The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Title: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Author: Nagaru Tanigawa

What it's about: Average high school first-year Kyon is jolted from his average life when he becomes involved with the escapades of Haruhi Suzumiya, an eccentric girl who has no interest in the ordinary. Yearning for excitement, Haruhi creates a club called the SOS Brigade, whose mission is "to find aliens, time travelers, and espers and to have fun with them!" She forcibly recruits Kyon and three other members to form her brigade. However, these other members have their own agendas for joining, and they reveal to Kyon the secret about Haruhi. Now it's up to him and the others to keep Haruhi happy, lest she destroy the universe as we know it.

What I thought: All right, so why am I reviewing this again when I reviewed it last May? Because this version is the official English translation, not a fan version. Personally, I was very pleased with the quality. The language is very natural, with all of Kyon's snark and witty remarks kept intact. The artwork is preserved, and even the little sound effects and captions are translated. One thing untranslated is the honorifics. No -chan or -san or anything like that. However, this translation at least doesn't go the awful route the dub did and substitute "Miss" for "-san". Ugh. Really, this is just a minor quibble, and I can see why these weren't kept. Well, in any case, this is a good translation of a great story, and I encourage any fan of humorous sci-fi and high school stories to check this out.

Overall: Highly recommended.