Jun Kyoju Takatsuki Akira no Suisatsu 2 (2021)

"And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door..."

The repertoire of folk tales and mysteries has once again arrived... it is a direct continuation of the first season, just that it's simply split into two parts.

But, the story, as compared to the first, was much more powerful and compact and delved directly into Akira-sensei's past, something which we did not see in the first part. Moreover, it's a chain of events or web instead of a simple mystery in episodic format.
It did not pull any punches and relied a lot more on the background of the characters, particularly Takatsuki Akira-sensei. It is this season which proves why he is the eponymous character of the show. We see a different side of his in this one and focusses on his emotions and vulnerabilities.

Plus, there is a prominent 'antagonist' - Hajime. Kudos to the actor for portraying a completely eccentric, sad and psychotic personality. He really gave the lead mystery cracking team a run for their money.

The story is still see through Fukamachi Naoya-san's eyes, but he is no longer as subdued as before. While he still has the requisites that come along with his "rare gift", he is much more in control of his emotions. Reiko-chan and Ken-chan tag along as usual and hasn't lost their essence from the first season. I appreciated both of them a lot in this one.

As usual, the strength of friendship is as strong as ever. And the emotional connection between Naoya-san and Akira-sensei is even more pronounced. It was heartwarming to see their raport develop from trepidation to trust.

The supernatural vibes is particularly undeniable as usual, particularly with sensei.
It took me almost two years to complete this as there were no easy accessible subtitles available, but when I did continue where I left off, and I was happy to find out that I hadn't forgotten about the first season either. [Many thanks to sametakunai and Kate.]
The ending was personally satisfying for me. I for one, strongly believe that some mysteries remain as they should be. And Akira-sensei deserves to keep his secrets.

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This was a pretty enjoyable watch along with season 1. I really enjoyed watching the cases being solved and learning about different Japanese mythologies. Akira's relationship with Fukamatchi, Ruiko, and Ken-chan was really beautiful to watch. Fukamatchi's character development is really good because he went from a quiet and withdrawn person to someone who is confident and bold. We get to see the many sides of Akira other than his confidence and silliness. It shows his vulnerabilites from his childhood and his empathy for other people. I think the antagonist did a good job making us curious about who he his and what's his end goal.

CONS
1. The ending is too abrupt/fast for my liking. I wish they had expanded the climax to make it more interesting because the ending disappointed me a bit.
2. So many unanswered questions! (I don't know if this is getting another season) The show doesn't tell us anything about why Akira's eyes turn blue, where he got the scars on the back, what happened to him when he went missing, if he really met with the supernatural (Tengu), and why he's scared of birds. This was really frustrating for me because I've been curious about it since watching season 1.

Overall, I would definitely recommend watching this because it's really interesting. It's refreshing to focus on mysteries and not get tangled with romance.

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S2 was shorter than S1, the eps were only 25 mins or so long, so there were only a few cases to solve, but the addition of Terauchi Hajime, the... well, antagonist, made it more intriguing, though his story and his deeds, his motives turned out to be different than I originally thought.

The relationship between Akira and Fukamachi was deeper and closer, more meaningful and touching and sweet in S2, it progressed a lot since S1 and they became such good friends, it was quite sweet to watch. And Fukamachi smiled so much more here! Though I wish the story utilized both of their special powers more. Oh well...

Overall, a great follow-up to S1, though it did not give us all the answers regarding Akira and what happened to him, if he had really encountered a demon as a kid or not. I wish there were S3 but that seems highly unlikely. Too bad...

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Muito bom, mas ainda tenho perguntas

Como prometido, voltei para falar um pouco sobre a turminha do Scooby-doo do Japão, como eu carinhosamente apelidei essa série, já que os mistérios eram sempre falsos, apesar de sempre nos animarem, principalmente com o aparecimento do novo personagem filho de Tengu.

Nessa segunda temporada, os mesmos elementos que me encantaram na primeira permaneceram, o imprevisível, o sobrenatural relacionado com o folclore, senti que foi mais explorada a natureza humana no sentido de expor coisas que as pessoas são capazes de fazer por algum interesse, como o menino que queria gravar a reunião em que ela forjaria um mistério para que viralizasse, a mãe que se aproveitou de um evento catastrófico envolvendo a filha criança para melhorar a vida de ambas, a família e a história do sensei foi mostrada com mais detalhes, além da história de como ele e a assistente se conheceram. A fotografia da série continuou perfeita, cenários incríveis.

