Minami-ke - Okawari

I finally made it through the second season, but it just didn’t hit the same. The biggest change is the shift in animation studios — from Daume to asread. — and you can definitely tell. The animation style is different — not necessarily better or worse, just more colorful and maybe a bit more detailed, but overall, it just feels different. I still can't decide if I like it more or less compared to the first season. Asread. initially tried to keep some of the quirky animation techniques from the original, like the odd cuts and camera angles, but they didn’t really pull it off, so they gradually dropped those attempts. The humor didn’t land as well for me this time either. While the show tried, I found myself laughing a lot less — sometimes only once per episode, and occasionally not at all. The quality of the episodes varied, with the best ones coming towards the end, especially the resolution of the Fuyuki storyline, and the final episode itself was pretty solid. The main characters remained mostly the same, but some of the side characters felt pushed to the background, and I was particularly disappointed with how Hosaka’s character was handled. The music, however, was a highlight once again. Both the opening and closing themes were great, and the background music was well-chosen and enjoyable — it really stood out. But even the good soundtrack couldn’t save my overall impression of the season, and I ended up dropping my rating from a solid 4 stars to a strong 3. Despite that, I’m still planning to dive into the next season — hopefully, it won’t take me another month to get through it. 6.2/10. (2024-08-30)