The second season of Haruhi is probably the most interesting controversial incident in my anime years. The random announcements of Kadokawa, then their trolling, fan rages, the disappearance of the disappearance of Suzu-Haruhi (unconfirmed)...let's get started.
Story:
This is not a continuation. The two season's relationship is more like Full Metal Panic and fumoffu (a main series and a series highlighting unseen parts of the main series). Despite fan disapproval (99.95% due to over-expectation), I enjoyed Season 2 a fair bit. S2 has a slightly gloomy tone at times as it explores the philosophical nature of the anime's "world" and Haruhi's influence on such a world. Probably informative more than funny/exciting. (If you're some kinda freak you might also see it as romantic)
Art:
It was since Lucky Star that Kyoani became a tad lazy with its quality. On one hand we have visual quality like we saw in the first season. On the other we have character faces that were from plain to downright weird.
Sound:
Not a big critic of sounds. A nice OP and ED is all I can say :P
Characters:
Most sequels fail in this category for me, probably because of the lack of new ideas and character development. I believe S2's main focus is in character development, especially Kyon influence on Haruhi (I actually believe this is the main idea for the series). The club members’ actions towards Haruhi's whims further shows their roles both as club members and 'defenders" of their respective realities.
Enjoyment:
Enjoyable. S2 opens more questions about the series than it actually answers. Maybe I read too deep into things, but the way they talk about "Haruhi's world" really creates depth to the melancholy universe. Don’t expect to see moe-overload and lots of lovely Haruhi. This one ain’t moe-otaku firendly
