Reviews for Nanbaka Season 2

Nanbaka's second season starts off with an episode that restates a certain quote and reinforces the meaning of this quote multiple times during the episode - "Nanbaka is a gag anime", Nanbaka has always been at its best when it's portraying the daily lives of our eccentric innmates and guards of Building 13 in all their fun, frolic, heavily contrasted colors, sparkles and comedic glory. The occasional appearance of characters from other buildings adds some nice diversity to the regular formula delivering an overall fun and enjoyable experience. After a first episode that seemed to draw focus to the show's best element, it felt asthough the show was signifying a return to it's roots as gag anime and this most certainly felt like good news to me. After the serious action oriented episodes of the middle half of the first season, this focus on comedy was exactly what I felt the series needed. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the second season of Nanbaka is far more serious and action-oriented than the first season ever was.

Of course I'm not saying that the action is Nanbaka is bad, in fact the action scenes are actually really cool at times and are pretty enjoyable to watch. Though sometimes, this seriousness and over the top superpowers that do not in the least seem anywhere near believable given the setting and nature of the show can require some immense suspension of disbelief. The weird thing is, the shift to a serious tone is in a sense what allows the comedic episodes that follow post the seriousness to be so effective, this is especially true when you take note of the last 3 episodes of the first season which were both really funny and even heartwarming. Ultimately, this comedy-serious-comedy structure of Nanbaka works and is what makes the show what it is.

Going into the second season, I expected the same thing from it, I hoped they'd keep the action and seriousness to a minimum with focus on the comedic side of the series, but boy I didn't think I'd be this wrong. In all honesty, the first two episodes of this season are the only ones which can even be remotely considered comedic and fun episodes, from the 3rd episode all the way to the very end the show becomes more action-oriented and all serious again. Once again, this doesn't mean that these episodes are bad. There are some really good stories wrapped within this serious arc that deals with the escape of a former guard captain who was imprisoned for murder. Samon's (Monkey Guard Captain) backstory, Upa/Liang's backstory and some of the past history of the prison are pretty cool. There is a decent amount of character development for Jyugo as he learns to grow out of his insecurity and confidence issues but his constant musings and the fact that he gets antagonized by certain characters during this phase can get a little annoying. At points, it also feels like the show is trying too hard to showcase this arc as something special when in reality, it's really nothing ground breaking. The battles themselves as I stated above are still cool to watch and while all these superpowers seem unbelievable, you can't deny that they're quite entertaining to watch. With all that said, the main issue during this whole action/serious oriented phase is the fact that this phase is dragged on endlessly to span over the rest of the season. This ends up as a complete contradiction to the expectations set up by the first episode - "Nanbaka is a gag anime" seems to have been completely ignored. This is not to say that there is no comedy during the main arc, there is some comic relief at points but this feels like the kind of comedy you'd find in a Battle Shonen not a 'gag' anime like Nanbaka and often this comedic relief just falls flat. As you witness this over and over again, the show starts to feel tedious and at points it feels like the series just discarded it's original identity to try and become something else.

Summing up, I honestly felt the first season was much better. It had a better structure and the episodes played to the strengths of the series, the action had an element of fun to it in the form of games and competitions. Nanbaka's second season has none of this and is in a sense nothing more than what you can call an arc of an action anime which ultimately downplays the comedic strength of the series. If you liked the action oriented episodes of the first season you will probably like this season as well. However, if like me, you like Nanbaka for the comedy then you will most probably be disappointed.

With all that said and done, you know what the worst part of this entire season is? The arc is still not over. So if we do indeed get a third season, it's just gonna be more of the same action Nanbaka. All I can do now is to hope and eagerly await the day Nanbaka truly returns to it's roots as

'Nanbaka is a gag anime'. (Both me and Mitsuru cannot stress this enough XD)

Before you read this review, just know how I weigh each trait in anime: Story: Weight 1.0 Art: Weight 2.0 Sound: Weight 1.0 Character: Weight 2.0 Enjoyment: Weight 4.0 Total weight 10.0 Oh, Nanbaka, Nanbaka, how I love you.I love how this anime has so many colors, sparkles, funny moments, serious moments, and so much more all wrapped up in a cute little anime bow. Anyways, I know you guys don't want to hear me completely fangasm about Nanbaka and not really give it a review, so let's get serious! I'll only spoil episode 1 of the FIRST season, so don't worry. There won't be any spoilers... I hope.

