Haruhi

Just finished 2009
I thought it was pretty good!
I think 2006 was overall better because of the emotional payoff and the much more sporadic structure of the episodes. It gave an air of uncertainty of what would happen next, y'know? Meanwhile 2009 was basically two uninterrupted arcs. They were good in and of themselves (yes, endless eight IS good, great, even) but they lacked the discovery and inherent mystery of the first season. However, I do love that one of the last set of high quality jokes in the show was the cat waxing philosophical about what words mean and stuff. Him talking in the first episode was what sold me on the show originally, so to see his return and an explanation to how he was talking was very fun. Also note that during my watch of s1 I had taken roughly 50 screenshots, while in s2 I took nearly 200. This is NOT a direct indication of quality, however. It means, first and foremost, that I have become to trigger happy since my other current watches are rewatches where I am deliberately taking screenshots constantly for my own delight, AND secondarily because endless eight invites comparison between episodes, shots, scenes, etc. And I thought it might behoove me to make some sidebysides or collages for fun's sake, though I'm sure they've been done before.

Lastly, I will say that I think s2 leans too heavily into Haruhi being a bitch. In s1 she is abbrasive, self-centered and self-important, and does put people into, uhh, distressing situations to get her way, but she never really went TOO far. Even in s2, during endless eight it felt like it really fleshed her out a bit more and we got to see a side of her that was kinder, as she would always fufilled Mikuru's requests and dote on her without ulterior motives, able to have fun without being, well, a fucking bitch. But then in the final arc when theyre filming the movie, she's very very much a bitch, and goes as far as getting mikuru drunk and bonking her on the head constantly, finally getting kyon to step in and try to tell her to knock it off. It just seemed too far for her character because everything previously established seemed, atleast to me, to show that she DOES care about her brigade, even if her caring about herself more gets in the way of that
Anyways
I have not yet watched dissapearance, so PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL it bros

Lastly, I will say that I think s2 leans too heavily into Haruhi being a bitch. In s1 she is abbrasive, self-centered and self-important, and does put people into, uhh, distressing situations to get her way, but she never really went TOO far.

This is why i hate they never made more, this s2 stuff was supossed to be a preview for haruhi's further development in the future as they (the characters) referenced this discrepancy in the LN especially Kyon.

Do you mean to say that she was supposed to get WORSE?
Again pls dont spoil dissapearance if that happens to be part of your answer

Go watch disappearance already

Do you mean to say that she was supposed to get WORSE?

No, s2 is where she is at her lowest

this
season 2 is necessary evil to show haruhi at her lowest
The problem is they didn't adapt the rest of her development

I see, so when s3 comes out she will be better!

Here's my KINOGRID from s2 as a whole
Some of my favorite shots

Here's my CINEGRID from EndlessEight specifically
Will probably do a separate one for dissapearance if I take enough screenshots

S1 grid