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*Sigh* Yuiko being my favorite LB character along with Saya, her anime arc isn't exactly engaging in my books, so discussing it would be rather too biased. Still, few things really bothered me on a general sense than really the arc itself:
The Good :
-The anime visuals are noticeably better as in the color pattern is less imbalanced (first season was at times too dull, or too flashy depending of the scenes). The characters traits are also a bit sharper, but the design itself is still generic (hopefully JC staff won't introduce a character as generic as female rik... I mean Kudo's mom but I'm not holding my breath). The animation, though, is still iffy, especially Takamiya hilarious facial expression when she threaten Yuiko she will break LB members.
The bad:
-The mood swing with this episode was really not a good idea.
Since Refrain is basically the continuation of LB plot instead of a "season 2", I understand they don't need any complete full group episode before any serious business. Even so, the transitions are quite awkward, and having the bullies acting like that right off the bat was a bad idea.
Sure if the audience paid attention to that detail, they would realize that the girls are the same who teased Kudo way earlier in the first season. Even so, the way how they picked on Yuiko was, like some people said, too convenient. It looks like an abrupt and spontaneous incident instead of a chain of harassments that came from deep grudge. They really should have dedicated the second half of this episode with Riki and possibly Rin/Haruka/Komari hanging around Yuiko because of her radio stuff (which could be conveniently done due to the bad weather there).
This way, they could introduce the bunch of girls not liking Yuiko at all and having the idea to bully the other LB over time the latter pay a visit to Yuiko for instance. And afterwards, they could dedicate episode 2 with the bullying incident and Yuiko going postal on them.
-Music direction is again awkward, but I guess I have to accept that after S1.
The Ugly:
-Romance or not, they pretty much squeezed Yuiko's development into half of an episode that it isn't even funny. Frankly, having the bully incident alone to have her wondering about her emotions is rather "convenient" as well. It just make her character arc too spontaneous without any build up.
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