Review - Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu 2
Chika
I already did a mini-review about this series, back when I first started
getting hold of it, but I thought I'd get the whole thing sorted as I had
it to hand.
First of all, you may need to re-acquaint yourself with the charas and
premise of the series. Haruhi has started something that she refers to as
the SOS Brigade which includes (though not with her knowledge) a time
traveller, an alien and an esper. Odd things keep happening around this
group which also includes Kyon, a typical ordinary high school student who
is roped into the group after inadvertently suggesting the idea of the
group to Haruhi in the first place. The series was wildly successful, with
followers around the world eagerly trying to find the overall meaning to
the series which was to further tantalise by mixing the episodes up!
Since then, we have had the super-deformed mini version of the series and
promises of things to come. This is supposedly the first of these things,
the much heralded second series. I shall deal with it in three parts; part
one, Endless Eight and the movie shoot.
Part one pretty much fills a hole in the original series in that it sorts
out a number of plot points that add to the original series when Asahina,
the time traveller I mentioned, loses her device (which is classified)
that allows her to time travel. She loses it, however, after she and Kyon
have travelled back three years! What happens next is more brain freak for
Kyon and a look at an earlier Haruhi. To be honest, when I saw this, I was
really looking forward to more of the same, with the new series fitting
around the first series, plugging holes and asking new questions to
further torment the fans.
The next group of episodes, however, disabused me of that notion. They are
collectively called "Endless Eight" and all concern themselves with the
events of August 17 to August 31 when the Brigade goes in search of the
perfect summer courtesy of Haruhi and her list. The story varies very
little from episode to episode, to the point where you really wonder if
the whole thing wasn't just done as a poorly thought out cost cutting
exercise or something like that. The term I've heard used is "groundhog
day", a reference to an old Bill Murray flick, and it isn't far wrong as
the cycle can only be broken if somebody realises what is happening and,
more importantly, does something to break the cycle. Kyon to the rescue
again, but only after eight sodding episodes! Suffice to say that KyoAni
and the series in general lost a lot of fans through this stunt, the hard
core fans trying to justify the cycle by stating the various minor
variations in each episode though, in some cases, it sounds like
desperation. Yutaka Yamomoto, director from the early Suzumiya work but
since no longer on staff at KyoAni, did make an apology for this but, as
of writing this, Kyoto Animation have yet to comment on the outrage from
some parts of the anime community and series fans in particular.
With half the series wasted on Endless Eight, we return to the earliest
part of the first series. More importantly, we see how the story of the
battling space waitress and part time bunny girl Mikuru had her story
recorded for the school's culture festival, and some of the weirdness that
surrounded that period including various incarnations of the "Mikuru
Beam", talking cats and colour changing pigeons. We also see what happens
to certain time travellers when they hit the sauce! It's another long
story but far more enjoyable than the previous story. If the whole series
had been a little more like this, I might not have been so critical of
this second series but, given this situation, I have my doubts about the
future of Haruhi. It's possible that KyoAni have fallen on their own
sword, done a little dance over a certain ferocious sea denizen and
possibly have even shot themselves with their own Mikuru Beam! We shall
have to see.
I don't see this as a total loss, but Endless Eight ranks up there as one
of the great bonehead plays of anime, alongside Eva's last two episodes
and the GitS movies.
--
//\ // Chika <miyuki><at><crashnet><org><uk>
// \// Hazukashii serifu kinshii!!
... Daddy, what does FORMATTING DRIVE C: mean?
Giovanni Wassen
> I don't see this as a total loss, but Endless Eight ranks up there as
> one of the great bonehead plays of anime, alongside Eva's last two
> episodes and the GitS movies.
Endless Eight was simply too long, but for me it didn't really matter. The
rest was great. Altough Kyon was a big whiner for the most part of the
making of the movie. But then again, he also was a big whiner in the novel.
--
Gio
http://www.watkijkikoptv.info
http://watkijkikoptv.info/animeblog
sanjian
> The next group of episodes, however, disabused me of that notion.
