#you're phone is ringing kyon

[natsubeatsrock]

So, I watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and...

The Endless Eight arc is one of my favorite arcs in anime.

No, I'm serious.

It's legitimately one of my favorite arcs.

It's not a particularly fun arc to go through on the first watch. I wouldn't be shocked if you went through this arc and felt like something wasn't wrong. Many people have decided not to watch this season or even the series because of this arc.

But I think that this arc very accurately shows how frustrating being stuck in a time loop would be. It also shows a taste of how Yuki Nagato must have felt simply observing the whole thing going down. Not to mention, it's one of the reasons the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of my favorite anime movies, ranking as the best among movies related to a television series.

Now that I've checked off MAL and r/anime's Endless Eight praise checklist in one paragraph, onto what I want to talk about.

I find the big criticism for this story arc to be hilarious and worth talking about more than any of the other things I've talked about. The big criticism with this arc is that it's basically the same episode done over eight times. Certain things are different, but it's essentially the same thing over again.

And you know, they're right.

But that's not as bad as they'd have you believe. After all, as King Solomon once said, there is nothing new under the sun. Essentially everything that has ever been done is a version of some other thing.

For example, Kyon from Haruhi has basically the same personality as Tomoya Okazaki at the start of Clannad, Hotaru Oreki for most of Hyouka and Hachiman Hikkigaya for a large portion of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. All four of these characters learn to see the world differently after joining a club which includes a female character they have to learn to like throughout their respective series. 

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: those guys aren't all the same. Sure they may seem similar, but they're not the same character. 

And, you're right.

I would be seeling those characters and their series short by saying that because they share similarities. And I would be lying if I said that I like these characters exactly the same for the same reasons. I understand that might seem like a weird example, so let me give another.

As far as the European system goes, music is written using any combination of the same twelve notes spelled in any number of strange ways, and entire genres of music are built on repeating and reusing the same patterns over and over. If this sounds familiar, you may have heard of the infamous I-V-vi-IV (1-5-6-4) chord progression. To be fair, the reason this pattern exists is that each chord naturally leads to the next one. (A gross oversimplification, I know) However, you'll still find iterations of this in every key in music from Bach to Bieber and everywhere in between. And that's just one chord progression. There are plenty of other popular chord progressions, song structures, musical forms, lyrical topics, and instrumentation combinations that have been done time and time again. This has gotten to the point that one could almost be forgiven for thinking all music is the same.

Except it's not all just the same thing. Many are similar within a specific genre and many genres often feel like they're similar to each other. However, they're each doing something different enough to be called a new thing. As the famous musical theorist, Heinrich Schenker put it "Always the same, never the same way." A quote that means a lot more the more you know about his thoughts on music.

And the Endless Eight arc understands this amazingly well. Each episode shares a similar line of events. However, each episode handles these events differently. It would be one thing if each episode were only animated differently. The things that get fixated on are different each time. The musical score implies different tones in each episode. Some events get less time in some episodes than others. Certain small events don't even happen in some of the episodes like the trip to the movies, the trip to the store to get yukatas, the batting cage, the test of courage, or Kyon talking to Yuki after the SOS Brigade shares lunch the first day. 

On my second time going through it, I decided to make note of my favorite versions of each moment in each episode. The idea that you only need to watch the first two episodes and the last to get the idea of the arc is fine if you want the gist of it. But doing that means you would miss the cold open in episode four where Kyon finished Haruhi's request and only realized afterward. You'd miss Kyon saying what Haruhi's introduction to the kids in episodes four and seven. You'd miss Kyon answering his phone as if he were an answering machine in episode five. You'd miss Kyon doing the math for how much time the loop lasted on a calculator in episode six.

Now, let me be fair. Does the fact that these episodes aren't exactly the same, but only slightly different mean that there is no reason to be frustrated by the fact that you've basically seen the same things happening already? No.

And that's totally fine.

While some people find the repetition of aspects a reason to be a fan of those aspects, the same repetition can cause others to be turned off to it. If you didn't like something once or twice, you're probably not going to enjoy seeing it again and again. There might be a version you'll like, but that will probably be an exception to the rule. Of course, this is part of the reason this arc is so hated. After one or two times through the time loop. Many feel like the point was gotten and this arc had overstayed its welcome.

