(Seras): Hi! This is Seras.
(Chibi): Hello! Chibi here and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Where today we’re taking a look at the second season of Arifureta.
(Seras): Despite the faults of the first season and receiving a negative reception initially, people came around to see it as not a bad show.
(Chibi): This was thanks to the main character adopting an anti-hero attitude and not being afraid to do what needs to be done.
(Seras): In 2022, the series would return for a sequel being done once again by Asread and new studio Mother, a studio formed from former Xebec employees. How did this season do? Let’s find out. This is Arifureta S2.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Chibi): The opening is “Daylight” by MindaRyn. It’s an okay opening. Nothing too great but not necessarily bad either. I do like the singer I just feel like this isn’t one of her best songs.
(Seras): The ending is “Gedo Sanka” by FantasticYouth. The beat of this song is excellent. This was one of my favorite endings from 2022. The singer puts a lot of passion into this song that really makes it stand out and become memorable.
Episodes 1-4
(Chibi): So the season starts with the other students returning to the palace. We get to meet the young princess Lilianna who is good friends with the heroes and actually feels bad sending them off to fight their battles. We see how a few of the students are still down about what happened and are jealous of Hajime (then get good). Speaking of Hajime, we see him and the others are in the desert where they come across some sandworms (Seras: Where to their credit these are actually better looking than the CGI creatures from last season). The sandworms attack where Hajime manages to destroy them with missiles and a gatling gun (Seras: The man has good taste in weaponry) and the group comes across a man suffering from mana overload. His body has built up a ton of mana and it doesn’t know how to release it, unless something is done soon his organs will rupture on him. Kaori manages to drain enough mana to get him out of the danger zone but there’s a chance his body will back into mana overload down the road. The man introduces himself as Bize the son of a duke in Ankaji who explains that his oasis has been plagued by a poison in their water that’s causing mana overload. Thankfully, there is a cure for the illness in a special mineral called Stillstone which has the power to calm a person’s mana. The only problem is the mineral is found near a volcano which is surrounded by a sandstorm and in the desert (which is no doubt crawling with sandworms). Hajime and the others agree to help him since they were already heading to Ankaji anyway. Meanwhile, in the demon’s kingdom we meet Freid a general as well as the lover of the demon Hajime killed last season. We find out that Freid intends to head to the same volcano as Hajime in order to gain a new power and vows to crush those who took his lover from him.
In episode 2 Hajime and the others arrive in Ankaji and get to work helping everyone. Kaori and Shia help the sick, Yue provides the city with a fresh water supply (Seras: And even quenches her first with Hajime), and Hajime kills the monster that was polluting the oasis. It’ll take a minute before the oasis water is pure again and they still need to head up to the volcano to get the Stillstone. Hajime, Yue, Shia, and Tio head to the volcano (anybody else getting Legend of Zelda flashbacks?) where they head inside the labyrinth and find the mineral but it’s too small so they’ll have to go deeper into the volcano. They manage to reach the end of the labyrinth and find a dome being guarded by 100 mana monsters. Hajime and the others manage to beat them all and then the dome just explodes on them to end the episode (well that was unexpected) with Hajime getting caught in the blast.
At the start of episode 3 we see Hajime survived the blast (barely) and we find out that the blast came from Freid. He managed to conquer the labyrinth before Hajime and the others and obtained the power of the gods for himself. Despite being injured Hajime manages to fight back and lands a hit before Freid decides to retreat (Seras: Coward). He activates the volcano leaving everyone there to die. Hajime gives his ring to Tio and tells her to escape while he and the others will find their own way out. Meanwhile, back at the palace, Lilianna talks with Shizuku (after catching her in an awkward moment) where she tells her that the church and castle officials aren’t too happy about Hajime going off on his own and surpassing everyone. They’re considering branding him a heretic for his actions.
