The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1

Key Events

 * Kyon meets Haruhi.
 * Kyon indirectly helps Haruhi form the SOS Brigade.
 * Yuki Nagato and Mikuru Asahina join the Brigade.

Summary
At the beginning of the episode, Kyon introduces himself and his maturation into a young adult, growing up to deject the possibility of aliens, anime heroes, time travelers and espers as nothing more than fiction. As the conclusion of Kyon's monologue grinds to a halt, Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself to class 1-5. Her eccentricities are explicitly indicated through the use of images, and Kyon's dialogue (ex: her hairstyle is dependent on day, mood, and input from Kyon).

As Kyon has lunch with his friends Taniguchi and Kunikida, Taniguchi mentions his understanding of her, including the incident three years ago, and his failure to date her more than five minutes. As Kyon dialogues internally, he recounts instances of which he spoke to Suzumiya prior to the formation of the SOS Brigade. They constantly mentioned random things, such as her hairstyle changes. Later, Ryoko Asakura asks Kyon to be friends with Suzumiya.

Following these events, Kyon mentions her lack of interest in all clubs, and she explains that they are all not to her liking, despite being highly capable in all of them. Kyon mentions human ingenuity, but takes an arrogant tone to her, and she becomes easily agitated. As class proceeds about Japanese history during the Edo Period, Suzumiya pulls Kyon's desk back, evidently hurting him. As he asks why she did that, she replies what she will do about the club situation; to make her own. Kyon calms her down because they are still in class. After class, Suzumiya drags Kyon by the tie to the top of the staircase and she demands that he take part in her misadventures, to which he initially rejects rather explicitly.

After Kyon read the student handbook, Suzumiya shows Kyon the classroom she managed to snag from Yuki Nagato, saying that the literary club was about to die anyways, Nagato approved her action and that this is the optimal place in the building to host her exploits. As she introduces Mikuru Asahina into the room, she locks the door, fondles Asahina's breasts, and mentions the attractiveness of Asahina's breasts over her own, and announces that, due to four "members" being here, Suzumiya shall call it the SOS Brigade. Kyon mentions that the antics began at this moment. Roll Hare Hare Yukai.

Characters

 * Haruhi Suzumiya
 * Kyon
 * Mikuru Asahina
 * Yuki Nagato
 * Ryoko Asakura
 * Taniguchi
 * Kunikida

Trivia

 * This episode was broadcast as episode 2 of Season 1, and as episode 1 of Season 2.
 * This episode is shown in grayscale until Kyon first meets Haruhi.
 * Yuki reads The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
 * Oddly, when Kyon reads the rules on setting up a club in the school, it says that they need at least one teacher to supervise, but during the series they never have a teacher supervise club activities. Also, the computer club that appears in the next episode does not have a teacher supervising. (Note: This is not an error at least in the anime. It doesn't seem like they're ever accepted as an official club. Even if they were, club supervisors don't have to be present it's more like a faculty representative so this isn't proof enough that they never approached one. More likely the SOS Brigade is an unofficial club).
 * In this episode there are no obvious paranormal phenomena.