100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru 2nd Season

*Minor Spoilers Ahead*

This season is pretty good to be fair.

( I’m Standing on a Million Lives = ISOAML)

ISOAML in the first glace looks like the most mediocre type of isekai anime, BUT it's not! Let me explain:
ISOAML's plot is pretty good they executed the story pretty well, that it became quite an entertaining show. It combines comedy, drama, and fantasy themes, which was a pretty generic idea, but ISOAML combined it in a unique way that presents it pretty well despite being underrated. This show's first impression was quite similar to Konosuba which was one of the main reasons that got me watching till this season, ISOAML has its beauty on its own that most people tend to seek out but never gave it a try. It truly pains me to see that this anime is underrated but oh well, everyone has their own opinion.


Story: 8/10, this season itself is indeed very good excluding all the flaws.

Animation: 5/10, it's not bad but not the best.

Sound: 5/10, pretty average, and nothing special.

Character: 8/10, the characters are fairly good though it wouldn't hurt to have more character developments. The main character's development is very well executed, the way he seeks amends is by not tainting other's hands, he would rather take up all the dirty work(killing someone) than let his fellow party members do it since he has already killed someone in the past, not knowing that the world they were in was an alternate universe. Yotsuya said it himself "I've already killed someone. All scum ought to die: In the end, even I'll likely. Until then. I'll kill those who ought to be killed."

Enjoyment: 8/10, I look forward every week to the newest episode and watch it as soon a possible, I was intrigued.

Overall: 8/10, I wished this anime would have 24 eps each season, but there's no use thinking about my ideals. To get things straight, I gave the anime an 8/10 due to the ISOAML's plot and enjoyment, though that's just my personal opinion but well who knows, maybe some of you might agree with me.

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The second season of 100-man was... weird. Remember what the first season of the anime was all about? The interesting proposition, where the RPG dynamic was applied in a convenient and often stupid way. Now, the show has changed that a bit, bringing a more arc-oriented perspective instead of this boring focus. But as much as a show like 100-man has improved, it's still a complicated experience to say the least, and that's for two reasons: ambitious story and split cour.

"Split cour" is a term used for shows that take a break between one cour and another. In the beginning, the goal was to maintain the relevance of the anime brand and the project, to complete the work, ensuring a good return for the studio and creators of the original material. Now, the purpose of the split cour is usually sustained to give the studios more time to make the continuation of the project as good as possible. It's normal for this to happen in the industry, and many shows manage to make up for problems and even improve their own story, which as the chapters go on present a higher quality and sense to make the show interesting. 100-man did this. The gap between one season and the next was even longer than usual (6 months), but honestly it wasn't that enjoyable an improvement.

This second season is divided into two arcs, where the first is the climax of the whole show so far. On a Volcanic Island there is a conflict between Orcs and Humans, where Yotsuya and his group face, together with a group of mercenaries, this mission. Torii Keita, the new member, entered the team of heroes as someone nice and more charming than the rest of the characters. Well, this is no merit, if you think that anyone could be more eye-catching than all the girls in the group. By the way, Keita was a boy who had a fight with Yotsuya in real life, before the first season ended. This insertion of the character for the involvement of the two was a good attempt to relate the characters and also to recover what had happened in the past. Speaking of the past, Kahabell was a character reused in the show to enhance the love she had with the protagonist, even though she had spent more than ten years in the fantasy universe.

The arc, even though it wasn't that interesting, was nice to follow. It really had captivating episodes in the middle of a normal RPG story. It was a credit to the effort given by the Maho Film studio for the show. Yotsuya had another internal evolution phase, characters like Kusue and Tokitake improved in performance and the mission was completed. It also had Yotsuya bearing a burden: the weight of having to do cruelty to complete her goals. It's a brave determination and one that deserves attention, as it's a factor that will surely make the show have a conclusion focused on this. It's nothing like "power of friendship." It's more like "if being a monster in this world will make my friends okay, I'll do it without hesitation". On top of all that, the existence of a man controlling a dragon was

The second Arc is more debatable and, for me, has some inconsistencies that hurt the overall story. This time, a Village living has a legend where a land exists that is able to bring eternal peace to its inhabitants, the "New Eden". Meanwhile, the leader of the region uses the very people who live in this village for exploration missions, where instead of really being an attempt to find this sacred land, it is actually a goal to disseminate and even eliminate the population of the village, which is experiencing problems and lack of food and other resources.
Yotsuya then, along with his group and a girl named Jezby (who by the way becomes the antagonist of this mission) and Glenda (the new member, who is a foreigner), leave for this mission destined by the Game Master. Actually, this story is not really incoherent, however the way the objectives were set was not pleasant.

Even though the show tries to leave the Village leader in the position of being guilty for killing many people, he ends the show as a "good man", or at least as being a better person than his attitudes are. Jezby the entire anime gave no signs that he was someone bad, but in the plot twist a revelation happens that even though it is shocking, it doesn't cause the necessary effect to be something important. Glenda (or "Glen" as people usually talk) finding out the truth of this Arc failed to bring a good convenience to the show. And even if it makes logic that the granddaughter of the Village leader and her adoptive father have been infected, this narrative turn was rather anticlimactic and mechanical. It didn't give a favorable and interesting setting, much less manage to encompass and conclude the situation in a beneficial way.

Another thing that didn't please so much either was Fatina. She is still a mysterious character and seems to have ties to the future of the show, about the dragon apparently being the last mission of the story. These were parts that put together another compilation of unnecessary and boring episodes and really didn't hold any interest with me, even if the conclusion of the show was satisfying.

