ABEMA, the online TV service billed as the "new future of television," is opening the first-ever The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ABEMA Channel on Sunday, August 16, 2026, to mark the 20th anniversary of the TV anime's broadcast.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a school-set science fiction story based on the light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa. It follows Kyon, an ordinary high school student, who meets Haruhi Suzumiya, an unconventional girl who declares she has "no interest in ordinary humans." Together with the friends who join her self-formed "SOS Brigade," Kyon is drawn into a series of strange, unexplainable events. Since the TV anime first aired in 2006, its distinctive characters and unconventional storytelling structure sparked major buzz and turned the series into a social phenomenon. A full 28-episode run, including new episodes, aired in 2009, and the film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya was released in 2010. The series continues to be loved by fans in Japan and overseas today.
The new channel is being launched as part of the "KADOKAWA x ABEMA Anniversary Anime Selection," a special project delivering KADOKAWA anime titles that are celebrating anniversaries this year, free of charge.
The channel will stream all 28 episodes of the 2009 broadcast version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, along with the film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, which continues the TV series' story, free of charge every day for four days from Sunday, August 16 through Wednesday, August 19. Each title will also remain free to watch for two weeks after it airs.
In addition, all eight episodes of the legendary "Endless Eight" arc, which drew major attention when it originally aired, will stream free for 12 hours straight starting at 12:00 PM on Monday, August 17 — the same date on which the story's endless summer begins within the show. It's a chance to experience this uniquely unconventional arc, in which "the same summer vacation" repeats over and over, on the same timeline as the story itself.
Now marking its 20th anniversary, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's unpredictable story, where the everyday and the extraordinary collide, can be watched free of charge on ABEMA throughout the event.
TV Anime 20th Anniversary "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ABEMA Channel" Overview
©2006 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito/SOS Brigade ©2007, 2008, 2009 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito/SOS Brigade
©2009 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito/SOS Brigade
Channel open date and time: 10:00 AM on Sunday, August 16 to 11:30 PM on Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Channel URL: https://abema.tv/now-on-air/haruhi (the URL goes live when the channel opens)
Note: Each title remains free to watch for two weeks after it airs.
Free Streaming Schedule
TV anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009 broadcast version), all 28 episodes
©2006 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito/SOS Brigade ©2007, 2008, 2009 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito/SOS Brigade
Episodes 1 to 11
Air times: 10:00 AM, 3:30 PM, and 9:00 PM on Sunday, August 16
Program page: https://abema.tv/channels/haruhi/slots/BpTNCzfUzt5C6b
"Endless Eight" (episodes 12 to 19), 12-hour continuous stream
Air time: 12:00 PM on Monday, August 17
Program page: https://abema.tv/channels/haruhi/slots/BpTNC6BQ91qRdy
Episodes 20 to 28
Air times: 1:00 PM and 5:30 PM on Tuesday, August 18, and 12:55 PM on Wednesday, August 19
Program page: https://abema.tv/channels/haruhi/slots/BpTNChqEFfWMdZ
Film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
©2009 Nagaru Tanigawa, Noizi Ito/SOS Brigade
Air times: 10:00 PM on Tuesday, August 18, and 5:30 PM and 8:30 PM on Wednesday, August 19
Program page: https://abema.tv/channels/haruhi/slots/AaogFQuHqcfPfm
Series Overview
"If there are aliens, time travelers, or espers among you, come find me. That's all!" That was Haruhi Suzumiya's time-stopping greeting just after entering high school. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel — and that's exactly what everyone assumed. But Haruhi meant it, completely seriously. By the time Kyon realized it, the everyday world around him had already turned extraordinary. It's a school story with a science-fiction flavor, centered on the unofficial school club led by Haruhi Suzumiya: the "SOS Brigade."
Cast
- Haruhi Suzumiya: Aya Hirano
- Kyon: Tomokazu Sugita
- Yuki Nagato: Minori Chihara
- Mikuru Asahina: Yuko Goto
- Itsuki Koizumi: Daisuke Ono
About the "KADOKAWA x ABEMA Anniversary Anime Selection"
Special feature page: https://abema.tv/lp/kadokawa-anniversary-animation
ABEMA is also running the "KADOKAWA x ABEMA Anniversary Anime Selection," a special project offering KADOKAWA anime titles that are celebrating anniversaries this year free of charge. Across ten titles marking anniversaries in 2026, the project is rolling out dedicated channels or free binge-watch streaming for each series in turn.
Titles with a dedicated channel
- Steins;Gate series (15th anniversary) — already held
- Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World series (10th anniversary) — already held
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series (20th anniversary)
- KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! series (10th anniversary)
- Bungo Stray Dogs series (10th anniversary)
Titles with free binge-watch streaming
- The Familiar of Zero series (20th anniversary)
- Aria the Scarlet Ammo (15th anniversary)
- Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends series (15th anniversary)
- Joker Game (10th anniversary)
- Pompo: The Cinéphile (5th anniversary)
