Getting near the end of
Endless Eight. There remains much that I don't yet know or understand, but I'm starting to see it as, not a loop, but a single sequence shot from multiple angles. It's funny how that works -- I think I'm beginning to tune out the stuff that I ordinarily focus on, which leaves me free to enjoy the episodes on an entirely separate level.
It's an uncomfortable process. Don't let the tone I've adopted with this series of columns mislead you: I admire and respect these episodes as a unique artifact, but actually enjoying them is something of a challenge. I think that the last couple will go more easily, but this middle section has become kind of tedious, even for me.
Nonetheless, I'm very good at enjoying things. I'm watching the backgrounds more, listening to intonation, watching how the scene is blocked rather than how it's animated. It's strenuous, but perhaps this is a way to discover new techniques for appreciating anime. Having mined my usual approaches in the earlier epidoes, I'm forced to look elsewhere. It's oddly fulfilling, and something I would never have done on my own.
But I really do wish something different would happen. Virtually every time-loop work I've ever seen has the sequence where the main character goes crazy and does ridiculous things, secure in the knowledge that everything will be reset. It's amazing that Yuki's managed to endure 15,524 times without breaking the world.
words from chris, 2009-08-12 22:56:00, los angeles
