The Noitamina timeslot and sequels don’t go well together. For a long while there were only three series that got a continuation: Bake Neko, Honey and Clover and Nodame Cantabile, the series that made the timeslot as popular as it is today. And then a Moyashimon sequel got announced. Yes: more antics with the guy who can see germs. But did they make a good use of this?
Well, here is the thing: this sequel is fun, it’s nice to watch, and it definitely has its merits. But it does have its flaws as a second season. The big reason is that it doesn’t really seem to know what it wants to do, and therefore rather forces in a story about arranged marriage and Paris. A transition that doesn’t happen smooth at all and makes this season feel more like a random side story than a proper sequel here. The germs are pretty much side-lined through the entire story, even though they were the main selling point of this series. I really feel like Noitamina could have spent its time better than on a sequel for this series.
But on the flipside, this still is a very enjoyable series. Apart from the germs, there is another thing that this series has that sets it apart, and that’s its chemistry, and this sequel has plenty of that. Caracters always have something interesting to talk about, whether it’s about fermenting, wine or relationships, and this show is at its best whenever a lot of characters are together doing all kinds of stuff at the same time. It brims with life when it does that so even when the story gets distracted on the unimpressive arranged marriage, the characters manage to retain your interst with their quirks and goofs. This season does a very good job of fleshing them out.
So if you’re a fan of Moyashimon and want to see more of the characters, then go for it because this show definitely delivers on that. However, this second season is no reason to pick the series up anyway if you haven’t seen it before. It’s definitely got some nice storylines, and the newly introduced characters have some good stories. The trip to paris was nice and fun, but ultimately this is just a glorified side-story. It’s nice that it’s there and all and definitely not boring… but did they really need to spend an entire slot on Noitamina for that?
| Storytelling: | 7/10 – Despite the many criticsms above, all of Moyashimon’s problems can be boiled down to just one big issue: Haruka’s arranged marriage is not fit to dedicate an entire season to, and yet that’s what they did. The side stories are very well told and do make this series worth watching, but the main thread throughout the entire series is dull. |
| Characters: | 8.5/10 – This series understands character chemistry and brings a lot of it here. Characters are well acted and voice acted making them fun and interesting to watch. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Still has the same visual style as the first season. Meaning that at first the visuals may not seem like much, but when you start thinking about it the shots become surprisingly well drawn and creative. Yes, I just edited this in at the last moment. |
| Setting: | 9/10 – Lots of interesting trivia about fermenting and wine brewing. The bacteria may be reduced to mere narrators, but this show hasn’t lost its educational value. |
Suggestions:
– Honey and Clover
– Nodame Cantabile
– Spice and Wolf
Nice review there. I really got excited when season 2 came out. It was nice to be able to see the gangs again. And i have to agree that the Paris arc is too force. Episode 8 and 9 feel badly written to me as i just skip through them.
Overall a good season 2 of moyashimon. Can’t really recommend it to new people to the series but for people who has watch the first season should watch this too.
i found the second season is pale compared to the first… it lack the comedic value and the character development does not progress much.the main character, Tadayasu seems to be the side character this time and does not contribute much to the storyline. the haruka arc story is boring. I was hoping for something more fun than the first season of Moyashimon and I was quite dissapointed to be honest.