Reviews for The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of the Rust Mountains

The Faraway Paladin - It's still one of my favourite "not-so-Isekai" Isekai reincarnation fantasy shows to come out of recent years, just behind the juggernaut that is Rifujin no Maganote's Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. I'm still very firm on the belief that novelist Kanata Yanagino has done an absolute "masterpiece" for Season 1's content, which covers the first 2 volumes of the LN, that the anime sadly weighs it down to just being decent, if based on the overall production alone. That said, waiting 2 years to finally see Season 2 come out...and while it's still good, it's just not on the same wavelength that theauthor used to write compelling stories that really secured the sole thing that sold the prequel: its humble storytelling that comes from inspiration, not imitation.

It's clear as day that Season 2, which covers the remaining Volumes 3 and 4 of the LN (before the author actually went into hiatus because of his physical and mental health issues back in late 2020), that Kanata Yanagino was feeling the pressure to deliver a compelling story that made his worldbuilding and character writing so great, faltered so much. The basis is that both Volume 3: The Lord of the Rust Mountains and Volume 4: The Torch Port Ensemble were essentially two stories that could be better linked together, but it came to the stage where the author felt that he could write no more with his dwindling creativity, and it's sad to see such an accomplished author having reached the point of a writer's block. Here's hoping that Kanata Yanagino can eventually recover and continue writing his series, though it'd be better if the LN is on a permanent hiatus for millennia.

Getting into the meat of the series' continuation, William G. Maryblood, along with elf Meneldor, has descended into Torch Port, along with the new friends that he made along the way: Robina "Bee" Goodfellow, the halfling travelling troubadour who loves to spread tales of heroic deeds to the public through poetic storytelling and singing (which serves most of Volume 4's content); and mainly the dwarven army of the proclaimed Rust Mountains to reclaim back their rightful place from an evil dragon god who has blindsided them (which serves Volume 3's rather long-ish 2-volume parter content). The Faraway Paladin has so much to do in so little time that it feels as if he could not catch a break, seemingly with all that's happening around him, having to run all around to get his jobs done. But still, Will manages to take time and reflect on his solace (which I appreciate as one of his strong character points) to take retrospectives on the people that helped him mould the character that he is now. And that's the key to writing compelling characters that make you move your heart and appreciate good character writing.

For the anime, however, the entire staff team from the prequel season has been given an overhaul: freelance director Akira Iwanaga leads his team with the ever-so-illusive OLM and Sunrise Beyond studio collaboration, and the production definitely has upgraded a fair bit to look as good as the LN's manga adaptation counterpart. Even Will's VA got an upgrade, from the young-un (VAed by Maki Kawase) to the young adult now (VAed by Shoya Chiba), and he sounds a lot more mature now than he has since his growing-up days in Season 1, and for the better.

The one disappointment I have for the sequel, however, is the OST. H-el-ical// and Nagi Yanagi did an outstanding job with their OP and ED songs for Season 1, and while the latter came back to perform the sequel's OP song, it was decent and a lot more action-heavy with its riff-raff (which actually strikes the chord for Season 2), something that I'm not so used to Nagi Yanagi performing this way since like forever. And while KOTOKO's ED song was decent, just like the OP, I am pretty biased towards Season 1 due to its pure fantasy emotions that did the prequel so much justice.

How ironic, eh? The story and music were (for me) the highlights of Season 1, and those same aspects wore it down in the enjoyment of Season 2. A perfect balance board, I would say, but that's just about the fate of The Faraway Paladin, as far as I'm concerned. It's decent at best, but it still does its fantasy genre justice enough to warrant the sequel for at least a binge.

A story that follows the hero and his party on a quest to vanquish evil, and purify the cursed lands. This season of The Faraway Paladin revolves around the tale of the rust mountain and its denizens. We follow William going on a quest to help them, where he travels with a band of friends, to cleanse the mountain from the evil that has overtaken it. The plot is very linear and follows the classic structure of an adventure group going out to save the lands. It is generally done in an interesting way, that explores the road they have to travel and the dangers along theway. The first couple of episodes are lead up, and is sadly kinda forgettable, but the rest of the story carries a nice feeling of a true adventure.

