The series is usually at its best when it offers insight on its plot and its characters, when it isn't just consisting of characters acting like their designated descriptions. Considering that, this episode is by far the best of this season, and possibly of both seasons. The last half of sigh actually stirred actual thought, instead of just "whoa this is funny!" or "whoa this is cute!" I can finally say that there are things I got from here that I will remember and I got something out of this series. I mainly liked it because it expressed many of my own thoughts towards the "truth" in this plot.
We first start out with the shock of the talking cat, which shows that Haruhi's editing of the world is starting to get more and more out of hand. I always found the cat in Episode 00 to be funny, especially with that wtf voice. The silly philosophical debate with the sarcastic cat cracked me up. It's probably one of the few times during this season where I actually did lol, instead of just chuckle.
So there's some more discussion on Haruhi, and that basically to solve the issues, they can't just accept the plot holes, but find a way to deal with them. If everything can be explained away, then that can solve the problem. Sounds like another series I'm watching. I found this part amusing as well as the worry that Haruhi's fictional world will become reality. Ah, now this is what I can see as breaking the fourth wall.
Meanwhile, it's revealed through the discussion with the other two that not everyone is completely truthful. As Yuki said, there's no way to tell if anything they say is true-- she even says that to Kyon, not even what she says may be true too. This makes me wonder a little more about Yuki's feelings towards Kyon; she might just have grown to be much more than a vessel for the Data Integrated Entity.
Mikuru's attempt to tell Kyon what she feels was pretty endearing too. Indeed, she has suffered through much and is definitely very tramutized. One thing I liked about these scenes is the lighting. I don't really know why, it just made the scenes look better.
There was also an intresting part about Mikuru and Itsuki's factions being at odds with each other because their beliefs conflict with each other. This leaves us to speculate on how their actions have been influencing Kyon and Haruhi. It also leads me to ask on how much of this was planned or perhaps even engineered. In any case, as all 3 sides present their story, it is left to Kyon (and the viewer) to put it together. It's important to know that the three are most under extreme pressure to convince Kyon to their cause. It's also interesting that Kyon still has some thoughts about Haruhi's happiness too-- she's not just a thread to all around her.
Anyhow, Kyon finally decides to take actions, resulting in the events of Episode 00, with perhaps Haruhi's will changing from altering the world to suit her bad movie to altering her bad movie in a better way to suit the world. The last Kyon-Haruhi were definitely fun to watch, with Haruhi seemingly making a concession or two but immediately stepping away. But progress isn't easy. As Haruhi says at the end "That would be too easy!" Sometimes the solutions are under your nose.
10/10--- Well, I don't have the highest opinion of Haruhi S2, but at least ending it on a high note helps. Drop the gimmicks and stick to honest storytelling, and you can have great episodes like these.
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