Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season

Honestly, I was already bored near the end of season 1 but, it was tolerable so it's okay. However, this season was the complete opposite, it was so frustrating from the beginning till the end.

Story: 2/10
I was frowning the whole time while watching this anime. It became very annoying, boring and super cliche. After everything that happened in season 1, you will think that something different or something interesting is going to happen in this season but, nothing really changed - not the characters, not their relationship or anything- nothing change at all - they just keep on doing the same things they did in ... season 1: worry about petty things, misunderstandings and all.

Art: 7/10
Nothing much has change from how it was in season 1.

Sound: 5/10
I only listen to the opening and ending song once...they are not really that interesting.

Characters: 1/10
Sawako's character is understandable and tolerable during the first season and I liked how she tried so hard to change herself and make her classmates change her impression of her and be friends with them. But that "will" was completely forgotten. She became so weak and easily manipulated - constantly worrying and crying for almost every little thing, so her friends always need to help her, in the end she's one of those characters who always need to depend on people.

Kazehaya: I had a little crush on him during the first season. He was handsome and interesting character - at first - but as the series goes on, he became boring.

Overall: 2/10
I was utterly disappointed, it could've been better. The whole season ended up with nothing but same old things, same old petty problems over and over again.

I personally think that there shouldn't be a 2nd season to this series. A pity it turned out to be such a disappointment since I enjoyed the 1st season quite a lot. Meh...

Story: 3
Contrary to the 1st season, the story was centered upon Sawako and Shouta TOO much: how they were too shy to confess to each other and how all those misunderstandings interfered to make things even more difficult without reason. It was annoying and it made me lose my patience. It's the kind of story that if it was not a sequel, I wouldn't watch it even if I was paid to do ... so.

Art: 9
Nothing to add here. It was of the same quality as season 1. Quite bright and refreshing.

Sound: 7
Well, OT and ET didn't amaze me, but they fit nicely with the story. Voice acting is nice too (Noto Mamiko is my favorite). They really know how to throw the punchlines. Generally, nothing was out of place.

Character: 4
Characters such as Ayane and Chizu were totally given no significance other than the role of the matchmakers. It was really a waste because they were really interesting and contributing a great deal with their humor and backstories as well. The new character, Kento, was just helping new misunderstandings to show up. Sawako and Shouta were useless on expressing their feelings. The only character I liked was Kurumi, at least she showed consistency and bravery at times.

Enjoyment: 4
I just watched it to shoothe myself after a gore anime. And because I had to complete it - call it OCD or whatever.

Overall: 4
It really changed my opinion about sequels. Previously I thought that I should watch sequels in order to see what happens in the end, but they don't always add something to the story. I would be happy with just the first season, nothing really happened in the second worthy of watching...

Second season of this mid ass melodrama proved to be tenfold worse than the slow ass first season. How come 12 episodes were more excruciating to sit through than the first seasons 25?? Jesus christ man. This is worse than any soap opera ive ever seen. Main female has profound mental retardation. She takes over 8 episodes to realize ‘if i use my words to communicate then people will know what im thinking and feeling’. Well thanks for coming to this conclusion which most people make as toddlers.

Main couple has no chemistry. By the end of the series I was rooting for Kurumi to ... seduce Kazehaya magically. But that would mean Kazehaya fails his only objective in this show - have feelings for Sawako. Kazehaya has no personality trait except popular guy who likes Sawako. He has no dreams, no hobbies of significance, no meaningful dialogue. Just piss and moan over Sawako. Meanwhile Sawakos job is to cry and blush and stutter over every interaction.

90% of the conflict in this season is caused by some insignificant blonde retard they introduced just so they can have a second season. Dude is jobless and friendless so he runs around spreading misinformation to Kazehaya and Sawako for some extremely lame drama just to drag runtime. As such, we get no conclusion to the side couple - Ryu and Chizu. That was this whole reason I even watched this shitty season. Needless to say I’m pissed at this waste of time. My advice? Just skip this crap. My blood pressure was rising from the amount of bullshit spewed this season. And im NEVER watching shojo again. Truly only children can like this junk. No one whos ever been in a real relationship or has functioning brain cells can watch this shit and enjoy it

I honestly don't even know what to say. I really enjoyed S1, but S2 was legitimately infuriating. I had to stop watching multiple times to get through it.

Miscommunications happen sometimes, but it just felt so contrived and artificial and AVOIDABLE between Shouta and Sawako. Like, if they had just just worded things clearly and expressed their feelings without beating around the bush, the events of the first nine episodes could have been squeezed into two.

Overall, this season felt like a poorly written, shallow attempt to draw out the time that Shouta and Sawako spent sorting things out before becoming a couple. The characters I enjoyed ... watching in S1 just irritated me this time around due to their unwillingness to be upfront with their feelings; Sawako's ignorance to Shouta's feelings just made her seem stupid, so I came away from this season actively disliking her. In S1 I thought she was precious, not so much anymore.

