Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou

After finishing the first series of Nurarihyon no Mago, I was a bit reluctant to watch the second series "Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou" because the first series seemed to lack a lot of intensity, creativity and overall story. From the beginning I had thought NnM had a lot of potential, but it really disappointed me in the end.

But even so, I decided to watch this new series, the sequel to the first show. And dear god it has surpassed the first series by a thousand miles! I couldn't be happier with it! This new show is definitely more exciting, productive and interesting than ... the first one by far!


Story: 9 (Great)

If you've watched the first series, you'll know that the main character is Rikuo, who is 1/4 Youkai (demon) and is chosen to be the successor of the Nura Clan. The original series does an excellent job of making us want more...and never giving us what we want. Sorry, but it's true. Whenever there was a fight starting, the bad guys would just retreat after two minutes or so, making the audience have to wait longer just to see the same looping battle over again. That is definitely part of the reason I disliked the first series after only a few episodes (I didn't hate it, but it wasn't up to my expectations).

But mostly what made me angry about it was the serious lack of character development from beginning to end. Rikuo was constantly saying he didn't want to be the successor, to the point that it was really annoying. He also didn't fight his own battles very well. It was quite ridiculous.

Now that I've briefly covered the first series. I'm happy to say that this second series is one of the greatest step-ups from any prequel I've seen. With only a few episodes, I've become hooked and will most definitely watch it until the end. Rikuo has already shown how badass he can become in Youkai form and the shounen-style battles have already gone beyond my expectations!

In the beginning of the show, we get to see Rikuo as a kid, which seemed a bit boring for a little while but gradually became more interesting. It did give a bit more insight to how Rikuo acted as a child, which is basically the same as he acts now, except that he loved Youkai as a child and wanted everyone to love them as well. But now he hides the fact that Youkai exist, for the obvious reasons, because nobody will believe him.

To be brief, if you disliked the first series story as much as I did, don't think that this second one will be the same at all. It is a great improvement and definitely a must-watch for Shounen-anime fans!


Art: 9 (Great)

The art is still pretty much the same as it was in the first series. Even though the story in the first one wasn't nearly as good as it could have been, the art was still spectacular, and still is. However, I feel like even NnM 2 has better art than the first because it is a bit more eerie and intense.
Sometimes in anime we see some really awesome fights; but having a cool fight in broad daylight with bright colours swarming all around sometimes can kill the intensity of a fight (sometimes, not always). Which is why NnM 2 is definitely at the top with the art.

The first few fights we see take place just as the sun starts to go down or late at night (for obvious reasons, because Rikuo can only turn into a demon at night). It really grabs our attention with the moonlight glow and then of course the additional bright neon attacks that really light up the scene for a few brief moments.

Just having a dark lit style makes NnM 2 different from general shounen animes, which is something that I can always look forward to and admire.


Sound: 8 (Very Good)

There are some very "big names" in this show, or rather, very popular voice actors and actresses doing the voices of the characters.

For starters, we have Fukuyama Jun as Rikuo. He has been in, well, just about everything. He's extremely famous and has done hundreds of voice roles (ranked number 3 on top favorite people for MyAnimeList). He is very talented and knows how to sound wimpy or epic for when the time is right of course. He does both Rikuo's somewhat higher pitched, young child's voice AND the voice of his demon side. Even though that doesn't sound totally amazing when said, the difference in voices is quite drastic, and it's impressive that he can do both of them so perfectly.

Next we have Hirano Aya as Ienaga Kana. Also a very popular voice actress, in fact, she is ranked number 1 on top favorite people for MAL. She has also done hundreds of voice acting parts, in other words, she's really good. Kana's character may not be my favorite, but her voice is spectacular. She has the right emotions and most importantly the right 'tone'. I am not always a huge fan of the high pitched and whiny high school anime girls just because their voices make me want to scratch my ears off. Hirano Aya has a beautiful medium voice, not too low and definitely not too high.

Next we have Keikain Yura voiced by Maeda Ai, who is quite the opposite of the previous two. She has barely been in any shows worth mentioning and rarely has been the main character in shows. But for NnM and NnM 2 I really think they picked the right person for Keikain Yura. She is similar to Hirano Aya because she has a good medium voice but unlike Hirano, she doesn't always capture the perfect emotion needed for the scene

Lastly we have Oikawa Tsurara (Yuki Onna), yet again another famous voice actress (ranked number 8 on top favorites). I believe that she purposely changed her voice to fit Yuki Onna, because it is obviously not her regular voice, and it definitely fits Yuki Onna, but either way it can annoy me sometimes. Oikawa is talented and has a great voice, but the character voice that she has in this show isn't that amazing.

Overall the sound (voice acting) in this show is great to listen to, and the creators definitely picked the right people for the main characters.


Character: 8 (Very Good)

I mentioned earlier that the character development in the first series wasn't the greatest, in fact it seemed to spiral backwards with development rather than pushing forward. NnM 2 took a huge leap in the very beginning and is managing to make up in character development that the first series lacked.

