Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle

In short, the story felt rushed.
With only 10 episodes to spare, the ending wasn't impacting. The Final boss of the show is brought to light in episode 9 and in the Final episode, how else are they going to finish it? They're wasn't enough time for characters to show more sides of themselves or what certain meanings lie in the midst of their interactions. Some scenes should be extended to show more impact and fall so flat after it ends abruptly. It is a little annoying that some characters don't put up a fight either, like when they get out-numbered or an enemy shows, ... they don't try to think of a plan to escape or anything. They legit give up and it shows that all their time fighting/ training is for naught.

Wish there were more episodes so it would pan out better, but it is what it is.

Short review. Most of what I said about the first season also applies to this second season so I’d recommend reading my review of the first season before this one.


--- Animation & sound: identical to the first season

The animation is still of high quality. It is clean and smooth, there are very few inconsistencies, and the fight scenes look very good. The backgrounds are well drawn and detailed. Some buildings look very cool, for example the Hartgen castle and the Emperor’s floating fortresses.

Sound-wise, however, it means that the opening and the ending sound as shit as in the first season. Nomizu Iori still ... doesn’t know how to sing. The background music is still very meh and forgettable, though it is not bad enough to hinder the show.


--- The end is rushed and disappointing

There are too many things happening in a short time, especially in the three last episodes. In episode 8 the black Chaikas organize a series of fights in Hartgen castle, red Chaika’s team vs white Chaika’s team and Tooru vs his former master Shin, among others. You would have expected these fights to be somewhat epic but they’re not, they’re wrapped up in 30 seconds each. It is even more apparent in the fight against the reincarnated Emperor Gaz. I expected him to be a charismatic, extremely powerful and clever wizard, but instead what we have here is a boring villain who says lame pseudo-philosophical lines about war (“humans crave for war”… no they don’t you goddamn imbecile), has less screen-time than the blue Chaika in season one, and is defeated in a matter of dozens of minutes thanks to some unexplained event. Everything was part of his plan, except the betrayal of his human weapon, apparently.


--- Other flaws in the story

There are probably others, but here a few notable ones:

– In this second season we get the confirmation that magic does everything: magic circles can be used as elevators and ship engines, while magic guns (“gundos”) can replace GPS and be used to start a fire. We’re getting closer to magic coffee machines, I tell you.

– The characters get the Emperor’s remains too easily. One of the eight heroes gives Tooru and his team the remains after a fight that isn’t even a fight to the death but rather a game, while the other heroes are so weak they get bullied into giving the remains to whoever attacks them first.

– With all the Chaikas, Fredrika and the introduction of Niva, the girl who is also a magic gun, there are moments where this series reaches a point of loli overdose. There are so many children on the screen it looks like a field trip rather than a quest.


--- Verdict

This second season is on par with the first one, that is to say it is slightly entertaining but there’s nothing new or incredible about it. If you enjoyed the first season you will most likely also enjoy this sequel. If you didn’t, skip it, as it doesn’t get better than the first one.

I would like to say that I liked this series but can't. Most of the time it just tried to explain the story and evolve it. Forgetting to develop the caracters. Left the viewer not caring about the characters and what will happen to them.

story 4/10
The series left too many open questions along the way and it was a shock that it got it all together in the end making some sense. The end result though isn't very good and because the big buildup the rushed end was just disappointing. Good thing in the story is the way it is built toward the ... final fight (though the end fight isn't even the best fight.) It added along the way new things and new characters and the first season's ending is pretty good.

art 6/10
The atmosphere and backgrounds are good and make a good fantasy feeling. Spell casting looks really amazing and I haven’t seen another similar method. Character designs aren’t that good and Chaika’s dress annoys me.

sound 8/10
The opening and ending music are really good. They fit in the overall mood nicely.

characters 2/10
The characters ruin the series. There was too little character development. The character traits are boring and generic. Sometimes it feels like the characters have only one aspect and they repeat the same reactions and jokes throughout the whole series. The series gives a lot of opportunities for good character developments but nothing happens. Only character that is good is Chaika. His actions with others and speaking is adorable. But Chaika, like the others, holds a lot of wasted potential.

I think that if the series would be longer it would have more time to develop the characters. Now it just feels like the 22 episodes are too short a time to cover the whole story and at the same time try to develop characters. The decision was made and now the whole story has been rushed with bad characters.