Nanbaka's second season starts off with an episode that restates a certain quote and reinforces the meaning of this quote multiple times during the episode - "Nanbaka is a gag anime", Nanbaka has always been at its best when it's portraying the daily lives of our eccentric innmates and guards of Building 13 in all their fun, frolic, heavily contrasted colors, sparkles and comedic glory. The occasional appearance of characters from other buildings adds some nice diversity to the regular formula delivering an overall fun and enjoyable experience. After a first episode that seemed to draw focus to the show's best element, it felt as
...
though the show was signifying a return to it's roots as gag anime and this most certainly felt like good news to me. After the serious action oriented episodes of the middle half of the first season, this focus on comedy was exactly what I felt the series needed. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the second season of Nanbaka is far more serious and action-oriented than the first season ever was.
Of course I'm not saying that the action is Nanbaka is bad, in fact the action scenes are actually really cool at times and are pretty enjoyable to watch. Though sometimes, this seriousness and over the top superpowers that do not in the least seem anywhere near believable given the setting and nature of the show can require some immense suspension of disbelief. The weird thing is, the shift to a serious tone is in a sense what allows the comedic episodes that follow post the seriousness to be so effective, this is especially true when you take note of the last 3 episodes of the first season which were both really funny and even heartwarming. Ultimately, this comedy-serious-comedy structure of Nanbaka works and is what makes the show what it is.
Going into the second season, I expected the same thing from it, I hoped they'd keep the action and seriousness to a minimum with focus on the comedic side of the series, but boy I didn't think I'd be this wrong. In all honesty, the first two episodes of this season are the only ones which can even be remotely considered comedic and fun episodes, from the 3rd episode all the way to the very end the show becomes more action-oriented and all serious again. Once again, this doesn't mean that these episodes are bad. There are some really good stories wrapped within this serious arc that deals with the escape of a former guard captain who was imprisoned for murder. Samon's (Monkey Guard Captain) backstory, Upa/Liang's backstory and some of the past history of the prison are pretty cool. There is a decent amount of character development for Jyugo as he learns to grow out of his insecurity and confidence issues but his constant musings and the fact that he gets antagonized by certain characters during this phase can get a little annoying. At points, it also feels like the show is trying too hard to showcase this arc as something special when in reality, it's really nothing ground breaking. The battles themselves as I stated above are still cool to watch and while all these superpowers seem unbelievable, you can't deny that they're quite entertaining to watch. With all that said, the main issue during this whole action/serious oriented phase is the fact that this phase is dragged on endlessly to span over the rest of the season. This ends up as a complete contradiction to the expectations set up by the first episode - "Nanbaka is a gag anime" seems to have been completely ignored. This is not to say that there is no comedy during the main arc, there is some comic relief at points but this feels like the kind of comedy you'd find in a Battle Shonen not a 'gag' anime like Nanbaka and often this comedic relief just falls flat. As you witness this over and over again, the show starts to feel tedious and at points it feels like the series just discarded it's original identity to try and become something else.
Summing up, I honestly felt the first season was much better. It had a better structure and the episodes played to the strengths of the series, the action had an element of fun to it in the form of games and competitions. Nanbaka's second season has none of this and is in a sense nothing more than what you can call an arc of an action anime which ultimately downplays the comedic strength of the series. If you liked the action oriented episodes of the first season you will probably like this season as well. However, if like me, you like Nanbaka for the comedy then you will most probably be disappointed.
With all that said and done, you know what the worst part of this entire season is? The arc is still not over. So if we do indeed get a third season, it's just gonna be more of the same action Nanbaka. All I can do now is to hope and eagerly await the day Nanbaka truly returns to it's roots as
'Nanbaka is a gag anime'. (Both me and Mitsuru cannot stress this enough XD)
Alternative Titles
Japanese: ナンバカ 2期
More titlesInformation
Type:
ONA
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jan 4, 2017 to Mar 22, 2017
Producers:
Nihon Ad Systems, DAX Production, Sony Music Communications, Crunchyroll, comico, Tokuma Japan Communications, Nelke Planning
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
Satelight
Source:
Web manga
Duration:
23 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#19372
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#1676
Members:
133,227
Favorites:
383
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 15 / 16
Sort
Your Feelings Categories Mar 22, 2017
Nanbaka's second season starts off with an episode that restates a certain quote and reinforces the meaning of this quote multiple times during the episode - "Nanbaka is a gag anime", Nanbaka has always been at its best when it's portraying the daily lives of our eccentric innmates and guards of Building 13 in all their fun, frolic, heavily contrasted colors, sparkles and comedic glory. The occasional appearance of characters from other buildings adds some nice diversity to the regular formula delivering an overall fun and enjoyable experience. After a first episode that seemed to draw focus to the show's best element, it felt as
...
Jan 24, 2017
Before you read this review, just know how I weigh each trait in anime:
Story: Weight 1.0 Art: Weight 2.0 Sound: Weight 1.0 Character: Weight 2.0 Enjoyment: Weight 4.0 Total weight 10.0 Oh, Nanbaka, Nanbaka, how I love you. ... Mar 22, 2017
İts literally like 7.5 well i just voted 8 .
Story is not a story we usually see and it grows like you would expect , overall it might have been boring for most people but like this kind of shows . To be honest for characters they really look cool ok but way too coloful and some of them are kinda gayish bro . While other people complain about harem and ecchi genre animes i think this one lacks screentime of female creatures in general :D but gotta give credits to head manager/warden and Hajime's meetings , it was fun Art like i said was colorful ... Mar 25, 2017
Nanbaka is an absolute joke of a series. What I saw in the first half of the first season was absolutely discarded for a more serious but ludicrous second part. It is non-cohesive and fails to focus on backstory and explanation. Not to mention, the comedy is pretty much nonexistent They throw in Gokuu's older brother for the sake of having an enemy. They could have made anybody the bad guy, hell, even Hajime's brother could have turned bad and it would have had the same impact. Gokuu and his brother have no chemistry when they collide, and even
...