Nura Rikuo - I have come to love his character in just a short while because of how much he has stepped up since the first series. He isn't being nearly as whiny and annoying as he was before. He still hesitates and disagrees with the Youkai ways, but is more willing to accept things now and is wanting to become stronger which makes him so much better.

Ienaga Kana - I am still torn between liking Kana and hating her. The thing I like about her is that she is brave and cares about her friends a lot, but what I dislike is her inability to act. But maybe I'm being too harsh, because she IS human and is pretty much in the dark when it comes to Youkai. She is also kind of oblivious; some things that should be really easy to notice go right past her without much thought, which is probably why she is so 'in the dark' about demons and such. So there's good and bad to her character.

Keikain Yura - In the first Nurarihyon no Mago, I couldn't stand her character. She believed herself to be strong and she showed a bit of potential, but in the end she was pretty much just a weak human being. That was in the first one. The second series has really showed how amazing she can be and shows how strong she really is. Even though she does of course have a few moments of weakness and ends up being on the sidelines, she is still doing much better than the first series where it was mostly just painful to watch her fight.

Oikawa Tsurara (Yuki Onna) - In the first series and even now, Yuki Onna has showed a lot of potential, but has always seemed to fall short in one way or another. She hasn't changed a whole lot from beginning to end. Basically all she has shown that she can do is throw some ice around and call out to Rikuo. Hopefully she will improve by the end of the series, but for now she is mostly a sideline character.

One of the best things about this second season is that we get to see Rikuo's grandpa a lot more in flashbacks and such. He plays a much bigger role than before. In the first season, all we really knew was that he was the leader of the Yokai at one point, but that's about it. There was no history lesson given to the audience at all, which was part of what made the first one so uneventful. NnM 2 gives a great insight to what happened in the past, and what's surprising is that the flashbacks aren't boring!
Come on, in several animes, there's a flashback that makes us all want to fall asleep because we couldn't care less about it. With this show, I actually want to learn more about what happened because it is so interesting and exciting!

Anyone ever wonder what happened to Rikuo's dad? That's something that was never really explained in the first series. Well, I won't give any spoilers of course, but you DO find out what really happened. Another plot progession that makes this series amazing!

There are definitely some new characters and enemies to be excited about, such as Yura's brother, who happens to be a huge jerk. And most of all, the enemies look more promising than the first series where the bad guys were pretty lame and not threatening.


Enjoyment: 9 (Great)

I am always looking for some new exciting shows to watch. Nurarihyon no Mago may not have fulfilled that want at all, but Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou is at my expectation level for a good, interesting anime.

Art and Sound are good things to have high scores on, but for me personally, my enjoyment is all based on the Story and Character, that is what matters the most when it comes to a good anime. And since I think both of those are pretty outstanding, my enjoyment is of course a high number as well.


Overall: 9 (Great)

I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a great show to watch. If you haven't seen the first, I won't tell you to go watch it, because that was quite painful for me personally. You can probably get away with starting Nurarihyon no Mago 2 and still get what's going on.

Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou is better than the first series in every way possible, if you've seen the first and haven't started the second, definitely give it a shot, you might find that you really love it!

"Can a girl enjoy a shounen-horror-demon-themed-anime?" I ask "Why not?"Sennen Makyou is the kind of second season that makes an anime outstanding. It drove away all the uneasy feelings the first season left, and strongly consolidated into one of my favorites. If I have to say more, I really want to read the manga after this.

//WARNING: This review will compare a lot first and second season of Nurarihyon. Lazy readers better go to conclusion. Sorry if I´m way too biased for the awesomeness of this anime//

Story (10):
SM has one of the most consolidated stories you´ll ever see. All the points that didn´t make much ... sense on the first season are fully explained here. The consolidation of the Nura Clan, the beginning of the First Nigh Parade of One Hundred Demons, Nurarihyon´s personality and, if I may add, awesomeness (not sure that word exists, but let´s think it does) and such are included here. The director knew how to make a strongly-story-based series and drove the anime with quality, taking care of the plot so there weren´t any holes. The episode director knew what was on his hands, and, as it is, produced a linear sequence, where the flashbacks and the real-time happenings were clearly separated and the cliffhangers were right placed( they still were annoying. I mean, who likes cliffhangers?) Also, they did a good transition into a more comedy-driven series than in the 1st season. The remarks and reactions felt as many other anime´s we´ve seen, but it didn´t damage the quality of the show as a hole. If so, it added to it a little more of what it lacked before.

We find out a lot more about Rikuo´s family and encounter truly hateful villains. Not the ones who have a valid reason to do evil as it seem to be on vogue. Even after you know their reasons, they keep on being as wicked and insane as ever. But try not to get way too ahead of yourselves on this matter, as there is more than meets the eyel on the villain´ s side.

Characters (10)
SM shows that characters depth is as important as the plot. What I truly liked on this season is that Rikuo´s both personalities became one. His speech still changes as drastically as in the first season when it comes to the Nigh Version, but now it really feels like him. No matter if he is polite or uses a yakuza-slang, he is himself. That is, on my opinion, a huge success on what it represented his character. He becames more of a shounen MC : his remarks, his bratty attitude when he faces his superiors, the way he takes things head-on, his compassion of the wrong-and-tricked-onto-it-doers, and a lot more of things give him that shounen hero feeling. Even so, Rikuo keeps his originality as a character, being honest, unhesitant and taking his own decisions. He behaves as the virtuous child who was presented upon us since the beginning, and that is truly appreciated.

