I preferred the 1st season; the series deteriorated since the previous season's final story chapter, but its score (7/10) will be unaffected by the 2nd season; however, the opposite will not be true for this season; it will be criticised based on the 1st season.
Too much stalling in the first half of the 2nd season, they were late in revealing the identity of the mastermind, who's identity was predictable. Take, for example, Episode 2, which was nothing more than a pointless comedy with no plot progression. Pacing was atrocious.
Speaking of late reveals, Nomura (the true mastermind) makes an appearance in Episode 17??? Her appearance was merely to fill a void (the one who funded Takano). It would have been better not to show her at all, or to show her much earlier, like in season one, or instead of making Takano an underling, they could have made Okonogi an ally joining forces with Takano because of similar goals yet different personal intentions to Takano's and shown more background of his character, rather than someone working solely for Takano's money. Of course, there is a distinction between "the appearance of the mastermind" and "the reveal of the mastermind", and Takano's mere appearance, for example, did not ruin the mystery. Okonogi's existence was merely to provide the necessary muscle for Takano's plan, but the problem was that his only personal motive was money, and Nomura's purpose was to provide that money in order to provide for Okonogi's army... you see what I am getting at? Both Nomura and Okonogi have no real connection to the story and serve only as plot device characters to fill a gap. If neither of them shows up, I'll ask questions like, "Where did the money come from?" "How come the yamainu are assisting Takano?" The writer does a good job filling this gap, but not enough for characters who play an important role in the plot, such as Okonogi and Nomura.
Rika only acted seriously in episode 6 to change fate? It's been a century, and she still hasn't tried what Keiichi did in episode 6? seriously?? Her lack of common sense is absurd. I understand that the message for the viewer is to do serious work rather than complain, which Rika didn't do at first, but 100 years is too long. What I expected was that she did not want to change fate at first; rather, she wanted to go back in time and have a good time with her friends, even if only for a short time that would be repeated indefinitely. But it turns out she's been whining for over a century without even trying. The reasonable assumption was that she had no motivation or desire to break free from the time loop. However, her statement that she wanted to leave from the beginning disproved such assumption. What's the point of Keiichi remembering a few past events only to forget them in the next world? Hanyu herself said it was pointless because it happened only once in 100 years, let alone it happens to more than one person in the same world. It later turns out that it happens to everyone, not just Keiichi, in their subconscious mind, including Keiichi, so I don't believe a conscious recollection is exclusive to Keiichi. Recalling in itself however served no tactical advantage whatsoever, so showing Keiichi conscious recollection was just a cool plot exposition revealing that the worlds were intertwined, which I expected to to happen again, ultimately Keiichi, regardless of his memories, Keiichi served a large role in changing fate because he was new to the town.
After a serious attempt, Hanyu's time-returning powers fade, the time travel period decreases, and Rika no longer remembers the events of the previous world, which is an unnecessary coincidence that is a plot convenience serves only to thrill viewers.
Shion is in love with Satoshi and yandere for him because he patted her head and spoke to her for a few minutes? The author was sure lazy here.
Rina and Mion were too friendly to Keiichi who had only met them for a few days, even after he broke Rina's fingers using the door. I wouldn't mind if they were both aware of the syndrome and working hard to alleviate the symptoms, but that wasn't the case. Also, even though Rika was aware of those impending events, she did nothing to stop them as usual; at the very least, she could have instructed Dr. Irie and Takano to treat him as they did with Satoshi.
What exactly real and syndrome imagination? What have Keiichi imagined and haven't? What about Rina's cleaver, did Rena equip the cleaver at the time for self-defense against the Yamainu in that bus, or was it all in Keiichi's head? and Mion's outburst when Keiichi told her about Ooishi? This is not subtlety, this is ambiguity. Spirited Away by the Demon Chapter was my favourite but had too many contrived plot conveniences to worsen Keiichi's Hinamizawa Syndrome when you look at it retrospectively.
