Obviously the anime fandom could hardly contain themselves when another season of one of the most popular new anime was announced. Faced with clear comparisons that will be made with the first season as well as a change of animation studios, how did this sequel season fare?
Story: 7.88 / 10
Where the first season was focused around Saitama and retreading the same recipe: monster appears, monster defeats many heroes and Saitama finally arrives and ends the fight immediately – leaving very little story – this season actually has an underlying plot. Since the focus is on the anti-hero and the antagonist organization, the plot is actually something worth watching for. Of course, Saitama’s role in this season doesn’t change, but since we are already well aware of his position in this story, time isn’t spent on him as much as before. The two subplots are slow buildup and they join up by the end of the season, so there is more to this story to look forward to. It is nothing masterful, but clearly two whole plotlines more than the first season. Unfortunately, despite this season having a plot, it is missing a climax of any sort. The climactic battle of season 1 was arguably the pinnacle of the show, but this season lacks any sort of climactic battle. There was a candidate battle that could have been the pinnacle, but the circumstances surrounding it as well as its visual execution were not up to standard, so it’s just buildup from beginning to end; hopefully setting up for a big climax in one of the seasons to come.
Art: 6.57 / 10
The new art style didn’t bother me at first. It looked like OPM to me. But then the action scenes came. Where the first season banked on great-looking action scenes, this season’s looks anywhere between terrible and average. Instead of having flowing and colorful combat scenes, there are an abundance of bland, jittery scenes that makes you wish to go back to the dialogue instead. While Saitama’s punches looked great in season 1 (even the more comedic punches), in this season, there are many still frames with Saitama’s arm stretched out and the target spinning in the air – which not only looks like it was done on free software within 3 minutes – but this setup is also used for punches that aren’t even from Saitama. This was rather lazy and not even remotely funny. Not everything looked bad however, sometimes it looked fine, but never even close to what it looked like before. A lot of the weird monster designs were over-the-top and no longer funny like it was before, but it at least didn’t make much of a difference to me. Action excluded, everything else looks pretty good and consistent enough with what it was like before to not draw any attention.
Sound: 6.12 / 10
Even compared to the animation, the sound effects during the action scenes were horrible. Almost every flurry of attacks would sound like someone repeatedly stamping on a cardboard box and the shockwaves that are supposed to make the fight feel intense sound muffled or distorted. Luckily the voices were fine, with some of the new characters having pretty impressive performances in both the subbed and dubbed versions. The OP is pretty good, though not as catchy as the first season’s and the ED is a decent song, but doesn’t fit the tone at all. All in all, the sound was the most disappointing part of this season.
Character: 6.95 / 10
OPM isn’t known for its revolutionary characters, so this is no exception. Fortunately, due to the story focus shifting from Saitama ever so slightly, more interesting characters get more screen time. Garou is hands-down the best character to come out of OPM. He is fun to watch, brings an interesting dynamic and carries his own subplot well. Some other characters have progression too, though less memorable due to their low status in the story. Many of the characters are still as static as they were, but the new editions were handled well. In this category, this season trumps the first, but not by much.
Enjoyment: 7.25 / 10
Despite the action scenes looking sub-par, it is still OPM. The parody is still funny, the powers are still wacky and now we have a story to think about as well. I was very let down by the aesthetic of the action scenes, but the rest was pretty enjoyable to me, just not to the point where I would gladly rewatch this season like I would the first.
Overall: 6.93/ 10
Safe to say that this season didn’t live up to the first. I don’t think the change in animation studio is entirely to blame, since I think that some of the problems are narrative ones that exist in the manga as well. Fans would keep watching to find out what happens next, but this season has lost the title of “Fun action-comedy that anyone can enjoy”. It could have been much worse, but it certainly wasn’t good either.
