As always the story is told through the lives of our characters. We don't have many new characters and some of the old ones that didn't have much to do the last season have made a reappearance. The one thing that has changed is the basic framework for how the story is transmitted. The first season did an amazing job of interweaving these mini stories together to make the world feel natural and organic. This season threw that out the window, they kept the same cut in and out and narration based story but made it more episodic. This fit this more action packed season better IMO, however this means that the story has gotten a little too crazy and the writers didn't care enough or couldn't weave it together as they had in the past. So you may ask yourself, "Why give it an 7 then"? Good question!
The reason this season received its score is purely because they decided to go down a path and seem to be finishing it. How many times are we going to see that damn head before we finish that path, how about the estranged couple, what about the other faces of the dollars....the list goes on. This anime has too many stories and never finishes one. The one they seemed to have finished back in the first season isn't finished and honestly it was the stupidest one. This season we have fights, life changing events, feelings and more character growth. This surge in action however makes for more flaws, and more character based issues. Tack that onto the already stretched thin issues with the supernatural themes and you have some mediocre content. However the growth that some of the stories experienced is enough to squelch these feelings and makes me want to see what happens. That isn't something just any mediocre anime can do.
Art and sound were the same as the other seasons.
Characters are the sticky subject for this season, as I have eluded in the story section. Its odd how everyone's character changes a bit. It turns the person you thought you knew a bit about into almost a new character and you have to decide how you take that. Orihara seems to be more human than we expected, Mikado has a complete identity crisis, Celty remains something the anime refuses to acknowledge. This is doesn't even scratch the surface, so much stuff happens that will make you experience this season much differently than either of the previous ones.
I enjoyed this season immensely but, as the excitement settles down I think I will be dissapointed in this anime as a whole. Not that this anime is terrible but it isn't super amazing as people seem to be leading other to believe. On the other hand the idiot giving this a 2 is clearly here to say "Look how cool I am. By giving this anime a 2 I have an alternate opinion so outrageous Ill seem different and maybe even respected.". This anime is something I think people should check out purely for the way it tells its story, its interesting and clearly different. That being said it should have remained a season or two long and tried to polish up the stories they originally laid out. The more it piles on the more it feels like a cheap, everyday anime. Its turned from an amazing plain hamburger where the meat itself is so good that each bite makes you smile, into a hamburger with so much shit on it you wonder if there is any meat at all.
TLDR: Hooray for plot progression. Much better than last season, but be prepared for quality to be reduced.
