yep, although i was kinda expecting something a little more spectacular at the end, considering 7 episodes of buildup. looking forward to the rest of the eps
Aaaah, enjoyed it throughly. I'm sad for those that just deemed endless eight as utter crap and skipped the episodes because the general content was the same. All the episodes had some specific focuses and ways to handle the two weeks time, be it making the spectator BE Kyon, through specific ways to wiggle the camera round and watching things, or perhaps being more focused on certain events rather than others. Some changes on these things were slight, but I felt that this episode was putting all the styles together, and the ending just went through the focuses of the various episodes to finally get what was lacking (which honestly, was kinda obvious since the beginning even if I hadn't read the light novel). I say that KyoAni handled it well, and I liked Endless Eight. Now if you didn't, too bad, I can't force my opinion on you, but I think that endless eight is worth watching more times through to get better all the focuses of the various episodes, and I might do just that... just not now.
EDIT: I just happened to write up a more in-depth report on how endless eight felt to me so I'll post it here (a bit on the longpost side, so under spoiler, even though I don't think I said anything actually spoilerous) - slightly redacted for typos et similia:
Spoiler :
<LantisEscudo> I still think they should have done it in four episodes. First loop, establish that they're in the loop for two episodes, then figure it out in #4. That balances between rushing through the story and building the suspense of trying to break it. <LantisEscudo> Doing it for an additional four episodes starts beating the dead horse. We get that they're stuck. Now please start moving on, don't ride it into the ground. <mirkosp> lantis: I think that they needed to focus well on every aspect. Only 1 ep to focus might have not been enough, though perhaps 5 focus eps like they did now was a bit too much <mirkosp> 6 eps for the whole thing would have been fine, I believe <LantisEscudo> I'm saying two episodes to focus. No more than three. <mirkosp> with 4 eps, only 1 would be focus <mirkosp> 1st ep is just things happening <mirkosp> 2nd ep is realizing things repeat <mirkosp> 3rd -> second to last are to focus <mirkosp> last to get all the focuses together and end it up <LantisEscudo> Okay, that I'll grant. Five to six episodes. Eight is overkill. <mirkosp> they focused on cicadas catch, festival, kyon's perspective, yuki's feeling of repetition and also kyon's trying to realize whatever it was to do to exist <mirkosp> I think they could have skipped yuki's feelings for sure <mirkosp> then one out of the kyon's eps <mirkosp> since well <mirkosp> yuki's feeling more or less came through well enough with the various eps anyway <mirkosp> kyon's eps couldn't have been put together though, since they were so opposite <mirkosp> in one kyon was completely careless and not caring on what happened <mirkosp> camera was continuosly moving around and blurring shit <mirkosp> everything was desaturated and glowed <mirkosp> the other instead was focused on kyon's thinking behind whatever haruhi wants <mirkosp> hence the movie sequence and the whole flying thing <mirkosp> since kyon believed it would have been something hard to obtain <mirkosp> then cicada focus was because perhaps haruhi might have wanted to be beaten in the cicada catch <mirkosp> and also festival was a key moment for the whole routine, since it's after the festival that they clearly realize they are in loop, and it's in the festival timespan that there's the hint as to what actually needs to be done <mirkosp> yuki's ep helped me feel much more immersed in how the time repetition can be terrible and how it is terrible if you think about it <mirkosp> I believe yuki's ep was inbetween kyon not caring and kyon caring too much, though I might be failing here <mirkosp> in either case, that's how I see it <mirkosp> most people don't see it like this, and perhaps I'm just seeing too much <mirkosp> but I believe this is what kyoani wanted to do and has done <mirkosp> I watched it under this light, and since I was able to enjoy EE, I believe I win, since after all enjoying a show is much better than just bashing it and not enjoying it, though some didn't enjoy it despite trying <mirkosp> I suppose I was lucky
So yeah, I think I was able to enjoy endless eight because I actually tried to enjoy it. If I didn't try to look what KyoAni was exactly trying to do with every single episode, I think I'd be pretty much "meh, it finally ended" myself. Again, though, I might just be overanalyzing it, but I'd feel a bit surprised if it was the case.
I think I can safely compare Endless Eight to Bakemonogatari: if you go beyond just what you see and try to think what they are doing, it's much more enjoyable - the difference is that in EE you don't need specific knowledge, since everything gets set up and subtly explained in the first 2 eps, whilst in Bakemonogatari a small background is required, since you'd need to know something about Freud. Though I admit that Bakemonogatari, if you don't grasp the "behind the scene", still is a cool show, whereas EE is just boring if you don't get it.
Endless Eight has ended (which means it's not really endless). I'm sad to see this happen -- I got into a comfort zone.
No more Haruhi and co. in swimsuits at the pool. No more Haruhi and co. in yukatas at a Bon Dance. No more Haruhi and co. catching cicadas. No more Haruhi and co. in frog suits (ok, everyone except Haruhi). No more Haruhi and co. stargazing. No more batting cages, karaoke, bowling, tests of courage, and other activities.
it was anoyoing to wait a week for a new haruhi eps just to see it was 95% the same thing as the last one, so I decided i'd just wait till all 8 episodes come out and marathon watch it, which will be less anoying. Except now I don;t have a good internet connection to download them on yet. go figure ;p
Watching Gonzo's Shangri-la helps a bit, though their animation is starting to get inconsistent too [eep]
Looks like the only BIG high qual. animation I can look forward too will be the new Fate Stay UBW. [saw the preview for it? your very eyes will jizz on your pants...]
"Strength lies in action. Let the weak react to me..." - Kamahl, Pit Fighter from Magic: the Gathering "That is a mistake many of my enemies make. They think before they act. I act before I think!" - Vortigern from Merlin ('98) "I AM REBORN!" - Dark Schneider Bastard!! OAV
So I was going through my s1 DVDs and jumping randomly through them while filtering... and I noticed this... My life won't be the same anymore. THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! WE HAVE NO FUTURE!!!