Welcome to episode 01 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya!
After 24 episodes, we’ve finally made it to the first.
And the first episode of broadcast order Haruhi is in fact the product of the SOS Brigade’s blood, sweat, and tears – their movie!

Brief Synopsis
We get to enjoy the premiere viewing of the SOS Brigade’s movie. It’s sort of a mix between a documentary due to Kyon’s constant narration and an abstract film with a lack of direction and story design.
To sum it up, it’s about a battle waitress named Mikuru Asahina from the future who works as a bunnygirl advertiser for various stores and was sent back in time to watch over Koizumi Itsuki, who has latent esper powers that he doesn’t know about. A magic alien, Nagato Yuki, appears and tries to take Itsuki with her, because he is the key to her plans or something.
Eventually Itsuki convinces Yuki to hold off on trying to kidnap him. He then moves in with Asahina while attending school. Yuki then enrolls in his school to try and win him over to her, which prompts Asahina to also enroll in the school. After a while Yuki challenges Asahina to one final battle – she manages to overpower Asahina but Itsuki steps in at the last second, his esper powers awakened, and he saves Asahina’s life while defeating Yuki.
Itsuki and Asahina then live happily ever after.
The movie concludes, with Kyon looking shocked at what he just saw (despite being the one who edited most of it) and Haruhi being excited to screen the movie at the cultural festival.

Episode Thoughts
I must say, what a spectacle. Truly the movie of the century. I’m sorry I ever doubted Haruhi and her directorial genius!
Overall, this was a fun little episode to watch. I knew the movie was going to be a total mess, and it really was. If it wasn’t for Kyon’s constant narration, you’d have absolutely no idea what was going on or what was happening. It did feel like a documentary at times though as a result of his narration.
My highlight from the movie was a scene where the camera caught Itsuki in the background holding up a board to block the sunlight, and then it moved away from him after a few moments. Was a funny moment.

In Conclusion…
My final thought is this – it seems really stupid to make this the first episode of the Haruhi broadcast order. By the time someone’s made it to the 28th episode they’re probably only going to vaguely remember the movie. If I was watching in broadcast order, I feel like I would want to rewatch episode 01 again just to see their final product in context.
It’s so satisfying to watch the lead up to this final product, as opposed to having it spoiled much earlier on in the series. Those are my thoughts on the matter though, chronological order has just really worked for me and I can’t help but think I wouldn’t be enjoying this series as much if I had gone with broadcast order.
Anyways, it looks like we have 3 episodes left before the movie.
Until next time!
Thanks for reading!
Other Haruhi Posts
- Episode 2 (#1) – Series Introduction
- Episode 3 (#2) – Bullying Kyon Edition
- Episode 5 (#3) – Yuki’s Glasses Edition
- Episode 10 (#4) – Contrast Edition
- Episode 13 (#5) – Real Talk Edition
- Episode 14 (#6) – Romance Edition
- Episode 4 (#7) – Let’s Play Ball! Edition
- Episode 15 (#8) – Introspective Edition
- Episode 7 (#9) – Supernatural Exterminator Edition
- Episode 6 (#10) – Fun in the Sun Edition
- Episode 8 (#11) – “Dark Stormy Night” Edition
- Episode 16 (#12) – “You can have one, but only one.” Edition
- Episode 17 (#13) – Haruhi’s Declaration Edition
- Episode 18 (#14) – Noble Aspirations Edition
- Episode 19 (#15) – Bikes Edition
- Episode 20 (#16) – Hands Up Edition
- Episode 21 (#17) – Festival Edition
- Episode 22 (#18) – Lunch? Edition
- Episode 23 (#19) – Just Yomu Edition
- Episode 24 (#20) – Summer is Over!! Edition
- Episode 25 (#21) – Back to Business Edition
- Episode 26 (#22) – Bullying Mikuru Asahina Edition
- Episode 27 (#23) – Director Haruhi Edition
- Episode 28 (#24) – Talking Cat Edition
- Episode 01 (#25) – Directorial Debut Edition
- Episode 12 (#26) – God Knows Edition
- Episode 11 (#27) – All Hands On Deck! Edition
- Episode 9 (#28) – Good News Edition
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