I foresee that I’m going to have known it

by Yevhen Vorozheikin ^[1]

The time loop can be seen as an almost established plot device in films and television series, but there are ways of using it in unusual and unique manners, such as in Endless Eight. Endless Eight is a narrative arc of the second season of the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The series was one of the most popular anime of its time and is now gaining new interest among fans, as the sequel to the manga it is based on has been released.

Endless Eight tells the story of how the main characters’ two weeks of summer vacation turned into a time loop that repeats itself for 15,000 cycles. To give viewers a sense of cyclicality, the creators repeat an almost identical plot for eight episodes. The characters’ knowledge of being in a time loop is also part of the cyclicity – they react and behave almost in the same way. Past experiences break through gradually as déjà vu effects.

This audiovisual essay examines four loops that are different approaches to analysing Endless Eight. These loops are not isolated but form a spiral that is an attempt to provide an understanding of anime as a whole, as well as to think about the specifics of television series in general, their broadcasting principles, and the cultural contexts in which they are created and exist.

In the first loop, Endless Eight is analysed within the framework of Henri Bergson’s concept of déjà vu. Bergson talks about déjà vu as a normal process of memory and perception which, however, usually remains completely hidden^[2]. It manifests itself only when access to the future becomes impossible, which is why the present receives special attention^[3]. Since the déjà vu effect also exists in the Endless Eight viewing format, it begs the question of whether it might reveal more than the plot arc.

The second loop is devoted to the analysis of the concept of melancholy. According to Sigmund Freud, the constant return/repetition is a characteristic of the melancholic state,^[4] which allows us to assume Endless Eight as a key to understanding the structure of the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and television serials in general.

In the third loop, the cyclical nature of Endless Eight is compared to the video art piece TV Buddha by Nam June Paik, which was made to criticise the logic of media, but also shows the possibility that television can become a means of meditation in a new cultural age. Turning to the philosophical and aesthetic concept of mujo^[5]

The fourth loop addresses the audience’s perception of the series. Endless Eight first aired in 2009 as a weekly television series and caused controversy among fans. Today, in the era of streaming services, most viewers binge-watch, so the question arises whether this way of broadcasting Endless Eight changes its perception. Also, the plot arc is analysed in the context of the fan practice of re-watching.

Author

Vorozheikin Yevhen is an Assistant Professor of Philosophical Anthropology, Philosophy of Culture and Culture Studies Department at Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University (Kyiv, Ukraine). He teaches Digital Methods in the Humanities, Videographic Criticism, Visual Culture Studies, New Media Art, Theory and History of Culturology Ideas, and Introduction to Culture Studies. He has published audiovisual essays and written about videographic criticism. In 2020-2021 he participated in the Scholarship Programme of the Government of Poland for Young Scientists (research paper title: ‘Audiovisual Essay: a New Academic Form of Scientific Expression’).

References

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Barikin, A. ‘After the End: The Temporality of Melancholia’ in The persistence of melancholia in arts and culture, edited by A. Bubenik. New York: Routledge, 2019: 107-121.

Bergson, H. Mind-energy: Lectures and essays. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1975.

Fiske, J. ‘Moments of Television: Neither the Text nor the Audience’ in Remote control: Television, audiences, and cultural power, edited by E. Seiter, H. Borchers, G. Kreutzner, and E. M. Warth. New York: Routledge, 1989: 56-78.

Freud, S. ‘Mourning and Melancholia’ in The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, edited by J. Strachey. London: Hogarth Press, 1953: 243-258.

Hamilton, J. ‘The Way We Loop “Now”: Eddying in the Flows of Media’, InVisible Culture, October 2004: https://doi.org/10.47761/494a02f6.5b8766c2.

Merikivi, J., Bragge, J., Scornavacca, E., and Verhagen, T. ‘Binge-watching Serialized Video Content: A Transdisciplinary Review’, Television & New Media, 21(7), November 2020: 697-711; https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476419848578.

‘Broadcast Yourself’, Urban Dictionary, 2021:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Endless%20Eight (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘Eight Reasons why Haruhi’s “Endless Eight” is Brilliant’, Crushing on the Moon, 2018: https://crushingonthemoon.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/eight-reasons-why-haruhis-endless-eight-is-brilliant/ (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘Endless Eight’, Urban Dictionary, 2009. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Endless%20Eight (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2’. MyAnimeList, 2009. https://myanimelist.net/anime/4382/Suzumiya_Haruhi_no_Yuuutsu_2009/forum (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 – Episodes Guide and Summaries’, Next Episode: https://next-episode.net/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya/season-2 (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘Who else watched all 8 eps of the Endless Eight in Haruhi’, Reddit, 2018:  https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/8aanfc/who_else_watched_all_8_eps_of_the_endless_eight/ (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘Wtf was up with endless eight for the melancholy of haruhi suzimiya?’, 2022: https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/zzl3sc/comment/j2clxpl/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 (accessed on 7 August 2023).

‘[Rewatch] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Endless Eight (Episodes 16-19)’, Reddit, 2020: https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/kbxzcj/rewatch_the_melancholy_of_haruhi_suzumiya_endless/ (accessed on 7 August 2023).

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[1] Bergson 1975, p. 168.

[2] Ibid., p. 166.

[3] Ibid., p. 182.

[4] Freud 1953, p. 249.

[5] Abe 1992, p. 57.