(Endless Eight VIII)
Sorry again about having my episode discussion posts all over the place, having zero correlation with the correct thread, but it's just easier for me this way. Just blame the wack broadcast order that this series aired in. Looking at the most recent posts, it looks like a lot are doing the same. MAL should've just structured it in the chronological order just like how all streaming sites are organizing it. For those who aren't, and that this is actually the 4th endless eight episode for them, I'm actually surprised how many are still kind of taking it well, among a few who are absolutely losing their minds ALREADY.
Anyway, I'm just putting this here BEFORE watching the last endless eight episode, because I just wanted to say that I don't remember being this excited for a single anime episode in quite some time. I am also expecting to be disappointed, cheated even, but I have hopes higher than that that this will deliver. So the question is: Was it worth it?
(after watching the actual episode) Short answer: No. On a scale of 1 to 10 on how worth it it was, it's a 3 or 4. I'll say this though: this arc has made me have a new-found appreciation for every other anime ever that does NOT have an arc seemingly solely designed to drive you f*cking nuts. Also even though they may have wasted my precious anime-watching time, I gotta give KyotoAni some mad respect for taking such a ballsy move when they MUST HAVE known that it would cause them to lose fans. Maybe not as a whole, but I'm sure viewership for Haruhi Suzumiya went down because of this. Or maybe after it finished airing, maybe it went up, because people came to experience for themselves what this infamous "endless eight" arc was all about. Who knows.
Were there small, intricate details that actually reward the viewer who examined each episode with a laser focus, writing down every change down to even what painting was in the restaurant that time, that all in all actually makes this a watch worthy of your time? Or did KyotoAni really just want to mess with everyone, its own key animators included? Because I gotta say, even though I'm still lost at what the purpose of this was, if there was any, thank- you KyotoAni for at least going through the actually tremendous efforts of not actually reusing any shots and frames as far as I could tell, and actually making each episode entire unique in terms of its visuals. To that I can say, "wow". To everything else, I say, "wtf."
I don't know about you, but while I can't believe I actually sat through the same thing 8 times (yes I watched each intently, I didn't skip over parts, watch it in a faster speed, or simply leave it playing in the background while doing something else. I actually WATCHED them all.... but how though), it actually wasn't nearly as bad or as painful or as tedious as I would've thought. To an extent, I actually kind of enjoyed looking for new details, admiring the new shots, and anticipating how this cycle would end- particularly during the first few episodes though. It was during episode 6 or 7 where I started really getting that fed-up feeling. But still, I'm surprised to say that this wasn't a total pain in the ass to get through. Again though, was it worth it? Eh. Even if it alone doesn't seem to have any purpose, it certainly does make for a great precursor to the movie perhaps (idk if this is true, but I heard somewhere that while of course you should finish the series before the movie, the endless eight arc is one that is INTEGRAL before watching the movie, so if that's the case, I'm glad I actually watched the WHOLE THING, whether it was worth it or not), and more importantly for me, will make me REALLY appreciate the following episodes FAR more than I would have otherwise. Even if "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" was downright trash, I think ANYONE would have enjoyed if they came out of the endless eight, just happy that they have escaped that loop. Oh and I still have to watch those 4 episodes from "season 1" of the broadcast order, which I'll be watching LAST because I'm watching chronologically.
Unless we are all missing something HUGE, I can confirm that you don't indeed need to watch them all. I agree with everyone else saying that you should watch just 3, the first, the last, and any one of them in between; it doesn't really matter which one. I personally would tell my past self to watch episode 5, just for the ticking clock at the end lol. That was honestly the most unique thing there was across all the middle episodes. Of course there's countless other small subtle changes (besides all the obvious outfits and shot compositions), such as Kyon and Koizumi shooing away some guys who were probably trying to hit on Asahina and Nagato during the "we're stuck in a loop" revelation scene. But I honestly wished there was a little more variety than what we got, maybe one of Nagato's loops where they actually did different stuff. But yeah, that's why I'm going with the recommendation of episode 5, just for the clock. I'm sure all the fans were so hopeful after seeing that that the next episode, the sixth one, where it would be where it finally ended. Hehe, 2 episodes too short my dude. Oh and might I just quickly mention as well that I liked the loop where Kyon actually pulls out a calculator to calculate how much time Nagato has spent in the loop. Before you would've thought he was something of a math wiz, doing all that math in his head. But if this loop was like the others, he actually used a calculator every time, we just didn't see it. That certainly goes in line with where he calls Haruhi "smart" (after she states that she did all her summer homework in 3 days), since that would imply that Kyon is, well, not AS smart.
I wouldn't have really noticed this or cared had not someone mentioned it, but eventually it did come to my attention that they NEVER show Kyon's reaction when Koizumi says "how about I do it?" when they're doing the rooftop star gazing, was there a reason for that too, maybe we're just meant to imagine his most likely reaction of being shocked, since deep down he doesn't want anyone else besides himself to hug haruhi from behind and whisper "I love you" in her ear? Whatever, guess it wasn't important. Was ANYTHING important?
