Story: You can split the plot of this season in three parts: a little time-travel, the infamous Endless Eight arc and the making of the movie we saw in the first season. That's pretty much it and while i mentioned in my review for the first season that i find this lack of story rather charming, this practice of not openly telling us everything and instead always keeping the viewer guessing of the machinations that are working behind the scenes, i can't forgive them this time. It does tie up some loose ends from the first season, but other than that, there is not much to see here. And let's talk, rant even about the goddamn endless eight. I watched all the episodes twice. Twice! Both times i almost lost my mind, but in a way, i like that. It might just be some kind of Stockholm-Syndrome, but in the end you really feel for the characters. They just want it to end, i just want it to end and when it finally does, it's a fantastic feeling. I can't even imagine how Nagato felt. I already said i am torn, so i am just going to say that i don't hate the story of the second season.
Art: I couldn't observe any drop in quality so i can't really add anything new here. It all looks gorgeous and they even took the time to draw every Endless Eight act episode individually, with different outfits and backgrounds . So it's not even that the studio was being lazy with the repetition, i really don't get it...
Sound: No real change either, i prefer the new opening and ending over the first ones. Yes, yes, hare hare yukai and all that, but it's a matter of personal preference.
Character: We get some new insights into the great cast of characters, let's look at them one by one again: Haruhi receives some more backstory, something pretty paradox and basically the reason why she even attended the North High. Other than that there is no real change in her demeanor, there is conflict, but in the end she still remains a self-centered egomaniac.
Kyon, as always, has to face the most of the trials in the show. They don't really change him, we see another side of him, a little difference from the bored, distant, but kindhearted guy.
Mikuru, helpless and cute, Haruhis toy, no real development. Actually, as i write this, i realized that we don't really get that much in terms of characterization. Nagato probably gets around 20 lines, nothing new here.
Koizumi however drops some important information at the very end. He hints at the things that are hidden from us, that some things might not be what they seem, but not only Nagato, Koizumi himself declares this information as unreliable. So at the end, we never moved forward.
Minor characters are not even important enough to be side-characters, they outright say it.
Enjoyment: Despite all that, however, I enjoyed myself. I think it was funnier than the first season and i just love the banter between the characters, how they go on with their daily lives while they are faced with Suzumiyas supernatural antics. I certainly wasn't bored. Well, maybe i got a little bored five episodes into the Endless Eight.
I dragged on way too long again. There wasn't even much to say, you could even argue that this season is almost pointless in terms of plot development. If you want to be really harsh. I had fun, that's really all that's left to be said. And i pray to Haruhi that i, maybe one day, get the "Kyon-kun denwa!" out of my head. Now there is only the movie left to review and that makes me really melancholic, there should be more.
But there never will be, probably.
