Uta no Prince Sama Season 2 Review
Warning: The following review may contain spoilers of the second season of Uta no Prince Sama. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.
With that said, thank you, and onto the review:
Yeesh, I've reviewed a lot of second seasons this year. O_O I've watched (and written reviews for) Highschool DXD New (Incomplete), Kamisama Kiss Season 2, Jormungand: Perfect Order, and Freezing Vibration. This is the 5th alone that I've written a review for, and there's a couple more to come in the future.
Uta Pri ended on a positive note back in Season 1. Looking into this season, I was excited on what we were going to get, such as QUARTET NIGHT and possibly more development from some of the band members. Cecil also was going to get in on the action, and rivals were going to pop up sooner or later. Though I wasn't sure on how much I was going to enjoy this season, I was looking forward to see what was going to happen.
Well, in the end, I do think this season is weaker than Season 1. Though it still has some great moments with some of the characters, and I care about Cecil more than I used to, the main problem of this season lies in the fact of the cheesiness and the melodrama.
It gets worse guys! Gah, it's mainly so bad! Add into the fact of STARISH's music being the bringer of world peace, unintimidating rivals that I didn't care for, the weak OST again. and STARISH all together becoming one person and one mind. However, I don't think the series is that bad. There were still moments that I highly enjoyed, some great songs that I may want to listen to more, and QUARTET NIGHT (mainly Ranmaru! YASSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I think we still had great work on our hands.
So let's get ready to perform our first set, starting off with the story:
Story
STARISH has just gotten off of their successful debut with Maji Love 1000%, and are now professionals. But let's hold off the cake and the presents for now; we still have more to do. This is the Master Course after all! Our males need to prove themselves a little more to see if they have the drive. For this, Shining assigns them mentors from the professional idol group QUARTET NIGHT, who are also signed to Shining Entertainment. One member is assigned to two of the STARISH boys. Camus is left out of the picture, but that all changes when Cecil appears in real life to attend the school after being scouted by Saotome. Cecil is now offically walking on Earth now that his curse has been lifted by Haurka. OH NOEZ! MORE COMPETITION!
Though he has no interest in being an idol, Cecil is still participating in the Master Course only to sing Haruka's music. But then again, so does everyone Cecil; you're not alone. When the previous males gathered in the main room of the Master Course dorms, Haruka gave them a composed melody which they could write lyrics too. In the next set of episodes, Shou, Masato, Otoya, Ren, and Natsuki finish their songs and sing them, along with some "development" granted to them. I only felt it in Otoya and Ren's case though, but Masato wasn't far behind.
In Episode 8, it's time again for the sand, the surf, the.... wait, wrong descriptions. The mountains, the views, the work, and resort houses! YEAH! While there, Haruka decides to work on a new song for the boys of STARISH, and it eventually becomes Maji Love 2000%, 1000%'s long lost twin sister. During the retreat, Cecil decides to officially become an idol, and later joins up with STARISH, becoming the divine and final member (THANK YOU SEVEN-COLORED COMPASS LYRIC! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! *sarcasm*).
Eventually, STARISH becomes nominated for the Uta Pri Award, which is an award celebrating the best in up and coming idols and idol groups. Of course, we have a rival group, who spend the majority of the time trying to be screen hogs than being intimidating.
And with the stakes high with disbandment being punishment, who will claim the Uta Pri Award? I guess we're going to find out, right?
First off, duh! Obviously STARISH is going to win the Uta Pri Award right off the bat! Their songs have this special "magic" to them that only Haruka and their voices can bring out, and people change due to their music. The feeling of that wonderful "greatness" spreads through people's hearts, taking them all around the world in a cloud of spirits, floating through time and space. HOW MARVELOUS! HOW WONDERFUL! WHAT A GREAT EFFECT! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYBLECHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, that's one cheesy section to throw out there for you all. I'll talk a little bit more about the songs in the sound section, since there was 1 particular song that I really liked this time around, rather than liking them or just thinking they're average. Cheesiness also ensues in some of the show's dialogue and at various moments, leading to face palms and "RUSerious?" reactions. This all relates to Haruka being the miracle drug that she is.