In reference to the rest of the cast, I will be briefer. The one who´s gotten more development from the female cast is Yura Kekain, as she´s a MC on this season. She´s gotten a lot more depth in plot and story matters as before and has gained more attention than before (her Kyoto-slang is as funny as always). In the case of Tsurara, her feelingstowards Rikuo have evolved from the blind faith to something more deep and romantic. Now that Rikuo´s gotten more serious, she finds herself on the need to redefine her role as a member of his Night Parade. This happens to other members, namely Kurotabo, Aotabo, and Kubinashi. Everyone starts realizing that Rikuo doesn´t need to be protected, but rather to be trusted and accompanied. Kana doesn´t get as much spotlight, and there´s a point where you wonder what happened with her, as she went from main to side-character.


Music
Yes, I´m going to be honest. What drove me to Nurarihyon no Mago was the 2nd opening of Sennen Makyou. I found it somewhere which name I can´t remember anymore (not that it matters now). L.M.C is a band that knows how to make the right songs for the right story-arcs. They did a great job on Reborn! (first time I heard of them) and they keep on being a reference when it comes to Theme songs. Both OP sequences were awesome, where the second one is the best. Kataze *Size does a good job on the ED sequences, and here I recommend once again the second one. The BGM was beautiful made and placed, being sometimes as darker as it was needed, but with beautiful pieces thrown here and there.

Art (10)
The best! They took the right amount of light and dark, the right colors and tones to each of the parts. Even the blood looked real, and we all know how hard it is to find real looking blood on some series. The night and day sides of the story were well done, and the art took a huge advance from what it was before. Is as you go through the art evolution of the mangaka, which is a plus to this series.

Enjoyment (10)
My most sincere regards to the team which created and gave life to this season. Now that I finished this anime I know I took the right decision when I decided to watch it and I´m even taking into consideration reading the manga. Iit takes a good plot and characters to make a horror-hating girl like me to enjoy this. My camp of genres has broadened a little after this. I sincerely encourage anyone to watch this, be it you like the genre or not.

Conclusion
+the art is more refined. It has the right color palette and tones,
+both OP and ED sequences as the BGM are awesome,
+more main characters,
+development and depth in both the MC as SC (side-characters),
+more comedy,
+non-holes plot
+better than the prequel.
To you who´s read till the end of this biased review of a well-produced-shounen-series-lover girl as me, I encourage you to watch this anime. I found it as a piece of 24 episodes that shouldn´t be missed.I myself can´t wait anymore for the OVA that comes on December.

Here you can see the true meaning of underrated anime.

Starting here, i need to say that first season wasn't really good. But differently from most people i've enjoyed it pretty much specially because of Rikuo's growth. When i watched it i could see a completely different person from the beggining, with more courage to fight and other things.

However in season 2 i felt like the season one was completely shit. Here you have more fights, more strong villains, more ACTION! If the first season could be boring sometimes for being "slow" the second one is completely different! Training, fights, Rikuo's father story, Nurarihyon story... This ... couldn't be better.

The art on this is pretty solid. The animation itself isn't the best one but is good. Is pretty well done in some scenes. (9/10)

The sound is exceptional. Both openings gave me goosebumps and the soundtracks are amazing. Fits the series really well (10/10)

The best thing in Nurarihyon no Mago is that every character of the Night Parade has importance. Don't really mind if it's weak or strong, but everyone of them appear being important. The enemies are way better and strong of the first season. Rikuo as the leader needs to surpass himself to fight against them which makes this even better, Rikuo needs to grow up one more time. The only thing that could appear more is the humans friends, but this isn't really a problem (10/10)

Nura was one of the series that entered me on the anime world. I guess it was one of my first, maybe after Naruto and FMA. But i need to say that i've rewatched it and i felt like it was my first time watching. I've truly enjoyed it and hope that my little review show you guys a bit of how amazing this is.

The only thing that makes me sad about this is because we don't have season 3... Maybe one day.

Overall: 9/10

I liked the first season of Nurarihyon. It wasn’t great, but it was enjoyable. I was hoping for comparable quality from the second season, and at first I thought I would get it. I was wrong.

I think my biggest problem with this show is that it takes forever to get to the point. I don’t mind that at all with shows that only vaguely hint that something might happen and refuse to tell you what it is until it does. With this show, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen most of the way through. ... Maybe I’m just losing patience with entertainment made primarily for kids, but seriously, I got bored.

This show starts out doing something a little different from usual, but by its end it has changed (slightly) into something totally formula. I could hardly sit through an episode at a time. When I did finally sit down and try to force myself to finish it, I got to the point where the birth happens, paused the show, and started looking for reviews. I couldn’t find any negative ones so I decided mine could be the first.