Just a small animation detail that I low-key really appreciate is at the end when they're at the restaurant and Haruhi takes a sip of what is probably iced tea. Most times you'd probably see a character simply bring the straw up to their mouth and there would be no other animation. But here, you can see the drink going up the straw, the drink in the glass lowering down as she drinks it, and the ice cubes giving a subtle shake. Nothing about that drink was static other than the glass itself, which is uh, just a solid object.
Actually, let me rephrase the episodes which I think are required to watch for the endless eight. I said 1, 5 (for the CLOCK YEAHHH), and 8. The one in the middle helps, but you can easily get away with just watching the first and last. Heck, if you really can't watch the same thing twice, I'd say you can even just watch the the last one and you wouldn't have missed anything important. Because the only real differences are in the first and the last one: the first simply because it shows more of their activities, since the "we're in a loop" revelation scene isn't in that one (as well as the star gazing rooftop scene? I forget now). I remember that had a long bug-catching scene compared to the others which just breezed through it. But otherwise, not ABSOLUTELY important unless you would like to see longer scenes of those activities. And of course the last one, which IS important because that's where the loop is broken. So really you don't have to watch any of the others besides the last one. All you miss out on is.... build-up of your irritation and the more intense relief you get when it's all over. That really is it I think. So if you REALLY can't bear to watch it even more than once, just watch the last one. I think you'll be fine. Not that someone who hasn't watched any of them will be reading this in THIS discussion thread, but oh well.
No one's going to read this wall of text, but for the odd soul that does stumble across this, at least read this TL;DR. Again, my short answer to the "is it worth it" question is: no. But that is my short-sighted answer. I got chills from when Kyon finally yelled out: "THERE'S STILL SOMETHING I WANT TO DO"; chills I wouldn't have got had I not watched all eight episodes. Maybe it was because I was just so relieved to finally escape this loop with the others (although besides Nagato, Kyon didn't REALLY experience it over 15,000 times apart from the effects of deja vu, so even though we only experienced it EIGHT times, in a way, we've been through more than he has. We don't experience his pain of deja vu, but whatever I guess), but I can say that it truly carried an impact that I would not have experienced otherwise if I had not watched all eight. And looking into the future with the movie on the horizon, I think this arc will have made me appreciate that far more than I would have, in more ways than one. Something just tells me I will have enjoyed the movie as much (of course I haven't watched the movie as of yet, but I know I'm going to at least like it) if I had not watched the full endless eight arc. Something about experiencing getting stuck in a loop tells me that the movie will feel even more impactful. Again, who knows. So I guess my actual short answer for "was it worth it", is still no, but actually, yes. Maybe. Maybe it's actually a 5/10 on the worth-it scale, half and half. Or maybe I just wasted 25min x8 of my time. Fuck. Really I don't fucking know. At least I can proudly proclaim my achievement of watching all of the endless eight like wearing a badge on my chest. Dang this TL;DR was too long. Sorry, I don't expect you to read this either, it's okay.
Guess I'll just end off my ramble with this. I loved this breaking-the-loop scene. I wouldn't have experienced anything like it in any other anime because only KyotoAnimation had the balls to do something this, well, ballsy. But I'm not completely satisfied with it, and there's one thing that they could've done which indeed would've make it perfect for me: and that would have been to make Haruhi smile in this scene. Sure, go ham on him for assuming leadership of the group, that's fine, that's in character. But after all that's said and done, look at Kyon, and give him a smile. A smile of thanks, a smile of relief that (even though apparently she was completely oblivious of the loop that, she(?) created) that Kyon reached out to her and gave her wanted she wanted to be completely satisfied. A small little thing, that made their summer truly perfect. Maybe it didn't matter what it was, maybe what Haruhi truly wanted was to hear Kyon say that HE wanted to do something together for the summer. No words needed, just a little smile from her in thanks and appreciation to close out the scene would have made it perfect. Instead the restaurant scene just closes out with her being her usual somewhat-angry self. Expected of a tsundere (she is a tsundere, right? She hasn't really shown a softer side to her THAT much), but come on. We went through eight episodes of this. Give us a little more man.
Actually no, huge L on KyotoAni's part. He simply stated that he wanted to do something more, to do homework. Massive L. He didn't run up to her and hug her from behind and whisper "I LOVE YOU" in her ear. Big missed opportunity. Trash anime. 1/10, garbage. Could've been amazing, but instead it was poo.
Thanks for letting me vent out some of my thoughts. I hope that my post here on this thread from 2009 doesn't get taken down because it technically is in the wrong spot. Whoopsie. But idc, I'm still gonna continue to do it the easy way. Most others are too apparently, looking at the most recent posts.
Anyway, time to watch the SIGH of Haruhi Suzumiya. See you in the next episode. じゃあね |