I swear, nearly every single guy in the main harem this season talked about how Haruka changed them in at least one way, or, you know, all around to make them a better person at most once. Well, in some cases, it's kind of cute, but for most of them, it's very annoying because we hear it oh so often that it becomes drilled in our head about how awesome Haruka is. Since you know, she's a "goddess" at composing, and has made an impact on all the guys.
Now selling Nanamiprofen! Clear to give you a happy state of mind and all kinds of wonderfulness with the girl you love! It is currently available for prescription at Walgreen's while supplies last! Enjoy it while you can!
My FAVORITE *sarcasm* moment is this entire season is when Cecil sings the song that Haruka composed for him out on a bridge during the retreat. Everyone is drawn to it, and leaves whatever they're doing behind to hear him. It's during this where Otoya realizes that Cecil's voice goes well with the others' (no duh), and all of them decide that it would be best to become the last member of STARISH, Natsuki brings up something that would be a crime if I didn't bring it up, saying that he's always wanted Cecil to be a member of STARISH from the moment they met.
........................................................................................................................
So much fail, so much.
Aside from that, there are some really cute moments in the episodes focusing on the guys. Tokiya's episode is clearly the best out of all of them, even though it was Episode 11 (why wasn't it earlier?). He was such a sweetheart to Haruka, and I felt myself swoon during several moments. And no, Tokiya isn't my favorite guy, but this gave him some development the other episodes surely did not.
But the main reason why this story isn't as bad as it would have been was all thanks to QUARTET NIGHT. Even if some of them disappear in episodes in the middle (besides Camus, since Cecil is a piece of work), each moment with them was highly enjoyable, and always managed to crack a smile out of me. Okay, fine, it was mainly Ranmaru's doing. But what can I say, QUARTER NIGHT's pretty great.
The showdown between HEAVENS and STARISH wasn't bad, but it could have been better considering that HEAVENS isn't really that interesting. Heck, I think Jiro is more interesting than these 3. Besides the obvious factor of STARISH obviously winning, we have more WONDERFUL qualities, such as desperation.
Congratulations Eichi, you have reached Lilith levels on how desperate an anime character can be. Do you need a gold star?
So to wrap things up, the story would have been much worse if it hadn't been for QUARTER NIGHT popping up and having an impact, along with some very cute moments in these episodes. However, the line with the show being cheesy and melodramatic gets stretched to its brim, often going overboard on how tolerable it should be. The comedy isn't as good as it was back in Season 1, though there were some funny moments despite them not being numerous this time around. It also wasn't as highly enjoyable, though some episodes still put me in a good mood.
In the end, I still find the story of Uta Pri to be its second weakest aspect. I'm not expecting any originality in reverse harem, that's for sure, but writers need to be careful on how much cheese is acceptable.
I'm just going to leave off this section with how many times Haruka credited Cecil to be the one person who brought STARISH together, and each time I'm like:
Haruka, YOU WERE THE CAUSE! CECIL JUST INSPIRED YOU TO BRING THEM TOGETHER!
I rest my case.
I swear, nearly every single guy in the main harem this season talked about how Haruka changed them in at least one way, or, you know, all around to make them a better person at most once. Well, in some cases, it's kind of cute, but for most of them, it's very annoying because we hear it oh so often that it becomes drilled in our head about how awesome Haruka is. Since you know, she's a "goddess" at composing, and has made an impact on all the guys.
Now selling Nanamiprofen! Clear to give you a happy state of mind and all kinds of wonderfulness with the girl you love! It is currently available for prescription at Walgreen's while supplies last! Enjoy it while you can!
My FAVORITE *sarcasm* moment is this entire season is when Cecil sings the song that Haruka composed for him out on a bridge during the retreat. Everyone is drawn to it, and leaves whatever they're doing behind to hear him. It's during this where Otoya realizes that Cecil's voice goes well with the others' (no duh), and all of them decide that it would be best to become the last member of STARISH, Natsuki brings up something that would be a crime if I didn't bring it up, saying that he's always wanted Cecil to be a member of STARISH from the moment they met.
........................................................................................................................
So much fail, so much.
