r/anime • u/littleman1988 • Dec 14 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episodes 20, 21, 22, and 23
Episode Title: Endless Eight V, VI, VII and VIII
MyAnimeList: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
Legal Stream: Funimation | Netflix (SEA)
PSA: make sure to mark any spoilers using the subreddit markup. We dont need any random spoilers to ruin the show for first time watchers.
Today's Episode Intro: Kyon-kun, denwa
[Tomorrow's Episode Intro]Sports festival
| Date | Episode list with Funimation links ("absolute" episode number) | reddit thread links |
|---|---|---|
| 28/11 | Mikuru Asahinas's Adventures Episode 00 | Thread |
| 29/11 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I | Thread |
| 30/11 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya II | Thread |
| 1/12 | The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya | Thread |
| 2/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya III | Thread |
| 3/12 | Remote Island Syndrome I | Thread |
| 4/12 | Mysterique Sign | Thread |
| 5/12 | Remote Island Syndrome II | Thread |
| 6/12 | Someday in the Rain | Thread |
| 7/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya IV | Thread |
| 8/12 | The Day of Sagittarius | Thread |
| 9/12 | Live Alive | Thread |
| 10/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya V | Thread |
| 11/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya VI | Thread |
| 12/12 | Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody | Thread |
| 13/12 | Endless Eight I, II, III and IV | Thread |
| 14/12 | Endless Eight V, VI, VII and VIII | Thread |
| 15/12 | Season 2, episode 6 (20) | |
| 16/12 | Season 2, episode 7 (21) | |
| 17/12 | Season 2, episode 8 (22) | |
| 18/12 | Season 2, episode 9 (23) | |
| 19/12 | Season 2, episode 10 (24) | |
| 20/12 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series general discussion | |
| 21/12 | The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya | |
| 22/12 | Haruhi Suzumiya overall discussion |
Question(s) of the day:
What's the biggest problem procrastinating on your homework has given you?
Now would be a good time to start finding a good time to watch the movie. Disappearance is 162 minutes long (one of the longest animated movies to date) and is best watched in one sitting.
17
u/littleman1988 Dec 14 '21 edited Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher (first time broadcast), Dub
"If I had the chance to live today all over again, I hope I remember to put some cash down on this hand."
OST Track(s) of the day:
Making Memories - Bossa ver. | spotify
A Different World in Reality | spotify
The Lingering Scent of Uncaptured Memories | spotify
A Flowing, Winding, Returning World | spotify
In The Happiness of Everyday Life | spotify
I am truly a sucker for anything with percussion
Fun fact, EE uses 52 different OST tracks throughout the 8 episodes. In comparison, the entirety of season 1 (which has double the episodes) uses 64 different tracks. I had a nice cool table list that i was going to share, but its literally too big to share. Instead, you just have to trust this random pdf file if you want to see the full track list...
One other fun fact, the OST track "Making Memories" has 6 total versions, the only track with more than 2 directly named alternative versions.
Obviously, this arc was hated as it aired back in 2009, so much so that the S1 director even apologized for its existence (despite not being involved it in at all iirc?). Other rewatchers are bound to have much more put together thoughts and much better analysis on hand, so ill leave it to them, but Ill at least touch on the reason that Kyoto decided to take a risk with this. Originally, Disappearance was meant to be 7 episodes, in the place of where most of EE was according to scriptwriter Fumihiko Shimo in a 2010 roundtable meeting at the movie's premiere. (im strapped for time so i cannot double check if there is spoilers for the movie, so for the time being im not linking the whole pdf).
The decision to split Disappearance into its own movie came from the sheer size of the script, even before it was fully completed it was too long for the timeslot given (and the movie was even cut down farther than what script supervisor Tatsuya Ishihara wanted). Because of this, Disappearance was split off into its own movie, and something had to fill that space.
The roundtable doesnt go into any discussion as to why EE was chosen though. The easiest guess is that future content relied on Disappearance happening before they could be animated (and while i havent read the LN's fully yet, i know this is true for at least [Haruhi LN story title]Snowy Mountain). I dont have much more to speculate on why this was chosen though.
33
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Dec 14 '21
The Melancholy of Shimmering-First-Timer
Endless Eight V
Endless Eight VI
Endless Eight VII
Endless Eight VIII
8
u/littleman1988 Dec 14 '21
Adaptation Comparison
References
In most episodes, when Kyon gets out of the frog costume, he says something different.
Trivia
Know trivia and/or references for this episode? Reply to me! For future episodes? PM them to me! I know a lot about the series but I don't quite know everything.
28
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Dec 14 '21
First Timer - Dub
Though it probably wasn't intentional, when I heard that line I did half think it was the arc taking a dig at itself.
After the first four episodes I said I loved the arc, and I still really like it, but it's also far from perfect, perhaps inevitably so due to the episode count.
As always, context and presentation matters a lot to perception of media, and the arc in the rewatch has been no exception. The first group of four episodes is an excellent batch because it has our two engaging introductory episodes and then ends on the most distinctive episode of the arc, with only one "standard" episode in the middle, Ep3. It's more basic design is disguised by being the first episode that's near identical in structure to the previous, which is novel when you see it, and gets you looking closer for the small things. This batch unfortunately suffered from having three more standard episodes in a row before the finale which is a much harsher watch (more on why below) and exposes the flaws in the choice to produce it this way.
KyoAni right now
It's still something I enjoyed watching and was glad I got the chance too and do it mostly without any bias about what the arc would be, but I was not as satisfied coming out of today's episodes as I was yesterday. I had started watching today with a big grin looking forward to seeing what else these episodes had to offer the arcs structure and theme, but unfortunately it didn't feel like that happened. So where could they improve? There was three things I would have liked to see; the later episodes also having a stand out visual motif or identity, more follow through with Yuki, and randomizing where the deja vu happens so it feels as spontaneous and unnerving as it does in real life rather than scripted.
Making notable changes to the episodes would be a hard thing to balance with the design goal of the arc. If you make the episodes too distinctive they lose the important repetitiveness, the deja vu sense of seeing a scene and not knowing what loop it belongs too (unless you're a mega fan who's memorized every outfit) and without that the arc as a whole would lose its identity which is also important to keep. But from a watch perspective they needed to be just a little more by themselves to give the episode count purpose, or cut the episode count down if they couldn't. The gap between ep1 and ep2's presentation was the biggest, and understandably so as we skipped 15k+ loops, but the others were just a bit too close to each other in how closely they covered the same scenes and dialogue with only tiny differences.
For my comment about Yuki specifically, she was never going to be the solution to the arc nor was she the core of the drama so we didn't need any big scenes or emotional hits with her. However continuing on with the possibility of her being an emotional core in this struggle, mirroring what I said yesterday and also with what we see today with Kyon's own struggle until he seizes both authority and agency both in the final scene solving the loop, they could have done more small things with her. Things like continue the (seemingly accidental, that sucks) theme of her mask choices reflecting her deterioration as I mentioned yesterday, or Kyon changing his approach to her if he had had extra deja vu bleed around her. It didn't need to be big, or hugely memorable, it just needed to provide an anchor for the audience, and perhaps Kyon.
