Given all of the fuss, I decided to go ahead and watch it. Already having five out of a predicted eight episodes for this story arc, I figured, "Why not?"
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Episode 2 was okay. But it was also nothing more than filler.
If the story had ended here, that is. Don't get me wrong: it was fun in its own ways. It showed the gang at the pool. It showed us how the SOS団 came to acquire the frog suit we saw in Season 1's most boring episode ever. It suggested to fans that, in Haruhi's universe, Martians now most definitely
do exist and are simply hiding deep beneath the surface. It had that humorous scene where Yuki mistakenly captured a rare Hercules beetle instead of the common cicada. And the end of the episode, with Kyon throwing in the towel regarding his unfinished summer homework, was funny too. Oh yeah! How could I forget the Obon festival? M-i-k-u-r-u--c-h-a-n! ^___________^
But that's all Episode 2 was: fanservice filler.
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Episode 3 was
amazing. Not because of what it was by itself, but because of what it was juxtaposed with Episode 2. It was fantastic to see how things mostly played out the same but how certain things did not. Yuki chose a different mask. The gang showed up on August 17th in different clothes than before. The swimsuits were different. The yukatas were different. The bug that Yuki caught was different. So on and so forth.
But of course the show stealer was the late-night emergency meeting. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
Kyon trying to stop Haruhi from leaving was probably the second best scene in Episode 3. Really dramatic, really cool.
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Episode 4 was good. It was the first episode we got to see after learning about the infinite closed time loop, and that's all it needed to be in order to be enjoyable. It was fundamentally very little different from Episode 3. But what was important was that in Episode 3, we'd only just learned about the loop, whereas in Episode 4, we had anxiety the entire time. We wondered just when Kyon would discover the truth. We anxiously observed all of the subtle differences and similarities between these 2 weeks and the previous ones. And the scene on August 30th at the cafe was just as nail-biting as before. Good, but not great. Episode 3 was of course better.
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Episode 5 was
excellent. I know I'll probably surprise people by saying this. Most people probably lost their patience with this episode. They probably wanted Episode 4 to be the last one, and they were probably livid when they reached the end of 5 only to discover that it, too, was not the final episode of the story arc. But personally?
Kyon's early anxiety made this episode for me. It was the first time where we saw him almost
frightened by how similar shit was to him. He was
sweating at the pool when he predicted what was going to happen. He was
scared when Haruhi made her list of summer activities and Itsuki asked to look at it. I dunno. Again, the episode was "same old same old" as far as plot events go, but Kyon's emotional distress in this episode sold it for me. I really liked it. It was good. Had me on the edge of my seat.
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Episode 6. Yeah. For me personally, I too wanted this one to be the last one. I knew it wouldn't be because of two things. First of all, the name "Endless Eight" is practically
begging Kyoto Animation to produce eight episodes. Second of all, in the story itself the closed loop occurs from August 17th through to August 31st. The idea is that September 1st never comes. So of course it's only fitting that the final episode of the story air close to September 1st, such that when (in the real world) it becomes September 1st, fans can say, "Lol, it's September 1st because Kyon finally solved the riddle and broke through the closed time loop. :)"
But that stated, I still hoped Episode 6 would be more entertaining than it was. It was not. :| It was almost an exact replica (emotionally) of Episode 4. It wasn't as tense though as 3, 4, and 5 were. 3 was tense because we learned of the loop then. 4 was tense because it was the first episode to air right after we learned of the loop. And 5 was tense because it seemed like Kyon might actually solve the case. But 6? Episode 6 felt like a big step backwards. :| Kyon seemed to be
really out of touch with the déjà vu this time around. The moment this one started, you
knew it wouldn't be the one to end the arc. And that's probably why it failed. :|
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I am a fan of this story arc. I am a fan of Kyoto Animation's presentation of this story arc. I agree that it's got old with Episode 6. (I know many of you feel it got old much sooner than this.) But you know something?
You're missing the point if you feel that Kyoto Animation is wasting your time. You're totally,
totally missing the point. How do you think Nagato Yuki felt, huh? How do you think she felt to go through this hell over 15,521 times? To be approached by the same people with the same stupid, tired comments time after time after time? How do you think she kept her sanity? That her existence (sort of) transcends space-time does not imply that she can escape this loop. She is very much trapped within it just as much as the others. She can't go home. She can't leave. She is a prisoner in this hell. And has to experience it 15,521 times whereas you've only had to experience it
5. Five episodes. That's all you've seen. Five 25-minute episodes. She's lived
595 years of this.
That's the whole point of this episode. If you're not interested in Yuki, I can see why the episodes might not seem worth it, but she's my favorite character in the series right after Kyon (even if I do prefer Mikuru based on looks), and this has been quite insightful into her character.
Remember in Season 1 how Kyon discovered that Nagato
does attempt to have fun, and does so in rather odd ways? Like how she wanted to play with the PC club? Or how she may have been the one to generate the worm that caused the PC club's president to vanish that one time? Or how she refused to open the door on the mystery island because Haruhi told her "don't open it under any circumstances" but then when Kyon asked her to Yuki did open it?
Keep that in mind when you watch these episodes. And look for what she's been doing this time around as a result of that. In order to keep her sanity, what has she done?
- She goes to different parts of the pool to see what it takes for Kyon to notice her. So far, he appears to have always noticed her. Aww. :3
- She gets a different mask every time.
- She doesn't let Kyon pay for it because she wants him to pay her back when it would actually mean something, and not when time is just going to loop back over once again.
- Every time they go bug hunting, she challenges herself to find an exotic bug as quickly as possible. A different exotic bug every time. And just to be cute and fun, she toys with Kyon by presenting it to him as though she is ignorant of what a cicada is. It's her way of being coquettish. Aww. :3 And just think: she's probably caught thousands of different species of insects by now! XD She's become quite the entomologist!
On and on the list goes. Pay attention to Yuki, ignore the others, and I think in that manner you'll find these episodes more enjoyable.
Not trolling.
