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Think this review here is likely geared to watchers/readers of Ajin. It's the second season after all. I won't say much, you know already the main pulls/strengths of this work. I'm just here to comment on the pacing, direction, and creative differences the anime team has taken with s2.

First and final episodes do not feel like an opening and ending, especially considering we're picking up where Kei and Kou left us initially. The first couple episodes in s2 settle us in for that, and once Kei and Kou are firmly established in the next structure/phase of the story it feels like nothing they do here ... really matters/add to plot. SPOILER! Rinse and repeat, it's just Satou proceeding with his kill list and the protag team being useless in general. Perhaps the one takeaway would be Kei's convo with the professor, or budding friendship with one of the uncles. Other stuff they do okay, like the female Ajin's backstory but I swear if she calls "Kuro-chan!" for the nth time... (dont. just. dont.)

I'm not a reader of the manga but it seems fights in the manga version are longer, well thought out and more impressive in highlighted areas. S2 seems to be gunning for action as some have pointed out but it wasn't all that interesting either. Actions they take aren't completely out of left field, but a special concoction of bland bc it feels like "this is what would happen if the status quo was like this, but I'm not particularly invested in this universe." Yeah that's it, the production team doesn't feel involved in the mechanisms of this story. It's like okay, this is supposed to be a story of fighting for civil rights (portion of Ajins), a fun-loving lunatic (who is sane for all his craziness), governmental issues, Kei's human psyche (sorry i can't come up with better descriptions lol) but they don't delve, expand or circle too deeply around any of those. It's not like they're skimming the surface either, but just taking them when it, naturally, has to come without a specific direction in mind. Essentially another one of those, presenting a story because we have to present a story.

Now note the staff aren't necessarily incompetent or uncaring. Execution is good overall, but the idea wasn't, because they couldn't get into the idea in the first place. They could have cut half the episodes and s2 would still make sense, mainly bc Satou fulfilling his kill list and the American agents really didn't have anything to set for the overall meaning of the Ajin verse. (So like I mentioned I don't think the anime team's got a good handle of their understanding in the Ajin series.) Who knows tho maybe they just had to fulfill their episode quota. Though one doesn't even have to take a look at s2!Kei to know how horribly wrung he is here. Basically he's been converted into your generic shounen hero (whose actions follow only for plot) under the shell of his idiosyncratic personality. Don't have to mention how all over the place that gets.

The ending has to be the worst part of the season despite people liking how pumped it was. On its own, maybe. Barely. As the ending to the second season of Ajin the series... (chortles) It felt like anime staff was shouting in my ears "WE DON'T HAVE TIME AND WE NEED TO SET THIS UP FOR S3!!!!" Wasn't that what you saw? Tosaki resolving all their ongoing troubles that took most of 2 cours, with like 3 lines, quickly getting to the milestone that is 'defeating' Satou without understanding the usage of this mechanism in their universe, it was and had been difficult getting myself to finish s2 since the anime staff showed how they were gonna direct this: chess pieces in the palms of their hands. The king can't teleport to any space on the board, but they can tell the opposing soldier not to eat him in the next move. So yeah, logical as s2 was, it was irrational in a sense and the reason is simple. There's no direction for the story. Anime team has no idea why they're doing this, which is okay. Stick to the fucking original then.

But I heard one thing anime has done right is moments of curt humor, which I had thought originated from the manga. If so props to the anime side because the humor is gorgeous with all the surprisingly, inherently laid-back steadiness of the characters in Ajin. Like Kou yelling "I'm afraid of heights!!! Dying hurts!!" in his simplicity, cracked me up so bad in s1. But yeah I don't know if there's anything worth watching in s2 that you wouldn't be better off reading in the manga. Again the juvenile Ajin of the winged IBM probably had his dialogue taken word for word bc I can feel that profound, distinct Ajin verse characterization in him, but was completely forgettable the way he has been executed in s2. Kei's sister is as much a mess as him. Kai... should you bother even turning up in the story at this point? Anime team really needs to know where they're going with things if s3's coming up...

