3D Kanojo: Real Girl 2nd Season

After a somewhat underwhelming first season, 3D Kanojo: Real Girl Season 2 managed to improve in certain aspects, earning a 6/10 from me. The continuation of Hikari and Iroha’s relationship brought more emotional weight, and the character development felt slightly more refined this time around.

One of the strengths of this season was its deeper exploration of Iroha’s backstory and the challenges in their relationship. The conflicts felt more meaningful compared to the rushed resolutions in Season 1. Hikari also showed better growth as a character, becoming more confident and emotionally mature.

However, the series still suffered from pacing issues. While some moments were well-executed, others felt ... overly dramatic or unnecessarily dragged out. The supporting characters received more attention, which was nice, but their arcs sometimes felt predictable. The animation quality remained inconsistent, with certain scenes lacking polish.

Overall, Season 2 was an improvement over the first, offering a more engaging and emotionally grounded experience. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but it provided a decent conclusion to the story. If you made it through Season 1, this season is worth watching for the closure it provides.

OK. So. Here goes.
This is about as Mid as I can give it credit for.
Characters:
The main leads are kind of basic. The nerd who needs to break out of his shell and the quiet misunderstood girl. I get that this formula can work and work well, but it's how the characters interact through out the story that makes them memorable. Lets look at something similar like Wotakoi. You have something almost lined up like that and the characters are fantastic. Mainly because they behave in believable ways. SO many stories have some one needing to break out of a shell and can do it ... right. It mostly plays to the circumstance too. The best example to campare This show's lead (Hikari) to is Naoto from Don't toy with me Nagatoro. How do they compare?
Hikari:
An "Otaku" who doesn't get normie life and meets the female lead who has a fountain of rumors about her. He hates her at first. He helps her a couple times and now has a girlfriend by episode 1. He starts to learn what relationships are and how to interact with others... WHILE in a relationship with the "Quiet misunderstood" girl. He makes all the basic mistakes. Not knowing how to act, being afraid to commit, and not realizing peoples feelings. The story uses the bonus twist of She is leaving in 6 months. It doesn't help because it doesn't push pass the shell trope. He just learns, fails, learns, fails, and learns again. I felt like it needs something to really boost his development. His character felt too cookie cutter and predictable since he just progresses how others tell him. Lets look at some one in a similar situation and how they fair better.
Naoto:
An Otaku and artist who is a bit of a loner and doesn't get normie life. He meets Nagatoro who is constantly bullying him and teasing him. He despises her at first. Though he finds out Nagatoro is only like this with him and no one else. She seems normal or disinterested when talking to other guys. He soon starts to become used to the antics of Nagatoro and even starts to help her out when she is in a pinch as this awkward pairing has blossomed into a friendship. He develops feelings for her as she begins to break him out of his shell. He starts to become more physically active and emotionally aware of how Nagatoro is. He learns what makes her angry and what makes her happy. He begins to see kinder sides to her and even begins to want to be a better person not just because of her, but with her. It even hints that this was kind of her plan all along. He learns and grows as their friendship starts to lean towards more romantic implications and he starts to learn about who she is, was and wants to be. The bullying twist on their relationship dies down and they begin to genuinely enjoy each other's company. THEY STILL AREN'T DATING YET AND I AM ALREADY 1000 TIMES MORE INVESTED IN THESE TWO!

While Nagatoro is one of my personal favorite ongoing romcoms, 3D Kanajo doesn't have enough personality. Everyone is quiet, or kind underneath a layer of misunderstanding. Characters lash out for no reason only to make up like 10 minutes later. The looming deadline of Iroha leaving doesn't really matter as it isn't dwelled on enough or made into a strain like it should. If the characters had more individuality to them and more personality, then I think this could have been an easy 7 out 10 at worse. It lacks this and the story becomes too predictable too quick. You can literally say how a conflict will end as it starts, and you will be right 90% of the time. So! It's mid. Not overly offensive (as long as you don't count the blatant disregard to Otaku culture) and not memorable either. I had just finished this and I still have trouble remembering some of the character names. If you want this plot line but better then please Read Nagatoro or Wotakoi. If you are curious as to how this is or was a fan of the manga. Then it won't be a complete waste of time, but you might still feel empty for the wrong reasons.

To say this was a dumpster fire would be an insult to dumpster fires. Where to begin? So, the story pickups right after the first season. No rocket science there, but then it doubles down on the nonsensical drama that happens for no good reason as it continues to emasculate men. The girls don't get away either. Their IQ seems so low, that the military would refuse them. The adults, the few that they had, could have not been more retarded. Mix that in with the dumb AF story with the standard anime must have school tropes and you realise that "Redo of healer" might ... have been a masterpiece. This show makes you wonder if in Japan, you can beat up nerds and girls without consequence. The voice acting...I thought these people were professionals paid to sound like the character but no! They must have looked around the office for people, then stuck them in the recording studio. Every conversation sounded forced and fake. People if you have the slightest bit of respect for yourself and time, avoid this show. There are so many good high school romances out there that this should be reserved for someone you hate.

The characters are so mid and uninteresting, it is hard to get invested in them. There is some small development but it is so poorly handled that it comes off as cringe more often than not. The lead girl is probably the most interesting of the lot but is saddled with the "she so pretty, she must be a whore" syndrome. Actually, the writer just stuck every high school drama trope imaginable short of being transported to another world in the hopes something sticking. I guess that's why this show has as a high score.

The pacing was cringe, drag, cringe, drag, drag, cringe next episode.

The only things they got right were the mediocre animation and (thankfully) no fan service but is easily negated by how quickly people overreact to minor infractions in the relationships. Was this show supposed to be a parody by chance? Because if it was, it went right over my head.