Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta... X

I know I wrote a review 2 months ago giving the anime a 3/10 before, but I never actually expected it to continue to be this bad. So here is full review of the entire season.

I really dislike generic harem anime. The ones where the MC has a conversation with a new girl and suddenly, she falls for him with almot zero reasoning. So color me surprised when there was a show that is even worse than that. One that pushes that idea too far that just by looking at someone, the person falls for him regardless of their gender.

Hamefura 2 is probably the worst harem/reverse harem I have ever seen.

*** THIS REVIEW CONTAINTS SPOILERS ***

It has been a while since the last sequel that made me really disappointed in an anime. I guess it was to be expected for this one as the ending of the first season was fitting enough and a perfect stopping point. I liked the first season of Hamefura and I even gave it a 7/10 in my list but the moment season 2 was announced, I felt like it would be a repition of the first season but I didn't expect it to be this bad.

To sum it up, the first season was following this pattern, MC is a goof and she meets someone, tries to avoid her death flag and then that person falls for her. There were some characters that had decent reasons that could justify that and some that just felt forced. This season however, the whole reasoning was thrown out of the window (bar 1 character).

It goes as follows,
Katarina: *Exists*
Everyone: *Falls in love*
It became even more shallow than the first season and the anime doesn't try to justify anything at this point. It's like they are telling us that because she is the MC, it is natural to fall for her. I have seen better in the worst harem anime that I have watched over the years.

The characters didn't get better as well, they are either the same as season 1 or even got even worse.
We have ones that stayed consistent like Maria and Nicol. You can even argue that a character like Alan became better.

Then there are ones that got worse like Katarina who became downright stupid and Gerald and Keith who became way too annoying.

The new characters have been nothing but fodder to add to the harem with Anne being the worst one out of them and Selena being the best.

Finally, we have Mary who is pretty much the worst character in the anime with how obnoxious and rude she is. Probably the only character out of the cast that makes me wanna turn off the episode when she appears.

The anime is also full of random cliches. It also had the same idea repeated through 2 consecutive arcs. The idea of a kidnapping happening. The anime also used very bad cliches to solve both of them and trying to make you feel sad for the characters which was just forced and annoying. I didn't expect it to become even worse than before.

I get the idea that the anime is trying to maintain its over-the-top feeling but it isn't trying to do so at the moment. It's reusing the same idea a million times to the point it became stale. You could even have a counter of how many times the character were "surprised" by some random shit Katarina said even if it didn't make any sense at all. It also became unbearable how stupid katarina is when even after being pushed to bed and kissed, she still doesn't understand what was happening specially when her whole character before becoming Katarina was about her playing RomCom games.

The anime no longer tries to do or justify anything which is a point I never saw in the worst harem shows that were being produced in 2018-2019.

Overall, I would give it a generous 2/10. Great art but nothing else is worth watching bar like 1 or 2 episodes which I think one of them was a filler.
Wouldn't recommend it.

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Hamefura X is basically everything from season 1, improved and turned up several notches. In short, if you liked season 1, you’ll love the second season as the stakes, plot and characterisation see dramatic improvements.

Hamefura season 1 was one of the most talked about shows of 2020. It was really a breath of fresh air for the isekai genre. There hadn’t been many otome style isekai, focusing on female MC’s with harems. There was comedy, a ditzy MC and lots of fun slice of life moments. While the season was great, I feel it lacked depth at times. I struggled to really get an idea of the direction of the story other than Bakarina having to eventually choose who she’d be with romantically.

This season did a much better job of advancing the overall story, developing Bakarina and the side cast and creating drama. With the exception of a couple anime original episodes, I really enjoyed the more serious tone that we got this season. While that usual comedy is definitely still there, it does feel like there’s a lot more serious heartfelt moments with characters this time around. I think the pacing was awesome as well. The mini arcs that characters got in episodes were the perfect length and flowed seamlessly.

The art is just as good as the first season, it feels like they picked up everything right where they left off. I hope that will be the case for a season 3 as well. Really, watching this is a no brainer if you enjoyed the first season you’ll find the improvements a welcome addition.