Aside from that, there are some really cute moments in the episodes focusing on the guys. Tokiya's episode is clearly the best out of all of them, even though it was Episode 11 (why wasn't it earlier?). He was such a sweetheart to Haruka, and I felt myself swoon during several moments. And no, Tokiya isn't my favorite guy, but this gave him some development the other episodes surely did not.
But the main reason why this story isn't as bad as it would have been was all thanks to QUARTET NIGHT. Even if some of them disappear in episodes in the middle (besides Camus, since Cecil is a piece of work), each moment with them was highly enjoyable, and always managed to crack a smile out of me. Okay, fine, it was mainly Ranmaru's doing. But what can I say, QUARTER NIGHT's pretty great.
The showdown between HEAVENS and STARISH wasn't bad, but it could have been better considering that HEAVENS isn't really that interesting. Heck, I think Jiro is more interesting than these 3. Besides the obvious factor of STARISH obviously winning, we have more WONDERFUL qualities, such as desperation.
Congratulations Eichi, you have reached Lilith levels on how desperate an anime character can be. Do you need a gold star?
So to wrap things up, the story would have been much worse if it hadn't been for QUARTER NIGHT popping up and having an impact, along with some very cute moments in these episodes. However, the line with the show being cheesy and melodramatic gets stretched to its brim, often going overboard on how tolerable it should be. The comedy isn't as good as it was back in Season 1, though there were some funny moments despite them not being numerous this time around. It also wasn't as highly enjoyable, though some episodes still put me in a good mood.
In the end, I still find the story of Uta Pri to be its second weakest aspect. I'm not expecting any originality in reverse harem, that's for sure, but writers need to be careful on how much cheese is acceptable.
I'm just going to leave off this section with how many times Haruka credited Cecil to be the one person who brought STARISH together, and each time I'm like:
Haruka, YOU WERE THE CAUSE! CECIL JUST INSPIRED YOU TO BRING THEM TOGETHER!
I rest my case.
Characters
Before we go into our new characters for discussion, let's talk about the main characters for a quick second and see what they're up to.
Haruka is still a goddess when it comes to composing music, even if in our minds. we've heard better in anime. She doesn't develop in this season, which is fine, since she doesn't really need it. She at least still has a brain and a soul, though I wish she could have been able to defend STARISH to HEAVENS much sooner than she did. I was definitely a little disappointed in her this season.
I don't want to bore you with what every guy is doing for at least 1 episode in this season, but we get more info on some of the guys, as I mentioned earlier. Some of these reveals were actually kind of interesting, though it doesn't get granted to every guy. Plus, some are shoehorned into a corner before they get a chance to shine.
This leads me to my biggest problem with STARISH in general. When they're apart from each other, they all stand out. When together, they all blend into one pretty mediocre milkshake. You know, the one that ends up to be more sugar than the flavor you picked out. This is because STARISH as a whole has pretty much the exact same personality, and there's instances where they all say the exact same thing or variations of it. Don't forget to include having the same feelings or emotions during a particular scene! They're just as bad as the Inner Senshi from Sailor Moon Crystal.
Oh, and the script writers thought it would be a FANTASTIC idea for Ren to give pet names to all of the guys. While I think it's cute in Reiji and Apollon's cases, here it just makes me want to puke. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Saotome is still very entertaining, being the troll that he is. Tomo is still forgettable and is in the opening, though only appears for a few episodes. And finally, our former teachers come in once in a while too! The gang's all here, and some of them really aren't needed! But whatever!
Let's first off elaborate more on Cecil before we step into the territory of QUARTET NIGHT:
Now, Cecil is the prince of Agnapolis, a musical country far far away from Saotome Academy. He was put under a curse which caused him to turn into a black cat. You remember Mr. Convenient Cat, right? Yup, that was him. Though Haruka actually gave him the name Kuppuru, Cecil in his cat from was really only there for the writers to make plot points happen or for a convenient turn of events. Though this season, I kind of grew to like him more in a way.