When it comes to the characters are they rather basic in some degrees, where some show significant character progression and others are rather stagnant. The main issue is that the characters lack some stronger personality traits, something that isn’t just courageous or just. The characters would have been more interesting, and worth investing more into if the characters were a bit more spiced up.

For the animation is it still keeping the same style as the previous season and seems to be a fine effort, with some good effects during fights.

Overall is this season an improvement from last season and is a nice watch, with a very nice adventure party plot. So i would recommend watching this season if you watched the first one, even though it lacks a bit in the character department.

Hold onto your enchanted swords, folks, because "The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of the Rust Mountains" is back, and it's shinier than ever! We're diving headfirst into a world where isekai meets reincarnation, and our boy Will is back for another round of heroics, accompanied by his trusty sidekick, Meneldor. Can you believe it's been two years since we last ventured into this fantasy realm? It's like waiting for your ramen to cook—time moves slower than a snail with a caffeine addiction. Now, let's talk music. The opening song is like the soundtrack to a dragon's dance party. Sure, it's no Season 1 ED song, buthey, not everyone can be a rock star. Speaking of rock stars, Will's voice changed! It's as if puberty decided to swing by the fantasy world and give our hero a vocal upgrade. And guess what? The studio changed too. It's like getting a new flavor of ice cream – same cone, different scoop.

Our adventure kicks off with Will managing land like he's the landlord of destiny. Who knew that being a Paladin also came with real estate responsibilities? But fear not, there's still time for a winter solstice celebration in Whitesails. Bee, our musical troubadour, has her eyes set on the Academy of the Woods, and let me tell you, it's a maze harder to navigate than the internet without Wi-Fi. Cue the ominous old groundskeeper, Professor Hiram, who's more mysterious than a cat with a PhD in quantum physics.

Hold your magical staffs, because it's test time for Will! The groundskeeper lays down a challenge, and Will, with the grace of a ninja cat avoiding a puddle, aces it. Next thing you know, they're teleported straight to the Academy, and Hiram is the Dumbledore of the woods, granting them access like a VIP pass at a fantasy theme park. Bee's on a mission to improve her musical craft, but it's more like a trip down memory lane.

Fast forward, and we're knee-deep in the Rust Mountains, where disaster and dwarves collide. Will's empathy for dwarves is deeper than the plot twists in a Shakespearean tragedy. Ru, a timid dwarf, steals the show, and the feels hit harder than a dwarf blacksmith hammering out a legendary sword. But hey, the door's getting repaired, and Will's on his way to becoming a diplomatic hero.

But hold your dire wolves, because this isn't your typical fantasy adventure. Will's not just a Paladin; he's a Mary Sue in a world that feels like "The Hobbit," but with fewer hairy feet. Ru's backstory tugs at the heartstrings, and we're left wondering if this is an anime or a symphony of emotions.

As we march through episodes like conquering heroes, we're teased with Menel's new powers, Ru's growth, and the promise of a bigger party. I mean, who doesn't love a good fantasy RPG party? The mage academy may be as deserted as a haunted castle, but hey, it adds to the mystery.

In the end, "The Faraway Paladin" Season 2 delivers like a pizza on a Friday night – you know it's coming, you're excited, and even if it's not gourmet, it hits the spot. With an 8 out of 10, this anime is serving up exactly what we signed up for. So grab your swords, buckle your armor, and get ready for an isekai ride that's more thrilling than a dragon rollercoaster. Until next time, fellow adventurers!

A marked improvement over season one. That's a rarity in anime. Typically they don't improve, but rather nose dive. Animation has more to offer in terms of flashy action scenes, with a couple that stand out. The art work in general is slightly worse, bad cg, but still good character detail and amazing backgrounds. I still feel the characters are lacking depth, but at least we get to wee a little bit more of Will's internal struggles without it feeling completely forced. The world building continues to be one of the best parts of this anime. The story line feels more solid and less ofthe generic isekai we got after arc 1 in season 1. Still a little generic, but better. Pacing is much better, and picks up quite a bit over the last season which was kind of painful after arc 1. The dubbed voice acting I'd say get's slightly worse. I think the casting for Will is not great, but otherwise I'd say it's still fine, but not great by any means. The op and ed remain ill fitting and generic. However, the ost has more variety in it, which is pleasant to see. Overall, it still has some of the same issues as season 1, but reclaims it's stride for the most part. The pacing of this anime is really what will make or break it going forward. 6.75/10 Dubbed