Okay, so this isn’t really negative per se, but all the people clicking “not helpful” just because they don’t like what I have to say will see it that way. What I’m actually saying is that this show is pretty mediocre overall. If you don’t expect much you probably won’t be disappointed.

oh my... this is one of the series that surpasses the prequel!!!!

it is action packed with much excitement and great characters. The Nura clan is one yokai clan with lovable but lethal characters. I love Kubinashi, Kappa and Tsurara!!! I just find the ending a bit of WTF!! i did not like how it ended. it should be something more adrenaline pumping sort of ending which would led us to anticipate for season 3 or even maybe another scheme to make us demand for a new season.

That feeling when you are so pump up with the climax but then stopped in an instant?! That's just ... not it!!!

But it ended fairly, i suppose. and i would love it if they had season 3...

Nurarihyon no Mago ~Sennen Makyou~ is indeed the continuation-- the second season of Nurarihyon no Mago, but this season really differs in overall story and intensity. While you're just gonna stay relaxed and breathing normally watching the first, wait until you actually start watching the second!

The story itself is way better than the first. The first one always focuses on bunch of kids on their adventure on searching yokais, and that sucks. The battles themselves didn't have much of a meaning and many of them were just wall displays-- they ended so quickly without any tension. Everything just remained unclear there and leaves us into ... satisfaction. Well then, trust me, you'll get the 180 degrees different feeling in this second season. Since the very first catchy episode, we've been hooked straight to the main, whole point of this season. While the first doesn't have any main goal to achieve, the second one really does. The battles were amusing and completely different from the first one that lacked of almost everything needed in a shonen series. And all the aspects of this story was described well, beautifully... and when the story ended, they didn't left us confused. My personal best part was Rihan's story.... no spoilers coming out from my mouth though.

The art is slightly different from the first season, and it improved in a good way of course. The fights were drawn and animated quite well, got to admit.

The sound... what to say, the seiyuus were outstanding. We've got FukuJun for our main character that is a professional seiyuu, has played hundreds of roles, and is able to achieve that high because of his awesome voice and great understanding of the characters. It's such a shame that we couldn't get much of Aya Hirano's cute voice in Kana but at least Yura and her dialect was pretty entertaining. The opening and ending were cool as well. Then.... the BGMs quite fit the situations. The only thing that disappoints me was that they change Natto Kozo's seiyuu.. and he totally lost his cuteness. *le cries*

To me, character is one of the best part in this series besides the plot itself. The characters changed so much from the first season, where they didn't have much of a personality. As for Rikuo, i was so impressed, he was completely different from how he was on the first season. He matures a lot in personality, he becomes braver and more competent as a leader, he came to agree with his fate and decided to work himself out to be better. Aaand what got me stunned the most is how Night Rikuo changed. In the first season, he was shown as a ruthless, cold, and inapproachable scary yokai. But here, we got to know his soft side. He becomes more humanly and he himself finally shows some weaknesses, that we didn't got to know in the first season (well, one of the reasons for us to relate to the character is when the characters are weak. If they're so, duh, PERFECT, all we can do is just staring at him in awe, nothing more). And he finally shows some realistic way on learning-- what i meant was how he trained to be a better person, something that the first didn't offer much.

Aside from Rikuo's overflowing coolness coming from the 2nd season, the supporting characters were also getting cooler and have some stronger roles in this season. Yura, especially, has gotten much stronger, unlike her first appearance that was so..... pathetic that it hurts just to watch her fighting, and seconds later she loses. Yura is also getting more humanlike here, she has shown some of her alter-personality like the tsundere her. Way to go.

Well... this series was really enjoyable, either the first or the second season. Duh, it's a series with cool boys, fights, and ghosts. But if you're craving for a more intense and heartpounding one, be sure to watch the second. Well, you could just watch the second and ignore the first but i think it's better to watch both of them, so you could have some more understanding and could relate better to the story.

Exceptional!! For the people who are reading this your probably sick of hearing this but i'll say it anyway. THE 1ST SEASON WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT, but to be expected! However it did serve its purpose... It introduced all the characters need to know and what the plot may include. However some people have expected something else, but I found it worth while to watch. The first season started slow that why people hate it.

However, if you are still deciding whether to go on and watch this season, I say go for it! You wont go wrong. The story has more depth, more violence, and ... more exciting battles. Rikou gets trained, and grow stronger as the series progress. The only bad part about this season is that are a couple of "mainstream fillers." Like the episode about some of the Yokai's past, although it may serve the purpose of getting to know more about their character.. maybe to hint that something may happen to them in the near future or just to in depth our knowledge of them since they were there since season 1.
Also the producers seems to prolong the story and cramp a lot of info at the end (last 3 episodes)

With the ending provided, it is clearly stated that there will be a season 3! Looking forward to it.

Truth to be told, season one is indicated to aim for shoujo genre but maybe it didn't make the result the producers were hoping for thus the season season became to aim for shounen genre. Which thus made a bit hit! and I salute to those supported the decision!
If your looking for a similar series to this, I would recommend Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn. It is very similar to this series. Main character is weak and pathetic at first and then become stronger and cool. The outline for both stories are similar.