Story: 7/10

Nanbaka, to be honest with you, doesn't really have MUCH of a story... Well at least without spoiling. Maybe after the season ends, I'll make a Spoiler Filled Review below this one that'll wrap up the story. The anime is set in the world's most colorful prison ever with the most sparkly walls ever. Oh, but wait, it's inescapable. Yeah, a pink prison in inescapable. Weird art choice, Manager. Weird art choice. Well, we find out right off the bat that this prison is ANYTHING BUT inescapable. Weird, right? The cute pink prison is inescapable. Who would've known?

Art: 9/10

Nanbaka uses MANY colors most other anime would NEVER want to use. It's so bright, colorful, and SO DAMN SPARKLY! No seriously, every picture you will see of Nanbaka will have at least one guaranteed sparkle. It's fantastic. The anime is a great amount of fun to look at. Especially the hairstyles. Those things are crazy. It doesn't have the BEST amount of detail, but it makes up for it with the colors. That's why I gave it a 9.

Sound: 10/10

Why is this a 10? have you HEARD the OST? Rin! Rin! Hi! Hi! is still fantastic even after listening it over 100 times! Usually other OP's that are more popular like "Trip -innocent of D-" will get me hyped for a while, then kind of just dies off after a while. This song hasn't done it yet and it still gets me to sing along..... Well, more like look like a giant weeaboo in front of my friends and myself. The ending is super fun to listen to as well! The video of watching the chibi versions of the main characters run around and get yelled at by Hajime is hilarious! It's not as great to listen ot it outside of watching the anime, but it still gives me a pass and a ticket to give this one a 10.

Characters: 10/10

This is in my opinion, the main selling point of the anime. They're just all so funny and fun to watch then have their stupid little shenanigans! We have Jyuugo, the main protagonist. He has no particular talents except for escaping prison. His laid back character makes it really fun to watch Hajime scream at him while he just gives a blank face in response. It's funny watching him just go crazy at Jyuugo just not caring! Next off, we have Uno, the secondary protagonist. He's a close friend to Jyuugo and always is there to help him up when he's down. He's a definite contender for "Best hairstlye of 2017" if I had to pick. Nico is just... Weird. He loves drugs, always watches anime, and laughs in his sleep. Yeah. He's definitely an enigma if I've seen one. Rock is the strong bruiser kind of guy who loves food. No seriously, LOVES food. He definately gets good karma from the chefs in Nanbaka Prison.

I could go farther into characters, but I'd prefer you'd actually, well, WATCH THE ANIME to find out the rest of them. Now, onto Enjoyment.

Enjoyment: 10/10

This anime is HILARIOUS. Seriously, sometimes my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Yeah, it's that funny. It'll quickly put you in a good mood, I'll guarantee you that. I extremely enjoyed it. Not much else can be said about this anime without me sounding TOO repetitive, so I'll just leave it at that.

Overall: 9.5/10

What else can I say? It's Nanbaka! Of course I loved it!

I hope you enjoyed reading this tiny little review I made just because I just watched episode 4 and decided: "Hey, why not write a review?" I hope you'll enjoy Nanbaka if you watch it, and if you did, I hope you enjoyed it! I hope you'll have a great rest of the day... or night... I don't know what time it is for you. Anyways, bye!

Nanbaka is an absolute joke of a series. What I saw in the first half of the first season was absolutely discarded for a more serious but ludicrous second part. It is non-cohesive and fails to focus on backstory and explanation. Not to mention, the comedy is pretty much nonexistent They throw in Gokuu's older brother for the sake of having an enemy. They could have made anybody the bad guy, hell, even Hajime's brother could have turned bad and it would have had the same impact. Gokuu and his brother have no chemistry when they collide, and eventhe main character's themselves seem to fall under this same category.