The second season of The Faraway Paladin took me by surprise – it’s much better than the first season. I was torn on whether to watch this season or not, considering the first season left me with mixed feelings. The first season started out great but quickly became horribly subpar and so I did not have high expectations going in. However, what we got in this second season was a change of pace and focus that turned The Faraway Paladin into an enjoyable adventure story. The kind of adventure story that makes you think of a tabletop roleplaying game set in a European medieval setting. While Willis still very much an overpowered little snowflake it bothered me much less this time around. It doesn’t matter that he’s so powerful because they managed to give the events that transpired a very distinct feeling. It’s more about the problems that he and his companions solve than showing off how amazing he is. Somehow, despite having such an unremarkable set-up, this season felt much more satisfying to watch. It avoids some of the pitfalls of the first season by being more consistent in tone throughout.

I would have liked to see more gripping dialogue and personality from the various characters, but I guess that wasn’t meant to be. They were all flat and could have used some depth.

As far as voice acting, music and sound effects and so on go, they were all fine. The visuals were about as expected as well.

Either way, I enjoyed myself while watching this anime. However, I am not sure whether we can expect another season, since apparently no new volume of the light novel has been released for a few years now.

When I think of a solid fantasy anime, this anime often comes to mind. While the plot has some issues, specially in the anime, where much that happens is not covered properly or outright not explained (I'm looking at you, Valacirca fight...) it is a very good take on fantasy and isekai genre, with some well put Tolkien references. Yes, it is Isekai, but no, it doesn't revolve around MC's constantly remember his life prior to his reincarnation. The story itself understands that the MC was something in his past life that he is not very proud, then he uses that feeling as fuel to becomea better person and that is pretty much it. Like many other Isekai titles where MC is outright OP due to retaining memories and mentality of someone older from previous life, it felt that in Saihate no Paladin, he used that maturity to overcome issues and to learn about the world he now lives in, nevertheless he is pretty damn strong, more than average for sure.

Overall, story progression felt good, all characters seemed to have purpose and were well written, the artstyle was very nice (though in manga is way better) and definetely recommend it, specially for Tolkien and Fantasy fans.

I liked the end of the season, it is a very cute anime, tender you could say. The cast of characters is very well put together, it feels like the protagonists have become a family. That's nice, you feel like you're part of the adventure. You want them to do well, you don't want anything bad to happen to them. It is very interesting how the protagonist knows that he is in a privileged position and decides not to exploit it to the fullest. Yes, he takes advantage of it but he doesn't fully squeeze it and that makes it feel very real. It is veryinteresting how its story develops, it is very well written and directed.

The animation is very nice and fluid. The character designs are very good. We see a goddess who is really pretty, I'm not saying anything more.

I highly recommend the anime if you like isekai, it is very noble, the anime does not fail, it is better than the average and can still offer more things. I hope there will be more content in the near future.

En español:

Me gusto el final de temporada, es un anime muy lindo, tierno se podría decir.

El elenco de personajes está muy bien armado, se siente que se volvió una familia los protagonista. Esta lindo eso, sentís que sos parte de la aventura.

Queres que les vaya bien no queres que les pase nada malo. Es muy interesante como el protagonista sabe que esta en una posición privilegiada y decide no explotarla al máximo. La aprovecha si pero no exprime del todo y eso lo hace sentir muy real. Esta muy interesante como se desarrolla su historia, esta muy bien escrita y dirigida.

La animación es muy linda y fluida. Los diseños de personajes están muy buenos. Vemos a una diosas que está realmente linda, no digo nada más.

Recomiendo mucho el anime si te gusta el isekai es muy noble el anime no falla es mejor que el promedio y todavía puede ofrecer más cosas. Espero que haya más contenido en un futuro próximo.

