CurlyFries

What was this series....? This season felt like a backhand to the face with the plot that was spasming all over the place and not to mention how confusing the entire plotline is.....

I honestly cannot for the life of me recall much from episodes 1-5 since I picked it back up from episodes 6-13 after like 2 months or something, and I couldn't muster the energy to rewatch the first 5 even for this review, so bear with me if my facts are not faxing.

I'll be honest and admit the only thing that enticed me to keep me watching past the first episode was the visuals and Willy becoming a recurring character made me lock tf in. I mean, he was easily the best part of this new season for me and his actor ABSOLUTELY carried every single scene he was to the point that it was not even a competition at that point. The other actors basically showed no noticeable improvement from season one except for maybe Charlie's actor getting slightly better, but still being completely unbelievable as a lead actor. I can't take his line delivery and goofy expressions seriously and that is really jarring since he is the main character and I'm supposed to be rooting for him. His acting was not nearly as off-putting as seeing Jeff and Alan's after having watched This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans. I KNOW they can act; so why do they feel so watered down in this show??? Is the script and directing so bad that not even they could salvage their performances??? Pavel at least was doing fine as a lead except for his over-done crying scenes that felt like they needed a bit more "WAAAUUUGHH" to match his facial expressions. He did have a glow-up though, but not that he needed one in the first place. That man is FINE. Kim and Kenta's actors did well in their scenes, as did Chris and Pete's. Chris' was definitely the second best actor past Willy's in my humble opinion. Though, since he carried two seasons he deserves bonus points.

But the only thing that was lacking more than some of the acting performances was the congruity of the plot. I felt like they were lashing me with fourteen different plots at the same time and then they all fizzled out by the finale in an extremely unsatisfying way. The first part that was a mainstay since season one was the absurd power-scaling in this verse. So ABO is virtually nonexistent and instead of breeder mentality you get a power via RNG??? Sign me tf up! Why were they trying to even erase theirs's to begin with??? YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS LIL BRUH. Like, Charlie can absorb powers (because ofc the mc can), Babe has heightened senses or sum, Way had hypnosis I think, Pete has mind-realming, Jeff has FUTURE SIGHT, Kenta got immortality I think, Alan got super strength or sum, Willy had ZA WARUDO, and Tony had IMMORTALITY! WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT THAT??? I would quite literally take any one of those, please. Oh boohoo, you can see the future...like I won't pretend I wouldn't abusing tf outta that, personally. But maybe that's just me. The only downside it'd effectively have is the nonsensical plotline kicking in and nerfing my ability when it SHOULD be OP in a given scenario. How tf was Willy losing so many altercations??? HE CAN FREEZE TIME LIKE A JOJO'S CHARACTER!!! The only FEASIBLE countermeasure is Tony's off-brand Golden Requiem. Like, don't even make a character have any sort of power relating to time manipulation if you don't want to take into account the repercussions it could have on other powers or established rules in verse. It's just lazy writing to add it in if you don't want to actually make it realistic (as much as it can be). It was also confusing at why exactly Babe's power was so coveted over ANYONE else's. It made no sense to me in season one, and it made no sense to me in season two. It feels out of place in this story to make him the one that needs to be bred just for his power but not keep that same mentality towards literally any other alpha with abilities that are comparable, or even BETTER than his! It felt like they just wanted to have an excuse to sexualize him *specifically* and have the closest thing to an omega in a cliche yaoi. It made no sense logistically and just made Tony come off as a creep with a breeder fetish aimed towards one unfortunate soul (which, now that I'm saying it, he most definitely DOES come across this way in the story 100%).

Then of course the second worst part was whatever was going on with the characters' writing. Tony was an abysmal villain per usual. No, seriously, what even was this man's plan? World domination or something??? Because if so, he was atrocious at accomplishing it. This man has insane backing, financial prowess, and IMMORTALITY.....yet he loses to a bunch of horndog college-aged dudes. Brother, you are IMMORTAL, HOW DO YOU SOMEHOW DIE?!?!? HE WAITED TO SHOOT CHARLIE UNTIL THE PUNK HAD SLURPED UP 90% OF HIS POWERS-LIKE WHAT ARE YOU EVEN THINKING SIR?!!??!?! But, I digress. It's not like I was expecting him to miraculously be intimidating this season or anything. However, a character they did ruin 10000% was Alan. He was a pretty cool guy once you look past all his suspect age-play statements like "Let the adults handle it" and "I feast on youth every day," and he seemed like a decent supporting character. That gets completely squandered this season once he enables brain-rot mode and decides to BELIEVE Tony and his goon Winner that they would help him regain his health with virtually no strings attached. Apparently this man has never heard of the saying "There is no such thing as a free lunch" or chooses to ignore it when face-to-face with a megalomaniac. Then he gets all surprised that the guy planted a bomb chip in his head when he gave him full reign to it DESPITE HIM HAVING LEARNED HE DID THE SAME EXACT THING TO WILLY LIKE 2 EPISODES AGO!!! If he did that to Willy, a guy he had no previous beef with, what makes you think he wouldn't do that to YOU, a guy he has had beef with for 2 seasons?! They ruined the smartest character SO BAD. Willy really was right when he said his squad was braindead. The nonsense with Babe and Charlie was obnoxious this season too because it made next to no sense at all. They both acted so defensive about the Willy and Tony situation yet there was no reason for them to! Charlie deciding to keep the Tony business from Babe was so stupid because THAT COULD ENDANGER HIM MORE. Jeff won major respect from me when he snitched about to Babe anyway because Charlie was being mad dumb. Babe's whole personality this whole season just felt like "I love Charlie; No Charlie, don't leave me; Willy piss off because I love Charlie," it felt like a far cry from what his personality was like in the first half of season one. Dean was just there to suddenly switch into the Nice Guy™ even though he was a backstabber last season, and now everyone is just expected to forgive him. I was on Sonic's side 100% because this man was acting wild in season 1. Winner was also just there in the plot for some reason. He served next to no purpose other than to fill a slot and his exit was only noteworthy by North calling him "pale as boiled chicken" that made me cackle for no explicable reason. The "will they; won't they" with North and Sonic was seriously testing my patience to the point that I just skimmed or skipped any scenes they had past the halfway mark. Other people that said they should've started their relationship as early as season one were 100% right and this season proves it with how drawn out it was. Ugh. I love slowburns, but this was just boring.

