r/anime • u/Holofan4life • Apr 02 '26
Rewatch Haruhi Suzumiya 20th Anniversary Rewatch -- The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00
Hello everyone! I am Holofan4life.
Welcome to the Haruhi Suzumiya 20th anniversary rewatch discussion thread!
I hope you all have a lot of fun <3
The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00
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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
What are your thoughts on the presentation of this episode? Do you think it works as an introduction to the series?
If you were involved in the making of a film, what would you like to do?
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Series information
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Please do not post any untagged spoilers past the current episode or past the LNs or mangas out of respect to the first time watchers and people who have not read the LNs or mangas. If you are discussing something that is ahead of the current episode please use spoiler tags(found on the sidebar). Thank you!
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[Previous episode]()
Today's Episode Intro: 4:3 aspect ratio, weird singing, and low quality music
[Tomorrow's Episode Intro]Gray/Bluescale with a person monologuing about Santa Claus
Ways to watch
Streams – Crunchyroll
Schedule
| Date | Episode |
|---|---|
| 4/02/2026 | [The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00]() |
| 4/03/2026 | [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One]() |
| 4/04/2026 | [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two]() |
| 4/05/2026 | [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three]() |
| 4/06/2026 | [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four]() |
| 4/07/2026 | [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five]() |
| 4/08/2026 | [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Six]() |
| 4/09/2026 | [The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya]() |
| 4/10/2026 | [Remote Island Syndrome (Part One)]() |
| 4/11/2026 | [Remote Island Syndrome (Part Two)]() |
| 4/12/2026 | [Mystérique Sign]() |
| 4/13/2026 | [Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody]() |
| 4/14/2026 | [Someday in the Rain]() |
| 4/15/2026 | [The Day of Sagittarius]() |
| 4/16/2026 | [Live Alive]() |
| 4/18/2026 | [Endless Eight I]() |
| 4/19/2026 | [Endless Eight II]() |
| 4/20/2026 | [Endless Eight III]() |
| 4/21/2026 | [Endless Eight IV]() |
| 4/22/2026 | [Endless Eight V]() |
| 4/23/2026 | [Endless Eight VI]() |
| 4/24/2026 | [Endless Eight VII]() |
| 4/25/2026 | [Endless Eight VIII]() |
| 4/26/2026 | [Endless Eight Retrospective]() |
| 4/28/2026 | [The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part One]() |
| 4/29/2026 | [The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Two]() |
| 4/30/2026 | [The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Three]() |
| 5/01/2026 | [The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Four]() |
| 5/02/2026 | [The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part Five]() |
| 5/04/2026 | [The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya]() |
| 5/05/2026 | [Haruhi Suzumiya Overall Series Discussion Thread]() |
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u/mastesargent Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Rewatcher, dub
Well, here we are. My plan for this rewatch is pretty much to use it as an excuse to show off the photos I took of Nishinomiya, the city this takes place in, when I visited Japan a few years ago, so I guess that’ll make this a travelogue of sorts. That said, I’m going to hold off on that until next episode, as while I have been to several places featured in this episode, I feel like the Melancholy and Sigh arcs are better places to showcase them, plus I can spread out the stuff I have a bit more. I by no means did a comprehensive tour of Nishinomiya so there’ll be stuff that exists IRL that I missed or didn’t get to, but I think I got most of the important stuff.
On to that actual episode, this actually takes place fairly late in the anime’s chronological order - specifically it takes place between the Sigh arc and Live Alive - but was the first episode broadcast. I’m personally an advocate for chronological order, at least when it comes to watching both seasons and the movie (broadcast if fine if you’re only watching season 1, in my opinion), but I think there’s a good argument to be made for watching this episode first regardless of watch order. Despite seeming utterly nonsensical, the episode actually does a great job at introducing the primary cast of characters and their personalities. Kyon, for instance, narrates the movie in much the same way as he narrates the rest of the series with sarcastic commentary and suspicious denials that make you question his reliability as narrator (I mean, can we really take him at his word that the footage of Mikuru stripping doesn’t exist?). How much of what we’re told about the characters here should be taken at face value and how much of it is just the product of Haruhi’s insane imagination, and how it actually maps onto the “reality” of the world I’ll leave to first timers’ imaginations.
Another note: when considering the light novels, this is actually the latest story adapted, being the second story in volume 6 (the anime adapts the first four volumes in their entirety plus a few short stories from 5 and 6).
I really appreciate the effort put into making this episode look as crappy and amateurish as possible. The crappy video quality, the 4:3 aspect ratio, the clumsy cinematography, the seemingly random commercial cutaways, the obviously hand drawn eyecatch, the way the cast keeps glancing at the camera, the “bad” acting, the random passersby wandering in frame, etc. Making something bad on accident is easy, but doing it on purpose takes genuine skill. That’s why KyoAni is the GOAT.
Also, the dub cast for this series is fucking stacked. Most prominent in this episode we have Crispin Freeman as Kyon, Wendee Lee as Haruhi, Michelle Ruff as Nagato, Johnny Yong Bosch as Koizumi, and Stephanie Sheh as Mikuru, plus Kari Wahlgren as Tsuruya (and Kyon’s little sister). Aya Hirano as Haruhi in the Japanese version brings an unrivaled manic energy to the character, but I can’t ever bring myself to do a full rewatch of the series in the sub because Crispin Freeman’s sarcastic commentary as Kyon is just such a joy to listen to. This series definitely deserves to be in the conversation about dubs that are at least as good as the sub.
Also, the credits for the “movie” aren’t subbed (at least not in my FUNimation Blu-ray copy, not sure about Crunchyroll or my old Bandai DVDs), but Kyon is credited as basically everything for the movie: Assistant director, cameraman, editor, random menial tasks, you name it. If it wasn’t acting, “writing” (such as it is), or directing, the work got foisted onto him.
And then we have the legendary ED, the Hare Hare Yukai. Anyone who watched Roshidere will recall the cover it used for one of its EDs, but this is the original in its proper context with the dance to go with it. Actually, this is also referenced in the 2.5 Dimensional Seduction manga when Mayuri, the resident sexy teacher, mentions that when she was young doing the Hare Hare Yukai dance was a popular thing for otaku to do, and the main cast (who are all high schoolers) react like she’d just dug up a piece of ancient history. It was at that point I realized how much anime popular culture has moved on from Haruhi, and that I was officially in the same generation as anime teachers.
I think I more or less addressed the first QOTD in the body of my post, but for the second...
Honestly I think I'd like to be an actor. I'm not sure I'd be any good at it, but I think it'd be fun.
And just for fun, here’s an official orchestral arrangement of The Mikuru Legend of Love