Season 1 was a captivating story of a lad coming of age and beginning his journey. Season 2 continues the story of William G Maryblood as a Lord and Paladin. Main issues I find as the story continues is that as the story progresses, William's motives and drive becomes much more whimsical and fictional. A fantasy character with no flaws. He becomes less human as the story progresses. A device to drive the story rather than an actual character with strife and challenges. A mythical hero that's been embellished so much so that they don't seem to actually exist like the songs written about him. Despite the mountainof responsibilities he is shoulders with, he just accepts it and just continues to do as he is told. Like a doll. Endlessly repeating the difference between being dead and not being alive as if that's enough to disregard his lack of actual desires. He lives on railroad tracks. A man of god supposedly, but the way he acts is almost robotic.

It is the downfall of the series as a whole. Will isn't real. A fictional hero with fictional desires and fictional wants. That is why he is loved by the gods. He shouldn't exist because he lacks the human element.

Mary and Blood carried season 1. Season 2 is just generic. Bring back Mary and Blood please.

S2 is just a generic yet juvenile low-effort ripoff of The Hobbit. No originality, 0/10. shonen garbage. The dialogue is brain damaging exposition. The plot is filler. The characters are idiots. The plot armor renders the constant "you will die" lines hilariously dumb. There is almost nothing of value in here and it starts off with an entirely pointless filler episode walk to a school for pointless exposition. Almost every scene is infuriatingly dumb. The irrelevant isekai background amounted to a single offhanded line about using prior knowledge to make paper and run the town in an initial scene. The characters have all become cardboard cutouts for expositionand comedic relief jokes. The dwarves are the worst and central to the season.

The art was typical low-effort seasonal quality consistent with last season. The goddess of undeath was given a pointless cyborg aesthetic. 0/10 painful to watch.

If someone where to ask a ChatGPT to combine all generic old children tales to an anime, and make it as predictable and bland as humanly possible, this must be it. I've never written a review on this site before, but I feel like I need to ward people so that they do not get fooled by the decent ratings of this show. This is the most generic, cliché, unoriginal anime I've ever watched. Maybe it is actually made for young children. The fights are boring and interrupted with even more boring and insanely predictable dialogue. The characters are as bland as they can get.Everything is just so... boring.

Do yourself a favor and watch literally anything else.

It's unadvisable to pay too much attention to the details of Saihate no Paladin: the show is the anime equivalent of an ouroboros, except instead of eating itself it constantly retcons itself. There's no foreshadowing or implicature, there are only post hoc explanations not just for blatant violations of the established worldbuilding, but even for mundane narrative hooks. Which isn't a boundary that's wise to keep pushing, at some point the viewer might just unsuspend the disbelief. Also this isn't exactly the kind of random seasonal isekai with harem & goofing, it can't get away with some mediocre production. The animations aren't actually that bad, exceptthe most clutch moments are covered by something, like the dust on the battlefield or light from the magic being cast. For instance, in one scene William is wearing the armor, in the next he's naked. The implication is that the armor was disintegrated, which would have been a pretty cool scene if only we could have seen it.

[Spoilers Ahead]

Plotwise, William being William means all the other characters struggle to keep up. For instance: a talking tree tells Meneldor that the off screen trial he previously undertook granted him the power of the forest. Ye, whatever, cool, a power up, albeit undeserved. Except it's not. After inheriting this power Meneldor is exactly the same as before.

And, because Menel is a lost cause, the show moves on to Al, a dwarven squire William starts training. Months pass and he finally gets to the point of being as useless as it's expected. The reason he's being trained is because a terrible foe is awakening: Valaciaca, the evil dragon. William is supposed to be scared of Valaciaca so he's scared of Valaciaca. After all, he can't be a hero without a proper obstacle to overcome. Except, despite the show's best efforts, nothing about Valaciaca feels that threatening: the most prominent signs of its presence are a bunch of dwarves displaced from their kingdom, and a random earthquake which I would argue is too intense to have originated from a dragon the size of Valaciaca, who's still resting miles away. So basically its threat level is hard to objectively parse. Again, William is scared, but also he intends to face the dragon with a party of 5, because: "numbers won't matter against a dragon". Nobody questions that logic, he doesn't elaborate.

