After well over 10 years of copium I finally bit the bullet and marathoned this. There were many reasons why I put it on the backburner; the style felt like a straight downgrade. The original supernatural downgrade. I have it the one episode rule on the year it came out, and Yuki geeking out over turkey had me shy away for a decade, but I came around eventually.
In short, the whole thing was actually stellar!
For one thing was I just, in the mood to hear the dub cast come back. And there was no point in me watching the original series as TMOHS is one of the few series that I have a near photographic memory of. So I decided that memorial day was the time. And yes, all the charm of the dub was still intact, and then some. Bridget Hoffman (Ryoko), Wendee Lee (Haruhi) and Michelle Ruff (Yuki) in particular, all got to express a wider variety of their voice range because the atmosphere was different. Ryoko being a prominent character was a big part of what made the dynamics pop. And surprisingly, seeing Haruhi in a (slightly) more normalized role was a lot more refreshing than I anticipated. Honestly I'd argue that she never looked better overall, even though long hair and a different school uniform has a pretty big influence on my bias there. But anyhow, as many probably know, it isn't until episode 9 until everything really picks up.
And I greatly appreciate the fact that the studio was able to have more than the standard 12 episodes to wrap things up. And they used it very well to tie in as many elements of the original series to help wrap things up. And what can I say, other than, the execution was surprisingly stellar. After finally watching this I've come to the realization that the Haruhi animated franchise truly did conclude in its own way. And as someone who read the light novels up to Surprise, the series really was a brilliant note to end on when you consider how well the Disappearance movie was received.
I don't regret waiting so long to go through it because a lot has changed in my personal life over the last two years, so I say that I definitely was not ready to process the information here until recently anyways. So this message goes out to any oldfag in a similar boat as me. If you boycotted Disappearance for similar reasons, I can safely say that it pays off.
It does not spit in the face of canon either. By the time you complete it, the objective truth is that the branch off was as faithful to the original timeline as the light novel direction itself. In fact it can be argued that much of the core cast develops better in this route than in the original.
Overall I can say that the series is flawless and well-rounded. However, flawless does not mean that it's perfect. Even at its peak this extension does nothing over-the-top. Haruhi tried her best to bring up the energy levels but her supporting character role introduced clear limits that she had to follow. But even though matching that energy is impossible, it was clearly not the intent. For what it was, it was more than enough of an apology for the infamous second season. The particular tie ins even sheds more light to the dreaded executive decision for Endless Eight and adding more context to it than the light novel timeline did.
I give it a solid A. Without the context of everything animated prior, the anime is basically a SoL nothing burger. But otherwise it is, surprisingly a solid top-tier installment, and sequel!
I watched it as a seasonal. It was fine... kind of a lackluster plot but it was nice to see those characters again. I liked Asakura.
You watched/read it for Ryoko or you're wrong.
Tbh I like the second season. Endless eight was a mad man move and I’m sure they were aware of it but it made the movie much more impactful. As a business it was a bad move but I think it had artistic merit.
Kyon’s imouto
Haruhi lost
Losing heroine Haruhi is her best form. Less of a bitch and more of a potential waifu. Ryoko was undisputed best girl but Haruhi was second best for once.
Also normal Yuki was kino, wdym? The series would have been actual dogshit without her.
That image is about how different characters fanbases react to this series, not the quality of the characters.
So fans of Disappearance/Human Yuki, Mikuru, Tsuruya, and Especially Asakura, will really like this spinoff.
But fans of Normal/Alien Yuki, Haruhi and especially Kyon will hate it.
I will stand by that Endless Eight is a genuine masterpiece, if you ignore episodes 3 and 6.
The remaining episodes all do an excellent job in terms of placing you into Nagatos mindset throughout the whole thing, whilst also making sure there is something fresh/unique that each episode brings, specifically in terms of again Nagatos mindset throughout this whole thing, with her different reactions to the same things, which is why episodes 3 and 6 are so weak, they literally dont add anything unique and if anything they feel rather bland in terms of the reactions they do show, episode 3 doesnt even have the scenes of Kyon asking Yuki if shes ok, and why didnt she tell them earlier.
If anything waiting a week inbetween each episode enhances the experience even further IMO, as it brings you closer to the 2 weeks that Nagato had to endure each time,
Though I understand the general reaction/opinion of the Endless Eight as without the knowledge of the payoff in Disappearance, why would anyone care to focus on a character who by this point has been mostly a side character, or at the very least not the main focus outside of a few scenes in previous episodes here and there.
I'm on the alien Yuki spectrum and I liked every minute she had on-screen. I guess her ending was sad if you assume she died or something, but that wasn't the case. And she got to make her confession, and the double Yuki introspection was good too. The only thing that was disappointing about her was that none of her CD cover songs made it to the animu but Mitsukete Happy Life did.
As a yukifag I was actually rooting for Haruhi to win in this show because this Yuki isn't even Yuki from a Disappearance timeline, she's some kind of a girl gamer who has nothing in common with two other Yukis. At least nu-Haruhi still had her core character traits, nu-Yuki might as well be a character from a different series.