After Haruka breaks his curse (though I'm not sure how), Shining scouts him for the Master Course, where he stirs up some jealousy for the guys to chow down on. Besides his vast musical knowledge and how he knows a LOT of information regarding STARISH, he doesn't plan on becoming an idol, as he only wants to sing Haruka's music. After getting challenged in a training competition, and knowing that there was more bark to him than bite, Cecil decides to lay low for a bit, giving some assistance to the other males.
It isn't until Episode 8 after Haruka gives her composed song to him that he realizes that besides making her happy (you know, those feelings), he also can make other people happy as well. From this decision, he decides to become an idol and joins up with STARISH. Though he does have to whisk back to Agnapolis for a bit, he does come back and rejoin the party, making our core set complete.
Cecil grew on me this season. Not only was I actually able to get his feelings for Haruka, since I didn't really get them in the first season beside showing affection to him when he was a cat, I managed to actually care for him as the show went on. Not only does he offer some good company to some of the other STARISH members, but he's basically a nice guy and not used for convenience this time. Plus, he did a great Saotome impression on this variety show he did with Otoya in Episode 5!
With a Poison KISS, QUARTET NIGHT has made their presence known to us. Let's meet them:
With the power of Maji Love 200%, they all are shocked, or in Ranmaru's case, a hybrid of angry and shocked. But you know, that's pretty much his main expression: angry or pissed off. Wait, both are the same thing, Okay, getting ahead of myself here.
From left to right, we have Camus, Ai, Ranmaru, and Reiji. Reiji's kind of the leader of the group, and is the only one with a cheerful personality. Everyone else is pessimistic, with Ai having cases of indifference. Really, that's all you need you need to know about Reiji's character. He's always in a good mood, gives everyone besides Camus (from what I've seen) nicknames, he's very mature, and he treats everyone with respect.
Now onto Ranmaru. Give me a minute while I swoon:
Ranmaru is kind of a tsundere, though I'm positively sure he has more underneath that hard shell of his. He pretty much puts up with no nonsense, and seems to have a bad temper all the time.
He is constantly grumpy, and is also a Debbie Downer wannabe. If I knew him in real life, I would fix this by getting him some tasty food and blasting rock n' roll music from my computer. He mainly comments about things that happen to STARISH but makes everything negative, mostly about how they aren't ready for the spotlight yet. One of the most hypocritical statements that he makes is in Episode 9, after Cecil goes back to Agnapolis, where he remarks on how he's never going to return, and how music groups are messy and never work out. So basically, he's pretty much insulting every idol group, even though he's in one himself.
That's from Episode 1, but whatevs. After noting the progress that STARISH has made, and constantly shooting down Reiji when he brings up QUARTET NIGHT (I'D RATHER WORK ALONE! *storms off in a huff*), he starts to realize what it means to be friends and to be in a group. We get a little insight into his past, but we'll have to wait until Episode 7 of Season 3 sadly to see more (Stillcan'tgetovertheshowersceneinthatepisodetoo.UGH!Fangirlissues!) When HEAVENS bugs Haruka again, he intervenes, and I go into Grace Helbig mood just like YASSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After Haruka thanks him and is about to go, he stops her by asking what friends are to her. She responds that friends are people who share their passions and feelings and create a bond out of that, Ranmaru calls back to something Reiji said earlier on, and decides he wants to do something about QUARTET NIGHT.
At this point, my arms are open and ready to embrace him in the best of all hugs:
Ugh! Fangirls issues! *fans self* Can I help it? Not really, since Ranmaru is now my favorite character out of the whole entire series. I really like his emotional depth, and how he can be a real softie despite his cranky remarks. He always brightens up the screen when the episode is going along poorly, and I missed him when he wasn't on screen. That doesn't happen to a lot of main characters, and a lot of my favorites are main. Weird, huh? Also, he is pretty hot.
Before I derail off the tracks and just start fangirling again, let's talk about Ai and Camus. Ai is the youngest out of the seniors (it's confirmed he's 15 in one of the games, and also his looks hint at it), and is very hardworking. He doesn't really show off a lot of emotion either. This is because he is a robot (yeah, a game confirms this, plus the 3rd anime season does too), though starts feeling emotion during the later episodes when realizing that STARISH may have a chance at winning against HEAVENS after all. Or, you know, has been under the effect of the first run through of Maji Love 2000%. He doesn't really believe in STARISH's potential at first, like the others, but as mentioned above, he kind of starts to believe in them. Though there isn't a lot of personality to him, at least he has a little development unlike Reiji.