The actual fight between the party and the dragon is just awful: half of it - to be charitable - is wasted on pointless predictable banter, the rest is William doing his usual heavy lifting while everyone else lies face down, and all of a sudden we're schooled about more stuff that just happened and shouldn't have, such as the existence of a single spell that is exclusive to dragons. William is then spent, with no mana left, which means plenty of mana left as soon as it's convenient for the narrative. Ex-machina Stagnate and Gracefeel summon the corpses and spirits of the dwarven heroes who died in the rust mountains to wound Valaciaca many years prior, and all of a suddden we have an army. Didn't numbers not matter only a few episodes earlier? And apparently this is the perfect time to bring up the fact that Valaciaca's flames can even burn the very soul of a living being. At this point the show is basically begging for the viewer to consider both the dragon as a threat and also the secondary characters as useful, failing on both fronts for the same reason: William is too much.

Of course everything ends with loads of pats on the back and some other shenanigans. I'd like some pats on my back myself, for believing in the show till the very end.

After having finished this season, I can say that this is NOT better than the first season. While it has a higher score, I suspect this is mostly due to selection bias. I am not sure if the issue is with the source material or if it is with this adaptation, but the production and pacing of this season is even worse than the first season. The issues stem primarily from motivations and actions of characters not making any sense from any reasonable perspective, along with the issues of pacing and plot points being disjointed and unappealing as was the case with the first season. Ifyou enjoyed the first season then this will be about the same. However if you had any issues with any of the above mentioned points when watching the first season, you will find that this is even worse for it.

As a few points which detract from this season, let us examine the structure of the show.

The first portion of this show follows an episodic structure where we follow William and crew as he helps out with random issues that face some local villages. This could be good as it builds upon his kind character and gives us more reason to root for him, since we know he is a genuinely good person due to these episodes. However the issues with them lie in how they relate to the rest of the story. They are sort of just plopped in there as if they are ONA or OVA episodes to act as filler, where the meat of this arc is only really the last 5-7 episodes depending on how you look at it. The beginning is mostly just self-contained stories, which wouldn't be so bad, if they were properly set up and had any sort of explaination. Instead we are just dropped into an episode where Will and crew are inexplicably wandering around and come upon a scenario that they solve. No explaination of how they got there (aside from they walked there clearly) and no explaination as to how he, as a statesman and lord of a domain, is stepping away from his village. We never get this addressed, yet we are to expect that people hold him in high regard and he has control over people. The show instead just has other people explain this to him, without ever demonstrating what this looks like aside from him having an office.

This gets to the key issue of the show: It says things are one way, but never shows you them being that way. For example, he fights the dragon, and we are constantly told that he will die, but that is the extent to which we are worried for him. This show has made it clear that it is a plain fairy-tale-esk escapade with low stakes and no threat to the OP MC. For him to be told to fear death is only a lazy attempt to introduce any sort of stakes which we know by now that he will not need to fear. Given that he has clear plot armor, we need not worry that he will find some way to overcome this OP but straightforward enemy, and of course he does.

He has to be told by others that he is essentially now a noble who wields authority over people, and that is the extent to which it affects the plot. After that he is still essentially just an adventurer, but now he can ask people to help him. Aside from this and peoples reactions, he does not change and the way people treat him in meaningful manners does not change. It thusly feels like becoming a lord was not a significant title bestowed upon him, rather it is solely a title that is granted to him for the sake of the audience, and it thusly falls flat.

There are many other such issues with the writing, from the way that the goddess reveal at the end of the season seems so contrived despite technically foreshadowed to the manner in which they defeat the final boss... Everything about this is so generic and straightforward, and the MC doesn't face any real hardship aside from that of the first season, that it feels almost empty. While comparisons to other shows is not useful, it should be noted that other shows do manage to instill large senses of loss and struggle into less-drastic events. I think that even just having some close friend die would have been a better choice, even if it is fairly short in terms of time scale. While I do think eventually we will see one of the characters die (the half-elf in all likelihood, and it'll be some "this is my choice to not become the gaurdian" type explaination) this will be too little too late, and since it has already been brought up in conversation, it will seem like a plot contrivance more than a meaningful moment for the people in the story.

The issue I feel most aptly describes it is that the characters don't feel like people. They feel like characters, and the show never manages to escape that perspective. You never feel like you are watching real people grow, never feel like there is change within the world or within the people. The first season had some good character development within the first few episodes, even if William was a highly intelligent sentient child. Other shows do everything this shoe does better, and this show does nothing particularly well. We are basically just watching a pious man fight his generic enemies and win because he's the good guy. It feels as 2D as that.

