Maybe the Endless Eight section of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 works better as a condensed viewing experience, eight episodes in two sittings, as opposed to waiting two months, one episode a week, because I thought it was an interesting watch, which is far from the reaction that the people who were watching it had during the weekly broadcast in 2009. Seeing how things changed from one episode to another was fun to see and I respect the risk involved in the attempt, even if in the end it probably damaged the popularity of the series. It was a bit bloated and maybe would have been better served as Four Forever or something (just be glad it wasn’t Forever 21), but at the same time feel like something would disappear without the bloat of eight episodes. I totally understand why many people don’t feel that way, though.
From what I recall there wasn’t anything necessary or vitally different about the Endless Eight episodes. Most of the differences were trivial and that’s actually kind of what makes it interesting, that a trivial difference is all that really makes one day different from another and given the opportunity to do something different we almost never do. About the only scene that consistently bored me is the scene where Kyon is called to the park to meet the others to discuss the discovery of the time loop. I pretty much got up to refill my iced tea glass every time that scene came up since the scene is nothing more than Koizumi info-dumping. Actually, Koizumi annoys me since his primary function in the series is to info-dump, so he’s boring. The park scene is basically the Koizumi scene and even the first time it was a drag. That’s something that I would have liked to have been cut down or cut-out after the third or fourth time. Other scenes got dropped from some episodes, but this one seemed to make it in all of them. I guess it needs to stay in, because there was always the chance a viewer hadn’t seen the previous episodes and the info-dump scene spells out what’s going on.
I seem to like things about Haruhi that the vocal didn’t. Like in the first season, the episode I adore is “Someday in the Rain,” which seemed to have raised some bitching. I guess I like the melancholy part of the show, the parts where nothing seems to happen at all.
Ah, Endless Eight…I remember when my friend posed the possibility of it running for eight entire episodes at around episode three. Back then I just laughed it off, thinking the KyoAni crew wouldn’t possibly go to such extremes for a joke. But as the episodes rolled on, my skepticism quickly spiraled into horror and disbelief as I began to accept the truth in my friend’s speculation.
Looking back, Endless Eight really was a genuinely exciting anime event. It was kind of like some sort of perverse festival in which the anime-watching joined together in their outcries. If the arc itself isn’t entertaining, watching people flip out on /a/ certainly was. While it’s a shame that my enthusiasm for the franchise that was so dear to me was somewhat undermined by Endless Eight, it was nevertheless a truly memorable stunt. Besides, the Haruhi movie just came out, and if it lives up to its considerable hype, then I’m sure it would reinvigorate my passion for the franchise~
I remember all the raeg on blogs and can only imagine how nutty it got on /a/. I’m pretty sure that did a lot to anesthetize me to any feelings of being annoyed, so it had some benefits.
What I thought was funny was how long people were in doubt that it wouldn’t be 8 episodes. After the third episode aired, I felt it would be 8 episodes, since the 8 was in the title. It’s really a shame that it was such a buzzkill for the franchise though, since I really enjoy it. Hopefully, the movie restores some of that.
While the Endless Eight arc was well animated and it’s always a joy to see the Haruhi gang, I personally felt it was too long and somewhat of a waste since after waiting for so long since the first Haruhi series/season originally aired, it would no doubt have been better for the franchise to see other story parts included in the second season.
However, the Endless Eight are a good buildup towards the movie to emphasize what Nagato has had to go through.
The effect of waiting certainly didn’t help KyoAni. I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall when this was being discussed, just to see how the we’re doing 8-episodes side won vs. the let’s do it in 3-episodes camp.
My reaction to Endless Eight was mild annoyance, not because of the length itself but because the longer it went the less new material would be adapted.
Although now that the novels are being released in English I look back it as an interesting experiment, even more surprising that KyoAni for whatever reason did not cave in and cut it short.
The opportunity cost is pretty high when you devote more than half of your season telling one story. E8 is certainly just as interesting, if not moreso for the reaction and the meta-stuff surrounding the show. I certainly had a good time observing the fan-rage for a show I knew I’d definitely see one year later.
Is it all essential viewing? Or could I get away with just watching the first & last two episodes for times sake? Seasion one is all I’ve seen, I wonder if I’m missing out on anything…
It’s not required viewing at all if you just want to get on with the story/plot. I really enjoyed seeing the differences in scene, tone, direction back-to-back-to-back, but you can totally skip it and not get lost at all. Everything you need to know plot-wise you get watching any of episodes 2-7. Actually, if you know about the deal with the Endless 8 arc, you can just watch the 1st and last episodes, but one of the middle ones should give you the effect of endless de ja vu. If things like how timing, line changes, and differences in inflection can change a scene, then it could be interesting to watch.
looks like you love Haruhi as much as I do, and indeed I loved endless eigth and someday in the rain, in fact there’s not one episode i dislike about haruhi.
Cool article, Haruhi always making me giggle…