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Regret. That's what I felt after watching this. There were so many things I regretted after I finished watching KF2. Among them the three biggest things I regretted was not giving this series the attention it deserved up until just the day before writing this (I started watching S1 last night), binge watching all 24 episodes of both seasons in one go, and not giving myself enough time to let the hype from watching S1 settle down before moving on to S2.

Less than halfway into the first season I kept asking myself:
"Why did I let myself avoid watching this just because of the 3D CGI?"
"Why ... didn't I give this the chance it deserved when it aired?"
"Why only now?"

Considering that this is supposed to be a review on the second season, I'll skip out on talking about season one. Not much needs to be said about it anyway, Kemono Friends 1 is a legend of its own. The incredibly dark undertones hidden in plain sight where all cute things gathered only brought out more of its charm.

Watching S2 right after the first was probably both the best and worst choice I had ever made. This made it easier for me to notice a few things going on in the background that I would otherwise had forgotten and/or brushed off. On the other hand, this decision made it easier for me to make comparisons. It made me see just how far season two fell in comparison. Especially when my expectations had spilled over from watching both seasons in succession.

Instead of answering old questions, they only piled up even more. I only hope that this was all done in preparation for season 3 (assuming that it will happen) where they at least answer the biggest question in my heart that I want answered: "What exactly happened?"

By no means would I call the second season bad. If anything, I'd even go as far as to say that it was good. Overall quality wise, the upgrades were notably large. It was so good that I even cried at the end whereas season one didn't manage to draw a single tear (setting aside the fact that more than half of the reason for my tears has a heavy connection to that of season one).

I have no doubt in my heart that I enjoyed both seasons.
It's just that KF2 could have been better. So so much better.

I have to say it. I absolutely love the show. The art, the sound, the voices, the characters, everything. I do have my pet peeves like how I think Nanami's voice is around 5 years older than how she should be but there really aren't much. It's a beautiful adaptation that's -- so far even with the minor and inconsequential tweaks which I guess are due to time constraints -- very faithful to the source material.

Honestly? I have little to no complaints.


Putting the flashy stuff aside, the story itself -- which follows the interactions of the characters -- develops really well. Even with the limited ... number of episodes, the pace of gradual progression can be considered neither too fast or too slow. It may be a story about romance but that's not all there is to it.

Maybe from anther perspective, it can be said to have started on the bland side with small "gimmicks" that aren't really gimmicks. BUT YagaKimi builds things on top of what is seemingly plain and that little touch is one of the things that make this great.

The way the characters are introduced doesn't go the typical "this is X" with a string of achievements attached to the person's name the moment they show up. No. YagaKimi goes multiple steps further by not giving us all the information right off the bat. It also doesn't randomly add information that clearly didn't have enough thought put into it. What it does is giving us a wrapped box that we can only open up bit by bit.
The characters are buds and we watch them bloom into their future selves.

The characters are human. They have real emotions. They have their own troubles. They are alive. And most of all, they are very much like us: Imperfect but growing.