> They are collectively called "Endless Eight" and all concern
> themselves with the events of August 17 to August 31 when the Brigade
> goes in search of the perfect summer courtesy of Haruhi and her list.
> The story varies very little from episode to episode, to the point
> where you really wonder if the whole thing wasn't just done as a
> poorly thought out cost cutting exercise or something like that. The
If you look, though, this clearly is not the case. Each episode was freshly
animated, and they changed many of the details to make that point. It's to
their credit that they didn't take the easy way out when they could. The
animation, the scripting, even many of the backgrounds were all subtly
changed so as to not affect the flow, but still require them to do almost
everything again.
Justin
phone number and got him to do a contract
throwing-the-director-out-the-window... ^_^
--
*"I expected more from an adult like you!*jus...@briareos.demon.co.uk*
*"Sorry, kid. I'm not an adult... * *
* ...I'm a Man!" * *
* - Alto and Ozma, Macross Frontier. * Pineapple salad? *
Massimo Sabbadini
wrote:
>> The story varies very little from episode to episode, to the point
>> where you really wonder if the whole thing wasn't just done as a
>> poorly thought out cost cutting exercise or something like that. The
>
>If you look, though, this clearly is not the case. Each episode was freshly
>animated, and they changed many of the details to make that point. It's to
>their credit that they didn't take the easy way out when they could. The
>animation, the scripting, even many of the backgrounds were all subtly
>changed so as to not affect the flow, but still require them to do almost
>everything again.
But they didn't have the balls to change the script substantially.
They could have tried different approaches to the same two weeks, such
as different part-time jobs for the Brigade. Too bad they chose to
stick to the source material almost religiously. Thus the eight
episodes became a boring repetition of the same story.
--
Massimo "Gohan" Sabbadini
Email: gohan(at)megane.it
"Tibi, magnum Innominandum, signa stellarum nigrarum
et bufaniformis Sadoquae sigilim" (De Vermis Mysteriis)
sanjian
> On Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:08:37 -0500, "sanjian" <mill...@airmail.net>
> wrote:
>
>>> The story varies very little from episode to episode, to the point
>>> where you really wonder if the whole thing wasn't just done as a
>>> poorly thought out cost cutting exercise or something like that. The
>>
>> If you look, though, this clearly is not the case. Each episode was
>> freshly animated, and they changed many of the details to make that
>> point. It's to their credit that they didn't take the easy way out
>> when they could. The animation, the scripting, even many of the
>> backgrounds were all subtly changed so as to not affect the flow,
>> but still require them to do almost everything again.
>
> But they didn't have the balls to change the script substantially.
> They could have tried different approaches to the same two weeks, such
> as different part-time jobs for the Brigade. Too bad they chose to
> stick to the source material almost religiously. Thus the eight
> episodes became a boring repetition of the same story.
As much as I hated E8, I do acknowledge that they had a goal with it and a
feeling they were going for. Changing it too much would have broken the
effect. There was monotony in the repetition, but there was also
progressively more information given each time.
Though I'm also a bit smug that I called it at the very beginning, as far as
the cause. Granted, I was half joking, but I'll still take credit.
Andrew Floyd
I felt the Endless Eight episode fiasco to be brilliant. Pure Genius. I
challenge people to compare the changes between each episode. That's
where the real fun is.
"Read this very carefully, I shall type this only once nyo!"
"There would be little point in typing it twice nyo!!" - 'Allo 'Allo nyo
"They make crayONs; do they make crayOFFs?"
CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech
Ken Arromdee
have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop? This would have
1) let them know about the loop immediately instead of just a few days before
the end.
2) let them know that some strategy didn't work the last time through the
loop, so they could try different things.
Of course there's the chance Nagato won't agree, but there's at least a
chance she would, and nobody tried it.
Also, some questions about the series in general:
Do we ever see Haruhi's parents or other relatives?
Haruhi originally wanted to talk to aliens, time travellers, espers, and
sliders. Do sliders ever show up in the novels?