The art I do kind of like. It's got style and enough distinction to make it different from others of its kind. But that's as far as it goes. It's nothing special, the animation is sloppy at times, and they mix way to many damn colors. See, jojo can get away with that since it flashes to different palettes of colors at serious scenes, but when a show is like that all the time, it gives you a headache. Also removed sparkles soooooo

Sound is meh. The intro, I must say, is the one thing I'll always enjoy (if I go back to watch the show). It's catchy and poppy, but has that shrill guitar sound to make you reminiscence about the experimental early 2000s music scene. There are various guitar songs riddled throughout the show that are just pretty much space filler...and don't even get me started on the ending theme...it's atrocious

As I said earlier the characters are not different enough to make them unique. Everyone collides with someone else's personality at some point. Hajime was definitely my favorite of all the characters I saw, and the Warden too. But what was up with everyone getting these weird powers? Is that like the norm or something? Is there someone that gave them all these powers or are they born with them? Like at least give us some backstory so we're not left wondering why the only thing that sets them different from each other is what they can do.

So yeah, if you want to hear honestly, there were several moments that I wanted to drop this show, but I didn't cause I actually had some aspect of hope. I now realize that hope was ineptly placed because I do not like Nanbaka...I really don't. Please don't waste your time. Watch the first half of the first season if you must, but don't continue

Overall I give it a 4

İts literally like 7.5 well i just voted 8 . Story is not a story we usually see and it grows like you would expect , overall it might have been boring for most people but like this kind of shows . To be honest for characters they really look cool ok but way too coloful and some of them are kinda gayish bro . While other people complain about harem and ecchi genre animes i think this one lacks screentime of female creatures in general :D but gotta give credits to head manager/warden and Hajime's meetings , it was fun Art like i said was colorfulcharacters and pretty good enviroment , well basically a prison , but still was good .

Sounds were unexpectedly nice especially opening and some fight musics .

Overall glad to see this shows in 2 cours of this 2016-2017 year

The second season of Nanbaka picks up right where its first season left off but I think in comparison to the first season its definitely lacking and has its flaws. STORY: 6 Overall *probably a spoiler* the story never gets resolved in the end and instead we're left at the halfway point or even climax. In comparison to the first season's comedic interludes Nanbaka also changes drastically in tone to a more serious note, or it very much tries to. And while it still holds onto what makes Nanbaka, Nanbaka, most people will probably find the change a disconnect to what drew them in at first. Whileits gags are still charming, its attempt at a more serious storyline and character development seem a little more shounen cliche. And it definitely shows in the last 5 or 6 episodes of the anime where a battle seems unnecessarily drawn out. For a series so self aware, it's a little disappointing that it isn't utilized in these aspects.

ART: 8

Art quality is still the same as the first season, but less sparkles! Which I have to say that the dedication for animating all those sparkles is amazing. The vibrant color palette continues and surprisingly works very well for some of the more serious battles and darker undertone scenes. In the animation of fighting actions, it is impressive in how some of it is choreographed in the scenes and definitely is able to show tension when needed. Also facial expressions are very well animated for the wide arrange of emotions we can actually see this season.

SOUND: 8

The soundtrack is as nice as ever! Very epic sounding feel to it and definitely gives impact for fighting sequences. The catchy opening and ending continue as well.

CHARACTER: 7

This might be a hit or miss but there is actually quite a bit of development for side characters (or everyone but Jyugo) previously introduced briefly in season 1. While the main character is definitely lacking in a well written development or even a good portrayal of why he isn't developing, the side character stories I found to pleasantly enjoyable and even surprisingly unexpected. However every scene with Jyugo and his internal struggles will definitely look neglected when compared to how everyone else is portrayed. Probably the villians are even worse off but given how little time they've appeared it's not unexpected.

ENJOYMENT: 8

Despite all of that, I quite enjoy Nanbaka and its comedic aspects well enough. And I would say what pulls me thorugh Nanbaka this season is a new appreciation for the side characters and their entertaining interactions with the main cast. And when Jyugo isn't having internal monologues of self analysis it is somewhat endearing seeing how useless he is.

OVERALL: 7

Nanbaka is Nanbaka. You shouldn't really expect more or less and really just accept whatever it throws at you because it's probably more enjoyable that way.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS I'll begin by saying that I enjoyed the first season of Nanbaka. It wasn't brilliant, but it had a good amount of humor, and the art is very colorful. The second season, however throws that all away (well, except for the color) This season takes an incredibly dark tone shift, and it's really bizarre to see these goof-off clown characters thrown into a story as dark and edgy as an eighth-grader's fanfiction. The story seems like it wasn't planned out very well; the moment that finally shattered my hope for the series was when Upa's backstory was being explored and we learnthat he had his organs stolen from him, and the one pharmacist guy was kind enough to give Upa his own organs. Both characters were alive years later, even though in my experience, people need organs to live. This was never explained further, not even in a hand-wavy sort of way.

