The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 18 Discussion / Poll [2009 added ep. 8]

[Crontica]

Originally Posted by SSJiffy

Let Today be the day. Let Today be the day. Let Today be the day.

Wow its badder than i thought wtf where they thinking turning Filler + Recap + Flashbacked Reruns INTO A BLOODY ARC?

[Game8910]

im actually surprised people are still getting angry at this point

[Jintor]

True rage will begin if and only if they loop next week.

[OkamiNoKaze]

But they could go one more, 8 loops end on a 9th episode

[Heminga13]

The first loop is still the first iteration. Once the original two weeks is reset, the second two weeks, or second loop, starts. At least that's what makes sense to me.

[Crontica]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

My bet is that this won't end until late August.

That is if I believed these loops WERE going to end.

You just jinxed the entire plot. if i recall Haruhi and her gang are currently stuck in August, all hope is lost.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Game8910

im actually surprised people are still getting angry at this point

What we're seeing now is a slow bleed.

I think that everybody has different threshold levels for how much repetition they're willing, if not eager, to see in their entertainment.

For some, three episodes of this was too much.

For others, four episodes of this was too much.

For others, it was five... for others, six... etc..., etc...

Personally, I felt that three episodes for Endless Eight would have been ideal, and four would have been tolerable, if not acceptable. Five is too much, and anything beyond five is a horrible arc concept, imho.


We're probably now at a point where the only people enjoying each and every iteration of Endless Eight are those with a very high tolerance level (or even enjoyment level) for repetition. Some sincerely like this artistic/story telling approach, and I respect that. However, even many of the more patient viewers are starting to have Endless Eight fall out of favor for them - you really are whittling your EE defenders down to, say, the sort of master of intricate detail completionist who would play Tales of Symphonia through eight times just to get every possible maximum affection ending. I'm not knocking those people - if it's worth it for you, then go for it - but for most people I think, that's just too much repetition for a few slight changes.


If Endless Eight ends next week, and if it ends on a well-done episode with a conclusion to the arc that feels satisfying to most viewers, then I think that this anime may be able to recover from Endless Eight. That's far more optimistic than I've been for the most part during the past three weeks, but the genuine strength of most of the individual Endless Eight iterations taken on its own merits - particularly the strength of this most recent one which really did leave a good impression on me - is such that I think that this horrible arc concept is one that more discontented fans may forgive and forget if we get five good episodes of Sighs and/or Disappearance to end the year with.


However, if Endless Eight continues pass next week, then the bleed will turn into a complete revolt - I agree with Jintor, you'll see true rage then, as people begin to realize how the number of possible "make up for this Endless Eight arc" episodes is dwindling fast.

This arc really needs to end next week.

[Jintor]

Honestly. I know KyoAni (or maybe Kadokawa) wants to be innovative, but Rule-Of-Three would have been the best for Endless Eight - first is a nice day-in-the-life, second is a hah-you-found-out-oh-look-slight-trolling!, and third is an alright-we're-done-let's-move-on thing.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Jintor

Honestly. I know KyoAni (or maybe Kadokawa) wants to be innovative, but Rule-Of-Three would have been the best for Endless Eight - first is a nice day-in-the-life, second is a hah-you-found-out-oh-look-slight-trolling!, and third is an alright-we're-done-let's-move-on thing.

Also, the first episode of Endless Eight is the first iteration, and hence everything is just normal slice of life - no dejavu whatsoever.

Second episode, the dejavu is noticed so there are real significant differences - entirely new scenes and substantial dialogue changes - between it and the first. Second episode ends with a failure to fix the noticed problem.

Third episode, the dejavu is noticed again and hence it's a lot like the second episode... but the ending is completely different as the SOS Brigade manages to break the loop this time.


So, you really would have three significantly different narratives here. That's why three would have been ideal - KyoAni/Kadokawa would have been innovative, but with out forcing us to watch the "dejavu is noticed; Kyon fails to break the loop" narrative six or more times. Three would have been perfect. Too bad it didn't happen.