--
Ken Arromdee / arromdee_AT_rahul.net / http://www.rahul.net/arromdee
Obi-wan Kenobi: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no 'try'."
Giovanni Wassen
> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why they
> couldn't have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
She's simply there to observe.
> Also, some questions about the series in general:
> Do we ever see Haruhi's parents or other relatives?
No(t yet).
Ken Arromdee
Giovanni Wassen <ext...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why they
>> couldn't have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
>She's simply there to observe.
But they didn't ask her and get a no answer, they just never asked at all.
Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
> Giovanni Wassen <ext...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why
>>> they couldn't have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
The script.
>> She's simply there to observe.
>
> But they didn't ask her and get a no answer, they just never asked at
> all.
Kyon did ask her why she didn't say anything, and the above was her
response.
cu
59cobalt
--
"My surname is Li and my personal name is Kao, and there is a slight
flaw in my character."
--Li Kao (Barry Hughart: Bridge of Birds)
sanjian
> In rec.arts.anime.misc Ken Arromdee <arro...@rahul.net> wrote:
>> Giovanni Wassen <ext...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why
>>>> they couldn't have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
>
> The script.
>
>>> She's simply there to observe.
>>
>> But they didn't ask her and get a no answer, they just never asked at
>> all.
>
> Kyon did ask her why she didn't say anything, and the above was her
> response.
That said, just because she doesn't take the initiative, doesn't mean she
won't comply if asked.
Nobody
> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why they couldn't
> have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
Because the loop would have terminated the first time that anyone realised
it was occurring, eliminating most of the story.
This can be generalised to:
Q: Why didn't the protagonist simply ...?
A: Because the series would be over in a single episode.
There must be *hundreds* of anime series which would have ended with the
first episode if the protagonist had just spoke up rather than opting for
the "nande mo nai" cop-out.
[See also: the first scene in Excel Saga.]
Ken Arromdee
Nobody <nob...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why they couldn't
>> have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
>Because the loop would have terminated the first time that anyone realised
>it was occurring, eliminating most of the story.
>This can be generalised to:
> Q: Why didn't the protagonist simply ...?
> A: Because the series would be over in a single episode.
Even this doesn't really explain it. There was no plot reason why Nagato had
to be aware of the loop (sure, the data entity is outside of time, but that's
just a piece of technobabble, and I could equally well use it to give a
plausible reason why she doesn't know). And even if she was aware, there's
no plot reason why she couldn't have said that she isn't allowed to carry
messages.
(It wouldn't actually have terminated the first time around, it would have
terminated after they tried various things and learned which didn't work,
which might have taken more than one time, but not too many.)
Massimo Sabbadini
Arromdee) wrote:
>> Q: Why didn't the protagonist simply ...?
>> A: Because the series would be over in a single episode.
>
>Even this doesn't really explain it. There was no plot reason why Nagato had
>to be aware of the loop (sure, the data entity is outside of time, but that's
>just a piece of technobabble, and I could equally well use it to give a
>plausible reason why she doesn't know). And even if she was aware, there's
>no plot reason why she couldn't have said that she isn't allowed to carry
>messages.
Well, in the novel Tanigawa only describes the last iteration, not 8
loops like the tv series did. So, while you are absolutely correct, I
didn't feel this plot hole when reading the novel. Another fault of
the anime scriptwriters. :-(
Graham Osborne
> In article <pan.2009.12.18.01.12.36.438...@nowhere.com>,
>
> Nobody <nob...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> >> I just watched (some of) Endless Eight. Is there any reason why they couldn't
> >> have asked Nagato to carry a message around the loop?
> >Because the loop would have terminated the first time that anyone realised
> >it was occurring, eliminating most of the story.
> >This can be generalised to:
> > Q: Why didn't the protagonist simply ...?
> > A: Because the series would be over in a single episode.
>
> Even this doesn't really explain it. There was no plot reason why Nagato had
> to be aware of the loop (sure, the data entity is outside of time, but that's
> just a piece of technobabble, and I could equally well use it to give a
> plausible reason why she doesn't know). And even if she was aware, there's
> no plot reason why she couldn't have said that she isn't allowed to carry
> messages.
