Please read before watching Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

TMoHS is my fave anime (thanks again to Red for posting the memes that resulting in me watching it), but when I first checked it out back on JD, I saw some irregularities in the episode list. Looking into it, I found out that the first season's (broadcast in 2006) fourteen episodes weren't broadcast chronologically, and season two's (broadcast in 2009) broadcast was done in chronological order, with fourteen new episodes broadcast intermingled with the fourteen old. So to save other people the trouble I had to go through to watch this anime properly, I made this note thing on my facebook page:

Spoiler

The order to watch The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (broadcast order) is different than the chronological order. It's confusing to watch it this way, but it makes for much better pacing of the story. (Because if you watch it chronologically, the main climax is just about half way through the first season)
So from left to right, here's the episode's broadcast number, episode title, and chronological number.
1. The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina - (25)
2. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1 - (1)
3. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 2 - (2)
4. The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya - (7)
5. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 3 - (3)
6. Remote Island Syndrome Part 1 - (10)
7. Mystérique Sign - (9)
8. Remote Island Syndrome Part 2 - (11)
9. Someday in the Rain - (28)
10. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 4 - (4)
11. The Day of Sagittarius - (27)
12. Live Alive - (26)
13. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 5 - (5)
14. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 6 - (6)
And then there's season 2, where the entirity of the show was broadcast chronologically, with new episodes intermingled with the old. So if you don't have the patience to wait a while so you can start the whole thing again from episode 1, just watch the new episodes in chronological order like I did.
Btw, the Endless Eight arc is noted as being rather unpopular, but it's actually rather important to explaining the motivations of the events in the movie. The must watch episodes of the Endless Eight are the first, second, and eighth, so if you're really struggling to stick to it and not just skip to the last episode of the arc, try and make a game out of it. Eg, noticing the subtle differences between episodes, or memorising the lines and saying them in time with the characters. It's actually rather enjoyable if you do that.
1. Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody - (8)
2. Endless Eight - (12)
3. Endless Eight - (13)
4. Endless Eight - (14)
5. Endless Eight - (15)
6. Endless Eight - (16)
7. Endless Eight - (17)
8. Endless Eight - (18)
9. Endless Eight - (19)
10. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 1 - (20)
11. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 2 - (21)
12. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 3 - (22)
13. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 4 - (23)
14. The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Part 5 - (24)
And finally, there's the movie, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Please post here if you have any questions

 

Good to know. I know when I first tried to watch Haruhi, I was so lost. The second time, I watched in chronological order and it made soo much more sense.

 

I know right? But being lost was part of the fun XD

 

Yeah, the Endless Eight is probably the only issue I have with Melancholy. I liked it, but they could have used those episodes so much betterly.

 

I'm stuck on the endless eight >_<
this is taking so long, but i can't say i've watched both the seasons until i've seen every episode