Episode 4 opens up with Tio arriving back in Ankaji and telling Kaori and Myu what happened. She tells them Hajime will be okay (Seras: He’s the protagonist. He’s always okay) and meet back up with them sooner rather than later. Speaking of Hajime, we see that he, Yue, and Shia are fine and in the ocean (much cooler environment than the volcano). We get a flashback where we see the three made their way into the dome for safety where they discovered a spell that controls space as well as some medallion to verify that they conquered the labyrinth (*FFVIII victory theme begins to play*). They then make their escape via submarine that Hajime created that can withstand the lava (Seras: Must be made out of tungsten). Since they couldn’t escape via eruption they had to dive deeper into the volcano where they were shot out into the ocean and reunite with the others who were flying by. The group sails to Erisen which is the home of Myu and reunite her with her mom, Remia who approves of Hajime being papa (new girl acquired. In record time). Back with the others, Hajime has officially been declared a heretic and will be hunted down and killed.
Episodes 5-8
(Seras): In episode 5 Hajime and the others leave Erisen and Myu behind to explore the nearby ruins of Melusine. They find the ruins using the medallion they got from the last labyrinth. After this not much happens. The group gets separated from each other with Hajime and Kaori winding up together and Kaori feeling inferior to Yue in everyway possible. Hajime picks up on this and bluntly tells her to get over it. Yue is special to him and she will remain special to him for as long as he lives (even if by some incredible stroke of luck Kaori manages to become Hajime’s number one it won’t take away from the fact that Yue will always be in his heart).
Episode 6 starts with Hajime and Kaori still traveling through the ghost ships where they see the past. It turns out these ships were housing beastmen, demons, and humans who achieved peace. Only it was a trap set up by the humans to kill them all because they don’t worship Ehit, the god of creation. After the flashback, they get attacked by spirits where Kaori gets possessed and Hajime straight up shoots the spirit without hesitation (respect. My man ain’t no simp). Kaori manages to perform an exorcism on herself and then sneaks in a kiss on Hajime (scene here: https://youtu.be/ec5NI56Djx4?si=jvlGes8tRe7HGHLU. (Chibi): Oh~, very sneaky). The two of them make it to the end of the labyrinth where they’re reunited with everyone and receive the magic of restoration as well as a warning not to believe in the god Ehit. Returning back to the others, Aiko gets captured by a mysterious individual and locked up unbeknownst to the other students who are starting to have doubts about the church and sense something is wrong.
Nothing much happens in episode 7. The group is back in Erisen and Hajime thinks it’s time to leave, but he doesn’t know how to break that news to Myu who will obviously be sad (Chibi: Best to just tell her straight up and get it over with). With a little encouragement from everyone, Hajime breaks the news to her and she takes it very well (good girl. She’s grown). For the rest of the episode, we see dark forces beginning to move and Daisuke (the asshole who sacrificed Hajime in the first episode) stabs the captain in the back (Chibi: I look forward to when Hajime gets his hands around him. His cries of pain will bring a smile to my face).
At the start of episode 8 we see that despite getting stabbed the captain manages to fight off Daisuke and a couple of other brainwashed soldiers. Unfortunately, his efforts are meaningless as the soldiers get back up to keep fighting and he’s forced to retreat. He jumps out the window and lands safely only to get killed by a mysterious female. Meanwhile, Hajime and the others save a caravan from some bandits where it turns out Lilianna was in the group. She tells them what’s going on in the kingdom as well as Aiko’s kidnapping by the church and the group goes to save her. Hajime rescues Aiko easily (we didn’t have to burn the place down) and just in time as an army of demons is about to invade the kingdom. However, the kingdom rescue will have to wait as Hajime has to contend with Noint, an angel of the gods who has been sent to remove Hajime from the board.
Episodes 9-12
Not much to say about episode 9 but it is an action-packed episode. We focus on Yue and Shea who take on the demon army that is invading the kingdom led by Freid. Wanting revenge for her boytoy, Yue takes on Freid and Shea joins her. The two ladies get caught in separate battles where Shea fights and kills the fiancé of that demon from last season all while not caring about her death or feeling any remorse from it (I mean Hajime gave her a chance to run away and live. The fact that she stuck around proves she was suicidal). Yue goes yandere mode and fights against Freid where she reopens the wound Hajime gave him and forces him to retreat (scene here: https://youtu.be/rTlBqX-PqpQ?si=3IJrl7n9se5kLJ6x. (Chibi): These aren’t the best fight scenes but they do show off just how OP Hajime’s harem is). Back with Hajime, he chats with Noint a little bit where she says her god Ehit has declared Hajime too dangerous and needs to go. Hajime says if that’s the case then why not just not him back to his world to which Noint says Ehit doesn’t want that. Ehit wants him to suffer. He wants to feel the pain of coming so close only to fail (I like the way this guy thinks). Tio comes to pick up Aiko and Hajime gets ready to go all out against Noint.
