![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i734.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww348\/DaemonCorps\/ARHaruhi.jpg\")
<\/p>\n… okay, maybe it wasn\u2019t exactly the best time to give such early praise to Haruhi Suzumiya\u2019s second season. As of late, we have been given a total of five new episodes, though I am currently wishing I only saw three of them. The season starts of strongly enough, with Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, which does of a good job of re-introducing the cast after a three year hiatus, but after that, things get a bit… meh.<\/p>\n
Enter the Endless Eight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So far, the corresponding chapter in the Haruhi Suzumiya novel (yeah, note the lack of a \u201cgraphic\u201d preceding that) under the same title has been spanning for four episodes. It starts off innocently enough, with the first episode covering an oddly tame two weeks in the life of the SOS Brigade. However, when I noticed the following episode repeating the same events in the first half, I knew something was up; Haruhi is not the type of anime to stretch things out for the sake of not getting ahead of their source material. Or at least that\u2019s what I thought.<\/p>\n
The third episode, sharing the Endless Eight title rolls along, and I\u2019m under the impression that this little arc is about to come to a close. Little do I realize just how literally the \u201cendless\u201d in \u201cendless eight\u201d will be taken. So far, we have been presented with three out of four Endless Eight episodes that are near exact duplicates of each other. The second Endless Eight is able to pull off a rather creepy reveal as well as a good amount of fan service, while the third and fourth ones serve as nothing more but to show just how \u201cendless\u201d the brigade\u2019s summer has been.<\/p>\n
So here we are with five new episodes, two repeat-offender episodes, a total of 15,513 summer reincarnations, and one irate blogger with absolutely zero else to do. But wait, contrary to popular belief, there must be some sort of reason behind all this madness, right?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i734.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww348\/DaemonCorps\/ARCampbell.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Upon seeing that the third Endless Eight had merely copied the previous episode almost verbatim, I concluded that the guys at ol\u2019 Kyoto Animation must be taking a page out of some artsy indie animators and risking losing their fanbase just for the sake of making a point. Just look at pop artist Andy Warhol: as well-known as he is, half the things he\u2019s known for come off as rather… eccentric. I mean, filming a group of people standing still for hours on end? Painting everyday objects and passing them off as legit works of art? That\u2019s something. You either have to seriously be on something, or trying to make a point in order to be ballsy enough to even think of pulling off things like that. Surely Kyoto Animation must be at least one of those, right?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i734.photobucket.com\/albums\/ww348\/DaemonCorps\/ok-0.jpg\")
<\/center>Attempting to bring things closer to topic, could Kyoto Animation, the guys with one successful Haruhi season already under their belt, be daring enough to take such an artsy route? Well, these are the same guys who originally released the first season out of order intentionally as well as chose to animate random chapters from later Haruhi novels for the first season, so… sure? Like a handful of other fans, I remain confident with this animation crew and hope that this seemingly \u201cendless\u201d summer will finally come to a close by next week\u2019s episode. Either way, I got impatient and hunted down a translated version of the corresponding light novel chapter, so all is well in that sense.<\/p>\n
Originally posted on Sunday, July 12, 2009.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" … okay, maybe it wasn\u2019t exactly the best time to give such early praise to Haruhi Suzumiya\u2019s second season. As of late, we have been given a total of five new episodes, though I am currently wishing I only saw three of them. The season starts of strongly enough, with Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, which does of a good job of re-introducing the cast after a three year hiatus, but after that, things get a bit… meh. Enter the Endless Eight….<\/p>\n