Medaka Box Abnormal

(Please Note: may contain light spoilers)
I personally have been looking forward to this season since the day it was announced. I’m sure I can’t say the same for those of you who poorly rated or just plain dropped this anime during its first season for reasons that include but are not limited to:
1) the Art
2) The gags that aren’t funny
4) The stereotypes
5) The setting
6) Your hatred of the main character

These are all fairly reasonable things that would turn off any hardcore anime lover who has watched such a series. However, for those of you who think that this season will be just as much ... a waste of time as the first season, let me just say this:

THIS IS WHERE SHIT GETS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Story:
The story takes place at Hakoniwa Academy right after Medaka beat the ever-living shit out of Unzen of the disciplinary committee because of a freaking dress violation. Of course she gets called to the principal’s office not to get scolded for destroying half the school, but rather to take Unzens place in a little project known as the Flask Plan. Now what is the Flask Plan you may ask? It’s an experiment were the goal is to produce a potion that will turn anyone who drinks it into a genius.

In order to accomplish this goal, the principle has gathered 13 students who (aside from being fucking trolls) are overpowered super geniuses and is using them as the foundation of the plan. They are called the 13th Party. One problem though, once a formula is actually made, the students at the Academy will be used as test subjects and most likely won’t survive. Realizing this, Medaka takes it upon herself and the student council to investigate the plan and find out what is REALLY going on behind the scenes of their school.

This season is equivalent to the Water 7 arc in One Piece and the Mukuro arc in Hitman Reborn. It’s were the pace of the story picks up, suspense builds, tension rises, shocking truths are revealed and some of the most interesting battles take place.

Yes you read that last part right, this is where your cheesey, tasteless, annoying little school life story turns into what it truly was meant to be: One of the most engaging and original Shounen Battle series to be created.


Charaters:
One of the main problems with season 1 is that it only covered a small section of the manga. We were given the premise of the series but specific details regarding the characters and events of the past were only mention briefly in the last few episodes. This time, however, more details are given us regarding the main cast:
Medaka- We find out more about her family and abilities
Zenkichi- We discover how hard he’s worked in order to stay near Medaka since they were 2
Akune- We find out about how he was in middle school and why he’s so infatuated with Medaka
Mogana- We find out about what Medaka means to her as a friend

You could call the 13th Party the villains of this arc but as time goes on that line will just get more and more blurred because their back stories and past are revealed to us. Whether or not these students were born lucky or cursed is rather hard to say. They can do the seemingly impossible easily and it’s as though no matter what they do, they will succeed regardless of luck or skill (they can, for example, roll a bunch of dice and defy the laws of physics). But whether or not they are happy with what they are is one of the big questions that will get addressed here. I’ll try to summarize a few of these “students”:
- A psychic super saiyen
- A masked midget
- A black guy, with a Japanese name who speaks French
- A mass murderer
- A chick with a knife in her head
- And a cyborg
(Note: I am not kidding about ANY of these things but maybe now you can see why GAINEX decided to animate this series)


Music and Art:
The artwork is the same as first season so if that was an issue before then too bad. The opening and ending themes, however, sound a bit darker than the previous seasons. Overall I find them better than the first seasons.
P.S. If you’ve read the manga then you’ll know how badly GAINEX is trolling us with the opening. For those of you who haven’t read the manga then just pay CLOSE attention to the characters that are shown (especially the last one).


Theme:
This plot actually brings us back to the idea of perfection that was shown to us in the form of Medaka. Season 1 was all about revealing the characters and enforcing the idea that Medaka is perfect by comparing her to normal people. The fact that we’re suppose to hate the main character shows that we would rather have someone who works hard but falls flat on their face, then a hypocritical, perfectionist who always wins like Medaka.

This season, however, is about understanding that Medaka isn’t the only broken character in the series and that she didn’t ask to be how she is. There are a lot of things that we can’t help: what kind of parents gave birth to you, what era you were born into etc. But what this season tells us is that sometimes we can’t choose whether or not were born with talent and, if we are, will that automatically make us any happier than anyone who wasn’t? Will having a body that can make you move instantly on reflex make you happy? Will having the power to read minds make you happy? Will having the ability to master anything and everything you see make you happy? Or will it just make you feared and viewed as something abnormal?

Enjoyment:
I for one, as a fan of the manga, find this season pretty enjoyable. At the very least if you’ve watched the first season and/or read the manga then watch this season if only to find out what this anime is REALLY about.