I've lost hours of my life to this mediocre season and I'm honestly a little bitter. My advice? Don't bother with the first nine episodes of this season, seriously. Just skip to episode ten and enjoy the last three episodes for what they are.

This "thing" is so bad I don't even know how to explain it.
(Small amount of spoiler warning)

First off, let's dive into this the school and romance theme is pretty common in anime. The whole high school vibe gives authors an easy way to throw in romantic scenes without much fuss. It's convenient too, no need for some elaborate setup about the main character and pals meeting up. Cool concept, right? Well, that's the theory, but let me tell you how it can all go downhill.

So, here's the deal. The first season had a major hiccup, which I'll get to in a bit. Towards the end, ... though, when they started digging into the side characters Chizu and Ryu, and even Ayane with a different angle, I started to see a glimmer of hope. The first season was your run-of-the-mill romance anime, but towards the finale, I dared to think it might rise above average. Then came the second season, was I wrong. This anime? It's like it shouldn't even exist.

Now, let's talk tempo. There's no tempo in this thing. Sawako, the main girl, and Kazehaya, the main guy, figured out they were in love by episode 11. But hold up, they only become a couple by episode 36. What went down in those 25 episodes? Pretty much nothing, aside from the side character sagas I mentioned earlier. And here's the kicker—the main character's big problem? No friends, can't socialize, and people are scared of her. But guess what? All of that was solved by episode 11. She had friends, she was in love, the cool guy in school was head over heels for her, and even the most popular girl in school was, sort of, her friend. If they became a couple at episode 12 and it ends, there'd be no issue.

Now, let's tackle the same issue in this season. What unfolds in season 2? Well, the short answer is: nothing. And I'm not exaggerating, it's really a whole lot of nothing. Kazehaya opens up to Sawako about his feelings (in a serious setting), but there's a major miscommunication. Sawako thinks she's been rejected (?), and Kazehaya, believe it or not, thinks the same. The next few episodes are basically them going around telling people about their supposed rejections and shedding tears in various locations. Sawako's crying in the garden, crying in class, crying to her teacher, crying to her friends. Even Kurumi, the popular girl I just mentioned, says, "Are you stupid? You still haven't bagged that guy. What's this useless writer even thinking?" And what does Sawako do? You guessed it more tears. Has Sawako ever done anything other than cry?

"Has Sawako ever done anything other than cry?" This question is the crux of this "thing." There's no rhyme or reason in this "thing." Events unfold because the writer wanted them to. If the backstories were crafted with some thought instead of just being dictated by the writer's whims, we wouldn't be stuck watching two clueless high schoolers stumbling through what love is, devoid of common sense, and only becoming a couple thanks to external intervention. The main character faces no real adversity. Some side characters attempt harm, but the outcome is always ridiculously positive. Despite this, she can't seem to connect with the boy, let alone progress. Why? Because this girl, for some reason, just stands there and stares when Kazehaya approaches her and speaks. STOP STARING AND SAY SOMETHING. It doesn't matter if you're shy or don't engage with others. As a human being, some basic common sense isn't too much to ask. If someone is trying to talk to you every day, being kind and trying to make a difference in your life, and you just stare back in silence for days on end, how would that make you feel? I can't blame Kazehaya; it's normal not to realize how nonsensical a person can be.

Now, turning to the characters, the range is decent. Admittedly, they aren't wildly different character types; they're the kind you've seen before. Nevertheless, the diversity is there. While diversity is typically a good thing, the problem here lies in the side characters, they don't really matter. They're like NPCs thrown in to ensure more positive things happen to Sawako. You find yourself yearning for a storyline about these side characters or some kind of backstory. Suddenly, something happens to Sawako, and she either cries or stares at Kazehaya without saying a word. Apart from that, not much else goes on. In a surprising twist for last episodes in the first season (perhaps the writer took a break, or a friend stepped in), we get the story of the side characters. This turned out to be the best part because none of the characters are as clueless as Sawako; you could catch a glimmer of intelligence in this section.

In the end, there's more I could talk about, but at this rate, I'll just be repeating myself like this "thing." As I mentioned earlier, it's challenging to express how bad this is. This "thing" revolves around a girl named Sawako who, due to her lack of common sense, constantly causes trouble, sheds tears, and, by some divine luck, experiences a continuous stream of positive events. She's so naive that she makes the boy she loves depressed, all while unwittingly using people for her own emotions. Such a scenario is far from reality, just forget about it.

*DISCLAIMER: MILD SPOILERS*

How incredibly disappointing. Season 1 gave so much promise, with an interesting cast, and side stories/relationships that I foolishly got captivated by. I was not the biggest fan of Sawako and Kazehaya but with some heartwarming and wholesome arcs, I pushed through and was excited for the possibilities that awaited in Season 2.

