I'm finding Endless Eight fascinating mostly because I enjoy looking
for the subtle differences between the episodes. Haruhi says an extra
line here, or sits on the left rather than right. Yuki wears the mask
differently. Mikuru catches a varying, yet small number of cicadas.
That kind of thing.
Perhaps what they're trying to say with this arc is that the little
things don't matter -- that no matter how these small things play out,
the overall sweep of events remains inexorable. This is as true in
storytelling as in anything else, and perhaps still more so. They
say that there are only six basic plots. Maybe Kyoto Animation just
decided to poke fun of the concept -- if original plots are impossible
anyway, may as well stop trying.
Or maybe the one I watched today was on the futility of symbols. I
loved the plane motif. Seeing something like that evokes an amazing
feeling, something between exhiliration and loneliness. It's just
thrown in to this episode, never to repeat, and it perfectly expresses
Kyon's incapacity. Doubtless the next one will have something else
just as perfect, and that's what they're trying to say.
It's not the particular thing itself that's important; it's the
quality of its execution.
words from chris, 2009-08-12 21:31:55, los angeles