Medaka Box Abnormal is the sequel to Medaka Box, so if you haven’t watched that, don’t bother with this anime. As a proper sequel, it picks up where the first season ended, however the main genre is very different than the first season. It turns the first season into a sort of lengthy introduction and puts emphasis on battles and “abnormalities” (strange inhuman abilities based on nature aspects) of individuals compared to the first season that focused on humour and SOL. Nearly every mainstream shounen does this, but this anime does it on a completely different level, what makes many people dislike it. But it ... isn’t serious and it never tries to be so it shouldn’t be taken seriously or people will be very let down.

That “light” feel is taken into the story as well with it being a bit cliché, while it raises very interesting questions. Is it right to be strong without doing anything for it? To Medaka and Zenkichi, two of the main characters, it’s something people shouldn’t even think about because getting stronger and suffering go hand in hand. Of course, they are bound to meet people that think otherwise. This is the first moment where people turn away from the show with rolling eyes. It’s because of how it’s handled. Surely, with Medaka being able to do inhuman deeds simply because she was born with it, she isn’t the right person to tell others that they have to suffer to get strong.

However, if you don’t turn away so fast, you’ll see that there’s much more to Medaka Box Abnormal than just hypocrisy. Here comes Zenkichi, the other lead character, who is the exact opposite of her talent wise. He might be strong, both physically and mentally, however it is mentioned, not once, that he got there by hard work and was very weak during his childhood. Unfortunately, the rest of the main characters don’t do the themes justice as most of them are “specials”; very talented people or abnormals. Of course, most of the time, they can’t rival the abnormals that are villains.

One of the biggest problems I had with the story was how all themes were presented. Medaka Box Abnormal sure deals with very interesting issues but they are usually solved by main characters simply stating their opinion, even though villains keep asking better and better questions. The difference between the “good” guys and the “bad” guys is nothing but the way they answer them. That wouldn’t be such a problem if the show didn’t portray the main character’s opinion as the right one and everything else as wrong and it goes as far as Medaka deciding what’s right for the rest of the world (that doesn’t make her think about it even for a bit).

Art doesn’t really help its case. It might look really strange and it’s difficult to get used to it but once I did, I fell in love with it. Animation is fluent and very well done. There’s lots of fanservice but it doesn’t feel overdone or annoying because it’s usually played for laughs.

While it might look like a huge mess, and it somewhat is, most of it is done supposedly to create a comedic effect. However, not everything looks like it’s trying to parody itself. Character interactions and presentation is probably the best part of the anime. While characters themselves aren’t something to remember, their relationships and feelings are delivered perfectly. You can see how they feel about what they say or about what is happening or simply know their nature by their actions. I found this to be the best part of Medaka Box Abnormal because to me it felt more real than most of SOLs I’ve finished and it made the anime more enjoyable.

Medaka Box Abnormal is definitely not a perfect anime. It’s difficult to like because it tries to jam too many genres together and never truly focuses on one. And even when it does (for a while) it usually overdoes it for bigger effect. However, if you do find something enjoyable about it, stick until the very end because it won’t go away easily. I recommend this anime only if you’re bored or open minded.

Now that this sequel has ended, so it's time to make a review of this thing and i gonna go straight to the point for every category of this anime, oh there maybe some spoilers that I may have placed:


Story: Good 7 .

Basically, it still has the same genre and it is still set in the same school with a very lame name," Sandbox Academy"- unless it is a daycare center, who the heck gives a school with a name like that? What's added here are lousy terminologies like Flask Plan, Abnormals and 13 party or Class 13. However unlike the previous season this one ... has more action in which the focus is no longer on Medaka (or at least for the most part) instead each member of the student council who were fighting along side her, has a piece of the action and a little bit of the drama. But what makes the action genre in which the group plans to destroy the so-called 'Flask Plan" of this anime good, is that the setting of the action sort of have a slight resemblance of Bruce Lee's "Game of Death" HAAAAAAAAYA!!!! But with a certain twist of course.


Art and sound: Mediocre 5.

Well, it is still the same art used from the previous season and it still has the same amount of fanservice. There are the usual seiyu's who did the voices of the protagonists and I don't give much of the damn about the seiyu's who did the voices of the antagonists, as for the opening theme....I hate it, the ending theme....I like it.


Character: Fair 6.

On Medaka, she is still this heroine who is sooo perfect that there is nothing she can't do and won't do thingy as usual, but, in this sequel she underwent the same unwritten rule that every protagonist have to undergo which is that a protagonist have to face such seemly difficult odds in which he/she is nearing defeat which the audience feels the protagonist's suffering and then the climax, the protagonist rose up in victory. Then again the ration of the protagonist nearing defeat in some difficult odds and rising up in victory was not well balance, in fact for Medaka to emerge victorious is seemly too obvious to the point that we the audience don't even felt her suffering and it easy for one to brush it aside.