Kou... everybody... (props cheek grimly) I don't think I've seen a blander cast being executed, not bc their personalities are 2-dimensional (rich and 3-dimensional as a matter of fact) but that the team presenting you doesn't hold a prominent interest in your workings. It's almost like anime staff is doing a fucking report. You know when a series is derailing, just like in Kimi no Na wa's review I mentioned, is when you can't describe efficiently what the show's about. What's Ajin about at this point, stopping Satou? It's stooping to unbelievably generic levels of typical shounen fare if everybody hasn't noticed this about s2 already and even this is loosely based bc production team isn't letting it allude to that. In fact they aren't letting it allude to anything, and it's not on purpose which is what's so pathetic about the whole season.

The only good thing to have come out of this is my increased liking for Tosaki because, and I bet in the original, of all the characters I've seen in over 400 animes of my viewer life, easily tops the chart for dullest, mundane and most boring. Almost horrifyingly so. So much that I was pissed because what the hell is he doing in a show like Ajin? You know but come s2 and I begin to realize that's really just how he is. Kind of dumb and limited in his sight and when his boringness settled in (makes me wonder why I could accept Kou so quickly, and knowingly, for his idiotic simplicity and not Tosaki? maybe I was casting the shadow of greater things on him considering he's supposed to be smart) I'm like ahhh just like Kei, just like Kou, Tosaki is merely being Tosaki. You have no idea how much he and his Ajin subordinate annoyed me at the start though, all because I didn't categorize them like Kou right away. One thing Ajin does great is genuineness.

So overall, no please don't watch s2. Except for the car scene and the one before that with Kou being stupid (anime brilliance) in the pilot episode there's nothing else in for it, you're gonna be severely disappointed by s2!Kei, not even his reunion with Kai will be worth anything, definitely not the shotgun finale if you love Ajin with all your heart (SPOILER! uhh the professor just disappeared halfway, so is Kai and his new friend in India now, no "Kai-san!!!" spiels from the little sister?), were the American agents a filler arc actually I felt I was watching another anime all together... no, nothing you can't get from the manga from what I've gathered. Even soundtrack was rubbish.

There's probably a big diff between "quality" and "thirst quencher" and I'm gonna have to say YOI - definitive - belongs to the latter. I don't see how this should be rated so high otherwise.

Viktor indeed threw/temporarily stopped his career for Yuuri but that doesn't point to how big-hearted/grand act/in love he is with the guy (if in the first place they ever showed Viktor suffering from having withdrawn temporarily from his career). Viktor along with Phichit are simple creatures who take delight in life -- and this if anything really illustrated the fact for me.

Please don't be quick to throw story artistry away? Spoilers ... - if Yuuri's and Viktor's narration in ep 1 and ep 10 respectively didn't show you how dirt poor the production team treats storytelling as an art I don't know what might. They are very literally telling you word for word what is happening in their story. It's so blatant you can even miss the fact you're being spoonfed. They don't care about storytelling. YOI just wants to show you how enjoyable and recreational life can be. Viktor can probably just narrate "And that's how I met the Japanese beauty, Katsuki Yuuri, and came to be engaged with him. Love, life and peace." and fandom will still be screaming their lungs out w/o prior context. What...

As some of the reviewers have put it, Yuuri's character is a joke. A complete mess. Know why? He was only born to fulfill the role of guy lover. Have we ever heard of what he thinks about ice skating w/o bringing Viktor not even seconds into his monologue? You can be influenced, sure, but if *every* monologue winds up being about Viktor I think we've got another problem coming...

The only thing worthy of praise is how we're missing Yuuri's actual position in the story - which we automatically assume we aren't, bc he's the protag and anything he sees is by default true. We're misled into thinking he's a rather lousy and cowardly skater but each and every ep reveals otherwise. He's got decent to great skills and if ep 10 revealed anything he's not the persona that's been presented to us on screen. Though that still doesn't make his characterization any less confusing (or maybe he just isn't thinking about anything at all) except accepting love and life as it comes? Really, YOI is ultra bland. If you walk the streets today or sit in a cafe you can see the same thing (and that's everything) that's happening in YOI. People, connections, fun, laughter.

