Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan 2

I saw One Punch Man trice and bought the bluray. I saw Mob Psycho 100, not 100 times, but twice. While I love both of these shows, I love Saiki more. When I heard it would be getting season 02 before either of these two shows (which are -according to sales and popularity rankings- 5 to 20 times more successful than Saiki), I naturally started pinching myself to wake up from this beautiful, yet unreal dream. When this didn't happen, I had to assume they have started to celebrate April's Fools twice a year. I headed to my closest Reddit where people have the habit ... of repeating everything they hear and read as facts, but didn't see anyone mention April's Fools. This gave me no other option but to believe there lives a "Saiki" inside our very own universe, something has gone terribly wrong with him and now the whole structure of the very reality is shaking. After recovering from the panic, I realized only two things can happen a) the world will end b) season 02 will really air. As we can conclude, there was no cons in this situation.

The adventures of Saiki continue with an epic start where he watched the anime "Gintama" from tv and wonders what type of shitty excuse for a comedy that series is. My man. In all honesty, the beginning of this season was not the greatest thing. The series felt more or less like S01 with the same content, but now missing the fresh and new feel the series had. This got quickly fixed (in episode 6) by the author who started introducing new characters (such as the officially best girl) but also started strengthening the already existing cast members. Instead of expanding our series with side tracking plots and new comedy elements, mr. author keeps giving us details and adding substance to his characters, not only developing their humor but also creating depth to the comedy. And this way, mr. author gave us a sequel which was better than its prequel. If decisions as good as this were always made, I would never have to write negative reviews.

My favorite part of this series is how brotherly and manly Saiki is from its humor to its characters. Aibro (Riki) is the perfect comedic delinquent and a total badass. I am not even sure what makes his character so great. Is it how many fucks he gives (forgetting how to get to school every day despite living right next to it) or how awe-inspiring and cool he is in any and every situation. Shining Kokomi, on the other hand, corners Saiki the hardest. Scenes where she gets like 500 people (including the FBI) search for Saiki are both written and executed with such brilliance that you won't never find this sort of unique comedy anywhere else. Overall the cast is just incredibly strong and unique. There are in total of 10 characters (other than Saiki) who have their important role in the series when it comes to Saiki's life and the comedy. Everyone of them is memorable and adds to the series. Not a single one of them is annoying. Rather, I personally welcome comedy moments surrounding any of them -- which is beyond rare for myself.

Like all comedies, Saiki is exactly as fun as the viewer who is watching it. The comedy is very direct and executed in 3 different ways: character-centric personality tweaks which deliver the more you are into the characters (the amount of detail and characteristics that add to the comedy is insane), visual in forms of silly animation (such as simplistic character introduction scene where one bro starts rolling in the scene like he is just drawn on a piece of paper - which he obviously was), and most of all in the forms of sitcom where the series corners itself with some sort of problems that are presented as a situation comedy. The comedy is original, but also parodying great many things from other anime series to common cliches. The best part of the comedy is how random it often starts and how unpredictable it ends up being, but at the same time uses the same elements that are already familiar to all its viewers and unique to Saiki the anime. Still, remaining subtle and never, not even once pushed in your face. This is the type of comedy that constantly rewards its viewers and respects the audience. For example, during one TV channel surfing scene, Saiki himself comes across people who we see in his daily life all the time. His parents are giving an interview, some dude stuck in other channel's background image, and Aibro taking part to the Japanese version of the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (without even knowing what the show is about because he just doesn't give a fuck, just like he never does). Every single thing from the 3 different TV programs to Saiki's live reaction to it all, are pure brilliance.

Overall. Saiki relies on badass comedy and bro situations which automatically mean that the series is highly appealing to myself. On top of that, Saiki's cast is among the most strong and memorable I have seen in any comedy anime. The only comedy series which I can say has achieved more in terms of characters is 'Cromartie', but it was also too short to be perfect. The author of Saiki is incredibly self-aware and has a clear vision of what this series should be about. As a conclusion: This season will not please all viewers, but it has done perfect job being exactly as good as it could realistically ever be. Season 03 when.

Saiki's adventures continue for 24 more episodes, and they are somehow even better than before. I will keep this review short since I already have one posted here for the first season discussing the strengths of the series, which definitely stay relevant in this sequel.

This second season adds more spice to the comedy with the introduction of new characters, that as expected from the series are really fun to watch, likeable, and lead to new character interactions that never fail to make the viewer laugh, this can easily be seen in shorts where Saiki is mostly just hiding around and one still loses it by ... seeing the others be the way they are.

