Haruhi seiyuu Aya Hirano has made comments apologising for the Endless Eight debacle and thanking viewers for putting up with it all, as well as lamenting the hardships the seiyuu had to endure in recording it all.
The comments were made on one of her radio appearances:
For us seiyuu the pressure was intense.
When we first met to receive the plans for it and learn which books we would be doing, like we did for the first season, we heard we would be doing Bamboo Rhapsody and thought it was very appropriate.
Then we learnt the second till ninth would all be Endless Eight, we were like what? Eh? Eh? Eh?
We didn’t really get it when we were told we were doing the same story eight times with just differences in delivery.
…
I think this was more awful for the people watching than the ones performing it, I’m really grateful to everyone for watching it all for two months!
Thank goodness we finally got away from it.
…
It doesn’t matter how many times I’m told to do it, I don’t want to do it anymore, enough already, enough! I can’t do it more than 8 times, that’s the limit!
Yamakan, the low-level production staff, and now even the seiyuu have expressed disgust with Endless Eight, to say nothing of the fan response.
It seems astonishing that the staff responsible ever managed to force it through, but the tenacity with which they are sticking to their guns even as their ship sinks probably explains much…
I loved Endless Eight! the producers were so brave to pull it! i really enjoyed!
it's designed that way to identify the true believers, the rest of you won't get a ticket when the ark arrives.
I liked that Haruhi had like eight different Bikinis!- lol. I'd love to see Aya Hirano model in each one of the "E.E." Bikini's – My Fav was the red one towards then. This Arc would've been so much more 'watchable' if they changed the list of things they had to do every episode. Like: Go to the Beach, Have a picnic, Ball game, Paint ball, water park, Crab hunting (on a boat), life guarding, paint a house, pass out free samples of something, volunteer at a Old Age home, Perform in play, work the phones at a the suicide hotline- lol.
It would've been cool to see different versions of the same events. Like Mikuru gets more Cicadas or Koisomi has to wear the Frog costume…it would keep fans guessing as to what the 'changes' meant.
But no. The Image Below is what I will always remember about "Endless Eight"- The End (lol). that and Haruhi's excellent Butt shot.
I’m actually quite glad they ran the Endless Eight arc. Now, every time a boneheaded Haruhi fan likens the series to the second coming of Christ, I’ve got two handy little words to shoot right back at them.
She's right.