It can appear to be great on the surface for portraying rl well but you guys are losing a lot of focus. Character development, plot, anguish with the sports -- there's absolutely nothing going on in YOI other than a bunch of ppl getting to enjoy their lives. It's no different from Tamako Market, Flying Witch etc in genre and you have to ask me, YOI can't even pass for a love story, not bc it doesn't have love but it's not a /story/. You don't just slap two people together and then skim right to the end saying they're in love before we have the chance to watch it happen.

For an ice skating show the routines are gorgeous eh? (lmao) How many times has Yuuri repeated his Eros routine now? Are they, idk, skating or flapping their arms? The frames, oh man. Do these athletes even care about ice skating beyond a recreation and a naive, selfish pursuit of getting to enjoy life?

YOI's good enough as a slightly above mediocre, slice of life about inherently nothing (maybe lofty starlit adventures?). No it's not even about ice skating, it's about how the athletes as people /make use/ of ice skating. I think Ginban Kaleidoscope had a better focus on ice skating and it's main theme is a /love story/.

So... guys, please stop. Sword Art Online, Kimi no Na wa, now this. You guys are really... (coddles forehead with hand)

Yes watch it, watch YOI if you want bc it can bring you up in a bad mood (humans are so easy to get entertained) but for the love of, don't go around throwing it like some monumental trophy bc facts:

- No. 6 did the first gay anime trope
- Samurai Flamenco had fun fucking with itself but had a better proposal that wasn't even intentionally gay (perspective of the guy proposing)
- Just go watch Ginban if you're thirsty for ice skating
- Watch any yaoi if you want actually, they can be unexpectedly deep (tho dramatic) for all they're worth

You know ppl applaud that Viktor and Yuuri are met with no resistance but I'd rather say that's the problem. Are they not gonna be met with resistance in the real world? The problem with YOI is that it pulls all these moves, have Viktor stop his career or be met with relative non-prejudice and these acts invoke a phenomenal reaction from fandom bc of the implied meaning.

A meaning which shld only come to fruition after you've worked hard for the outcome. YOI has done nothing but skim over /any and everything/ and you get happy just from a single line narrated by a character. Next episode they're gonna goof around again and if Viktor just says "And we got married!" I think fandom is gonna spontaneously combust.

YOI is almost like a fanfiction at this point -- not because it's so fantastic and unreal but wish fulfillment. Fandom is so thirsty they'll probably eat anything up. I can see what YOI's good for, but fandom has to realize they're pushing their expectations onto this show and making it sound 100x better than it really is.

Bafflingggg. I won't ever agree, letting Kiseijuu or the likes sit in the same rank at this.

The low-rating reviewers need to round this up for you guys. Kimi no Na wa is a poorly written piece of work that struggle to understand its own themes.

STORY
3 main flaws to be pointed out. 1) lack of direction. It's an issue before knowing what it wants to be, because it doesn't know it's supposed to be anything. Sit me down and make me take notes through a rewatch and I'd still have no idea what this film is about. Probably the intent is some contrived story about star-crossed lovers, an elaborate or posh love boundary, but you can apply "a love story, a mythological ... story, a the-universe-is-bigger-than-us story, a coming of youth story, a complex society story" at any point of the film and still stand to be accurate. Which is fine per se, except there's no clear lead in any one of these themes.

Doesn't know how to use its strengths even, because so much could be done with the supernatural direction of the story which I won't reveal because spoilers. Director Makoto clearly missed out on a chance to emphasize the supernatural aspect of Kimi no Na wa because he doesn't enhance it any way.

Light spoilers ahead. Till now I question what is the purpose of sticking senpai and bespectacled friend to Taki on his road trip?