It shows how passive Yuki was. She watched the rest of the cast
repeat the same two weeks over 15 thousand times, and didn't lift a
finger because nobody asked her to.
Ken Arromdee
Graham Osborne <graos...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>It shows how passive Yuki was. She watched the rest of the cast
>repeat the same two weeks over 15 thousand times, and didn't lift a
>finger because nobody asked her to.
So why *didn't anyone ask her to*?
Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
<http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updates-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
dawe
> Chika wrote:
>
> > I don't see this as a total loss, but Endless Eight ranks up there as
> > one of the great bonehead plays of anime, alongside Eva's last two
> > episodes and the GitS movies.
>
> Endless Eight was simply too long, but for me it didn't really matter. The
> rest was great. Altough Kyon was a big whiner for the most part of the
> making of the movie. But then again, he also was a big whiner in the novel.
I've just seen the endless eigth all at once! I hardly survived that
:-)
d
Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
> Looks like Bandai Entertainment is going to release the second season.
>
> <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updates-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
Update:
<http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-25/new-video-mentions-2nd-haruhi-season-license>
Still no release date, though.
Rob Kelk
On 26 Jan 2010 18:46:09 GMT, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
<usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
>Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
>> Looks like Bandai Entertainment is going to release the second season.
>>
>> <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updates-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
>
>Update:
><http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-25/new-video-mentions-2nd-haruhi-season-license>
>
>Still no release date, though.
The street date is this Tuesday, on the off chance anyone's interested,
or on the off chance anyone's interested, or on the off chance anyone's
interested, or on the off chance ... okay, I'll stop the "Endless Eight"
homage now.
--
Rob Kelk <http://robkelk.ottawa-anime.org/> e-mail: s/deadspam/gmail/
"I'm *not* a kid! Nyyyeaaah!" - Skuld (in "Oh My Goddess!" OAV #3)
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear
of childishness and the desire to be very grown-up." - C.S. Lewis
Captain Nerd
rob...@deadspam.com (Rob Kelk) wrote:
> Going through my archives and rediscovered this post...
>
> On 26 Jan 2010 18:46:09 GMT, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
> <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
>
> >Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
> >> Looks like Bandai Entertainment is going to release the second season.
> >>
> >> <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updat
> >> es-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
> >
> >Update:
> ><http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-25/new-video-mentions-2nd-haruh
> >i-season-license>
> >
> >Still no release date, though.
>
> The street date is this Tuesday, on the off chance anyone's interested,
> or on the off chance anyone's interested, or on the off chance anyone's
> interested, or on the off chance ... okay, I'll stop the "Endless Eight"
> homage now.
Too bad they couldn't release it in August.
Cap.
--
Since 1989, recycling old jokes, cliches, and bad puns, one Usenet
post at a time!
Operation: Nerdwatch http://www.nerdwatch.com
Only email with "TO_CAP" somewhere in the subject has a chance of being read
Captain Nerd
> Going through my archives and rediscovered this post...
>
> On 26 Jan 2010 18:46:09 GMT, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
> <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
>
> >Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
> >> Looks like Bandai Entertainment is going to release the second season.
> >>
> >> <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updat
> >> es-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
> >
> >Update:
> ><http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-25/new-video-mentions-2nd-haruh
> >i-season-license>
> >
> >Still no release date, though.
>
> The street date is this Tuesday, on the off chance anyone's interested,
> or on the off chance anyone's interested, or on the off chance anyone's
> interested, or on the off chance ... okay, I'll stop the "Endless Eight"
> homage now.
It's a shame they couldn't do this in August, you know the whole
"8th month" thing.
Captain Nerd
> Going through my archives and rediscovered this post...
>
> On 26 Jan 2010 18:46:09 GMT, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
> <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
>
> >Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
> >> Looks like Bandai Entertainment is going to release the second season.
