The news that the “Haruhi TV Anime” was set to air in April, thought by all to be either the long awaited second series or an almost unbelievably perverse marketing stunt, in fact does turn out to be a carefully worded piece of deception: it refers only to a rerun of the previously aired first season of Haruhi

Fans are predictably outraged, though it remains to be seen whether they will finally abandon the series, or will merely grumble and obediently commence purchasing should a new series actually emerge.

The dread confirmation emerged after direct enquiries to Kadokawa, which drew official confirmation that it was merely their grandiose way of pulling in the punters to view their repeat airing.

Strange that they wouldn’t bother to mention the fact that the new airing was a repeat of the first season in any of their material?

Their use of just “TV anime” without mentioning the name of the series now seems retrospectively suspect, and their deliberate efforts to incite speculation about the 2nd season, only to then deceive fans with weaselled wording, is surely nothing more than wilful and reprehensible deception.

Is this some disastrous attempt at generating “buzz”, or are their marketing departments entirely staffed by incompetents? Certainly, fans will likely not believe a word they say from here on, and quite sensibly too.

Probably most fans will not care anymore after this latest disappointment, but there is some lingering speculation that a back to back broadcast of the first series followed directly by the second is what is planned – this would mean a summer start for the title.

It would probably be better for fans just to forget this wretched series ever existed and obsess over something else, however.