[Ardee]

Bad news, everyone - I just checked my calendar and today is June 19th. We just *think* we're being played with by KyoAni...

For those wondering about earlier time loop stories, the closest I've read is Philip Dick's "A Little Something for us Tempunauts".

Spoiler for for that story:

If I remember it right, unlike groundhog day, and like E8, the main characters only have a little deja vu, or maybe just one does. I think he ends up deciding that the only way to free the world from the loop they created is to sabotage their time machine so they'll die. But I don't remember if he succeeds. Maybe his colleagues stop him because they don't know about the loop, and it ends with the assumption that it will be that way forever.

I for one don't mind this drawn-out approach: as a comparison, I've re-watched the 80's He-Man cartoon (aimed at 5-8 year olds) - it has some episodes that set up some really interesting scenarios that, with more time and an older audience, could be tunred into something really dramatic. But then they run out of time and have a mostly pointless deus ex machina ending. So I completely buy the idea that drawing this out is a good way to give drama to it. (when each week the world is in dire straights, how do you make one week more dire than the last?)