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.