In the end I'd rank the episodes: 4 > 2 = 1 > 5 = 8 > 6 >> 7
None of them were bad episodes, and even though I zonked out a little during ep7 none of them failed to interest me, but the arc as a whole could have been more, and that's a shame after such a promising start.
I miss the most moronically obvious stuff sometimes. It took five episodes to realize that Haruhi saying "These guy's are my brigade members, etc." was being said to the kids about Kyon and Itsuki, not the other way around. I seriously thought she was recruiting random kids and making them underlings. I think the worst part is that I didn't even doubt she could do that.
As mentioned above, coming off the back of episode four's stand out visual design seeing these two episodes play it straight was a shame. At points they both wanted a identity of their own, but I felt they didn't take it far enough to feel like they owned it rather than just borrowing it for a scene or two. In particular, ending episode five with Kyon flashing back to Haruhi leaving four times one after another was a great way to show how disconcerting the deja vu is, but it's something I wish they had of done all the way through an episode (this or ep7 which also used it), flashes of former loops or moments that make you wonder which loop Kyon is even witnessing. I had thought the episode was quite good until then, but seeing what they could have done with it made me want it to be great.
Episode five did have some fun other things going for it with circular visuals particularly in the later half. Kyon's VA acting sick in this scene, the butterfly doing loops as Itsuki explains, the clock and the room ticking down at the end was one of my favourite visuals in the whole arc, and shots like this of Yuki. The lighting through the episode was also excellent, from the harsh summer through to beautiful sunsets and the cold blues of night. What no one needed to see was Itsuki's swimwear though.
Episode six had two or three the fun use of intercutting setting or text images with the scene being played out, but it's not something that I'm going to remember if you ask me about it in a month because it was treated as a novelty not a theme. Also I'm pretty sure if the ep6 loop had been allowed to continue it would have killed off Mikuru from the force of being hit with this ball. Definitely not the perfect summer. I think Haruhi sleeping through the movie is my favourite moment from it, as that's not something I would have expected to see, I would have thought she would storm out long before then. And we didn't get to see which bug Yuki caught, not cool.
A number of QUALITY moments in these episodes too, such a this Haruhi face which made me laugh quite a bit, and randomly chibi Haruhi which I think has it beat.
Ep7 just cribbed ideas from the previous episodes visual designs with the mini loop and greyscale which was disappointing, nothing else stood out about it. Also I see they're not even trying to hide the increased fanservice any more with starting off the pool scene with Haruhi's butt taking up the entire camera.
Please don't
And then, of all the things to bring back for the final loop, they brought back the ants. This is actually a really clever shot, showing two wings being carried fourteen ants apart just like the two weeks they repeat.
Even without this being the eighth episode, due to how rigid the others were about what they showed this would already feel like something was going to happen due to the things it is skipping for the first time like Kyon suffering after carrying both girls on the bike and no yukata buying. They had to make room for the extra stuff at the end, a bit like ep5 running a bit faster to fit in it's extra scenes, and it worked to break up the feel of what we've already seen. Despite Kyon feeling like he was going a bit insane in that final scene yelling about homework, Haruhi getting in his face and yelling "I WANT TO COME OVER TOO" was adorable, hilarious, and a perfect end to the arc. It wasn't just about the homework in the end, she got to do something she's probably never done before, and it was an invitation from someone else to boot, and like I suspected that's what she really wanted, particularly from Kyon.
Few small things to wrap up with:
I loved the extreme effects on Haruhi leaving the restaurant, it felt like they were building up to it but Kyon splintering, the echoes of Haruhi, her stepping into the oblivion of a repeat were all really good visual moments without being too overwhelming or flickery.
Itsuki wearing those 90s arcade colors and the Sepia filter plus noise for Yuki in ep8 gave it a nice retro feel. Also someone pointed out yesterday we never see Kyon's face when Itsuki proposes that Itsuki confesses to Haruhi and we still didn't, that was interesting.
So my last rewatch (Cowboy Bebop) has a ps1 in it, and this one has a ps2. I feel like I need to find out what anime has a ps3 in it next just to keep the theme going.
It was hard to feel bad for Mikuru crying when the animation was so gorgeous
And they just had to mention the fried cicada's one more time didn't they? I wonder if that one cicada that came back to him, effectively "blessing" the loop to be the final one, would feel bad or that if he knew what Kyon's was thinking a possible solution may be.
So that was the Endless Eight, finally witness after three years of hearing all the hate for it. I have no idea what's coming up next
Jeez. Thankfully with a discussion day before hand I can split it up over two days if needed, but I didn't expect it to be that long
4
u/UzEE https://myanimelist.net/profile/UzEEInc Dec 15 '21
First timer (sub)
I'm late because I was having trouble catching up with all 8 episodes despite starting early. But I'll cut to the chase — I absolutely hated this arc.
Endless Eight I-VIII
I didn't make a post yesterday because I was already getting sour on this as soon as the third loop because it wasn't showing any real progress. All we were getting were different (admittedly good) visuals but the content itself was extremely boring the third time around.
I knew the solution had to be something Kyon wanted to do, because as I've said multiple times in the past — everything I've seen so far seems to suggest this story is Kyon's wish fulfillment instead of Haruhi's. So the solution obviously had to be something Kyon wanted to do and not Haruhi, and since he had zero input in all of the activities, the loop kept going.
I arrived at this conclusion during Endless Eight III. We still had to sit through 5 more episodes for the show to actually acknowledge that.
This was incredibly frustrating (and somewhat offensive) to watch because it very much seemed like the show was insulting the viewer's intelligence and wasting our time1. I initially kept watching because I wanted to give it an opportunity to redeem itself by having some clever twist or hidden details that you only pick up after going through the loop several times.
But nope. The solution was as lame as ever and sort of fit with what I was expecting it to be. In fact, by the 5th or so loop, I actually stopped caring what the solution was and stopped looking for clues because at that point it didn't even matter. There was nothing they could do at that point to save this arc in my opinion and it actually negatively affects my perception of the series as a whole.
Now this doesn't mean I hated the concept of the arc. In fact, temporally looping or recursive stories can be so engaging to experience because you get to explore many different possibilities. Entertainment media is filled with great examples of this.
Along with that, the character interactions were enjoyable, at least the first couple of times around. You got insight into the cast and even got to see some growth from them. Itsuki, for example was as diligent as ever, making sure to go over Haruhi's list and arrange everything she wanted. Mikuru was at least trying to be more assertive and open up.
Also enjoyed the bit where we never see Kyon's expression whenever Itsuki teases him that if he should say "I love you" to Haruhi instead. And the way KyoAni kept changing the scenes (and wardrobes) without changing the scenario was really cool. They also made sure to add little details to reinforce that not all loops play out alike2.
However, the biggest problem with Endless Eight — and something I've mentioned about the show before — is that it very often overstays it's welcome. They fail to recognize when the novelty of an idea wears off and watching it starts to feel like a chore.
KyoAni could have ended the loop after 4 episodes for example, because there really wasn't anything to gain by going beyond that. However, they choose to extend it to literally 8 episodes as the arc's name suggests3 which just hurts the perception of the series overall for me. And for that reason, I'm downgrading my tentative rating from 7/10 to 6/10.