STORY: 2/10
What a hard watch. This was so incredibly hard to push through. The story was super boring and cliche and somehow progressed slower than a 25-episode season. Absolutely nothing happened until the later episodes and even those later episodes are very hard to get through. Episodes 8 - 12 felt ... like they were written but a hopelessly infatuated primary school kid imagining their first love. This season was a coinflip of a boring story completely halted by oblivious misunderstandings and petty actions, or a rushed resolution where we get some nice heartwarming scenes quickly overtaken by cringe one-liners or Sawako and Kazehaya just blushing and mumbling. Both were incredibly frustrating and made this sequel incredibly disappointing. The only reason I started this sequel was for the progression between Chizuru and Ryu, and for Ayane to hopefully find a love interest for herself. How foolish, as this season was overly Sawako x Kazehaya focused and the side cast got zero progression.

CHARACTERS: 4/10
Sawako's slowness was annoying, but justified in Season 1 as any socially introverted character would struggle with interactions in the like. However, her character in the season was painful to watch. She somehow devolved into a preschooler and forgot how to be a person altogether, overreacting and overthinking every small detail.
Kazehaya was no better. He was already quite boring but had some memorable scenes and progression but this season was perhaps a joke. In short, Kazehaya was uninteresting and one-dimensional, and towards the end had a plethora of cringe-worthy scenes. Some of his actions were brainless, and unlike Sawako, he has always been a normal person in society and has no excuse for being socially braindead. What a revelation that if you speak your mind, you can avoid misunderstandings!!

Ayane, Chizuru, Ryu and Kurumi were enjoyable as always. Their interactions were refreshing and their contribution to the story worked. Pity they had such little self-development and place in the plot. How very surprising the most anticipated relationship of Chizuru and Ryu does not get any screentime.
Kento was a... character? He felt incredibly out of place and felt like a filler character, existing with the purpose of making this season reach the 12-episode mark. I honestly quite liked him, but he slowly became stale as the story progressed.

ANIMATION: 7/10
Overall quality was very similar to the first season. The animation style changes when Sawako smiled were heartwarming and really elevated the scene. The sparkles had a similar effect. My only complaint was the chibi animation between Kazehaya and Sawako. It didn't seem out of place in the first season, but towards the end of this sequel my goodness did it feel overused and cringe. Otherwise, the animation was great.

SOUND: 9/10
Perhaps the only redeeming factor of this season. Bringing back Tomofumi Tanizawa for the OP was a great choice, and I felt this OP fit better than the first. The ED was also good, but not the most memorable.

ENJOYMENT: 2/10
I enjoyed very little throughout this season. The main couple were hard to like. Sawako was somehow unlikeable and Kazehaya felt like an empty husk as stupid as Pin or Joe. I felt the side cast existed to try to relieve the pain similar to the first season but with the minimal progression and underused potential, I was forced to watch the childish interactions between Sawako and Kazehaya. I cannot stress enough that the final few episodes felt so forced and fake, despite being the resolution to a 37-episode story. Truly disappointing.

OVERALL: 3/10
The script, direction and timing were all off. This sequel would be better off not being made imo. Surprisingly, Season 3 was announced right as I finished this but honestly, this season has really put me off Shoujo. If I do watch Season 3, I will not settle for any less than a Chizuru x Ryu spinoff or even an Ayane sub-plot. Just no more Sawako or Kazehaya, I beg.

If you loved the first season of Kimi ni Todoke like I did, you may also feel as betrayed by season two as I do. The writing quality changed so drastically between seasons one and two that I was unsure whether or not I was even watching the same show. Bad news; I was.

The first season of KnT was pretty darn good. It had tons of heart, great characters in Sawako, Chizuru, Ayane, Kurumi, and the rest. The comedic elements were solid, if not occasionally timed awkwardly, and up until the very end, I was invested 100%.

Then comes season two. Instead of the story flowing ... along smoothly like it did in S1, S2 immediately time skips again and again, right from the get-go. Ayane said in S1, "love is all about timing". Well, the story lost its sense of time, and not just in a narrative sense. The story beats and comedic timing also suffered greatly in this poor follow-up to a pretty good first run.

The biggest sin of KnT's second season, though, is how they erased 25 episodes of character development with the aforementioned time skips and some pretty insane contrived drama. I can't remember a time I've been more frustrated with a romantic comedy story's tropes and cliches than in this 12 episode run.

Seriously, they pulled out all the stops here. It's almost impressive. Not to say that S1 didn't have its fair share of romance story cliches either, but it at least used them within the walls of its cohesive narrative filled with likable characters.

The art maintains most of the first season's quality, and the sound design is alright. The voice acting remained solid, too.