Overall, if you actually read my review, then my final thought are: this season is fantastic, if you haven't watched season one, it's okay! The two isn't really related very much, but to get more of a feel for the characters its recommended and hope you enjoyed as much as i did! Including the feeling of the opening of season 3!

One of the best Shounen Anime of 2011 no doubt. Do yourself a favor and forget about the 1st season; that piece of shit does not exist.

If you're still in your teens (damn you) and love shounen stuff, then this will feel like a masterpiece to you. If you're old like me (:sadface:) then this 2nd season will make you want to go back to being prepubescent boy again. ^.^

Story:
On the surface, the plot may seem generic to most viewers (ie. good guys try to stop bad guys from trying to take over the world). However, the story behind each characters from different factions ... is very deep/interesting/engaging making the plot much more interesting.

Characters:
This is the shining point of this anime. You'll find yourself immersed in each character and their backgrounds. As I've said before, they're very deep and mesmerizing.

Sound:
OP and ED songs were nothing to write home about, but INS and sound effects were great.

Animation/Art:
Very fluid and easy/fun to watch. Fighting scenes were exceptional.

Overall:
Great Anime with deep backstory and great art/anime/character design. It's over 9000 times better than piece of shit 1st season. It doesn't matter if you hated or loved first season because this 2nd season is a different kind of animal. If it's worth the watch for an old man like me, then you'll have no regret picking this one up.

After completing the whole season 1 and season 2, I have gotta say that the clear difference between season 1 and 2 , is that the 1st season has lots of comedy side however in season 2, the plot thickens and intensify which is actually good.

I will be giving this story 9/10 but the plot can still be further developed like why is the night so long? I am actually surprised that rikuo classmates are not going on a yokai journey since like they are so interested in them which always put themselves in danger. Not to mention, kana chan which is seemingly rikuo ... love interest is not really developed in season 2 which is kinda bad yeah.

For the art of this anime, I will be giving it a 10, I mean there is nothing to fault, yokai or ohmyouji are all drawn so well that you can't really choose which one is the best in their looks which is good!

For the sound... I kinda don't like the opening and closing songs since its so easily forgettable... other than that, the voice acting are really intrigue that they go deep into the character which is good! Hence, I will be giving it a 9/10!

For character development, I will be giving it a 9, yes they do develop rikuo but as for sub plot character, 2/3 yokai have been developed but the human side has been neglected which i think can be done better... yeap.

As I certainly do enjoy this anime a lot, I will be giving it a 10/10 for both the enjoyment and overall.

If you like anime that will give you excitement,action,thrill, and awesomeness. this anime is the one for you!

While watching this anime, some moments give me goosebumps. you cant help but think "how did he do that?!", "wow that was unexpected!", "impossible!".

well for me that is. if i put this anime in one word, that would be "AWESOME!"

now lets get to the review:

Nurarihyon no mago: sennen no makyou

... Story: ( 9 / 10 )
The story was Great. sometimes it get a little boring part where there's talking. but most of the action will make you go "WOW". Unlike the first season they give this one heavy action scenes. The main story will give you a urge to watch episode by episode none stop!.There is so much unexpected turn of events. The time i watched the last episode it give me questions in mind..(hopefully there's season 3 ^^)

Art: ( 9 / 10 )
The art work was great, sometimes the details are off but over all the art is just right for a shounen anime!

Sound ( 10/ 10 )
Well nothing to say about the sound it's just normal. The Music is suited for the theme.

Characters: ( 9 / 10 )
The Characters development was GREAT. Main character was part Cool and normal. Funny supporting characters, Awesome Clan members, unexpected Enemy. Overall its a great bunch.

Overall: ( 9 / 10 )
Its a great shounen anime if you want action and coolness., for me it's a 9 out of 10 ^^

I'm Hoping for another season ^^

A good anime on its own but as a sequel it took a really wrong direction.

The first season was really something special with its mix of romance, human life and youkai world. This anime, however, ditched all that and became all about the youkai world and strongly resembles your typical shounen battle anime.
Nothing wrong with that, but after watching the first season I was really hoping for more of the same and thus I'm really disappointed.

The main characters human friends went from main characters to side characters which was the biggest downer for me.

The romance aspect was cut down to almost none existent.

The ... main character's personality was changed from Mary Sue to more appropriate for 12-year old. Which is not a bad thing if it was like that from the beginning. But changing it in the middle of the story is not something I'd like to see.

And last, everything deemed to be strong in the first season turned out to really be kinda weak. This is a really common thing in shounen battle animes and really hits the point home why I didn't like this season as much as the last.

To sum up again, this season is fundamentally different from the first season and went, I think, in all the wrong directions. Other than that, it was a solid battle shounen anime.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER THAT IS CLEARLY LABELLED
Quite a number of years late to the party, but here we go. The show is a well produced piece of shounen that has some glaring issues that I believe will make or break it for some people. Here's where it did for me:

Voice Acting:
The main character's - Rikuo - VA is terrible - for both seasons (I watched the subbed version). You obviously tell how out of his voice range he was doing yokai form. It has the same strain a lot of female voices have when they're doing a "deep manly" voice. The only time ... I can take him seriously is when the character is in a heightened emotional state. Anytime he's trying to be "cool" there's nothing but cringe. That being said - the emotional expression is very good.
Aside from Rikuo, Kana, and Yura, however, the voice acting here is great.

