KAKANLen09
December 22, 2023
Recommended
Girlfriend, Girlfriend - Hello, it's me, Hiroyuki! Your trash mangaka connoisseur for a harem so stupid and aloof that's as enjoyable as heck, is back for Round 2! We're now in the current days where the harem genre has pretty much evolved into its own subservient themes, with the current biggest hit being the currently airing Kimi no Koto ga Daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo a.k.a The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You (mangaka Rikito Nakamura and illustrator Yukiko Nozawa are chads), but did you know that the manga for Hyakkano actually started earlier than Hiroyuki's series? That's right, the former startedin December 2019 while the latter started in March 2020, a mere 4 months' difference. And within the span of 4 years since then, the latter's premiere anime back in Summer 2021 has gotten lukewarm reviews (mine included), while the former has become THE new gold standard for harem AniManga series to follow, thanks to its huge fanbase and the riot manga that's only a fifth of the way of its total girlfriend-ish goal-setting avalanche.
Season 2 of the anime, covering from the middle of Volume 5 to Volume 10, leaves us another final season of the anime to finish the manga adaptation and find out who is the final victor of Naoya Mukai's heart...at least for the anime-onlies (manga readers, please DO NOT spoil the fun!). Of course, the series expects you to be acquainted with watching Season 1 first (duh), and regarding this sequel continuation, it's more of the same with said chad MC and his 4 thirsty girlfriends, whose quirks and features make them desirable in some fit, form, and fashion for Naoya to (not) blind-sidedly date each and every one of them (well, except Mirika).
If you're going to talk about who the real MC is in the sequel this time, it's gotta be Shino Kiryu. The childhood and best friend of Saki Saki; a rich family's lady connoisseur and a serious hardworking girl, Shino may be the hardest to please, but the easiest when she looks innocent, like subconsciously falling in love with her best friend's boyfriend. Even though she has a one-sided crush on Naoya, her many "classic pervert" tropes back in Season 1 (and even in Season 2 here) have cemented her status as not just a clumsy girl, but someone who's in dire need of love, and yet someone who also understands not to trespass the fine line between friendship and being lovers, which I really have to commend Shino for standing her ground. Yet at the same time, I also feel sad for her that Naoya will not reciprocate his feelings for her...or will he, in the future? Also, while Mirika also got her spotlight this time as well, she'll always be known as the girlfriend stalker that Naoya has attempted so many times before, but "giving up" sure is NOT in her vocabulary being the possessive and obsessive "potential" girlfriend.
The one aspect that I don't really understand is the tonal shift of the show's production. I'd thought that director Satoshi Kuwabara and Tezuka Productions did a good job on the premiere season back in Summer 2021, given the in-house director's capability directing the much popular harem rom-com series of Negi Haruba's Gotoubun no Hanayome a.k.a The Quintessential Quintuplets at the time. Maybe the production committee felt that it looked too cheap at the time, so they switched hands to Takaaki Suzuki and SynergySP for the sequel season here. In the same way, given the latter's experience being an episode director for yet another popular harem rom-com series of Miki Yoshikawa's Kakkou no Iinazuke a.k.a A Couple of Cuckoos back in Spring 2022, Takaaki Suzuki being promoted to a director (much less his debut role), I think he did a good follow-up job to whatever the former staff team has left behind for him, save for the rather new staff team (with some returning for assistance). In my mind, as long as it looks good, it should not be a cause for concern to arrange a new staff team just for production consistency contingency.
Season 2's OST, despite having both Miki Sakurai and Tatsuhiko Saiki as returning music composers, was fairly well-kept consistent, which is a good thing. But the OP and ED songs, as much as I want to say that both Hikari Kodama and ClariS have produced decent follow-up songs that sound as catchy as Season 1's pairings, to me, they're just not as memorable overall. In fact, I pretty much preferred the prequel over the sequel, in terms of music alone.
Still though, it's the same wacky, unhinged harem rom-com series that Kanojo mo Kanojo a.k.a Girlfriend, Girlfriend is known for, a direct, if not an intense follow-up from 2 years ago. The question now is: Will the series be able to sustain this for yet another season to wrap up the entire manga? The answer lies in the eye of the beholder...or rather, the heart of the frivolously busy-minded, girlfriend-juggling business for one not-so-straight young man.
