Otakon: Haruhi's Endless Eight
In honor of Kannagi's surprise American release, Bandai Entertainment invited director Yutaka Yamamoto to talk about the series & his other anime work. Of course, Yamakan is probably most famous for directing the first season of "the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." But after getting fired from directing "Lucky Star," he left Kyoto Animation in 2007 to start his own anime studio. Needless to say, he is not involved in the new season of Haruhi. That didn't stop fans at Otakon from asking him about it though.
When asked about his thoughts of KyoAni's Endless Eight stunt, Yamakan said he knew this was coming since last year. Even during production of the first season, there were talks about repeating the chapter multiple times for a second season. Yamakan, however, was firmly against it, & strongly felt it should last no longer than two episodes. Furthermore, because he chose to leave Kyoto Animation, he can't help but feel responsible for how the second season has turned out (basically he feels if he hadn't left, he would have prevented this from happening). As such, he apologizes as a former member of the SOS Brigade.
Not only American fans, but Japanese fans are also at their wits end with the endlessness of Endless Eight. As can be seen by these images posted on 2ch, even die-hard followers of Haruhi-ism can be pushed over the edge:
Source: http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/07/18/endless-eight-drives-otaku-to-destruction