2) suspension of disbelief. Doesn't even know the name of her town after switching so many times, fine, are you telling me Taki couldn't Google the name of Mitsuha's high school to find out where her town is? That's one. A leap of faith and forced acceptance that they're suddenly star-crossed lovers. When... exactly did they fall in love? Off-screen? Sure I can imagine the in-betweens but it's not exactly satisfying and it's very rushed because I'm supposed to be focusing on Taki and his next actions. That's another.

3) mismatched themes. This is difficult to talk about without heavy spoilers but just know that a common tale consistently brought up by grandma has nothing in relation with the main theme of their series: which is your name. This name theme, this main theme, doesn't tie in well with any one thing in the film and I question, what does names have to do with this film really? It is never explained in any mythological aspect and if you expect us to accept it for a reason as simple as "a name ties in to a person's existence" I think this film has been carting down the wrong lane with all the other supernatural themes it's been pulling.

The first and second half of the film can appear to be like separate stories, which isn't bad in itself because it did serve to surprise me pleasantly, but serving on their own you'll realize they're both very lackluster be it the first half with its coming of age melodrama or the second half with its lofty and grandiose star crossed lovers plot. May I add that the second half spiral furiously out of control with its plot reasoning? There's just... no reason behind any happening. It happens for the sake of... an awful plot that doesn't know what it is?

Ah maybe another flaw, horrendous flow of story. When they set up a typical star crossed lovers meeting moment it is when a disaster is about to occur and frankly not even half of my attention is on them or remotely interested about their "love" when chemistry wasn't even built properly in the first place.

Ending was unsatisfactory because it was so... bland. It baffles me how you can make a film with as unfocused a story and direction as this.

ART
I watched this in horrendous low-quality render but I think its key visuals are pretty stunning in true anime film style.

SOUND
Don’t get me started on Kamiki (Taki’s seiyuu)… and Mitsuha’s seiyuu. I’m a fan of Kamiki in his actor life and he’s always been an enthusiastic and vibrant guy. Shows in his voice acting, doesn’t it? It’s charming and unique enough for me to want him to voice more characters!

OST wise it’s typical fare. I wasn’t smitten but they certainly weren’t hard to the ears.

CHARACTER
Sides shine more than mains really, with one-liners such as "I thought he was cute," in reference to the protag acting weird or "Nothing really. I’m just gonna stay and continue living in this town,” when asked about future plans. Taki is an average, boyish, slightly thoughtful, conscientious city boy but I struggle to find anything that defines him beyond that. Kimi no Na wa never tried to explore their protag. If you tamed Mitsuha’s drama some, she could have made a decent heroine too.

Would have liked Taki to be more invested in the countryside life, or build a budding connection with grandma, etc. Honestly there are too many things Kimi no Na wa could have done, but never once did! All in favor of some trite, flamboyant story it never had the potential to draw out. I don’t think that was ever its forte, because the best moments in this film were seemingly inconsequential one-liners to me.

Light spoilers. Grandma though… I feel bad for her. She too had the potential to shine but, as Taki and Mitsuha were, was forced into a mold to move the story along. If she was there discovering Mitsuha wasn’t who she was it could have made for a nice conversational scene between grandma and Taki but all she really did is to impart, casually, the same may or may not have happened to me but the film isn’t wanting you to focus on her, but the fact that this runs in the Miyamizu family.

To sum it up the characters are half-baked. Neither here nor there. You see some glimpses of potential but they never truly get to expand on them. Kimi no Na wa’s characters are simply not memorable enough for me to want to type for them forever.

CONCLUSION
Needless to say I didn’t enjoy this all that much. It’s a very disappointing film be it in its story or character through and through. Visuals are beautiful ofc, but I wonder if that's all you need to pull you through a show? I wouldn't be inclined to waste my time like that.

STORY: 2
ART: 7
SOUND: 6
CHARAC: 4
ENJOYMENT: 3
OVERALL: 4

I honestly hope this rounds out all the 10's people have been giving to this film. This is nowhere near beating some of the excellent shows the anime industry has had to offer.