Anime: Kakumeiki Valvrave (2013)

Note: This review only covers the last remaining episodes of Kakumeki Valvrave. Thus this review may be missing some comments that I found better to leave for the first season. To fully understand my analysis I recommend reading both reviews.

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Review
Kakumeki Valvrare was an affront to Gundam fans as I said in the review of the first season. It was basically a show about a bunch of kids playing at war while building their own independent country, all of that with the added flavors of vampire-powers, hara-kiri robot, nonsense rape, cheesy love triangles, and dozens of bishounens and stupid adults.

Despite all that, I was hopeful that the second season could be a blast or at least lift the show to the degree of the lesser Gundams. It ended with small glimpses of Saki talking to a kid and looking much older, as if tempting us that some time skip would happen and we could see the student-built nation turn out to be something serious and dramatic.

Sadly, however, that never happens. Kakumei Valvrave S2 (Valvrave S2) starts right where the first season stopped and from there it goes through a straight line until its end, never taking any time leaps or even major turn points to give us a different experience from the first season.

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1. At least it's easy to understand
   The campaign setting with political intrigues and seemingly complex relationships turns out to be quite straighforward as the second season progresses. Instead of intricate organizations we just have this bunch of "magi" guys with the vampire powers controlling the world from behind the scenes and using the kids from JIOR as guinea pigs. Nothing moves far from it.
   
   Mechas, mechas, mechas!
   Are you into uber-powerful mechas? If you are, than maybe Valrave S2 is just what you needed. Because of the very easy way to explain setting and the change of focus from the stupid student colony, the second season turns out to be far more action-oriented and with lots of mecha fights. Sadly, out of nowhere the once invincible mechas are now trashable pieces of steel and super power.
   
   Bland Twists
   First of all, it is nice to see that Valvrave S2 at least tries to focus on its cast in between combats and that its focus is not about school anymore. Sadly, the twists that permeate this second season are b-rated at best, with revelations that never surprise and a bunch of villains making television statements that simply ignores the political values and the intelligence of the inhabitants of the world. Basically everyone in the universe is dumb enough to take in whatever the obviously bad guys says as the absolute truth. But hey... they are all adults and adults in this show are the personification of a piece of wood, so that's no surprise.
   
   It has an end at least
   Considering recent shows are always adaptations of unfinished works and we will never see the end of roughly three quarters of them, Valvrave having an average Gundam-like end is a decent point. It is a stupid tale, but one you see until the very last moments at least.
   

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Comments
So all my expectations were destroyed in this second season. I was truly hoping a twist, a turn for better, some miraculous change of focus in this tale so the annoying students could prove to be something more in the end. But no, Sunrise just kept the stupid cast and maintained it until the end. It managed to even worsen things when the immortal mechas became trashable and the once undefeated students started to fail every combat situation they were put against. The nonsense, instead of declining, rose to higher levels, and the inconsistency borne from vampire-like powers, hara-kiri robots, and energy waves, just got worse with uninspiered cliche'd villain organization and all the "commanding everything in history from behind the scenes" conspiracy-stuff.

You want to fill the lack of main Gundam entries? Well, you better watch something else. The newer Buddy Complex can manage to be a bit better, and certainly Gundam Unicorn is a blast that can vanquish all these trash mecha shows from recent years.

Valvrave returns for a second season, finally bringing some conclusion to the series and its continual taunting of post-war scenes. The first season is a mandatory watch first as there is no exposition whatsoever here; it pretty much picks up right where the first season ended. So does the space-themed mech action thriller series match up to expectations? Depends on what your expectations are. The show successfully answers many lingering questions from the first season and successfully brings the show to a concrete conclusion. However, the show fails to develop the characters in any meaningful ways. In short, if you're looking for an entertaining, plot-twist heavy action show, this is a pretty good watch. If you're looking for Gundam Seed like character development, you're going to be horribly disappointed.