The rest was nonsense stuff like the reveal of Chris and Way being Tony's biological kids or something, as if that really changed anything at all. The alpha and enigma stuff still made no sense because I couldn't tell what the difference was between the two sub genders in this verse and what made someone like Way an enigma, but Charlie (despite having "superior cells") delegated to being an alpha. The random amnesia plot thrown in as if they were drawing papers from a hat of tropes and then "solving" it by having him hop in the whip instead of something that had more meaning like recreating when he first met his true love or something; he also seemed to not recognize Tony despite Tony having been a part of his life way before the start of the show; and thus I think that's a major plot hole. I still have no idea what racecars have to do with the plot in the slightest other than to look cool. Why does every antagonist have to be involved in racecar sports??? Willy looked hot in those scenes, yes, but did he reeeally need to be in that car to stalk Babe and Charlie? I don't think so, chief. I also have no idea why he was being a weirdo around Babe because his plan didn't require that same jank enigma breeding plot that Way was given in season one. I get that Babe is hot and all, but why is everyone either simping over him or sexually harassing him? His personality isn't all that. I personally thought Willy x Charlie was hotter anyway. Ghost ships reign supreme in my verse. An established couple like North and Sonic, however, do not get the proper screen time they deserve. Where were their established relationship scenes at? Kim and Kenta was also a bit washed as well considering they were hinted at since season one in a similar manner. Them eating Korean food together was cute, though. Chris and Pete had some insanely hot scenes, but I couldn't really careless about them in the grand scheme of things. Liking someone just because they look like your ex that died and that person being 100% aware of it IS an interesting relationship dynamic, but because it was a part of this show, I couldn't bring myself tgaf.

However, this season wasn't *all* bad! I did enjoy Kenta's muscles and form-fitting shirts, as well as his scenes with Kim (though they were sparse). The intro song was decent. Tony with his long hair down in Willy's flashbacks looked kind of appetizing (sorry, not sorry!). Pavel's hair and looks ate this season up alongside Milk's everything. That man's voice, looks, smile, hair, frame, clothing, and acting were top notch. I can admit that I was shallow enough to like his character in the same way I liked Damon Salvatore because of his charisma. Such a shame that he wasn't the central villain because he was serving cunt in every scene he was in. I thought I would cry tears of joy when this man 360 no-scoped Tony on the rooftop, but then that joy floundered when the focus shifted to Charlie dying on the floor with that dramatic ass editing. He easily had the coolest scenes whenever he used his powers and his cheeky smile mixed with that saucy wink evoked a feeling in me that I didn't realize Pit Babe could. His backstory was a bit confusing and underwhelming; but that's par for the course with this show. The only thing that really annoyed me about him was his nonsense towards Babe in the sauna in like episode five. I think they only added that to appeal to fujoshis or something. Him acting flirty and handsy past that didn't really bother me as much because it was clear he was just trolling and I don't think he had any special interest in Babe compared to like any other hot bitch. Bless the person who casted this man because my eyes have never been more grateful. Whoever wrote him though, check yourself, sis.

The behind the scenes bits at the end of episodes were also really cute! :)

As the closing statement, I'll say that the rewatch value at least isn't 1; but no amount of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references will move it past a 3 for me. And yes, I would rate this season higher than the first one, but only by like 0.1%. That 0.1% is Willy and his actor. Mans contributed an entire 1 star to the actors rating I put and I feel no shame admitting it. You like what you like; and I liked him. Even if he was a slimy thirst trap. I delved into that head first and I'm still not tryna find my way out, can I get an amen? Amen, now I'll go watch edits of him to cure my obsession.

\good night( ᵕᴗᵕ)*・☪︎·̩͙/