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CW rape in ep 9 and talk of it in Ep 10-11.

I enjoyed this show a lot. It's a mostly well-delivered message about sticking to your ideals even if there are people against you and a lot of conflicting arguments against you, but it's not particularly nuanced. It's got tone clashes and bawdy humour that ranges from funny to skeevy, so the general vibe for me was "a good time, but definitely not perfect".

It's also an extremely atheist anime LOL. MAL please let me enter my paragraph-long reviews and leave it at that I don't know what else to say

I frankly had no idea what happened in this anime. It's heaped with 10348349 metaphors and doesn't super stick its landing. Other people have probably said it better than me.

TW for sexual violence, pedophilia in ep 9 [SPOILER] where the headmistress rips off the protag's clothes. It's not outright stated to be sexual, she's supposed to be ripping them off to eat her, but like, this anime is relentlessly horny so it's solidly implied.

MAL how long do you want me to make this review before I can submit it. Send help. MAL how long do you want me to make this review before I can ... submit it. Send help.MAL how long do you want me to make this review before I can submit it. Send help.MAL how long do you want me to make this review before I can submit it. Send help.

I really loved this anime. It's masterful storytelling, each character stands well on their own, and the visuals, metaphors, everything is gorgeous. There are many flawed and complex characters - and I mean pretty fucking flawed, but I don't think there's any character flaws in this season that season 1 didn't have. It's a beautifully told story about rakugo, regrets, and not being alone.

However, the last episode definitely deserves a content warning. I'm doing my best to play by the rules here, but it's heavy enough that it might just recolour the whole series for me, so I have to mention it. Here it is ... in another link: https://prnt.sc/tzkina (it's a lightshot/screenshot link! I promise it's not sketchy!)

MAL's telling me to write a longer review to submit this but my brain is shot LOL

It starts off a little slow - at least for me, the start was boring. But soon you get attached to the characters; each of them has their own problems shown, from the protagonist to the "antagonist" to the cheery friend who you'd expect to only be a background character. The characters are always the best part of a work to me, and Shounen Note's do not fail expectations at all (besides one character that's brushed off as Aoi graduates and is never spoken of again). Here's a hook for you: it even has a canon transgendered character who's portrayed in a serious light (!!!!)

To ... me, Shounen Note is a beautiful piece of work (in terms of visuals AND characterization - the plot is rather cliche but that's the least of my thoughts of this manga, honestly) that gives me a safe world to disappear into and a warm fuzzy feeling. I only hope it's not too late for me to buy all the volumes and chapters to support the artist for giving us such a work.