Princess Connect! Re:Dive Season 2

An unbelievable project by Cygames to delight us with unparalleled consistency week by week. Tears flowing, laughs fulfilling, emotions conflicting, and fiction peaking. A comfy yet extravagant show that truly deserves recognition.

Sakuga after sakuga. Peak kino cinema. Framing in Princess Connect don't miss, and so does the people behind this work of art. A big applause to the staff and everyone working on this anime project. Treating us with visuals that surpasses boundaries, bringing out every emotion from its soundtracks and direction, and most of all giving care to their own creation.

We can't talk about Priconne without talking about its waifus. A wide range of ... female cast that at first feels overwhelming to non-gacha fans, yet they still hold that very special place. Each guild was given one episodic story to develop, but still be impactful and contributing to the entirety of the show all throughout. No matter your favorite character, each had their own charms to proudly present to its viewers, earning fans.

Finally our Gourmet Guild's journey.
Compromised of four of the most lovable set of characters you could encounter, elevating the show's charms with their own spices to the dish. Deep bonds that tie them. The adventure and journey they each share. We couldn't have asked for a more better and loving cast.

Thank you Cygames for bringing this game, this world, and these characters to life. No words can unravel the gratefulness I feel towards the people behind this wonderful team. Princess Connect S2 started and ended with a banger. Unforgettable. My Anime of the Season.

After watching this season, I can conclude that the show finally has its happy ending. It was a great 24-episode journey with the Gourmet Guild and the ending is really satisfying. Usually, video-game adaptations in the anime industry could be disappointing; apparently, the show is not following that harsh criticism. From my experience, the anime did not induce confusion, and I appreciate the fun moments most. Believe me when I will mention fun multiple times in this review because I really did.

Story: 9/10
The story takes place after its video game events which should pretty much signify its importance in understanding the contexts in the anime. ... It requires the audience to be aware of the events prior to the anime, but it is not necessary since the story will be revealing the events through hints and occurrences that can be assumed and concluded, therefore, it is also not a problem to watch the anime without context from its original game. Of course, it is still better having a short understanding of the events before so check them out through research.

If you are lazy however and wanted to know a bit through my analogy with another anime, it would be like the fate series since the endgame results to having its “winner” grant a wish. This also includes fight sequences and styles from the other anime. Regardless, the fantasy world is interesting in its own with a mix of comedy and fun from the cute and adorable characters of the story.

After the video game events, the story is set on a fantasy world where the protagonist falls from the sky with no recollection before meeting his comrades. He journeyed throughout the nation of “Landosol” and found friends to bond with and later form a guild called the “Gourmet Guild”. With the main mission of finding the best food and ingredients for the guild, mysteries bounding Yuuki started revealing itself explaining how the world and the relevant memories connect to the events happening currently and the dangers that must have happened from his past. With how this story is set up, it may seem not seem exciting, but the journey and the character development stories are wonderful in a world full of anime girls. Yes, only a few male characters to be noticed.

Characters: 9/10
The protagonist himself is not the strongest and he doesn’t have the most appealing characteristics among the main characters. It would seem that Pecorine is the strongest fighter among them, and Karyl is left on the second spot for that. That is just how their party was setup, so it shouldn’t be a problem. But after watching this season, I’d say that there would be surprises to be expected for the main characters, especially from Yuuki himself.

The anime is a video game adaptation with many selections of characters to choose from, so the show reveals many side characters that has a short time on screen that would manage to come back later. This kind of detail is both a good thing and a bad thing because many characters appearing in the show can be confusing and their existence may seem forgetful later, but a variety could raise multiple base preferences and relatable characters. Not to mention how many names you would have to remember.

Art: 10/10
The only problem with its art style is its consistency. Otherwise, most of the animations were enjoyable to the point it becomes fluid. There was only one instance when they lost its consistency in animation quality, but it won’t affect the overall enjoyment of the show so this can be overlooked easily. The fighting animations are flashy in terms of its movements and use of visual effects.

There are also many beautiful sceneries and vibrant details. Fight scenes are not intense and very serious, but the style in which characters fight seems more fun than intense, that’s why their adventures were given captivating moments for the audience to remember at least.

Sound: 8/10
The opening song is great, but it was repeatedly used from the first season which I think came also from its original game, but it wasn’t bad since it still appreciated as a video game adaptation and staying true to its own. However, its repetition played different tones and styles in many key scenes which induced nostalgia and melancholy for the anime which was a good touch for its music category. However, the variety to its music could be better, but I doubt since the quality of background music still strengthens the thrill and intensity of fighting in the anime for example. Other than its use of music, sound effects are overpowering and bold, especially for its fight scenes. Overall, it was very good and not bad from my perspective.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Do you realize how often I mentioned fight scenes while making this review? Surely, my enjoyment could be based on this experience. There were many amazing fight sequences that are very flashy and animated very well which is still light for its fun atmosphere but still intense for all the colorful effects on screen.

The adventures of the Gourmet Guild were also fun. The adorable and hilarious faces of the team, especially Kyaru’s panic faces and Kokkoro’s “meep”, the funny attempts and dangers of the guild during their adventures, the interesting side characters that are introduced in many of its episodes. Not to mention, the surrounding yuri moment developed between Karyl and Pecorine - but it is rather wholesome in my own opinion.