Mar 25, 2017
The second season of Nanbaka picks up right where its first season left off but I think in comparison to the first season its definitely lacking and has its flaws.
STORY: 6 Overall *probably a spoiler* the story never gets resolved in the end and instead we're left at the halfway point or even climax. In comparison to the first season's comedic interludes Nanbaka also changes drastically in tone to a more serious note, or it very much tries to. And while it still holds onto what makes Nanbaka, Nanbaka, most people will probably find the change a disconnect to what drew them in at first. While ... Mar 1, 2017
Do you like more Sparkles..... Kachingggg!!!
Well Step Right Up... Cause We like talk about more of this : Hopefully the overall will be viewed since the last series Since the 1st season started as a gag... until the upcoming event was been already started... It's not bad actually but it lacks more of sympathy... and always.. focus on sidesteps in the story... ... Oct 20, 2018
Well, what can I say? I'm frankly appalled at how the author cold-heartedly butchered this crap. I'm let down and I want my time back as I feel pretty much tricked in a way. This was supposed to be a nonsense gag comedy, that's what it introduced itself as. Even in season 1, it wasn't THAT bad even if the author decided to introduce a lot of out-of-place serious drama/tragedy into a show that can't survive without being moronic. But in season 2, it was decided that being a gag comedy sucked and they wanted to, all too late, go the more serious shounen battle
...
Jan 9, 2020
I love this series and both seasons have overall been a huge enjoyment for me to watch. I think if you are looking for some brightly colored fun that this is a good anime.
Things I liked: During season two the story really progresses and helps flesh out characters that we got to meet in season one. It also expands the knowledge of Nanbaka and works on progressing the main characters. We learn a lot more about them and the action picks up. There are still shenanigans but those are somewhat pushed to the side and if you are only here for those it can be ... Feb 19, 2019
I have wanted to write reviews for awhile but never had the real motivation. Until I watched season 2 of Nanbaka. I will be mentioning season 1 a little bit as I think it handled things much better than season 2. (SPOILERS IN STORY AND CHARACTER)
Story: 4 Why you ask? Well, this is honestly my main gripe with the show. The start was amazing. I thought it would be great seeing as how amazing of a villain Enki started out being. But boy did it go downhill so fast. Enki broke out of a prison along with a few other inmates and a prison guard. They ... Jan 6, 2018
I loved Nanbaka until season 2. Sure, it had its flaws such as the main character having the least amount of personality, but hey, it didn't ruin the insane sparkle the show had. However, Nanbaka shot itself in the foot once they decided to give the story a dark and serious plot. The zany, brightly designed and over the top characters clashed with the plot they tried to introduce. I'm never one to abandon an anime just because I wasn't "wowed" by it, but eventually, I found season two simply dragging and had to say "R.I.P". I loved the first season, but then the
...
Feb 20, 2018
Yes, it’s true that it’s a major shift in tone away from all the light-heartedness of the first season. Yes, it’s true that the side characters are focussed on a lot more as opposed to Rock and Hajime who barely get any screen-time in the later episodes. And yes, it’s true that a lot of the sparkles are gone. But who cares? This is still an amazing anime.
Some of the secondary characters get such good development that I went from disliking them in the first season to cheering them on in the second. (Yep, that’s you Samon!) We got to see a lot more ... Dec 28, 2019
I rated season 1 as a 9 overall but season 2 is a big improvement! Season 1 is mostly about comedy and doesn't really have a story or message. Whereas season 2 is very plot-driven. It doesn't lose it's comedy either. Many times I laughed out loud and at one point teared up.
This story is saturated head to toe in color, it's funny and at times heartfelt, and there is a good level of mystery and suspense. I gotta say I think the ending leaves a lot of questions and it's quite disappointing they never did a 3rd season as I think one more ... Mar 21, 2020
Okay so before you ask, yes I did rate the show a 7 but here I'm giving it an 8 because I genuinely did enjoy Nanbaka that much. I instantly loved the characters from the first episode and I love them even more now. The only downfall for this season is the storyline which is sad but it wasn't to bad
The story idea was promising. It gave an insight to Samon's past and his relationship with the other characters. I thought it was great but I won't lie, I was kind of disappointed. The end of the season was a major cliffhanger and the last ... Jun 7, 2017
Warning possible Spoilers
You know it's been a while since I have encountered a second season that was worse than the first and sadly it had to be this anime. The story continues with our lovable Nanba inmates who are still causing trouble for the guards, but in the shadows a new threat has awoken. Now I liked the first season, but what the hell happened to the story in this season it started off well with the usual comedic first few episodes, then it gets back into the dark thriller quick quickly then everything suddenly starts to drag a lot I mean there were a few cool ... Mar 7, 2021
OVERALL: 3/10. This is a steep drop from season 1, and that's saying something. Nothing makes sense anymore, and not in the fun "chaotic" sort of way. The pacing is awful and there is no sort of conclusion to say it's worth it.
STORY:3/10. Weak. Vey weak. The writers realized that there wasn't an active villain so they thought of the single most random guy to make into the "big bad guy" and it doesn't work. The pacing is awful, every encounter is actually 3-6 fights in a row where the "heroes" think they win only to be siked out. The small plot surrounding Jyugo is ... |