Well, you can either hate this first episode, or love it. Or if you’re like me, you can hate it then love it. The episode is not the real first episode. The show is actually a movie that Haruhi directed, sometime after the real first episode, which is episode 2.

 

Anyway, the movie is shot very poorly and the acting is horrible. When I saw this ep for the first time, I was shocked. The OP was absolutely atrocious and the plot which the narrator described was completely stupid. As the description of the series I had read prior to watching it was exactly the same: a combat waitress from the future had come to prevent the special powers of a young boy from being stolen by an evil wizard, I didn’t realise it wasn’t the real show when the director (Haruhi) came into view. The combat waitress also works as a bunny girl as her day job.

 

The combat waitress, Mikuru, fights the evil wizard, Nagato, several times before finally finishing her off. Mikuru and the boy she saved, Koizumi Itsuki, lived happily ever after. After the credits roll, Suzumiya Haruhi, Koizumi, Nagato, Mikuru and Kyon (the narrator) are seen watching the film. Kyon is shocked at the movie’s poor quality. He is also shocked at the fact that Haruhi sees nothing wrong with it and is acting like it’s a masterpiece, preparing to show it to the public.

 

Okay, after that last part, relief swept over me. When I first saw images of the series, I really liked the character design. I am really picky with character design (placement of the mouth and nose, how big the eyes are, the shape of the head, the chin, the hair etc.), and good animation is just as important as the plot, dialogue and everything else (for me at least.)

 

After watching the next few episodes, I came back to watch this first ep again. It really is funny seeing the horrible filming, and now that I know the characters in real life (real life as in real life in the show – not in the movie that they filmed, does that make sense?), I can enjoy the episode more. That’s why if you think the first episode is completely screwed up, watch the second episode then come back to it.