In the first half of episode 10 Hajime fights against Noint in a pretty good scene (Chibi: Not the most mind blowing, but for this anime it’s pretty good). This by far the toughest battle Hajime has found himself in to date. However, he perseveres and manages to beat and kill Noint (scene here: https://youtu.be/oHhcG57S6Ug?si=u6GBxMjYPaF3jaWN, going to put a question mark by the killing). With Noint dealt with, Hajime meets up with Tio and Aiko who just got done blowing up the church (Chibi: Holy sacrilege) and killing the believers inside. While this was done by accident, Aiko is still shaken by the fact that she had a hand in killing God knows how many people and Hajime is there to calm her down just before a mysterious spirit appears and wants them to follow him. The spirit leads them to a labyrinth where in order to enter you must have successfully completed two other labyrinths, have no faith in god, and defeat someone or something powered by the force of god. Hajime meets all of these requirements (didn’t know he was an atheist) and the spirit was just a guide leading him to his prize which is a ring (Chibi: We went through all that for some ring? That’s like getting a compass at the end of a dungeon. When am I gonna use that?). Back in the capital the other students stupidly fall into a trap, get betrayed by another student named Eri, stabbed, and captured (is there no loyalty among these students and just how weak are they to go down after one stab and get tricked?).
(Chibi): Episode 11 opens with Eri kissing Kouki and declaring her love for him. We find out that her power is necromancy and all the soldiers are under her control because they’re already dead. She wanted to be with him but knew he was too kind to take the hint, so decided that the only way to be with him would be to eliminate everyone around her (Seras: And how is that going to make him fall for you? Guys hate girls who are too yandere for them. (Chibi): Speaking from experience?). In fact, we find out that Eri has been wanting to kill off everyone since coming to this world just to be with Kouki (Seras: I take it back. She’s not yandere she’s just straight up crazy). As Eri gets ready to kill Shizuku the girl she despises the most (Shizuku: What the hell did I do! (Chibi): Not you Shi-chan), Kaori and Lilianna come in to save everyone, but Daisuke arrives and stabs Kaori from behind (Seras: Oh you have made a very VERY big mistake). Before dying, Kaori does manage to heal everyone and they start to fight back before Hajime finally shows up (Seras: Ohh~, you are guys are so fucked now). Hajime punches Daisuke and then turns his attention to Eri where he eliminates all the soldiers (they’re already dead, I’m sure they don’t feel a thing now). Daisuke gets back up and tries to attack Hajime but that fails. Hajime emasculates Daisuke saying that he never had a chance at getting with Kaori before kicking him into a hoard of demons (and it’s good) who finish him off (Seras: Now in the light novel his death was a little more brutal. Hajime actually kicked the shit out of him first and then sent him flying to his death). Hajime then turns his attentions toward the demons where he uses some item to kill them all and forcing Freid to retreat who vows to kill him. With everyone safe now, Hajime and his team focus their efforts on trying to save Kaori’s life (scene here: https://youtu.be/7n0R9po86lo?si=z8EsO1QQiJAQ1UJq).
