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Well, count me in as a "critic" then. After watching episodes 3 and 4, I can't help but feel that there's something awfully lacking...
Pari-hen seems to focus more on the new challenges that Chiaki and Nodame face in Paris, and how they cope with these in a new country while meeting new people. While that's all well and good, there now seems to be less focus on the music itself, which is one of the things I like from the first season. The drama and the comedy may still be in full force, but much of what makes the first season moving and charming is somehow lost.
When Chiaki goes to Spain with Stressemann, I only ended up thinking that some of their performances there could have been great scenes or entire episodes themselves, and to see the show just fast forward to a few months later seems like a tragic waste. It's disappointing that the anime practically skims past this, and I hope that Rui would at least be a recurring character instead of just a name that one or two episodes simply gloss over. Now, I have no idea how the manga handles this part, but even so, there's some good potential there that remains unrealized in my opinion.
With Pari-hen only running for 11 episodes, I'm not particularly feeling so hopeful. Perhaps I'm being unfair and biased for the old, but I guess I just can't get into this season like before. And man, those CG musicians really kill the mood on every performance. They just look bad in my opinion.
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