Reviews

The animation's better, as is the conclusion. That's all I feel I can say in favor of this season over the previous one. In every other way, Okawari falls short; not even the promise of gratuitous fanservice could help (which, by the way, the first season did just fine without). Not to say that it was bad. If you enjoyed the first season, then watching this one is the next logical step. Just don't expect any of the free-form plot progression that made Minami-Ke so outstanding. Apparently in the span of time between then and now the writers figured such unique pacing* was a bad thing, and proceeded to eleminate almost all trace of it. Furthermore, what plot is there feels recycled and tedious, even uncomfortable in some cases. The character development feels forced and unneccesary where it could instead have been pleasant and rewarding; the addition of a new character is well done, but seems to come at the cost of overlooking other promising minor characters from s.1 (why is the female boncho in the opening credits, but only appearse in one episode?). Lastly, there's the tone, which seems claustrophobic where season 1 was welcoming and comfortable, an effect no doubt aided by the fact that the show now takes place in winter. In conclusion, (I really do need to end it here or else I'd go on all night) it's okay, and even then only for people who're already fans.

*okay, so it's a bit like Lucky Star, but there is a subtle difference.