Second Season a Death Wish? – Otaku Digest
Unless you have been living under a rock this week you will know all about the big anime news that has Otaku’s all up in arms and hearts in flutter. That is the news that we finally have an air date for the second season of probably the most anticipated anime of recent times Attack on Titan – April 2017. What is my opinion of this announcement? I will believe it when I see it. We have been quick to forget that it has once before had an air time but was pulled from that season over fears it was not ready but also in its defence to make sure the manga stayed a good amount ahead.
We see a stream of new anime getting second seasons nowadays but none have been so awaited as this second season of Attack on Titan and it is no wonder. The first season took the Otaku community by storm spawning an abundance of merchandise and even some side series, not to mention live action films we dare not mention. However, I cannot help but air on the side of caution when it comes to second seasons of anime, we have been burned before. There is a trend in anime when a first season has surpassed expectations and become fan favourites usually a second season is then pushed out where it either was not needed or too early to develop a proper story. Thus leading to a harsh criticism of the anime as a whole.
It is not just a new phenomenon either as it has been happening for the longest time, so this week I thought we should look at some of the second seasons that simply should not have been and pray that Attack on Titan will not follow the same path.
Black Butler
Now I know that Black Butler as a series was not everyone’s cup of Earl grey but for those who did like it this second season was like a kick in the teeth. Saying that this season even does have a cult following of fans who genuinely love it if although mainly for the new characters it introduced. However I lean more to the side that found it insulting to the source material, as someone who at the time and after avidly kept up with the manga series this season was more than unnecessary. It was a rushed out mess in my opinion, even if it did give some laughs here and there with some of the newer characters as a whole it was just blah.
Given that the first season gave a rushed but rounded ending to it we then got a watery excuse of an opening to the second season. For those who never read or did not keep up with the manga it brought about some amazing Arcs that if they would have waited would have given them more than just another season. Thankfully creators have since seen sense and are releasing these arcs as OVA films with the next being the Atlantic arc. Where there did not seem to be much thought in the second season of this anime they have taken a new directions with the OVA’s that proper reflect the source material.
Digimon Adventure 2
So, Digimon was a series that I grew up watching and for most of the time not even knowing that it was anime I was watching. It was just a fun cartoon with some colourful monsters and action packed episodes. That first season was for me perfection to the point where I still enjoy watching it now. Then came Digimon Adventure 2. Where clearly the new staff brought on board looked at the first season seen that it was loved and it worked so they decided to rehash the entire thing but change the kids and add some new funky ways to Digivolve. Did it work? Shamefully yes but looking back it never took of the way the first season did.
The first season of Digimon has something special in where you really connected with not only the human characters but the Digimon also. You wanted to fight right alongside them. With these new kids, I cannot quite put my finger on it but I think even at a younger age we knew these were already loved characters rehashed to us with different animation. We saw with Digimon tamers that a whole new idea is not a bad thing and can work, maybe not as well as the original but it would still work in a new way. Thankfully we now have the new continued version of the first season of Digimon with the new Digimon Adventure Tri films being released.
Tokyo Ghoul √A
Really? If you are shocked that I would even bring this disgrace up, then you may need to go back and watch it 
again to feel the horrid pain this season put fans of Tokyo Ghoul through. This second season is the epitome of a kick in the face to fans. We all know that the creators saw the success of the manga and first season so they attempted to bring the next season to fans as soon as possible. A great idea but with a terrible execution, the first season had so much going for it, the great story with amazing characters that only needed more development to bring another season together but instead they gave us an attempt at being dark, gritty and arty.
Similar to the third Madoka film Rebellion it is as if the creators of Tokyo Ghoul completely forgot the original source material and who their audience was. Taking an already very dark in both a physical and psychological way series and trying to make it darker but in a forced arty way is what truly destroyed this series in my opinion. Also, thank you for pretty much destroying the characters that we all loved from the first season by throwing all that development down the toilet.
Needless to say, we have not had a good track record of second seasons but we can only hope since the creators of Attack on Titan have taken a very (very) long time to release this second season is to avoid the usual second season clichés we are used to.
