The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (film)

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの消失 Suzumiya Haruhi no Shōshitsu) is a film based on the fourth Haruhi Suzumiya light novel of the same name. Directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and written by Nagaru Tanigawa, it was released in Japan on February 6th, 2010. The movie has a run time of 162 minutes, the equivalent of 7 episodes.

Summary
On December 16, a month after the cultural festival, the SOS Brigade organizes a Christmas hotpot party. Kyon is skeptical of its success, but still helps decorate the clubroom. The next day, Kyon talks to Taniguchi, who announces that he has a date with a girl from Kouyouen planned for the following week.

While walking to school on the morning of December 18, Kyon sees Taniguchi wearing a face mask. Taniguchi claims that he has a cold, denying having the date he mentioned previously. Kyon continues to school, finding that a cold epidemic has suddenly spread around his class. Kyon notices that Haruhi is absent. Ryoko Asakura appears for the afternoon classes and takes her place at the desk behind Kyon, to Kyon's terror since Asakura tried to kill him and he thought she had been relocated to Canada. His classmates, however, believe that Ryoko has always been sitting behind Kyon, and deny the existence of Haruhi Suzumiya in their class.

On Christmas Eve, Kyon considers his duty to go back in time and save himself, but concludes that the world can wait and joins Haruhi's hotpot party.

After the credits roll, Yuki is seen at the public library watching a boy help a girl get a library card. After they leave, Yuki continues reading.

Release
Originally scheduled to screen in 24 theatres across Japan beginning in February 2010, the film continued to accumulate more screenings until it ran in over 100 theatres. Regular screenings lasted until October 2010, over 8 months after the film was originally released. The film earned more than 850 million yen ($10.5 million) in revenue from screenings in Japan.

The film's theme song, Yasashii Bōkyaku (優しい忘却 "Tender Oblivion") by Minori Chihara, was released on February 24, 2010. The opening theme is Bōken Desho Desho?" by Aya Hirano.

The film was released on Blu-Ray Disc/DVD, in regular and limited editions on December 18, 2010 in Japan, coincidentally occurring on an important date in the story.

The film has been licensed for North America distribution by Bandai Entertainment. English-subtitled screenings began running May 21, 2010. An English-language version will be co-produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment and released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on September 20, 2011, while Manga Entertainment will release it in the UK on October 3, 2011. The film premiered in Europe on October 17, 2010 at the Scotland Loves Anime event in Scotland.

The film has been shown in many countries, including Japan, the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Scotland, Ukraine, Russia, and Ireland.

Characters

 * Aya Hirano as Haruhi Suzumiya
 * Minori Chihara as Yuki Nagato
 * Tomokazu Sugita as Kyon
 * Daisuke Ono as Itsuki Koizumi
 * Megumi Matsumoto as Kunikida
 * Minoru Shiraishi as Taniguchi
 * Natsuko Kuwatani as Ryōko Asakura
 * Sayaka Aoki as Kyon's Sister
 * Yuki Matsuoka as Tsuruya-san
 * Yuko Goto as Mikuru Asahina
 * Eiji Yanagisawa as Okabe-sensei
 * Eri Taruta as Kanae Yura
 * Hitomi Harada as Kotone Kenmochi
 * Hitoshi Yanai as Masaki Uematsu
 * Kenji Takahashi as Daichi Sakaki
 * Mai Aizawa as Yoshimi Sakanaka
 * Mayu Iino as Girl
 * Naoko Sugiura as Sakiha Hinata
 * Noriko Obata as Reiko Hayama
 * Ryōta Asari as Noboru Toyohara
 * Takuto Yoshinaga as Boy
 * Tomo Adachi as Nanaka Ōnogi
 * Tomoyuki Higuchi as Kennosuke Arakawa
 * Yoriko Nagata as Mizuho Saeki

Trivia

 * At one point the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiyaundefined was the highest ranking anime movie (9.13)a on the popular website overthrowing the previous holder undefined (8.95).a Eventually many movies surpassed Disappearance in ranking and most anime movies were crushed in ranking by undefined (9.2+).
 * Paranormal phenomena observed: alternate world, time travel, matter manipulation
 * Haruhi wondered if Kyon was a slider from another world.
 * If one is to look closely at some of the scenes in the movie, they bear a remarkable resemblance to the pictures and/or scenes showed during the first opening theme of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime, particularly that of the message that Yuki Nagato had left for Kyon in the computer inside the Literature Club Room, the book falling during Kyon's confrontation with the "other" Yuki Nagato, the knife that Ryoko Asakura held before attempting to kill Kyon, and the scene in the movie where Nagato is seen looking and holding her hands up to catch the snowflakes falling from the sky. Those parts in the opening theme may be asserted as direct references to the movie, long before even an announcement of the movie was made.
 * If one looks closely at the scene of the flashback of when Kyon and Yuki first met in the public library, one would see that Haruhi Suzumiya was the one who called Kyon, even though she never met Kyon in the altered reality, apart from the "John Smith" encounter. However, it is possible that the flashback is of Kyon's memory of what happened.
 * The movie itself shares some qualities with the 1946 movie by showing an alternate timeline where Kyon has never met Haruhi. Other references to this film can be considered Kyon's blue scarf, which he did not have in the manga and the light novel, and which remains with him until movie's climax, which also happened with George Bailey, the main protagonist of It's a Wonderful Life.
 * The voice that spoke to Kyon as he was losing consciousness was his own indicating that a future version of him arrived to preserve the original timeline with assistance from Mikuru. Later light novels confirm this.
 * Kyon and Nagato's rooftop discussion uses a wordplay on Nagato's given name. Kyon says "Yuki", seemingly addressing Nagato by her given name (whereas he has otherwise always addressed her by her family name), but it is then shown that he is pointing out that snow is starting to fall ("Yuki" means snow). The dubbed version attempts to carry over this verbal misdirection into English by having Kyon say "Yuki... means snow, right?"
 * In the scene after the credits, Yuki covers her mouth with the book, possibly hiding a smile. Another interpretation is that she is using the book as a placeholder for a smile; simply, books would make her smile if she could.
 * At 162 minutes, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is officially the second-longest animated feature film ever produced. Two other anime films, both from the  series, place first and third. They are, respectively, (at 152 minutes for the 35mm cut and 163 minutes for the 70mm cut) and  (at 151 minutes).

Differences from the light novel

 * In the prologue of the film Haruhi says, "but no alcohol, I've vowed to go my whole life without ever touching the stuff", whereas in the light novel she says "to never drink again." &#91;emphasis added&#93; This is because the sequence in Remote Island Syndrome where Haruhi, Kyon and Mikuru get drunk does not appear in the anime version.
 * The events that happen in the SOS Brigade club room are spread between December 16 and 17, while in the light novel, no dialogue is exchanged in the club room on December 17.
 * In the film, the December 17 conversation between Kyon and Taniguchi regarding the latter being on a date takes place during P.E. class, while in the light novel, it takes place on the way to school.
 * In the light novel, Kyon attempts to call Haruhi's number but does not get an answer. This is omitted from the film. Instead, Kyon merely sees that Haruhi's number is erased from his phone's contact list. Additionally, Sasaki is listed as a contact on Kyon's phone.
 * The security guard that overhears Kyon's encounter with Haruhi and Itsuki in the alternate reality does not appear in the light novel.
 * In the film, the final conversation between Kyon and Yuki on December 21 is moved outside, but still within the hospital grounds, while in the light novel, it takes place while Kyon is still in the hospital bed.