> >>
> >> <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updat
> >> es-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
> >
> >Update:
> ><http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-25/new-video-mentions-2nd-haruh
> >i-season-license>
> >
> >Still no release date, though.
>
> The street date is this Tuesday, on the off chance anyone's interested,
> or on the off chance anyone's interested, or on the off chance anyone's
> interested, or on the off chance ... okay, I'll stop the "Endless Eight"
> homage now.
I wonder why they couldn't do this in August, you know, the whole
"Endless 8th Month" thing.
Captain Nerd
> Going through my archives and rediscovered this post...
>
> On 26 Jan 2010 18:46:09 GMT, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers
> <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
>
> >Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <usene...@planetcobalt.net> wrote:
> >> Looks like Bandai Entertainment is going to release the second season.
> >>
> >> <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-25/bandai-entertainment-updat
> >> es-haruhi-suzumiya-site>
> >
> >Update:
> ><http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-25/new-video-mentions-2nd-haruh
> >i-season-license>
> >
> >Still no release date, though.
>
> The street date is this Tuesday, on the off chance anyone's interested,
> or on the off chance anyone's interested, or on the off chance anyone's
> interested, or on the off chance ... okay, I'll stop the "Endless Eight"
> homage now.
Seems like this would have been better last month, you know, the
whole
(Cap's brainstem reaches out and strangles him to protect the rest
of the Universe...)
Chika
Captain Nerd <cpt...@nerdwatch.com> wrote:
> It's a shame they couldn't do this in August, you know the whole
> "8th month" thing.
It still haunts me, I tells ya!
--
//\ // Chika <miyuki><at><crashnet><org><uk>
// \// Hazukashii serifu kinshii!!
... "Bother", said Pooh, as he kicked hell out of his modem
Dave Watson
> In article <cptnerd-AB953E.00035620092...@news.giganews.com>,
> Captain Nerd <cptn...@nerdwatch.com> wrote:
>
> > It's a shame they couldn't do this in August, you know the whole
> > "8th month" thing.
>
> It still haunts me, I tells ya!
I've tried posting this twice. Let's try again.
I wish I'd bought the 7" single of the first season theme songs that
the Bandai store offered once. They sold it for...$8.88.
It's still nothing on Boredoms' 77 Boa Drum performance in New York at
Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn. On July 7th, 2007, their
lineup of Eye on electronics, vocals and lap steel guitars and three
drummers was augmented by 74 more drummers (77 total, all in a large
spiral). It started at 7:07 PM. It was supposed to go for 77
minutes, but went for about 100. The 2 CD/DVD/book set (which I
bought) sold in Japan for 7777 yen including tax. The run time of the
DVD documentary which just got released here is 77 minutes and 777
seconds (~89 minutes). Got the picture?
Watson
Yes, there was an 88 Boa Drum. Look it up if you wish.
Dave Watson
> In article <cptnerd-AB953E.00035620092...@news.giganews.com>,
>
> > It's a shame they couldn't do this in August, you know the whole
> > "8th month" thing.
>
> It still haunts me, I tells ya!
I wish I'd bought the 7" single of the first season theme songs that
Captain Nerd
Chika <miy...@spam-no-way.invalid> wrote:
> In article <cptnerd-AB953E...@news.giganews.com>,
> Captain Nerd <cpt...@nerdwatch.com> wrote:
> > It's a shame they couldn't do this in August, you know the whole
> > "8th month" thing.
>
> It still haunts me, I tells ya!
Almost as bad as Niagara Falls...
Aje RavenStar
<cpt...@nerdwatch.com> wrote:
>In article <51622578...@no.spam.here>,
> Chika <miy...@spam-no-way.invalid> wrote:
>
>> In article <cptnerd-AB953E...@news.giganews.com>,
>> Captain Nerd <cpt...@nerdwatch.com> wrote:
>> > It's a shame they couldn't do this in August, you know the whole
>> > "8th month" thing.
>>
>> It still haunts me, I tells ya!
>
> Almost as bad as Niagara Falls...
>
> Cap.
Niagara Falls!
.
.
.