Camus is last up for the QUARTET NIGHT boys. Like Cecil, he is a royal, reigning from Permafrost, another country far far away. He is also very cold and strict, and is assigned to Cecil once he shows up on the scene. Besides testing him on how to become an idol and what not, Camus also uses his authority to intimidate his junior. He also sees faith in STARISH as well towards the battle for the Uta Pri Award, but never admits it out front.
QUARTET NIGHT work well together unlike STARISH, since all of them have at least something that stands out about them, rather than becoming one when they're all gathered. Besides having some good lines and moments throughout this season, I just find them to be more interesting as a group than STARISH. Ranmaru has the most development out of all of them, but I'm looking forward for the others. I think Reiji would benefit from it the most.
Now onto HEAVENS. I don't want my time talking about them, so I'm just going to start off with 3 words: they bore me.
They aren't really intimidating, and the leader is beyond creepy every single time he appears. Seriously, do you want Haruka for her composing skills, or do you want her for yourself? Stop being so weird! Besides the creep, we have the brat and the boring person. Really, who cares about them? I don't. They're supposed to be big shots signed to Shining's rival agency Raging Entertainment, but really, I can overlook them easily. And even their song isn't that good. Yeah, it's supposed to be epic and what not, but that's more with the dragon display and the fire, not the actual content. So when everyone's in awe about how "amazing" the song was, I'm all:
I'm not looking forward to when they come back at the end of Season 3 with 4 MORE MEMBERS because we can't get enough of hot bishes. The Dazzlings are a MUCH better trio, and would definitely have a good laugh at how bad these guys are:
You know what that hand signal means? We need to move on. No more new characters to be had.
I don't want to bore you with what every guy is doing for at least 1 episode in this season, but we get more info on some of the guys, as I mentioned earlier. Some of these reveals were actually kind of interesting, though it doesn't get granted to every guy. Plus, some are shoehorned into a corner before they get a chance to shine.
This leads me to my biggest problem with STARISH in general. When they're apart from each other, they all stand out. When together, they all blend into one pretty mediocre milkshake. You know, the one that ends up to be more sugar than the flavor you picked out. This is because STARISH as a whole has pretty much the exact same personality, and there's instances where they all say the exact same thing or variations of it. Don't forget to include having the same feelings or emotions during a particular scene! They're just as bad as the Inner Senshi from Sailor Moon Crystal.
Oh, and the script writers thought it would be a FANTASTIC idea for Ren to give pet names to all of the guys. While I think it's cute in Reiji and Apollon's cases, here it just makes me want to puke. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Saotome is still very entertaining, being the troll that he is. Tomo is still forgettable and is in the opening, though only appears for a few episodes. And finally, our former teachers come in once in a while too! The gang's all here, and some of them really aren't needed! But whatever!
Let's first off elaborate more on Cecil before we step into the territory of QUARTET NIGHT:
Now, Cecil is the prince of Agnapolis, a musical country far far away from Saotome Academy. He was put under a curse which caused him to turn into a black cat. You remember Mr. Convenient Cat, right? Yup, that was him. Though Haruka actually gave him the name Kuppuru, Cecil in his cat from was really only there for the writers to make plot points happen or for a convenient turn of events. Though this season, I kind of grew to like him more in a way.
After Haruka breaks his curse (though I'm not sure how), Shining scouts him for the Master Course, where he stirs up some jealousy for the guys to chow down on. Besides his vast musical knowledge and how he knows a LOT of information regarding STARISH, he doesn't plan on becoming an idol, as he only wants to sing Haruka's music. After getting challenged in a training competition, and knowing that there was more bark to him than bite, Cecil decides to lay low for a bit, giving some assistance to the other males.
