Not as bad as made out, but definitely nowhere near what was and what should have been.
This show honestly received way too much flak and hate when the first trailer released. Four episodes in, it's safe to say that S2 of One Punch Man is still worth the watch — even if it really cannot stand anywhere near Madhouse's excellent S1 from a technical standpoint. As (mostly) an anime only for OPM, I can say that most of my opinions from here on aren't jaundiced as everything I know about the story so far is from the anime.
The story continues where we left off, charting Saitama's misadventures as he forges his own hero legend. We now have a new villain known as Garou, who solidifies his status as a threat by massacring a room full of villains and taking out three A-rank heroes in the process. Garou's savagery and brutality in his quest for power pits him against various other heroes while Saitama continues with his daily routine: eliminating evildoers with nothing more than one punch, and failing to get any recognition most of the time. Garou's and Saitama's paths also coincide with a notorious prophecy warning of massive impending doom, which threatens to end the very world as our heroes know it.
There's nothing too complex about this story, which is a good thing — linear plots are the ones with the least plot holes, so the whole ride is a pretty safe albeit predictable one. The only moments you truly go "oh shit!" usually involve you laughing as Saitama dismantles a worthless pretender. Overall Garou seems interesting enough and his self absorbed quest and beliefs seem like a fun enough foil to Saitama's lackadaisical journey.
As far as characters go, there hasn't been any monumental shift in motivation so far. The defining character moments have all still been from the first season, and it's pretty much just continuation at this point. Saitama's comedic misfortune and couldn't care less attitude often downplay his heroism — the hero for fun is very likely the one of the only heroes who cares about doing the right thing more than the glitz and glamour of his industry (aside from Mumen Rider). Genos is still Saitama's yandere fanboy, though...at least he's honest about it. Some honestly wonderful voice acting keeps these characters relatable and fun to watch, subtle changes in tone and believable emotion add to the experience.
EDIT
The standout character here Garou, by a large mile. His journey and beliefs were especially poignant towards the end, as he waged everything on his ideals - and the results are incredible.
So well, sure the colours are nice enough (not as vibrant as S1, but good enough), HOWEVER the character design is honestly BAD. It's not one of those things that you notice after nitpicking or pausing. It literally stands out, like Superman's CGI lips in Justice League, uncanny valley stuff. Genos looked like a cyborg playboy in the first season but he looks like some elongated chimpanzee face from Sausage Party right now. Really, what the hell. I can say this about most of the characters. Thinner and longer faces.
They look like someone yanked them by the chin to give them those bizarre facial proportions. Except Fubuki.
Fubuki looks good AF.
The animation erghhh...could be worse, so as you can see, not really good. Less overall movement and flow compared to its predecessor, significantly more "frozen" screens. Still screens kinda ruin the immersion when you're in an epic fight, they just suck you out and make you groan. Especially because these stills are a hallmark of LESSER shows. Yeah. OPM S2 has a little too much of those for my liking, so I'm not exactly going to be too generous in this category.
What makes this sadder is that there are some genuinely great parts in the fights that would be absolutely awesome if a stupid still didn't interrupt the flow. Ugh.
EDIT: Some epic action scenes in 11 and 12 simply come far too late. One gem still cannot atone for shoddy presentation early on.
This show boasts some solid voice acting though, as in - absolutely solid. Comedy types of anime really tend to depend on good voice actors to carry their punchlines, this one excels. Great work especially from Saitama's, Sonic's and Genos' VAs: left me chuckling too many times with the exaggerated and expected moments. The rest of the cast do a badass job as well, so there's really nothing for me to nitpick here.
...but the music can feel oddly placed at times. I can't put quite the finger on it, but certain motifs feel like they could have been used in other scenes, to better effect. Also the music in general hasn't been too great as of this episode, so I genuinely hope it gets better...so that I can bump the damn rating up. Sadly, I can't say I'm a massive fan of the OP either, but I do think the ED is a good tune. GAROU HAS A BRILLIANT THEME, ALL SAID!
Final Thoughts:
Overall, there are some moments that I can truly say I enjoyed, but I can't say the same about every part so far. One Punch Man S2 has some good moments, but there's lots of rotten parts too, making this an...interesting concoction. But there's many more episodes to go, so I hope that I can actually revisit this with more positivity to add.
EDIT: Nothing substantial came about to change my rating. Still underwhelming, but you decide if it's worth your time.