Zenkichi Hitoyoshi- as usual he is still Medaka's Guard Dog and still serving as
Student Council General Affairs Manager, unlike in the previous episode here he was now kicking ass and exhibiting his special ability. As usual I'll never understand author, Nisio Isin as to why he as to insist that the character is a practitioner of Savate when his fighting style is no different that any other anime with a martial arts genre. What I like about him is Medaka having feelings for him and seeing him hugging her.

Mogana Kikaijima- The Student Council Treasurer, what's good about her was her reaching out to Yukuhashi which to me is cute, she probably the weakest among the group with only a sonic boom as her weapon and being able to breath like a fish (figure of speech). Since this anime has an ecchi genre and Medaka is the most ecchiest, she is more like the runner up of the ecchiest cast of this anime.

Kouki Akune- the "Destroyer" I like his nick name, I like the part that he goes fighting this cyborg chick Itami Koga, it is basically nice that he was able to display his fighting ability and be able to do as to what was expected of his reputation.

In the previous season of my review, I gave this category a low score, but having seen the other protagonist given their share of the lime light the score belongs to Medaka's subordinates.


Enjoyment: Good 7.

I admit, I do find the ecchi and the martial arts part of this anime good, frankly that's as good as it get, besides this sequel ended in a cliffhanger in which the last episode was about Misogi Kumagawa, Najima Aijimu and Saki.


Overall: Poor 3.

Ok, thought the story is good the action and ecchi are alright, the thing about this anime is that it has a lot of useless terminologies that were carelessly used by the author Nisio Isin, terminologies that complicates this anime and manga as a whole, in fact the said terminology "Abnormal" vs Normal vs Special doesn't actually categorize the students in fact even though the character's info mentioned that this character is an abnormal one would be surprise that the said character can be taken down by a protagonist who is normal. It is very disgusting that the author himself uses one conflicting terminology to explain another conflicting terminology. Frankly the author is simply banking on the the main protagonist's ability to be the student council's president as this girl who is the very essence of a perfect and domineering apex bully, of course there is the fanservice that comes with it, but overall with the cliffhanger, this sequel lacks a very good surprising climax .


Will there be another sequel? Well, it looks like it.

How do you define an "ideal" human being? The perfect human understands his reality. All that we see as art, aesthetic, is just applied excellence. People always have to train to be the best at something, No one is born excellent, Some are born closer to and have an easier time acquiring skill. So, to think of perfection as something unnatural or Godly, would be to misperceive the reality of the matter, right?

The second season of medaka box, dubbed ‘Abnormal’ resumes following the somewhat mindblowing conclusion to the first season which saw a complete half revolution turn in the emphasis and plot of the whole ... series. In the second season we are introduced to a world of normal, specials and abnormals.

Normals here are defined as everyday folk such as myself and maybe even you, Specials are people who greatly excel in a particular field and Abnormals from their name itself we can guess possess some sort of strange ability and able to achieve great feats that leave us normal folks dumbstruck. One factor I was greatly impressed with about the abnormal abilities was that the series tries to explain to us the mechanics and how these abilities work and unlike most shows that introduce some kind of wild out outrageous and thought provoking phenomenon to do this, medaka box simply uses Biology and Anatomy. The abilities are explained as being born from some sort of efficiency or deficiency of an organ, enzymes or muscle in the body. This greatly enhances a viewer’s experience and even gives the show (dare I say it to a shounen anime) a sense of realism.

A scheme is later hatched by the principal called the ‘flask plan’ to perform research on a few Abnormals in the school so as to find out how abnormality works with the main aim of discovering some kind of method to transform normal human beings into abnormals or in other words make them perfect. The scheme itself i’m afraid to say isn’t necessarily original and without a doubt is a slight alteration from the all too familiar concept of a group of individuals who believe themselves greater than normal humans decide to rule over them. The principal also intends upon making this discovery to use the students of the school as test subjects for his experiments which could have adverse effects on them, and upon getting word of this of course, the student council consisting of medaka and co. try to stop the plan.

The highschool is divided into 13 sub classes ranging from numbers 1-13 and as it also happens, all the abnormal students are in class 13 of their respective grades. A group of these students have been selected to be the roots of the flask plan called the ’13 party’ and medaka’s objective will be to defeat this group thereby bringing a halt to the project. At the end of the first season we witness medaka defeat Unzen and at the start of the second season we are told that Unzen was a part of the 13 party, however due to his defeat he is unable to participate anymore and Medaka being the one who defeated him is now the most likely beneficiary to take his place. Feeling proud of their abilities most of the students in class 13 hardly come to school but upon hearing of the experiment most of them return with the prospect of attempting to take part but just as Medaka defeated Unzen to enter contention, they also believe they need to defeat her to have a chance to join, therefore presenting medaka’s group with a sizable amount of opponents. This of course was nothing more than to show us indeed how powerful Medaka was when compared to other abnormals and also for the viewer to hold highly in prospect the other members of the 13 party upon their introduction.

