The second season of Date A Live continues along similar lines as the first season, though it is somewhat different. The core stories are still centered around Shido getting a spirit to fall in love with him. However, these stories felt a bit more drawn out than in the first season with each of the two arcs this season having more time spent on them. Though at the same time, it does continue adding more characters each arc, which results in it simply not being possible to involve everyone in every arc, though the second arc in this season does make a really solid attempt at doing so though many characters role are pretty small.
In terms of the new heroines, the Yamai sisters are amusing due to how they still have chemistry despite their contrast, with Yuzuru being incredibly logical and monotone while Kaguya is an emotional chuunibyou. Miku felt like the first genuinely unlikable heroine though in my opinion, in that she’s completely unbearable for the majority of her arc. That feels intentional in that she follows a traditional tsundere arc and has character development at the end, but at least as far as this season goes it’s not enough to make her anywhere near likable, though we’ll see what the story does with her next.
The action this season gets a lot better with a lot more going on and the final battle being intense and chaotic. It also has more emotionally intense moments that aren’t just the expected heartwarming endings to arcs as was the case with the first season, so it actually felt pretty gripping at times. A number of new elements were added to the overarching plot, but it’s still mostly mysterious for now and it’s not really clear where it’ll be going eventually. In exchange for the heavier focus on more serious elements, this season has less portions that are purely amusing, though the portions that it does have are still really solid.
The art and animation are both solid. Animation felt like a step up over the first season, especially in battle. It’s done by a different studio from the first season and they seem to be better I’d say. The OP and ED are both pretty solid and the maintenance of the serious not-serious narration before the OP is appreciated. The insert songs with Miku’s voice actress were all solid. The soundtrack felt more solid than the first season, but Kurumi’s battle theme is still the track that stands out the most by far.