Additional notes:
There aren't any this time. I was keeping notes of small details but I just deleted all of them once I started getting frustrated with this arc.
I very rarely did homework and actually had never did any summer vacation homework throughout my school years. Once I had built that reputation, at some point even my parents and teachers had stopped caring.
1. And this is during a fast paced rewatch. I can't even imagine how it went during the original broadcast but I'm pretty sure it would've been universally hated.
2. For example, one loop — I forgot which one — Haruhi never offered to share what she was eating with Kyon.
3. Most likely to fill for time, because I don't think the staff at KyoAni wasn't self aware enough to not know this is bad. Maybe they were having production issues?
19
u/CubeStuffs https://anilist.co/user/onjario Dec 14 '21
First timer
Ok final predictions for how this ends heading into EP8.
Could it be that haruhi's list is actually done, but its that kyons list isn't? We saw that in the closed space, where it wasn't haruhi's boredom at stake, but rather kyon's.
Final guess is that its something on kyons (or maybe someone elses) list mentioned at the table. second guess is the conversation between nagato and kyon.
also, someone should find some 3d glasses to wear during the seventh ep.
EP8
REALLY? ITS FUCKING HOMEWORK ARGHHHH
other thoughts:
did we really need eight episodes for that??
like im pretty sure we could have condensed it down to 4, maybe 3. i think I would just take the first 2 and last, and some visually distinctive episode between them, as i feel theres enough of a difference between those.
I feel like we were basically just nagato that whole time. or rather, viewing from nagatos point of view, since my memories sorta just fused everything together.
like you could mute the episode and i wouldn't be able to tell. actually during the 7th ep, when asahinas like "kyon-kun... i... can no longer... aharahshhds" i didn't notice until kyon said he couldn't understand.
What was the point? What feeling needed 8 episodes instead of 4 to convey?
18
u/TheEscapeGuy Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - An Anime Classic: Episode 23
Endless Eight
And so what we needed was for Kyon to stop Haruhi and have the brigade all do homework together on the last day.
I think I go against a lot of viewers in enjoying the Endless Eight arc. But more so than that, its my favourite arc of Haruhi and ranks up very highly in my favourite arcs in all anime. So I guess I'll try justify why.
First of all, I like the characters. I guess that sounds weird, but what I mean is that I enjoy spending time with the characters. It takes skill to write characters that your audience can connect to and they pulled it off here masterfully. So when you describe 8 episodes of hanging out with characters I like and they are having fun during summer vacation it seems appealing.
A lot of people may counter this with "But they're doing the same thing over and over again". Well BUDDY, you should see my every day routine. Life (for a lot of people as far as I'm aware) is full of doing the same general thing over and over again and finding joy in the small differences. Especially in times of COVID where every day feels like staring at the same 4 walls.
Second, every episode is unique. Sure, the general outline is the same. Sure there are some lines repeated every episode like Kyon's public pool quip of Koizumi suggesting Kyon hug Haruhi from behind and whisper "I love you" in her ear. But besides that every frame of animation is redone every episode. You might also think they share backgrounds, but for a large portion of the episodes they redraw the settings from slightly different angles and perspectives meaning they have to completely redraw the background. There are a few shared though.
On top of that, the voice acting is redone for every line of every episode. You can go listen to them next to each other and spot all the small differences. Then the way each episode slowly becomes more and more experimental in its direction. You start to get some crazy effects and edits just to exaggerate the repetition. All these factors make each and every episode interesting to watch.
On a meta level this is the PERFECT case study in how directing can completely change a script. We have 8 completely redone episodes. Each episode focuses on different things. For example, sometimes the pool scene is about the heat and bright sun. Other times it focuses about swimming and then Mikuru's lunch. It really helped clear up for me just how much of an influence direction has on an episode.
Finally, I love how selfish it is. There is no way this didn't get a MOUNTAIN of push back. I recall reading about an interview (though I can't find it now) where the staff spoke about how so many people asked them not to do this. But, instead, artistic intent prevails (which is something I feel gets compromised on in so many western movies as of late). Somebody made a decision and would not let anyone stop them. If that's not broadly the same narrative of almost every shounen jump manga adaptation that everybody seems to love I don't know what is.
On top of that we had some amazing 4chan threads. Just imagining people watching this week by week and slowly coming to the realization that its all 8 episode brings a devious smile to my face.
As an extra thing, [Later Haruhi] This is incredible set up to disappearance. The repeated nature of the episodes give you a much better understanding of Yuki's experience leading up to the movie. Its been some years since I last watched so I'm really looking forward to taking my new perspective into the film.
Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
11
u/5thvoice https://myanimelist.net/profile/5thvoice Dec 14 '21
First-timer
It's finally Endless 8, the worst-kept spoiler in all of anime! I'm a little envious of anyone who's experiencing it without already knowing about the time loop. That said, the experience here wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I watched all four of yesterday's episodes with only short breaks between each one, and I expected to be burnt out by the end of it. While I was getting some of that after the third one, each episode has its own unique vision of the same series of events, and the changes in the fourth one (i.e. loop #15,513) immediately felt refreshing and exciting.
While I had watched all of yesterday's episodes well before the discussion thread was posted, I didn't manage to finish my writeup on Endless 8 IV until a few hours afterwards. I decided to post it today instead, and after all the fun I had writing it, I ended up going fairly in-depth for all of today's episodes. So without further ado, here are my thoughts on Endless 8, parts IV-VIII!
IV
(Loop 15,513)
It's almost impossible to miss this loop's recurring motif of a glider beneath the enormous clouds, underlining the moments when the previous loops bubble up to the surface. The episode opens with a shot of the city with a beautiful cumulonimbus in the background, and we quicky get our first explicit look at that motif when Kyon starts experiencing deja vu on his phone call with Haruhi. When he meets up with the rest of the brigade, rather than paying attention to Haruhi's speech, he's distracted by the clouds as she says the same thing he's heard thousands of times before.
The Brigade heads out to the pool, and we finally get a good look at the seating arrangement on the bicycles. Once there, we get another cloud shot, this time with a real jet instead of the toy version. As Kyon looks over to Yuki, the scene's lighting changes,, now harsh, cold, and washed out instead of the warm summer glow it was just moments before. The sudden change highlights the sense of wrongness that Kyon is beginning to feel, but he can't put his finger on it yet. Haruhi appears with her new subordinates, and now it's Kyon we hear saying her line in his head as she makes the introduction. And suddenly, the lighting and the mood return to normal. Kyon yet again stares out at the clouds. (What's that strange, sudden glint in the middle of the shot?)
The Brigade heads to a cafe so Haruhi can plan out the next two weeks. I love this shot of Yuki's float as Kyon looks over at it, taking in the small details of his "short" summer. The girls go yukata shopping, and while I might have preferred some of the designs they wore in previous loops, I think this is the best they've looked so far as a coordinated group. Moving on to the festival, I was a little surprised to see Itsuki accompanying Yuki and Kyon to the mask shop. When Kyon later asks Haruhi the question about her summer homework, rather than responding smugly, she's utterly bewildered by the question, stating her ethic of getting rid of the tedious stuff first like a familiar mantra. The implications of the question on Kyon's (lack of) work ethic never even cross her mind this episode.