That's basically the worst thing a show can do, is be predictable. The end of the arc can be seen from the start, and there isn't any deviation or unique circumstances that subvert your expectations. If you want to turn your mind of and watch a good Isekai, it's okay. Otherwise don't bother.

This second season was as good as it was better than the previous one. The animation was beautiful, Will was still cute and the story was fully fleshed out. The events were surprising, the visit home was tearful. The fight at the end wasn't drawn out or fought, but Will became even stronger and got more humble. It would have been nice to know more about the new characters, but hopefully we will get to know them better in the sequel. I think in the next season Will gonna fall in love with someone, there were a lot of references to this. Gracefeel still one ofmy favorite characters, in this season I started to love her even more.

This is a decent anime, but it unfortunately suffers from a lot of glaring flaws. - Firstly, the world building is not very good. In two seasons, we've haven't even stepped out of Southmark. Hell, we've only really been introduced to 5 distinct areas: the ruins where Will grew up and the High King was sealed, the Beast Woods, Whitesails, Torch Port, and the Rust Mountains. It may seem like a lot, but as far as I can tell, these are all around the same area. I would've liked to see more variety, with our protagonist visiting new kingdoms and meeting new people. - Thenext problem is the character building; a lot of it was very rushed. The ending of the second season was supposed to be an epic battle with the protagonist's comrades, but it fell flat due to a lack of any connection felt towards the supporting cast. Imagine The Hobbit, but you skip 95% of the events that make you care about the characters in the first place and skip right to the final battle.

Menel is the only one most viewers would have any reasonable attachment to, as he had a lot of character development in the first season. The other characters quite frankly weren't fleshed out enough to make me care about them. Reystov had some screentime in the last season, but his character development was nonexistent. All we really know of him is that he's a mercenary who chases glorious battles. That's literally it. I don't know if the source material was more in depth, but the anime did a horrible job of fleshing out his backstory. Gelraise fared slightly better, with a somewhat touching backstory. Vindalfr did indeed have a character arc of sorts, however, it felt very rushed. It felt like his personality switched midway through the anime. However, Robina and Tonio, arguably some of the main cast in the first season, barely had any screentime this season. The first episode featured Robina, but I failed to understand the point of the episode and it felt a lot like filler.

As for the MC, the Faraway Paladin himself, I found his personality this season far more bland and boring as compared to the first season.

- Lastly, the pacing of both seasons feel very....off. It's extremely rushed in some places, slow in others, and it ends up being

an incoherent experience where you're struggling to keep track of what's going on.

Overall, it's a decent enough watch if you're a fan of classic fantasy media. It particularly reminds me of the Hobbit, but obviously falls short of Tolkien's magical writing by a large margin. If you aren't expecting a masterpiece, you'll likely come away satisfied.

Final Ratings:

Animations and Art Design - 7.5/10. Nothing to complain about here, it's very well done except a few CGI scenes of dubious quality. However, those were few and far between.

Sound Design - 7/10

Character Design - 6/10

Plot - 6.5/10

Combat Scenes - 7.5/10

Overall Score - 6.9/10

"The Faraway Paladin" stands out from the crowd right from the start, with unique elements that set its narrative and character development apart from the usual fare. On one hand, it follows the classic Isekai trope: a reincarnation into the body of a child in a new world. On the other hand, the unique setting in which this reincarnation occurs makes the story diverge sharply from typical genre conventions. From the beginning, we can identify several elements that differ from traditional literary expectations. The protagonist is reborn in an old church dedicated to the gods, inhabited by "undead" creatures who, despite their frightening appearances, have retained controlover their bodies and personalities from before their deaths. These beings willingly take on the role of the boy’s parents.

The entire series revolves around the theme of devotion to the gods, somewhat reminiscent of "Danmachi." Although there are substantial differences, the constant divine interventions in the hero’s life and the blessings he receives are similar in tone.

The gods in "The Faraway Paladin" can either aid or hinder our hero as he progresses on his journey. He pays particular attention to worshiping and following the will of his protective deity, the goddess Gracefeel, known as the "Torch Goddess," who guides the dead through the cycle of reincarnation.

