Truth be told, I'm not a great fan of the original Haruhi anime and would only rate it a 7/10. This movie, though, is an absolute masterpiece that by itself is reason enough to watch through the series.
There's nothing about this movie that isn't close to perfection. The animations are crisp and stunningly gorgeous (especially compared to the series, which certainly shows it age). The cinematography is a sight to behold. The soundtrack brings back the best motifs of the show but also does its own thing. The voice acting, even (especially?) the English dub, is top notch. And the story itself... 'The Melancholy of Harumi Suzumiya' was a humorous show that rarely delivered more than light-hearted slice-of-life moments with some added craziness. I fully expected 'The disappearance of Harumi Suzumiya' to be very much the same, just on a higher calibre. It's not. The movie made me laugh. It made me cry. It brings the characters to life in a way that the show couldn't, and it has more plot twists than I could have foreseen. Most of all, this movie brought me happiness like only very few movies have managed.
However, as a stand-alone movie, I believe that it would fail its audience. Nevertheless, I cannot in good conscience rate 'Disappearance' any lower than 10/10; something I usually try to avoid. But this movie did it all, and it did it all perfectly.
There's nothing about this movie that isn't close to perfection. The animations are crisp and stunningly gorgeous (especially compared to the series, which certainly shows it age). The cinematography is a sight to behold. The soundtrack brings back the best motifs of the show but also does its own thing. The voice acting, even (especially?) the English dub, is top notch. And the story itself... 'The Melancholy of Harumi Suzumiya' was a humorous show that rarely delivered more than light-hearted slice-of-life moments with some added craziness. I fully expected 'The disappearance of Harumi Suzumiya' to be very much the same, just on a higher calibre. It's not. The movie made me laugh. It made me cry. It brings the characters to life in a way that the show couldn't, and it has more plot twists than I could have foreseen. Most of all, this movie brought me happiness like only very few movies have managed.
However, as a stand-alone movie, I believe that it would fail its audience. Nevertheless, I cannot in good conscience rate 'Disappearance' any lower than 10/10; something I usually try to avoid. But this movie did it all, and it did it all perfectly.