[Sackett]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

THAT complaint really boils down, really, to who the animation director was for this episode. I'm waiting for a.f.k.'s sub for that. Tickle me surprised if it was someone from the team that did K-ON (which just ended... oooooh), as that'll probably generate a deluge of Kaisos-like raging (which is admittedly bush-leagues compared to the SERIOUS BUSINESS arguing I've witnessed -- for the young 'uns out there, I started in the EVA fandom, as evidenced by my sig).

I wouldn't say that so much. I actually am one of those viewers who has little interest in following actors or directors. I do pay a little attention to the writers (of the original material), but even that isn't my main focus. Story lines tend to be the most important part of a show for me, followed by the characters, and I will put up with bad execution for a really good story.

Haruhi Suzumiya has a great story, and complex characters, that's why I like it. Second, I like all the physics and mathematical references- since I am in a mathematics heavy field, and physics was my first love in school.

However, I also like clever methods of telling a story.

For this reason I was impressed by the idea of having one episode to tell the story of Endless Eight straight, and then a second episode to show failure, and a third episode to give the conclusion. It felt good, and I was impressed by the artistic nature of such a method.

A fourth episode inserted to show another failure? I find it unnecessary. I already know the story, and there are no new physics theories to distract me. That left the characters and the execution of the telling of the story.

I'm willing to watch a show that repeats a good story- if the execution is well done. But this iteration the execution was terrible. The animation was far poorer than last weeks, the comparison is striking if you watch them back to back.

Now I actually liked K-On- but Haruhi is not K-On and you can't treat Haruhi like K-On, or animate it like K-On. It just doesn't work.

Well at least I can enjoy the characters right? Except no, I can't, because the characters seemed like superficial caricatures of themselves instead of the usual complexity. It's like the characters were... I don't know, playing some set role rather than being individuals in a story.

The only reason it got a 4 from me instead of a 1 is because of the boldness of doing this (a repeat of the bad ending), and because I thought some of the attempts to invoke deja vu were interesting, and would have been effective if they had been executed right. Which they weren't.

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

FYI, the animation director was Hiroyuki Takahashi, who directed the animation of episode 10 of K-On and did the musical instrument design for that show.

But then again, that doesn't really tell us anything of value. The Animation Directors for all of these new Haruhi episodes also did some of the episodes of K-On. Futoshi Nishiya did episode 2 of K-On, and Mariko Takahashi did episodes 3 & 8. Plus, the person who directed the animation of last week's episode also directed the animation of first new Haruhi episode this season (which, if I recall, people didn't really like?). So... guilt by association in this case doesn't mean all that much.

Whether the director of this weeks episode had anything to do with K-On interests me little- as I thought K-On was a decent show (for the light fluff that it was).

A far more interesting question in my mind is: Did this week's episode director have anything to do with Haruhi in the first season?

Because, to quote myself, this is my summary of what is seriously wrong with this episode:

It all seemed over acted, and lacking any of the subtlety and depth that Haruhi usually has. I think that overall describes this iteration. It was directed by someone who does not understand Haruhi. Instead of realizing that the brash abrasive over-the-top personality conceals more important subtle depths, this director accepted Haruhi at face value- and by giving her that depiction, short changed us all.

I felt like I was watching a cheap knockoff copy of Haruhi, rather than the real thing.