Overall, the two seasons of "The Faraway Paladin" are enjoyable, free from repetitive filler episodes. The pacing is intense at times, though occasionally predictable and conventional. While I consider this anime to have a strong and distinctive start, it seems to lose its way in trying to be memorable, ultimately falling into familiar and somewhat disappointing clichés—ones I had hoped to avoid in a series that initially promised something different and more mature.

The first season of the faraway paladin suffered from a low budget and poor directing which I feel had failed to capture the captivative and emotional feel of its story compared to the LN and manga counterpart. And while season 2 did improve on animation, the storytelling remains underwhelming. The story - 5 Season 2 covers volume 3 and 3.5 that is about William's quest into the former dwarven kingdom of the iron mountains to subjugate the evil dragon, with the theme being centered around our protagonist's courage to rise up and challenge an impossible foe. New characters are introduced and we especially got new lights sheddedon old ones such as Bee, Menel and Stagnate. Sadly just like season 1, there were way too many moments where "it was supposed to be epic but comes off as cheesey" or "MC monologues too much". I won't go over them to avoid spoilers but I can tell so many sences were ruined that it just comes out as being blend and generic. It shows the anime still has poor directing.

Visuals - 7

The better part of the show. Action sences looks significantly better than the previous season but that's not really saying much imo. It's not great but not bad either.

Music - 5

Another aspect that's lacking. There were alot of reused ost from season 1 and I found myself skipping both the OP and ED after listening to it just once, which is rare for me. Last season's music was way better.

Enjoyment - 5

The feedbacks I seen for the second season wasn't as critical as the first one. Many people seem to enjoy the show now which I'm glad to hear. Though since I've already read the novel which was massively better, I can't help but feel often disappointed even when tempering my expectations.

Overall - 5

I would most certainly recommend the light novel over the anime. Or the manga as it more accurately adapts the LN's story. Also, the anime has now caught on with the LN (that has been on hiatus for 4 years now). Only a couple of side stories remain unadapted so we won't be getting a new season for a long while.

Saihate no Paladin had a good premise in the first season that somehow made it interesting to watch. It just shouldn't have gotten a second season. Everything is just bad maybe worse than the first season. There is like literally no interesting filler. you get one episode with 1 to 5 minutes of interesting content and then just a boring part. Tutorial on how to make slow-paced anime interesting: backstories worth being interested in, beautiful scenery and SFX, main character day activities, and bonding characters. Saihate no Paladin is a disaster. I read the manga and watched the first season and still, I think whoever workedon this is inexperienced. From the feel of enjoyment from the first season because I liked the manga I overlooked a lot of bad things. But you can't overlook them anymore they are everywhere.

Saihate no Paladin should have been made by more experienced people like those who worked on Sousou no Frieren.

Animation - bad

Music - unimpactful/Generic

Source material handling: in a bad way

Entertainment level: nah not worth it, should have dropped it after the first episode

5/10 just because of my high copium level

While the start of the first season was a rather interesting one, in S2 we are given more like the ending of the first season - a rather ordinary isekai OP MC story with no innovation or effort put in it. Let me just give you a quick rundown so you can go watch something better instead. Story. Typical OP MC isekai stuff: our hero takes on “impossible” challenges while being constantly praised for being basically godlike. This time “The Hobbit” was taken as the source of inspiration and most of the season is about the journey to a fallen dwarven country to kill adragon. Sadly no creativity was put into making this copy so the entire arc was so generic that not once I was caught off guard and I always managed to predict what will happen in the next scene. While being predictable and well telegraphed is better than Deus Ex Machinae events used to dodge poor writing decisions (there is one those here too though), it is still not a good thing.

Characters. You know how it goes. Old ones don’t really show much, new ones are added to praise our hero even more. Only the party has enough screen time but I struggle to say that they had serious development (with the exception of the newbie who went from a wimp to a battle hardened veteran in a span of like 2 episodes).

Art. I will say it looks cheap. Some things look horribly stiff in motion, some scenes are just ugly, but mostly the visuals are “servisable”.

Enjoyment. Well, is it even here? The show is so shallow, generic and forgettable that it doesn’t really feel like I even enjoyed it, more like “I consumed it” and moved on.

So yeah, overall I can only see fans of the show that are OK with any adaptation enjoying the second season. The rest of the potential viewers? Just watch something else.