[3][4] The novels are licensed for English language release in the United States by Little, Brown and Company, for young readers by Yen Press and the anime adaptation was licensed for North American distribution by Kadokawa Pictures USA division which then sub-licensed production and distribution to Bandai Entertainment.

At school, however, he ends up befriending Haruhi Suzumiya, an eccentric schoolgirl that sits behind him in class who is constantly seeking to make life more interesting for herself, ranging from doing her hair a certain way each day of the week to actively searching for supernatural phenomena and figures.

One day, Kyon accidentally plants in Haruhi's head the idea for her to start a club to engage in her eccentricities, so she establishes a club called the "SOS Brigade" (SOS団, Esu-Ō-Esu Dan), short for "Spreading excitement all Over the world with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade" (世界を大いに盛り上げるための涼宮ハルヒの団, Sekai o Ōini Moriageru Tame no Suzumiya Haruhi no Dan) (In the school's official paperwork Kyon renamed it "Support the Student Body by Overworking to Make the World a Better Place Student Service Brigade") to investigate mysterious events, while roping Kyon into being a member himself.

Haruhi soon recruits three additional members: the laconic bibliophile Yuki Nagato, the shy and timid Mikuru Asahina, and the unflappable transfer student Itsuki Koizumi.

Each of the organizations believe that should Haruhi learn of her powers or be put in a bad enough mood, it could destroy the entire universe.

As such, the three club members, together with Kyon, work to keep life happy for Haruhi to prevent such an apocalyptic scenario under the guise of being part of the S.O.S.

Brigade, as well as combating external threats that seek to exploit Haruhi, all while forming a bond as a band of misfits.

In an official guidebook titled The Observation of Haruhi Suzumiya published in June 2011, Tanigawa mentioned in an interview that he had finalized the plot for at least one more volume in the series.

[6] A 12th novel, The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya, was announced in August 2020 for release in Japan on November 25, after a 9-year break from publishing.

[7] The novels are licensed for release in North America by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Yen Press.

[9] They are also available in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China by Kadokawa Media; in South Korea by Daiwon CI; in Spain and Argentina by Editorial Ivrea; in Italy by Edizioni BD; in Thailand by Bongkoch Books; and in Vietnam by IPM.

Kadokawa Shoten published two manga adaptations of the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series in Shōnen Ace.

[11] An official parody four-panel comic strip titled The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan by Puyo started serialization in Shōnen Ace on July 26, 2007, and in The Sneaker on August 30, 2007.

Another four-panel parody manga, Nyorōn Churuya-san by Eretto (Utsura Uraraka), was originally a dōjinshi starring a smoked cheese-loving, super deformed version of Tsuruya, published in three volumes (released in August 2006, February 2007, and October 2007) before being serialized in the magazine Comp Ace between November 2008[14][15] and October 2009 issues and being released in one bound volume.

Each of the North American releases offered a limited edition collector's set featuring the English dub DVD in chronological order, a subbed-only disc containing the episodes in broadcast order, and an official CD release of the opening, ending, and insert songs appearing in the show.

On December 18, 2007, the anime's official website, haruhi.tv, was replaced by a faux 404 error with five form-input fields, a reference to the pivotal date in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, the fourth volume in the light novel series.

The second season features the controversial "Endless Eight" story arc, in which the members of the SOS Brigade are stuck in a time loop which lasts for eight episodes, each of which is practically identical.

[29] Manga Entertainment released the season in a 4-disc DVD box set, including the Haruhi-chan mini-episodes, in the UK on July 4, 2011.

The first volume, titled SOS Dan Radio Shibu Bangai Hen CD Vol.1, is based on the anime version of the series and was released on July 5, 2006, by Lantis.

[50] In February 2010 Kadokawa Shoten released The Day of Sagittarius III in Japanese and English in Apple's App Store.

[57] On December 22, 2006, the website opened with a live action presentation video resembling a fan-made production featuring Haruka Inoue and Akiyo Yamamoto in the roles of Mikuru Asahina and Yuki Nagato, with Haruhi Suzumiya being played by Patricia Ja Lee.

After a few days a subtitled version of the video replaced the original on the site, translating the Japanese licensing announcement into English.

Aya Hirano, Yuko Goto, and Minori Chihara were part of this event "being flown in directly from Japan".

Among the insert songs used were "God Knows..." and "Lost My Music" performed by Haruhi Suzumiya (Aya Hirano / Wendee Lee) in episode twelve.

"Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisō" (涼宮ハルヒの激奏, "The Extravagance of Haruhi Suzumiya") was a live concert event held at Omiya Sonic City on March 18, 2007, that featured songs from the anime sung by the voice actors, which was also featured in episode 15 of Lucky Star.

The main theme song for the spin-off ONA series, "The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya" is "Ima Made no Arasuji" (いままでのあらすじ, "A Summary of the Story Up to Now") while the ending theme is "Atogaki no Yō na Mono" (あとがきのようなもの, "Something Like an Afterword"), both performed by Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, Yuko Goto, Tomokazu Sugita and Daisuke Ono.

Three singles accompanying the other spin-off ONA series, Nyoro-n Churuya-san, were released, featuring songs sung by Yuki Matsuoka.

Sugita won an award for Best Voice Actor (Japanese), Hirano for Best Voice Actress (Japanese), Kaeko Sakamoto for Best Casting Director, Shoko Ikeda for Best Character Design, Haruhi Suzumiya for Best Character Design, and "Hare Hare Yukai" for Best Original Song.

[90] Business journalist Tadashi Sudo attributed the anime series' success towards coming out during a time when the Internet streaming market was new and being able to take advantage of it.

[89] The popularity of the series made Aya Hirano one of the earliest examples of the "idol voice actor" crossover in the late 2000s.