Power Level:
The whole season seems to be plagued by the power level of the previous one. Because they set the power level of the main character so high in season 1, the writer(s) had to magically power up every other supporting character to a level beyond his. This is done multiple times - with the consistent excuse being "WOW! THIS IS HIS/HER TRUE POWER?!!?!? WOAH." Fights are also terrible power level-wise, trading consistency for spectacle. I believe the following example is necessary to let you see whether or not you can withstand the show: *Spoiler-ish Alert****** A character literally razes a city in a single swing, and then fails to kill anybody in the next one (It was a direct hit on multiple targets). We're shown that the first swing takes out multi-story buildings, but even the the most worthless of mooks is barely scratched. The rooftop the character is aiming at also survives the blast despite being made of wood.******Spoiler-ish Alert*

Abuse of the Talking is a Free Action trope:
This is a trope that a lot of shows use. Here it's used during the worst moments to set up a backstory flashback/exposition dump during every single fight.

Writing:
The story is incapable of integrating Rikuo's human and yokai life. His human friends are all but dropped and play no significant role outside of: stay inside where it's safe and appear only for maybe 5 minutes because we need piss-poor comedic relief. There's also this weird need to give non-characters that have an alright design screen-time for no reason; they're lacking in any personality traits that make them distinguishable when removed from their shells.
I'd say the best part of the season was the 2 episode flashback/backstory thing near the beginning.

Sound:
The openings and closing songs aren't as good as season 1. The score is still amazing however. I don't really know how to describe it as I'm not a musician, but I'd call it... swanky...? The sound design team is also still top notch.

Art:
It's beautiful; the character designs are cool, and the animation is smooth. The backdrops vary in quality, but are typically very good as well.

I have to admit. Nurarihyon no Mago was pretty disappointing for me since it didn't feel interesting. Heck I dropped out of it a few time before I finally watched the whole thing. So when I saw Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou, I wasn't too happy, but I noticed how the cover didn't have Rikou in his human form, only his youkai form along with his clan and some new characters and I gave it a try. Believe me, I have no regrets making that decision.

Story: This is definitely a lot better than the first season. We have more background information, there is a ... specific plot starting from episode 1, just perfect. The villain everything is not what you expect. There isn't exactly the typical cliché of "protagonist loosing, remembers something, gets power up, wins". It's a little like that, but at some parts where you expect the character to win, NOPE! It's just... Brilliant. The story got me hooked once I started it and that is something not a lot of anime can make me do.

Art: Everyone has their own opinion for this category, but I think the art is pretty good. It's not over-the-top detailed nor very simple. The designs of the characters are quite unique like the three heirs. They look similar, but have something different from each other as well.

Sound: I love the soundtrack in this. Every time something epic is going to happen, you'll know its going to happen because of the soundtrack. The soundtrack also makes the whole series a lot better with the tension and mythical mood to it. The openings and endings are pretty good as well.

Character: Definitely a lot more character changes in this. For example, the first villain. You think they're only this to take over the world and all of youkai and is planning something that will bring darkness to everyone. But when you realize the whole story, you feel bad for her and understand why she did it in the first place. Another thing that I loved was how Rikou and his clan is forming a stronger bond throughout the story. Rikou managed to form a bond stronger than before in the end with everyon, even the Tono Yokais.

Enjoyment: This was definitely entertaining. I don't know how much times I re-watched this and never get bored. Nuff said.

Overall: This is one of those "must watch before you die" animes.

I really got into this anime because I was looking for something short to watch that was on Netflix. After having seen all the other good ones that Netflix had to offer, I kinda fell to this one as a last resort, and it is just fine (6/10) - nothing too special, nothing too bad either.

The story is all over the place - The overall plot follows Rikuo Nurarihyon, a young yokai leader, who tries to bring his demon clan (who actually helps people rather than hurt them) to overcome the evil Hagorome Gitsune, the evil leader of the Tokyo demon clan. The story ... seems pretty easy to follow on the surface, but man do they manage to make it confusing in the beginning. Since Rikuo, Rinan (his father), and Nurarihyon (his grandfather) all look pretty similar AND the show simultaneously shows their stories without really telling us who is who, I genuinely thought that these three people were the same people for around seven or eight episodes. It wasn't until the end of the show until the anime really clears up (and it actually gets pretty interesting) and I was like "Oh.... that makes sense."

Art and sound - Pretty standard for a 2011 anime - again, nothing really fantastic, nothing really bad either. The endings are actually quite weird to be honest.

Character and enjoyment - I would give characters and enjoyment a solid (7/10) only because it gets pretty good towards the second arc (when they invade Tokyo). I am actually amazed at relatively small shows like this one covering a nice array of characters and dedicating a solid time to each of them. My favorite character is actually Nurarihyon in his youth - he is untouchably slick. Enjoyment stems from good characters for me, so also a nice (7/10).