[Archon_Wing]

It's weird but I never really liked Kyo Ani's works for being creative. The ones I like the best-- the three Key adaptations-- were to me very conventional but very well executed and very visually appealing. Haruhi's irregular broadcasting order was cute too, but still seemed very natural and well thought out. Perhaps there is a greater plan for EE, but I can't see it. The first repetition was magnificent, but it started slowly losing effect.

I'd just like to say that this stuff is pretty original and risky; some real balls out there. But that doesn't make it automatically good. Risks naturally carry on a possbility that it doesn't work. And hey, no one is perfect. After all tons of companies go bankrupt off foolish decisons and people lose their life savings over bad decisons. People have been taking risks throughout time without thinking over them that well.

I mean you could say the Fox network over in America is pretty risky, or at least they take far more risks than other networks with all the random crazy ideas for shows they have churned out. It's generated a lot of controversy and they did manage to crank out a few hits despite all the one season failures that came out. But I'm not going to praise them every time they do something crazy. I've never heard of anyone praising Fox for trolling their fans for screwing Futurama over, for example.

So anyhow, I do have to give credit for the stunt for being the first of its kind. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. The world will move on though. I'm more interested in if it will actually sell though.

[OkamiNoKaze]

But see you have to factor Kyon and his legendary laziness into the equation, and seeing 7+ loops, out of how many ever times they actually discovered the loop, make a bit of sense.

[Archon_Wing]

Kyon is representative of Kyo Ani, and the homework represents moving on with the series.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by OkamiNoKaze

But see you have to factor Kyon and his legendary laziness into the equation, and seeing 7+ loops, out of how many ever times they actually discovered the loop, make a bit of sense.

Well, I definitely think that Kyon is legendarily lazy now.

I never saw him that way before, but now... I don't know how he passes school. lol He's probably cheating off Haruhi, ha ha!

[Jintor]

Leaving it for the next loop's Kyon to figure out is actually a very logical mindset except that he doesn't think about the effect it will have on Nagato.

[kk2extreme]

if they gonna loop one more time, at least bring out achakura just for lulz

[christinemarie]

It would be nice if Kyo-Ani release the DVD version of Endless Eight consist of three episodes
1st is part 1 of Endless Eight.
2nd is part 2 up to part 7 of Endless Eight combined together (best scenes only) as one episode.
3rd is the last part of Endless Eight.

At least they care for their customers if ever.

Maybe they release a filler episode entitled "The Boredom of Yuki Nagato" after all those loops she endured.

[mokuseimaru]

Originally Posted by Jintor

True rage will begin if and only if they loop next week.

I actually think the rage will end if they go past the eighth episode. To explain, I've created this handy chart detailing (American) fan reaction to Endless Eight.

Spoiler for spoiler:

Like I wrote in the chart, if they go past the eighth episode, all bets are off. Mostly because people won't have an accurate predictor of when E8 will end: meaning, their will be a catastrophic burst of rage followed by a quiet that will probably endure long after E8 really does end. I can't say this will be the case with Japanese viewers as well, but to me, I don't see them reacting any differently. Even those who really like the show and want to see new content animated will probably force themselves to become indifferent to avoid this weekly dose of disappointment; and I think there are some who, even if they intend to come back when they leave, will simply forget to; and there will be a substantial number who will never return for the sense of betrayal. In any case, if they go past 8 episodes, the Haruhi fanbase will be changed forever, mostly in that it will probably become drastically smaller. Whether Kyoani or Kadokawa will be able to continue the series with only those who remain after such a purge is not something I cannot say, not having a perfect enough understand of the economics of anime. But I can say with relative certainty that any mainstream following the show had will be effectively wiped out.

Oh, and yes, I have too much free time. Far too much.

[Sheba]

Whatever marketing strategy is behind it, I say it is as bad as New Coke.

[ac195]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Whatever marketing strategy is behind it, I say it is as bad as New Coke.

New coke was brilliant... when Classic Coke was reintroduced sales hit record levels... huh?.... wait a minute... hmm, tricky tricky...

[OkamiNoKaze]

With that analogy watch the rating for the last three episodes of the first season sky rocket, double what it was before.