Haruhi Endless Eight survivor reporting in!

Please make it stop!

I have survived The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Endless Eight. I shall join my fellow anime lovers in the corner as we hold each other and share our own personal horror stories. I might be the only one in the corner though as most avid TMOHS already watched these 8 episodes months ago.

I am here to issue a warning to anyone who has yet to see this series: DO NOT WATCH ALL EIGHT EPISODES OF THE ENDLESS EIGHT! You might think it is a good idea and that you want to be a true fan by watching every brain numbing minute but don’t. Just don’t. No one will take away your anime fan card and no one will point and mock you in the streets. The ones who have gone before you regret their decisions to be stubborn and stick out the craziness.

The only episodes you MUST see in the crazy 8 saga is the 1st, 2nd, and 8th. Save yourself the hassle and skip the other 5. You have been warned.

I was warned too. I didn’t listen. This is my story.

I also want to add that the reason I marathoned the entire series of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on Super Bowl Sunday was so I could be ready when the movie was subbed. In my mind it came out on the 6th and would be up shortly on the internet. For some reason I forgot that popular anime movies actually take place in movie theaters in Japan. That the only video we would be getting this soon would be a badly tapped piece of crap in a dark movie theater. So…..while I am happy I watched the series as I had been putting it off….it makes Endless Eight seem like a bigger waste of time than it actually was. So maybe…my disappointment slightly clouds my judgment in this post. But only slightly.





Summary of Endless Eight:

Kyon is mindlessly wasting time during summer break when Haruhi calls twice demanding he meet them at a certain location and to bring certain supplies. When he gets there it is revealed they are all going to a swimming pool and Kyon and Koizumi are going to bike the girls over. After an exhausting ride Mikuru and Haruhi go swimming while Yuki sits off to the side looking bored. Later all five of them go to a café where Haruhi reveals that she has compiled a list of fun activities they must do before summer break is over. Koizumi looks over the list as if confused while Mikuru requests they go goldfish scooping. They all part ways but (in most versions) Kyon stops Yuki to ask her if she’s alright.

I do love seeing the different yukatas they wear each episode though.....

The next day Kyon and Koizumi wait as the girls buy yukatas. Kyon especially drools over Mikuru. Upon arriving at the festival Haruhi and Mikuru go goldfish scooping as Yuki zombies herself to a certain mask stand and purchases a certain mask (Kyon often tries to pay). Haruhi always mentions the mask but usually is distracted right away with demanding to do fireworks. She then tells the group they are going to go cicada catching the next day. Haruhi says whoever collects the most bugs will get to be chief for one day. Mikuru sucks at bug catching and Haruhi always wins. She insists on freeing the bugs because one day they might return the favor.

Something is missing I know it....

Kyon, Mikuru, Yuki, and Koizumi then work as frogs in a supermarket opening. They receive no pay as all Haruhi wanted was the frog costume Mikuru was wearing. The group then usually goes star gazing where Haruhi talks about how wonderful the Martians might be. From there it differs in each episode what happens next. The group competes in a fishing tournament, goes to a batting cage, swims at the beach, does a fright night at a graveyard, karaoke, bowling, and watches a movie. At the end of this two week craziness Haruhi crosses the last item off her list and looks disappointed that all is done. She tells everyone they have a free day the next day but she is keeping it free just in case. On August 31st, the last day of break, Kyon realizes that his homework is nowhere near being done and sorta just gives up.

On August 17th the entire series of events starts over again. Kyon and Koizumi start feeling like they are experiencing déjà vu but don’t act upon any of their weird sensations. Each repeat the gang is wearing different clothing and sometimes says slightly different phrases but the scenes more or less play out the same each time. Endless Eight episodes 2-8 then have Kyon receiving a phone call after the part time job. He meets Koizumi, Mikuru, and Yuki in a park late at night where Mikuru explains she can no longer travel back to her time. Koizumi explains that she can no longer go travel to the future because the future no longer exists. Haruhi has set them on a loop repeating their last two weeks of summer. He also explains that while everyone loses their memories during this process one being remembers all. Yuki. She deadpan explains that they have gone through this loop 15XXX times with slight variations. Kyon is horrified at what poor Yuki has gone through. As the episodes progress Mikuru becomes less understandable during this meeting.

Is Kyon more horrified for himself or Yuki?

After Haruhi falls asleep during the stargazing Koizumi jokes that Kyon can stop this loop if he confesses his love to Haruhi. Kyon always turns that idea down but sometimes he gets really ticked if Koizumi volunteers to do it in his place. At the end of the two weeks the gang becomes depressed when Haruhi looks over her finished list and wonders what else they could have done. As Haruhi tries to leave the café Kyon knows that he should do something and sometimes jumps up from the table as if to stop her. But he never does and August 31st comes around. Sometimes there are random scenes of the sky and something flying through it but they appear randomly in the episodes. He decides that doing his homework is futile and goes to bed knowing the loop will repeat itself.

Those long paragraphs are exactly what happens during episodes 3-7. Besides outfit changes, slightly different dialogues, and extend scenes (sometimes riding to the pool isn’t shown, sometimes it is) the scenario is exactly the same each time. DO NOT WATCH EPISODES 3-7.

So why did I watch episodes 3-7? Besides the fact that I am a moron of course. The reason I watched all these episodes because I was under the impression that Kyon was slowly going to discover what Haruhi really wanted to at the end of summer break. I thought during each cycle something would stand out and in the end it would be worth watching every single minute of Endless Eight. I was wrong.

I didn’t know I was wrong until episode 8. As it’s been established before I come up with tons of crazy theories and speculate on what is going to happen next during NORMAL shows. We weren’t dealing with a normal show here so the theories and craziness were increased tenfold.

