I will be covering spoilers so keep that in mind when reading this, also touching on SA topics that were presented.
Rikekoi season 2 follows were we left off in season 1, were Himuro and Yukimura are figuring out their feelings while overlaying all this complicated scientific explanations because they are both STEM nerds and we all know STEM people can’t compute feelings right? That’s the entire gag of the show and for the most part during season 1 it was enjoyable and handled very balancedly, including humor while also advancing the narrative presented with the characters and romantic plot of the series.
The problem with season 2 starts from the story, or for better words, the lack of a cohesive line thread that unites the characters like they did on season 1. While most of season 1 we spend following Himuro and Yukimura’s antics while some smaller side plots with side characters were presented, season 2 decided to do the contrary and introduce new characters with a convoluted start to the series that added nothing and as it went along, even more subplots with side characters while our two protagonists were left… Not really shining.
Starting with the two first characters introduced, Chris and Suiu which I honestly found very obnoxious and annoying. They wanted to add more fan service into the series and well, if you are into that its great, but from a neutral standpoint they contributed nothing and we as the audience didn’t get to care for them that much. They never appeared on season 1 and suddenly were thrusted at us this season and…. I really did not care for anything they did. It was just a sexual gag that got old very fast.
Then we had Haru’s plot with Yukimura’s tutoring which… what was the point? Like, if you are adding a subplot with one of the main characters and another character that has nothing to do with the main cast or story, it should be to develop that main character in some way but Yukimura was never developed because of this? We only got to see Haru’s change and while it was nice and heartwarming to see, as the audience, why do we care? The preppy blonde girl suddenly now understands the importance of science but like… We gain nothing new from this, a complete filler into the whole series.
Then there was the Kanade plot which I want to focus a bit because they had a really interesting thread of developing into something and they just completely…. Misused it. I’ve always liked Kanade as a character, I think she works great to balance out all the other personalities within the main cast into this more grounded perspective and I feel like we as the audience are supposed to kind of step into Kanade’s role in the story to roll our eyes at the main two over dramatic antics to admit their feelings. This season however Kanade was thrown into her own character arc were we see how she struggles to keep this façade, trying to fit in and act “normal” because that’s what she grew up being taught. For the most part I thought the message was interesting, I would have love for them to take it into the angle of exploring sexuality for example and maybe something like ace and aro feelings and how Kanade finds a lot of the experiments pointless because she doesn’t really see the appeal on it.
Instead we were fed a storyline of her developing a crush on her school teacher and her feeling bad because she is a girl and does martial arts which seems…. A bit outdated in this age, but I still took the bait and watched through it. And then came the whole Kanade and Naoya plot point and how it led to episode 12 SA scene and I can’t help but think how it all was handled very poorly. SA is a very scary situation and many individuals have been in Kanade’s situation, fear and impotence of the moment when someone has control over you. What does rikekoi do? Because its a gag show that shows STEM people are quirky and different, we are cut through Yukimura entering the scene and trying to dissuade the tension and buy time by going into a scientific explanation of who Kanade is and how being “normal” isn’t something she should worry about. It was very tone deaf and weirdly placed and while I understand that the show was following its usual formula of solving all issues with their dramatic scientific analysis, it belittle the situation and felt timed terribly with the situation we were seeing displayed.
I also think the start of a love triangle at this point is completely unnecessary and a plot device to keep the gag going instead of showing us actual development between Yukimura and Himuro. Why does Kanade’s character who has an interesting struggle and narrative relevancy have to be reduced to a hero’s complex were she now suddenly after 24 episodes of seeing Yukimura as someone she admires and a friend suddenly finds herself in love with him? What does this add to anything when we know Yukimura is head over heels for Himuro and vice versa? It’s just another trope of the third character having to fall for the male protagonist for reasons even though they will never stand a chance in the first place. If this is the set up for a third season I can only see it going even more downhill from there.
The only plot line I did enjoy and wish would have been furthered develop was the romantic interest between Ibarada and Kosuke, two characters that were relevant and important in season 1 and during season 2 they appeared like, 2 or 3 times at most. Those 2 or 3 times however shined through in comparison to the rest of the season and seeing them slowly understand their feelings for each other was really wholesome and I got no complaints about it. The best part of the season by far.
Speaking of plot points and how they were handled, another big disappointment this season was Himuro’s character and her lack of…. Anything. Even though she is one of the main characters writing this I can’t recall a single moment when Himuro shined or was important to any plot line. She was there yeah sure, but she was more of a side character than an actual protagonist and taking into account how much development she was given in season 1 and how interesting she is, she was greatly underutilized. Her and Yukimura’s romance had some advances here and there but unlike season 1 they didn’t have many key moments apart from maybe one episode from the 12 we had. I think Yukimura and Himuro are the most interesting part of rikekoi with their unique premise and seeing them being sidelined for the entire season was very disappointing to see. Don’t get me wrong, the main cast was all still enjoyable as a whole and I think they are still the ones carrying the show , but the lack of cohesion between the group and seeing each kind of doing their own thing, didn’t make them shine as much as season 1 when it really is one of rikekoi’s strongest points.
As for the art and sound it was good, no complaints there I think the opening and endings of rikekoi are very good and this season wasn’t the exception. The enjoyment varied due to my previous points and overall the lack of consistency and focus is what made rikekoi season 2 lose its spark.