It all would have been just fine if KyoAni had the intention to animate more of the series. The reason it was bullshit was we were essentially put into filter hell for no reason when there were more interesting things to cover at the time, including Snow Mountain Syndrome and Mikuru and Tsuruya's side stories. The fact that they may never show up doesn't help Endless Eight's case at all.
Sorry, manga has already ended with Yuki winning.
she finally has her TURKEY
Author even trolled readers a little in final chapter.
Not one single pantyshot and yet the fanservice was abundant and more tasteful than anything Monigatari. That's a unique accomplishment.
The taste of victory is gravy.
I think they would have made another season if more chapters in the LN were made and the fire didn’t happen but the original novel went into hiatus and the fire didn’t help
Snowy mountain syndrome never being adapted genuinely pisses me off, its right after Disappearance, it works beautifully as an aftermath to it and as a setup for future stories, and is just in general easily in the top 5 stories of the series, not to mention how it would of definitively shown to anime-onlies who bitch about Haruhi being insufferable, how she did indeed genuinely change.
But Endless Eight had to be covered before those stories, because it was imperative that Disappearance was aired before any of the post-Disappearance stories, and Disappearance is heavily reliant upon Endless Eight for it to work, in the LNs Nagato change which eventually led to her creating the alternate world felt a lot like telling, instead of showing, in a very bad way, which is one of the reasons why I consider the anime version of Endless Eight (sans. episodes 3 and 6) to be so good, because it not only made her creating the alternate world into showing, instead of telling, in a good way, its genuinely one of the best examples of show dont tell Ive seen, because it made the audience actually feel themselves what the character is feeling, not just by empathizing with them, but by having them genuinely go through a similar experience, which then makes them naturally wonder what it must be like for her, and causing them to pay attention to her, and how she reacts differently.
Endless Eight has only 1 merit to it, Nagatos story, but it is a damn good merit.
There are more than enough chapters for 2 more 14 episode seasons, AND an entire feature length film as long as Disappearance if not longer.
And even then I think youd still have most of Intution at least non-covered.
I agree it was a good setup and while I don't completely hate Endless Eight I assume it's a case where we're outvoted as to whether or not it was a good call. In terms of the broadcast time I can't imagine it not being a ratings disaster which may have lead to corpos wrongfully ruling the franchise as unprofitable, even when the fans were more mad than actually disappointed at the time.
I never knew there was more than the one season, i might have to look into this but i don't know if it's worth it.
I’ve honestly been contemplating for the last few weeks about making a fanmade season 3, which would include all the stories up until the end of Intrigues, since there is far too much material for just 1 season.
And the reason is that we already essentially have the script for season 3, in the LNs, so outside of making a few tweaks here and there, we already know the story that would be told in season 3.
And if the issue of copyright is brought up, I think thats easily solvable by making the project publicly known early on, and making it clear to the people who own Haruhi that all we want is to see the continuation of a series we love in its anime form, and that we would either be fully willing to either offer all the profits we would of made from the series over to them, or even better, have the production be in their name or something.
Overall, I am highly skeptical of the studio ever making season 3, and I think thats easily solvable after 15 years since Disappearance it is up to the fans to make season 3 a reality.
Kyoani destroyed part of the ota movement by not doing a S3 instead doing this shit spinoff.
I like Asakura being there but Yuki chan is still a huge downgrade. In fact the show looks like shit compared to the og, or Noizi Ito's stellar works.
Similarly I can't stomach Kyon and Koizumi's new, neutered designs. Kyon works so well in the Kyoani anime because he's pretty masculine. That makes his negging and eccentricity a lot more interesting I would say.
I recall 5/6 were really good? Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me, I'm at least sure 5 was peak
This
Snowy Mountain Syndrome with the KyoAni direction would be insane. Imagine the atmosphere of the mansion, the convoluted time, the monologues... It's just so good.
Imagine it going with some E8 soundtrack youtu.be
As an aside, E8 soundtrack is part of what makes it so good.
I like Asakura being there but Yuki chan is still a huge downgrade.
That's exactly why I put it off at the beginning. And I won't lie, it takes a while before there is actual substance to the main pairing. I don't want to spoil the ending but there's a three episode arc towards the end that was a while "we didn't forget" arc. That's a near inexcusably long wait to start writing the love letter, but it was a really good love letter. It's sadly one of the only times it feels like you're watching more than a lukewarm fanfic but it was just enough to make everything worth it. Until then it's mostly CGDCT, with Ryoko being a 10/10 like several people stated already.
Why didn't they just make an actual Season 3?
This didn't deserve to replace that spot.
In fact the show looks like shit compared to the og, or Noizi Ito's stellar works.
There's no being Noizi Ito, but my hot take is that the spinoff Haruhi both looked and acted better than the original anime. When you take away the shock value the main series had all that was left was someone borderline unlikeable.
