7. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Review

In this installment of the Anime Analysis Blog, I will be talking about one of the most interesting anime I have encountered; The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Kyon is your average high school student. He has average grades, average friends, and an average life overall. This all changes when Kyon meets Haruhi Suzumiya. Haruhi is an odd girl whose personality changes from melancholy to extreme-optimism in a fraction of a moment. Haruhi is quite a popular girl in Kyon's school; she is in many athletic teams, she is considered attractive by many of the school's men, but she is quite an "oddball" as Kyon puts it. Haruhi's goal is to create a club in school known as the SOS brigade. The main purpose of the SOS brigade is as Haruhi puts it, "to find supernatural stuff like aliens, ESPers, and any other supernatural phenomenon."

Kyon was dragged into the brigade by Haruhi against his will, but contradictory still goes to the club meetings every day after school. As the series goes on, three unique characters are introduced to the main cast.

Mikuru Asahina: A very shy girl who is literally roped into joining the SOS brigade, and is usually the victim of Haruhi's crazy ideas. In reality she is a time traveler who has come from the future to keep an eye on Haruhi Suzumiya.

Yuki Nagato: Yuki is an extremely quiet girl who apparently only joined the SOS brigade because Haruhi took over the literature club's room, which only had a single member, Yuki. Nagato is actually an alien sent from a being known as the "Data Overmind" to do the same thing as Asahina; to keep an eye on Haruhi Suzumiya.

Itsuki Koizumi: Itsuki is a cheery young man who also attends Kyon's high school. He is the only member of the SOS brigade to actually join willingly. In reality (wait for it...) he is what is known as an ESPer. An ESPer is a human being that possesses psychic powers. Most ESPers belong to an agency known as "The Agency"; whose main purpose is to keep the world safe from Haruhi Suzumiya.

It is at this point that you are probably wondering what the big deal with Haruhi Suzumiya is. Haruhi has powers that she does not know herself. She has the power to bend reality itself depending on what her current emotions and thoughts are. In the beginning of the series when Haruhi explained to Kyon that she wanted to find supernatural phenomenon, there is some speculation from the fan community that Itsuki, Yuki, and Mikuru were all created by Haruhi subconsciously.

Throughout the series the five main characters have many different adventures. They participate in the school's spring fair as a club, go around town looking for suspicious activity, bug collecting, and many other amusing things. All the while making sure that Haruhi doesn't (essentially) destroy the entire world because of a mood spasm. All of Haruhi's fellow SOS members have the responsibility of keeping the world safe.

This series was originally in the form of written literature; novels if you will. The series has two seasons, a movie, and to this day is still an extremely popular anime despite it being on a supposed permanent hiatus.

The viewer of this anime will be amused by the wacky things that happen during the series, and Kyon's irritation, and melancholy because of Haruhi. The series has serious moments where it explains the plot and how dire the situation with Haruhi actually is.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a great anime for people who don't need action every episode and enjoy a good comedy, but like the comedy to have a good plot. The cast of this series are well known, well-talented voice actors who bring the show to life whenever they speak. This anime was a pleasure for me to watch and I found it greatly amusing. I encourage you to give this anime a try.

Thank you for reading this review and I hope that it has encouraged you to try watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Until next time, I am...

-The Anime Analyzer

Signing out...

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Episode One

6. Naruto (Shippuden) Review

In this installment of the Anime Analysis Blog I will be talking about what is quite possibly the most popular anime airing on television; Naruto. The Naruto series is cut into two different shows, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. In Naruto, Naruto is 12-13 years old, and in Shippuden he is 15-16 years old. This means that there is a two-year time skip between Naruto and Shippuden. If I reference any historical events, I will be referring to how many years ago chronologically it is from Shippuden's standpoint.

Naruto is based on the tale of a young ninja by the name of Naruto Uzumaki. Ever since Naruto's birth he has been outcast from his own village because of a dark secret he holds within himself. Sixteen years ago, a demon fox with nine tails attacked Naruto's home, the Hidden Leaf Village. The fox reined destruction and death upon the village when it attacked. The fourth Hokage, who is the leader of the village, sacrificed his own life so that he could defend the village from the Fox's wrath. The Hokage sealed the fox into the body of a newborn baby, Naruto Uzumaki. The entire village either knew or heard rumors of Naruto's curse and isolated him for that very fact. Naruto's life was miserable for the fact he had the demon fox sealed within him, and the fact that his parents died in the "Fox attack" all those years ago.
                                                                                                                                                                   
