Ao Haru Ride Season 2 (2024)

Timing is Everything.

Season 2 does not give me the same feels and gone are the innocence and sweetness. All the characters seem to have grown up and are forced to face certain challenges in life. No longer can they hide their feelings but they all become more courageous and more honest with themselves.

The talk of the town is probably Kou’s indecisiveness and going back-and-forth between Yoshioda and Narumi. One thing Kou said resonated with me. He wants to move on but he’s also afraid that he will forget. Therefore, being with Narumi in a way is a security blanket. If you have lost someone close to you, you can probably understand where Kou is coming from. But of course, logically we all know he needs to cut ties with Narumi and be honest with his feelings. I also do not agree with Narumi’s emotional blackmail, but I can sympathize with her actions.

I liked Yoshioda in season 1 and I continue to like her in this season. She continues to grow and I’m glad she tries to at least not be a pushover and really wants things with Toma to work out. Toma is a lovely guy but it’s just not the same when your first love is someone who’s broken, and you want to heal with him and be with him throughout the process.

These characters are young and they are not perfect. Going back on decisions is not the end of the world. Sometimes, we just need to be more forgiving of ourselves and know that we can’t always make the right choices at first try.

Yuri has a very small part in season 2. The love triangle between Murao/Kominato/Tanaka has a little more screen time. I would have liked to see more foreshadowing/scenes in Murao’s final choice of the guy she ends up with. There doesn’t seem to have enough transition from one to another.

Season 2 did not hit me the same way as Season 1. But I did have an enjoyable time watching this. I’m glad the acting is pretty good all-around and even though Narumi is a third wheel, she wasn’t that bad.


Completed: 2/25/2024 - Review #410

Season 1 review: https://mydramalist.com/profile/voicelesslove/reviews/342617

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Frustrating watch

I liked season 1 well enough, but this season, for me, left a lot to be desired.

Most of the drama was about indecisions of the ML, the FL trying to move on but not wanting to, multiple other potential couples to fill in the spaces. I still liked the acting of the ML and the FL, but the story just kept moving from one person to the next.

There's a girl that has always liked the ML and she uses emotional blackmail on him. I hate that.
FL tries to date someone else, but the actor that was the 2ML was just too "pretty" and the bob hairstyle didn't help at all.

My mantra while watching this was, "Only two more episodes, only one more episode." I will say, though, since it is short, if you've watched the first one and want to feel like you've completed the series, give this a try.

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First love forever....

I wonder if one day we are going to be lucky enough and have a drama in which the first love main couple does not remain together, happily ever after, but the second lead wins the girl ..... Sometimes I am really fed up with this trope. And in this drama, more than ever!

The story continues on from the first season: Futaba and Kou have sort of admitted to having feelings for each other and then he goes away on vacation and upon his return, he keeps seeing a friend from his old school and ignoring Futaba. That friend actually wants Kou for herself and makes him believe she's so unhappy and so misunderstood and so alone and so...Kou falls for it and neglects to explain it to Futaba. When she starts seeing Kikuchi and moving on, he gets too clingy, needy and jealous.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was a story about teens. But, while Futaba's words and actions reveal maturity beyond her age, Kou is the opposite. he sulks, does not talk, behaves as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders and nobody understands how brave and responsible he is. So he goes around with a sad, desperate expression on his face. And he takes it up with the whole world instead of himself. He blows hot and cold with her, sacrificing himself and not being with her but not wanting her to be with anyone else: so selfish and self-centred. On the opposite side, Futaba is the epitome of reason and generosity.

I wanted the FL to stay with the SML but I knew from the beginning that that was never going to happen. Heart wants what heart wants and the reason is abandoned! The SML acted too quickly in wanting to replace Kou but all his kindness was not enough to delete the first love, no matter how bad and unkind, from her mind.

This was an extremely frustrating slow watch. The side couples were more interesting but they were given the minimum time . Every minute was devoted to Kou and his tergiversations. One question, though: where are these kids' parents? So we have a couple of dead ones but not all of them? Do they work so much that the kids practically raise themselves? Are kids really abandoned to this extent in Japan? This made me very sad....Very often in dramas based on mangas, we never see parents! I wonder why?

Everything considered, this was an unnecessary watch they could have done away with by condensing the plot in two episodes and finished it with one season!

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