Why? Because Season 1 was stale and tepid in the second half. No development, just a string of unrelated craziness episodes. And those tended to become repetitive and irritating, particularly for those fans who knew the manga and wanted to see the more “serious” story arcs with character development and a trace of romance. In other words, the “true” fanbase of Hayate.

So, I can understand why some people may prefer the zany S1 approach ;) … more power to you. But the majority which you mentioned is definitely more fond of the S2 side.

As for the manga, I haven’t and don’t intend to read any of it. I almost always find myself let down when I watch something whose source material I’ve already read or seen. Since I’ve so far enjoyed the anime and not felt like I’ve missed out on anything, I have less than zero motivation to read the manga.

Haruhi… is an oddball for me, since I only first watched it this winter. To me, there wasn’t a giant break and build up with tons of hype and expectation only to be let down time and again. It’s a fun show, but I’m not sure where all the hype comes from. Are the three girls really that moe? I admit Koizumi is entertaining and Kyon’s biting sarcasm is hilarious, but they seem to really carry the show.

Eden left me with the a similar feeling as Higurashi did. “That’s it?” I mean, I know there’s more to the story, and when I heard about there being a movie, I knew it’d end on a cliffhanger of some sorts, but it felt like the entire series just presented us with a huge pile of questions to which we’re hoping to hear the answer, yet we’re left hanging right at the end. In my opinion, it wasn’t a really great way to end the series and leaves me feeling like it was all a giant ploy to get people to go buy tickets at the movie theatre.

As for speed, well, here and now, a week one way or the other seems like a big deal. In five years, when people are digging up reviews to figure out whether or not to get a DVD, it will hardly matter.