At the Risk of Sounding Like a Hopeless Fanboy...

Apparently, there's to be a second season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, debuting in Fall '07. Effing stupendous, I say!

It wasn't a perfect show. There are some valid criticisms -- the show just wasn't quite as clever as it seemed to think it was. Suzumiya went to great lengths to point out the tropes and stereotypes of the anime ouvre ("the indispensible silent character", etc.), but it never quite got around to subverting them, resulting in fairly standard characters and plot. And poor Mikuru; Kyon never did stop Haruhi from abusing her.

Despite all that, though, Suzumiya wound up being my favorite show this year. Even if they were stock characters, I ended up loving the cast for their strong characterization. The quality of the animation was absolutely fantastic, especially for a TV series -- particularly this wicked musical number (check out the animation on the guitars and drums! yowza!!!).

I'm hoping for a few things from the next season. First, for the animation to be at least as good as the first season; second, for Mikuru to grow a spine; and third, and most importantly, for more show-stopping musical numbers!

So, get crackin', Kyoto Animation! Don't disappoint!