But, in the defense of Endless Eight, the characters are also sick of this arc. Why else would you get cold opens where Kyon says something feels wrong, even before learning what was the issue? Why else would there be scenes where Kyon thinks it's strange that he remembers things that haven't happened yet for him? Why else would Kyon try to understand what Yuki's reasoning for letting the loop happen after learning about it? Why else would every episode after the first have an ending where Kyon clearly recognizes that he has to stop the loop predicated on a strong feeling similar to the ones before? What's more, whenever he fails, why would it matter to him to do his homework?

I think it's fair to say that one of the best moments in the arc for most people is in its final episode. You've seen this scene already seven times. Haruhi is heading out the door. After the first episode, Kyon is hit with a wave of anguish, similar to what he's felt throughout the past two weeks. And every time, he wants to stop her but can't think of the right thing to say or do to stop her. This last time, Kyon figures he ought to do something different than normal if he's going to stop the loop.

Now, I can imagine that the fact that the thing that was missing was a last-minute cram session could be annoying. I got to that moment the first time and felt as much. "Really? This is how the loop stops?"

However, this didn't come out of nowhere. The idea that homework was a looming certainly was brought up during every episode, unlike many smaller events. This was something you were supposed to have in the back of your head as the episode would play out. At the end of the first episode, it's a matter of how all the homework Kyon put off will get done. Starting from the second episode on, it becomes a matter of why Kyon doing homework matter at all. Either way, Kyon decides that he isn't able to completely address the issue in one night by himself.

The last episode deals with both issues with a single scene. He gets all the homework done by working with the rest of the SOS Brigade. And by hosting them, he stops them from looping any more times. He was right to assume that he couldn't handle all of the homework by himself. He was wrong to assume that he was the only one who would end up fixing the issue.

Of course, a great thing about this moment is that it also marks a great difference in the episodes in the arc. As previously mentioned, there were smaller changes to and differences in episodes which are all good and interesting. However, since the second episode revealed the time loop, there wasn't a major change to the formula of the episodes. By actually trying something different, Kyon effectively changes the pattern of the episodes in the arc.

This moment changed the way the rest of the arc is to be interpreted. A lot of people complaining about Endless Eight seem to talk about this arc as if it's just another supernatural set of events. A weird shift from what we'd expect to happen and not much else. While that isn't untrue, I don't think that's all that's happening or the correct way to view the arc.

With this change, the arc continues in the vein of mystery. If you've gotten to Endless Eight, you've definitely seen the Remote Island Syndrome episodes and Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya VI. Mystery isn't something that this show hasn't dealt with before. In fact, depending on how you see it, Disappearance was also one big mystery regarding the nature of the drastic world change.

In a mystery, there's one important rule regarding the solution to the problem. It should be something that makes sense within the world but wouldn't be easily guessed on by the audience. The breaking of the cycle fits that bill amazingly well. We know that Kyon has homework to finish, especially considering every episode ends with him unable or resigned not to complete it. Haruhi says each episode that she was quick to get through the work to enjoy the rest of break.

It took Kyon 15,532 times, but he sure cracked the mystery and gave us an amazing arc to boot.

To wrap this up, I took note of my favorite versions of scenes the last time I watched this show. Fun fact: another big thing that helped me get through this is my love for Season 2′s OP, sung by Aya Hirano, Haruhi’s Japanese voice actor who’d later go on to voice Lucy Heartfilia.

Intro: 4, 6 & 7 (especially 7)

"You're Late!": 2, 5 & 7

By The Pool: 2, 3, 7 & 8

Introduction: 4 & 7

List: 2,4 & 5

Yukatas: 1, 2, 6 & 7 (no yukata picking scene in 5)

Festival: 3 & 8

Fireworks: 1, 5 & 7

Homework?: 3

S.O.S.C.C.C. : 1 & 5

Part-Time Job: 3, 5 & 8

"Ah! Kyon!": 3, 4 & 5 (especially 5)

Explanation: 2, 3, 6 & 8

Stargazing: 2, 5 & 6

Batting Cage: 2 (no batting cage scene in 3 or 5)

Test of Courage

Other Stuff: 1 & 4-8 (obviously especially 8)

Homework...: 3, 5 & 8