Is it just me or this show is getting deeper than we expected?
Las season I was pretty bummed by how much of the "cute girls doing cute stuff" was going on, but in these 2 first episodes of season 2, I have a feeling they are trying to give those characters better personalities and a character arc. What are your impressions on that?

It was all here all along.

They're using a similar approach as GochiUsa here, one that worked extremely well: the first season sets the table, and the second season dives into the details to explore things that give the characters and their situation more depth. It adds quite a bit of enjoyment to things that make thare second season well worth it, so moving ahead, my expectations are correspondingly higher.

There is also the "work" aspect of it all. One thing that caught my attention the first time was the setting being a game developing company. This gave us an office-relationships part and a game developing part. Both of them being things that interest me. And although in the 1st season we saw moments focused on those aspects, this second season is diving deep into them right now and I am loving it!

Ep 02

Count me among those who also enjoyed episode 2, and I agree that in general the series is beginning to search a bit into more... erm ... involved (?) levels of interaction between the characters here and there, but focusing, of course, mainly on the person of Aoba as she develops and causes "waves" in the process, affecting others around her.

Good material, and thus far season two is continuing to do a nice job with the source material as well, I feel.

Definitely a keeper. :)

Finally got to watch episode 1 with subs that weren't crap. Saw episode 2 as well. The new game sounds interesting and the designs have potential too.

I think one of the interesting things in this series is we aren't following teenagers in high school or middle school (or those around that age), like the other bazillion anime out there, but working adults out in the "real world" making their way in life. It's a setting that doesn't come up much in anime these days and feels different.

I have to say while Aoba's concept is cute, it's also kind of dark; even if the enemies are plushies with cotton for guts, that doesn't change the fact that the cute little heroine is ripping them open, disemboweling them, and then wearing their corpses in order to better kill their companions. You can sort of see Aoba's sadistic side here...

We got hints of that in the OVA when she was melting the mini-snowmen :heh:

The gameplay has all the bear necessities. ;)

You might as well say that Mario is sadistic because it's about crushing and killing poor creatures by jumping on them. Or that Kirby is sadistic because it's about a cute pink creature swallowing other creatures and sending them into a new dimension into it's stomach. And don't get me started on Pokemon.

This sure is true. But it is also a problem when such adults are portrayed as if they were young and silly kids, like we had, for example, for most of season 1 with Nene. If this was a high school setting I would be way more forgiving, although I'd still be pretty annoyed.

Fortunately, I was quite happy to see Nene develop a little bit as a character at the beginning of s02e01 because it gave me hope that she would start acting more like the adult she is instead of the infantile kid-like person she was.

Did you look at that concept art? The part where the bear is crying and freaking out while the cute little girl slices his back open and rips out his cotton innards? This is like if Kirby showed the monsters struggling against the pull with tears flying off their terrified faces, or if the Mario art had him surrounded by actual goomba corpses.

So, you're saying that Id Games should've hired Aoba to work on the Glory Kills from DOOM? :eyespin:

Bath in your enemy's innards and wear their corpses like a suit for when you slaughter their friends and families!

Sounds like a family friendly game to me. Just slap that Teen rating on there and you're good.

Maybe Aoba'a character is a being so terrifying Hell itself rejected them.

Sounds like the sort of review that would get the game banned in Australia.

No no, there's no blood at all! See? Totally family friendly. Honest.

http://i.imgur.com/X24tyb2.png

She's totally a predator, the type that jumps you from behind and has her way with your body.


Also, why is the zipper on the front when she's (seemingly) cutting into them from behind?

Rips them apart, skins them and then converts the pelt into clothing, with the zipper added afterwards. This feels like a Brutal DOOM mod :heh:

A great episode that focuses on one of my favorite parts of s1, the relationship between Kou and Aoba, who despite being teacher and student, have actually helped and complemented each other all this time, and now it feels like we're seeing the next step in regards to that. It also did well in remind us that despite her position, Kou is still pretty delicate in certain aspects and can use some help, which Aoba (and Rin) are more than glad to provide. I'm also glad to see Jun continuing to be relevant after feeling like nothing (to me) in the first season, and I hope to see more of that later on.

I'm honestly surprised I have that much to say about new game, but I'm definetly not complaining.

The night after each meeting, Hifumi spent crying silently, thinking of what awaits her :rolleyes: