Sword Gai The Animation Part II

This is my first ever review on MAL but i just need to vent out my frustration and warn everyone else about low quality of this anime. I watched first season and it was not bad, felt rushed, some things had no sense but i was hoping S2 will explain some things.

Oh boy i was mistaken. Art and GCI are probably the best things about this anime, sound is poor and almost no song except opening is memorable. Then we have poor story which is full of plotholes, usually makes no sense at all, action jumps from one place to another for no reason, characters ... suddenly appear during important events from nowhere to scream and say same thing all the time like during infinite loop.

The biggest downside are characters. They are so bland, so stupid, so annoying. I can't really describe it but i believe set of plates waiting to get washed are more intersting than the cast in this anime.

Overall i really disliked it. I am pretty forgiving in terms of anime but this is the first that i will give score 1. Major waste of time, not recommended.

It's terrible; don't watch it.
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Still here? Okay, sit down while I tell you just why this anime is awful. This is going to be a tough one because I will have to fight the urge to break into a rant.

Warning: This review is assuming you've seen the 1st season, so it may contain some spoilers regarding it. There are also some VERY minor spoilers for this season. You've been warned.

Story

I'll give it this: I understand what was happening now. That, and it somewhat follows Gai (our supposed MC) a bit more. That being said, don't expect much out of this anime in terms of story. ... It's full of plot holes, inconsistencies, and general moments that'll leave you going ".... what?"

I'd go into more detail, but so little happens that if I told you anything, I'd pretty much spoil a quarter of the show.

Characters

Easily the worst part of this show.

Gai is still the generic angsty anti-social douche that he was before. Well, okay, he's SOMEWHAT better (in that he's less of a dick), but it's hardly worth mentioning. Even after two seasons of this show, I cannot tell you anything about who he is. All I know is he's angsty and he has a thing for his (adoptive) sister.

Sayaka is Gai's adoptive sister who wants to jump his bones. That's about all there is to her character. Well, that, and she leads Shin one at one point. Seriously, there's nothing to her character other than her obsession with Gai, and they interact so little that it leaves you questioning why.

Shin is our 3rd main character and wielder of the second Shiryu who hates violence and has a hard on for Sayaka... that's it. He's meant to be Gai's foil, but that's about it.

If you're noticing a trend, it's that they're all generic one dimensional characters without any depth. At points, they do TRY to give some depth (particularly at Gai and Sayaka's relationship), but it's either flat or my interest in the series waned so much to the point that I didn't even care anymore and instantly forgot most of it.

There are also a bunch of other characters. They're not much better—actually, they might be worse. Very Minor spoiler here: One of them confronts the woman who he KNOWS killed his sister... and then he bangs her because she's hot. No really, that's the reason given.

Sound

Meh, not much to say. The opening is decent enough, though it's nothing to cry home about. I'd tell you more, but I don't remember anything in regards to its soundtrack outside of the opening. There's no real track that's memorable in the slightest.

The VA's were serviceable (note: I watched the English dub). They're not great, but they do it well enough enough that its not too bothersome.

Art

So, this is probably the only thing in the show that isn't completely awful. It's not great, but it's serviceable. That being said, it does have quite a few flaws.

Busoma are still 3D monsters that look completely out of place with the mostly 2D animation, the sword fighting itself lacks any weight or impact, and the characters hardly move and when do, they're rather stiff. I can only assume there were budget problems, but they could've at least added some style to the fighting to make up for it.

Of course, that's assuming they even show the fighting. I cannot tell you how many times where the fighting just starts to amp up, only to cut away to something completely unrelated. Picture this: It's the final big battle! The fight the show has been building up to since season 1! The opponents finally begin to fight.... only to cut away to two other characters eating noodles. That's not a joke; it happens.

As a result, you just can't get excited for the fighting, which leads to the next part...

Enjoyment

There's none to be found. Who is this anime made for?

Alright the characters are boring. Maybe it can be like SAO and at least gimme some eye-candy? Nope, it cuts away from the fighting too much and the visuals are pretty average at best. There's nothing in this anime that's worth watching, except to see an example of how such a cool sounding premise can be wasted.

Overall, just avoid this show. I thought that maybe this season might redeem it by not needing all the build up season 1 was supposedly giving, but I was wrong. It's just a poorly written mess.

This is a review of the anime only. I have not read the manga.

Ugh, there's 24 episodes of my life I'd like back. This was such a train wreck of an anime, and I rarely say that. I can usually find something redeemable.

This started off really interesting and the main character had so much potential but he had all the personality and complexity (and range of facial expressions) of Bella Swan. He just wasn't remotely likable. I didn't hate him. I just didn't care either way. The only character with any depth was Ichijo so of course they had to kill him because he'd ... steal the story.

Everyone has harped on the same things about this anime--the plot went nowhere, it was confusing, and there were a host of side characters who had absolutely nothing to do with anything.

Aside from all that mess, the thing that really bothered me about this anime is that it basically gave the message that loving anyone or anything was going to make you crazy. Whether it was a romantic love, a familial love, or a love of a hobby, topic, or item, if you love it, you will do crazy things and become a monster. Great message that.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you seriously have nothing else to watch.