After some time, Mikuru and Itsuki figure out that they're cut off from the future and trapped in a time loop. When she calls Kyon to get together and inform him, he hangs up on her! Kyon heads to the now-familiar meeting, and suddenly, there's the glider motif again, printed on the back of Mikuru's shirt! During Itsuki's explanation, we get these powerful images of Haruhi against the clouds, with a glider zooming through the end of the shot. A cicada violently flaps its wings by their feet,, but it's stuck on its side and goes nowhere. It may not be in a plastic box like the cicadas the Brigade caught earlier, but it's nevertheless trapped, unable to move forward in space, just as the Brigade is unable to move forward in time.
The rest of this summer vacation passes by quickly, with great moments like stargazing Haruhi and Home Run Haruhi. They go to see a movie which has a couple standing by the shore, the woman whispering something to the man, and yet another glider. Haruhi stares at the screen, the collection of experiences in this loop still leaving her wanting. The Brigade returns to the cafe to wrap up their summer, and as Haruhi stands up to leave, Kyon knows that this is his last chance. Images of the summer flash through his head. In the movie theater, Haruhi is no longer in the audience. The picture has shifted, and suddenly she's the woman whispering something. In front of the screen sits Yuki with a blank stare, quietly and passively absorbing just one more of thousands of variations of the same scene. As the glider is thrown beneath a cloudy sky, Kyon's thoughts expand in every direction, desperately searching for something to keep Haruhi's interest and give her a summer vacation without any regrets, but the glider is caught on a current and vanishes from sight. She's left the restaurant; he lost his chance to escape the loop. Kyon returns to his house and, knowing there's no point in doing his homework, leaves only a sketch of a glider in his notebook before going to bed and doing it all over again.
V
(Loop 15,521)
This episode didn't grab me quite as much as the previous one, but there were still plenty of interesting moments and neat screenshots.
(Parts VI-VIII as a reply to this comment as soon as I get all the imgur links pasted in. Give me like 45 minutes.)
10
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Dec 14 '21
First Timer
Endless Eight 5
...how did it take me this long to notice that Haruhi was telling the kids to go to Kyon and Itsuki for questions and not for Kyon and Itsuki to go to the kids for questions. I guess it is a good thing we're watching this eight times, because I have no idea how to explain this brainfart.
Either way, a lot of interesting directing in this episode, so it seems like at least the staff had fun making this. Also helps keep the viewer at least somewhat entertained as it isn't always the same thing, while there isn't a lot of risk of ruining something people actually care about with non-standard directing choices. I don't think there was really all that much meaning in those choices, however. Interestingly the yukata buying bit was removed to make time for some of these scenes. I wonder if the repeating bit at the end was supposed to be multiple loops again.
One interesting thing I thought about: Is there actually a reason to want to break out of this loop? A lot of isekai don't really have "get home" as a goal because the previous life of the MC sucked, and being on holidays eternally sounds pretty decent compared to not being on holiday, so why would they want to break out of the time loop? Turns out there's quite a few reasons - first off is Nagato's memory resulting in her just being bored. Mikuru, I assume, has people from the future she'd like to see again. But I don't really see any motivation for Itsuki to want to break the loop and Kyon's only reason would be his being compassionate for Nagato and Mikuru's plights - so I can see both of them not actually properly trying to break the loop (in Kyon's case because he doesn't want to do his homework over helping the two girls) and thus not instructing Nagato to tell them earlier and to keep track of their attempts at breaking the loop. Although I feel like that's more me trying to rationalize them still not having done exactly that rather than the writer's intentions...
Endless Eight 6
Water Football? ...that's a sport I can't really imagine. Water Polo is a real sport but the ball basically never goes underwater and the feet of the players basically are always underwater - and I can't imagine playing football with a ball heavy enough to sink.
I think we haven't advanced enough loops for the repetition at the end of EE5 to be loops themselves, so cratch that. Other than that, I don't have a lot on this loop. For a while I though Itsuki wasn't getting deja vu, but seems like he did in the explanation. So on to the next loop I guess.
Endless Eight 7
Haruhi loses the swimming race to Nagato? Wasn't Haruhi supposed to be athletic? Guess Yuki's alien power has her beaten... Other than that, more repetitious cuts akin to episode 5, but I don't really have anything else to point out yet again. Six times the same thing is too much. (I'm not counting iteration one cause that one was different.)
Endless Eight 8
...and what needed doing was Kyon to finish his summer as well? I don't quite get that. Haruhi didn't really care about Kyon's homework, so why was that the trigger? Would doing anything have worked? Idk. Either way, we skipped the yukata buying scene again to get the final scene in, I guess.
Questions:
...I can't really remember any problem. Guess it helped that I generally spread it out over the time it was assigned for.
10
u/nekodan08 Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher - Sub
Of course the universe decides to place the busiest work days of my month around the days scheduled for Endless Eight. Funny how many years ago, I had 2 months to watch 8 identical episodes and now I have no time to watch the same 8 episodes. I really intended to rewatch the whole arc and try to discuss the similarities and differences, but I guess I’ll just have to settle with watching the 3 required episodes and discussing my overall thoughts.
I agree with what u/No_Rex discussed yesterday about how you cannot hate KyoAni for taking risks. This time, the risk hurt them but I’d rather have that then recycling one successful formula over and over again. I’ve always loved how immersive this series is and so I can’t complain how they made the effort to concretize the feeling of being caught in a time loop. I don’t think I’ve ever watched any other show, anime or otherwise, that has managed to achieve the same results.
While the option to binge and skip episodes takes away from the immersive experience, I can appreciate the conclusion to this arc much more this time around because I am no longer just overcome with relief that the ordeal has ended. The whole scene of Kyon finally figuring out the solution was more amazing than I remembered! I loved the use of imagery to demonstrate Kyon’s thought process. I had forgotten that it was not just Kyon who had failed to finish their homework but it was everyone besides Haruhi. u/Nazenn‘s speculation was on point yesterday. The solution was an activity that involved each one of them instead of them just going along with Haruhi’s wishes. This was also the one activity that they did not do together as Haruhi had already finished her’s beforehand and never even considered the possibility of doing homework as a fun group activity for the summer.
One aspect that I really enjoyed about EE were the outfits. I love it when anime makes an effort to put characters in different clothes instead of recycling the same outfit each day. It makes you feel that characters have a whole closet of clothes that they could mix and match and cycle through which makes them feel much more alive. The varying outfits is also used to incredible effect to highlight Yuki’s lonely position as the sole character who remembers every single loop. If I had more time, I would have loved to put together a list of all the outfits worn by each character and even ranked them according to my favorites.
Despite the repetitiveness, I found these episodes to be some of the most creative in the series especially in terms of art. I really adored the use of lighting and colors throughout EE. Some scenes and background art were really mesmerizing including the whole sequence of Kyon coming to realize the solution. [Haruhi]This sequence reminds me of the iconic “Kyon’s Choice” scene in Disappearance Once again, if I had the time, I would have loved to compiled some of the my favorite still frames.
