Ranked #1039

Asura Cryin' 2

The whole story of Asura Cryin' is quite bizarre and maybe complicated but everything does make sense despite all its weirdness.

First of all, if you are reading this review (no spoiler) I assume that you've seen the first season; understood the relation between handlers, burial dolls and demons(akumas); and most of all that you’re interested in what happens next (the sooner you watch the sequel the better because of all the terminology you have to remember).

Following the first season Tomoharu now knows that the Asura Machina uses the soul energy of its burial doll; in his case the emotions and soul of his friend Misao. Because of this, he’s now looking for a way to separate her from Kurogane (name of his Asura Machina). On the other hand, his demon friend Kanade, as an unnatural being in the world, can’t use her powers to aid Natsume because of the “Hizaika” (the effect that makes demons disappear little by little when they use their abilities without a contractor).

So this is the initial setting given in this second season. All about the journey to find some device to save Misao doesn’t look promising at all but I must say that what makes this season very superior to the previous one is the crazy turn of events and the main plot regarding all those flashbacks you’ve seen before. Yes, all those confusing flashbacks from the first season that made you wonder “what was that again?” are now explained in this sequel. Now the story is no more about finding Naotaka, escaping from the student council or finding some stabilizer; this time the series has bigger plans for Natsume and company. Since there’s much more at risk the events occurring now involve more action and give a feeling of curiosity about what’s coming next.

The art of this anime is no better than average, it doesn’t overwhelm you but it could disappoint you especially considering all the mechas and powers you see in it. In contrast of the art, the sound is awesome I personally loved the OP/ED by Angela the most; also the voice roles are accurate to the personalities. As for the characters, the main difference to the first season is that Ania plays a bigger part in this season.

Overall, the enjoyment of this anime is guaranteed in almost all of it, if you liked the first season or you think it was interesting but not well developed you will find Asura Cryin’2 fascinating. This second season is the bigger half of the story so you won’t be lost in the end wondering what happened. read more

I'm just going to start off with saying that you HAVE to watch the first season. And all of the second season. Almost everything gets explained by the end, but til then you will be completely lost and wish that someone would just sit the MC (and us) down and take 10 min. to explain stuff to him.

Story
I give this show massive props for having the story it wants to tell and using almost the entire 2 seasons to tell it. Far far less filler episodes than most series, and a VERY twisty plot that keeps throwing new ideas and curveballs at you. I greatly enjoyed it. This show also has a complete ending as well, not just one thrown in because they weren't getting another season. Yes it's a happy ending, bite me I love those :)

Art
I wasn't a big fan of how they designed the characters. It grew on me by the end, but randomly I'll be drawn out of the show just because of the art. Rest of it's fine with some great action scenes here and there.

Sound
I liked the OP. Rest of it wasn't bad. I found all the characters voices to match their personalities/art style anyways.

Character
Not bad at all. Nice little romantic triangle going on with MC, ghost girl, and demon girl, but it's not the focus of the series. MC is moderately useless but he's got lots of strong girls to protect him (I *guess* he's controlling the mech, but he seems to be just shouting it's name usually). Not a perv and will stand up for things so not bad. Doesn't really change much through the show, it's more overcoming his ignorance than character growth. Main 2 girls had distinct personalities and I liked em. Lots of side characters, but none felt like they were just thrown in there really. More importantly none irritated me which was rather refreshing (MC's best male friend is usually the guilty party in most of these shows).

Enjoyment
I really liked it. Crazy story, fun light romance, some humor, ok action, kept me entertained. Plenty of shows I loved more, but this is the only one I've felt the need to write a review for (it being confusing as heck and wanting to get my thoughts down I think lol). read more