One of the more enjoyable shows from the summer 2011 anime season returns for more.
What They Say:
Akrai is no longer a dotted outline in the background. She is loved and adored by her classmates and teachers alike. This marks a new year for the ultra-popular Akari!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One of the shows that left me with a good bit of humor last summer was Yuru Yuri. When it was announced it would get a second season, I was pretty pleased, though I know it is just a fluffy show with some silly moments throughout it. The focus on a small group of girls that have made their own club in order to just hang out and do nothing while at school certainly has its appeal. The girls here are all fairly distinct in their own way, but they are basically archetypes, including the yuri inducing one. What’s changed this time around is that Akari isn’t the same wallflower she was as a first year but is now someone that’s a bit more known and her personality has grown to suit it.
The first half of the episode is a good bit of fun as the various girls are all just giddy about everything Akari related. Whether it’s the students at school itself where they practically worship her to the Amusement Club where they go all out in their adoration, so far as to make a cake for her, you just have to enjoy the way it all unfolds even if it feels like a dream. There’s such a big, positive and upbeat nature about it – and some dirty moments as well with how they play out – that you can’t help but to grin over it all even while you know it must be a dream or something else. It’s so ultra bright in terms of the characters personalities that it’s sickly sweet yet you can’t look away from it all as they profess their love for her in so many different ways.
So when it is revealed, you still have to love the way that Akari just wants to be viewed that way since it says so much about her. Thankfully, things do get back to normal fairly quickly in the second half as the group is on their vacation trip at a resort with all the usual traditions upheld, such as ping pong and more. Not surprisingly, the gang has a lot of fun in the usual kimonos, going through the hot spring itself and all the other games and silliness that goes along with it. The fun with the ping pong paddles alone won me over with how they’re artfully used against each other. But that said, there’s little fresh or original here when you get down to it as the girls go through their time at the hot spring, but that’s not a real issue since it’s all about watching the group dynamic.
In Summary:
YuruYuri isn’t a show that will really stretch itself for obvious reasons, but it does know how to have a good bit of fun along the way. The cast here continues to be adorable and I loved that they went with the gimmick for the first half where it was all a very obvious dream. Seeing Akari’s vision of how she wants her life to be subconsciously is a good deal of fun. The other half of the episode is strong in its own way as it puts the girls at the resort and they go through the motions. That can be problematic at times in some series, but here where we’ve got the characters down pat from the first season and their interactions, it’s just welcome to have the silly game time and the other antics that are always associated with such trips. It’s good to be back.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