Animation:
If you've seen the first Valvrave you pretty much know exactly what to expect here, lots of action and lots of effects. The setting changes a bit as a fair chunk of the show takes place back on Earth. Pretty much all the characters from the first season who survived the original Module firefights return for the second installment. Surprisingly, the only new mechs are on the opposing Dorssian fleet, which obtains more powerful units to replace the little bees that were fodder for the Valvraves in the first season.

There is ample mech action in this sequel. If anything, there's more of a desperation feel to the Valvraves attacks and, more often than not, they are just barely holding back the opposing fleet. I take back my comment from my first season's review in that it appears that the Valvraves don't have any cool new abilities to show off here. My confusion at how the students were able to pilot the Valvraves with such ease is also explained in the show; it has to deal with the secrets behind the entire VVV project. The show still has the gloomy, Chaos;Head-like feeling thanks to many dimly-lit scenes and a lot of random slaughter. Expect ample blood and gore as unimportant characters are repeatedly shown being gun down. The second season is definitely more plot and action focused, they even didn't have any time to put in much in the form of ecchi.

Sound:
T.M. Revolution and Nana Mizuki return to perform the new OP, which while still energetic isn't as great of a melody as in the first season. Elisa performs the main ED, which fits the show quite well with a dark, gloomy feel. They also fade into the ED, which is a nice touch. The BGM is identical to that in the first season, pretty well done overall. The OP/EDs from the first season are used as insert songs in critical battles.

All the VAs from the first season return for their respective roles. There aren't any huge surprises here, L-elf is still the best voiced of the cast. Certain VAs do have a lot more presence in this season as their characters get a lot more screen time.

Story:
Valvrave S2 is just as action packed as the first season. The students on Module 77 continue to fight for their very survival as the rest of the world seems to behave like coordinated dolls, doing whatever their political leaders want. Though the show started out a lot like the traditional Gundam story, it's now branched out quite a bit. From the power source of the Valvrave to the vampire-like nature of the pilots, it truly feels fresh and unique. Heck, they didn't even have to resort to using a gigantic super weapon. Though the power source and a lot of other aspects make no logical sense, the show is entertaining regardless. Expect lots of plot twists and cliffhangers, which work to make the series go by really quickly. The atmosphere is likewise just as strong as the original. The dark, curse-like, double-edged nature of using the Valvraves is further highlighted in this season.

There definitely are some rough edges to the story, however. The Valvraves and the pilots always just barely escape the worst possible outcome, and the grandiose plans of the Dorssian army just feels completely unnecessary in dealing with the students. I'm also curious as to why the human race seems to have been reduced to sheep- where's Fox News and MSNBC when you need them? Since the ending is already hinted at repeatedly, there is a significant plot shield on a fair number of characters. The show doesn't shy from killing off other characters though, and many significant characters won't be present at the conclusion. There is also a huge time gap between the climax and the conclusion. This is quite annoying as it basically means that the show is 95% depressing and 5% relieving. This teasing-like ending also only serves to add to the list of unanswered questions.

Character:
A few of the supporting characters get extended screen and development time. Particularly, Marie, Akira, and Satomi get extensive screen time in some of the earlier episodes. L-Elf and idiot Haruto continue their love-hate relationship and develop pretty much as one would expect. Unfortunately, Saki seems to have been shelved for the majority of the show, and Shouko likewise does nothing but further aggravate situations. Thus, don't expect anything romantic or harem-based in nature.

There is supposedly a large focus late in the show on understanding and acceptance. However, this totally doesn't feel the case as everyone seems to be ungrateful towards both the module students and the Valvrave pilots, who basically have to fight based on their conviction alone. Though this grim reality reinforces the show's mood, it makes the majority of the world feel like idiotic assholes.

Value:
For pure action, entertainment, and answering what was missing in S1 Valvrave S2 does a good job. However, despite the dark atmosphere, it still feels lacking in comparison to the political depth of a Gundam show. Yes, it's not a Gundam show, but if you want a more complete feeling mech show, that's where you should go. If you just want some action, then this will suffice. My entertainment value was hurt a bit by the show's removal of character relationships and the drastic fast-forward conclusion. But otherwise, if you've made it through the first season you might as well finish what you started; with the action-based focus it won't take long.