Why does Takano fabricate false stories about her research and give them to random children with the syndrome? What was the point of stimulating the syndrome in few random children? for the lols? If so, her backstory never hinted or established that she was a sadist who enjoyed manipulating people for the sake of manipulating people; I assumed all she wanted was to prove her grandfather's theory and gain recognition, not enjoy causing suffering to others, what a waste of time. There was no reason to make her so malicious; given the reason in her flashbacks, it was understandable that she desired genocide. However, it appears absurd to play with children's minds for the sake of amusement. Especially when it comes to writing unnecessary papers and handing them over to the victim. Takano is a villain with a clear goal that she wishes to achieve regardless of the harm she causes to innocents; she is immoral but not a sadistic malicious villain who derives pleasure from the suffering of some innocent children. While she lacks morals she shows no signs of being sadistic throughout the anime including her flashback. If another reason existed, then it was not disclosed. And certainly not "for the sake of scientific study" because she does nothing else after that and the time available to conduct a study is limited.
All of the gathering was unnecessary in order to save Satoko; what was required was simply to persuade Satoko, and even with the assembly, it was necessary to ask her. I understand that the gathering is a message to the viewer about harmony, but the excuse for doing so was ridiculous, and this invalidates the anime's constant message of 'fate can be conquered with collaboration'. The anime demonstrated that crowding had no benefit for Satoko and what was needed was a few emotional words and phrases to persuade Satoko to seek help. Rika stated unequivocally that this is the only solution, she was right. I've been yelling at Rika to come to this conclusion ever since she learned about Satoko's uncle's return. As I previously stated, the gathering and cooperation were not a problem in and of themselves; if anything, it caused some development of several characters; my issue is with the writer contriving such an excuse of the gathering.
It wasn't the best idea to waste episode time with silly comedy after each episode and spoiler previews of upcoming events. It never works to have a terrifying atmosphere at the end of an episode followed by a silly comedy. However, it was a good thing that the mood whiplash was minimal in the overall series, especially for a serious that have both horror and comedy.
Hanyu is a mere a plot device character who only serves as a time machine. Revealing herself was also too late, what I mean by her reveal is her visual incarnation to the other characters, as well as her interaction with them. But then again, I'm not sure why she revealed herself to others in the last chapter, yet the story portrays her as an 'important piece' and key to victory. Also, because she appears so late and is given so little screentime and character development, we don't know much about her character other than that she is a one-dimensional character who can only be described as "the goddess who helps Rika". We've known since the end of season one that Rika can travel back in time. There was no need to keep Hanyu hidden until Episode 6. If there is a mystery spoiler, it is the mystery of her time travel method, which again has nothing to do with Hanyu's appearance. Because its mere appearance does not prove that Hanyu was truly the means, it was possible to assume that Rika possesses the ability to travel back in time. Why did Hanyu not tell Rika about Takano? For what reason? What was the point of that scene where Hanyu and Takano interacted? Like Nomura and Okonogi, despite playing an important role in the plot, she is a bad character. Can you give me a character description of Hanyu other than the Goddess assisting Rika?
Why did Takano wait so long to kill Rika when she had the chance? Why does Nomura cancel the operation despite Takano and Okonogi discovering that Rika was alive? When they captured her, Takano could have ordered Okonogi to kill Rika instead of bringing her alive. I understand that Takano waited because she wanted to kill Rika at the right time in order to prepare for Emergency Manual 34, but Okonogi at the time had already cut off communication and was carrying out the plan. I don't see the point in of Takano issuing an order abducting Rika alive. Why? If anything this contradicts Takano's plan, which begins with Rika's murder. But wait it gets even weirder, Rika was aware of Emergency Manual 34 and aware that Takano wants to murder her as soon as possible, so why the fuck was Rika threatening them to commit suicide. Okonogi also responds that it is bad if Rika attempted suicide.
I don't mind happy endings as long as they aren't unrealistic with zero casualties on either side. The ending is implausible due to the coincidence of no damage or death for either parties, despite the outbreak of a lethal firearms war.
Finally, good thing Rika become 'the main character' for this season instead of focusing on Keiichi who was like any VN harem protagonist, changes personalties based on his decisions in the 1st season. |