The art is fine. It's just as colorful as the first season. At some point I started to resent how almost every character in the series can be considered a trap. I also started to hate their needlessly edgy designs, as almost every character has candy-colored hair and many have multiple piercings or tattoos.

Sound wasn't bad or good enough for me to notice. Although they did replace the opening theme with the same song sung by another guy who isn't as good.

The characters are all awful. Characters from the first season that were okay become edgier in stupid and convoluted ways, and become enjoyable to watch. I cannot think of a single character that I like, except maybe the cat.

I really hated this anime. At some point it became like some sort of punishment to watch, but I kept having hope that the lighthearted atmosphere of the first season would return. It doesn't.

Well, what can I say? I'm frankly appalled at how the author cold-heartedly butchered this crap. I'm let down and I want my time back as I feel pretty much tricked in a way. This was supposed to be a nonsense gag comedy, that's what it introduced itself as. Even in season 1, it wasn't THAT bad even if the author decided to introduce a lot of out-of-place serious drama/tragedy into a show that can't survive without being moronic. But in season 2, it was decided that being a gag comedy sucked and they wanted to, all too late, go the more serious shounen battleroute with comedic relief in style with such a work, it's not even good comedy anymore, it's just boring crap. Giving it a 4/10 was quite generous of me, I can't see anyone but teens or people who haven't experienced much manga/anime/novels to ever give it a higher score than 6/10, and that's pushing it.

Tsk. How retarded do you have to be to take what people watch your show for and remove it in order to twist and disfigure it into something it can't ever be good at? This is a show that repeatedly goes on about how it's a gag anime and its very title shows that it's not meant to be serious. The flamboyant colors and excessive energy of every character is also something that could never be taken seriously. However, for some reason, they thought it was a good idea to try. If I want tragedy/drama or a nice serious story, I will damn well go read/watch something that is meant to be one, that actually CAN be taken seriously and is interesting. This is just extremely tepid. It doesn't go all out for anything and thus fails big time at everything. I can't take any of the characters seriously and the drama/tragedy is so bad that I don't feel anything for the characters, I've seen so much worse, you want me to feel sympathy for some butthurt chuunibyou-esque people that can't help but feel sorry for themselves over something really stupid? That's just not happening, especially not when there's no good mood going on.

So, now we have a whole bunch of pimped-up chuunibyou-like prisoners and guards looking like peacocks and as colorful as christmas trees running around with the maturity of ten year olds acting cringeworthy and trying way too hard to look cool while we have to sit through their sobstories that no one cared about and that isn't even a big deal to anyone who've watched/read true tragedies/dramas before, I've seen mcs do a hundred times worse things to other people than what these guys has gone through despite being the "good guys", it's so damn mild. The comedy has become just as horrible as the action and drama, it's incredible. Even the first episode wasn't really good despite being full-on comedy, because that idiot in the background just couldn't shut up with his announcements.

The story is just horrible in every way possible. It's pure chaos as it jumps around and can't decide what it wants to be. It's good at nothing and absolutely subpar. The art is probably the thing I can complain the least about, it's the same as season 1 after all, not much to complain about, well, if anything I guess that I'd have to point out that characters and buildings more pimped out than the biggest pimps out there who can't act like adults does not fit in with this more serious story at all. The sound isn't that bad, but I feel like it wasn't anything special, the opening song didn't even change and that was the only thing that pulled the sound score up in the first season. As for the charcaters, pretty much all of them are either boring or irritating, they have no proper personality, sure, they have extreme traits but that's all they are, they feel empty and dead, like machines. My enjoyment was, at the best of times, around average, that means 5/10, that it's watchable without feeling like it's a pain. Usually it was lower though. I'll just go for 4/10 for the overall score because it had promise and it had moments now and then that were watchable.