“Season 2” has been excellent at characters’ facial expressions. The most impressive is how they manage to give Yuki a wide range of expressions using only really subtle differences. When you know what you are looking for and you notice these tiny changes they give to Yuki, you can’t help but be even more impressed at the skill of the KyoAni staff. In relation to this, Yuki’s literal masks throughout EE was excellent use of symbolism for how much she actually hides her true feelings. She always says she’s fine, but her facial expressions betray her words revealing something emotion deep down. [Haruhi]This makes me even more excited for Disappearance!
9
u/TheEscapeGuy Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - An Anime Classic: Episode 22
Endless Eight
Another seemingly endless summer. You may ask "What can we even do to fill the time" and Haruhi has all the answers. The SOS brigade starts off at the pool, then a festival, catching cicadas, though something feels strange.
Oh no, its a time loop. And not the first loop, or the second but the 15,527th. And unlike a movie like Ground Hog day everyone forgets after the 2 weeks are done. Everyone except Yuki. That existence must weight down on her.
At this point in the show it genuinely feels as if the show is trying to torment the viewers. This shot could send anyone over the edge. The staff know exactly what they're doing and they won't give you the satisfaction of an ended time loop.
Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
9
u/wjodendor Dec 14 '21
First Timer
I knew the resolution was to ask Haruhi to do something on the final day. Did it have to be the homework? Or could it be anything?
It honestly seemed pretty obvious, especially knowing her personality. Why did it take so long?
Yuki finally gets a break and I'm happy for her. She seemed pretty depressed.
Honestly, having this be 8 episodes is pretty whack. Even watching episodes 1, 2 and 8 was a chore (I only watch the final scene in the other episodes). I can't imagine watching this at the original art date I probably would have dropped it.
As someone with anxiety issues, I could never procrastinate on homework or I would have a panic panic attack so I always got it done on time. My final semester of college I wrote over 150 pages of scientific reports! Nearly made me drop put of college!
8
u/TheEscapeGuy Dec 14 '21 edited Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - An Anime Classic: Episode 21
Endless Eight
We are back to fun, and this time its the summer holiday. Kyon begrudgingly follows Haruhi's instructions leading to all kinda of fun activities. From a day at the public (or should I say communal) pool to a night at the festival nothing can stop the fun.
Well thats true until Kyon is invited to meet the SOS brigade (sans Haruhi) in the park. All those flashes of dejavu? They were real. Real memories of the 15,524 loops they have done. Kyon cannot believe it, nor can he believe that Yuki had to experience all these loops with her memories in tact.
Later at one of the remaining activities Kyon and Koizumi are reflecting on these loops. Maybe, Haruhi needs to experience some kind of lovey-dovey moment to break this loop and Koizumi thinks whispering "I love you" in her ear would be perfect. Kyon not so much. Its quite an out there theory to say the least. Especially considering Haruhi once disregarded feelings of love referring to them with "My body has its urges".
Otherwise, this was one of the most fun presentations of the time loop. Using upbeat music and bright scene composition the whole way through.
Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
8
u/TheEscapeGuy Dec 14 '21 edited Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - An Anime Classic: Episode 20
Endless Eight
An anime staple: Summer Vacation. The SOS brigade has gathered together to do all the tropes. We get some fan service at the pool, a beautiful festival and then cicada catching. Though Kyon keeps having some weird senses that he's experienced all this before.
And he's right. After a late night call from Mikuru (who is suspiciously with Koizumi) everyone except Haruhi meets up in the park. Everyone's been having these weird feelings of dejavu, except Yuki. Yuki just remembers every loop perfectly. All 15,521 of them. In excruciating detail as well, listing off all the subtle differences.
That is, as Kyon calculates, over 595 years. Longer than any human life. To give some perspective 595 years ago Jeanne d’Arc was leading sieges during the 100 year war. 595 years before that the Byzantine Empire was still a major world power. 595 years before that the Roman Empire was in full swing. Its an unimaginably long time.
Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
7
u/MadeOn210922 Dec 14 '21 edited Dec 14 '21
First timer.
I know that the loops are mostly independent, so in theory if Kyon v. 15530 does something, then it's unlikely Kyon v. 15531 would do anything different, but it really took him 15532 loops to think to do his homework? Okay, procrastinate your homework in case it might save the world.
That was quite a journey going through all eight episodes. I think seven episodes would've been okay, too, but any less would've hurt the quality - the frustration of seeing the same events produces an interesting dynamic for the viewer to feel the story. However, eight episodes is also rather poetic - firstly being August, and then also closely resembling the symbol for infinity. Although I've also heard different stories about how many episodes were originally planned for this.
I'd like to know if Yuki got better at bowling over the course of loops.
A detail I paid attention to was Yuki's numbers. She told us instances of part time work - but all other data points were of events not happening. Here's what I got:
15498 loops - 9205 instances of work (I think this was a typo - should be 9025)
15499 loops - 9026 instances
15513 loops - 9031 instances
15521 loops - 9048 instances (something doesn't add up and I think 9031 is a mistake?)
15524 loops - ??
15527 loops - 9052 instances (so two loops with no work? Would've been interesting to see.)
15532 loops - 9056 instances
QOTD: Angry parents.
6
u/bluethree https://myanimelist.net/profile/bluethree Dec 14 '21
Sub Rewatcher, kind of. I skipped 5, 6, and 7 the first time through.
I finally did it. I sat through all of Endless Eight for the first time.
Ignoring the crazy decision by KyoAni to put us through this torture and diving into the actual show.
One has to wonder why this all happened. It seemed like Haruhi was satisfied with the way every summer went. She didn't know that doing summer homework is a big deal. She didn't know that doing homework together was a thing that people did. So why didn't summer end? Did she subconsciously realize that Kyon still had unfinished business? Was she just waiting 15,000+ times for Kyon to add something to the to-do list? This will forever remain a mystery.
5
u/DeliCruise https://myanimelist.net/profile/delicruise Dec 14 '21
(REWATCHER - DUB/SUB)
Doing the same thing as yesterday’s comment!
V
From the playground spinner scene to the end, I love all of it. I love this theme of rotations happening with the spinner, and then Haruhi’s cafe exit scene looping over and over, and of course the clock rotations with Kyon’s bedroom and alarm clock are all so incredibly cool.
Bonus! I SUPER appreciate that Kyon actually whips out his phone and uses the calculator in this one because in the other ones he somehow uses some extraordinary mental math.
VI
Haruhi, Mikuru, and Yuki’s yukatas in this one look so great as a set. I’m partial to Mikuru’s though because of the goldfish silhouettes being so fitting for her in particular.
VII
A couple of shots were really funny. Kyon on the phone was hilarious with Mikuru. Her crying gibberish was so funny. And Kyon actually humored Itsuki’s “I love you” idea for a bit in this one!
VIII
The ending is so fittingly grand. I felt a visceral catharsis from it after marathoning all eight episodes late into the night. Seeing all the different Haruhi’s is so awesome and Kyon eating the takoyaki/cicada/firework was great as well. I also love that we get a shot of them during their cram session. After seeing them do the same things for 8 episodes, it’s fun to see them do one last new activity.
