Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009)

I usually try to give a fair, as unbiased a review as I possibly can. But not this time. This is the 0.01% of the time where I'm going to purposefully express my hate for a show. And today that show is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2. Or as I like to call it, "The Melancholy of The Fans of Haruhi Suzumiya".

In case you didn't know, "melancholy" refers to sadness or depression. Only instead of Haruhi being the sad and depressed one (as the show is about those around her trying to keep her spirits up), this time around it's our turn: the fans who supported it financially (if you bought the first series or any other merchandise), increased its popularity (by recommending it to friends), and who even created a sort of "Haruhi-ism" pseudo-religion.

This abomination of a "second season" is a slap in the face to all of the fans who have waited so long to see Haruhi return after all this time. I don't say this as a rabid fanboy, in fact, I'm one those out there who never saw the Haruhi franchise as anything more than another "somewhat entertaining" time-killer. I say this as a fan who empathizes with my fellow anime fans who were waiting with excruciating patience for a great second season, only to be handed a steaming pile of cow dung. Which, strangely enough, is probably the impression KyoAni was aiming for. How? Why? No one knows. Maybe they're just trying to kill their name, and the Haruhi franchise. Maybe they're trying to go out of business. It's beyond my comprehension. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?!?

In case you didn't know (but chances are you probably do if you're reading this), the last couple of episodes of this "second season" (ugh) covered the story arc where the gang becomes caught in an endless time loop, that can only be resolved if Haruhi helps Kyon with his homework before Summer ends. They could have done this in two episodes, one episode to show one of the loops, the next episode to dedicate half for the realization of the occurrence of the loop, and the next half of the episode to resolve it in yet one last loop, leaving the next episode open to the next part of the story. They could have even stretched it to three and I'm sure it still could have turned out wonderfully.

But no. Here's (likely) MORE THAN HALF THE SEASON DEDICATED TO THE SAME DAMN STORY ARC. Not only that, but said story arc involves showing the SAME EPISODE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER (etc) for God only knows how many times (yet to come as of this writing). Forget new content, it's rehashed content for half a season, if not more. Oh, but I guess technically some scenes were redrawn due to being shown from different angles... But that DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY MORE INTERESTING.

Here's my advice. Watch the first episode of the season. Then the second. Then skip half the season and pick up where Endless Eight finally ends, then continue on for your (probably) four remaining episodes. Enjoy your approximately five new episodes of Haruhi. It might as well have been an OVA.

I recommend we show our distaste at this horribly unprofessional series by rating it as low as possible, and writing as many bad reviews as possible. I'm not the type to do this, it's far from the kind of person I am. I always try to give things a fair chance, without spur-of-the-moment emotions, without just jumping the gun to write based on my initial impressions. I try to give a show a chance to settle in my mind. But this is a whole other ball game. It's ridiculous, and has infuriated fans across the globe. The fans who love the series, the fans who poured money into it, supported it, and the fans who, most importantly, waited a long time to do it all again in a heartbeat.

Shame on you, KyoAni, shame on you. I will never buy any of your products. Ever. Please give my regards to the Japanese government when you file for bankruptcy. read more

There have been a lot of negative reviews on this site, which I can agree with to an extent. However, most of them focus entirely on the Endless Eight arc, while disregarding the rest entirely.

I can't say I disagree that the Endless Eight arc sucked; Having to sit through so many episodes of what was, for the most part, the same thing was somewhat annoying. The first time it happened, I had to check to make sure I didn't accidentally rewatch an episode. The changes are subtle enough to miss if you don't watch the episodes back to back.

However, I do like the fact that the producers tried to do something different, which a lot of others do not. If experimentation like this never occurred, we'd likely never have had the pleasure of watching greats like Cowboy Bebop, or even the original series of Haruhi.

I also very thoroughly enjoyed the other episodes, especially the final ones that very nicely covered the events that had us watch the greatest first episode of an anime ever. And while the Endless Eight arc was long, I really, really loved the final moments of the last episode of that arc.

Art and sound was spectacular, which was always to be expected. You have to hand it to the artists who managed to draw the same episode different ways so many times. The Endless Eight arc was -not- enough to detract from the other episodes of the series, which are all incredible in their own right.

In the end, as long as you're one of those people who only see the negative aspects of something, or have a hard time pushing them out of your mind, you'll probably hate the season.

I personally enjoyed it very much as a whole, and will continue recommending series 1, and start recommending series 2 to anyone who hasn't seen them. And I suggest you not let a few bad reviews deter you from what is ultimately a very enjoyable viewing. read more

Endless Eight Arc - Enough Said?

The entirety of the season can be summed up almost in much the same way as the first season, so i am going to focus my attention on the Endless Eight arc of this season. This arc seems to be the part most mentioned in reviews and in most cases negatively so. It is also the most prominent memory we have of the season when you mention the 2nd season.

Eight episodes of the same events, over, and over again. Everyone can agree that this was not a cheap measure to save money. since the animation, clothing, and scene of every event were unique to each of the eight episodes. But hatred still seems to fill the hearts of the viewers about this arc.

Indeed it is long and boring over time. But like how FLCL must be completely confusing to get it's point across, so must this be the way of Endless Eight. This arc is the lead up to the movie "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" For those of you who've read the novels or have done your research you should already know this, but if not well now you know. This arc was intended to bore bore you. it was designed to make you angry. But what can you do? you are only the viewer of this show. you can only sit there and hope the next episode will advance the plot. sounding familiar?

if you have not guessed already the main character of this arc is not actually Kyon. Although the show is told through him It's Yuki we should be paying attention to. Ms. Nagato, the alien computer interface placed on earth as an observation tool unaffected by time loops or altered realities. she has the omnipotent power to know all and to do all, the only catch? she cannot do anything. her job is simply to observe and assist when absolutely necessary.

now in order for us to fully understand this we'll also need to understand the philosophy behind Artificial intelligence and how it works. but to keep it simple, intelligence is intelligence. Be it natural or artificial it will learn and develop things called emotions. we are not born with emotions. they are learned, just like data being collected, compiled and processed. It is inappropriate even to call it "excess" data build up. For us humans the compilation of data for emotions happens between age 8 and 18 this is when we try to establish what everything is to us. Yuki has entered as an AI into this stage of her life. and it is a confusing and frustrating time.

now you're angry having to sit through this 8 times. each time is ~25 minutes for us. Now then, lets do the math shall we?(sort of, not really) those 25 minutes each represent in that universe 14 days, an entire 2 weeks. Those two weeks have repeated, in one of the episodes the number was, 15,521 times. Yuki has sat through not only 15,521 episodes, rather she has sat through that many iterations of a 14 day cycle. Imagine how frustrated and angry she must be.

looking at it from the point of view that this is the lead up to the disappearance arc, it is an amazingly well done and high risk choice made by the director which i feel worked perfectly. Not only did he anger the fans, it was his exact intention to do so. the same effect cannot have been achieved with 3 or even 5 episodes. If this arc did not completely piss you off it would have failed to deliver the emotions of the characters in the story. Tatsuya Ishihara, i salute you for this bold move. read more

Ah Endless Eight, how I loathe thee. With the exception of the first episode, this entire season has been the same one done over and over.
First episode of Endless Eight was good.
Second was okay, and introduced the time loop.
Third was basically a repeat of 2 with a few changes in dialogue and clothing. Disappointed at KyoAni.
Fourth as above, starting to annoy me.
Fifth also as above, and gives conclusive evidence that KyoAni is trolling.

Really, if you pick this up when the season is finished, skip all but the first and last Endless Eight episodes. Save yourself some time and boredom of seeing the same thing 5 times over. read more