Ultimately 100-man ends this 24-episode set below RPG animes in general, but it did get a small improvement compared to the first season. There were some shameful parts (like the girls doing an "idol" moment early in the anime), but they also had some enjoyable scenes, especially when it came to Yotsuya. Who knew that at some point he could be a cool character to follow. It was an okay season, after all.

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After last season, which was not a lot more than a generic isekai, my expectations were not extremely high for this season either. However, this season was way better, it conveyed emotions better and the new characters made it a lot more fun. I actually thought this season was pretty good. The OP slaps as well.
The story continues after last season, where Yusuke has learned that he is actually killing real people and he has changed a bit after completing the challenges. The main point I was looking forward to however, was the reunion with Kahavell, and that crushed me to a point I didnt know possible. There are anime that made me cry, this one didn't but this just crushed me on a fully different level. What we learn is that the time goes faster in the isekai world and Kahavell is widowed with 2 kids. Nice one. The challenges are still as vague and bizarre as ever but I enjoyed the Island arc, the village arc was a bit less but nonetheless decent. The story is not bad but not amazing either.
The art was not bad, especially the scene that was teased in the trailer with Kahavell was so damn beautiful, just watch it ffs. Don't have much more to comment on art.
The new characters are a fresh breathe of air, we get a blonde ganster boy who turns out to be your comedic idiot and is constantly trying to hook up with Shindou. The other character is a lesbian filmmaker, who also provides comedy but also is pretty good at teaching life lessons in the village arc. Yusuke is changing into a psychopathic mastermind, he seems to have learned from last season, but what he learned was not positive. He is now way more ruthless, since he is already guilty. Otaku girl is still annoying, the shy girl has had almost no screen time and Shindou is still manipulative.
The aspect of NPC (inhabitants of isekai) versus the players has become way better this season and the emotions with this are portrayed way better. If you tend to look a bit deeper in this anime than just watching it, it becomes so much better. Some scenes would be iconic if they would have came from a bigger anime, so it definitely improved. The character cast has become bigger and better and the contrast of emotions has become more realistic than last season. If you survive season 1, then this season will be your reward.
ALSO, I MISS KAHAVELL

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This gold in turd-coating goes truly deep in the rabbit hole this time.

The last time that we took a look at 100-man the previous Fall, I'd mention that Season 1 was basically a prologue story to the overall compelling story and plot that mangaka Naoki Yamakawa was trying to explain in the vast world-building of the series. Now that we're here in the true story fashion that is Season 2, how does it fare when compared to the prequel? As some would say: "It gets darker over a period of time."

Yotsuya and the other Heroes are back in the fantasy world again, only with some new faces (like the gangster turned Hero Keita Torii) and even more tougher quests that involve the same gut-wrenching humanitarian efforts to save NPCs and wade off evildoers. Only except that now, our main lead Yotsuya experiences emotions like never before: the desire for survival by exercising his actions that seem pragmatic and contrary to human societal values. Remember, Yotsuya's unknown background of being anti-social and selfish contributes to his way of thnking that humans all should be subjected to death, and that only those that are allowed to live are those who can increase his chances of survivial. Whether good or bad, he sees that as much as he wants to have sympathy and compassion on all people, friend or foe, he defaults to his way of thinking, and comparing to Season 1, that provides a stark contrast to the story tones with tension and rising conflict. It's only through Yotsuya we see the most that creates this "I'm standing on 1 mil lives" characterization between the heroes and the NPCs relationship that changes along with their presented scenario that sadly, series like this needs a lot of seasons to tell of its complete story that's bogged down by slow progression.

As painful as I'd like to be excited for Season 2, because that is where the main story gets to spread its reach to those who've stuck around since the prequel, I'm sorry to say that I felt more emotions in Season 1 more than this. Not to say that this sequel season is bad, but more than Yotsuya's characterization being the main attraction of the series, the other Heroes (Shindou and the rest) are placed with less emphasis and relegated to the same old monster hunting-cum-clearing work as before. They can be the same goofballs, but since the story places a lot of storytelling through the eyes of Yotsuya, the Heroes alongside him are just side cheddar. It's seriousness on a whole other level, but also can be sacrificial if not handled and executed in a correct way. I can feel a lot of humanity for Yotsuya within his means to achieve what he wants, but for the others, they're plot devices to aim at his way.

Maho Film returns with the same production staff team from the prequel, and it's just the same as before with low budget animation. Heck, I can argue that the sequel did a tad worse than Season 1 by how much muter it is in comparison. Even the OST I feel is a step down, and when you add it all up, this sequel has the story and characters going up, but everything else goes headfirst down into the trench.

It's a big fat shame because 100-man's story is a lot deeper than most would've imagined, and taking time off to read Naoki Yamakawa's manga while waiting for Season 2, I feel that the manga is a lot more cohesive, and doesn't drown the reader with unncecessary filler, that gets right to the story with no time to spare. Just the facts. Maybe if the newbie debut director Kumiko Habara had more time to understand the source material, then 100-man as a series would've turned out to be something even more profound. To that I say: "Dear Habara-san, you still have a long way to go if you're gonna direct a show next time."

If you feel the need to consume a material like this, I highly recommend that you go read the manga because it will suck you in completely with its plot twists and narratives that are a better execution than the anime adaptation made it out to be for both seasons now.

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