Twelve Moments in Anime 2009: #1 – Haruhi Returns!

Well this is it. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Moment #1 of CCY’s Twelve Moments project. Drumroll please… *durarara* … Haruhi’s return!

Although I was extremely displeased by all the KyoAni/Kadokawa trolling, including the numerous false starts, the Nice Boat incident, Haruhi-chan, and obviously the infamous Endless Eight, the moments when I realized from Random Curiosity’s posts that the rumored second season episodes were actually happening were some intense moments. I captured the original feeling of anticipating and watching Haruhi return back in May (holy cow was it that long ago?).

So was the return of Haruhi worth it? Was it worth the wait? Well, frankly, no it wasn’t. Even without the Endless Eight fiasco, there wasn’t anything brilliant about the storytelling this time around (and it also didn’t help that the show didn’t air in HD for some reason). But I’m very confident that KyoAni will do a fantastic job with The Disappearance of. Even though the awestruck luster of Haruhi has worn off for me, I would be shocked if The Disappearance of didn’t end up ranking in MAL’s top 5 with a 8.9+ rating and being considered a transcendent classic. Crazy high expectations? Maybe. But I actually think I’m being fairly grounded. It seems like KyoAni’s really going all out on it. And with a good story, premiere movie-level budget, and the screenwriter for Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo on board (shame they didn’t get the director as well), they’ve got all the right pieces in place. I guess we’ll see. Maybe the awestruck luster will return one day. I really hope so.

Much props to CCY for ringleading the Twelve Moments project. It was a blast to participate in, and made me a little nostalgic for the year that flew by. Hopefully 2010 will be as good and as adventurous.

For more 12 moments/days reading check out the rest of the gang: otou-san, schneider, doctordazza, Gargron, Scamp, zaon47, kevo, rabbitpoets, drmchsr0, Pontifus, ghostlightning, 53RG10, Vii, Seinime, _ETERNAL, FuyuMaiden, Eater-of-All, Shinmaru, calaggie, yumeka, Nazarielle, Cuchlann, Jinx, Janette, stringedsonata, animewriter, Kairu, Nadekoism, Sea Slugs.

In the meanwhile, Merry Christmas all!