Now, unto Episode 8...
A lot of spoilers here for anybody who hasn't seen it.
Proceed at your own caution!
I have to say, I was very impressed by this episode.
The impression I get from this episode is that the art team that handled it is cognizant of the anti-Endless Eight sentiment amongst much of the Haruhi fan base, and did its best to address that sentiment in a way that would be pleasing to the fan base (but, alas, are under executive direction to not end the arc yet). Now, maybe that's a false impression, but it's one based on a few noticeable clues that this episode provided.
First of all, in the "Kyon-kun, denwa" scene, we see/hear Kyon repeat the word "Strange" many times. This is a difference from previous episodes, and for me, it flows with how the viewer feels towards Endless Eight as a whole. Both as a meta-commentary, and as in-canon, the handling of this scene was at its best in
this iteration, I think.
Then we have the gather for the bike ride scene. I liked Haruhi's style and zeal in this scene.
Next we have the swimming pool scene. This swimming pool scene was masterfully handled, I have to admit - the fanservice shots of Haruhi are almost like a "Here's something to make up for this arc" gesture from the animation team to the fans.
Then, this scene introduced something that genuinely stunned me. I can't believe that they actually decided to slip this into an Endless Eight iteration of all things...
They had Haruhi
lose at something...
Haruhi clearly states that Yuki is beating her at some sort of swimming contest. Repeatedly beating her (as Haruhi calls for rematches).
I can't recall Haruhi
ever losing at
anything.
Granted, this is just some inconsequential swimming contest, but still, Haruhi is actually getting beat at something.
Daring! Unprecedented! Possibly changes my very outlook on Haruhi's character.
And to think that they slip this into an Endless Eight episode...
wow.
Brilliant move for this particular episode. It made me forget, for awhile, about how awful this arc is.
Also, the use of the black/white video effect, and having a part of the swimming pool scene repeat itself was also brilliant. It was unexpected, and stood out. It made me think about the actual story (instead of meta-commentary) for a change - "Hhhmmm... are these tens of thousands of repetitions starting to degrade the time-space continuim? Do they present a threat greater than simply forcing people to relive the same two weeks over and over again forever? Could existence itself be threatened by this?"
Granted, this is coming from the Star Trek fan in me, but it was still good to see something a little bit new in the sequence of events that had an actual potential bearing on how you view the narrative itself.
The scenes between the swimming pool scene and the kimono scene flowed very nicely and quickly. Here I'll mention that I like the darker visual tones for this episode. Reflects the dark mood in general of much of the Haruhi fanbase right now...
Just before the kimono scene, we begin to see the start of Kyon's hemorrhoid problems, as he keeps touching his butt while he's lying on his bed
A tiny little change from
everything before it, but a funny one nonetheless. Also, is this the animation team's way of saying "Yes, we know this Endless Eight arc is a pain in the butt for you... so Kyon now has a pain in the butt himself since he's the one repeatedly failing you"?
For the kimono scene - nice to see the "En_less" store sign and Koizumi and Kyon stand outside of the store for a change. That's a real change-up, and a nice tip of the hat to the fans.
The black/white animation effect is used quite nicely again at the festival scene.
When Kyon says "I get the feeling I owe her..." (about Nagato), it
just clicked for me... yeah, Kyon, you
do owe her... for putting her through this Endless Eight hell!
I'm sure others noticed this before, but this was the first episode where that line did anything at all for me.
The summer work and cicada catching scenes are wisely sped through. The summer work scene in particular is QUITE old by now, while all the drama of the cicada catching scene is drained by the fact that Haruhi obviously wins it, every time.
Kyon's aggravated shouts (while continuing to touch his butt - ha ha!) during Mikuru's phone call to him were different and funny.
Then comes what,
by far, is now the most annoying scene of them all in Endless Eight for me - hearing that
damn exposition over the story concept yet again...
ggaaahhh!!!
But... this art team finds a way to lessen the pain as if shooting an anti-depressent into you. First, they remove Mikuru's
ultra-annoying *classified information!* spiel.... then the visuals for the rest of the scene are so bizarre and unexpected that they drew me away from those hated subtitles. While we looked at Koizumi's watch for what seems like a full minute, I started to think of making a YouTube video of this scene to an Esquire watch commercial.
It was a pleasant comedic thought to take my mind off of Endless Eight itself.
Later on for this scene, we get visuals of two empty trash cans, and of trash (an empty wrapper and dripping popsicle stick) on the ground. This animation team's subtle way of saying "Yes, our dear fans, we realize that this Endless Eight arc concept is garbage", perhaps?
Even if not, these visual shots, like Koizumi's watch, distract from the aggravating subtitles (because of the dialogue -
not because of the excellent sub work for these episodes - HUGE kudos to the subbers who are actually putting themselves through this arc for us Haruhi fans!).
Background music is handled
beautifully for this scene - great how the change kicks in, and becomes much more ominous, when Nagato begins to explain how dire the situation is.
Then we have the stargazing scene. This episode we have Kyon actually repeating the words "I love you..." as though he is seriously considering taking Koizumi up on his suggestion. Very nice touch! Very nice narrative alteration! Kyon's blushing really put this over.
The rest of the episodes speeds by fairly fast, which serves to make this easier to watch.
It contains three other noticeable good elements for me...
1) It's easy to miss, but Haruhi's semi-evil smirk/smile at 22:13 . I honestly
really loved seeing that, as such a small detail as it is. I was so tired of bubbly, cheerful, sweet-as-sugar-pop Haruhi - being reminded, even so mildly, of her megalomaniacal side with that semi-evil smirk/smile that I haven't seen since Season 1 was extremely enjoyable.
2)
Magnificent video work at Kyon's "There it is again!" This video work was actually freakin' Bleach level. Well done! Once more, this video work managed to engage me with the narrative itself on an enjoyable and suspenseful level.
3) The episode ended nicely, on an ominous note. The drama for how sinister this situation is just seemed a bit better played up in this episode for me.
One other general positive note - nice smile shots of Mikuru. Mikuru was starting to annoy me to death with her perpetual crying, but this episode downplayed that a lot, while providing some very nice close-up shots of her being happy at times.
All in all... I was startled by how good this episode is. As much as I loath this arc concept in general, I'm actually going to have to give this episode a 9/10. I'd give it a 10/10, but I just can't justify giving
anything Endless Eight a 10/10.
This art team did a
great job of rewarding the fans for our long-suffering loyalty to the franchise through a gorgeous swimming pool scene. This art team also did a great job (I think) of tipping their hats with several clues on how they sympathize with anti-Endless Eight sentiment (if not outright agree with it). This art team also successfully distracted from the more boring sections of the repetition by attention-catching visual choices (visual choices which also likely brought down the animation budget - very well done). And this art team incorporated many neat strokes of genius (showing Haruhi losing for once, showing Kyon with a substantially different reaction to Koizumi's "I love you" suggestion, showing Haruhi's semi-villainous smirking smile once more, etc...).
If I buy an Endless Eight DVD, it's going to be for this episode.
Sorry, fellow Endless Eight critics, this art team really went above and beyond here, and I think that they're sympathizing with us anyway. So, I feel compelled to reward them for that. So, hats off
to you, original Season 1 Haruhi art team -
9/10 for a simply wonderful job of trying to make delicious lemonade out of
very sour lemons.
...but a message for the defenders of Endless Eight as well. You can be a hater of this arc concept (and I still am), and still play the minutia game.
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