Anime 35075 Hoozuki No Reitetsu 2nd Season

This is the second season of this series. This series basically give us a basic introduction to Hell Mythology in japan, with lots of old folktales from japan combined. However, sometimes it's not only limited to japan folklore. It also introduce other mythologies, such as chinese folklore, hell according to bible, egypt, etc. The story relies on basis daily work in hell, with its various characters and level of hell. The funny thing is that they have better work policy than modern japan itself. Some people might not be comfortable with some depiction of hell's torture despite its comedic intent. i might be the only ... one who think that this show also have some moral values, because they also depict the kind of sin that's needed to be sent to hell.

It's a very relaxing show that you can just pick up at any time of the day and still fully enjoy it. It teaches you abou mythology, mainly Japanese mythology in a funny and enjoyable way. The story centers on Hoozuki and his daily life, whether it's determining the fate of the deceased or giving tours of Japanese hell to foreigners there's always never a moment where I am bored.

The art is definitely unique unlike your traditional anime with fine line art, this anime combines both traditional japanese art styles and modern day animation to create an visual experience that seems almost normal to a ... person's eyes.

Each character has their own personalities and backstory, famous japanese folk tale characters make appearances through the entire the anime and befriend Hoozuki whether he likes it or not. I mainly really like the Dog named Shiro who is the pet of Momotaro an ancient japanese hero who set out to fight demons with a dog, monkey, and a pheasant as companions. Every character is special in their own way.

Overall, this show is just amazing and I think you should watch it as well.

Long story short, I liked the first season more than this one.

Due to the genre - slice of life (in hell) - it is simply too uneventful at times.
The main gimmick of the season seems to be retelling of character pasts and re-imagining of japanese legends. Both of those kinda lack punch.

Although, I really enjoyed one of the episodes that displayed hell from its darker side.

The art is nice and more or less unique to this anime, however, those guys blatantly cut animation costs at every opportunity they get. It is not noticeable, but there are a lot of scenes with little movement in ... it Still... in situation where something has to move, both art and animation are done very well.

One another noticeable thing is that this naime on occasion uses 3d graphics for certain scenes, and it is noticeable. But it is no worse than what was done in Overlord.

Breakdown:

Story 4/10: Too prolonged and pretty much non-moving even for slice of life. I did like certain episode quite a lot, because they managed to portray supernatural better, but that's the extent of it.

Art: 6/10: Hoozuki has unique character style, which is nice to watch. The characters are well drawn, however the show definitely reduces animation costs when it gets opportunity. It is not easy to spot those moment,s htough.

Sound: 5/10 Doesn't really stand out in any way. First season's intro has more character in it. There are some big names among voice actors, for example Wakamoto. But.... it isn't areally special.

Character: 5/10: There's no character development of any sorts, they're almost static. A lot of scenarios revolve around characters talking to each other or retellign something, so there aren't many opportunities for them to display characters properly. Some are very stereotypical. Basically, they're mostly plot devices, so don't expect spectacular character development.

Enjoyment: 5/10. Maybe I'm getting too old for this, but I didn't have any strong feelings about this season. I really liked episode 10, but the rest didn't trigger any emotions.

Overall: 5/10. Decently done, with nice art, but by no means a masterpiece. Might be worth checking out if you have free time or really liked the first season.