To be fair to myself the episodes did a pretty good job of trying to confuse the viewers. They focused on issues that one would assume was important and therefore made someone want to watch each and every episode. But beware viewer none of them mattered.

You see this scene? Doesn't matter. But it's cute.

You know that scene at the festival where Yuki picks out a mask? Doesn’t matter. I thought maybe Haruhi was jealous at the thought that Kyon didn’t think to buy her a mask. It was so exact each time I thought it had to be important. The fact that Haruhi made a point to pause when Yuki explains that mask made me wonder. But it means nothing. Just probably something Yuki did each time to break up the boredom.

I love the frog suits!

Another thing that I thought was important was when Haruhi mentions she wants to decorate the club room with her frog costume. It was a really random thing for her to say and for me to pick up on but I thought maybe that is what she wanted to do on the last day of break? I don’t understand how Haruhi works okay!

He looks pretty serious to me. Also pretty.

Then I thought well there must be a reason why Koizumi keeps bringing up this “I love you business”. Kyon would get jealous sometimes at the thought that someone other than him would be uttering those words to Haruhi. Kyon is so cute when he is in denial. The first time Koizumi suggested this love business stuff he looked really serious, like perhaps he really does love Haruhi. But again this doesn’t matter. Even if it’s necessary.

So around episode 5 I started to think outside the box/the episodes. Maybe it was someone’s birthday! It’s Haruhi’s birthday and she doesn’t want to make a big deal about it so she just casually mentions that the day has been set aside. In reality she is sitting alone in the club room waiting for people to show up and at midnight she wishes to start the two weeks over. WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE?!

Stop the madness!

So episode 8 finally rolls around and the end has to happen now. Because truly fans are rioting in the streets now and there might be some talk of storming the studio. Episode 8 goes just as episodes 2-7 did until the August 30th café scene. Haruhi sighs and wonders if there is anything left to be be done. Everyone sits around at the table silent. You would think after being told that the weeks have repeated themselves 15,XXX they would try SOMETHING each time to stop it. Just sitting there in silence is utterly stupid. More stupid as Yuki should be saying “Um you guys sit at the table each time and say nothing. Maybe this time you can try something”. But what would be the point in being proactive about the situation.

Warning: This scene means nothing.

This time Kyon has decided enough is enough. He is going to stand up and make sure their future happens. It is time for melodramatic flashbacks and that image of the sky. It is time for Kyon to give himself that same pep talk speech he does at the café scene but this time he is going to do something.

Okay.....

Look! His hand is glowing! He has received the power to change the world. He has gained the knowledge that will help break the cycle. GO KYON GO!

Don't pat yourself on the back too hard there Kyon.

X_x WTF? Homework? You haven’t finished your homework is your brilliant plan?!?!?!

.....WHAT?!

Haruhi’s face sums up how I feel right now.

We are not amused! Haruhi is not amused for us all!

Kyon continues to rant on how these past two weeks he hasn’t been able to do any of his homework and he implores everyone to come to his house and finish their homework together. Rome lend me your notes! Haruhi is stunned at first because this is the most random plan ever….then starts screaming at Kyon that he is not allowed to make plans on his own and SHE is the one who is in charge of summer events and SHE IS COMING TOO!

I would have gone with the word nightmare but okay....

Kyon and Koizumi end up in the classroom September 1st. That’s right folks the future has been saved because of homework. Koizumi muses that Haruhi probably never thought about doing homework with friends and how stressful not getting the work done might be. The boys play poker for fun and Kyon would have won big on his hand. The end.

THAT’S IT PEOPLE! Even though Kyon says that the déjà vu sensations gave him hits they really didn’t. And if they did they were completely lost on me. Kyon never got a déjà vu sensation the one time he talks about homework with Haruhi. In fact that scene seemed so nonimportant I didn’t really touch upon it in the summary. Kyon also didn’t make a big deal about it during the end of each episode. Sure he never got his homework done but that was something that was only affecting Kyon. Why would Haruhi reset the summer each time for something she thought was no big deal?!

I could be generous and say maybe Kyon’s passing comment to Haruhi about getting homework done really did affect her. Maybe in the back of her mind (since she is in love Kyon) she feels bad that she is running the group ragged and that Kyon hasn’t gotten his work done. She sits there looking at the list knowing she has forgotten something. Koizumi may be right and that getting homework done really didn’t dawn on her so that is why she is unable to remember that she was concerned about the situation. Perhaps on August 31st Haruhi packed up her backpack and remembered what Kyon said about homework.

Homework never saves the day. This episode is a lie.

Or maybe….the person who created season two hates all the viewers and wanted to play the worst joke in history. That the ending is supposed to make no sense and Kyon thought of something random in an attempt to save the future. That none of this is supposed to make sense. That they deliberately tried to make us focus on events that we thought were going to be important when in reality there was nothing to pay attention to.

Which sounds more probable to you?

Now…in a slight defense a lot of time was placed in making each episode slightly unique. No cutting and pasting going on in these eight episodes. But in the end I don’t think it was worth that time and effort. A lot of fans are pissed. Those who aren’t are trying to delude themselves into thinking this was the greatest ploy in the history of anime. Stop guys. Just admit that we are all mad for waiting for season two and getting this hot mess in return.

So let me repeat this again. DO NOT WATCH ENDLESS EIGHT EPISODES 3-7! THEY ARE NOT NEEDED TO ENJOY THE HARUHI EXPERIENCE! You are not missing anything. You will retain your sanity and love the series more.

This all being said…the rest of season two is special. But I can see how fans feel cheated by 8 of the same episodes and 6897 of the cast making the Mikuru movie. Hopefully the actual Haruhi movie will have fans happy once again. In 6 months of course....

I survived. Just barely.