Mangaka Onigunsou's anime adaptation continues where we left off with Part 1 back in Winter, and I'm not gonna lie, it felt like a work that was awfully dated by the time the anime adaptation came out almost a full decade since the start of the manga (almost 9 years to be precise). The story of spirits crossing over to the human world and possessing objects to gain its physical form to become tsukumogami, and a boy whose life was scarred by the evil ones so much that to try living with a tsukumogami-laden family to learn his control of hatred. That was the evolution of the main protagonist Hyoma Kunato, the son of the Kunato Saenome faction and his relationship with the young woman that would change his life forever: Botan Nagatsuki of the Nagatsuki House of tsukumogami, being possessed by a marebito that's the target of all Saenome factions.
It's safe to say that Part 2 here will feel more of the same if you have seen Part 1 back in Winter, so if the anime didn't grasp your attention from the get-go, then you can stop reading this review here. For the few who did venture out for more of what's to come, Part 2 basically ups the ante of the relationship between Hyoma and Botan, as well as the various groups and enemies that become a major factor of the show as it wears on. Hyoma, at this point, still wears his hatred of tsukumogami on the heart of his sleeve, though thanks to Botan, aside from the various giggles that their relationship is taken to the next level, he becomes better at his craft of mastering the ways of the Saenome, as well as learning to trust the family, which in turn, acts as the Nagatsuki Bridal Trousseau against the evil-doers who thwart their path onto unleashing Botan's marebito capability as the god of all tsukumogami and spirits.
Of course, the action accompanies the intensity of facing new characters like the Bureau of Traditional Music through Tsumabiki, Fukie and Tsuzumi, as well as the paper umbrella tsukumogami that have their sights on Botan, as well as Hyoma for getting revenge on them for the killing of his well-capable siblings at a young age. The good thing is that with Botan being the target, there is the fear mongering that she is truly in danger as Hyoma and the Nagatsuki House fight to keep her survival against strong enemies, but that is coupled with the same production values that follow from Part 1, though it feels polished, albeit with the same inconsistencies that's the case for Bandai Namco Pictures's standards.
Other than that, the OST for Part 2, it was a downgrade over what Part 1 had with ARCANA PROJECT's somewhat good OP and TRUE's beautiful ED, replacing it with Megatera Zero's somewhat fitting Shonen-feelish OP and Azusa Tadakoro's low-key feel good-ish ED.
Even after another season of Mono-NO-gatari, am I convinced that mangaka Onigunsou's work is good? Probably not, it's just as forgettable as Part 1 comes, though even with the heavy action of Part 2 that delivers big time as a redemption arc of sorts, the entire product still feels mediocre at best. I've said in my review of Part 1 that if this show's anime adaptation would've come a lot earlier, say the mid to late 2010s, it would at least have a cult following, but in 2023 where tropes have been repeated to soulless repetition, I'm sorry to say that Mono-NO-gatari just didn't really stand out amongst the crowded pack of AniManga.
It definitely is a redemption of an ugly duckling, but still, this certainly, and cohesively, is no swan.