In the final episode the next day arrives as we find out that Eri escaped with Freid (her time will come. As will Freid). The king is dead so that means Lilliana is in charge now (and boy does she have a mess to clean up). Yue and Tio are keeping Kaori alive using their healing magic and Hajime goes to check in on Aiko who is in a whirlpool of emotions (Seras: Not only did she assist in genocide but another one of her students is dead. Granted that student was an asshole and got the death he deserved and the person that killed him is another one of her students. (Seras): And you had another student run off after trying to kill everyone. Okay, I’m going to say it, this class has some serious issues). Hajime and Aiko share a tender moment where he comforts her and allows her to cry. Five days later Hajime and his group along with Aiko return to the capital where they present the new Kaori (scene here: https://youtu.be/HVY9_vAyeko?si=y2QaFM0Kezrg2vKI, I like what you’ve done with your body). We see that Hajime transferred Kaori’s soul into Noint’s body (Seras: She wasn’t using it). While Hajime was able to heal Kaori’s original body she asked to be put into Noint’s body because she wanted to be stronger for the group. The good news is they have her body on cold sleep and she can return to it anytime she wants. Hajime then tells everyone what he’s learned about the god of this world and naturally Kouki is upset and says they should fight to protect this world (Seras: Oh yes, because you’ve done such a good job so far. You haven’t conquered a labyrinth yet and if it wasn’t for Hajime you’d be dead, twice. Shut up and get on his level before you talk about saving the world). Hajime of course has no intention of fighting the god of this world and calls Kouki’s willpower weak (which is true. He talks about justice and fighting for good yet he doesn’t have the willpower to take down his opponents when he needs to. He’s just spouting empty words that might as well be the cries of a child. As a result he’s the one who ends up with his face in the dirt and his classmates’ head on the chopping block. (Seras): You can’t be hero if you don’t have the willpower to do what needs to get done). That night at dinner, Lilianna says she’s going to the empire to discuss a few things and since Hajime and the others will be passing through she asks to join them on their journey. Hajime doesn’t mind and Kouki says he’ll join them as he can’t leave Lilianna in the hands of Hajime (Chibi and Seras: Shut up! (Chibi): You are so cringe! (Seras): I trust her safety more with him than I do with you). Kouki wants to get some of that magic Hajime acquired but Hajime says he’ll die at his current level (Seras: He’d be doing us a favor). Shizuku also wants to go with them and get stronger so that she can conquer a labyrinth and the other students feel the same. Hajime says okay and they agree to head out at dawn. We get a few dinner time hijinks and wrap up the next day with everyone heading out.
(Seras): We do get an OVA which aired a week after the anime ended. In the OVA we get three stories. The first is Tio, Shia, and Myu asking Yue to teach them how to use magic. Unfortunately, her explanations are either too simple or complicated to understand. As the three ladies struggle to do magic, Kaori shows up and is able to perform magic with Yue’s explanations (Chibi: She is the only one who understand her. (Seras): In order to defeat your rival in love you must understand them). In the second story the girls try on each other’s outfits. Yue tries on Tio’s outfit (if she starts acting like a masochist, run), Myu wears Yue’s outfit, Tio wears Myu’s outfit (legs for days), Shia wears Kaori’s outfit, and Kaori wears Shia’s outfit (Chibi: To see such a holy girl in a new light is quite the shock). In the third story, we discover that Yue has a new kink, mama play and she wants to baby Hajime.
Final Thoughts
(Seras): The second season of Arifureta much like first one is filled with many issues, but not as much as the first season. While we still have pacing issues and lack of characterization the season does manage to deliver some good over the top fun with the characters and give the one character, we wanted to see dead their well-deserved death. This season does seem to have a little more structure as opposed to the first season. We still get the exploration and fighting scenes while also getting some downtime to see the characters interact with each other. It’s just a shame these interactions don’t amount to much.
(Chibi): Yeah that’s the major problem with this season. We don’t get to explore these characters or the world. The first season had it bad but it’s especially bad here as they’re starting to use the wider cast more and we learn nothing new about them that we didn’t know in the first season. Still, I do admit I liked this season a little more than the first season. The animation is better, the bad CGI is gone, and the music is decent. I just wish they did a better job on fixing the issues from the first season better.
Final Score
(Seras): My final score for Arifureta S2 is a 5/10. You get that extra half point because you killed that one student. Thank you.
(Chibi): I’m giving it a 6.5/10. While I liked this season more than the first it still has issues and unless they do a better job of fixing them this anime is going to fall hard.
(Seras): So our combined score for this anime is a 10.5/20 and averages out to a 5/10. While this season is an improvement over the first season it’s still a small improvement and exposes the major issues this series needs to address if they want this anime to continue. The third season is set to come out next month and I’m really rooting for this anime. There’s so much potential here.
(Chibi): Well that does it for us. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.