Grand Blue Season 2

Supporting

I've always had a soft spot for Grand Blue. It demonstrates the principle of having a fun group of characters enjoying their lives in a sitcom-like format of storytelling. After so many years, it's fitting this anime returns in the Summer season, a season so well suited for this show orchestrated by its colorful and over-eccentic cast. Iori Kitahara's return creates the same atmospheric energy of the previous season. We're not left out from one bit of this anime's crazy antics, courtsey of the Peek-a-Boo club. You remember them don't you? It's a collection of college guys and girls gathered together to enjoy life of drinkingand partying than diving. It's the foundation of this anime's loose plot, where every episode shows the life style of open minded college students. Forget school and academics, this anime ditches the classroom doors and goes straight into the adult world. There's a reason this anime revolves around college age characters than teenagers. It had to abide by the age limit so it artificially boosts the characters' ages. It works because drinking and partying tends to happen far more frequently during the early stages of adult life. Practically every character in this anime has a love for drinking in some way or form. Even when it's used to serve as a distraction, drinking is considered the common norm where it would feel unusual if a character didn't drink. This also extends the fan service because all the characters are well-built. The male characters have lean and muscular bodies while the female cast are well-endowed with athletic looks. Don't believe me? Just watch the OP song and see you for yourself. It's up there as a candidate for the most fan servicy OP song of this season. Still, this season does love itself for creating misunderstandings and giving characters chances to be themselves. Some of them are tested in games while others are paired up through certain circumstances. Chisa seems to be the main culprit whenever she gets involved with Iori. The whole season has them flirtnig with idea of them getting together, although it's not depicted as romance. It's more of a crowd pleaser and baiting to see who can really make the first move. Fans should know this anime loves having fun with itself than creating tearjerking or dramatic moments between character pairs. Some characters in fact have too much fun and power to themselves. An example is Sakurako Busujima, a new character who has developed a bizarre relationship with Iori. Throughout the series, he is her primary target for bullying, although it's mostly deconstructed with light humor. She serves somewhat as a somewhat rival compared to Chisa, the ever serious and level headed girl of the Peek-a-Boo club. Watching their character rivalry draws out Chisa's insecure side where she unintentionally says things she wasn't prepared for. Her presence is felt throughout this season and she can be designated as a breakout character. The rest of the cast aren't much different after all these years. Kouhei returns with his love for girls and anime. Aina is still the same shy person who holds feelings towards Iori. Others such as Nanaka and Azusa plays their roles to serve as more mature characters for the club. It's really the cast that reminds us what being an adult is about in this show, even if not all of them are responsible. Perhaps that's an understatement. Hardly any of them are responsible and often gets sucked into the ectasy of their own personal interests. I mean, ask yourself, how many times has Kohei tried to get a girlfriend? Or Iori trying to hit on girls? These young adults behave like how you'd expect them to in this social age, where life opens to unlimited opportunities. Grand Blue Season 2 takes those opportunities and have way too much fun with them.