Haruhi Suzumiya is a high school girl who can subconsciously alter reality, and this series follows her bizarre antics in the SOS Brigade school club, which she founded to investigate "mysterious happenings". Along with the cynical classmate Kyon, narrator of this series, Haruhi forced another three other characters to enter her club: the silent bibliophile Yuki Nagato, the shy and timid Mikuru Asahina, and the friendly "mysterious exchange student" Itsuki Koizumi. Together, these three members slowly reveal themselves to Kyon as the extraordinary characters Haruhi is seeking, sent by their various organizations to observe her and preventing her from altering reality by maintaining the illusion of a normal life.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの消失 Suzumiya Haruhi no Shōshitsu) is an animated film based on the fourth light novel of the Haruhi Suzumiya series of the same name. It is produced by Kyoto Animation and was released in Japanese theaters on 6 February, 2010 and on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 18 December, 2010.

On December 17th, Kyon's life was as usual, abnormal: he spent his free time with an alien robot interface (Yuki Nagato), a time traveler (Mikuru Asahina), and an ESPer (Itsuki Koizumi), trying to keep a headstrong classmate (the eponymous Haruhi) entertained by discussing about a steamboat party for Christmas Eve, so that she wouldn't get bored and unintentionally destroy the world.

Then, on December 18th, Kyon's life becomes...normal. Haruhi has disappeared (just as intended) as if she never attended their high school. In the place of her old seat is Ryōko Asakura, who was once the friendly class chairperson that left and never came back. Nagato is now a shy bookworm, Mikuru and Tsuruya has lost all memory of Kyon, Koizumi and his entire class is nowhere to be found, and only Kyon can see that his world has changed. His faux-intellectual ramblings become tainted with genuine pain as he faces the possibility of loss in several forms. Now Kyon has to decide whether he'll fix this world or not.

Please save this film for supper if you know little or nothing about the franchise it's set within, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱). Even if you know the general concept of the show or maybe saw a couple of episodes, a significant portion of the film assumes heavy responsibility on the viewer's knowledge of the series. (It would be worth revisiting the TV-series by now, minus Endless Eight). By missing out on the TV-series or the light novels, you'll be pretty perplexed when Kyon suddenly starts talking to his cat Shamisen or demanding to see a birth mark on Mikuru's chest.

Aside from those who have given up appreciating the first two seasons, and those who dislike mind-warping time travel, this film offers plenty of much-needed inside jokes and character development for Nagato and Kyon. Of course, Kyon takes the firm lead, and perhaps occasionally over-narrates, but his tone is so well-written it's hard to complain about it. The only obvious fault occurs when Kyon takes a loop-de-loop initially to confirm that something abnormal has happened, and then viewers will definitely start to feel the nearly-three-hour length of the film by the end of it.

Truly obsessive Haruhi fans will be thrilled about great attention to detail, as the graphics and animation are as flawless as per Kyoto Animation quality. though they may easily see through the overview storyline based on the official trailer. On the other hand, casual fans should make sure they get a comfy chair for a puzzle roller-coaster as Author Nagaru Tanigawa glosses over the bits and pieces of the picture with his colorful characters, enjoyable dialogue, and surprise mini-twists, so for the most part fans will not mind the length of this film.

For the film's soundtrack by Satoru Kousaki, up until the disappearance happens, we get regular music from the TV-series. But immediately afterwards and for the rest of the movie, the bouncy soundtrack gets taken over by string-led symphonic pieces. The emotions here are more nuanced and not in the brain-dead monotone that anime sometimes tries to pass as nuanced. Some pieces are rousing and adventurous, especially when Kyon starts putting the pieces together. Pretty effective as a tone-setter.

As mentioned of Kyoto Animation quality, the animation is as would be expected for KyoAni working with a large budget on a project requiring less than half of the footage needed for a 14-episode TV-series. It is, quite frankly, beautifully done, although it's still KyoAni, so moe-haters need not apply. The voice acting is excellent on all counts, as with the TV seasons, and Nagato voice actress Minori Chihara also contributes an attractive and well-sung ending theme to cap off the experience.

And not forgetting this: At the very end of the credits, in English:

Overall rating: 9.5 / 10 – The Haruhi series has something for everyone. It has the story, the compelling characters, the great visuals, the cinematic execution. The dichotomy of Nagato as her monochromatic self was an incredible contrast to the "moe" Nagato in the movie; the latter felt artificial and cheap, somehow, to see her as the bookish girl in the club room scenario. Much the same way, the Endless Eight called into question the compulsion to repeat the moments of affect with moe characters in moe scenes. In this way, "Haruhi" is challenging the very genre conventions that define it. This is a series that will shine years from now. Sadly the somewhat predictable storyline, the pre-requisite knowledge of Haruhi and its more-than-sufficient lengthiness made this film miss the full mark.

With the film's release on 6 February, 2010 on only 24 screens in Japan, it placed in the top 10 at #7 for Japanese box office sales in its first weekend and earned an estimated 200 million yen in its first week. The film won the Best Theatrical Film award at the 2010 Animation Kobe Awards. The BD version that was released on 18 December, 2010 sold over 77,000 copies in its first week, topping the Oricon charts, while placing fourth in the DVD charts with 19,667 copies sold.