HARUHI SUZUMIYA

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a short and fun animé (only 14 eps. long) that caught my attention a while back. It is a bit shojo, with a loud, bossy, but very kawaii heroine and a passive, funny guy as its narrator, but then it manages to cram in aliens, time-travelers and espers into the plot, and goes on to tackle existential issues ala Matrix (but not the treatment), so it's pretty cool to me. I also like the fact that the episodes aren't arranged in chronological order, so there's a Memento-like feel of figuring out things as you watch, and everything suddenly makes sense and fits together in the end.

Haruhi has something of a cult following in Japan (with fans calling themselves Haruhites), and the show can be found at the top of a lot of best animé lists. The manga and animé is actually based on a series of novels, and rumors are that a second season for the animé version is in the works. Here's a cute dance sequence shown at the end credits of each episode:



And here, I was surprised to find out, is a version of that dance done by our very own Cebu inmates. Hrmm.