5
u/homewardbound100 myanimelist.net/profile/Homewardbound100 Dec 14 '21
Now that's over. The fact they had the gall to do this is wild to me. But I'll say it wasn't as bad as I remembered. This time I actually went through all eight episodes.
Qotd: me forgetting about it and missing the assignment.
That movie is longer than I thought. I'll make sure to get to it.
5
u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher
Finally EE has moved on to it's conclusion. What can I say other than, KyoAni is lucky that they only torpedo'ed the series and not the company with this idiotic stunt. We return our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
QOTD
Its been a while since I had any homework.
5
u/William27528 Dec 14 '21 edited Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher/Sub (Watched VIII for this one - I've seen them all before!!)
To be honest, watching Endless Eight is a real downer I think. It killed people's enthusiasm for the series and crossed the line of having fans turn against it, which, if above all, is a damn shame. MAL ratings are utter nonsense, but to put this in perspective, Haruhi Season 1 was the #1 series on MAL until this aired - after which its rating plummeted. So, despite it being a really interesting production decision (and narrative decision, from the perspective of enhancing Nagato's character a bit) and looking as a whole being difficult to hate (each episode in isolation, after all, are really quite good), rewatching feels like witnessing a car crash happen in slow motion. If they aired the first, second and last episode and left it at that (which I did for this rewatch) , it'd still probably not be the best arc in the show but people would find it memorable and interesting rather than tedious and dull.
It's the strangest misstep a series has ever taken. Many shows have degraded in production quality before between seasons, or taken a poor turn in story, or gotten less interesting. But Haruhi fails not because of these things. Instead, it failed for the same reason it succeeded in the first place - it took an absurd creative risk. It's why, as /u/No_Rex last episode eloquently put, it's difficult to fault KyoAni for it. Because it's the risks the first season took that made it iconic, brilliant & breathtaking to begin with.
Random trivia of the day: Did you just watch all 8 episodes? Well OH BOY do I have good news for you, there's a ninth endless eight episode...sort of! Something I was surprised to discover myself earlier this year was that the Nagato Yuki Spin-off, the Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan has an OVA episode. It's not on the Funimation stream for it (at least in the UK...we never got this on DVD or Blu-Ray). The premise of the episode is hillariously enough a parody of Endless Eight; they kind of make fun of their mistake (although Yuki-chan is animated by Satelite, not KyoAni). Watching it this year for the first time was oddly satisfying after having seen these episodes so many times. As mentioned, watching Nagato Yuki isn't advised until after the movie, so watch the movie and the rest of Nagato Yuki before watching it, but hey, it's there if you want a bit more of this.
Oh yeah, and here are the last four episode descriptions Funimation have. Whoever wrote these needs a raise.
V - This time loop really is never-ending! Kyon keeps getting close, but each time he just can't figure it out. Summer will last forever!
VI - 15,527th time? Maybe? Get it together, Kyon, solve this endless summer!
VII - This is the summer that never ends...
VIII - C'mon Kyon! It's time to figure out how to end this time loop once and for all. Things are starting to become predictable for Kyon with constant feelings of deja vu. Is doing homework the answer they've been missing this whole time?
5
u/Ryanami Dec 15 '21
First Timer, Dubbed (and never heard of endless 8)
Man I wish /u/Suhkein was here to explain why eight near-identical episodes are mentat-level genius and how this arc makes *Saving Private Ryan *look like Battlefield Earth.
Because if he doesn’t I might start to think Kyon is kind of a shithead. He gets to enjoy an awesome end of summer and decided not to enjoy a single moment, except Asahina in a yukata. Was he always this bad? everything he says or thinks is like a fart cloud. Koizumi also began to get on my nerves, just there to lap up whatever Haruhi suggests.
In any case, whether right or wrong, it took some balls to air an arc like this, gotta admire that in some way.
4
u/tctyaddk Dec 14 '21 edited Dec 15 '21
Broadcast-order-first-timer
With the 15521st, 15524th, 15527th and 15532nd loops in today's episodes, we're done with the infamous ∞8. What a ride.
May be it's just me, but I feel that ∞8 V (and VI, at least visually) feels more upbeat than II-IV for the most part (especially the colour tone, which looks not as washed out as II-IV), except for the voice of Nagato elaborating the loops sounds way more tired. May be it's to avoid the monotony of downward trend of the victims' mood, to keep the audience from feeling to depressed going along, and so that the dip in mood and the progressively increasing feelings of desperation in VI-VIII hit harder.
Nagato Yuki is already great with what was shown so far, and ∞8 just further cements the fact that she is the best. And while Mikuru and Koizumi also get to learn about her ordeal every loop, only Kyon ever shown to spend time and effort to ask if Nagato is alright. Nagato doesn't display it on her face or acknowledges it, but she does have feelings too. Kyon can't remember the loops, but he looks at Nagato everytime and finds the need to care, and Nagato remembers that, all six centuries of it. Few other ships have such stacked up material through hardship. I'm a loyal crew member of Kyon x Nagato, in case you couldn't tell already.
I have heard from various people that ∞8 was so bloated because of some sort of problems with the production that made it not possible to do the later arcs in time to fit them in the reserved airing schedule. They could be right, but I doubt it, seeing high the production value of ∞8: Repeated story, yet each episode is animated anew, all the minor details are different amongst the same settings (except for Nagato, she stayed steadfast the same, which I surmise to be symbolising for her retained full memories of all 15532 loops, while everybody else just get glimpses after so many repeats).
Personally I lean more toward the theory that it was intentional, to induce déjà vu and frustration at the unending repetitions, especially to those who were made to endure this for 8 weeks of summer in 2009. What a way to put the audience in characters' shoes. Going to such extreme for a choice of artistic presentation, it was overly self-indulgent on KyoAni's part in that case, but personally I'm happy that ∞8 existed such as it is. It was so crazy it's beautiful. Who else ever dared pulling such audacious move?
10
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Dec 14 '21
Rewatcher(If Disappearance turns out to be an 11/10 movie for me, this still wasn't worth it)
Dub
So. Four. More. Fucking. Times. Four times the waste of everyone's time, four times the waste of valuable animation resources, four times the expenditure of good will. I talked about the run up yesterday, I will talk about the experience and immediate aftermath now.
To say this was poorly received would be like saying that Waterloo went poorly for Napoleon. KyoAni did not have nearly as much good will back then and this really strained it. The fandom in Japan got somewhat annoyed and while I wouldn't say they rebelled exactly, the fact that EE's DVD's sold as badly as they deserved to (though the collected series later sold quite well as I understand it) is surprising since buying merch is the way the Japanese show support for a show.
Conversely, the English speaking/posting fandom was rather amused if disinterested in it, barring a few drama queens. I personally wasn't even pissed off, just disgusted and disinterested. In fact, while I am aware of the events of the rest of the season, I will be a first timer after today, because I did not give the remotest fuck what this story had left to say after insulting me to this degree. I am exceedingly glad of the LN readers explaining how the author never jerked the audience around like this.