The school setting itself is seemingly devoid of teachers or any kind of academic activities for that matter. The main base of the experiment itself is an underground base on the campus; the base is divided into floors each holding one member of the experiment meaning medaka has to defeat them floor by floor making the series hold a sort of platform game feel to it which isn’t such a good idea. However giving the modern school setting and having super powered individuals, there will be a need to make use of an enclosed environment to demonstrate these abilities so the writers had a limited amount of choices in terms of location.

Gainax resume their duty of animation but however I will admit I’m not a fan of the art style used in the show, the use of extremely heavy pencil lines especially under the eyes give most characters a wild expression making them look as though high on cocaine with only voice actors and changes in facial expression making it otherwise. However when compared to some mediocre animation we saw in the first season, Gainax did a great job with animation on the second season. It has a number of fluid and nicely orchestrated action sequences here and there but these action sequences may seem dragged on a times by no fault of the animation but by characters overlooking a fight giving commentary on almost every little factor, something that should have been kept to a minimum or removed completely.

Minami Kuribyashi resumes her role as she again sings the OP, entitled ‘Believe’ and unlike the first season’s OP that had a happy-go-lucky beat and feel to it, this one had more of a melodramatic and serious tone thus accurately depicting the complete shift in emphasis of the series. BGM mostly consisted of instrumentals and the sound director does well to appropriate each instrument well into a scene. Tension, suspense and other moments are most of the time complemented with a nice instrument to get a better feel of the atmosphere but the series still could have done better with its choice of soundtracks.

The show also takes pride in its host of very peculiar and strange set of characters with their differing ideals and philosophies on humanity. Medaka herself retaining her honest do-good attitude has this stubborn ideal of believing that all humans have some good in them and will a times go to whatever length to protect this ideal, often times purposely falling into enemy traps which looked to me nothing more than a weak excuse to extend the story. Her tenacious personality may come off as a bit annoying a times but her die hard attitude will leave most people wanting more. Most members of the 13 party will leave audiences absolutely dazzled, just as it’s depicted in the show that normal people see them as amazing or on another level, I have to admit even I sitting on the other side of the screen could also tell. The show uses the personality of these characters very well to keep viewers hooked to the screen and this factor was without a doubt the series strongest point.

The beginning of the show I have to admit was amazing but as time went on it started to lose quite a bit of edge especially towards its climax but it was still an enjoyable experience in the end. The series main problem was not as a result of its execution or anything it could help but in my opinion the writers seemingly not giving enough thought or effort into the storyline towards the ending as they did initially and seemed to be running out of ideas along the way and finally adopting cliché basic shounen analogies in the end. Despite all this, it still manages to impress with its fluid animation, applied sciences and extremely strange set of characters. The second season was without a doubt a lot better than the first and with more material still to be animated we can only expect things to only get better in future.

I'll try to be brief, since this anime doesn't deserve a thorough review.

I prefer the first season, as there, the author did not attempt to exceed their capacity until the last few episodes. Here, the story is "serious" from the beginning, making any and all issues glaringly obvious.

Firstly, the characters are designed in an irrational way and often behave inconsistently. This both reduces the effectiveness of intentional humor, as well as interferes with "serious" story developments (or let's just call them 'non-comedic' since you can't take anything seriously in this anime).

Secondly, special skills and other plot devices are explained with pseudoscience, which is ... pure torture, as I love science and 'realistic' sci-fi and hate pseudoscience with equal passion. It would be better if the author had just pulled the 'magic' card without trying too hard to explain the mechanism behind any ability or drug or whatever, since they obviously lack basic education on how things work in the real world.

If you liked the final episodes of the first season more than those preceding them, you may very well enjoy this season even more. If not, you may want to steer clear to avoid wasting time like I did.

Following on from the prequel, the story picks up straight where it left off, and if you had any questions, they'll begin to be answered.
The school is a mess and Medaka starts learning about herself, while we start to learn about Normals, Specials and Abnormals.
Right away they aren't afraid to throw in people with abilities, which we're just learning about, so in some ways it feels like a completely different anime with the same characters, but it all starts to come together.

The dub voice sync is still a bit off but it's not a big deal.

One thing about the battles, is that even ... though they basically kill each other, afterward Medaka or Zenkichi will offer friendship. All most of these people want is to feel normal and have friends, and all they want is to offer that, even after everything. It's one of the charms that I enjoy about this series.

This season is in a way completely different to the first like I mentioned before. I feel like the first season was good in it self, but it let down on the build up to this season. Which was better than the first, though the disconnect between them both and the weird flow makes it hard to rate this and review for others.