It isn't until Episode 8 after Haruka gives her composed song to him that he realizes that besides making her happy (you know, those feelings), he also can make other people happy as well. From this decision, he decides to become an idol and joins up with STARISH. Though he does have to whisk back to Agnapolis for a bit, he does come back and rejoin the party, making our core set complete.
Cecil grew on me this season. Not only was I actually able to get his feelings for Haruka, since I didn't really get them in the first season beside showing affection to him when he was a cat, I managed to actually care for him as the show went on. Not only does he offer some good company to some of the other STARISH members, but he's basically a nice guy and not used for convenience this time. Plus, he did a great Saotome impression on this variety show he did with Otoya in Episode 5!
With a Poison KISS, QUARTET NIGHT has made their presence known to us. Let's meet them:
With the power of Maji Love 200%, they all are shocked, or in Ranmaru's case, a hybrid of angry and shocked. But you know, that's pretty much his main expression: angry or pissed off. Wait, both are the same thing, Okay, getting ahead of myself here.
From left to right, we have Camus, Ai, Ranmaru, and Reiji. Reiji's kind of the leader of the group, and is the only one with a cheerful personality. Everyone else is pessimistic, with Ai having cases of indifference. Really, that's all you need you need to know about Reiji's character. He's always in a good mood, gives everyone besides Camus (from what I've seen) nicknames, he's very mature, and he treats everyone with respect.
Now onto Ranmaru. Give me a minute while I swoon:
Ranmaru is kind of a tsundere, though I'm positively sure he has more underneath that hard shell of his. He pretty much puts up with no nonsense, and seems to have a bad temper all the time.
He is constantly grumpy, and is also a Debbie Downer wannabe. If I knew him in real life, I would fix this by getting him some tasty food and blasting rock n' roll music from my computer. He mainly comments about things that happen to STARISH but makes everything negative, mostly about how they aren't ready for the spotlight yet. One of the most hypocritical statements that he makes is in Episode 9, after Cecil goes back to Agnapolis, where he remarks on how he's never going to return, and how music groups are messy and never work out. So basically, he's pretty much insulting every idol group, even though he's in one himself.
That's from Episode 1, but whatevs. After noting the progress that STARISH has made, and constantly shooting down Reiji when he brings up QUARTET NIGHT (I'D RATHER WORK ALONE! *storms off in a huff*), he starts to realize what it means to be friends and to be in a group. We get a little insight into his past, but we'll have to wait until Episode 7 of Season 3 sadly to see more (Stillcan'tgetovertheshowersceneinthatepisodetoo.UGH!Fangirlissues!) When HEAVENS bugs Haruka again, he intervenes, and I go into Grace Helbig mood just like YASSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After Haruka thanks him and is about to go, he stops her by asking what friends are to her. She responds that friends are people who share their passions and feelings and create a bond out of that, Ranmaru calls back to something Reiji said earlier on, and decides he wants to do something about QUARTET NIGHT.
At this point, my arms are open and ready to embrace him in the best of all hugs:
Ugh! Fangirls issues! *fans self* Can I help it? Not really, since Ranmaru is now my favorite character out of the whole entire series. I really like his emotional depth, and how he can be a real softie despite his cranky remarks. He always brightens up the screen when the episode is going along poorly, and I missed him when he wasn't on screen. That doesn't happen to a lot of main characters, and a lot of my favorites are main. Weird, huh? Also, he is pretty hot.
Before I derail off the tracks and just start fangirling again, let's talk about Ai and Camus. Ai is the youngest out of the seniors (it's confirmed he's 15 in one of the games, and also his looks hint at it), and is very hardworking. He doesn't really show off a lot of emotion either. This is because he is a robot (yeah, a game confirms this, plus the 3rd anime season does too), though starts feeling emotion during the later episodes when realizing that STARISH may have a chance at winning against HEAVENS after all. Or, you know, has been under the effect of the first run through of Maji Love 2000%. He doesn't really believe in STARISH's potential at first, like the others, but as mentioned above, he kind of starts to believe in them. Though there isn't a lot of personality to him, at least he has a little development unlike Reiji.
