Aliens, time travelers, and espers oh my

// Synopsis: Kyon is your basic bored, apathetic, high school slacker. On the first day of school he meets a girl named Haruhi. She’s hot, great at everything, stand off-ish, bossy, obsessed with the paranormal and equally bored. And unknown to everyone the fate of the universe hangs on each of her mood swings. Kyon finds himself sucked into a friendship with her and her SOS Brigade club, which investigates all things weird. He along with the other members who happen to secretly be an alien, a time traveler, and an esper need to keep her entertained so she doesn’t inadvertantly destroy the world.

// Review: I was immediately pulled into this series half way through the first episode. Most of it was a horribly produced mock live action home movie that doubled as the funniest and smartest parody on the anime genre. And only until the second episode are you introduced to the two main leads and get an inkling of what this whole thing is all about.

/ Anime usually demands that you dial up your suspension of belief to the max and tear the knob off, but the plot for this anime goes beyond incredulous. For some inexplicable reason this girl can will things into being and the laws of the universe bend to her emotions. Yeah it’s silly, but it’s just to create the context for this high school situational comedy.

/ Kyon plays the straight guy as events unfold from his perspective and we are privy to his sarcastic thoughts and observations about this bizarre girl. Many times you wonder why he sticks around and allows himself to be bullied by Haruhi, but soon you realize this anime is incapable of breaking one fundamental universal law: guys are suckers when it comes to nice looking broads.

/ Towards the end of the this first season the director had to make some sense and bring some closure to this ridiculous premise. Unfortunately that required shelfing the comedy for some hard core romantic drama. One thing that was strange is half of the episodes are from one major story arc of the mini-novels and the rest are taken from different volumes. But then they are all mixed together so chronologically it’s out of order.

// Wrap up: It’s not surprising that this is currently the most popular anime in Japan. It easily appeals to fanboys and teenage girls alike. By no means a tour de force, but you should give it a try at least for the first episode alone.

Entertainment rating: 3.5