Suzumiya Haruhi as Phoenix Wright

On my conquest to Compare Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu with Clannad, I stumbled upon an interesting discovery on episode 7 (or 10 depending on the order). This is the conclusion of the remote island storyline where Haruhi wraps up the fake murder case. Of course, other PW fans spotted this parody and one even made a Youtube Video about it.

Upon watching this we can make certain connections:

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We can also make the assumption that Kyon's little sister is Pearl Fey and Mikuru is Maya Fey but I couldn't find pictures that did the comparison justice.

The Meloncholy of Furukawa Nagisa - Prologue

While watching some videos regarding Suzumiya Haruhi's Endless Eight, a striking parallel tickled my brain. As a laid back male protagonist (who holds the story's point of view) is surrounded by a group of loli-like high school girls with varying personalities, I can't help but think of another highly successful series called Clannad.

To perform a thorough and accurate comparison, I've decided to re-watch both series. As you may know, both have 2 seasons. To make matters worse, the order in which you watch Season 1 of Suzumiya Haruhi is crucial to how you interpret the story.

Process in depth:

• Watch Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu in broadcast order and chronological order at the same time
• Watch the new season of Suzumiya Haruhi (and the annoying endless eight) and compare it with the old season
• Watch Clannad
• Watch Clannad After Story
• Publish process notes in a logical fashion
  

Now at the surface both series seem different enough. However, as I started watching Season 1 of SHNY, I was able to spot some not so obvious parallels between itself and Clannad.

Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu Intro Notes

• Was named the most popular series of 2006 by Newtype magazine
• Won the Animation Kobe Award for TV Feature in 2006
• Originates from Light Novels
• Manga has 4 adaptations while the anime has 2 seasons

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu group picture

Clannad Intro Notes

• Ranked 1st in Bishojo Games in the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine
• Originates from a Visual Novel (interactive graphic fiction)
• Has four manga adaptations and 2 anime seasons

Clannad group picture

Now that we have gotten our feet wet with a brief overview of both series' popularity and accomplishments, we'll look at each series in depth.