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Book Description
Welcome Japan's hottest property-and the international phenomenon known as Haruhism!
Product Description
Haruhism has seized the nation with the release of the highly successful animated series DVD that was one of the top ten bestselling anime properties in 2007. Yen Press and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will publish the novel and manga series back-to-back, with hardcovers of the novels with the original Japanese cover art for libraries and hard core fans of the property.
When Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself to Kyon by asking if he's an alien, time traveler, or psychic, he knows his chances for a normal high school experience are ruined. Bold Haruhi takes a shine to him, and uses the force of her irrepressible personality to draft him into her club to find paranormal beings. Kyon soon discovers what she's looking for: Haruhi herself has the power to destroy and create entire universes at her whim. But if she knew about her ability, it could spell disaster for everyone.
When Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself to Kyon by asking if he's an alien, time traveler, or psychic, he knows his chances for a normal high school experience are ruined. Bold Haruhi takes a shine to him, and uses the force of her irrepressible personality to draft him into her club to find paranormal beings. Kyon soon discovers what she's looking for: Haruhi herself has the power to destroy and create entire universes at her whim. But if she knew about her ability, it could spell disaster for everyone.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Because Amazon is copying the reviews from both the first volume of the manga and the novel of `The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' I will have to review both with this one review.
First the original novel.
I had heard a lot about the `Haruhi Suzumiya franchise for a while and while I have yet to see the anime series, I had read a couple of volumes of the manga before coming to read the original novel that started it all and I must say that it is greatly entreating. The story follows the regular student Kyon as he begins what he thinks will be a regular life at high school but all this changes when he meets Haruhi Suzumiya and gets dragged into her strange world.
I found the book to be extremely enjoyable. The book seemed to be well written and translated and the story itself is thoroughly engaging and the characters greatly interesting. I am generally not much of a fan of first person narratives but I do feel that it worked in this case with Kyon's narration being very good. The story itself is very funny and also does touch on some more philosophical points as well.
Overall I found the novel of `The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' to be a very good read and I will definitely be getting the other books in the series.
Now the first volume of the manga.
While the manga adaptation of the Haruhi Suzumiya is very enjoyable and probably well worth five stars in its own right, it probably isn't as good as the original novel. The manga follows the same plot as the book but with some of the major events of the story happening in a different order and while there is nothing wrong with this, it is a bit jarring after having read the novel. The artwork is good and the use of super deformed artwork is actually quite funny and fits the tone of the series well.
First the original novel.
I had heard a lot about the `Haruhi Suzumiya franchise for a while and while I have yet to see the anime series, I had read a couple of volumes of the manga before coming to read the original novel that started it all and I must say that it is greatly entreating. The story follows the regular student Kyon as he begins what he thinks will be a regular life at high school but all this changes when he meets Haruhi Suzumiya and gets dragged into her strange world.
I found the book to be extremely enjoyable. The book seemed to be well written and translated and the story itself is thoroughly engaging and the characters greatly interesting. I am generally not much of a fan of first person narratives but I do feel that it worked in this case with Kyon's narration being very good. The story itself is very funny and also does touch on some more philosophical points as well.
Overall I found the novel of `The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' to be a very good read and I will definitely be getting the other books in the series.
Now the first volume of the manga.
While the manga adaptation of the Haruhi Suzumiya is very enjoyable and probably well worth five stars in its own right, it probably isn't as good as the original novel. The manga follows the same plot as the book but with some of the major events of the story happening in a different order and while there is nothing wrong with this, it is a bit jarring after having read the novel. The artwork is good and the use of super deformed artwork is actually quite funny and fits the tone of the series well.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm coming at this from the point of view of someone who's watched all of the anime so far (the 14 original episodes and the two new ones that have aired this year so far) and will be watching the new episode later today. I'd read bits of the fan translated novels on sites like Baka-Tsuki but was always put off reading too much because I didn't want to spoil anything, preferring to get all the revelations from the anime.
The problem with this book isn't the source material (i.e. the original Japanese light novel) but rather the way in which it's been localised for western (well, American) audiences. While the Haruhi Suzumiya novels are indeed set in a high school, and while they are named after the heroine, it's a lot more of an ensemble piece and, actually, it's more like Kyon is the main character rather than Haruhi. Haruhi is more the "MacGuffin" of the plot (Wiki it if you don't know what it means) than the heroine; it's more about everyone else trying to keep her happy. As a silly analogy, it's like in the movie Speed. The main character is Keanu Reeves' character, not the bus. The bus is the MacGuffin - everyone else has to keep it from dropping below 50.
The problem is that this book, this translation and localisation, seems to be trying to make out that Haruhi is the main character. It turns it into something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sabrina The Teenage Witch by setting up the story as "schoolgirl with superpowers!" and aims it at teenage girls. This mentality is only blatantly obvious in the blurb and general presentation of the book, but actually permeates every aspect of the translation. I won't say that the original stories are some deep metaphysical masterpiece, but they ARE a lot deeper than "hey girlfriend! Wouldn't it be, like, AWESOME to have, like, SUPERPOWERS!" It's a bit like if a foreign language translation of Red Dwarf tried to turn it into some wacky road movie in space.
If you want to read the novels, I'd strongly recommend you check out the translations on Baka-Tsuki; they're written more maturely, aimed at fans that appreciate the sci-fi elements and the versatile nature of the story (I mean, anything could happen, literally) rather than teenage girls who wish they were like Haruhi. They've also got way further than Volume 1.
The problem with this book isn't the source material (i.e. the original Japanese light novel) but rather the way in which it's been localised for western (well, American) audiences. While the Haruhi Suzumiya novels are indeed set in a high school, and while they are named after the heroine, it's a lot more of an ensemble piece and, actually, it's more like Kyon is the main character rather than Haruhi. Haruhi is more the "MacGuffin" of the plot (Wiki it if you don't know what it means) than the heroine; it's more about everyone else trying to keep her happy. As a silly analogy, it's like in the movie Speed. The main character is Keanu Reeves' character, not the bus. The bus is the MacGuffin - everyone else has to keep it from dropping below 50.
The problem is that this book, this translation and localisation, seems to be trying to make out that Haruhi is the main character. It turns it into something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sabrina The Teenage Witch by setting up the story as "schoolgirl with superpowers!" and aims it at teenage girls. This mentality is only blatantly obvious in the blurb and general presentation of the book, but actually permeates every aspect of the translation. I won't say that the original stories are some deep metaphysical masterpiece, but they ARE a lot deeper than "hey girlfriend! Wouldn't it be, like, AWESOME to have, like, SUPERPOWERS!" It's a bit like if a foreign language translation of Red Dwarf tried to turn it into some wacky road movie in space.
If you want to read the novels, I'd strongly recommend you check out the translations on Baka-Tsuki; they're written more maturely, aimed at fans that appreciate the sci-fi elements and the versatile nature of the story (I mean, anything could happen, literally) rather than teenage girls who wish they were like Haruhi. They've also got way further than Volume 1.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It was a five star book and I intend to buy the other novels. Well recommended!
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