EE was strange. I mean look at all the great shows that had to have fan-service just in case. Sakura Trick is a great example. And they follow each other around with their cliches like they were American movies. Then a studio gives a show permission to do something that's so uncommercial it's insane. Re-animating the same episode seven more times, from scratch. It's literally one for the history books. The whole surreal thing probably contributed to the Haruhi religion. She's literally taken over your TV set. But Disappearance was the ultimate apology for Endless Eight. BTW there's a ton of subtext between Mikuru and Haruhi but none of them with Yuki, who has Asakura. She has a lot of good qualities, but from one POV Haruhi is a Depraved Bisexual.