Bofuri Season 2

“Does It Get Better?”

We all remember that one Naruto episode where Pain declares, “The world shall know PAIN.” If you think about it, this beloved villain had a pretty good point but employed a gruesome method to get things done. Pain is an essential sensation for people to learn various vital lessons. While some people have better pain tolerance than others, most people would rather avoid it. So a character that doesn’t want to get hurt can be relatable in an odd way, right?

“Itai no wa Iya nanode Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu. 2”, also known as “BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense," Season 2, or simply “Bofuri,” is a 12-episode TV anime sequel series that aired from the 11th of January until the 20th of April in Winter 2023. It was produced by MAGES, Docomo Anime Store, Sammy, ABC Animation, Kadokawa Media House, Kadokawa, and D-techno.

It was brought to life by Studio SILVER LINK. Producers Tokumura Kenichi, Inoue Kentarou, Umeda Kazusa, and Harada Daisuke worked together on this project. It features action, adventure, comedy, and fantasy genres and follows a video game theme. These 23-minute episodes garnered a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years or older.

Like the prequel series, Bofuri Season 2 follows the light novel of the same title. It started publication on September 8th, 2017, and is still ongoing. It includes the sci-fi genre, as brought to light by author Yuumikan and artist Koin. Yen Press has published it in English under the Yen On imprint since April 6, 2021. The prequel anime, titled “BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense,” ran for 12 episodes in the winter of 2020. It followed the light novel like its successor and received a Funimation license.

The game New World Online is a very popular VRMMO in Japan, and protagonist Kaede Honjou gets into it following an invitation from a friend. He builds up her in-game persona, Maple, and achieves fruitful results within the game regarding the events. As such, the now-infamous Maple Tree guild is gearing up to explore the newer floors introduced to the game in this sequel. While the guild itself is already feared enough, each member is motivated to find even stronger skills to immensely expand their future options in battle.

As the guild’s eccentric guild master, Maple stands at the forefront as her Maple Tree members continue to come across innovative ways to implement their skills. It goes without saying that their actions are driving the game developers crazy along the way! They must remember how important networking is, so the guild forms amicable relationships with other guilds, like the Kingdom of the Flame Emperor and the Congregation of the Holy Swords.

Season 1 of Bofuri was excellent and well-received. There were too many anime with SAO-like premises during that time, but this series was a breath of fresh air. One thing that many of us loved about it was that it has such limitless potential to move around and get creative. Unfortunately, the sequel fails to live up to its vibrant potential. Why? While it's great to see the rich cast of characters back at it, this "Players versus the Devs" scramble only showcases how absurdly OP they are. It’s just overall disappointing for fans of the series.

We already established Maple's exponential growth in the prequel. Her guild is now the biggest and most famous, thanks to its leader’s out-of-bounds potential. The other two guilds are left scrambling to at least match Maple’s level to keep up the status quo, so the real battle is between Maple and the Developers. Both sides must push their creativity and powers to the maximum, and the Devs try to increase the game’s difficulty without making it impossible for the more casual players.

Now you see the problem here because, at this point, the anime only caters to people who want a fun watch and nothing more. But no matter what anyone else does, Maple will always come out on top because she is so far ahead of the pack. She wears out the poor programmers and moves on to other targets. What?

The theme of “The Sky's the Limit" is exceptionally overdone here, and it's this show’s downfall. The sequel does little to improve upon the original. Instead, it focuses on making its characters seem even more powerful than they already are. In the original version of the anime, a group of female protagonists set out to discover a laid-back virtual world. Looking at the characters now, it's all about how powerful the MC and her party are.

If you’re a gamer, you probably already know how OP builds get nerfed in MMOs for balance. But for some reason, the developers in this game forgo balance and nerfs and introduce more abilities and features instead. The use of pre-existing OP abilities by an already-OP protagonist to abuse these additions immediately follows this.

When you consider how incompetent all of Maple's opponents are, the situation looks even worse. Their pitiful attempts to summon mobs and bosses to fight against Maple only strengthen her, making the situation laughable. Rather than making necessary improvements, why are these developers continually digging their own graves?

Developers know the stats, equipment, and all other information about an in-game character, so how terrible can they be at their job? To add insult to injury, they just praise Maple’s OP-ness following their failures.

As for the remainder of the characters, they are all Maple’s admirers because she is so perfect and lovable. These characters just plummeted from the mantle of “friends” to an overdone "fanbase” really fast. Even the fight scenes are laughably repetitive, each ending after a character uses the same set of skills. They replaced the vivid exploration and friendly banter from the prequel with more fights that get cleared on the first try, and it all feels dull.

As for the art and animation, things are just as good as in Season 1. This season has more fight scenes, which are all well-executed and visually impressive. The character designs are unique, imaginative, and visually pleasing, including the bosses the cast runs into. The artwork is colorful and lively, while the animation is fluid and smooth, so there’s nothing to complain about in this department.

Sadly, the sound and music departments do not fare equally well. While the OSTs fit the show's lighthearted vibe, they are neither memorable nor outstanding. The opening theme is "Kono Tate ni, Kakuremasu." by Junjou no Afilia, which was just there and was easily skipped, unlike the Prequel’s iconic opening. The ending theme is "Step for Joy" by FRAM, which is equally forgettable and nothing to write home about. The voice acting was done well enough, so props to that!

Overall, Bofuri Season 2 is entirely forgettable and an insult to its colorful prequel. It was packed with empty praise, easy battles, new broken abilities, and bucketloads of senseless OP-ness. It leaves little to no positive impressions, and you’d be left with a sour aftertaste owing to its bland, cliche, empty, and unenjoyable run. It’s sad how they wasted its great potential, but there’s still a glimmer of hope for Season 3. You can watch this if you love Season 1 and don’t mind a reasonably fun anime that offers almost nothing else. If not, it's better not to waste your time on this.  

Please Like, Comment, Share or click one of the links below to read another post.

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/random-thoughts-because-mondays-suck

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/on-screen

https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/flashbacks

Bofuri Season 2 Official Trailer