I think Hamefura could be a turning point for the isekai genre and as a result we’ll see more Otome style isekai series adapted. While I love the usual OP male MC shows, it’s nice to get a change of pace, different scenery and a different type of story every now and again. Given the commercial success of the anime, BD and LN’s, I’m confident this is the start of something great.

Hamefura X gets 9 out of 10.

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It's more of the dense Black Hole Bakarina and her reverse-harem dousing comedy bits on your screen! And you'd think of this very question: "Catarina has already friendzoned everyone, and the supposedly doom flag is pretty much gone now, so where could Season 2 go at the very least?"

My answer to you: More relationship shenanigans with Catarina being love-blocked at every corner, especially with her love interests solidified that is Geordo, the adopted brother Keith, and the rest of the character cast whom doesn't want to let Catarina go for their own embellishments. And embrace it with fun, laughter and happiness...down by a notch.

To compare the story elements between both seasons, Season 2 takes a noticeably deeper dive into the side quest that is the whole "dark magic" realm with the engagement with the Department of Magic in dealing with new issues with the head of the Deparment of Magic Larna Smith. Some new characters are weaved into this scenario, like Rufus Brode in the whole Stuart family debacle of becoming king, and Keith of his status as ths son of a mistress in the complicatedness of the Claes family name. In the midst of all of this, the dense Catarina will always be dense, but at least she is made aware of their advances which are more fervent and with motive than the last.

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same as what you'd expect of Season 1 in the same tried-and-true forumla with a few improvements on Silver Link's part, and an OST which I felt that while it was good, it was a step downwards. So if you liked what the prequel showed, then the sequel here will not disappoint you, and vice versa if otherwise.

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(SPOILER)


So, Hamefura season 2, it's a solid anime and I enjoyed it. Its story was eh, but when you watch it, it's fun.

Art was great, sound wasn't really noticeable (imo) and the characters, oh man the characters. Since their gimmick was introduced in season 1, I wont really touch on that. So, the characters, they are very fun to watch and their interactions are hilarious, but their mindless obsession to Katarina just takes away points for me. I know that that is a trope in harem, but damn do they take it to the max, however, that's what makes the show good. Let me explain, the over the top character tropes are what makes the show enjoyable and fun to watch, but at the cost of the overall character rating.

(APPROACHING ACTUAL SPOILERS)

New characters. First is Sora, he basically kidnapped Katarina and fell in love with her, classic Katarina. He's purpose is basically, "I was bad, but now I'm good, we get his sob story and that's about it. Thought, he adds to the overall story, indirectly setting up Katarina's and Geordo and playing as a companion in the rescue Keith arc. Next, is Lana, she's just there to expand the world and to bring more things about magic and stuff. Then there's, Frey and Ginger, Ginger is just a Katarina admirer, that is all, and Frey who is inspired by Katarina and has a date with Nicol. They don't add much to the overall story, just new harem members I guess. Last, is the bear (Alexander), he's just comic relief. Then again, this whole show is comic relief with a dash of cringe and clichés.

Next, my main problem, the story. Ok so, the story is very wacky and weird. first, you have kidnapping of Katarina, this gives a love interest and accomplishes nothing, except make the harem more protective. They give no real motive behind the kidnapping, because "I was just being used". This arc also brings Katarina to realize that Geordo actually loves her, which is a nice plot point and is really fun to watch. Next is the Magic Association mini-arc. tbh I was excited, because they would expand on the magic, but no, they just added magic items, and not the characters using magic, so that was a disappointment. Last, is the Keith kidnapping arc, more dark magic shenanigans and Keith confessing love. This part was pretty cringe, but most last arcs are cringe and full of clichés. Then the ending, in harem fashion, ends with no one winning, and it basically staying the same, other than the growth of Katarina and Keith. Their growth basically is, Katarina, realizes that people actually lover her and that makes her feel flustered and Keith, who is now open about his love for his sister. Still, I enjoyed watching it, because of the stupid nonsense, since this anime is just stupid nonsense ( I really can't stop stressing this point).

Overall, cringe at times, decent character development, wacky shenanigans, but still being very enjoyable.

(Note I kinda forgot most of the details of the plot, I think this is accurate tho)

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