Slowly I turn.....
Joseph Brenner
And obviously, if Kyon really had asked, she almost certainly would
have done it, because she always does everything he says. (Because
"Kyon is god".)
Joseph Brenner
Hm. While I don't particularly like the "Endless Eight" sequence,
I didn't react to it with as much hostility as this.
Think aboout the way the last episode of the series ("Someday in
the Rain") was such an outrageous cheat: the "Endless Eight" was an
attempt at getting away with something like that on a larger scale.
And if you think about the structure of the first season, the last
half of it is entirely a waste as far as advancing the overall
plot: they've essentially shot their bolt in the first six
episodes, by the time it gets to the baseball episode it's clearly
just treading water.
And I think the reason for this is pretty clear: they've written
themselves into a corner. There's one obvious twist they're
leading up to ("Kyon is god"). If that's the *real* premise of the
story, there's not a lot you can *do* with the material without
contradicting it or making it too obvious.
And yeah, they clearly put a lot of work into subtle variations of
the visuals of the "Endless Eight", they weren't being lazy about
that, they were being timid about plot advances.
In fact, one of the more disappointing things about the "Eight"
is that I don't think that studying these subtle variations is
rewarding in any way. There's no particular meaning to Nagato
choosing a different mask each time, there's nothing that really
correlates with Haruhi choosing different yukata each time, the
changes in the seating arrangement when they do yet another
behind-Haruhi's-back meeting don't really mean anything, and so
on.
On the other hand, the "Eight" at least has a certain tension to
it, the "Sigh" has more action, but I think the first few of those
are close to being a waste.
(By the way, there are only seven of the "Eight". The number Eight
appears to refer to the number of items on Haruhi's todo list.)
Rob Kelk
<do...@kzsu.stanford.edu> wrote:
<snip>
>(By the way, there are only seven of the "Eight". The number Eight
>appears to refer to the number of items on Haruhi's todo list.)
Oh, there's more to "Eight" than that.
Japanese calendars number the months instead of naming them. The story
takes place in August, month number 8.
Turn an 8 on its side and you get an infinity symbol. The time loop
turned time on its side, and could have gone on to infinity...
--
Rob Kelk <http://robkelk.ottawa-anime.org/> e-mail: s/deadspam/gmail/
"Santa sure says some mean things, you know?"
- Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, talking about the Ruldolph story,
"Azumanga Daioh" episode #17
Joseph Brenner
Wasabi <blue.mo...@org.invalid> writes:
> Joseph Brenner <do...@kzsu.stanford.edu> wrote:
>> Hm. While I don't particularly like the "Endless Eight" sequence,
>> I didn't react to it with as much hostility as this.
>>
>> Think aboout the way the last episode of the series ("Someday in
>> the Rain") was such an outrageous cheat: the "Endless Eight" was an
>> attempt at getting away with something like that on a larger scale.
> In the original TV broadcasts, the later episodes were interleaved with the
> first six so the story ends on a high note.
I'm not sure I follow that exactly, but it's occurred to me that it
might be best to watch the episodes of "Endless Eight" interleaved with
"Sigh"
>> And I think the reason for this is pretty clear: they've written
>> themselves into a corner.
> The issue I think is that they only expected to make one series, so they
> cherry picked things from the later novels to pad out the main story to the
> required number of episodes.
From internal evidence, I would disagree. A number of loose ends were
left hanging in the first series, e.g. the talking cat in Episode 0.
> long Endless Eight will go on for (during the broadcasts, each episode was
> essentially a "will they won't they" cliffhanger where you couldn't quite
> believe they would have the audacity to spin it out another week. To repeat
> essentially the same episode for two months was a very bold move which I
> think wrongfooted everyone and I admire them for it.
Agreed. I don't think it quite works exactly, but it's a such an odd move
to make, that in itself is interesting.
> for instance why did Kyon feel he owed Yuki something?
Because the entire set-up is an indulgence of Kyon's (unconscious)
whims: Yuki is trapped in a tedious loop by him, for his own benefit.