Sobre a relação entre os protagonistas, eu já estava conformada com o bromance, mas confesso que gritei com eles dando as mãos no fim da série, parecendo que finalmente o muro da friendzone estava sendo quebrado. Gostei muito de ver dois atores: o protagonista da série BL "My beautiful man", Hagiwara Riku, e o protagonista da série, também BL, "Old fashion cupcake", Takeda Kouhei.

Sobre as questões que tinham ficado em aberto na primeira temporada, a história sobrenatural envolvendo o professor, os sentimentos da assistente, o papel de sua família, senti que ficou apenas subentendido. A assistente ao meu ver, é claramente apaixonada pelo sensei, talvez tenha surgido o encantamento depois dela perceber a gentileza dele, mas também senti que ela entendia que era preterida, e respeitava isso. Em relação à família, pra mim poderia ter sido mais aprofundado, principalmente em relação ao pai, qual a reação de sua mãe quando ele decidiu fugir daquela vida, coisas assim. Sobre a experiência sobrenatural que o deixou com a marca nas costas e os olhos azulados, a série deixou sem explicação, isso realmente me chateou, mas não me impediu de amar mais essa temporada. Quem sabe não vem uma terceira por aí?

É uma série que eu pretendo rever outras vezes e indicar bastante.

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Une suite dans la continuité de la première saison

Cette saison est plus courte que la première les épisodes étant passé de 44min à 25min. De ce fait, moins de cas sont exploités.

L'histoire se centre plus sur le cas d'Akira, bien que nous ne sachions pas réellement ce qu'il en est... Je trouve qu'on laisse beaucoup de mystères & finalement si on a des réponses à certaines de nos questions, on en a également de nouvelles... (J'avoue que j'aurai espéré une saison de plus :( Mais étant donné que les deux sont sorties en 2021, je doute qu'une troisième voit le jour... Dommage ^^)

J'ai pris autant de plaisir sur cette saison que la précédente, même si contrairement à la première, il y a de la malveillance dans celle-ci... (Enfin, pas des protagonistes principaux, mais plusieurs cas sont enclenchés à causes d'actions répréhensibles.) Ce qui enlève un peu du côté très "friendly" que j'y avais trouvé, cependant, cela donne une autre dynamique qui n'est pas déplaisante =D !

C'est à regret, que je laisse partir cette petite bande ainsi que ces nombreuses légendes.

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Curiouser and Curiouser....

The second series was just as epic and thrilling as the first! While I do wish it was like the first series, with different mysteries inside each episode, to watch what transpired in this series was incredible and had me guessing on the edge of my seat up until the very end of the last episode. In all honesty, while I do think it was a little anticlimactic, I do like the ending for what it is.

I wish there was more to this series, though the end doesn't feel like a cliffhanger; the story was just so amazing with each new cast member and/or piece added to the puzzle. While a little of this series felt familiar, it didn't feel rushed or over-done, or too cheesy, like it was a last minute thought. It was kind of expectant, though, in some places. After watching the first and second series, this show has made me want to watch more shows/movies/specials with Inoo Kei, Jinguji Yuta, Okada Yui, Yoshizawa Hisashi, Koike Teppei, and Suga Kenta. This cast fit their characters so well! Watching the mannerisms of each person and how they brought their characters to life, from the personality to emotions to how they supported each other or acted while on their own, was truly amazing to watch. It definitely didn't feel like watching one episode alone, it sort of melted together like a movie or special episode.


I wish there was more to this story. It was really fascinating to learn about Japanese history, myths, legends, and the supernatural. While the show as a whole does get a bit scary in places, it's not terrifying and definitely not something I would skip watching even if you're afraid of a lot of thrilling or suspenseful shows. The ending was interesting, it was nice to see something anticlimactic actually, as odd as that sounds. I would like to see a follow up, a lot; if only because I truly enjoyed their story!

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