In the Naruto world, there are different levels of ninja. These levels represent how powerful and disciplined the ninja is. The line goes...
Academy Student: A student who must go to school to earn the rank of Genin (beginner ninja.)
Genin: A ninja who has just started out and is usually assigned to a squad and squad leader. The leader is always a Jounin.
Chuunin: This is the next level of ninja. Genin who have passed the Chuunin exams can become Chuunin.
Jounin: Are expert-level ninja, who have earned their status by going on numerous missions and completing tough tasks. Jounin are well respected and are assigned to a group of three Genin to train usually.
Anbu: Anbu and Jounin can be considered the same level of skill. The "Anbu Black Ops" are a special operations unit that takes care of the tough missions and are a matter of national importance.
Kage: The strongest and most respected ninja in the entire country. This ninja has gained Kage status by becoming the wisest,strongest, and most respected. There are five Kage, since there are five countries in the ninja world. There is the Hokage (Leaf Village,) Kazekage( Sand Village,) Mizukage(Water Village,) Tsuchikage(Rock Village,) and the Raikage(Lightning Village.) All of these Kage worked extremely hard to get where they are is what I am explaining.
The pilot to the Naruto series is quite memorable to any person who has watched the series:
                                                                                                                                                                   
The beginning of the episode tells of the "Fox Attack" that I had previously mentioned, the fact Naruto had the demon fused into him, and him being outcast by his fellow villagers for holding such an evil demon. Thirteen years later Naruto Uzumaki is a student in the Konoha Ninja Academy. Naruto is defacing the Hidden Leaf Village's "Hokage great faces."
The great faces are almost a direct parody of the faces on Mount Rushmore. The difference being that the faces are of the four Hokage who have reign over the Leaf village.
                                                                                                                                                                   
Naruto is caught by his sensei (teacher,) Iruka Umino. Iruka makes Naruto clean up the mess he made on the great faces. Iruka sympathizes with Naruto's curse and doesn't blame him for the countless number of lives that were taken by the nine-tailed fox. Later on the next day, Naruto encounters one of his teachers at the ninja academy. The teacher, Mizuki, tells Naruto of a place where a sacred scroll is hidden that teaches forbidden Jutsu (ninja techniques.) He tells Naruto that if he gets the scroll, he will be given great power, enough power to obtain revenge on all the people who mocked, and feared him.
                                                                                                                                                                   
In Naruto, Jutsu are the various abilities ninja use throughout the series. Jutsu is divided into many different categories. I am not even kidding, there is quite a large variety so I will summarize as best I can. Finally, I will quickly explain that ninjas have "Chakra." Chakra is spiritual power within the human that grants ninjas the ability to use Jutsu. The more a ninja trains, the higher their chakra reserves grow.
                                                                                                                                                                   
Ninjutsu: These techniques go from elemental attacks to manipulation of what most consider impossible in the real world. Examples of those techniques are such as creating a mist, creating clones of yourself, and switching places with a nearby object.
Genjutsu: Genjutsu are illusionary techniques used to control, impair, and basically disable your enemy from doing anything. Genjutsu can be used to put someone in a dream where they are unaware of the world around them, fooling the person into thinking one of their body parts doesn't work, and create such mental trauma that would leave the enemy in a coma.
Taijutsu: Taijutsu is purely physical attack. In our world, people could consider Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Fisticuffs, wrestling, or any physical style of fighting is considered Taijutsu.
                                                                                                                                                                   

The village ninjas find out that the sacred scroll was stolen. Mizuki tells the Anbu Black Ops and Iruka that he saw Naruto take the scroll. Mizuki, Iruka, and the Anbu all head out to find Naruto. Iruka ends up finding Naruto reading through the scroll. Iruka scolds Naruto about stealing the scroll, however, Naruto is confused about why Iruka is mad at him. Naruto had no interest in getting revenge on the villagers, he had a different agenda. Naruto has a dream to become the Hokage of the leaf village, to do that he'll need to (quote) "learn lots of awesome jutsu." Mizuki shows up on the scene and reveals that his real intention was to sell the scroll to an evil ninja, Orochimaru. "Now that I've told you everything, it's time to die!" Mizuki yells as he throws a giant ninja star at Naruto. In a flash Iruka defends Naruto from the hit. The star digging into Iruka's back. Iruka goes down, and Naruto becomes furious. Naruto summons over forty clones of himself around Mizuki. "How dare you touch my sensei, I'm going to kick your ass!" Naruto declared as all of his clones tackled Mizuki and began to beat him almost to death. Iruka awakens and congratulates Naruto on defeating the corrupt Mizuki. Naruto is given Iruka's headband which is a symbol of a ninja graduating from the academy. Naruto has finally become a Genin.
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Naruto has a slow pace in its story and isn't too hard to watch if you watch every episode. The show can become quite emotional as you watch Naruto struggle to realize his dream of being hokage. Throughout the series Naruto meets new people, learns to become stronger, and learns valuable life lessons. If you like anime, then Naruto is definitely a choice for you. It is aimed at a teen-adult audience and has blood and murder. The ninja world is not at all realistic which may be a turnoff for some people who prefer a realistic setting in their television program. Many well known voice actors are in the series which makes the characters feel like real people.
Hopefully this review has attracted you to Naruto and gives you an urge to try it out.
Until Next Time This Is...

The Anime Analyzer

Signing off...