I did not watch the prequel, nor do I intend to. This anime was definitely not good enough to convince me to spend time to backtrack. Also, from other fellow reviews, it would appear that this one is better anyway.

Overall Rating: its a decent waste of time - if you are in the same boat as me (traveling with a Netflix account and need to download for offline viewing), then its not a bad choice.

There’s a long review coming…………

About the STORY
There are major different revelations from the past and back stories of the main characters. This really makes the storyline way more interesting than the previous season. There is even a look back at the love story of Rikuo’s grandparents. There are exciting mysteries to be revealed all throughout the series until its ending. There are more exciting yokai yakuza clan’s fights over territories or who’s the strongest. And this time, it genuinely feels like one. If we have seen stories about characters using chakras and reiatsus during battles; this time we will see characters using “fear” in order ... to fight which only befitting for a story about yokai. Using chakras for ninjas, reiatsus for shinigamis and fear for yokais. The action is a lot more exciting. The techniques are also in details. These improvements really make the series truthfully an action series as before was not really that convincing. Again, there are another interesting trivia about Japanese folklores.

About the CHARACTERS
It is given that sequels always have new characters. From villains to allies to past characters; there are new interesting characters which really make the series more interesting. There are a huge number of new interesting yokai and ayakashi. As there are revelations from the past, we get to see some of Nurarihyon’s and Rihan’s (Nurarihyon’s son and Rikuo’s father) interesting back stories. And it’s really fascinating to see the three (Nurarihyon, Rijhan, and Rikuo) appeared together. They even sparred together. Compared to the villains before, the antagonists in this sequel are more powerful and made more irritating. It is also rare to see a female antagonist go against a male protagonist particularly if it’s a shounen series. It’s kind of refreshing. And another thing, it’s kind of weird that the female antagonist is fighting while holding a school bag.

About NURA RIKUO
There’s also a major character development for Rikuo which makes him likeable and memorable compared from the last season where his character was not. His character improves a lot and becomes far more interesting. If in the previous one it wasn’t convincing if Rikuo was really the leader but this time, he’s acting more leader-like. He was undecided and despises his yokai side before, but this time he finally learns to accept that his both human and ayakashi which really shows how matured he has become. It also makes him cooler. He’s not the typical protagonist who would always shoulder everything or the self-righteous hero type. He literally trusts his subordinates and knows that he needs them which no doubt makes his character likeable.

About the ANIMATION and SOUND
It hasn’t been that long since the season one so it is extremely surprising that the animation improve this much. The fight scenes are more in details which really makes every action scenes exciting and anticipating. The illustrations and character designs are more refined. The details in the “fear” aura are interesting. It’s really just like using chakra and reiatsu. As always the sounds is so perfect for a story about yakuza and yokai.

About the ENJOYMENT
It is no doubt that this is far better from the previous season. Somehow, it’s kind of unexplainable. It feels like they are two different series. From storyline to characters to fight scenes to animation to sounds; every element of the series improves tremendously. It’s not boring anymore and there are no longer dull moments. The back story of Nurarihyon made me love his character even more. He’s so cool and interesting. Now, this is more like a story about battles between groups with strong members. This is definitely making me like stories about team, group, crew, and gang fights even more. I just love stories that don’t let just one character to fight. The ending is a little bit of disappointing but in a greater note, at least this obviously means there should be a sequel which I prefer than having it really ends here.

Criteria
Story: 8
Season 2 of Nurarihyon no Mago leads a very similar story to that of season 1 in the sense that Nura Rikou is still battling between his human blood and his demon blood except in season 2 he is more aware and more accepting of his demon blood than he was in season 1. Season 2 of Nurarihyon no Mago can also be described as a ‘Demon War Arc’ as that is what it essentially is a war between two factions of demons. Tono Yokai vs Kyoto Yokai.
In season 2 they also address the specific powers and abilities used by demons, that ... being ‘Fear’, and the many different ways this ability can be used.

Ending: 8.5
The final episode of Nurarihyon no Mago really does go out with a bang, leaving us satisfied yet also wanting more. With many plot twist that arise in the final episodes of Nurarihyon no Mago its gets quite hard to keep up and fortunately it does all make sense. It is somewhat hard to review this ending without spoiling it so all I can really say is that ‘you get what you pay for’ i.e the ending we want and deserve.

Solid Plot: 8
Even with the numerous plot twists towards the end of season 2 the plot still does stay consistent and flows smoothly. There a very few instances where you find scenes not relating to the plot and luckily there were not entire episodes that also strayed from the main plot.

Moral: 8.5
The moral of season 2 is the same as that of season 1 except just elaborated a little more in detail.
“The moral can really be seen as analogy more than anything; with Nura Rikuo constantly preaching for equality between demons and humans and that he will treat both their crimes and achievements equally. This can be compared to both Equality throughout the human race, addressing factors such as racism, and equality throughout genders, i.e male and female. Even though humans and demons differ, Nura Rikuo still wishes to treat them both with an equal amount of respect and fairness; which can be compared to the fact that even though there are a lot of differences amongst humanity we should still treat each other with the same amount of respect and fairness.”