Final rating is based heavily on my art quality and enjoyment for this anime. I would really recommend the anime to anyone who is looking for a heartwarming fantasy anime or a beautiful action fighting sequence with lots of cute girls in the action. However, this could be a disappointment for those who haven’t played or understood the story so far, but I would rather ask you to give it a chance even if no background info has been presented at the start.

YABAI DESU NE!!!

Princess Connect! Re:Dive a.k.a PriConne is back with a blast, and so too is Cygames with hemorraging sales and marketing from the massively popular mobage RPG that's now expanded to more territories since the anime aired in Spring 2020 to resounding success, being the first-ever (though) underrated premiere-tier game adaptation ever seen in anime.

2 years have passed since then and now that with the game's global release on January 2021, Season 2 has arrived to continue the story where Season 1 left off, and for the most part, it was as enjoyable as the prequel, if slightly worse off by a tidbit. And ... of course, being the newest fan of PriConne's anime back then before the global release, I have waited for a long while before I got the chance to sink into the actual game and daily-driving it since its inception. And boy, what an experience the actual mobage RPG was that I now feel content playing the game and knowing more about PriConne's world in much detail. Let's Re:Dive into Season 2!

Since this is the anime version of PriConne, and though the game's lore is rich, opting to stay the same vibes as Season 1 is a sensible choice since we're practically left with Pecorine's backstory of realizing that she's the rightful Princess Eustiana von Astraea of Landosol. That, and with one of the Seven Crowns's inclusion as the frightening, fear-inducing antagonist Kaiser Insight stealing the throne and making use of Karyl to the best of her manipulation, Season 2 aims to finish this story plot off in the most bombastic manner while providing more easter eggs from the mobage. Together with the episodic stories of featuring more characters from the various guilds of PriConne that hasn't got spotlights on yet, this has always been a great way of to showcase fanservice since Day 1, and Season 2 emitted the same feelings as its prequel, albeit with someone new in the production team.

We already know that KonoSuba director Takaomi Kanasaki is THE undisputable god when it comes to comedy, and he continues to outshine himself more...just on the sidelines as Chief Director. Instead, the directorial role is passed down to newbie director Yasuo Iwamoto, of which this is his debut doing an anime staff role (if you don't consider that weird ONA). At first, having a new staff join onboard at this stage of the plot (considering PriConne as a whole) was worrying because of the new directions that he would helm to take Season 2 forward, but after watching the entirety of the sequel season, I'd say that Takaomi Kanasaki really supervised Yasuo Iwamoto to understand how much lore can the new season be taken into context, while adding his own flare that you can't tell the difference whether is it really Kanasaki's or Iwamoto's. Case in point, the premiere episode of Season 2 with the same comedy gags featuring the hilariously derpy wolves to the rainbow vomit, and as great as Episode 1 is for a resounding return, I can't tell the difference between different episode directors because it was done just as well as it should be. There was even an episode that was purely dedicated to adapting an event from the mobage that was shrunk down for the episode with the details intact, and for an episodic series this was a gutsy risk, and I think it paid off well in terms of the overall story. So overall, not bad for a debut effort, though at times there's the feeling of disconnection that it should've been as good, if not on par with the prequel.

It should come as no surprise that PriConne retains "Lost Princess" as the OP for the anime, because this is the main song theme for the franchise, and is such an iconic song within the PriConne fanbase that it'll not feel right not having one. I freaking love the song ever since the anime dropped 2 years ago, and this time they used the 2nd verse and chorus as a "replacement" for continuation purposes. The new ED in this case is even more comfy than Season 1's, and putting the sequel's content in context shows the difference in disparity. If it were up to me to judge which of the ED is better, I would take Season 2's over Season 1, but both are still very good songs in their own right.

And what is PriConne without Cygames and their in-house studio CygamesPictures, which has been the de-facto deciding factor when it comes to pure sakuga insanity and enjoyment. From strength to strength, Season 2 looks even more polished than Season 1, but that's not to say that the prequel was bad. Season 1 knocked animation right out of the gate and delivered game-worthy pristine quality, putting a lot of game and mixed-media adaptations to shame. And Season 2 followed up with more of the same, but elevated up to 11, considering that this "rare" sequel is technically the end of the road for the anime, to send us the viewers into total fandom, because let's be honest, who doesn't like beautiful backgrounds, sceneries with high-octane animation to match?

Game adaptations rarely get sequels, mostly because they're just promo material for the games, regardless if the anime did decently or flopped hard. And I might say that PriConne is the first ever franchise to do so that's worthy and akin to the typical high-profile Shonen shows of the modern day. The anime's road may end here, but let's not forget that PriConne was an unique experience all on its own. It's still THE gold standard for game adaptations to follow, and none will ever reach the amaze-balls feeling of awesomeness that is PriConne.

If you haven't watched PriConne, now's the time to do so since both seasons have marked their end. And once you're done, hop onto the mobage to continue that story, because there's lots of investment values to be had. I never regretted putting down PriConne, and it's a lot of fun.