Kaginado Season 2

Before we begin, here's a warning.

If at this point you still don't watch and read Kanon, AIR, CLANNAD, Little Busters, Rewrite, Planetarian and even Angel Beats, you'll miss a lot and will be exposed to huge spoilers coming in from both media of those stories. No exception. And since this is the season 2, you should already catch up with S1 too.

Firstly, like I said before, Kaginado is a gift. For those who's heart has been unlocked by the Key. For those who laugh and cried with them. For those who keep being loyal with them.

While 4 minutes seems too short for all characters to ... gain their own spotlight (yes, there would be angry beings who complains of their waifu/husbando still don't get enought screentime), but at least seeing them still living their lives as usual is enough. Well, even some less-known characters make their own debut this time!

Anyway, it seems like this is the end of the story, let's say I enjoy it very much. Probably the most normal Key series ever, and it's good that we could see them always happy this time.

Now as Miss Jena ends her show, let's see, who's the next guest of the Planetarium?

(Btw read Summer Pockets if you could - now Reflection Blue version also has a fan translation!)

Kaginado Season 2. The continuation of the too short Kaginado series arrived and has now ended. This time finally bringing us the stories of those who have passed.

Featuring the same cast as last season with the addition of Angel Beats!, Kaginado returns and once again I loved it. Sadly, no confirmation of a third season but as they say the story will continue in my heart.

STORY: Just like last time, there isn't really a set storyline to this season however there was the minor thing of the cast of Angel Beats! trying to discover the "God" behind this world. However still, 10/10

ART: Of course, the ... same chibi art style and the backgrounds are pretty much the same styling, I'll give it a 9/10 as I still loved it but it would have been better to have the regular designs.

SOUND: Beautiful music, a lot of the OSTs were from the original series of each franchise and I'm not complaining. 10/10

CHARACTER: The characters are all the same and that's the best part. I can look and watch someone like Nagisa or Riki and still remember them as the same people I met and watched in Clannad and Little Busters. 10/10

ENJOYMENT: I love Key with all my heart and while we may only get two seasons of Kaginado, it has made me so happy that we actually got this and I feel grateful that we ever got to meet all these amazing characters. 10/10

OVERALL: 10/10, another masterpiece by Key.

*Spoiler Warning*

After not really understanding Season 1 (mostly because I knew practically nothing about the source material), I was able to finally understand a part of the show with the arrival of the Angel Beats characters! Yuri, the leader of the Afterlife Battlefront, and her crew (the cast of Angel Beats) make a dramatic appearance at Kaginado's school festival, revealing that they were there the entire time disguised as "NPC" like assistants and declaring that the world they're in is just some sort of trick by God to further punish them. Essentially, it runs parallels to the main plotline in the Angel Beats anime.

While ... the Angel Beats characters are pretty big players in the season, there's still plenty of time afforded to characters from the other season. The AB characters have some pretty good and hilarious interactions with the other characters and its amusing to see them pull their usual antics with the other characters. Yuri makes attempts to sabotage the school's trip to the beach and also attempts to get elected Student Council President in order to draw out God, and she fails on both counts. Additionally, her crew on her bus is hilariously punished by being buried in the sand. They also take up their old residence in the principal's office before they're hilariously kicked out by Kanade (and her love of mapo tofu is highlighted to a comical extreme, which I liked). Overall its still the same show, just with the AB characters adding their own spin on the story. I will say the portrayal of the AB characters in Kaginado are pretty loyal to their presentations in their original universe, and it was good to see that even the old voice cast came back to voice the characters. Otherwise, not much changes between the two seasons. Even the outro is pretty much the same, with the added caveat of the AB characters being thrown in. Essentially it did feel like bonus content for Angel Beats to me, which I'm all for.

The final episode of the season seems to conclude the show for good as it seems like it was just one big show in a planetarium and the girl leaves through the doors when her parents come to pick her up. I gather that this is a specific reference to something, I just don't know to what. Maybe if they do a season 3 they'll add in characters from Charlotte and The Day I Became A God, but as I said the final episode kind of read to me as it being the show's finale, but I suppose they can do a season 3 of the show if they really wanted to and I wouldn't be necessarily opposed to the idea.

Overall, I can say I generally liked this season more than I did the first season (and that can be attributed to me actually understanding the AB references and characters), I'll concede that having an understanding of other Key works would allow me to better understand and appreciate the show. Much like with the first season, I can't judge it too strongly one way or the other, but I know I can say I liked this season better as I at least understood something with this season.