66555


In 2010, [The Disappearance of Haruhi
Suzumiya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disappearance_of_Haruhi_Suzumiya)
was released and then now in 2022 the [The Quintessential Quintuplets'
movie](https://myanimelist.net/anime/48548/5-toubun_no_Hanayome_Movie) will be
released. The thing is each is a sequel to the 2 seasons of anime that already
and recently aired.

  1. I think it's reasonable to ask 'How are people gonna understand what's going on if they haven't watched the prior stuff?' **Question 1: So what's up with that? Why don't they just do a season 3 instead of a movie? Or, Hell, why bother making a TV series instead of just a movie series, like why not do 3 movies instead of 3 seasons or 2 seasons + 1 movie?**

Well, for the The Quintessential Quintuplets' movie, ok probably it will be
mostly self-contained, we'll see, but as for Disappearance, well, admittedly I
don't really remember the specifics of the movie, but I do remember some
things from the series were pretty relevant, like

> Asakura, Endless Eight and closed space

. I don't think I would've understood the movie without having seen the series
prior. But I remember reading recently many youtube comments that say they
watched the movie before watching the series.

  2. **Question 2: Was Disappearance really possible to understand without the series?**

    * **Guess** : Well maybe someone, without having watched the series prior, would interpret the movie as like 'Guy wakes up 1 day and finds classmate is missing, and no one seems to remember this classmate.'

**Further elaboration** :

  1. Other anime: The above 2 examples are in contrast to say for, the, Death Note live movies, or even the [Death Note animated recap movies](https://myanimelist.net/anime/2994/Death_Note__Rewrite), which are really adapting the Death Note manga from scratch. Similar for the Attack on Titan live movies (or [animated recap movies](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/13887/why-change-an-anime-series-into-a-recap-movie)) or the Code Geass animated movies.

  2. Other anime: As for anime like say Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon, I figure their movies are like MCU or superhero movies in general where they don't really expect the audience to have seen the previous movies to understand what's going on (with maybe some notable exceptions like [Avengers Endgame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers:_Endgame)).

    * Edit: Actually, I had no idea, but apparently even anime films for Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon may be criticised for this: '[Criticism likened it to the Pokémon films in that it was only appropriate for fans of the franchise.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Movie:_Pyramid_of_Light#Critical_reception)' --> from wikipedia page for [Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Movie:_Pyramid_of_Light).
  3. Non-anime: The only non-anime examples I can think of right now are Veronica Mars and Hey Arnold! (both of the HA! movies). In either case, yeah, I think those movies are pretty self-contained. But, I remember the series were mostly episode by episode with only a few overarching plots. And more importantly, they were revivals (except for the 1st HA! movie). The movies for Haruhi and TQQ are really direct sequels to the series, each of which finished airing just a year before the movie, like the opposite kind of sequel as a revival. **Or, what, do we think of these movies the same way we think of 'revivals' ?**

  4. ( **Edit** ) Anime: I don't watch that much anime in general compared to the seasoned veterans in stackexchange or reddit, soooo Haruhi and TQQ are pretty much the only ones I know, but I guess there are a lot more examples like [Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rascal_Does_Not_Dream_of_a_Dreaming_Girl) (see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/jqks9a/rascal_does_not_dream_of_a_dreaming_girl/)), and [Psycho-Pass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho-Pass:_The_Movie) (see [here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/28440/what-states-besides-japan-have-a-the-sibyl-system)) and [Takagi-san](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasing_Master_Takagi-san:_The_Movie) (see [here](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/67649/is-takagi-san-a-coming-of-age-bildungsroman-or-something)).

More examples like Veronica Mars and Hey Arnold!:

  1. [Liar Game The Final Stage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar_Game:_The_Final_Stage) \- sort of series finale after once again _two_ seasons. --> Also self-contained.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-27T15:13:41.447
66540
2023-01-21T05:50:55.310
2023-01-21T05:50:55.310
4484
4484
question
anime-production haruhi-suzumiya
What's up with anime movies that are really sequels to series instead of adaptations from scratch?


And the answer is: these things are not planned out.

How this works is that a bunch of anime are made each season. Some of them are
successful, so they might get a second season. Or a movie. Or both.

Sometimes they make recap movies to watch before the movie that continues the
story. Higashi no Eden and Made in Abyss worked like that. Haruhi had a second
season airing in 2009, which contained the entire first season and led into
the movie which released in 2010.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-28T15:55:53.503
66544
2022-03-28T15:55:53.503
22562
66540
answer


According to [this webpage](http://likiroku.com/haruhi-syousitu-junban-
yobisitiki/)

> 映画「涼宮ハルヒの消失」はアニメ「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」の続きにあたる作品です。
>
> アニメに出てきた伏線を回収するようなストーリー構成であるため、
> 映画「涼宮ハルヒの消失」はアニメ「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」を見ておかないと内容がわからないです。

So the answer to 2 seems to be no.

Regarding 1, it is only possible to guess, but the following may suggest that
the business people involved thought it would be profitable enough (and
possibly even making a movie would be quicker than making another series).

  * Haruhi series was a smash hit, and the scale seems historical (according to [this](http://yomisoku.com/archives/post-30878.html), the original novels sold 20 million copies, which is the third best selling series even today).

  * Also the anime dvds sold very well ([source](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1178701496)).

* * *

Just my opinion/guess. Dragon ball/one piece make movies, and I agree they are
to an extent self-contained, but I doubt e.g. girls who know nothing about
them can understand them (or bother to watch them).

So ultimately the fact only shows that the creators expected a large enough
potential watchers and how popular Haruhi was in those days.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-30T01:23:10.583
66555
2022-03-30T01:23:10.583
61507
66540
answer