing on the main Haruhi Suzumiya story but should only be watched after The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya film to understand the full context behind the series as well as all the not-so-subtle nods to the main story. 

 

So there you have it, the complete guide on how to watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime series. The full 2009 broadcast order is streaming on Crunchyroll now, while the rest is currently streaming on Funimation.

 

 

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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram. He's been a proud Haruhiist since 2008.

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