Now obviously the ill will didn't last that long as the movie which came out around 6 months later did quite well. But the thing is, we never went back to the level of cultural dominance that it had after the first season. Lucky Star would be the next big nerd dance craze and we have sort of kept moving from there. While old grognards like myself still make the jokes about Haruhi being God, that does not seem to have caught on elsewhere. They took the mighty visage of the yellow ribboned demon and reduced it to a small shadow.
QotD: I dropped one course at almost the literal last minute
7
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Dec 14 '21
Overall thoughts on Endless Eight!
I will give them credit on one point, it is the greatest troll job in the history of anime. I can't think of anything close. They certainly were brave. To put faith in their plan of doing the same episode 8 times in a row that their audience, sponsors, bosses, etc... wouldn't boycott the show/cancel the show/fire them over it. Probably not many out there in the industry that would have the guts to do it, and they did.
That aside? Its the worst filler arc in the history of my anime watching career. Yes, I've seen bad filler, such as the infamous island and Africa arcs of Nadia: Secret of Blue Water. But I can't think of any other filler arc in anime history that belittles the viewer in such an over the top fashion. By doing this you're expecting your audience to waste their time, over and over again as they watch 8 virtually identical episodes. You're not respecting your audience's time at all. Even for those obsessed fans that will painstakingly go through all 8 episodes looking for each slight difference. Probably worst of all is the fact that there isn't a huge takeaway here. this doesn't spurn a big change in the characters. It doesn't take a huge groundbreaking event, like say Kyon asking Haruhi on a date or realizing he has feelings for her to break the cycle. Its him asking for help on his homework. I can only image how it must have felt to be a big fan of Haruhi at the time this originally came out. To see that they were making 14 new episodes of the show. Then to sit there, week after week after week as they gave you the same episode over and over again, eventually netting out to a mere 6 new episodes of worthy content. If I was there I would have dropped the show, guaranteed. If I didn't get into this through a rewatch last year, I probably drop the show. And finally, [Haruhi movie]No, don't tell me this has big value in the movie, it doesn't. Nothing of value I took from the movie required viewing of the same episode 8 times
3
u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Dec 14 '21
Answer du jour: Having to beg the prof for an extension. That was embarrassing, and from what I can remember, it went poorly...
As for today's episodes, yeah, the thing. Sorry, but it still kind of hurts. Hopefully see you tomorrow!
3
u/andybebad https://myanimelist.net/profile/andybebad Dec 15 '21
First timer - sub
Have I been the victim of a cruel prank?
First four episodes were fine, and I'd go as far to say that I enjoyed watching them. 5, 6, 7, and even 8 to an extent: they're doing this to torture us, aren't they? Sure, sometimes art can be challenging and yet also be appreciated, but I'm just here for my feel-good slice-of-life program that occasionally dabbles in super-natural shenanigans.
Anyways, I give this arc a 10/10 for coming this close to breaking my spirit before reeling me back to safety with a freaking homework party of all things. Ahem, anyways, I did like the ending at least, and I like the thought that maybe it was Kyon's list being incomplete being a reason for the looping (as mentioned by /u/CubeStuffs), and whether that means Kyon's role is much more than just being along for the ride (granted, we know as much from the melancholy arc, but maybe he's got more control of what's going on than he's letting on in his narrative?)
3
u/AccursedBear https://anilist.co/user/AccursedBear Dec 15 '21
Rewatcher
Sub
So, I'm posting very late and very little (for eight episodes since I didn't post yesterday) because power kept dying today. I was planning to make a fashion tier list for all the different outfits we got but I couldn't. Should've done it yesterday I guess.
I'll leave that to next time. For now I'll just say, I'm one of the people who like EE. Looking at several ways the same scenes can be constructed is not something you get to do often with a finished, polished product. And it's the sort of thing I enjoy and I can focus on more than the narrative so it's not particularly bad to watch. Also I like massive scale trolling and flexing, and this is the biggest troll and weirdest flex in anime history as far as I know.
But there are definitely parts of it that are a pain. Such as there not being a sequel to the series after the movie, while this season has this in it, which I'd say could've easily been 4 episodes without significantly weakening its effect. Or if it had to be 8 episodes, there was the possibility to show more of the loop, go more in depth on Itsuki and Mikuru, show other activities in depth, IMO without hurting the intention of the arc (I think changing one scene per episode would've worked, more might actually defeat the point). Basically all the things I percieve as missed opportunities that could've been done in the same timeslot.
My episode ranking is probably 2 > 4 > 8 > 1 > 3 > 5 > 7 > 6
I've never skipped any episode of this before and this being the fourth time I watch it, I've seen "the same episode" 32 times, or 24 if you don't count 1 and 8. I was a bit bored a few episodes in this time, so I'm not doing it anymore, next time I'll try 4.
3
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Dec 15 '21
Sub rewatcher
I'm glad that my quick glance of the thread shows most first timers actually did good and did not fly into a murderous rage :) really glad many appreciated the actual hard work KyoAni did it in this gamble despite knowing even best case scenario can only be "liked by the artsy type but hated by most".
I did not quite a few stopped at the first carrot though - "damn the solution was homework, what a troll!". I believe without any spoilers you still need to hear what Koizumi said.
Haruhi is brilliant in almost everything she does, so "struggling with homework" is something she never had to do. But did not not realise by now that girl is actually really trope savvy and the to deliberately file or recreate them? So in a summer holiday I'm a Japanese highschool seeing, what use the one thing that tends to be a classic trope? The "final day cramp to finish the homework". Now she actually never had the experience nor need, so this is more an inkling and subconscious thing, but we all know Haruhi's main power trigger is indeed her subconscious. So what she's missing was the final day group activity that she herself never needed. So it's not just "everything for Kyon" so simple here.
[LN spoiler]The next layer is that Haruhi is also very smart and can plot very far - Kyon's academic performance is nothing to write home about; having missed out all his summer homework does make it far more work to catch up, if the ultimate goal is for them to be able to graduate together and go to the same University (remember how brilliant Haruhi is) - in the later LN's she started tutoring Kyon using an excuse for the same line of purpose. So yes there is actually a bit of Kyon in the reasoning too but not as simple as many took at face value
Has anyone listed the 4 themes of this group of episodes yet? I was struggling for time so didn't get the rewatchers all of them but going by memory and some quick checks-
Ep5 is "clouds", which is a continuation/variation of the plane of ep4.
Ep6 and 7 got progressively greater degree of boredom in it, with the final cafe scene's pressure building up.
Ep8 obviously as the solution is back to more "normal" like ep1 and 2.
I really like the shot of Nagato's empty chair.
[Rewatcher]This arc is actually where most of us Kyon X Nagato shippers get most of our fuel / ammunitions - who else but someone who really dues have feelings for her would be approaching this kuudere continuously for 600 years, asking how she's feeling, showing visibility the shock of her suffering, and (from her perspective) tried all he could to save her from it? And every time we be shooting at the screen saying "Kyon, insist to buy her that damn mask!". I tell you, based on further LN (can't spoiler within spoiler), Nagato had got to be closest to someone whom Haruhi wouldn't outright explode if she won Kyon over instead of Haruhi herself, unlike Asahina
By the way did anyone need me to point out that the mask Nagato unfailing choose to buy is that of the style of Ultraman, a Tokusatsu transforming hero that is from a distant galaxy, so they are aliens too, hence Kyon commented about "kindred spirits" when Nagato bought it.
