The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol. 8
This is not a particularly good manga series. I couldn't really recommend it to anyone not already familiar with (and a fan of) the franchise. As an adaptation of a series of "light novels" it really fails to convey the depth of the story or capture the subtleties of its source in the way that the anime did. And yet, for whatever reason, I follow it. I have enough fondness for the material that I can overlook a lot of the manga's technical flaws, and I like having an excuse to revisit the story every few months. I guess I'm pretty glass-is-half-full when it comes to all things Haruhi.
In volume 8, we're in the thick of the Disappearance arc, which is one of the most compelling, imo. What would you do if one day you woke up and the world had fundamentally and drastically changed overnight, but you're the only one who remembers the way it was before? That's the situation Kyon finds himself in, and the mystery he's trying to unravel in volume 8. What I love about Haruhi in general is how the story builds on top of itself with each successive arc. An offhand comment about Haruhi's middle school days from way back in the beginning became the foundation for the entire Rhapsody storyline. The Rhapsody storyline is then revisited in the Disappearance arc, and so forth. That's why the Haruhi mythology has always been so fascinating to me, because of the constant possibility for fundamental game changers. When your leader has the subconscious power to alter reality, you never know what could happen next.
But mostly, I think I enjoy reading the manga because I miss the anime.
Here's the subbed trailer of the Disappearance movie. How awesome was this movie? The manga really is only a pale imitation.
Click to view