We also don't get any explanations for anything. People just mysteriously has powers but no one knows why. The guards thinks it's scary that the mc and the other people have powers, so does the inmates, but it's a fact that everyone is pretty much as powerful or more powerful than the mc and those people they experimented on. No matter who it is, they all have weird superpowers that no human can possibly have, but it seems they're blissfully ignorant of how they're freaks and monsters themselves whenever the author wants them to. If it was just a comedy anime, no one would care about the fact that nothing is explained, but since it wants to be serious, we need to know more, however, seems the author doesn't realize that like many other authors and fails to explain what needs to be explained. The power levels are also extremely dependant on whatever the author wants, there's nothing set. In one moment, they're so OP you'd think they could fight a demon king by themselves, the next moment they're so weak they would barely match up against a midboss and at other times, they're so weak they'd get their arse handed to them by the start village boss. Sometimes one character becomes weak and the rest becomes stronger. I absolutely despise it when authors can't keep power levels consistent and doesn't care enough to do so, feeling like it's okay to change it as he goes.

Oh, by the way the ending sucks more than anything I've seen lately. Guess what? It stops pretty much in the middle of everything. There's no conclusion whatsoever. We're left hanging in the middle of a climax, I'd say there's at least another several episodes left before we can see that particular dragged out battle ending. I guess they planned to make another season but failed. This garbage doesn't deserve a third season, so I hope they never make one, but it's still frustrating to painstakingly sit through this thing only to get left hanging in the middle of the action without even knowing who will win in a battle you just spent several episodes trudging through while feeling like dropping it the entire time just because you feel like you have to watch the rest when you've already come so far.

Warning possible Spoilers You know it's been a while since I have encountered a second season that was worse than the first and sadly it had to be this anime. The story continues with our lovable Nanba inmates who are still causing trouble for the guards, but in the shadows a new threat has awoken. Now I liked the first season, but what the hell happened to the story in this season it started off well with the usual comedic first few episodes, then it gets back into the dark thriller quick quickly then everything suddenly starts to drag a lot I mean there were a few coolmoments inbetween, but why did the story have to focus so much on the prisoners trying to help free the guards after a coup happened in building 5 like seriously in episode 4 the inmates with Hajime go to building 5 and get caught in a trap and from that point on it just drags on very heavily and decides to focus on every big fight that happened for like 3 episodes each it got very tiresome and then there was the godawful cliffhanger that the series didn't deserve and it just made this second season almost pointless because everything that happened in season 1 with Juugo and the revelation with elf and the man with the scar doesn't even get any attention which really annoyed and made me feel like this season was filler so that everything can be resolved in season 3 which it probably won't.

The characters remained as lovable as ever, but for some reason this season decided hey lets split everyone up and take characters out of the person or hide them from the viewers eye for loads of episodes, the first season had a very well done mixture of character screentime and gave each of the cell 13 inmates a decent amount of concentration whereas in this season they take Rock out by episode 4 and split the others up except Juugo and Uno who travelled with the Pretty boy duo Trois and Honey who got way too much screentime, although they did do some badass stuff not gonna lie there, true they do try to give more backstory on other's like Liang, Upa and Qi, but it just didn't work for me and felt like it was really stealing screentime for other characters who could've had attention.

At least the villains were actually pretty interesting or annoying take your pick, but they definitely pack a punch no doubt about that, but funny how the main villain Enki only gets like what less than 5 minutes of screentime throughout the whole series now you know you've messed up there.

The artstyle remained sparkly and colourful then at some point in the show they decide to take out the sparkles and colour and just give us dark gloomy hallways for 8 straight episodes which got boring as hell, plus why the hell did some many drag queens show up seriously there were so many colourful characters in one scene that my brain was turning into a rainbow.

The action though was pretty damn cool some of the inmates like Trois and Honey were able to show off their own moves and the same could be said for Liang and Upa who also put up a decent fight against hachiman, I also have to give Nico some credit for when he went insane because there's one certain is that always make sure Nico gets his medicine, but yeah there were actually some cool fight scenes however it was annoying how it took until episode 11 just for Juugo to use his Sword Arms again.

The comedy started off strong in the first few episodes, but the further the show went on the more the jokes just fell flat for me and it really sucked because the comedy was pretty damn good in the first season and made me think again as to what the hell happened here.