The art took an upgrade that makes the series better looking, and it's used nicely with some priceless reaction faces from the characters and is overall more visually pleasing. The music is pretty much the same, but the new set of openings and endings from the series are fantastic, especially during the second cour where sometimes I spent more time looping them than watching the episode itself.

Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan is no longer just a hidden gem, to me this season confirmed it as a must watch anime for any fan of the comedy genre and a fantastic option for anyone who isn't to find a series that might change their mind. I really can't recommend it enough.

*Minimum Spoiler Ψ-nan Review*
If you did not watch S1 then go watch it ASAP or don't.
TL;DR: Having psychic power was never easy but laughing at the misfortune of Saiki is definitely GGEZ.
Bigger cast, more budget, same humour but now more fan service... For guys & girls. Don't think just watch.
[Story: 7/10 , Characters: 9/10, Art: 6/10, Sound: 7/10, Enjoyment: 9/10]

"It's true there are no anger or sadness, but that also means no joy or fun. That's my life." - Saiki Kusuo

What do you get if you throw in the humour style of OPM, MP 100 and Sakamoto Desu Ka in a pot then simmer ... it with the same recipe Gintama used to gain popularity in the comedy genre arena of anime? You get Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan Part 2 of course. There was no doubt this anime short was a success in their inaugural first season but to live up to the expectation in their second season was hard but they made it look super easy. How? They just didn't stray from their recipe that made them successful. By having good clean albeit raunchy slap stick quid pro quo comedy, often times with relevant memes to crush other wannabe anime shorts' dreams, helped solidify their standing as the best comedy anime short this year.

The story picks up from where it left off last season but realistically this anime doesn't really have a linear story to follow. Each episode is composed of 4 mini shorts of 5 minutes that follows a linear story line. Sometimes they are related, often times they are not. But who cares. You are here to hear comedy not pull your hair chasing hares in story inconsistency. So just shut up, grab your buddies and engage in a good laugh. Heck you could even watch it alone and you would still be rolling on the floor laughing while doing the helicopter. Needless to say, the story always moves forward and that's all you need to know. Some of the shorts were a bit weak & forced but given the material at hand, you can only do so much. Be happy that this will be a complete manga adaptation as the manga also ended.

"My grades, appearance... Everything about me is average. I was born average and I will die average. That's my life" - Sawakita

The best part about Ψ-nan, aside from their comedy, is the gregarious melting pot of their giant cast. Aside from the main 4, Saiki, Kaidou, Nendou & Teruhashi, this season we were introduced to an even greater range of cast. Luckily, each of these characters managed to stand out from one another with their unique character design and outlandish personality. Heck even the most average character in this anime managed to be above average in their character development. This is what makes this show so great to watch. Their character development for supporting cast does so much in 5 minutes that other shows can't even do in 4 bloody long hours. It was always fun seeing them return in various shorts and you started to develop attachment to these characters. The dialogues as well as the seiyuus that voiced these characters went above and beyond in each episode to really drive home their greatness. Who knew the voice of shitty Shinji would actually be this awesome. Great job all around.

"Life is in very easy mode. This is all because I am gorgeous. " - Teruhashi Kokomi

Aside from their dynamic linear plot and outlandish characters, this show puts in their due diligence when it comes to animation. It's a comedy anime short, not some Ufotable level Battle Royale. At least no pans and zooms and the panels are hand drawn for better animation quality. The studio put in effort and they were rewarded with a huge fandom. Plenty of fanservice was weaved into each episode but it didn't derail the anime from it's roots, it only propelled it. Beside their animation quality, the background score went really well with the anime. A good comedy show really needs to get their music timing on point and this show did just that. Although the OP and ED songs weren't as appealing to me personally but others might think otherwise. I preferred the season 1 OP and ED songs more than this season's.

"Fortune telling is just an illusion created by a bunch of people who pretend to be prophets" - Kaidou Shun

Overall, Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan 2 is a satirical school comedy anime short that parodies the known anime tropes that's overused in our anime industry atm. Their main purpose is to provide comedy and with great effort from their staff, they are able to establish just that with their outlandish cast of misfit characters. If you are in need of a laugh, I would recommend starting from first season. If you are lazy and want to watch this season, you can do that. If you are still in doubt, just pick a random episode out of the hat and watch one. What do you have to lose but your funny bone, am I right? I would not recommend the Live TV adaptation because some things are just better in their animated format. Also, this is the last season. Very rarely do we get full manga adaptation and it is truly a gift to cherish. I know I will miss watching this anime. Hopefully some OVAs come out for the chapters that didn't get animated. Anyways, check it out & let me know later how you like it as well as share with me your favourite quote from the anime! Ciao.

P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!