It has been 8 circles of hell watching these episodes; but I'm finally done! Let's get this over with!
The usual deal of Kyon watching the game with no interest in it. Haruhi calls him and tells him to come to the station with lots of money and a swimsuit. For the last time, I shall skip the opening and get right to his arrival at the station.
At the pool, Kyon breaks into Ye Olde Butchered English for his final call out of Haruhi for diving into the pool when there are clearly-marked "no diving" sings.
Here's the screencap to prove it.
This time, I'm not even going to show you Kyon's statement about whether it's a communal pool or a public pool. Instead, I will show you this photo of his face when he's about to taste Mikuru's coffee.
They're at the restaurant again, and they go over the list for the last time. I notice there are a lot of reaction shots from Kyon this time.
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| "Do a second season," he says. "Everyone will love it," he says. |
They're at the Bon festival again, and Yuki buys her last superhero mask. 9 minutes of anime in just 7 paragraphs. I've been at this for 21 months, and I have officially become a seasoned killer of bad anime.
Once again, when queried about the homework; Haruhi says she did hers. Given what I've found out about the ending; I've got quite the rant in mind. I apologize in advance to my few followers and any fans of Haruhi; but I didn't laugh at the ending so much as go blind with rage.
Ten minutes; and we've arrived at the final cicada-catching contest. It's clear Kyoto Animation stopped giving a damn at this point, much like the viewers did. Much of the events of this last part are now done in still frames. These screencaps I'm posting are an accurate summation of watching this episode.
Haruhi wins again, and Kyon gives the Pandora's box analogy for the last time. I can say that was one of the few relevant things said about this arc. I've been waiting for an instance to use my favorite song, and I think now is the time.
We have arrived at the last instance of the part time job in frog costumes. I am just so sick of seeing this image, and Haruhi; that I can't even put in a song that has any connection to frogs at all. Instead, this will have to do.
That night, Kyon picks up the phone with Mikuru on the other end. This time, Kyon lets out a scream, as many of the viewers did.
Kyon rushes to the station to find Mikuru at her biggest state of distress. Congratulations, Haruhi. You have broken a young woman in every sense of the word. Your attempts to bring joy that result in sorrow and anger know no bounds!
I'm skipping her breakdown of "classified information", as the only real highlight of this version is that Kyon snarks that it may consist of things that can't be said on television. That would be pretty funny, if one of the first chronological episodes didn't show Haruhi faking sexual harassment to con the computer club out of a computer. That was not a charming joke; that was a massive dick move. If the teachers found out (humoring the fact that teachers might actually be shown at their school); that would be grounds for possible expulsion (though I'm not sure; given how different the Japanese high school system is from the US, especially regarding how infractions like that are handled).
Anyway, we are on the final repetition of the loop. This would be the point where I'd skip Koizumi's explanation, but the show itself skips it this time. It goes to the point where Koizumi insinuates that Haruhi is doing this because she doesn't want summer vacation to end.
Also, much of the scene is again animated with the camera focused on other parts of the face and body; as well as inanimate objects to save trouble of dubbing over mouth flaps.
We get to Yuki, and this is the 15,532nd repetition of the loop. This time, I will share the outcomes of a few events that I did when working on these recaps. On Part 4 and 5, I did not have Code Red. On Part 5 and 6, I did not mention Azumanga Daioh. On Part 6 and 7, I did express sympathy for those who watched the arc as it was first airing.
Kyon goes home, and wonders what it must be like for Nagato to experience that loop of time. I don't know about that, but I know that it was not very good for anyone who watched this.
It's all downhill from here. We have reached the stargazing, and Haruhi and Mikuru are already out. Koizumi suggests embracing Haruhi again, and Kyon outright refuses.
As for the final torrent of summer events; it just focuses on the SOS Bridgade standing together in the rain. We were hit by a massive rainstorm in the area not too long ago; and it made the front page of both local newspapers. This image is indicative of the emotions people felt as they finished this arc; and the massive disappointment they felt.
We are at the restaurant again, with Haruhi remarking the list is done. Get ready, guys. My biggest rant against this arc is coming.
This time, when Kyon tries to figure out the clue in what Haruhi said for their last activity, he actually starts tripping balls when he tries to stop her from heading out the door. Given the fact that I've been primarily living off Code Red, Cheez-It, and allergy medication to work on this arc; that's how I would feel too.
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| The lunatic is on the grass... |
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| And if the dam breaks open many years too soon... |
Kyon has figured out everything, and the proof that they've gone through the arc tens of thousands of times. Well, that puts him one step ahead of the audience.
Then, as he holds sparks in his hands, the whole thing dawns on him.
Kyon then runs to Haruhi, saying there's still something he wants to do. I can think of many things I want to do now that I'm done with this.
Kyon says that homework is what he wants to do. ... That is all? That is what the key was? I was able to determine this from the start; and that was justification for putting everyone through all this! This is a Monster a Go-Go level copout!
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| Suddenly there was no loop. No activities to do, no endless summer to be had. |
He even starts asking other members of the SOS Brigade to join him. You know, I didn't like it when the original series pulled this stunt with Remote Island Syndrome, but at least that tried to give the fans a legitimate twist! This just makes this arc worse for stretching 2 or 3 episodes' worth of story into an ingratiating 8 episodes!
Kyon suggests they all work on it together; but believe me, this is just scratching the surface on how asinine the ending is. Take a look at what happens next.
Haruhi then berates Kyon for making this decision. You know what Haruhi? Go to Hell! You don't have a right to call Kyon out for this after putting them through all your escapades for your amusement! Everyone is going to need serious therapy as you may very well have psychologically damaged them! It's even made clear you succeeded in doing so to Mikuru! If you claim these are your friends, don't take advantage of their goodwill and respect for you! Fuck you! Kyoto Animation, I'm addressing you as well! You created a series people loved; built their hopes up for a second season, then utterly destroyed them by producing what is by far, one of the worst anime arcs I have ever seen! Yes folks, it's worse than Johto! It's worse than Namek! It's worse than Apis! It's even worse than Bount! Fuck you, Kyoto Animation!
Then, as the credits start to roll, the homework is done and Kyon and Koizumi are back in the club room; playing cards, effectively brushing the events of the arc under the rug in a massive reset button. That's seriously it. The last thing we see is Kyon winning the poker game with a royal flush. I was never a fan of Haruhi Suzumiya before watching this arc; but after, I can say any chance of me liking this franchise has gone right down the drain at 0.5 past light speed.
"Endless 8 Part 8" is fittingly, one of the worst finales to one of the worst anime arcs I've ever seen. Not only do I share the obvious reasons that fans consider it bad; but I'm addressing something I have had a problem with throughout this arc and throughout the main series. I feel it misses the most basic aspects about what makes storytelling work. I should want to get invested in the story and latch onto the characters. Virtually every other anime I have watched has had the characters go on a journey and shown how they grew as people. Why I love Azumanga Daioh so much as a slice-of-life series is that it manages to use more absurd elements of the genre to make a sort of mundane fantastic look at high school life. I loved seeing the principal cast grow over the course of the show; to the point where I loved seeing them graduate and entering the brave new world of adulthood. Here, I feel like I still barely know anything about the SOS Brigade beyond a single trait or two. It really fries me that they actually set up something that could have been used for character development in the very first episode; and they did fuck-all with it in favor of just going through the motions. Even the animators and voice actors were losing interest as it went on. If you don't have any reason to be invested, why should I be? I will consider recapping the Disappearance movie next year, but now, I will get to work on detoxing from this. I have some recaps that I planned to take up all of this month, but now; they will be my new theme. You will have to wait and see later. Bang.
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