Sense: 8
Thankfully in season 2 they get rid of the ‘let your enemy go’ mentality the characters had in season 1. In season 2 enemies are hunted down and destroyed. Apart from that most of everything made sense in season 2 except for the one thing that was in season 1 that remained in season 2, that being when allies or enemies or cut or wounded, the wound does not match with the cut i.e if someone’s arm is cut clean off, it does not show their arm being cut clean off, it only shows a very deep wound, this happens more in the case of allies than enemies but it is still quite annoying.

Music: 8
The music in season 2 I found to way outshine that of season 1. The music had more a presence and I found it to be more ‘epic’. The music also helped to emphasize the mood of a scene a lot more than that of season 1’s music.

Art: 8.5
Again the same as in season 1 the art style remained the same with not a lot of noticeable changes. The only real noticeable change is that from Tono to Kyoto, the scenery in Kyoto being a lot darker than that in Tono.
With that said though I did really like the art and art style of Nurarihyon no Mago, both the way the scenery and characters where drawn where amazing. I could not find any noticeable similarities between characters which is a great upside to any Anime.

Characters: 8.5
The characters where absolutely great seeing now they did have more of a presence as each of Nura Rikuo’s main guards were given their own backstory. This helps the audience to relate with the characters and give the characters themselves a greater atmosphere around them, making the character actual characters and not just walking and talking mannequins.

Boredom/Captivation Scale: 8
With there being a lot more highpoints in season 2 of Nurarihyon no Mago than there where in season 1 than off course I would enjoy it a lot more than I did season 1, the action scenes actually lasted longer than 30 seconds and sometimes even extended to episodes. Retaining the same style of action featuring all different types of abilities and techniques season 2 was all the more enjoyable. All in all I can honestly say that there were very little low points with season 2 and found myself liking it a lot.

Personal Score: 8.5
Not the final question, that being would I recommend this anime….Hell Yes! If you’re a fan of plot twists, action, abilities and all other manner of supernatural things than this anime is right up your alley.


Genres
Action: 8.5
The action scenes actually lasted longer than 30 seconds and sometimes even extended to episodes. Retaining the same style of action featuring all different types of abilities and techniques season 2 was all the more enjoyable.

Abilities/Powers/Techniques: 8.5
Nurarihyon no Mago is jam packed with all 3 abilities, powers and techniques. With things like martial arts to water bending and super strength Nurarihyon no Mago fills these criteria well.

Super Moves: 7.5
There were not many super moves in Nurarihyon no Mago but when there was they were on a grand scale making them worthwhile.

Supernatural: 7.5
Even though they don’t technically address the factor of there being a heaven if there is a hell there is a demon that is a messenger from god and acts as if he is a divine demon. So overall the supernatural element of season 2 is good.

Demons: 9
The demon factor for Nurarihyon no Mago was done incredibly well as most demons tend not to look alike and there is an incredibly large array of demons.

this is probably one of the most underrated anime i've ever seen. I loved this anime easily one of all time favorites. I just loved the story and characters so much, way better than the first season (that i also really enjoyed) the fight scenes in this seasons were just awesome and the character backstories as well.

This anime has a really cool 2000s feel to it but it aged great. ths series kind of reminds me of bleach, theres shinigamis, demons, and awesome sword fights.

Idk i just love this anime so much lol makes me feel good when i think about it.

Man where to start, Nurarihyon no mago is one of my all time favorite animes and it's so underrated. I luv the characters, the art, the story and the fights. Nurarihyon no mago is kinda similar to Bleach just more supernatural. It has yokia, demons and awesome fight scenes.

I luv the main character and his goals he 1/4 yokia but instead of harming people he wants to protect everyone

I luv the fights and the cast of characters that help nura on his journey

Overall this is a great series which is super underrated and definitely worth the watch it's way better than most ... shouens of it's time and even today.

This second season somehow is way better than the already great season 1 and it's just way better.

I said it before and I will say it again: Nurarihyon is a very sexy Yokai! In Season 2, we even get 3 Nurarihyon! woohoo!

Anyway, i'll make this short. In my opinion, Season 2 is better. I know I scored them the same but I guess i like the theme of the story here.

Season 1 concentrated on the intros and character build-up. Season 2 will be more action, some background/history and more characters. If season 1 was kinda light/funny, season 2 is all business since it is more serious.

The Good:
- Nura Rihan, Nura Rikuo, Nurarihyon
- All Action, Less Kana
... - Stronger villains

The Bad:
- Very good beginning but it kinda went downhill
- Story feels rushed after eps10
- Ended abruptly

Recommended to those who watched and who are interested to watch Season 1. Looking forward to Season 3! :)

After finishing season one of Nurarihyon no Mago, I was little bored, because the Main character was a coward, and I didn't like him. Even so, I decided to watch this new series. But in the second season, we saw that the main character is wiser and stronger, it was quite different from before. He became a hero, who wants to protect people and Youkais (Demons+, so for me this anime became from boring to pretty good. If you are a fan of anime, like zero to hero, this is the anime for you. This anime is one of the best Shounen Anime ... of 2011. I've enjoyed it and hope that my little review shows you a bit of how good this is. The saddest thing is that there isn't a third season.