Overall, this second season was incredibly frustrating to watch. It's a very jarring difference when compared to the great first season. In my opinion, skipping the drama and having Sawako and Kazehaya get together in a 26th episode in the first season, followed by a second season of further character development with the two in a relationship, as well as further developing the other characters around them (poor Ryuu x Chizuru pairing got almost zero attention) would have been a far, far better and more compelling second story.

tl;dr A very disappointing and frustrating 2/10.

Season 1 was so good that I was really looking forward to Season 2.

What a letdown! Several of the characters were given cursory treatment, the art work wasn't as good, and if there's anything I do not like, it is "prolonged misunderstanding" story lines.

As a writer myself, "prolonged misunderstanding" story lines make me gag. Lazy, contrived writing, very prevalent in European movies and television. There are dents in my walls from hurling books and VHS tapes against the wall that sported "prolonged misunderstanding" stories.

There is no reason why Season 2 couldn't have been as good or better. It's like the makers' brains ... took a holiday.

The misunderstood girl and the popular boy who see their paths cross...
And so far so good, there was harmony, there was a good story and an excellent technical support sector. But now comes the inexorable but,
Everything is stretched excessively!

Like having a great bottle of Champagne but instead of pouring it into glasses you pour it into a jug of water to lengthen it.
Let me explain better, this anime doesn't have the structure to all these episodes!

Instead the story becomes ridiculous to find pretexts to lengthen everything, I swear, misunderstandings are created that not even 3-year-olds would believe it.
At some point you just feel like ... skipping episodes to get to the end
My time is precious, I don't like being made fun of...

Just stop after season 1 and you're fine.

I gave the first season a stellar 10 and here's a 'bad' rating for the second season, a 4, a "less than mid" score. In many ways this is a 1, but... There's a point to what it does, but how it delivers and moves the story along is disastrous.

It rips everything away that was achieved, replacing it with contrived and frustrating drama that comes off as completely unrealistic.
Worse, it leaves you feeling distrustful of what's going on because the story goes out of its way to disappoint your expectations and almost becomes predictably pessimistic and negative. ...
It takes a first season of what was a comfortable warmth and replaces it with a mess just to stretch out the inevitable conclusion.

This is not a matter of taste, this is poor writing, the second season is narratively dissonant to what came before it.
Characters act like they've swallowed an idiot pill. The supporting cast is always somewhere else when it's crucial they're there and conveniently they never ask because suddenly it's more respectful not to ask or say anything, when before it was to do what was right, because "daisuki".

After a first season stretching over the course of half a year, the second season immediately skips two month from where the first season left off with zero development to valentine's day and then skips another two months right after. Before every day mattered and now there's this gigantic double time skip that completely ruins the conclusion of the first season where Sadako got a phone to keep in touch with her friends and Kazehaya - a phone that she learned to be on the initiative with. All gone. Why? So that the season can end on the school festival in 12 episodes.

The themes of standing up for yourself and speaking the truth despite feelings are all gone and instead of clearing up misunderstandings, which was the strong point of season 1, they create more. Sadako becomes obtuse and cripplingly insecure. Kazehaya becomes a crybaby wimp.
People ask Sadako a question that's hard to answer and a quarter of a second later when she doesn't immediately reply, they walk away with a "ah, I understand" attitude despite the self same characters knowing that she needs a while to get her words together, because that's how she reacts when faced with a perspective she hadn't thought about.

This all makes for a broken and unlikable experience and it lasts for most of the season before the final 4 or so episodes where you can't trust what's going on anymore.
You've been served a turd on a plate eight times in a row and now the show finally serves you what you asked for. Are you going to eat it? It'll taste pretty good in comparison, but was it really worth it?

Well... kind of.
It's not the ending that matters anymore, because that's no longer the story the writer wanted to tell.
The story is "why" the two characters love each other and to push that question through a painful process to get a worthy answer.
Practically the answer isn't worth it. You've just watched 160 minutes of misery to get an okay answer and frankly I don't think it was worth the time.

That's why this season isn't unwatchable, but why it's definitely bad.

I Skipped everything in this season. This whole thing should have ended on her birthday but instead we got 12 episodes of nothing.

I don't care what happens in the story since it should have ended with a confession on new year and the character are quite vgood but this is a second season so nobodey gives a shit about everything else around the main couple since the story is just a prolonged v-day.

THIS IS MY ADVICE: THE MOMENT YOU SEE KUZUHAYA TAKE OUT CHOCOLATE OUT OF HIS LOCKER SKIP TO THE LAST 3 MINUTES OF THE LAST EPISODE. IDK WHY BUT IT IS SO ... MUCH CLEANER, SO MUCH BETTER, IT HURTS ME TO BE THIS HAPPY I SKIPPED 11 1/2 EPISODES OF AN ANIME.