Camus is last up for the QUARTET NIGHT boys. Like Cecil, he is a royal, reigning from Permafrost, another country far far away. He is also very cold and strict, and is assigned to Cecil once he shows up on the scene. Besides testing him on how to become an idol and what not, Camus also uses his authority to intimidate his junior. He also sees faith in STARISH as well towards the battle for the Uta Pri Award, but never admits it out front.
QUARTET NIGHT work well together unlike STARISH, since all of them have at least something that stands out about them, rather than becoming one when they're all gathered. Besides having some good lines and moments throughout this season, I just find them to be more interesting as a group than STARISH. Ranmaru has the most development out of all of them, but I'm looking forward for the others. I think Reiji would benefit from it the most.
Now onto HEAVENS. I don't want my time talking about them, so I'm just going to start off with 3 words: they bore me.
They aren't really intimidating, and the leader is beyond creepy every single time he appears. Seriously, do you want Haruka for her composing skills, or do you want her for yourself? Stop being so weird! Besides the creep, we have the brat and the boring person. Really, who cares about them? I don't. They're supposed to be big shots signed to Shining's rival agency Raging Entertainment, but really, I can overlook them easily. And even their song isn't that good. Yeah, it's supposed to be epic and what not, but that's more with the dragon display and the fire, not the actual content. So when everyone's in awe about how "amazing" the song was, I'm all:
I'm not looking forward to when they come back at the end of Season 3 with 4 MORE MEMBERS because we can't get enough of hot bishes. The Dazzlings are a MUCH better trio, and would definitely have a good laugh at how bad these guys are:
You know what that hand signal means? We need to move on. No more new characters to be had.
Animation
The animation for this series was once again produced by A-1 Pictures, who are also known for Black Butler, Sword Art Online, and Silver Spoon.
Is the animation still the best part of this show? Umm, can I get a hell yes? Though it doesn't shine bright like a diamond as much this time around, it still looks very pretty. Almost everything is polished very well, and I still gasp in awe when I see it. The chibi animation doesn't dwindle in this season as I thought, but it still makes an appearance about as much as Season 1 (maybe a tad bit less).
Although, to be honest, I think some bits of the animation in the last 2 episodes possibly hinted at what's to come in season 3. QUARTER NIGHT on the balcony in Episode 12 has only Reiji and Camus in proper detail, Ranmaru looked a little off when Haruka walked up the stairs beside him in that episode as well, and Eichi getting up after being creepy to Haruka yet again after their performance has him in the cursed reappearing chunky black lines. Since I'm positively sure that the TV version was put up on Hulu, let's hope the finalized DVD version is better.
Also, the ending managed to scar me a little bit. I think I've seen enough animated pelvic thrusts and booty shakes to last me a lifetime *shudders*. But still, more wonderful animation, and I'm not looking forward to see what happens with it in Season 3.
Is the animation still the best part of this show? Umm, can I get a hell yes? Though it doesn't shine bright like a diamond as much this time around, it still looks very pretty. Almost everything is polished very well, and I still gasp in awe when I see it. The chibi animation doesn't dwindle in this season as I thought, but it still makes an appearance about as much as Season 1 (maybe a tad bit less).
Although, to be honest, I think some bits of the animation in the last 2 episodes possibly hinted at what's to come in season 3. QUARTER NIGHT on the balcony in Episode 12 has only Reiji and Camus in proper detail, Ranmaru looked a little off when Haruka walked up the stairs beside him in that episode as well, and Eichi getting up after being creepy to Haruka yet again after their performance has him in the cursed reappearing chunky black lines. Since I'm positively sure that the TV version was put up on Hulu, let's hope the finalized DVD version is better.
Also, the ending managed to scar me a little bit. I think I've seen enough animated pelvic thrusts and booty shakes to last me a lifetime *shudders*. But still, more wonderful animation, and I'm not looking forward to see what happens with it in Season 3.
Sound
The score for this series was composed by Elements Garden, also known for their efforts towards the scores for Kamigami no Asobi, Bodacious Space Pirates, and the upcoming Dance with Devils (another reverse harem show that I'm probably going to watch when Fall comes knocking).
The OST for this show is still very boring, besides a couple of interesting pieces. I didn't really hear any new ones either, since the majority were from Season 1. In Haganai NEXT, this wasn't the case, as there was a mix of old and new. But here, it felt old mainly took over. Maybe that's just me?