Overall this second season was pretty dull and disappointing mostly, it does start off strong which is why I gave it a 6, but that strength just disappears more and more the further I went, the only reason you should watch this is if you watched the first season other than that I wouldn't bother.

Do you like more Sparkles..... Kachingggg!!! Well Step Right Up... Cause We like talk about more of this : Hopefully the overall will be viewed since the last series Since the 1st season started as a gag... until the upcoming event was been already started... It's not bad actually but it lacks more of sympathy... and always.. focus on sidesteps in the story...Yes it has a fight scene... It still lacks of a background until Juugo's past about the shackles... who transmutated him as a weapon

But this season.... Takes the dark turn...

No more Gag to ruined... For now

As It continues.. Settling Deadly Murderous Situations plus Seeing Nico rage... It's not quite normal more like an otaku addict became a not so crazy killler... far more scarier than Juugo..

As long as they manage to keep this... even more serious state... The story so far.. highly increased my degree on watching this series...

I like it for its visual aesthetic, and the characters are a lot of fun. However, I can see why this series struggles to have a season 3. (￣ ￣|||) It went for the "break the 4th wall" goofy shtick with a serious plot line underneath like Gintama, but it has a problem with timing. Gintama is a great example on when to be comedic and when to be serious, and that's by having the jokes lead to a serious realization near the ending or the climax of the episode, but not in a "oh, I shouldn't have laughed situation", but more of a "Oh, sothis is why he acts the way he does, and I think I love this idiot more after all he's been through" kind of feeling.

Nanbaka does it too, but a little too much that it's become repetitive, especially when it concerns Jyugo with the whole "He's only good at this one thing, and nothing else, but we like you anyway" speech. By season 2, I'm like "Why are you having a heart-to-heart right now? YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING/FIGHTING!" Season 2 could've ended with the big battle with a proper cliff hanger, if they had cut down some of those scenes! Like please, move on!

I have wanted to write reviews for awhile but never had the real motivation. Until I watched season 2 of Nanbaka. I will be mentioning season 1 a little bit as I think it handled things much better than season 2. (SPOILERS IN STORY AND CHARACTER) Story: 4 Why you ask? Well, this is honestly my main gripe with the show. The start was amazing. I thought it would be great seeing as how amazing of a villain Enki started out being. But boy did it go downhill so fast. Enki broke out of a prison along with a few other inmates and a prison guard. Theywent into depth about how this had happened and what caused Samon to get chained up. MY ISSUE is with the guard that betrayed everyone, his entire role in the story was being completely insignificant. Just like Enki, besides him being motivation for Ruka. Anyway, the guard, I can't even remember his name. His entire reason for being a traitor was because "he hates work." I've never seen such fucking lazy writing. HE IS TOTALLY IRRLEVANT THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE SEASON, JUST LIKE ENKI!!! Enki does nothing, nothing, what a waste of such a potentially great character. It felt like the author was wasting our time to try and figure out what he wanted Enki to be. It pissed me off how unimportant the main villain was. Ruka and Hachiman were far more important than they needed to be. Spending 5 episodes fighting Ruka was excruciatingly boring, I was interested in him at first but then his character devolved into a copy of the guard from block 3. Anyway, the only real issue I had with the story was the villains and the time spent fighting the insignificant villains.

Art: 9

Great, I love all the bright colors and the action was beautiful as well.

Sound: 9

While the rock soundtrack could be seen as generic, I can't lie, I'm too big of a fan of rock to care.

Characters: 8

This show has some potentially amazing characters. Like I said in the story section I hated how they treated Enki and the other guards. But through this we got some more spotlight on characters like, Nico, Trois, and Honey. Who are now some of my favorites, they are examples of the author doing right with characters.

Enjoyment: 5

Not much to say besides it upset me how the story was not drawn to a close. Or how long those 2 fights lasted.

Overall: 7

I really wanted to love this show as it has a similar feel to Gintama but I found myself more upset with the decisions of the author/animators than anything. I really do like the world and the style, I only wish we got to see more.

