- "Andy, new comment."
- You don't have to tell me that...
- "You're free today right? We're checking out the new Haruhi episode today at 6. Be sure to watch!"
- I haven't even posted anything...
- "I forgot to tell you... Endless Eight is over. OVER."
Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, at the eighth time of asking (do you see what they did there?), the Endless Eight story arc is over. Completed. Fin. And not a moment too soon.
Of course, that means sitting through all of those wonderful, fun summer events one last time - Will we one day grow to miss those moments? I wouldn't count on it. In fairness, the state of Mikuru's complete breakdown into incomprehensible babble at least brought me a smile, but perhaps that was simply for the relief of what was to come.
So what of the ending to this story arc, was it worth all of those repetitions? Jaded as we all are by this experience, I'm not sure that anyone can answer this question honestly right now, but at least it stayed true to the light novels even if it feels like a ridiculously trivial way to end something which has been going on for two months now. The trouble is, this story arc (and potentially these new episodes of the series as a whole) will forever be burdened by the weight of Endless Eight and what it was, and it will doubtless prove to be an inescapable blight upon this anime franchise as a whole. If only KyoAni had opted to make this into a triumvirate of episodes, they would have had another winner on their hands - "Setup, development, twist, conclusion" is the general rule of story writing, and there's certainly no room for a fifth step called "pointless repetition" no matter what Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei may have you believe.
But, what's done is done, and after this mammoth, near-mountainous anime viewing challenge we've finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Now is the time to put all the swearing, cursing, tearing out of hair and death threats to one side, and let's hope that any remaining new episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya return us to the true joys that this series can most definitely bring when it gets it right.
Great, now only 4 episodes left of season 2 then...
ReplyDeleteBut the crucial moment comes next week, when the next "normal" episode is "expected" to be broadcasted, but who knows what they'll come up with. Since there are only 4 episodes to come, maybe they will decide to throw some more fillers and stuff at us.
ReplyDeleteOnce they made the decision for endless eight, it's a pity they didn't decide to make the whole thing more *entertaining* by deviating slightly from the novel.
ReplyDeleteExample: Suppose one of the things Haruhi did was "a summer rock concert ". I'd enjoy eight episodes of Endless Eight more if each episode we saw the same concert but with Haruhi performing a *different* song of the caliber of GOD KNOWS, for example...
But they barely *tried* to make it fun, and forgot they were supposed to entertain. That's why it failed.
Hey Hanners, could you clear something up for me? These other commenters are saying there are only 4 more episodes left of haruhi, however in your blog title it says (episode 19) is that the chronological order? Meaning that there are atleast 19 episodes and so 10 more to go not 4? Or are there really only going to be 13 in season 2?
ReplyDeleteNext week.
ReplyDeleteEndless Eight episode 1
Anonymous: The episode nine denotes where we are in terms of new, 2009, Haruhi episodes, and the 19 denotes the episode number of where we're at with the series as a whole (counting both original episodes re-broadcast so far and new ones).
ReplyDeleteSo far, there have been ten original series episodes broadcast out of fourteen, leaving four left to slot in - Assuming that the second series will be fourteen episodes as per the first that makes room for FIVE more new episodes, but if the second series is a more traditional thirteen-episode one that would leave just four new episodes.
Of course, a lot of that is just conjecture, so we might get more new episodes, or I suppose we might get less.
The whole thing should have been 3 episodes in total.
ReplyDelete1st-A normal episode as far as we knew
2nd-the first loop for us, and we, as fans, begin to worry for the characters
3rd-the loop is broken and we feel great because the 3 episode arc is done, and we know all is well in Suzumiya's world
But this whole thing was just torture, and I REALLY hope the person responsible is sacked, and not allowed to make any more decisions for any other anime EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!Q!
I HATE that person, and made me almost drop this title.
Thankyou for clearing that up Mr Hanners :D
ReplyDeleteI am hoping with all my days of sagittarius that there are going to be atleast 10 more episodes!
"We understand that a lot of viewers have - for some reason - chosen to miss the last seven episodes.
ReplyDelete"Therefore, for the next episode, we present ... a recap!"
... they obviously wanted -us- to have an Endless Summer xP~~~
ReplyDeleteThey probably giggled their guts out at the thought and couldn't resist.