School Rumble S2 - [Complete]
While still very good, it has slowly fallen of grace with me. First of all there's too many wacky, alternative reality side stories. There's only a few in season 1 and they're usually justified in a hilarious way. Here it's too much "School Rumble cast in Mahou Shoujo / Stone Age / someone's weird dream etc. pp., you name it. When it becomes almost the norm (must be like at least every third if not every second episode) it grows old, even when still executed well individually. Episode 2 and 3, though, were something else and easily the best out of S2.
Character and plot development has become too stale, partly due to the above. By the end of S1 a lot of characters were introduced and many of them weren't likable or fleshed out. There isn't that much progress in that regard in S2. Imadori for example was an unlikable, one-note jerk in S1 and he went nowhere. Same goes for Ichijo, the girl who likes him. I mean she's simply bland instead of having a bad personality. Then there's the likes of Togo, Harry and Lala who can be moderately funny on the rare occasion but their screen presence just doesn't feel justified. Overall there's just this character bloat. Fewer and more diverse characters would've been better. Thank god Harima is still at the forefront, even if his story becomes too repetitive at this point. In season 1 it's established and his and the other main characters' dynamic evolves to become more and more hilarious. Here, though, it's stuck in status quo.
OP and ED aren't bad but weaker than S1 for sure.
I still had a largely good time and the direction is god tier. There's so many reaction faces I've yet to extract >_<
7/10
Now, against MikeHattsu's recommendation, on to watching the remaining OVAs which really seem to be for a season 3 that never came to be. Just gotta see it to the end.