Yes, it’s true that it’s a major shift in tone away from all the light-heartedness of the first season. Yes, it’s true that the side characters are focussed on a lot more as opposed to Rock and Hajime who barely get any screen-time in the later episodes. And yes, it’s true that a lot of the sparkles are gone. But who cares? This is still an amazing anime. Some of the secondary characters get such good development that I went from disliking them in the first season to cheering them on in the second. (Yep, that’s you Samon!) We got to see a lot moreof Liang, Upa, and Qi, and I’m glad we did. Seeing another unit besides the 13,13 unit was a nice change, and gave their characters loads more depth. The antagonists introduced felt a bit random at first, but I think it's more of a 'wait and see what their motivations are' in this case.

The sparkles were much reduced in this season, but there plenty of vibrant colours and wacky effects nonetheless. The characters still have all their weird quirks and random comedic moments – and they’re just as fun to watch as the first season.

They didn’t change the op and ed (besides the singer for the op), and for that I am grateful. You don’t fix something if it’s not broken, and both were perfect.

It is sometimes hard to know what Nanbaka’s actually going for. It changes from almost realistic to wildly fantastical in the blink of an eye. The antagonists become more and more shounen-like (meaning that they never ever stay down, and truth be told this was quite annoying at times) and the protagonists seem to reveal more special skills (some of which are basically super powers) by the minute.

The plot from the first season is never really expanded on, and the ONA ends on a massive cliff-hanger – you’ve been warned. You’ll be tearing out your hair once you hit episode 12 and scouring the internet for any sign of a third season.

Regardless, watching it is pure fun. The fights are gorgeously animated, the backstories are surprisingly deep, and the banter is hilarious although much more infrequent than before. Maybe it’s not quite worth scoring a 9, but I loved it so much I just can’t bring myself to score it any lower.

My advice to you: go for it. Comedic or deep, action-packed or banter-filled, it’s definitely worth watching. XD

I loved Nanbaka until season 2. Sure, it had its flaws such as the main character having the least amount of personality, but hey, it didn't ruin the insane sparkle the show had. However, Nanbaka shot itself in the foot once they decided to give the story a dark and serious plot. The zany, brightly designed and over the top characters clashed with the plot they tried to introduce. I'm never one to abandon an anime just because I wasn't "wowed" by it, but eventually, I found season two simply dragging and had to say "R.I.P". I loved the first season, but then thesecond season was like "Let's have plot'" and but my best friend (who was also watching the show) and I were just like 'Let's not tho, right?' but were further disappointed by the plot continuing to overpower the crazy banter.

We need a Nanbaka that's just "baka". I would love to see these gorgeous pretty boys continue shenanigans around the prison, maybe introduce a rival prison somehow. but tragic backstories and intense plot was not something this show needed. Unfortunately, that's my reasoning for the show never really taking off. it is too bad, because these characters would have made amazing cosplays!

I love this series and both seasons have overall been a huge enjoyment for me to watch. I think if you are looking for some brightly colored fun that this is a good anime. Things I liked: During season two the story really progresses and helps flesh out characters that we got to meet in season one. It also expands the knowledge of Nanbaka and works on progressing the main characters. We learn a lot more about them and the action picks up. There are still shenanigans but those are somewhat pushed to the side and if you are only here for those it can bea turn-off.

Why it's not perfect:

Let me be clear this season from about the fourth episode had me glued to my screen. I have a hard time bingeing anime but this held my attention. Maybe a little too well. Spoiler Warning: I had some whiplash from the end of the season. Comedy is also pushed aside in some parts to have a more intense story. The jarring end can leave a bad taste.

Final:

This anime isn't perfect but it's a fun ride. It takes a lot to hook me on an anime and this was one that really got me interested. This show might not be for everyone but I have enjoyed every minute of watching it and would definitely recommend.

Okay so before you ask, yes I did rate the show a 7 but here I'm giving it an 8 because I genuinely did enjoy Nanbaka that much. I instantly loved the characters from the first episode and I love them even more now. The only downfall for this season is the storyline which is sad but it wasn't to bad The story idea was promising. It gave an insight to Samon's past and his relationship with the other characters. I thought it was great but I won't lie, I was kind of disappointed. The end of the season was a major cliffhanger and the lastepisode felt rushed. There were so many great, intensive fights that lasted more than a single episode but then the ending was rushed and not even in a way to give a resolution. It felt like reading a story on Wattpad only to realise that the author hasn't finished the book and it's been 3 years since it was last updated. I was left feeling half empty and wondering what I should do next. I am reading the manga now but it isn't the same as watching it all move.

