Review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009)

6/10

February 22, 2010

2 min read

10 reactions

This is regarding the looping episodes. I want to save those of you still early in who are either confused or annoyed. No worries, this will be spoiler free. (Besides knowing it loops). The arc is called Endless 8 and as figures, is 8 episodes long of looping. There are very minor changes in every episode, such as outfit changes, angles, subtle text changes (which say the same thing differently) and a few extra seconds of animation here and there. If you do not have the patience to watch 8 episodes repeat, here is what I recommend (spoiler free). Part 1 / episode 2. Great, worth watching.Part 2 / episode 3. Introduction to the loop. Worth watching.
Part 3 to 7. Repeats with minor tweaks, but nothing different. BE ASSURED : By skipping over these, you are not missing anything. If you wish to watch them anyways, know that once you start to get irritated you can just skip to episode 9.
Part 8 / episode 9. End of loop. NOTE: It's only different about 17 minutes in.

There are speculations as to why they've made 8 episodes for this, those of you interested, here are the reasons. ( I can't confirm which one is right though. )

Reason 1: 8 represents the symbol of infinity / loop. It was therefore appropriate to drag this one for 8 episodes.

Reason 2: To create an impact to generate fuss. ( Perhaps popularity, fame, publicity, etc). In a sense, this is similar to what they did for season 1, by releasing episodes in a non-chronological order. That being said, the writer likes to stand out.

Reason 3: They had popular demand for season 2, but did not have enough material to write at least 13 episodes for, so they decided to drag endless 8 for 8 episodes instead of 2-3.

Reason 4: By stretching this arc, they have enough material for a 3rd season.

It may even be all of the above.. None the less it is how it is.

The score I've selected for this season is based on the fact that I've watched all of endless 8 episodes. Do not let this low score scare you away from watching this though, at least not if you follow my advice.