Story: 5
The story is very much the same as last season, basically moe girls doing slice of life things, and dealing with the same issues. There's a few new wrinkles thrown in, such as the addition of a couple of new characters, and sadly the loss of the first season's charming little 'side scenes' that lasted a few seconds to a few moments to tell a somewhat plot related joke. This time we don't get the cutaways and I think the overall feel of the show is slightly lessened for it.
The yuri overtones are still present, though again they are still minimized, but they're in there. Shinobu and Aya seem to be the biggest offenders at reading romantic intent in their classmates actions, the same as last season. There's not a lot of character growth to be had, but that's pretty obvious from just watching season one. The personality types stay the same, we have the blonde obsessed Shinobu, the nervous Aya, the hyperactive Karen, and so forth.
The series is still charmingly cute, but make no mistake, the whole thing is covered in a *thick* layer of sugary sweetness. This time around we're seeing bigger events, such as Alice and Karen returning to England for a visit. This actually causes a bit of a plot hole that bugged me badly. Karen's family in season one is stated to have moved to Japan outright. Yet when the two Brits go home, Karen's family is mysteriously back in that country. Why would they leave Karen behind? She's not shown as living with any of the other classmates (such as Alice living with Shinobu) so who is she staying with and why did her parents up and leave her to return to England? Otherwise, it was an easy watch, going with the flow of events.
Art: 7
The look is nearly spot on the same as last season, which is to say it looks pretty nice. The colors all work well, and the girls themselves are drawn in an interesting manner. If you liked the way season one looked, then you're set for season two.
Sound: 5
I ranked the sound a little lower this time around because it seemed to be more 'screechy' to me this time. I am fully aware that high school based slice of life shows are usually filled with super high pitched teen girls, but this season strayed closer to annoying for me. The theme songs aren't anywhere as good either. They're not bad by any means, they just don't have the catchy effect season one's had.
Character: 7
Most of what was said last time still applies. The characters are fairly thin, but they work well enough to make the viewing enjoyable. Shinobu is still blonde crazy and nearly loses her mind when both blonde Brits go home for a week. Aya is still nervous and kind of introverted, while Youko is optimistic and fun, but not overly hyper like Karen.
There are basically two new characters brought in for this season, a teacher to befriend the first season's teacher, and another high school girl that shows up to serve as Karen's best friend. The new teacher is written fairly well and appears in several episodes, giving the old teacher someone to interact with on a peer level.
The problem comes with the new friend for Karen. She's not shown all that often, yet Karen comes right out and says she's her very best friend. It appears to be a somewhat sloppy attempt to balance out the cast situation from the first season. We have the established 'couples' of Shinobu and Alice, Youko and Aya, and then Karen was kind of left in the wind. This new girl seems to be set up for Karen's interaction only. It's an acceptable idea, but was badly under used.
Enjoyment: 7
I did enjoy watching, though I do believe season one is the superior version. It is by no means a bad watch at all, however. That is if you care for moe-ness and the whole slice of life genre. The show is still silly and fun, and the writers clearly tried to keep the spirit of the show alive, even if the quality dropped off a slight bit. It still didn't blow my socks off, but I never had that moment where I considered dropping it either. Just a cute little show among so many others. But there's a reason why there are so many cute shows, because when done right, cute works. Kiniro for the most part achieves this, but in a rather mundane manner. It's biggest sin is being pretty much average.
Best Girl: Still Komichi Aya and her tendency to take things out of context and become incredibly embarrassed at the drop of a hat. Even so, she's a loyal and devoted friend in the group, and it's enjoyable to watch her.
Obviously watch season one first, if you haven't. If it worked for you, then you'll likely like this season as well. They didn't go off and try to 'reinvent' the show or anything like that. They stuck to the formula and the show feels like a natural extension of the previous season. It's a silly and fun little show, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. Still two thumbs up from this strange old man.
