Obviously Haruhi (the character) is a bad person and she is written to be like that. I also find the series good but I share your frustration a little bit. When I asked myself why I was kind of upset at Haruhi when watching it took me a while to come up with a reason. In the end, I think the irritation comes from the lack of consequences for Haruhi. Usually one expects, or hopes, people who structurally hurt others to bite the dust in the end. That one can only temporarily get away with hurting others. But in the Haruhi story, they can’t exactly stop her easily because she might end the world if she grows tired of it. Kyon stops her sometimes but usually he does not have that strong of a backbone (he vows to protect Mikuru from Haruhi but usually has to let it go). Another option is that bad people in fiction usually are expected to have some personal growth if they are not villain (and even if they are, sometimes). Haruhi seems to change and soften up a bit but I guess not as much as many hoped for.

In the movie, Yuki seems to be more important than Haruhi which some may regard as a positive. In the spin-off Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu (長門 有希 ちゃん の 消失), Haruhi is clearly still “Haruhi” but a much softer version that is more likeable and shows more of the good sides she has.

Young people are flawed because they are young; they havenʼt had much time to get feedback on what types of behaviors are appropriate. Well-written high school students must all have obvious flaws. Many stories exist in which the flaws are superfluous or irrelevant to real life; worlds centered around wish fulfillment (e.g. isekai, harem, hentai) do not let characters grow or they grow in ways incompatible with real life; they should be treated like the fantasies they are: a goal state you cannot access.

That said, life without goals is boring. Goals, by definition, are future events and a future is defined by the fact a narrative between it and the present is not yet defined. Haruhi sets unreachable goals. Haruhi breaks social norms and taboos to achieve her goals. Haruhi is a criminal (trespassing, sexual assault, larceny). Haruhi is not a good person (does not listen, does not communicate well, does not respect boundaries). At the end of the light novel series, Haruhi is still an immature impulsive young person.

Yet, that impulsiveness can be appealing to watch since you miss every shot you donʼt take. I’m reminded of the Gary Larson comic of a spider telling another about why theyʼve built a web across the end of a playground slide: “If we pull this off, weʼll eat like kings.”.

• What if defacing a schoolyard allowed you to talk to aliens? You could, in theory, ask the school principal for permission to use school equipment to draw your pattern. Youʼd probably be denied and recommended for a psychiatric evaluation. Instead, you could just deface the schoolyard. A real alien might actually answer you.
• What if your classmate enjoyed you stripping their clothes off? You could, in theory, ask them and risk being avoided as being seen as a pervert. The conservative strategy would be to take time to get to know them and, when theyʼre feeling particularly open, to ask if theyʼd be okay with your sexually charged request. Instead, you could just start stripping their clothes off and see what happens. Your classmate might actually have been waiting for you to make a move.
• What if you won a film festival award for a story you dreamed up one night? What if that ridiculous fantasy you heard as a child was actually true? Film festivals are basically social clubs formed by wealthy patrons who take turns giving awards to film makers of baseline competence with superior lobbying skills, so a high schooler would be very unlikely to succeed unless their parents were already wealthy members of such a club. Instead, you could just start filming and see what happens. Your film might actually get noticed and recognized.

So, Haruhi is flawed like a DNA-mutating free radical in your body is flawed: destructive most of the time, but also a key requirement any change (i.e. natural selection-powered evolution) to take place.

You walked right into a Haruhi community and created a post called “I hate Haruhi” but it’s well-written, is clearly not a ragebait piece, and you gave us all a light challenge at the end by calling everyone Harusimps lol. Nice job.

Your sentiment toward Haruhi doesn’t seem unusual. Time and time again I see this feeling of “but I hate Haruhi” echoed in message board threads from confused people trying to find the appeal in the show.

But apparently it’s criminal to join the subreddit of an anime to discuss our thoughts unless they’re positive opinions.

I miss what Reddit used to be. I know now that we’re never going to get that back. Hopefully we can have a better start over here.

Wait… Movie?

Also yes Nagato is best.