Want to know something interesting? All of the songs sung in this series, and that includes openings and endings, are all written by the same person. No wonder some of them sound so similar to each other, considering the group will sing their name every time during a song, This isn't a bad thing per say, but some of the songs kind of suffer from the same formula being repeated over and over again.
As a whole, the songs aren't as great. But hey, at least no knocked out in Engrish! The best song of this season, and in this show so far, is obviously Poison KISS. I swooned quite hard when I first heard it, and I'm still swooning over it now. Some of the lyrics (depending on the translation) are kind of suggestive, but I think it's a good change of pace from the other lyrics of the songs. Since you know, cheese.
All of them are great singers too. Here's a link to the full song if you want to listen:
Full version of Poison KISS
As a whole, the songs aren't as great. But hey, at least no knocked out in Engrish! The best song of this season, and in this show so far, is obviously Poison KISS. I swooned quite hard when I first heard it, and I'm still swooning over it now. Some of the lyrics (depending on the translation) are kind of suggestive, but I think it's a good change of pace from the other lyrics of the songs. Since you know, cheese.
All of them are great singers too. Here's a link to the full song if you want to listen:
Full version of Poison KISS
Ah, I love good anime music. And ugh, fangirl issues! *fans self*
Just as good as the first season, in case you were wondering. The returning seiyuus do a great job at getting back into the swing of things, and some of the new seiyuus don't do too bad either. All of QUARTET NIGHT does very well, with Tatsuhisa and Tomoaki obviously being my favorites (Tomoaki sounds a lot like Decim as Camus). HEAVENS doesn't do as well voice wise unfortunately. but eh, whatever. I don't care about them.
New highlights from this season of Uta Pri include Kosuke Toriumi, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Shouta Aoi, Showtaro Morikubo, Tomoaki Maeno, and Tsubasa Yonaga.
Verdict
At most moments in this season, the show got to be just as good as the first season. But for most of the time and overall, the season manages to struggle more than its predecessor. With unrealistic things happening, STARISH all together being one person, HEAVENS being oh so boring, and all of the cheesiness, it impacted this season more than I think it should have. Is it a bad 2nd season? Absolutely not. But it could have been better or just as good as Season 1. QUARTET NIGHT at least made it slightly better for me.
As for Season 3, I'm looking forward to it mainly for the development of the QUARTET NIGHT members. I'm not expecting anything to change for STARISH sadly, but meh, I'm going into this with mixed expectations, though mainly on the lower scale. I think Max kind of taught me something in warning for what I've heard of the not so good 3rd season:
As for Season 3, I'm looking forward to it mainly for the development of the QUARTET NIGHT members. I'm not expecting anything to change for STARISH sadly, but meh, I'm going into this with mixed expectations, though mainly on the lower scale. I think Max kind of taught me something in warning for what I've heard of the not so good 3rd season:
Not taking this all of course, since Max is very cynical at most times.
Anyways, I'll be waiting for you Ranmaru. I haven't felt this much liking to a side character in a long time.
Anyways, I'll be waiting for you Ranmaru. I haven't felt this much liking to a side character in a long time.
Again, I apologize. These damn fangirl issues! *shuts fangirl mode off*
Score: 7.5/10
Positives:
RAN-RAN!
QUARTET NIGHT have more personality than STARISH do as a group.
Good progression for some previously introduced characters.
Nice animation.
Some interesting events take place.
Grew to like Cecil a little more.
Negatives:
More "so bad it's bad" moments that outweigh the good.
Uninteresting rivals.
Score is still very boring.
Some aspects to STARISH's music become unrealistic.
Score: 7.5/10
Positives:
RAN-RAN!
QUARTET NIGHT have more personality than STARISH do as a group.
Good progression for some previously introduced characters.
Nice animation.
Some interesting events take place.
Grew to like Cecil a little more.
Negatives:
More "so bad it's bad" moments that outweigh the good.
Uninteresting rivals.
Score is still very boring.
Some aspects to STARISH's music become unrealistic.
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