In the end if you've watched the first season, this is worth watching to finish the story. There's a lot more action and can get pretty intense for the second half.

the progress walk in a fast-pace so it's not boring to watch
each abnormalities are very unique
though the ending is a real cliffhanger, but i think there would be another season so it's alright

Medaka Box Abnormal was 10x+ better than Medaka Box (aka season 1). It was a little darker and more violent with suped up abnormal teens fighiting each other. Think of MB as an introduction or set up to MBA. Every aspect was good to excellent in my opinion save maybe the last episode. I mean wtf was that? I've never seen a last episode that didn't have any of the main characters or the title character in it. I'm completely over wondering OVAs aren't released with the series. Episode 12 truly annoyed me. Don't get me wrong, it was interesting, ... but it's placement was annoying especially if there isn't another season. Overally, I enjoyed Medaka Box Abnormal and hope there is a 3rd season.

This Series is a sequel to 'Medaka box' There is some humor in the game, rarely romance and a lot of action. The story is pretty much about Kurokami, Medaka finding out she is not the only one that is different from normal students. Though she been invited which barely been talked about at the end of the 1st series along with her 3 friends wanting to keep by her side. To me the story is good, so is artwork but what fails me is where is mainly to due with 'Abnormal' Is ridiculous overpowered and also making it hard for the other 3 main ... characters to be in spot light this rather made it disappointing to me.

I don't know how Nisio Isin--who has a history of writing complex, sophisticated, and intensely original things like The Monogatari series, Katanagatari, and the Zaregoto books--could write something as idiotic and generic as this show. The first season was awful school life, with bad gags, a ridiculous plot, and none of the clever writing I sort of expect from Nisio Isin; this season had all the same problems except now it's a mediocre battle-anime. I don't know what went wrong, but considering how good this could have been, it's really a shame.

The second season of Medaka box. Those who watched the first season might have been a little disappointed at first, Cause the story basically takes a bunch of episodes till it gets interesting. Season 2 of Medaka box is where the real fun starts and slowly starts to build up towards the more interesting and awesome parts of the manga.

I for one read the manga and seeing as how nearly the manga and anime are the same I can say for certain that people will really enjoy this New season.

So far there's not a thing that I didn't like in this show and ... if your like me and love interesting characters and over the top weird yet interesting powers like this show has u will love it! Especially in the later episodes of this show!

I must warn u though, Instead of fighting scenes where it goes on without much talk in it.Medaka box isn't like that. It's more of an explaining fight moment thing u will see everytime

Hope u found this review usefull and if not then ''Kumagawa Misogi'' will get u

Very good overall story of a girl who wishes to be normal, but by all standards she is anything but. It really gives a good focus on her learning from the others, who like her, are not normal humans. The fights are amazing, if you really like fighting anime, you would be very happy here. There are some traces of ecchi, but not to the point some other series go to. Hopefully anyone who watches this can really get some enjoyment out of it.

Medaka Box Abnormal is the second season to the slice-of-life series Medaka Box. Unlike its predecessor, however, it tackles much darker themes and finally gives us a reason for why Medaka acts the way she does. Minus the stripping, of course.

Story: 6
Although it differs greatly from the school comedy genre, the story is very typical shounen. Some villain, in this case a man with the personality of Gilgamesh and the ability to control people, wants to create the perfect human by sacrificing the students of Hakoniwa. Medaka is the key to this project, and when she refuses to join, many battles ensue.

Sound: 7
There were ... only a few songs that stood out to me, but they were perfect for the what they were trying to convey. The voice actors did a good job capturing the emotions of the characters and the opening (Believe) was enjoyable.

Character: 9
This is where Medaka Box Abnormal really shines. It makes you think about why people act in a certain way. The backstories of the villains are so well done that you can't help but wonder if they are actually bad people. Not to mention the variety of powers they have. Most of the time, I felt like I was watching the show to see what power the villain would have next, rather than seeing where the story goes. Also, all of the main cast get their own backstories. Let's just say that even though I hated Medaka from the first season, the second season made me think she's actually not that bad and feel sorry for her.

Enjoyment: 8
I definitely enjoyed watching this series, and even if you haven't seen the first season, there's nothing wrong with jumping into the second.

Overall: The only problem I had with Abnormal is that the story is just a build-up for a third season that may or may not happen. Which is sad, because the Minus arc is really where the story gets good.

I've also done a review for the first season so if you want to see that, just go look for it. Yeah.. this is a sequel so watch the first season if you don't want to screw yourself over this series by watching the sequel first.