When you take away the shock value the main series had all that was left was someone borderline unlikeable.
What's this about shock value? It has nothing to do with that, Haruhi was a force of nature, and an unsolvable dilemma, an eternal question of man vs society, individual vs group, she tackled the issue of self-actualization vs a largely "solved" world and provided her own answers. Imperfect answers, but everytime she'd get closer and improve on them, thanks to Kyon sometimes, but often with her own insights. She was inspiring, easy to empathize with and share her burden. Her good nature shone through the cracks of the existential struggle she was faced with. No spinoff Haruhi can aspire to get to this level. Don't even get me started on looks, Satelight dropped the ball, hard.
What's this about shock value? It has nothing to do with that
Trooners (zoomers are old by now) would tear apart the computer club scene for one thing. At surface value, Haruhi's appeal was a relatable alpha-female who gave no fucks about stripping in class, stripping her friends, or virtually anything. She practically pioneered the misfit clubroom format and has a lot to do with getting moe to be more mainstream for a hot decade. The shock value was just how batshit her execution was at the time.
Though when I say unlikeable I mean it from a realistic (first-person) perspective. Even the stoic narrator wanted to slap her shit in once. She did indeed develop as a character eventually, but the anime covers less than half of it.
If you release it as a fanmade project where no money is earned from the get-go, you could probably do it. Once you earn any money though, it's no longer about "giving them the money" it becomes a legal headache to work with.
You just reminded me of an Umineko visual novel dub project that just dissolved into thin air. I wonder what happened to it.
5 is great for sure, in particular its stargazing scene is absolute cinema, like holy shit the perspective shifts throughout the whole scene are amazing.
But 6 is fucking awful, there are no new interesting reactions from the characters, we go from a peak cinema stargazing scene, to the absolute worst one where for some reason they decided to add lighting to the scene, completely ruining its melancholic vibe, and in the scenes where Kyon asks Nagato if shes ok, and why she didnt tell them sooner, she doesnt even look like she cares at all, in literally every other episode, other than episode 3 which lacks these scenes, you can clearly tell she is very depressed and genuinely finds it difficult to keep repeating these conversations, for instance in every scene when Kyon asks her why she didnt tell them sooner, she visibly jerks, and steels herself when she tells him her purpose is only to observe, but in episode 6 she has no reaction.
So yeah EE episodes 1,2,4,5,7,8 all range from 7-9/10 minimum with a few having shouts for a 10/10, but episodes 3 and 6 are a 4-5/10 at best.
Well Im pretty sure there are plenty of people around who would gladly do such a thing for free, even if were to take years to accomplish as it would be a passion project for most who just want to see the series continue in its animated form someday.
If that was possible it would already have happened
True
That's a good thing for her character though. She does some bad things. And a lot of good too. She grows. She has some edge to her. Zoomies would cancel her (well, the computer club scene is arguably too much and one of the few scenes that feel "disconnected" from reality) but that doesn't indicate quality. Haruhi is a fantastic character, even moreso in the LNs.
zoomers
Why the hell would anyone listen to their opinion
"People said this anime was peak wtf"
[skullemoji + any blend of emotes]
Clip is just the computer club scene without context
This is what people reduced themselves to. I don't make the rules.
I believe it didn't happen because people held out hope until the KyoAni fires, and then immediately afterwards held off out of respect for that. Now is probably the first time it would have been plausible. After all,
you can wait a little longer right?
was the mantra.
(well, the computer club scene is arguably too much and one of the few scenes that feel "disconnected" from reality)
I would argue that the reason it felt uncomfortable was because it was actually a little too close to reality. That kind of stuff actually happens.
I would argue that the reason it felt uncomfortable was because it was actually a little too close to reality. That kind of stuff actually happens.
That is true, but it's not treated as seriously as it should be. Haruhi is actually pretty down to Earth most of the time, Haruhi wearing the bunny suit gets her in mild trouble and gets tons of attention, doing weird shit in public gets eyes on them, Haruhi can actually get some airsoft guns by making them sponsors.... But then there's the computer club scene which is more comedic and less serious than it would actually be. It's alright and not a big issue, it's also pretty funny, but still, it's a change from the usual Haruhi writing imo.
no matter what this is canon
I believe it didn't happen because people held out hope until the KyoAni fires, and then immediately afterwards held off out of respect for that. Now is probably the first time it would have been plausible. After all,
you can wait a little longer right?
was the mantra.
Serious mistake that was, they should have made a fan made season when it was still super popular instead of waiting.
I don't see how that's any different when even millennials were making bash fic of her for that computer scene and the time she made asahina cry for real
You forgot
Title text over the clip the entire time
Clip playing at 1.5x speed
random zoomer rap playing over the clip audio
TikTok logo
Man
It takes more effort to make a whole hatefic, and you're doing it more for self expression than you are for clout.
Forget about a fanmade season, make a good fanmanga that's better than the official one and it'll be great. The official one skips so much bullshit. This is a more realistic project.
This happened?
The only good part was the amnesia arc.