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It's been a while since I watched any anime. There are several reasons for this lapse: too many other demands on my time and a lack of any interesting or compelling new shows are the main ones. But when I saw the first volume of The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya on the new release display at Suncoast today, I remembered hearing about the show a while back when I was still on dial-up and not able to download episodes without it taking the entire night; and I also remembered that it sounded like a series with a unique comic sensibility and rhythm. So I bought the DVD, and I'm glad I did. It's a fantastic show.

The story is narrated by Kyon (this is his nickname, but he never says his real name in any of these episodes), a high school freshman who unexpectedly becomes friends with the strange, initially uncommunicative Haruhi Suzumiya. She introduces herself to the class with a speech stating she has no interest in normal humans, and only wants to talk to aliens, espers, and other such paranormal types. After she tries every extracurricular club in the school and ends up hating them all, Kyon inadvertently gives her the idea of starting her own organization, which she dubs the "SOS Brigade". Soon, she's forcibly recruiting others to bring the group up to the five members required by the school's rules... only it may not be so forcible after all, as shy, withdrawn Mikuru Asahina, transfer student Itsuki Koizumi, and the virtually non-verbal literature club member Yuki Nagato all turn out to have their own reasons for joining, and secret agendas that have led them to Haruhi.

Unlike the original Japanese television broadcasts, which scrambled the order of the episodes, the DVD presents the first three episodes in chronological order, along with an "episode 00" consisting of a film Haruhi makes starring the other members of the club. This makes the story a lot more straightforward and easily comprehensible, though it does tamper with the original "WTF?" effect of the out-of-order sequencing. But whatever the presentation, what's striking about the show is its unusual comic timing and pacing. There are few laugh-out-loud gags; rather, the humor proceeds from the interactions of these odd characters, especially Kyon's befuddled responses as he tries to cope with Haruhi's eccentricities. The sequence where Haruhi blackmails the computer club leader into giving her one of the group's PC's by framing him for sexual harassment is hysterical.

I'm finding it difficult to describe this show. A capsule summary of Haruhi's character would make it sound like a madcap comedy; but it's filled with quiet, reflective moments that contrast with her odd behavior, and the visual style of the show matches this thematic strand, with lots of orange sunsets and atmospheric shots of flowing water and falling leaves. And yet, the show is still funny even when it's quiet and thoughtful. Perhaps it's best simply to watch and enjoy it, rather than try to describe what's so impressive about it. After so many disappointing, generic, uninspired series, it's refreshing to watch a show that has its own sensibility; that's something that's all too rare in anime these days.

Rating- 9/10