So, by now you’re probably be aware that Endless Eight finally ended. And thank god for that. I’m pretty sure that if KyoAni hadn’t ended it by the eighth episode there would’ve been another uproar. 8th of Eight just makes more sense, so going 9 or 10 would’ve seemed even more pointless. But in any case, the reason I’m writing this post is because even after all of the crap that Haruhi fans have been through, this whole debacle kind of… worked.
Before branded as a complete fanboy, let me say that I still don’t excuse what KyoAni did. They wasted more than half a season recycling content. It was a waste of time, money and effort that doesn’t compensate for the effect at the end of it all. However, I can’t deny that there was an effect, and a positive one at that. In hindsight, I think KyoAni accomplished what they wanted to do, which was to perform an epic troll while at the same time giving viewers an experience that mirrored Nagato’s. I was so bored by the show that I was just randomly skipping through episodes at 5 minute intervals – even for the 8th episode I skipped through about 15 minutes. Imagine doing that, only without being able to skip anything, for 540+ years.
The ending itself was excellently done as well, as horribly anitclimactic as it was. I sort of knew what was going to happen anyway, mostly because of /a/, so that may have taken away from the disappointment factor, but the direction, animation and music were all fantastic. For me, it was a great climax, either because of the 2 months of build up that preceded it or the feeling of relief at it finally being over. I know I shouldn’t be satisfied, but I can’t help myself.
To quote the ever witty Anonymous:
It’s like some dude who punches you in the face everyday suddenly decides to give you a turkey sandwhich one day and not hit you. That turkey sandwhich is nothing but cheap meat and bread, but you think it’s the best thing ever becuase of all the abuse you had beforehand.
But despite liking the ending, was it all really worth it? Not at all. No matter how many parallells are made between the viewers and Nagato or how strong the ending was, using up 8 weeks for this is ridiculous. I’m not enough of a fan Haruhi to be full of rage at this, but nor am I ambivalent enough towards the series to just accept this and say “gg KyoAni”. I want to see the new content but at this rate I’ not sure if they’ll even get to the acclaimed Disappearance arc.
Overall I’m just left with a feeling of “meh, it was alright, should’ve been a bit shorter”, but I have a feeling I’m in the minority.
Grand Punk Railroad 
I’m pretty sure that’s a recognised interrogation technique.
Much more effective than the carrot/stick approach.
I watched every single second of every episode, and enjoyed it all. I wish they had done it in 2-3 episodes, but it was still real Haruhi and real KyoAni. The animation, the details, the psychology, the voice-acting, the little differences, etc., all worked for me.
My appreciation for the cinematic techniques was marred my irritation at the rehashed content. I just couldn’t take so much.
Y… no… y-y… nooo…y-y-yeah.
MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
Really? You liked it? I thought it was rather silly. The answer to this endless loop of summer was… to do his homework.
Actually, it wasn’t the homework, but the act of them doing SOMETHING that Haruhi *didn’t* suggest… Anything could have worked, as long as it filled up the last day of summer with the SOS-dan together. Some of us in Animesuki were joking about an orgy having a similar effect.
What about when Mikuru said she wanted to go gold fishing?
i watched every single second of every single episode, but after the 3rd ep my brain would shut down so i can’t really remember what my eyes saw.
Foolish foolish kritik.
brb, watching episode 9.
Oh you.