The art was awesome. I loved the colours and the character designs always had me excited. The fight scenes were great too so I had no problems there.

The characters were so lovable. They were funny in their own way and I loved all their little quirks. I do wish there was some more insight into some of them but I was satisfied with what I got for an anime adaption with 12 episodes.

The music was epic and catchy. I'm so happy they kept the same opening and ending from the first season. I never skipped the opening and ending songs because I thought they were that great and I'm still looking for the whole soundtrack just to bop to in my own time.

Overall I think Nanbaka 2 was pretty enjoyable and I would recommend it but I will say don't go in expecting a resolution to the whole plot.

If you've watched the first session, it still reflects the Jag nature of the show with the inmates and guards of building thirteen. The issue is that it takes the comedy nature of the show and focuses more on a jailbreak anime that tries to take it seriously, but it can't because it still pushes the Jag nature of the show and characters. The characters are trapped in building five after an abaka warden who was put in a high-security prison in building five after killing an inmate in the past and now has escaped due to something that was never explained.

OVERALL: 3/10. This is a steep drop from season 1, and that's saying something. Nothing makes sense anymore, and not in the fun "chaotic" sort of way. The pacing is awful and there is no sort of conclusion to say it's worth it. STORY:3/10. Weak. Vey weak. The writers realized that there wasn't an active villain so they thought of the single most random guy to make into the "big bad guy" and it doesn't work. The pacing is awful, every encounter is actually 3-6 fights in a row where the "heroes" think they win only to be siked out. The small plot surrounding Jyugo isalmost non- existent, so it's like not a thing of importance in relation to what's actually going on. Honestly it could have been really cool to see how this season's concept could have played out... but we got this instead.

ART:6/10. This season has a drop in quality compared to season 1 in terms of animation and background. Most backgrounds are the exact same for hours on end with nothing changing thanks to the setting. The characters spend very long just.. standing there... not doing anything until they're called on something like pokemon waiting in their pokeballs while their trainer is getting mugged.

SOUND:3/10. mediocre. random sound effects that have no reason to be there. No music or score or track was used well. The characters grunt and moan for longer than they should. It's awkward.

CHARACTER:4/10. It seems like the writers found the cast to be too big, so they only work with a handful of characters at a time. Some of the main cast have such little screen time for no good reason right from the first few episodes. The pacing has it so that you focus on 1 group for far too long, making their weaknesses shine through for longer periods without anyone to rescue them from it.

ENJOYMENT:2/10. YUCK! A bad season that did literally nothing for anyone. It was annoying to watch because of the missing characters, the awful pacing and the plot that isn't engaging.

I rated season 1 as a 9 overall but season 2 is a big improvement! Season 1 is mostly about comedy and doesn't really have a story or message. Whereas season 2 is very plot-driven. It doesn't lose it's comedy either. Many times I laughed out loud and at one point teared up. This story is saturated head to toe in color, it's funny and at times heartfelt, and there is a good level of mystery and suspense. I gotta say I think the ending leaves a lot of questions and it's quite disappointing they never did a 3rd season as I think one moreseason could wrap up all the loose ends.

i will say again that i love the concept of the series, im not even a fan of comedy and this show made me actually laugh 😭😭; the second season follows more of a diferent plot from the first season, but its all still there; the action, comedy and emotional moments, for me its an absolute banger and thats why i rated it a 9/10, its really good, but nothing will top season 1 ngl 🥲 i personally love nanbaka so much but it might not be fit for everyone, and thats ok! there is a lot of saturated colors on the animes pallete and noteveryone can handle bright colors all the time;

i love LOVEEE the artstyle so so so much, they lowkey nerfed the art on the anime, but the manga art is really really good, i really fw it, so there is something you might like in the series;

although the series has kind of a tight budget it still manages to make scenes impactful to the audience, it doesnt need good animation to tell a good story and im gonna talk about the story next;

from what ive seen, i love the plot for now, again it might not be for everyone since there is a lot of side characters and there is a lot to memorize about them, usually each character that is introduced gets a little backstory, or some focus time on them, which i personally dont mind but it might be difficult to some to remember every single story about them, but i will say, i loved this season, not as much as season one but i hope someday, in the future we get a season 3 🙏🙏