Reviews

I liked season 1 of this show a lot, but season 2 made me fall in love with this series. Sure, it's the same characters as the first season, but you get to see more than the beginnings of a relationship here. There may not be the grand confession between Ichikawa and Yamada, no publicized relationship, but they are fundamentally in a very different place throughout this season, past the earliest misunderstandings and, at times, poor comprehension of their own feelings. Instead, we find ourselves diving into the relationship as it builds in ways that oscillate between subtle and dramatic, but they all left me with a massive smile. So many moments in this series just left me plain giddy. It also helps that the series seems to have largely left behind an element that didn’t work for me in S1: Ichikawa’s chuunibyou behaviors, which to the series credit, have also gotten some explanation.

But it's not just that these moments worked for me. If the series was just cute or the characters just an adorable couple, it wouldn't rate nearly as high as it does for me. There's a lot to love, particularly in Ichikawa's experience. Given that we spend so much time seeing things from his perspective, that's probably obvious, but this is the season we really get to know Yamada, despite never seeing into her head. She's much less subtle this time around when it comes to her feelings, so her characterization shines throughout the season. And when those moments shine alongside Ichikawa, particularly when scenes are allowed to speak for themselves rather than requiring a lot of insight into what he's thinking, the moments can become transcendent. There are a couple of episodes in this season that feature such strong moments of character growth (particularly Episode 6) that it would be easy to make the case for them being some of the best of any series this season, though every episode had something to love. And yes, that ending was as adorable and sweet as it could be, a moment that really demonstrates how far these characters have come.

Compared with all that, there's not too much to criticize. The series does a far better job covering Yamada's work as a model and actress, even if we're still mainly getting glimpses into her life from an outsider's perspective. The side characters, particularly Adachi, get some meaningful development even if they're still frustrating most of the time. There are still several side characters who feel like they're there just to make things difficult or function as stereotypes for a laugh (this series is still very funny much of the time, though it's mostly despite that), which is probably the series' weakest part. There's just not much of an ensemble cast. I think the creators make the right choice to put their attention on the central couple, but it does end up feeling like others are just the source of wacky situations rather than deep characters in their own rights.

All this is to say that this might just be my favorite season of any romantic anime, bar none. Seen a lot of greats, but this just made my heart melt.