TL;DR: This season is better than season 1, in terms of... almost everything actually. Story is much more interesting with characters that are not cardboard flat as Season 1.
Story-wise, is a continuation of season 1, but with a better plot. There is more focus on the story aspect of the show, which is a plus for me. Season 1 was too focused on the MC alone and the musical breakouts that it seems almost like an anime autobiography of sort. The execution of the anime also brings out the story better, there's more plots with broader perspectives that shows how each character and how various storylines connect with each other. The climaxes were also paced rather well, with appropriate timing for the musical breakouts along with some dose of the drama. There's more screen time for the supporting characters which helps build the story up more naturally. The build-up to the musical breakouts improved from season 1, definitely. The follow up scenes after the musical scenes could have been better. Overall, the story-telling is smoother and more natural.
Art is good, the characters and backgrounds are beautifully presented, much like season 1. The animation though could be better, but there's no major fault in it, just that, for a show with a lot of performances in its story, it would be more dynamic if the animation were to improve to bring across the "big scenes". The musicals were also designed really well that could bring out the drama/ fantasy element, but the way too average animation fail to bring across those elements to the audience on a much wholesome level.
Generally, Sound is pretty well done. The songs and music were good for a Music genre anime, the VAs also did a good job. But the sound effects are a little lacking. There are several scenes with sound effects that actually interrupted the story-telling as it doesn't fit into the scene. But is not so bad that it will affect the story, so overall, still good.
Characters are also way more wholesome. Maybe (or most probably) is because of the improved story plot and execution, the characters in this season have more "meaning " to them. Other than the main characters' design which have already debuted in the first season, the increased screen time for the supporting characters also allow us to know more about them, since they were barely introduced in season 1, is great to know the personas of the supporting characters in this season. Every character designs are quite unqiue from each other, and they are also fun to get to know more about. Other than presenting a much complete character design of the supporting and new characters, the story also went further and managed to put in some pretty good character developments for both the main cast and the supporting cast. This goes hand in hand with how the story plots are designed, and they complement each other well.