As expected for a sequel, Medaka Box Abnormal picks up where the last season left off and it turns out that a whole new plot developed from the previous events. As I watched the first episode, it felt kind of different and I was surprised that it was already intense right at the first episode. Unlike the last season ... which was progressively intense, this one turns out to be a true sequel and continuation. As I have said, the plot of the series has become entirely different from the initial depictions. From a funny daily school student council shenanigans story into a fully pledged action and shounen setting. Though the story has become somewhat different, the art is still the same though it improved a bit on the animations. The new opening is much better than the last season's so this one was catchier. For the characters, yes the main characters are still there so no need to worry about that. But however, a lot have been introduced since the plot has become different so expect a lot of connections to the previous season. I might have enjoyed this season more than the first one since this series decided to show its true colours by unleashing the hidden shounen power that it was subtly hinting in the first season. Well that sounds a bit too shounen but you'll understand that if you watch it. One thing I didn't like about this was that the conclusion was not somehow the real conclusion and there will be more to this series. I was really confused about the final episode and maybe it was trying to hint a sequel? Well.. I don't really have my hopes up but even though this series was predictable as a shounen anime, I did enjoy it quite a bit.

This season abandons everything that made the first season have its own identity, in favor of throwing every tired battle anime cliché into your face as aggressively as possible. It brings nothing interesting to the table, instead serving you dish after dish of uninspired, bland shonen battle after battle.

Every tired trope is found here, and to make matters worse, the silly and whimsical nature of the show- which worked to its benefit in season 1- works against it. You can't take the villain seriously, and all the intrigue is lost when every episode ends with a conversation behind the mastermind and a character you're ... used to being the punch line of every scene she's in. And this isn't even taking into account the drastic, severe, and jarring tone shift and genre change from the first season.

Even if I hadn't liked the first season, this second one would still have not been worth watching. It is bland battle manga drivel that deserves to be forgotten. It contains no innovation, no interesting story, no stakes you would take seriously, nothing that makes a traditional battle anime good.

Time after time, this season sits something in front of you and asks you to take it seriously, but you just can't. Ominous old guy who rarely opens his eyes, sitting the shadow, closing out every episode with a "kekeke"? It's so cliché it hurts. If it was at least trying to be a parody, it would be enjoyable, but this is just pure cringe.

I dropped it after episode 5. I was hoping there was some of the spirit that used to be in the first season still left, but episode 5 was the point where I realized it was so devoid of soul that I found it sucking mine out instead.

Watch this if you can turn off your brain. Otherwise, pass, and watch a better battle anime. I recommend reading Rokudou no Onna-Tachi, which has some similarities, but does it a million times better.

tl;dr: A second season that’s different enough from the first season that it feels kind of strange but is still good, even if it is pretty standard battle shounen.

This season is very different from the first season in such a way that it feels kind of bizarre. The first season was basically just the titular character Medaka being overpowered in a bunch of random situations leading to people changing their ways and being better people. This season actually has a proper plot centered around a series of fights but where Medaka really isn’t all that overpowered. Because of that it feels kind of weird. The ... whole mechanic of having a character seem ridiculously overpowered and then just kind of reversing that I’ve always found kind of lame. It feels like it redoes and redefines a lot beyond that as well.

Still, I felt that that was worth it because what it leads into is pretty great. It’s pretty standard battle shounen where the main cast proceeds through a series of one on one match ups where they fight using clearly defined and titled moves. However, I thought it was really good battle shounen. There is an interesting variety to the moves and they’re all pretty interesting. They’re mostly all kind of meta which results in them all being kind of broken and the plot just writing around that, but that also makes them cool and amusing to watch. Character wise Medaka was awesome before this season and seems even more awesome after she got fleshed out through more background and the opportunity to show more aspects of her character. The rest of the main cast finally got fleshed out and given more development and are pretty strong characters too now. The protagonist, Zenkichi, I was especially fond of as the whole shtick of being normal and thus not really in the same league as Medaka but pushing forward in order to stay by her side anyway was pretty cool both in concept and implementation. The various side characters didn’t get fleshed out that much, but were all reasonably interesting as well.

The ending was kind of strange though, in that it ends on a cliffhanger in episode 11 at what feels like a transition from one arc to the next, and then episode 12 is pretty much a completely different anime focusing on a new character with the plot having absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the rest of the anime. This episode is pretty interesting as the character being focused on is immensely interesting, but it’s still a really bizarre shift.

The art and animation are decent enough. The character designs at this point I’ll say are really solid. The OP was decent enough in terms of visuals and audio. The ED was decent enough in terms of visuals, but I will note I really liked the song. The soundtrack wasn’t particularly memorable.

I liked the first season a lot more.

I was optimistic in the first few episodes since the show had that new season smell; they were re-introducing us to characters, while also adding new stuff and building up to an overarching plot (Which is very different from the episodic nature of the first season). It was after the excitement wore off I realized we were left with a slow paced show that slogs through the battles.

