It's safe to assume anyone who's considering picking up this anime has already seen the first season. My biggest gripe with the first season of Umaru was that the character herself was, for lack of a better word, a complete cunt. Even though her brashness gave the anime its spirit, the second season does a much better balancing act with the many faces of Umaru. The rest of the characters are as entertaining as ever. I certainly wouldn't have made it through the first season if it wasn't for Ebina and Kirie, for example. Himouto!'s second season truly earns a perfect rating in the character department.
People love to diss any type of series for lack of development, and this was especially true for the first first season. Does the second season do anything to remedy this? You could say the show ends the same way it started, but some things undoubtedly changed along the way.
While the first season introduced us to these characters, the second season is much more focused on exploring their friendships and group dynamics. It was quite rewarding to finally see these lovely people properly hitting it off and bonding together. I was especially surprised by the change in the overall tone, as for every goofy scene there seemed to be an equal amount of emotional ones. In particular the feeling of nostalgia was heavily explored. The 2nd season made me feel a range of emotions. The end result was as tasty as eating chips and chocolate with the occasional sip of cola.
On the flipside these emotional moments never truly lead us anywhere. The story of Himouto! (if there is one) is fractured and all we get are random everyday events. The scenes are usually loosely connected, but never in a meaningful way. This kind of structure is natural for a comedy, but it certainly doesn't let the series tap into the full potential of the more serious moments of Himouto!. Still, this could change by the end of the series, which is why I'm definitely keeping an eye on possible continuation.
Overall, Himouto!'s second season was a very refreshing take on comedy. If you enjoyed the first season you should definitely check out this one as well, as it has all the strengths and less weaknesses. The characters are better realized and still extremely endearing. They even gave us a banging ED, so go check it out.