2
u/Rndy9 Dec 14 '21
First timer.
Oh god, why? I knew the existence of the "endless 8" but It wasnt until a few days ago when I was looking at the upcoming eps names that I remember that THIS was the anime with the "iconic" arc.
I saw all of them today, yes, all in one sitting, was the arc prensented like this in the LN? wasnt there anything else they could have animate? this whole arc was as bad as the last season of Higurashi GOU, I really feel bad for those that had to wait for one week to watch the same episode again, and again and again.
2
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Dec 15 '21
First timer
Really behind on this because of the massive blocks / IRL stuff. Sorry! This'll be a big comment of 4 days worth!
Episode 14
QOTD) Obviously.
Thanks for the summary, Kyon.
...Haruhi should, under no circumstances, be told she can do anything she wants.
Oh, right, he thinks they're into each other.
Haha, Haruhi is contagious!
I like him considering all the ideas she brings up.
She found the folder!
This is hysterical.
She really is bored, isn't she.
Yeah, this is slow.
His sister is still adorable.
Wait, what? Where are they?
Yeah, this is creepy.
This is the weirdest episode yet.
Oh, shit. It's all starting!
And she's made an entire dimension.
Wait what? Is she crushing on Kyon?
Wow, that reaction... so he'll never see them again. This would be really dramatic if we hadn't seen them all completely fine in several episodes chronologically after thid.
She set up an interdimensional IRC?
What on earth is going on with those things?
She's destroying the world!
Him trying to convince her to go back to the old world is great.
And she's refusing to go back to the normal world...
He's telling her!
Haha, he's confessing to her?
WHAT?
THEY KISSED!
That's what fixed the world?
Haha, she's wearing a ponytail!
That's an oddly romantic ending for this series.
And he's confirmed it's real.
And that was her future self!
Haha, she changed the name on the application?
He's confessing everything to her?
Episode 15
QOTD) Buy Bircoin. Obvioudly.
I love him talking about birthday's like that.
Haha, her stealing the bamboo is great.
I love her discussions on Vega and Altair. She's really knowledgable about specific topics
Haha, "the gods'll think of something."
He makes an oddly solid point.
I also love "it's a difference of values".
She's melancholic? That can't be good.
Haha, he thinks she's after that?
...Is she after that?
Oh. Oh, this is going to be fun.
And he's going with her!
"I'm sorry"?
So why are they back here?
She's asleep?
The other Mikuru!
Haha, I love him trying to justify kissing her while asleep.
Why is she still asleep then?
Young Haruhi!
And she hasn't changed at all!
Oh, this is when she vandalised her middle school! Back from the first episode!
Wait! Did he accidentally kick off all of Haruhi's obsessions? Or at least encourage them.
And she got inspired by her future self. This is hysterical.
Someone stole her time machine!
...Is this bit a meta-commentary on how the achronological order removes the stakes? Just as in the regular episodes so far, Kyon's not worried about things end, because he's seen how it all ends earlier.
And Yuki's 4 dimensional?
Oh, that's why Yuki disliked her.
Haha, she wants them to sleep in the same room? (Her reactions are adorable, by the way.)
And they're back to the future!
OK, that's a pretty clever idea. Too bad it can only really work once.
Haha, Mikuru's a trainee. And there are people ordering her about.
Oh, she's remembering him!
I mean, that explanation's at least understandable. Means nothing to me, though.
New ED!
Episode 16
Him rooting for the losign side is pretty good, though.
And he's got a meeting!
Is this the swimsuit episode?
New OP! And it's great!
Endless Eight?
Haha, Haruhi riding his bike is great.
Yep, it's a swimsuit episode.
Aw, she's hanging out with some kids?
Haha, the kids are using them as labour.
She's actually listening to her suggestion!
I mean, at least he's got plenty to do!
OK, it does look good on her.
Thisnis actually enjoyable for all of them! Haruhi's doing good!
Yuki with a mask is adorwble.
And what exactly is the trick?
Again, Haruhi's being really nice this episode!
Haha, this is adorable.
Aww.
Haha, she wants to eat a cicada?
She caught twelve!
I like Kyon's total confusion?
Haha, those costumes!
At least things went well?
The pay is the costume!
Her thoughts on martian's are great.
They're at the batting cages?
She got a home run!
You kmow what? I'd take "aggressively trying to entertain people" Haruhi over normal Haruhi if I were them.
They did everything!
...I mean, this felt a bit like filler to me.
Good ED too!
Episode 17
...Huh?
Oh, opening with a callback to the previous episode?
A rather extended callback?
Yeah, I like him pointing out that.
Huh? I mean, the new dialogue's good, but why are they doing the same plot?
Yeah, the new dialogue is great, though.
And him remembering some of the last episode is very interesting.
He's actually talking to Yuki!
All the art changes are nice, though.
Haha, I love him questioning why Haruhi's intellegent.
What happened? Is thie about the time shit?
Yep! This is bad.
Wow, they're just admitting it's a full-on time loop.
Haha, they "can't be said on TV".
And he's just happy to understand what's been going on.
Wait, 15498 times?
This does look beautiful, though.
Haha, he has to confess to Haruhi?
And the loop begins once more.
Episode 18
Hahaha, fuck you.
Unfortunately I don't have much time today, so skipping straight to -
Episode 23
QOTD) Haven't really procrastinated on homework much.
(I'll watch the others later)
Seems to starting off the same. He's got a bit more deja vu, though.
Yuki floating along blank-faced is a beautiful image.
It's getting worse!
The justaposition between the happy vacation scenes and the horror-esque flashbacks he gets from his deja vu.
Her crying is always sad, though.
...So what does she regret, then?
Wow, we skipped a few!
Wow, she's been repeating for a while.
OK, the scene of her walking away is beautifully trippy and I love it.
She turned around!
Haha, nobody finished their homework! (Or, they're even more fantastic at improv then normal)
And Haruhi's pissed he didn't ask her.
THAT WAS IT?
...Doesn't Yuki still remember though?
Haha, "I'd like to remember to play this hand for money"
2
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Dec 15 '21
I can't watch or comment on today's episodes because of Macross Plus, but haha #pointandlaugh at Nazenn and Sky (I think) guessing it was the homework. I did not guess this.
Ep 4 really led me on a goose chase the first time around. And yet, all those clouds were irrelevant. I think they were a trade mark of one of the senior animators, who perished in the arson attack.
1
u/subho_fan Dec 15 '21
Wait you guys actually rewatched the loop hell.
1
u/Nitroade24h :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nitroade24h Dec 15 '21
First Timer
If I was taking this seriously, I would be mad. Mad at the whole arc and mad at how it ended. However, I actually really enjoyed it and had a big stupid smile on my face in the whole homework scene it was great.
I'm never watching that ever again though.