It's not all bad, I enjoyed some of the fights, and the strategies they used, but it felt cheap when compared to the huge catalog of popular shonen anime ... that had done the same thing but better. Some of the character moments and motivations from the new characters were nice as well.

The last episode is somehow the best and also most disappointing episode. They introduce us to the most interesting characters with the coolest powers in the entire series. The kicker is that they are given this awesome origin story to give us context to a hypothetical season 3 that we will never get. This is the introduction to an arc that is said to be the best arc in the Manga, so I guess this is a great advertisement for the manga, but for anime only viewers, you simultaneously get a glimpse of what could've been, and a huge cliffhanger for your troubles.

I haven't read the Manga, so I can only judge the 2 seasons alone.
I loved the previous season because of the whimsical over the top nature of the plot, and the character development the focal character of each episode gets as Medaka "Reforms" them. I even liked the end of season 1 because the shonen battle climax doubles as an internal conflict for medaka, which I love since she's never get to reform herself. Season 2 has none of that, the reason they fight the baddies is because they are very very evil and have to be stopped, and it changes very little about our main characters.

If you watched season 1 and don't mind that shiranui is in this season even less, or that all the student council kids are just shonen battle anime characters now, then maybe you'll enjoy this season. But if you loved the episodic adventures that came from the suggestion box and are looking forward to more, then you might be disappointed.

Medaka Box - Abnormal


Everything that Medaka Box had in season 1 has been completely thrown overboard here. Yes, the series still has a far below average entertainment value as a shounen. However, this season consists of non-stop fights, with disastrously boring cliché opponents. There is almost no trace of "humor and satire" here anyway.

The entire flow of this season consists of introducing the new enemies and fighting them all the time between episodes 3-12. And since "plot armor" is practically the protagonist's power, of course, they win. With Medaka, it's less surprising than with the others.

This problem also existed with the manga, though the ... author created many abilities and personalities. However, he did not put any emphasis on explanations and structure. Characters are spontaneously stronger than before, without any buildup.

Unfortunately, the anime ends with episode 12 (episode 13 is an additional episode based on the manga "Good Loser Kumagawa"). It an interesting idea to give the new antagonist more charm right away, but the third season never got to the light and so did the best manga arc. By "best" I don't mean it's mind-blowing. It's just average in a negative sense. Still, it is the best comparatively.



The plot of this season, as mentioned, involves the protagonists fighting against the "Thirteenth Party" to stop the Flask Plan (plan to create the perfect human). Which is all the more in focus in the course of the later arcs.
Other than that, nothing happens.


The new characters are almost mostly just weirdos with little charisma and only one fixed personality that they keep until the end.
On average, one episode was needed per enemy, possibly a bit longer. And the interesting idiosyncrasies of the protagonists or the structure of the school was no longer relevant, since this entire season was devoted only to the fights.


Musically, the season was mostly average, both intros and osts.


Animations are also average, there is no talk of good choreography here. But it is sufficient for such a level.



Conclusion

It is still better to read the manga than to watch these 2 seasons, as they have been the weakest arcs in the manga. Needless to say, the result is disappointing.


Enjoyment - 3

{WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FROM MEDAKA BOX/MADAKA BOX ABNORMAL}.

Where do I even begin with Medaka Box? This being my first review, I decided to combine Medaka Box and Medaka Box Abnormal into one comprehensive review, rather than write two separate reviews (even though such a thing seems entirely relevant, given the fact that season 1 and 2 felt like completely different shows). With this small disclaimer out of the way, I would love to get right into my thoughts on the tragedy that is Medaka Box.

I want to start with my first issue with the anime, as I mentioned it in the ... paragraph from above. My issue is the nearly unexplained and very poorly transitioned shift from a bizarre slice of life-esque high school comedy/drama, to a stale battle shounen completely devoid of sensical motivations and weak plot holes and plot armor galore. What the hell was the thought process behind this confusing shift? The first 10 episodes or so of the first season involve the daily lives of the students at Sandbox Academy, where student council president and first year Medaka Kurokami enlists the help of Zenkichi, Akune, and Kikaijima (in that order) to assist all students at the school through the use of a suggestion box aptly named the "Medaka Box." The strange and loosely explained shift to a full-on battle shounen begins with the introduction of the chairman of the glorified army/school security force Myouri Unzen. His introduction leads directly into him...slaughtering a classroom full of students for being loud? It is then explained that the safety force is authorized by the academy to use force/violence to keep the peace at the school..what the hell kind of half-assed explanation is that?

