The story remains the same, there is Kokonotsu, whose dad wants him to take over the dagashi shop, there is Hotaru, who spends most of her time with him while telling him the story of sweets, and there are also Saya and To, who spend a lot of time with them too and, of course, there are japanese sweets (and sometimes toys). The main difference between the story in the first one and the second is that... There is drama in this one. Drama in Dagashi Kashi, yeah.
Kokonotsu fell in love with Hotaru and even forgot that he DIDN'T want to become a shop owner. After Hotaru lefts the town, he gets really depressed and that's when Kotoyama finally opens the door for the new characters, who are Hajime and Beniyutaka. While the second one doesn't really have much screen time, Hajime really shines. She is the one character who made this season as funny as it could be. Every scene with her is hilarious and she blends in with other people really well.
The biggest changes in this season are the new art style and shorter episode duration.
At first, I didn't like the art, but after watching one episode it was proved that I was wrong. All characters (Except for Hotaru, I guess, she was gorgeous in the 1st season) look AMAZINGLY good. Background art is on point too. The art shouldn't be something that can make this series bad.
As for the episode duration, it... also made the series better. The main point of Dagashi Kashi is promoting sweets while telling you it's history as you watch characters interact with each other, and some episodes in the first season were boring because this anime does not need to be 20 minutes long to do it's job.
My only complaint for this series would be TOO much fanservice in the first episodes. I mean, you're 2 episodes in and you already see Hotaru and Saya in one bath.
As for now, I think that second season is even better than the first one. It is more enjoyable and fun, while also remaining "educative" for those who want to know more about sweets.