The entirety of the charming first season goes completely downhill from there on. Upon Medaka's ass whooping of Unzen, using WAR GOD MODE, WHICH IS NEVER EXPLAINED BY ANYTHING OR ANYONE, viewers are thrust into Medaka Box Abnormal, where they face the "13 Party," a group of "abnormals" like Medaka who possess strange powers which are seemingly unexplained. The unexplained part is pretty funny to me, as I have reached the conclusion of the series and still have no idea how any of these powers have come to be. Is it some kind of science that created these abilities? Is it straight up magic? The mechanism of these powers not being explained really hinders my ability to appreciate the strengths and weakness of the character's abnormalities, as I have no idea what is causing these abilities in the first place. Maybe abnormalities are explained thoroughly later on in the manga (I hope to god they are) but I am currently an anime-only with this series, and truthfully, going an entire 24 episodes without once explaining abnormalities or how they came to be (aside from some half-assed explanations by characters that are pushed to the side) is pretty frustrating and severely limits how interested you could really be in the power system. Then again, the fact that there even is a power system after the initial episodes is so confusing in the first place.

The characters were pretty hit or miss for me in this series. I really liked Zenkichi's character, as he was a really well-balanced and levelheaded support character for not just Medaka, but all characters throughout the show. I really liked that the anime kept him a Normal throughout (even though there was a hint that he may actually be abnormal) and focused on showcasing his strength as a normal human being who is fighting for his friends, mainly Medaka. It may be a little bit cheesy of a motivation, but not as bad as other characters, and at least he has some kind of motivation. The main character, Medaka, was not necessarily a bad character, but that does not make her a good character either. She got super stale and annoying after a while with her "save everyone, help everyone, love everyone" shtick, but hey, she had the power and influence to do so, so good for her. The reveal of her abnormality and what it did was pretty cool, although one particular aspect of her power was left totally obscure at the end. She was clearly the worst offender of fan service in the show, and while that does not particularly take anything away from a show for me, it got a little annoying at times when it was so in your face. Aside from one other character who I will speak about later, the rest of the cast was meh. Akune and Kikaijima were pretty one dimensional, although they at least got some backstory as to why they acted the way they did. Their main motivation ended up following Zenkichi's which was a little boring, but overall they fought well and contributed enough to the group as to not be completely forgettable. Some characters such as Nabeshima were cool, but no one became all that memorable. Medaka's brother Maguro, for example, was really only there to give exposition dumps and weirdly obsess over his two sisters. Naze was nearly interesting, but her "I hate happiness" routine got boring after a while. Again, no characters were noticeably bad, they were just fairly forgettable.

The biggest travesty of the entire series, for me, was the twelfth episode, titled "Good Loser Kumagawa." The episode focuses on Kumugawa Misogi, an extremely twisted and yet simultaneously compelling villain who shows up very briefly within the main story. Kumugawa has a sick view of the world, and is surrounded by a great deal of intrigue and mystery regarding his motivations and his purpose. I now that the manga continues his story, but the teasing of this character throughout the entire show, talking about some insane showdown with Medaka, name dropping him from time to time, and the very eerie episode 12 disclaimer that tells the viewer to "keep your future bright, and remove yourself from reality" when watching him creates an absurd amount of hype for a character that is never touched again. This is less of a gripe with the show itself, as I am sure the creators planned on adapting his arc and thus giving him more screen time, but it is HEAVILY disappointing to bring this horrifying enigma of a character into the story to never see him fleshed out in the end. I just feel as though a season with Kumugawa at the helm would have greatly raised my enjoyment of the series as a whole, and it almost makes me wish I never watched the series at all now that I know I will never see his anime arc reach the light of day.

The art style of the show is meh, the animation is decent enough during the non-stop fight scenes of season two but it also leaves a little to be desired. The style is decent, and the character designs are pretty good across the board (even though I do not like the one piece of hair that everyone in the series has sticking up for some unknown reason). The soundtrack is nothing to write home about, the first opening theme is better than the second imo, and the second ending trumps the first. They are all decent tracks, but again, nothing that really jumps out at me.

Finally, down to my enjoyment level. I give this anime a pretty generous 7 for enjoyment, because I gotta say I really enjoyed some of the character interactions and a few of the hype moments that occurred in season two. That enjoyment is severely limited, however, by the existence of several plot holes (which also include the chairman's true objective, which I did not mention earlier, as well as who the hell Shiranui is). I know that these questions may be answered in the manga, but that is not why I watch an anime. The story of the anime itself should still be able to hold up strong, regardless of how much it is adapted from the source material. For me, Medaka and company did not do enough to fulfill my request: mission failed. Thus, I leave another suggestion within the suggestion box for the lovely creators of this half-baked series: Give me more anime Kumugawa, and we may be able to talk about a higher rating :) Overall: 6.2/10.